6 Words you don't want to hear when you are trying to lose weight...

You know the 6 words I'm talking about... "Oh, you can have just one!"  Yes, that's what I have heard a few times this past holiday weekend.  Well what is the correct response to that? In the past I would actually believe that "Just one wouldn't hurt''. But it wasn't until just a few months ago that I realized, my problem was that I couldn't have JUST one. This is what made Weight Watchers a complete failure to me. I would purchase their snacks (which in their credit are DELICIOUS) and the box would say 1 point.. YIPEEE!!! I can have 4 of em, because I have 4 points left for the day. And I actually bought into that! Weight Watchers gave me permission (via points) to over indulge!

I am sure there are many people who can have just one without blowing their plan to hell.. I'm just not one of them and that is one of the things I have to work on. I am starting to wonder if I will ever be able to have "just one" ............  PORTION CONTROL.  That's my task and what I have to learn for long term health!  

I think one of the reasons I never realized what addiction to food was all about for me was because I was always a good weight all my life. I just happened to move to an area where there was hardly anything to do, I didn't know anyone and I didn't get out much at all. Those factors along with my age worked against me to bring me to this place I had never been before and forced me to take a look at the eating habits I didn't just develop with the weight I gained, but the eating habits I have had all my life and just got LUCKY they didn't hurt me early on!  So even when I only weighed 110 lbs, I was not taking care of myself, my metabolism was protecting my weight, but psychologically I was learning bad habits!  I also developed NES at a young age, but it really was never a "problem" until the last few years along with the weight.. (so I thought). 

I might be just 13 lbs away from my goal, but I have a lot of work to do in order to correct all of these habit's I have formed over the last 40+ years. It's going to be a long journey but I am committed to learning LONG term health and fitness for myself and my family.

Happy Memorial, don't forget to thank our service men and women!

It's easy to get caught up in the sunshine, the barbeque's, and of course the kickoff of the summer fun, but don't forget what today really is about; the men and women who have died in defense of this great country.  

Day is done...
Gone the sun
From the lake...
From the hills...
From the sky.
All is well...
Safely rest
God is nigh.

Fading light....
Dims the sight
And a star....
Gems the sky....
Gleaming bright
From afar....
Drawing nigh
Falls the night.

Thank you to all the men and women who sacrifice themselves for us!

Very Frustrated

Yesterday was my 20th weigh in with Jenny Craig. For the most part I have been happy with the 25 pounds I have lost so far. (average of a little over a pound a week). And I know that I have heard the slow losers tend to keep the weight off when they lose it, let's hope that's true!  This past week I didn't lose anything. In fact the scale didn't even budge. The frustrating part is that I really worked my tail off. I did a total of 6 hours at the gym and did not go off plan at all despite my very strong PRE TOM chocolate cravings, to which I did not cave!  A while ago I had made a couple of plan b lists to help get over these stalled weeks.  The first to go will be the Pasta and potatoes. I will cut out any and all Jenny food which contains Pasta and/or Potatoes for this next week. That is my plan for THIS week. If I still do not show a loss next week the next to go will be all my sugary jenny snacks. I will replace those with fresh cut veggies and fruit. So with those two backup plan's I have got to show a loss!! RIGHT?? 

One think I am really proud of no matter what, is that I have progressed at the gym. I use to be completely exhausted at even thinking of 30 minutes on that treadmill. I would tire myself out in the first 5 to 10 minutes and really struggle the entire 30 minutes. NOW that I have discovered interval training, an hour is actually easy for me and I've even managed to do 90 minutes on a couple of days!  Now I'm still not running, just doing the power-walking, but I am burning about 300-400 calories PER workout so I think that is awesome. I don't expect to get up past the 4.0 speed as I am just not a runner and I have bad shin splints.  

I have one more goal for this week and I pay the weather cooperates!  With the prices of gas and the need to get out in the nice weather this coming summer, I plan to start leaving my car home one day per week.  I live in a small town which provides the basics;  Post Office, Bank, Grocery Store, convenience store and my gym is about 1 mile away. One day per week (I will pick the first nice day of each week) I will NOT get in my car at all and I will walk to do my errands to the bank and the post office and the gym! That should give me approximately 2 extra miles of walking per week! Not only that I will be saving gas which is pretty good right now due to the rising gas prices!   

