tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-164809232024-02-07T12:03:08.799-08:00HamhocksYou know it's bad when your thighs have a nickname...MChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03740871776169412730noreply@blogger.comBlogger56125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16480923.post-43307119768231003242011-07-22T02:16:00.001-07:002011-07-22T02:16:05.520-07:00Relocation...<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">After doing a pretty poor job of maintaining four different blogs, I have decided to migrate them all over to Wordpress to become one blog. I only chose Wordpress because it is super easy to migrate multiple Blogger blogs over into one Wordpress blog, whereas I would have had to cut and past each individual post from each blog into a new Blogger blog. Therefore, I decided to jump ship.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Anyway, you can find any and all new ramblings of mine at <a href="http://therichgirlpoorgirlblog.wordpress.com/">therichgirlpoorgirlblog.wordpress.com</a>. This will be a combination of my general blog (Rich Girl, Poor Girl), my health and fitness blog (Hamhocks), my now-defunct food blog (Chicken, Again?), and my very briefly maintained "mommy blog" (Mountain [Step]Mama). In time, if I maintain more of a blogging presence, I might just look into paying for my own domain, but for now, this is where I will be. Hope to see you there!</div>MChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03740871776169412730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16480923.post-51692960940805604862011-07-08T07:21:00.001-07:002011-07-08T07:21:30.805-07:00Where did I go? And pondering a lifestyle change...I reached 66 pounds of weight loss a few weeks ago...and promptly fell off the wagon. We have had some stress, and I am finding myself falling into my old emotional eating ways. I have even skipped two weeks of Weight Watchers meetings, which is a recipe for trouble. However, I have written next week's meeting into my calendar, and I have started using the Weight Watchers eTools as a way to give myself further accountability. I know I can get back on track, but to be honest, for a brief amount of time, I didn't really want to. I was taking a LOT of "comfort" (as brief as it was) from food. Now, I have the desire to get back on track, so I will start working toward that.<br /><br />Sort of related is a change I am thinking of making with my lifestyle. I have spoken before about my desire to buy only humanely-raised animal products for my diet. Well, I am seriously considering going a step further with that and becoming what can be referred to as a pesco-ova-lacto vegetarian or more simply, a pescetarian. This would mean I would eat dairy, eggs, and fish, but I would no longer eat beef, pork, or poultry. I would still have to cook these things, as there is NO WAY my husband would make this change with me, but I would at least like to try this out and see how it goes. I am currently in the information-gathering stage, so I will keep you posted!<br /><br /><br />- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad<br />MChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03740871776169412730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16480923.post-69364373003136979152011-05-18T10:50:00.000-07:002011-05-18T10:50:45.186-07:00On and off...and on again...My Dashboard tells me that I last posted to this here blog back at the beginning of February. So...oops? The good news is that this lack of posting does not mean that I have fallen off that proverbial diet wagon and undone all the good work I have done. If you look at that ticker at the top of my page, you will see that I am currently at 62 pounds lost, which had my weight at my Weight Watchers weigh-in today at an even 213 pounds. The lowest I have been recently was 212.2 pounds, which was at the weigh-in four weeks ago, but the Easter/Vacay/Birthday Debacle of 2011 occurred a week later, so I am still getting back on track from that.<br />
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Easter was on April 24th this year, and I was, as usual, working. However, <a href="http://alissadoesp90x.blogspot.com/">my sister</a> was in town for the weekend, and my family was kind enough to have dinner Saturday night so that I could join in. We had ham and wine...at least, that's what I remember. I got out of work a few hours early, and we had a nice family night together (although my husband was only able to make it briefly, due to his family plans). And that Easter dinner (EXCESS!) was just a harbinger of things to come as the week went on.<br />
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I left that Tuesday to head up to West Hartford to spend a couple of days with my sister. We had an awesome time, as we always do when we are together, and a lot of the trip revolved around food in some form. We went the first night I was there to a <a href="http://www.uncorkedct.com/">wine bar</a>, where I enjoyed, um, wine, along with some yummy food. We started off with an olive plate, sopressata, and La Tur cheese, which I followed with a baby spinach salad, and my entree was Cider-Braised Berkshire Pork that was AMAZING. The second night I was there, we went to <a href="http://www.billygrant.com/grants.html">a local restaurant</a> that my sister loves, where I had more wine (SHOCKER!), along with a fun version of a bleu cheese wedge salad, roasted free-range chicken, and a dessert called Lemon Trio that involved Meyer lemon cheesecake, a lemon pudding cake, and lemon curd ice cream. We also did some grocery shopping while I was there so that I could hit up Stew Leonard's and Whole Foods, which are two grocery stores that I LOVE that I don't have near me. And in keeping with the fitness theme, we worked out! My sister works out with a trainer a couple of times per week at a gym near her house, and she was able to bring me along for a workout, which was awesome! I had never really worked out with a trainer before (except for the free training sessions that served as introductions to various gyms I have belonged to), and it really kicked my butt! But it was great to see what I could do, and I really enjoyed it!<br />
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So that was the trip to Connecticut, and that all happened before my birthday even got here! I turned 35 years old on April 29, which was a Friday, and I had a GOOD time! My mom and I went out to lunch with a few friends, and for dinner, my husband took me out to <a href="http://www.emerils.com/restaurant/17/Emerils-Chop-House/">Emeril's Chop House</a>, which is located at a casino near where we live. I had eaten at Emeril's Orlando once in the past and had one of the best meals I have ever had, so this was such a special treat! I had the filet mignon "dressed up," which meant it came with garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus. As I expected, the meal was amazing. And for dessert, we had Emeril's signature banana cream pie, of which nothing bad can be said. It was the best banana cream pie I have ever had, and I am kind of a connossieur of this particular dessert, so that is saying something!<br />
