The Truth Hurts

So needless to say yesterday was not my day :) I wasn't so bad until late at night (when I REALLY) shouldn't be eating. I made brownies with peanut butter frosting (probably my first mistake). Corey and I had a scout meeting to go to and the kids were being taken care of by my sister and brother-in-law so I wanted to make some yummy food for them. I didn't have a chance to eat dinner before we left and they had a refreshment table at the meeting to greet us. Needless to say I ate two large sugar cookies while at the meeting. Then I can home and after getting the kids in bed I kept cutting of slivers of brownie (that's probably worse than just eating a big piece). So this morning this is the conversation that I had with Grace (age 7).

Grace: Who ate all of the brownies!!!
Me: (pausing) Um that was probably me.
Grace: What happened to reading these cards?!?! (pointing to my advantages response cards on the fridge)
Me: You're right I do need to be reading those.
Grace: Do you know what's good about those cards?
Me: What
Grace: When you are reading them you're not eating ALL of the food!

Ouch. Then was hurtful, but very true. If I could only channel that feeling every time I thought about grabbing something to eat.

WEAK!!!

I'm so sorry for my absence. I have realized that stress isn't my friend and I need to be prepared instead of just folding. Over the last little bit I've been breaking all of the rules and needless to say it didn't make me feel any better. I had all of the tools to help me overcome my bad thoughts, but I didn't use them.

Here's me starting again. I sat without distraction this morning and ate my Wheaties with bananas. Today I'm supposed to find out if I know the difference between hunger and cravings. I do have to admit that over the years I've rarely been hungry. I haven't waited long enough to feel hungry so my body is out of the habit of letting me know when I am, lol. I'm going to pay attention today to what my stomach is telling me.

If anyone is out there I hope that you're doing great and accomplishing your goals!

Ugh.

It's turned into a busy somewhat stressful day. I'm sorry to postpone, but I'll catch up with you tomorrow and bring your Day 11 and 12. Tomorrow:

Day 10- Realistic Goals

Today I'm going to set a realistic goal for myself. I have about 50 pounds that I'd like to lose overall. Instead of saying that my goal is to lose 50 pounds I'm going to start small and reward myself along the way. Rewards sound good to me :) Judith (the author) suggests to make 5 pound goals. So I'm announcing right now that my goal is to lose 5 pounds. If you want to make this goal along with me, we can do it together (you don't have to be following these same steps with me). I've got a lot of fives to go, but that's okay. I get frustrated at the thought of how long with will take sometimes. I just have to realize how much I'm not going to care in a year or two years from now. I'm just going to be happy that I decided to finally change.


So this morning I did Zumba :) The thought of Zumba makes me smile because of how I look doing it, lol. An example of an unrealistic goal for myself is working towards not looking hilarious while I'm trying to do hip thrusts along with the beat. I keep going though because it's fun and I'm sure that I make the other participants feel better about themselves ;)

Set a little goal today and also decide what your reward will be once you achieve it. I think that my reward for my next 5 pounds will be....hmmm? I really don't know. Let me think for a minute on that.

Have a great day!

Day 9- Exercise

We all know that we need a combination of eating healthier and exercise to help us get to our goal. I have never been great at exercising, ever. I've gone years without really doing it before. For some reason I can't motivate myself to exercise at home pretty much AT ALL. I have friends that are great at it (Andrea I'm talking to you), but I've got to leave the house to do anything. About three weeks ago I joined the local Recreation Center and I really like it. As you can see from yesterday I have my exercise planned out daily and I'm to the point where I don't have a hard time getting up early anymore. The only thing that would be nicer is if I had someone to go with or meet me there. I don't love being a loner, but that's okay for now. If you're not sold on exercising here are a few reason why you should do it:

*Helps you stick to your diet
*Helps control appetite
*Boosts mood and soothes stress
*Burns calories
*Preserves muscle tissue
*Builds confidence
*Makes you feel better physically
*Prevents disease

As well as my morning gym trip I need to be spontaneous with my exercise through the day. We've all heard that we should park further away and walk or take the stairs instead of the elevator. That kind of thinking. Today I'm going to be more conscious of ways that I can get more exercise during the day. Maybe I should sit on my exercise ball while I'm at the computer :)

If anyone's reading tell me what you do for exercise. I thought that I'd try running, but maybe I'll wait a bit. Sometimes we run laps during our workout on Tuesdays and I hate every second of it, lol. Hope you get some exercise today and have a great day! See you tomorrow.