One more thing I am going to do. I am going to start sitting down each night and looking even MORE closely to what I am eating every day at the end of each day.  I imput my foods into Body Media which I sync my armband to which measures my caloric intake/burn and deficit.  In order to lose 2 lbs per week, my goal is 1000 calorie deficit per day, which is tough.. most weeks I average about 800-900 which comes to over 1 pound per week.  I can also run reports daily or weekly to see what my calorie intake looks like all broken down by nutrients; fat, calories, protein, carbs, etc.  So here is a snap shot of LAST week's intake.

In looking back over past week's, my fat intake was actually much lower and between 8-11% which can tell me something significant. Also the Sodium content is a bit higher than normal and probably not a good time right before TOM!  So right there I can see two things I can do to improve for this week. Lower my fat intake and sodium intake.

Look how HAPPY she looks, to me that is a winner!

So who do you think will win tonight on the finale of The Biggest Loser?  My money is on Irene but somehow I am thinking no one is going to be disappointed as they all look amazing and I believe Hannah and Olivia both met their goal weight while on the ranch so that's already a win in their minds!    I will "Weigh In" with my thoughts tomorrow on the finale episode. I've been looking forward to this all week!

End of the World?

Ok, I will eat this instead of the Big Mac!

What a great excuse that would be to get my ass to a McDonalds right NOW and get me a couple of Big Mac's, I mean why deprive myself when the world is going to end right?   And should I bother going for that workout today at the gym? What if I went and just looked at it as a last chance workout? Oh the possibilities. I'm also crunched for time if I want to get out there and max out my credit cards, then when the world does NOT end, I will just write my creditors:

Dear Creditor,
I cannot be held libel for the charges incurred within the 24 hour window of the world ending on 5/21/2011, as I, along with the rest of the world needed to prepare myself and my family for the end. Therefore, I request a full debt forgiveness, which would in turn guarantee you and your company a seat on the shuttle to the heavenly gates.  

Sincerely, 

Linda Walker

With all kidding aside, I am going to live today like it was my last anyway. But I am going to do it healthy and If I go out, I will go out healthy!

I just signed up for this really neat group called BlogToLose. It appears as though it's a community of people just like me on a quest for weight loss, health and long-term fitness goals!  Check it out here: http://www.blogtolose.com/ It is like a Facebook for fatties (just kidding) I need all the support I can get. I focus better with support!

I plan to hit the gym today for 2 hours, I will break it up into 2 sessions, one in the afternoon and one after dinner. :)  I'm doubling up every other day.  I also have a shopping list and plan to hit the grocery stores today in search of all the ingredients I need to make some incredibly good and healthy meals this week as I am planning on doing a few meals on my own off Jenny Craig!!  I have to start sometime and there's no time like the present. I have armed myself with a recipe collection of over 200 meals I found just scouring the internet.  I look forward to sharing each recipe with you as I go along, Assuming of course the world still exists as we know it.

UGH, Here Comes TOM

Almost like clockwork when I am feeling a bit defeated, beat down, or frustrated at this journey, there it comes .. Enter TOM!  I didn't think about it much when I went back to bed after literally forcing myself to the gym yesterday morning, and I didn't think about it when I snapped at my daughter and my husband all in a matter of 5 minutes. I didn't even think about it when I burst out crying because every time I tried to work the phone rang! So what made me alert to the fact that TOM was coming... just 5 minutes after eating a great dinner (describe later) there it hit me like a TON of bricks..that all familiar, intense, mind blowing CHOCOLATE craving. Now last month I had prepared, I bought a bag of Hershey's kisses and decided that I would take 5 from the bag and put them aside for that TOM. I did just that.  This month, I was totally off guard. Silly me, was I thinking maybe he would skip over me this month? Did I think all my efforts were worth such a small reward as to just not have TOM visit this month? Anyway, when I say craving.. I mean full, outright, teeth clenching, jaw locking, white knuckling craving! I just knew that ONE Hershey's Kiss was NOT going to be enough. So I decided that I would wait and see how I felt in 10 minute interval's. That first 10 minutes was the longest 10 minutes of my life, but I didn't cave, by the 2nd 10 minute waiting period, my heart had stopped racing and I thought..hmm, I think I'll wait another 10 minutes.  Wow.. it actually worked.  FOR ABOUT 1 hour!  I decided to take a break from thinking about it and called my mom. I told her what was running around in my head and her response (mind you she's a Jenny Craig Maintenance GURU) was "Well, just have a small piece of chcolate or a few M&M's"  REALLY? Why didn't I think of that? Oh, that's right, because I cannot have just ONE piece of chocolate or just 5 little, itty, bitty M&M's!  So that phone call went well.  I then decided to jump on here and just blog about this craving.  I know if I can just get through this one day, it will be easier tomorrow. HA!