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I went to Weight Watchers that week and found that I had "gained" six pounds. I put gained in quotes because, although that was a lot of excessive eating, I knew that I probably didn't really gain back six true pounds of fat. As any woman reading this knows, we are really good at retaining fluid, so I was pretty sure that my complete and utter ridiculousness of that week had something to do with that weight gain. And sure enough, a week later, I had lost 3.6 of those pounds, with another two pounds dropping off the following week. Today, I was up a little bit (0.4 pounds), which I am blaming on the fact that I just weighed in on Friday, and I went to a picnic on Sunday, which involved me eating a bit more (but still within my plan) than I usually would. I feel really good about where I am and where I am going with Weight Watchers, and more importantly, I am really enjoying the ride!<br />
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I am now wearing a size 16, which is three sizes down from my high of 22 (CRINGE!), and I am looking forward to seeing that size continue to drop. I have gotten rid of every piece of clothing that was a size 20 or above, as well as any shirt that was an XXL, and I am wearing mostly my size 16 pants and size L shirts. However, because getting rid of the XLs and the 18s would shrink my wardrobe down to almost nothing, I am hanging on to some things that I can still wear without looking completely sloppy. As soon as I hit a true size 12, I am planning to treat myself my first ever pair of "premium" denim jeans. I never thought I would be someone who would be willing to spend upwards of $150 on a pair of jeans, but as I continue this journey, I really think it will be the perfect celebration of how far I have come.<br />
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If you are still reading this, thanks for sticking with me! And remember to make it a great day, everyone!MChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03740871776169412730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16480923.post-24868740563168178132011-02-10T09:08:00.000-08:002011-02-10T09:09:35.977-08:00So. Randomness...I have not been the best blogger lately, and I think that the extreme cold and negative driveway conditions have had a lot to do with that. However, I am DONE harping on the ice slick that leads from our garage down to the street and my car because I am feeling hope that the weather starting Sunday will go a long way toward fixing things a bit. There are two different days next week and the following week that are expected to have FIFTY DEGREE temperatures!!! I may cry when that happens from sheer relief!<br />
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Anyway, I had some GREAT! NEWS! at my Weight Watchers weigh-in this week. I lost two pounds, and I reached my 5% goal, which was 11.8 lbs. of weight loss! And since this was my official ticker weigh-in, my ticker now reflects that I have lost fifty-one pounds officially, for real, amen! In fact, this morning, my home weight was actually 1.5 lbs. less than that (thanks, clothes that I have to wear to my WW meeting), and I am feeling so thrilled by how well this is going! As I posted on Twitter (you can follow me @MaryKC), I love the PointsPlus program and am thrilled with my experience as a Weight Watchers member! This was the first meeting that I got "celebrated" at the meeting, and I am sure that I looked like such a dork because I could not stop grinning! Anyway, as I mentioned in my last post, I have never successfull lost this much weight (my old high was probably in the neighborhood of 35 pounds), and I feel amazing. And I feel confident that this downward trend will continue!<br />
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One thing that I am really trying to do as I get further into this is to do a better job of "working the program." Without going into detail, Weight Watchers has some "good health guidelines" that are supposed to be met everyday by those of us who are truly following the plan. They include suggested amounts of different food group servings, suggestions of things to limit in your eating, fluid intake, multivitamin use, and other such things that lend themselves to a balanced diet. I have traditionally been kind of bad at hitting all these guidelines. I often forget to take my vitamins. My diet is often deficient in fruits and veggies. I sometimes have too much sodium. However, I am now trying to really embrace every part of the PointsPlus program (and not just the PointsPlus values and tracking of food), and I feel like this will help me meet with continued success on the program. <br />
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Anyway, on to the next topic, which is oatmeal. Thanks to some time spent on the Health & Fitness board on <a href="http://www.thenest.com/">The Nest</a>, I discovered a LOVE of steel cut oats sometime last year. I use my <a href="http://www.crock-pot.com/Product.aspx?cid=113&pid=355">small slow cooker</a> to make four servings of steel cut oats (and I buy any kind from Bob's Red Mill to McCann's to bulk from the grocery store) at a time, putting one cup of oats in with three cups of water and letting it cook until most of the water has been absorbed (this takes several hours). I then put it in a larger-sized plastic container and put it in the fridge to cool. Once cooled, the oats are actually "slice-able," so I can cut a serving out of the container and reheat it in the microwave...two minutes gets it nice and warm and softened back up. I usually eat the oats with a banana mixed in, along with a tablespoon of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvia_hispanica">chia seeds</a> and either brown sugar, maple syrup, or honey mixed in. However, I am starting to crave some variety in my oats, so I am setting out on a journey to find other ways to enjoy them!<br />
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This morning was my first new way to enjoy my oats. I mixed in with them 2 tablespoons of strawberry jam (from Jordan Pond House in Acadia National Park...it's THE BEST!!!), along with 1/3 cup of dried cranberries. YUM! It was so good! The tart cranberries and the sweetness of the jam mixed together to create a wonderful taste sensation! I definitely will have them that way again. Some of my favorite <a href="http://www.carrotsncake.com/">healthy</a> <a href="http://www.katheats.com/">bloggers</a> share a lot of oatmeal posts, and they often include nut butters in their oats. I tried this once and was not a fan, but I am planning to give it another try tomorrow. And since the jelly was so good in my oats this morning, I am going to include jelly in tomorrow's version!<br />