Day 8- Create Time & Energy

Today's focus is on the time and effort that it takes to make the changes to start eating right, exercising, etc. There needs to be thought put into planning meals, time for exercise, shopping for healthy food and all of the energy that goes into living a healthier lifestyle.

Everyone has a different amount of time that they can spend. I'm blessed to be able to take care of the girls and I feel like at times I'm really busy, but there's always some time that I can use to think about what I want to do for dinner, how many points I'm going to use for each meal and everything else that I need to do to make the day the best that I can. The book has some great ideas for creating time for people that seem to have no time.

Today's task is to create a calendar to schedule my dieting. The examples in the book are pretty detailed, but I chose to keep it simple. If I want to add to it later there's definitely room to do that (click on the pic if you want to be able to read it).

If I get up and head to the gym first thing, that gets me off to a great start for the day (I noticed that over the weekend I didn't exercise and it was much harder to eat healthy). I have realized that if I'm going to cut back A LOT on my eating that when I do eat I don't want to feel like I'm dieting. I want to be able to sit down with my family and to eat what they're eating. I don't want to "diet." I want to be making lifestyle changes. So I've been a little more obsessed with finding yummy, healthy recipes lately and it's been fun. If I plan early in the day what we're going to eat for dinner I have time to calculate the points and I don't let myself get to dinner time without a plan. Last night I was without a plan. I was at the grocery store later than I should have been (mainly because I had two unhappy kids with me) and so I grabbed a pizza. I didn't end up eating pizza, but by me eating something different it defeated the whole purpose for me. So today dinner is planned already :) Here's a big pot of brown rice that go with tonight's *Chicken Curry (not the whole pot, but I thought I'd cook the whole back and freeze some).


I feel like I'm really getting it when it comes to sitting, and I've gotten pretty good at shooting down my sabotaging thoughts so far. I didn't eat with a smaller plate yesterday (I think that I used a bowl for every meal), but today I'm breaking out the salad plates (thanks Holly). Yesterday was a good day. I even went for ice cream with the family and got some sugar free yogurt that I ate two thirds of and threw away the rest (not something I would have done before).

Hope you're doing great! Let me know. Here's to a great planned out day!

If you saw the Bountiful Baskets on my calendar and don't know what it is definitely check it out here and see if they have a pick-up location near you. You get a whole basket of veggies, and a basket of fruit for only $16.50. It's awesome! Definitely worth trying out.

*This recipe is so yummy, but we have to cut WAY back on the cayenne pepper so that our mouths aren't on fire.

Update- Afterthought: Maybe cooking the whole bag of brown rice was going bit overboard, lol.

Day 7- Arranging My Environment

As you can see from the title today is about arranging the things around me to make dieting easier. This is something that I've figured out for myself in the past. I just can't have yummy things sitting around for me to grab or even think about grabbing. It suggests to have things on a high shelf, or in the freezer has worked for me so far. I haven't bought too many treats, but they're still there and available sometimes for the kids and Corey. The thing to think about is that everyone in your family doesn't have to be on your diet with you. I try and buy snacks and treats for the kids that I'm not tempted by. It's also nice to have a husband that's willing with quickly take the temptation away by snarfing it down at my request, lol. Another thing that I've thought about before that it also suggests is to use a smaller plate. At dinner even though I've calculated my points I still have my big plate full. I'll try and use a smaller one tonight.

At the risk of sounding crazy I'm going to tell you what I was mindfully thinking last night at dinner. I had been fasting all day and ended up making spaghetti for dinner. I made sure that everyone was taken care of before I even thought about taking a bite. Then as I was eating (don't worry this only lasted a minute, lol) I was talking to my food in my mind saying "Man you are so good, but this is all I'm going to eat of you because I'm not eating you because I love to eat, because I need to eat." I admit it's a little weird, but it was working, lol. I wasn't even tempted to grab more because I ate slowly too.

Okay so I guess that's all for today :) Take a look around and see if you can't change things in your environment today to help you achieve your goals. Have a great day!

Day 7 Postponed Until Tomorrow

Don't worry, I'm not taking the day off! Sundays are just too busy to focus on something new. Since today is fast Sunday I'm doing awesome :) When I do eat dinner though I'll be sitting, eating slowly, mindfully, and then skyping with my coach later.