Flash forward to this morning (TGIF). Well, I did it and believe me this is a huge accomplishment! Now mind you that last night I debated the chocolate craving so late that any store around me was closed anyway. I'm not going to think about how far I would have traveled for that chocolate, had I given in!  I actually feel really good for this small accomplishment. I am curious as to what research says is the reason why us women crave like this during TOM?  

In honor of mine and every woman's chocolate cravings but without the guilt, I give you some of these recipe's I found online this morning, I will be armed and ready for the next craving! 

Chocolate Nut Bark -  Wow, this is better than one of those 100 calorie snack packs!

Yields: 3 dozen 1 1/2-inch pieces

Wow, only 74 Calories!!

Total Time: 35 min

Prep Time: 10 min

Ingredients

• 2 cup(s) semisweet, bittersweet, or milk chocolate chips, melted (see Tips & Techniques)
• 1 1/2 cup(s) assorted nuts, such as hazelnuts, almonds, and cashews, plus more for garnish

---

Directions

1. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. (Take care to avoid wrinkles.) Combine melted chocolate and nuts in a medium bowl. Scrape the mixture onto the foil and spread it into an approximate 12-by-9-inch rectangle. Sprinkle with additional finely chopped nuts, if desired. Refrigerate until set, about 20 minutes.
2. Transfer the bark and foil to a cutting board. Use a sharp knife to cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces.

---

Tips & Techniques

To melt chocolate, microwave on Medium for 1 minute. Stir, then continue microwaving on Medium, stirring every 20 seconds, until melted. Or place chocolate in the top of a double boiler over hot, but not boiling, water. Stir until melted.

Nutritional Information
(Per serving)
Calories - 74
Total Fat 5 g
Saturated fat 2g
Cholesterol --
Sodium 1 mg
Total Carbohydrate- --
Dietary Fiber 1g
Sugars --

Protein - 1g
Calcium --

----------------------------------------------------------------

Boot Tracks
Serves 10
Total Minutes - 30

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup(s) salted butter
• 2/3 cup(s) granulated sugar
• 2  large eggs
• 1 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract
• 1 cup(s) whole-wheat pastry flour
• 6 tablespoon(s) cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoon(s) canola oil
• 1/2 teaspoon(s) espresso powder, (optional)
• Confectioner's sugar, for dusting

Instructions

1. Preheat a nonstick (not Belgian) waffle iron.
2. Cream butter and sugar in a medium bowl. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Add flour, cocoa powder, oil and espresso powder (if using). Beat until thoroughly combined.
3. Drop the batter by rounded teaspoonfuls about 1 inch apart onto the preheated ungreased waffle iron. (To avoid burnt fingers, use two spoons, one to scoop and one to scrape dough onto the waffle iron.) Close and cook until the cookies are puffed and cooked through, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Waffle irons vary, so watch closely and don't let the cookies get too dark. Transfer to a wire rack to cool until just warm. Dust the cookies with confectioners sugar while still slightly warm (see Variations). Variations: Instead of confectioners sugar, drizzle cooled cookies with melted bittersweet and/or white chocolate. Or make a peppermint drizzle: Mix 1 cup confectioners sugar, 4 teaspoons water and 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract; add natural green food coloring, if desired.

Nutritional Information

Calories 63 Total Fat 4g Saturated Fat 2g Cholesterol 18mg Sodium 22mg Total Carbohydrate 7g Dietary Fiber -- Sugars -- Protein 1g Calcium 0

Happy Wednesday!

Out of site out of mind?   No, not really. I have not had a chance to blog in a while but not because I have fallen off the wagon!  Last week's weight loss was just a half a pound and this week was 1 pound. But I'm not discouraged at all because I have lost INCHES. I usually give my measurements to my JCC once per month and she tells me the inches lost and I cannot believe how much smaller my waist is getting. In fact, It really is good to shave my legs in the shower without having to hold on, it's also great to see my freshly painted toe nails just from looking down! It's been such a long time!