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I was going to go to the gym today, but I just can't bring myself to scale my way back down the driveway for only that reason. I have some things to do tomorrow that will get me out of the house, so instead, I am going to enjoy a day at home with my dog, my NOOK, my DVR, my iPad, and the internet. I have a Yankee candle burning called "Beach Party," and it smells like sun tan lotion in my kitchen, which is making me very, very happy! Make it a great day, everyone!MChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03740871776169412730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16480923.post-4662729348799867492011-02-08T04:38:00.000-08:002011-02-08T04:38:33.468-08:00Could it be the light at the end of the tunnel?First of all, although I am using my official Weight Watchers weight to update my ticker, I am still weighing myself at home and tracking my home weight (first thing in the morning, no clothes, as discussed previously) on FatSecret.com. I share this because this morning, when I stepped on the scale, I weighed in at 224 pounds! This means that I have officially lost FIFTY POUNDS (50.6, to be exact)!!!!!!!! I have never successfully lost 50 pounds before, and it feels SO AMAZING! I did a little bit of jumping up and down and fist pumping in the bathroom when I saw that number flash up on the scale! My next goal is 200 pounds, in keeping with setting my goals in 25-pound increments. This 50-pound weight loss took me roughly 13 months (1/4/10 to 2/8/11), so perhaps by next March, I will be able to celebrate reaching my goal weight! Can't wait!<br />
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So. The weather. That is the light at the end of the tunnel to which I am referring. Our driveway right now is downright treacherous. Thanks to the StabilICERS that I keep on the bottom of my boots, I have not been doing too badly, but my husband has been falling a lot, and we are both pretty frustrated. I have actually been mostly homebound, thanks to a nasty sinus infection that kept me away from work for the weekend. I have only been out of the house twice since last Wednesday, and one of those times was to go to the doctor to get some antibiotics. Tonight, I am going to venture out to yoga because I am feeling almost back to normal, and looking at the weather forecast for the next two weeks, I am not seeing any snow called for, and I am seeing several days in a row of temperatures in the 40s, with a day supposed to reach 47 degrees and a day that includes rain and a high of 49 degrees! I know that the week after that could bring more snow, as February weather is so, so fickle, but the several days of "warmer" temperatures give me some hope that perhaps some of the ice on the driveway will melt so that walking up and down it does not involve taking your life in your hands, as well as some distant hope that I might be able to drive back up the driveway before the month is over! And we probably will need an oil delivery in March, so it would be a special bonus if the oil truck would be able to make it up the driveway because we really like heat and hot water in our house.<br />
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After several months of being in a dark, dark mood due to the weather (and after the last couple of weeks, which have been THE WORST), it is so nice to be able to think that perhaps there is some kind of end in sight. It will take a long time for the snow to completely disappear, but it is amazing what the ability to drive up and down a person's driveway can do for her mood.<br />
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Make it a great day, everyone!MChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03740871776169412730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16480923.post-61662252354539979092011-01-19T05:48:00.000-08:002011-01-19T05:48:33.577-08:00Oh, the weather...This morning is once again my regular Weight Watchers weigh-in and meeting, and once again, I will not be there. The reason for this is the ice storm that we got in is area of the country yesterday. NOT. COOL. Our driveway, which is steep and long, is now ice-covered, and I am concerned that once I drive down it, I will not be able to drive back up again. Honestly, I don't even know how safely I could get down the driveway right now. I am scheduled to work tonight at the mall for a couple of hours, and I don't even know right now if that is a possibility. The temperatures today are supposed to be in the mid-30s, and it sounds kind of melt-y out there right now, but I am not holding out hope that we are going to have a big thaw today. I am SO DONE with winter right now! The icing on the cake was probably the moment when I stepped out the front door onto my three-step front stoop yesterday, slid on the ice, had my feet fly up in the air, and landed right on my butt, right on the edge of a step. Today, I have a sore bottom from that adventure! And that followed me somehow stepping in dog poop at some point of the morning when I took the dog out in the dark (before the snow changed to freezing rain and sleet). I was feeling pretty sad for myself yesterday!<br />
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I also have not been to the gym since last week, although most of that can be blamed on my four-in-a-row work schedule over the weekend. I obviously didn't make it there yesterday, and I am not thinking it's going to happen today. I am hopeful that I will be able to slip and slide down the driveway tomorrow for a WW meeting in the evening, and I will pair that up with a trip to the gym for sure. My goals in my tracker this week were to take multivitamins every day, which I have, to drink all my fluids, which I have, and to exercise for four hours, which I have not. But baby steps, right? Stay tuned for weigh-in news, hopefully tomorrow!<br />
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Make it a great day, everyone!MChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03740871776169412730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16480923.post-2590015217017616592011-01-13T06:46:00.001-08:002011-01-13T06:47:58.718-08:00My first WW gain...Well, I did make it to a Weight Watchers meeting yesterday, but it was not my usual morning meeting. Instead, I attended a meeting at 7PM. Any woman who has ever owned a scale knows that a woman's weight in the morning is very different from a woman's weight in the evening, and not in a good way. Therefore, it was not a surprise to me that I had gained...0.6 pounds. <br />