See you tomorrow :)

Day 6- Get a Coach

I wish:

I admit that I skimmed a little ahead just to see what was coming and this requirement had me stumped for some reason. I wanted someone that I didn't feel like I was imposing on and that wouldn't get sick of hearing talk about weight/dieting, lol. Though I have great friends I was hesitant to label anyone as my "coach." That's why it finally hit me this morning that my coach needs to be, drumb roll please:

She wants me to achieve my goals as much as I do and she's also working towards being healthier. She lives a few states away, but I can call her anytime and we can skype whenever needed. She doesn't know she's my coach yet, but I'm sure that she'll be happy to take on the roll. As my coach she'll help me stay motivated, help me solve problems, built my self confidence, and KEEP ME ACCOUNTABLE. I think she's very qualified. I think that she's also going to start her 42 days so maybe I can be her coach too.

So let's talk about yesterday. Man was it HARD to eat slowly and mindfully! This is something that's going to take some time, but I can understand the importance so I'm really going to work at it. There is almost too much going on at dinner time to eat mindfully, but if I can start out with eating slowly that will help me to not want to grab seconds (even though I've told myself that isn't an option).

Grace had a friend over and they really love to craft and make treats together. She hasn't been over for quite a while so I thought that I could test myself by letting them make cookies together. Man am I weak when it comes to any baked goods! First I calculated how many points a cookie would be to see if I could fit it in. I had already figured out how many points I was going to eat for dinner. The only problem with me eating something bad is that I can't stop at one. I ended up taking a cookie and quickly sitting down, lol, just so I wouldn't break that "rule" and quickly (not slowly) eating it. Then later I had another standing, ugh. So needless to say yesterday wasn't perfect, but I did record every point that I consumed and I still ate within my points at dinner.

Here's to today being better than yesterday! Hope you're doing great.

Side note: I sent half of the cookies home with Grace's friend and whenever I even think about eating one now I picture biting down on it and it being moldy. Gross I know, but it's working ;) What works for you?

Day 5- Eat Slowly & Mindfully

Jennifer you had the perfect timing with your comment yesterday :) Thank you for joining me and for your advice. Today I will eat slowly and mindfully not letting myself get distracted and enjoy every bite. Sounds simple enough, but it's really NOT, lol. This what I do while I'm eating:

I have never really thought about it before, but I have a hard time just sitting and eating without playing with my phone, on the computer, newspaper, or read anything else that laying around (and there's always something laying around). Here's why it's important for me to ditch the distractions:

*When you eat slowly your brain has time to register that you're full.
*When you notice and enjoy every mouthful you feel more satisfied when the food is gone.

So I tried it this morning with my Wheaties and bananas. It felt really weird without something else to do, but it was good and I think that it will really help me when I'm eating dinner. Obviously I'm going to be distracted by the kids in some way (distracted sounds like the wrong word, but you know what I mean) but I'm going to still try and be focussed on taking breaks in my eating and just take my time.

Last night is probably a good example of when I should have been practicing this. My little brother came over to do laundry and was still around at dinner time. I made sure that everyone was taken care of before I measured out my portions and started to eat. I was so focussed on chatting that I just shoveled the food in and then I was still talking and sitting at the table when my plate was empty so it just seemed like I should get more food. Without really thinking too much I scooped up more and continued on. It was mostly broccoli that I was scooping up, but still it wasn't food that I originally planned on having.

Eat slowly and mindfully with me today :) Let me know how it goes. Speaking of eating here are some yummy and point friendly things that I've been making this week:

Tandoori Chicken
Garlic Balsamic Asparagas
Chinese Chicken and Broccoli

I am most definitely going to try these soon too. I love that they're baked!

PS. My friend Andrea and I weigh and measure ourselves every Friday morning. I'm happy to report that I am officially down 3.1 pounds!!

Day 4- Give Myself Credit

Today is about giving myself credit for all of the positive things that I do to help me move closer to my goal. This is how my life had gone up until now:

1. Wake up and get out of bed excited to lose weight and be healthy.
2. Eat a healthy breakfast and think about how good I am.
3. Eat a healthy lunch and envision myself thin.
4. Afternoon comes and I stop caring as much.
5. Come across some junk food that screams out to me.
6. Eat it.
7. Get frustrated with myself, but think about how much I enjoyed the junk.
8. Decided that I'll eat bad for the rest of the day and start again tomorrow.