I have been making the gym faithfully for an hour each time for 3 days and one day off. I am rotating weeks and changing up each workout. 


I am also happy to report the NES seems to be some-what under control. I have been saving my one late night snack and keeping it on the kitchen counter with a mind set that if I wake up to eat, that is what I will grab. It seems to be working. There were even 2 whole nights last week where I didn't get out of bed. I am allowing myself to wake up enough to make a decision on whether or not I am actually hungry or not.  I'm still locking up my cabinets and my refrigerator, my goal is to be able to not have to do that for this summer. I have another sleep trial coming up next month and I am hoping that will make yet another difference. I have also been reading 1 hour before bed and I make it something good. I am reading about 3 books and all seem to be helping to keep me motivated towards my goal. Yesterday was the first time I actually stopped and thought... OMG.. I only have 11 lbs to my goal.  My Jenny Goal is 120, however after talking with my doctor the actual health zone I decided to shoot for was 110-115. I have made an affirmation to have a 5 pound cushion. So at the end of this rainbow I will have lost a total of 50 pounds!  Which brings me to the next topic..  My plan is to condition my mind to keep the weight off. I am already beginning to think of how I will maintain and keep that weight off because i don't plan to ever let my eating get control again! So here is a part of my plan...

Last night on the Biggest Loser one of their challenges was to hit goals carrying the equal amount of weight they weighed throughout the various weeks of being on the BL Ranch. So, again at the end of my journey I will have lost 50 pounds. When I reach my goal I plan to do a similar exercise once a month to keep me IN CHECK. I have not worked out the details yet but I will! I think it's always a good idea whenever you make a lifestyle change like that to always stay reminded of what it was like before you made the change.  
That seemed to be the theme last night on the show as they prepare for the finale episode next Tuesday Night. Another thing they did last night was to each sit down and listen to a DVD message they had recorded for themselves back when they started their weight loss journey. What a great idea!! I wish I had the vision to have done this 4 months ago, but I'm actually going to do this now so that I have something to look back on and remind me of how far I have come and why I don't want to go back.
I know you are all wondering if I voted for Ken or Irene for the one to come back to join Hannah and Olivia... well you will have to wait because I have not made up my mind yet. Voting can be done at www.nbc.com   


I LOVE Wednesday's as much as I love Tuesday Nights. Time to get moving and begin my day at the gym and I might even work in 2 workout's for the day! 


Never give up and never forget where you started and how you felt in that moment when you began to change your life!

Happy Mothers Day

I hope everyone had a great mothers day. I know I did. I indeed was not good with my diet, but I'm not going to sweat it. We went out for Japanese Hibachi and wow was it good! I had a HUGE plate of hibachi vegetables, shrimp, lobster and scallops. I passed on the noodles and the rice and I only ate about half a portion of the seafood. I estimated I ate about 600 calories but that includes the oil they cooked with..............But.. that's not all. I just could NOT help myself and was too curious so I had to order... FRIED Bananas. I know..just that word "FRIED" gives me a stomach ache and bad case of the guilt's..BUT it's done and over with I just pick up and go on.  This was a planned slip so be it!

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!

POP CORN FRENZY!

Because I have NES I plan my meals later than the normal, average person. My day consists of a small breakfast around 10:00 AM,  piece of fruit at Noon, Lunch at 2:00, small snack at 4:00  Soup and veggies at 6:00 and 8pm is my dinner time. I will then have my other two left over snacks between 10pm and bed time which is usually 12:30-1:00 AM.  If I stick to this schedule, then my NES seems to stay in control. In fact in the past week, It has gotten remarkably better and I am hoping I am turning a corner.  What I think really saves me the most are my nighttime snack choices.  I love Jenny Craig snacks, however I have found I can have my own snacks too and even cut down on the calories for the days I am approaching my limit quicker.  I tend to watch my day-time caloric intake in anticipation of these snacks at night. 