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Now, this is NOTHING in the grand scheme of things, and I honestly don't care much about it. When I go back to my usual morning meeting next week, I am sure I will be pleased with my progress, as long as I work the program correctly. But the interesting thing is where my mind went when I heard that. I immediately thought, "Hmmm...maybe if I go to the bathroom one more time." I didn't act on that...I just went and took my seat instead. However, it's interesting how the mind just "goes there." It is the same reaction that has people weighing in in the same pants every week of the year, no matter what the weather, changing into shorts in the bathroom before their weigh in, or not eating or drinking anything before they get to their meeting. Obviously, waiting to eat for a 9:30AM weigh in, which is what I usually do, is different from starving yourself all day, and I certainly ate and drank yesterday. But the difference between those two scenarios can easily explain my 0.6 lb. weight gain, and I am reminding myself that the longterm results are more important than one week's weigh in.<br />
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Anyway, just some random thoughts there about the whole weigh in process and how it can kind of mess with your mind, whether you do it at home or in a doctor's office or in a meeting location...it's just another example of how learning to be healthy is a struggle against the tendency of some toward disordered eating. Make it a great day, everyone!<br />
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-- Post From My iPadMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03740871776169412730noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16480923.post-87575952067718490382011-01-11T12:19:00.000-08:002011-01-11T12:24:34.425-08:00WeatherJust today, my street finally cleared up from our last snow storm, just in time for another storm to hit tonight. As I sit here at my kitchen table, the sky is getting cloudier and cloudier, and the snow is expected to begin at any minute. I am NOT a fan of winter weather and spend the entire weather in a constant state of heightened anxiety, so I am not a happy girl right now! Because I am a nurse, I really have no choice but to make it to work when I am scheduled, and since I live on a mountain 40 minutes away from the hospital I work at, this means that winter can be challenging for me.<br />
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Right now, I am most upset about this impending storm, however, because it means that I probably won't be able to make it my usual Weight Watchers meeting tomorrow. I am hoping that we will be dug out in time for me to make it to tomorrow night's meeting because if I don't make it to that one, it's my last option for the week. I am working Thursday night at the mall and Friday and Saturday at the hospital, so all of the other meetings this week conflict with my schedule. I briefly thought of trying to get to the one tonight, but the snow is supposed to start by 5 PM, and the meeting isn't until 7 PM. I think I will just take my chances with tomorrow night. Normally, I wouldn't be all that bent out of shape about missing a week, but one of my New Year's Resolutions was to attend a meeting every week of 2011, and I would hate to give that up already in the second week of January!<br />
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Today, I want to talk a bit about goals. I have started using the <i>Ultimate 3 Month Tracker</i> put out by Weight Watchers, instead of the weekly meal trackers, to track my eating and exercise. I really like this tracker because it lists all the important parts of the day in a two-page spread, and it has areas for writing down what time you are eating, how you gauge your hunger level, what you eat, and how many PointsPlus you have left after eating each thing. It also has some tips on various pages, as well as a place to track your Good Health Guidelines, your Activity PointsPlus values, and any thoughts for the day you might have. At the beginning of each week, there is a page where you can set some goals for the week, as well as your exercise plan, and this week I decided to fill it out. Here were my goals for the week:<br />
<ul><li>track all week</li>
<li>4 days of cardio</li>
<li>2 yoga classes</li>
<li>multivitamins!</li>
</ul><div>My exercise plan says this:</div><div><ul><li>Day 1 - work</li>
<li>Day 2 - 60 min. cardio, yoga</li>
<li>Day 3 - 60 min. cardio</li>
<li>Day 4 - 60 min. cardio, yoga</li>
<li>Day 5 - 60 min. cardio</li>
<li>Day 6 - work</li>
<li>Day 7 - work</li>
</ul><div>It is currently day 3 of my WW week, and I have broken several of these goals. First of all, I have not taken a multivitamin at any point this week. I own multivitamins...in fact, there are several different kinds sitting on top of my microwave. However, not one has passed through my lips this week. I also skipped both my 60 minutes of cardio and my yoga class yesterday, which means I have no hope of meeting my 4 days of cardio/2 yoga classes goal. I did go to the gym today, although I didn't feel like it, and I did 30 minutes on the StairMaster and 30 minutes on the elliptical, followed by a stretch. I don't know what the weather will mean for my gym time tomorrow, but I know that attending tomorrow night's yoga class might not work out with the WW meeting. Actually, it could work out if I time everything perfectly, but it will take some motivation to do that. </div></div><div><br />
</div><div>Moving forward, instead of just jotting down goals in this section of the tracker, I am really going to put some thought into them, and then I am going to put some thought into meeting these goals. Maybe some weeks, it isn't realistic to think that I will get to the gym four days for an hour of cardio each day <i>and</i> twice for yoga. Maybe on yoga days, I will not do as much cardio. Maybe if I had set my sights a little lower yesterday, I would have made it to them gym for either cardio <i>or </i>yoga, instead of skipping both. The weather does nothing to motivate me because it seems like such a better option to stay in bed and watch reruns of <i>Grey's Anatomy</i> on Hulu Plus right now. One thing I do have to say is that I have been tracking my eating consistently for the last week and a half, and that is something! Healthy living has such a learning curve, but I will get it!</div><div><br />