So a big thing for me will be to not get down on myself when I do mess up a little and just continue instead of wanting to quite. Whenever I sit down to eat, resist food that I didn't plan on eating, or whatever it is that I do I'm going to give myself credit. By telling myself what a great job I'm doing I'll give myself more confidence to succeed (mind you I'm not going to be cheering myself on out loud, lol).

She suggests having a credit account. Whenever I do something good, put money in a jar or do something that over time I'll be able to cash in on all my success.

I haven't decided what to do yet for my credit account. If you have any great ideas let me know.

Yesterday went really well with making sure that I'm always sitting when I eat. It really made me focus on those three meals and it also helped me be better and blessing my food (which I got in a bad habit of only really doing at dinner or whenever everyone was at the table). I do have to admit that I was clearing the table and was talking Corey and wasn't even thinking when I grabbed some asparagas and started munching on it. I realized what I had done and stopped. Good thing it was asparagas, lol.

So today, give yourself credit for everything you do, or don't do that's positive!

Have a great day!

Day 3- Sit down!

picture found here

Today is introducing the concept of sitting! Something that I'd never thought about, but it really is making sense to me. Whenever I eat I have to be sitting. It's going to help me focus on what and when I eat (every calorie counts) instead of mindless snacking. Here are a few examples that she gave of eating while standing:

-samples at the grocery store.
-tasting food while preparing meals.
-taking a piece of candy or pretzel as your walking through the kitchen.

I'm sure that I've inhaled quite a few calories without even thinking about it. I munch on everything all of the time, so here I am sitting. Now I just need some food, lol.

My point counting is going great and at this point I really haven't needed to read my Advantages Response cards much. My sabotaging thoughts haven't been too strong yet either. I just have to not give myself time to even consider the wrong choice. This morning I bought Kate a doughnut while running errands. As we were driving home she said "Here Mom," and handed me half of the doughnut. Normally I would have been happy that she didn't want the whole thing and quickly eaten it. Instead I took it and wrapped it in a napkin so that I wasn't looking at it while I drove home. Then as soon as I got home I took it straight to the dumpster. Better there than in me right?!

Let's talk about salad for one second. I LOVE salad! I love salad with cheese, ham, RANCH, and all other not so great toppings (along with the good ones). So when I think about dieting I usually pictures eating bland salads all of the time and I just can't stomach it, lol. So my little trick that works for me is cottage cheese. When I put cottage cheese on my salad along with everything else it really gives it that creaminess that I like and I don't feel deprived. Try it if you feel the same about salad as I do.

The cottage cheese is hiding under the other yummy toppings :)

Okay well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow. Look at the side bar for my quote of the day (I heard it this morning on a Golds Gym commercial on the radio). Simple but good.

Day 2- Choosing a Diet

I was pleasantly surprised how well day one went. Isn't that how it always goes at the beginning though, lol. I didn't have any bad thoughts and while fasting I didn't even feel hungry until around 5:00.

This morning I went to a 5:30 am boot camp at the gym. It lasted only 30 minutes but boy was that a long 30 minutes. It's nice to get home from exercising when it's still dark out and everyone's still nice and snug in bed. I love the quiet time.

Today is all about choosing my diet. She says in the book to choose two diets. It's good to have a back up diet in case the first one isn't going well. Instead of just giving up being able to switch over to the other one that's set in place.

Last year I lost about 20 pounds by going to Weight Watcher meetings. I quit and gained it all back. I really love the WW system (all foods have point values) and even though I'm not going to meetings or going to do the program online I still have all of the tools that I need. I'm going to start counting and tracking my points today and for my backup diet I'm going to just count calories (something else that's worked well in the past).

This morning I ate a 7 point breakfast which I tracked on my iphone. Now I'm off to read my Advantages Response cards!

Have a great healthy day!

Day 1

Okay, so I'm not great on video, lol. What i meant by the 42 days was that this book takes you through a six week process to change the way you think about food and dieting. If you're reading this I hope that you'll stay and check in on me from time to time. I really want to do this and succeed at this and I'd love any and all company.

Today is about focussing on why I want to lose weight. I am supposed to make Advantages Response Cards that I will read at least two times a day to remind me of my purpose.

DONE!


They're not much to look at, but they'll do the job. I have one set in my back pocket and another on the fridge:

It sits next to a cute girl that's telling me to "think about it," lol.

I also decided to start this process off by fasting (just breakfast and lunch). I need every bit of help that I can get.

I hope to see you tomorrow :) Grab a book and join me if you'd like!