I LOVE movie pop-corn, in fact, it's NOT unlike me to go see a movie I'm not really into JUST to get that big bag of buttery pop-corn. I was always under the impression that Pop-corn was OK.. I sure didn't prepare myself for what I learned in my first week on Jenny Craig.   POP CORN AT THE MOVIES is a BIG NO-NO!!  Take a look at this from myfitnesspal.com 

Wow that's a lot of calories! I can have a T-Bone Steak for most of these and 2 BIG Mac's for the AMC Theater pop-corn! Who knew different movie theater's had different pop-corn, they all taste the same to me. What I found out was that not only was it the brand, but it was HOW they popped it! Interesting and yet very alarming.  So I went on a search for pop-corn I could eat.  And the WINNER IS...----->  Jolly Time Healthy Pop. Each bag has 5 cups at 20 calories per cup!  I never even finish a bag! 100 calories per bag, 97% fat free and if you are doing Weight Watchers it's only 1 point.  Side note about looking at the label's on popcorn. They all seem to give you the nutritional value in two column's so you have to pay attention to the serving sizes and then each column. The first column shows you the values for un-popped, just the kernel's. The second column is the one you want to pay attention to, unless of course you just open the bag and want to eat the kernel's  (I don't get it either!)

Now you might be asking, ok, that solves the pop-corn dilemma but What about the butter. Well, "I GOT THIS." 

This spray is a MUST have for anyone who is watching their weight.  ZERO calories (2-3 sprays) and ZERO Fat.  How can you not love this?  Plus if you spray the pop-corn right after it's popped, you will get the full movie theater pop-corn experience. I PROMISE!
If you are going to the movies, the one gallon zip lock bags are perfect for this. Just pop the microwaveable pop-corn bag in the microwave, remove, place in the one gallon zip lock bag and spray with your "I can't Believe It's Not Butter",  stick it in your bag or under your coat.  Though the last time I was at the movies a few weeks ago, I hadn't thought of this idea, however, I did see someone in line with their own pop-corn in tow and no one said anything to her. (still think it's a good idea to hide it though, just in case)
Did I mention the savings? The last time I went to the movies it cost more for the small bag of pop-corn and soda than it did the admission ticket!

Let's see what's playing at: http://www.movies.com/new-releases

A Hop, Skip & a Jump Away..

 16.5 POUNDS UNTIL GOAL! 

I can see my card getting burnt up at Victoria Secrets and Macy's already!

Today was my weigh in and I lost one pound! Don't get me wrong I'm happy with the one pound loss but I thought I had felt like I did better? I did have a few days where I just couldn't get to the gym due to the flooding and roads closed, however I still tried to stay fairly active! Oh well, I think it's fair to say many or even all of us have weeks where we just feel like we did better than the scale says we did! 

I have been reading a lot about nutrition and dieting. I'm finding that not only is it helpful to me, but it's actually interesting. All this week I was pretty happy with myself because I had not one single day where I hit the 1200 calorie limit.. NOT ONE DAY!  My JC consultant surprised me a little and told me that it was OK to go a little over but try not to go UNDER?  What?? Does that translate to eat more?  "Yes she said but more of the smarter choices, it doesn't mean to go have a big fat juicy burger from McDonald's. DRATS!!, I got excited for a moment.  Her reasoning made sense and what I found out confirms this, but if we are MOVING more but eating the same or less, our bodies begin to get confused on what to store. In other words our bodies not think we are starving ourselves. I told her I wasn't feeling particularly hungry but she still wants me to get as close to that 1200 as possible.  I think I will just add a piece of fruit to the end of my day and perhaps I will just increase my veggie intake per meal and I think that should even everything out. My average for last week for calories consumed was 1140 so that does give me a little wiggle room. She also told me it was OK if I was under now and again but try not to get below 100 calories under.

This morning as I was heading to my car I noticed a young girl outside on her porch jumping rope. 20 years ago that would not have been something I noticed, but today with technology such as cell phones, ipod's, computers, the internet, it's rare to see kids outside playing anymore. It's no wonder the obesity rate is up among young kids! I love to jump rope and I started adding it to my work out. I can get up to 10 minutes jumping rope which I think is pretty good!  NOW if I can get my hands on a Hula Hoop... LOOK OUT! Oh what about some roller-skates or roller-blades? Or... I got it.. HOP SCOTCH!  Who doesn't remember hop scotch out in their driveway or getting upset when dad pulled in the driveway and covered your hop scotch board!?  Sort of reminds me of a saying I learned very early on "KISS"   KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID.  From now on if I can't find my way to the gym, I'm going to try and do ONE of those activities.  I have a young niece I can scoop up to help me get back to basics, if, I can get her away from the Wii, that is!