</div><div>Stay warm...and make it a great day, everyone!</div>MChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03740871776169412730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16480923.post-56192306564456940882011-01-05T17:30:00.000-08:002011-01-05T17:30:27.341-08:00My Weight Watchers weigh-in = One year of healthy eating!I had my WW meeting and weigh-in today and had lost 1.8 more pounds! That's a total of 7.6 pounds since rejoining WW and FORTY-SEVEN pounds for one year of my new lifestyle! I am pretty excited to report that my weight is now 228.2 pounds! I think I have 100% put the 230s behind me, where they will stay, along with the 270s, 260s, 250s, and 240s. My next stop is my 5% WW goal, which is 224 pounds, and then my next goal after that is 221 pounds, which is the weight I was when I joined eDiets when I got out of college.<br />
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I have been to the gym twice this week and spent 60 minutes on the elliptical each time, earning some extra activity points to work with. I also have attended my first group classes at my gym, after being a member there for almost four years. I attended yoga both on Monday and tonight, and I am thinking I am going to feel it tomorrow! I hadn't been to yoga in almost a month, as our usual class is on hiatus, and this was different and challenging for me. <br />
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I also have been heavily using one of my Christmas gifts, a George Foreman grill/panini maker that I got from my mom. I have had quesadillas several times this week using the panini maker to create them. It was a great way to use up some leftover pork tenderloin we had. I also did some experimenting with some veggies, boiling some potatoes and then sauteeing them with a little EVOO with some cabbage, red onion, and adobo seasoning. It was super yummy and a great way to get in some healthy oils!<br />
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It's back to work tomorrow, and then I have one day off before heading into the weekend. I am cruising right along toward next week's weigh-in and can't wait to see the results!<br />
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Make it a great day, everyone!MChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03740871776169412730noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16480923.post-47797767881377093882011-01-03T06:51:00.000-08:002011-01-03T06:55:54.220-08:00The Year in Review, part 1This year, I am going to do two more in-depth (forgive me any overlap from my last post) "Year in Review" posts because I have two different year-ends to celebrate. The first is the one that everyone else is celebrating (or did celebrate, really, since I am a few days late)...the end of 2010. In many ways, 2010 was a good year for me. I worked hard at one part of getting my shit together. I ended 2010 about 45 pounds lighter than I started it. However, my goals also included being better at keeping things in order at home (I am a pack rat who does not mind clutter. My husband is the opposite of this. This causes occasional arguments.) as well as getting my finances in better order and laying off the credit cards. I even downloaded a spreadsheet to accomplish that last goal with the help of Dave Ramsey's debt snowball method. Unfortunately, to do the debt snowball, you actually have to put the process in motion, and I didn't do so well with that. I used my shrinking waistline as an excuse to spend way too much on clothing this year. And I am not a fancy dresser. Most of what I bought came from Old Navy or deeply discounted from the Gap. However, the quantity of the items I bought means that I did not end the year with less debt than I started it with. It was probably a wash, actually, because I did continue paying some cards off while building up that Old Navy card. However, this year, I have to do better because I am sick of letting my (negative) net worth rule my life.<br />
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The first thing I did this year that I <i>am</i> proud of is that I got my previously disordered eating patterns into much better order. I had some missteps along the way, but for the most part, I started paying a lot better attention to the fuel I was giving my body and the way it was making me feel. I also consistently did a better job of hydrating my body, which is huge for me because I was a soda addict in a major way. Now, I might drink a soda every week or so, or I might go several weeks without it. This is a HUGE change for me! <br />
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I also started, in April, to move a LOT more! It started out as an attempt to do the C25K program, which I eventually dropped. However, it segued into the use of cardio equipment that I was previously scared of and an increase in my physical fitness to a level that I have not seen since my college years and the year or so right after I got out of college. And now that I have made my time in the gym a habit, there is nowhere to go but up! As I have shared before, this year I plan to restart and complete the C25K program, and by the end of 2011, I hope to be able to regularly jog a distance of 5K, with the possibility of working up to an even longer distance. Because of my work schedule (I work every weekend, for the most part), I probably won't be able to be much of a racer, other than someone racing against herself, but it will be such a huge accomplishment and signify so much to me if I can become a runner again!<br />
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And my final big accomplishment was that I started learning more about where the food we eat comes from and started making informed decisions regarding the role that organic and humanely raised foods were going to have in our household diet. Even the dog eats organic food now! The majority of fruits and veggies that I buy are organic or local (or both), and I buy only organic and/or humanely raised meats. I still buy traditional cheese, for the most part, but I buy only organic milk. I also buy a lot MORE fruits and vegetables than I used to, and that is even more true now that I follow Weight Watchers. "Free" fruits and veggies take up a lot of space in my food journal, and I couldn't be happier about it! And this year, I plan to start ordering from Suburban Organics, which is an organic produce delivery service that serves the area in which my parents live (although they don't deliver up here in the mountains where I live). I am at my parents' house at least once per week (definitely every Friday and sometimes more often than that), so I am going to arrange for my delivery to go to them each week, so I can pick it up. It's a great way to get organic produce conveniently and at a great price. I can't wait to start this out!<br />
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One really hard thing that happened in 2010 is that my grandfather passed away at the age of 89 after developing Alzheimer's disease and eventually kidney failure. The last time I saw him, he was still pretty intact neurologically, but he apparently went downhill quickly (within about a year of his Alzheimer's diagnosis). It's hard to lose a grandparent at any age, and although I did not spend as much time with him as I got older, he was still a special person to me, and I had many wonderful memories of him in my childhood. I am fortunate that both of my grandmothers are still living, and I was fortunate to have one grandfather until the age of 34 (the other one, who was no less special to me, passed away when I was in eighth grade). In the last couple of years, however, I have lost my closest aunt, an uncle I hadn't seen in a long time, and my grandfather. I know that as I get older, I will lose more people close to me, and I hate to think about this happening!<br />
<br />
Anyway, let's talk about what my second "Year in Review" is going to entail. On January 4, I will weigh in at my usual weekly Weight Watchers meeting. And this weigh in will commemorate the exact one-year anniversary of when I first started changing my eating last year. Therefore, ignoring the fact that I have weighed in on a couple of different scales through the last year, it will be after this weigh in that I will be able to report the sum total of weight I have lost in a year's time. Right now, as my ticker reports, I am at a total of 45 pounds of weight lost. The last three-ish month, I have fought hard to get the scale moving down again, and for about the last month, I have been using Weight Watchers to help me meet my goals. I am in love with the new Weight Watchers program and can finally see myself as someone who <i>will</i> reach my goal weight. The PointsPlus program is giving me the tools and information I need to enact this change in myself. I can't wait to see what this year in Weight Watchers will do for me!<br />
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And now I am off to my first gym workout in the New Year! I also am planning to take a yoga class at the gym tonight if I don't have to work, which will be a new (and slightly scary) experience for me...but I can do it! Make it a great day, everyone!MChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03740871776169412730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16480923.post-643493568321277092010-12-29T14:52:00.000-08:002010-12-29T14:53:05.259-08:00The VerdictAt my weigh-in today at Weight Watchers, I found that...<br />
<br />
(drum roll please)<br />
<br />
My weight stayed the same! <br />
<br />
That's right...I maintained my weight during Christmas week! I am not sure how it happened, as my eating was not "on plan." However, the progress I have made and the increase in my activity level apparently worked for me because I still weighed in at 230 pounds today!<br />
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I am going to change my ticker to reflect my official Weight Watchers weight each week, as this will give me a concrete number to input on the ticker. Therefore, it will look like I have a gain this week (because of the whole first-thing-in-the-morning-in-my-birthday-suit vs. later-in-the-day-with-clothes-on weighing difference), but it will make it easier to track in the long run.<br />
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Make it a great day, everyone!MChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03740871776169412730noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16480923.post-45220318249421475992010-12-28T15:35:00.000-08:002010-12-29T14:54:43.723-08:002010 in review...and what's on my plate for 2011!I can't believe that 2010 is drawing to a close! It feels like it just got here, and already we are saying goodbye. This year was HUGE for me, in terms of health and fitness, and it feels so good to look back on the year and feel satisfied by how I am doing in my seemingly endless struggle against my weight. I still have more work to do, but I feel like I have learned so much this year, and I am actually feeling optimistic that 2011 may be the year that I reach my weight goal! And I <i>know</i> it will be the year that represents the first time in a LONG time that I have weighed less than 200 pounds. I don't have all that far to go to hit that goal, and I am looking forward to it! I had hoped to weigh that on my 35th birthday, which is four months from tomorrow, but I am no longer thinking that is going to happen. However, my new goal is to be under the weight I was when I first joined eDiets when I got out of college in early 1999, which was 221 pounds, and I can easily do that before I turn the big 3-5!<br />
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To recap, on January 4, 2010, I started my journey to health and wellness at 274.6 pounds on my old scale. Last week, when I weighed in on my new scale, I weighed 226.5 pounds. This represent a total weight loss of 48 pounds. I had lost about 40 pounds by the end of the summer, and I hit a plateau, but I maintained that weight loss while still enjoying food, and I have kicked things back into gear with the help of the new Weight Watchers PointsPlus program. My official WW weigh-in last week had me at 230 pounds on their scale (with clothes on, while I weigh myself at home first thing in the morning in my birthday suit), which represents a weight loss of 5.8 pounds since I attended my first meeting. Now, I did overindulge for the four days between Christmas Eve and yesterday (thereby not meeting my goal of limiting myself to two days of excess), so I will not be surprised to see a gain at tomorrow's meeting, but I have been 100% back on track today and look forward to seeing where WW is going to take me!<br />
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One of the biggest things I have done this year is increase the amount of time I am spending in the gym. Now, I used to spend no time at all in the gym, so any increase would be a huge one, but I have really gotten into the habit of going to the gym, for the most part, four days per week. My work schedule does not allow me to go work out on my work days, but for most of the year, I have been consistent in my gym habits. I have not been going as often lately because my second job, which is a retail job, has picked up a lot during the holiday season, but that should calm down soon, and then I will have plenty of time to spend in the gym!<br />
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Here is a list of my 2011 goals/resolutions, as well as some discussion of them:<br />
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<b>To lose the remaining 50 pounds of weight to my ultimate goal </b>- Even with my several-months-long plateau, I managed to lose almost 50 pounds this year. Next year, I would like to avoid such a long plateau (which I can mostly attribute to being a lot more lax with things for several months, really, so maybe it was more a fall-off-the-wagon than a plateau) and lose the rest of the weight! It's hard to imagine how I will feel when I accomplish this goal because I have struggled with my weight for so long. However, I know the plan that I am following is one that <i>will</i> work, and I know that I can do it!<br />
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<b>To attend Weight Watchers meetings every week of the year</b> - This one is important to my success with my first goal. I know that WW works, and I know that part of what makes it work for me is the support that the meetings give me. I also know that it's easy to let one skipped meeting turn into me disappearing off the face of the WW earth, and I <i>don't</i> want that to happen.<br />
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<b>To cut back my fast food consumption to once per month</b> - I still answer the call of the drive thru way too often, usually when I am on my way home from work and am exhausted. I most often stop at Chick-fil-a, which isn't the worst thing in the world, but it is money I don't need to spend at the very least. Now, the nice thing about WW is that you can build treats like this into your plan. However, a treat doesn't happen twice in one weekend...it happens once in a while.<br />
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<b>To increase my fitness to the point that I can run 5K by the end of the year </b>- I am a C25K dropout, and most of my exercise these days is on the elliptical or on the StairMaster. And I <i>love</i> both of those because I can read books on my nook while working out, which keeps me working out for long amounts of time. However, I still feel very strongly that I want to become a runner (well, jogger, really). And therefore, I am going to restart C25K once the coldest weather goes away, and this time, I hope to complete it! I know that treadmill running will not work for me at this point, although I did used to enjoy some treadmill running back in the day when I called myself a runner. Therefore, I am going to continue building up my fitness level using my current cardio methods, and then when it's nicer out, I will add in the C25K program. Here's hoping it sticks this time!<br />
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And two non-health-related goals:<br />
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<b>To follow Dave Ramsey's debt snowball for the entire year to pay down CC debt</b> - I have accrued a good amount of CC debt in my life, and I really want to work on getting it paid down. It isn't the ideal time to do this, as one stepson is headed to college this fall, and the other will follow the next fall. However, I am feeling stifled by the debt I have, and I want to work on it. I have downloaded a great planning and tracking spreadsheet that will make this easy to do, as long as I can stick with it and learn the difference between "wants" and "needs." I have my budget for the year set up and filled in, and now I just have to stick to it (and hope that not too many unexpected expenses head our way this year)!<br />
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<b>To read 111 book in '11</b> - This is my goal with my online book club on The Nest. I read 100 books this year, and I want to challenge myself a bit for next year. It would be too much of a stretch for me to read 125 books, I think, but 111 is probably doable. In the years after that, I will probably stick to a 100-book goal every year, but I look forward to challenging myself with this one!<br />
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So that's it! Those are a lot of goals, but so many of them are interrelated that I think I will be able to achieve them! Here's to a wonderful new year and a health, happy 2011 for us all! Make it a great YEAR, everyone!MChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03740871776169412730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16480923.post-36752404369832682452010-12-21T16:17:00.001-08:002010-12-29T14:55:38.171-08:00More WW success!I weighed in again Monday afternoon for the fourth week of PointsPlus,<br>and I was thrilled be THREE POUNDS down on the scale! Our meeting was<br>all about strategies on dealing with holiday temptations. One thing<br>that I think is important is the "compartmentalization" of holiday<br>events. By that, I mean that I think it's important not to let the<br>whole week be a free-for-all. This week, I have two major "events"<br>planned. The first was dessert with the girls last night at the<br>Melting Pot. The second is a two-day event, namely Christmas Eve with<br>my family and Christmas day working at the hospital.<p>I prepared for last night be eating a bit lighter during the day<br>(although my holiday baking included a bit more taste-testing than was<br>strictly necessary) and also going to the gym for an hour-long sweat<br>session on the StairMaster, which earned me an extra seven Points+! I<br>did overindulge at the restaurant (we split a chocolate fondue course<br>AND a cheese fondue course, and I had two glasses of red wine), but it<br>was worth it because it was yummy and fun! And it was a much-enjoyed<br>night out with two friends I don't get to see very often!<p>I am of the opinion that a holiday is a holiday, and while I try not<br>to make completely bad decisions on holidays, I also don't deny<br>myself. I will not be tracking strictly on Friday or Saturday, but I<br>will try not to blow my eating plan completely. And then on Sunday, I<br>will be right back on track! I may see a little bit of gain after this<br>week, especially after this week's stellar results, but I will not let<br>it bother me, as long as I nip it in the bud immediately!<p>Make it a great day, everyone!<p>-- <br>Sent from my mobile device<p>"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." -GandhiMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03740871776169412730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16480923.post-22806263954622463812010-12-20T03:23:00.000-08:002010-12-29T14:55:38.171-08:00Update on my WW journey...I started the PointsPlus program from Weight Watchers about three weeks ago, and so far, I am continuing to love this new program! I can't even believe the quality of the food I am choosing when faced with the 36 points I get for the day! I am still having some indulgences (a little Chick-fil-a here, a spot of Sonic there...really need my New Year's Resolutions to include some limit on fast food drive thru stops), but I am eating so many more fruits and vegetables than I ever have, and it feels amazing (except for day likes yesterday when the fruit and veggie overkill wreaks a tiny bit of havoc on the old GI system).<br />
<br />
One of the first things I did when I restarted WW was to buy a little journal so I could write down the PointsPlus values of my most often eaten foods. For example, I could eat for breakfast everyday a serving of steel cut oats (4) with 1 T of chia seeds (1), some sort of sweetener (either 1 T honey (2), 2 T maple syrup (3), or 1 tsp. Splenda/brown sugar mix (0), for the most part), and a banana (0). I have been eating this breakfast for almost a year the majority of the time, and I have yet to get sick of it. I was never a huge fan of oatmeal, but steel cut oats are beyond amazing (I thank the clean eating members of the H&F board on The Nest for introducing me to them), and I don't see myself getting sick of them anytime soon. I also eat a lot of Morningstar Farms chik'n patties (4) on Arnold or Pepperidge Farm sandwich thins (3), with a slice of 2% milk cheese (1) and 1 T lite mayo (1). It's a great go-to lunch or dinner because I can make it in fifteen minutes with the assistance of my toaster oven, and with a side of veggies, it fills me right up. In fact, it's a great alternative to the drive thru and is what I chose last night for dinner when I got home from work at 8PM! I also wrote down some PointsPlus values for not-too-bad drive thru options, as well as some of my Starbucks favorites, which will be OCCASIONAL treats for me but are something I don't want to give up forever.<br />
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Last week, I saw a number on the scale that I have not seen in MANY, MANY years, and I claimed it as my official weigh-in, so you can see it reflected in my ticker at the top of the blog. That official weigh-in was 227 pounds, which is 47.6 pounds lost since January 4! I about fell right off the scale when I saw that number! Of course, as most women know, our weights can fluctuate from day to day (and even hour to hour, really), so after dinner at a Chinese restaurant on Friday, I am up a bit, which I am crediting to water retention, I guess. I am not too upset about it. I am having my official Weight Watchers weigh-in today, and it will be my fourth meeting since starting the new program. The scales at my meeting location are different from my scale at home, so I am sort of maintaining two weight loss totals. There is my ticker total, which I have here on the blog, and there is my WW weight tracker, which is updated when I weigh in at meetings. My WW weight was 235.8 pounds at my first meeting, 233.8 pounds at my second meeting, and 233 pounds at my third meeting. I weighed myself at home before that third meeting, and it seems like my scale is at least 1.5 pounds different from theirs. I also weigh myself in at home in the mornings, and I am going to WW meetings at different times of the day (the first was at 10AM, the second and third at 7PM, and today's at 1PM), so that is going to make a difference. I am also trying to hit different meetings to get an idea of who the leaders are because I would love to attend meetings led by some of my favorite meeting leaders from my last WW go-'round!<br />
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I have been slacking on the gym, mostly because I have been working a lot more hours than usual at my retail job. However, I was called off of work from my usual (nursing) job today, so I have an unexpected day free! I have some Christmas prep to finish up (a bit of shopping, along with wrapping and baking), and I have plans to go to the Melting Pot tonight for dessert with my two best friends from high school (Hooray for those weekly extra points that WW gives me!), but that still leaves time to hit the gym. I am reading <i>Catching Fire</i>, which is the second book of <i>The Hunger Games</i> trilogy by Suzanne Collins on my nook, and that should make my elliptical and StairMaster time fly by!<br />
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If I don't post again before the weekend, I want to wish all those who celebrate a very merry Christmas. And to everyone, a happy, healthy New Year! Make it a great day, everyone!MChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03740871776169412730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16480923.post-84515470904164365282010-12-06T17:42:00.001-08:002010-12-29T14:55:38.171-08:00UpdateI have now been following the new Weight Watchers PointsPlus program for three full days, and I have to say that I am LOVING it! I used to be such a fan of the Points program, but after a while, I lost sight of real foods and began only to care about how many Points were in the foods. I was filling my diet low-point foods that weren't of great nutritional value. And eventually, I fell off the Points wagon. I was burnt out on figuring out the Points values for all my foods, and I gave up on getting healthier. <br />
<br />
In January, I got back on track as far as getting healthier, and I am among the most healthy I have ever been as an adult. I have weighed less as an adult than I do now, but I have never been as consistent in my exercise habits as I am now, and I drink a lot less alcohol than I did in my 20s. However, as I mentioned in my last post, I have stalled.<br />
<br />
I am not finding it difficult to transition to the new PointsPlus program because it has been a while since I have done Weight Watchers. And I am enjoying using the new materials. I love that we get more Points than we used to, even if the Points values of many foods are higher. And I LOVE that fruits and most veggies are free! I have been enjoying fruit quite a bit this year, and on the old Points plan, I mostly avoided fruit because I was too busy using my Points on things like 100-calorie packs. Today, I enjoyed a banana in my oatmeal this morning, some cherries with lunch (note to self - don't buy any more cherries until spring because they are NOT good at this time of year!), and an apple after dinner. Love that!<br />
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Ny first weigh in will be Thursday evening, less than a week after I started the program. However, my work schedule does not allow me to attend Saturday meetings most of the time. I will be interested to see the results, as the meeting will be in the evening after a day spent with my parents' in NYC. Usually, when you start a new diet, you get some amazing weight loss that first week because you lose some water weight. Since I have been eating better for many months now, I wouldn't expect to have that WHOOSH of water weight loss. In the long run, I am confident I will have great results with this program. However, those great results might not start with this first week! But that's why it's a marathon, not a sprint!<br />
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Make it a great day, everyone!MChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03740871776169412730noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16480923.post-46817612015988068342010-12-04T05:44:00.000-08:002010-12-29T14:55:19.116-08:00Changing it up...After being at the same weight for multiple months now, I am starting to think that this is more than a plateau. What I am doing doesn't seem to be working anymore. I don't know if this is because I am being less strict, or if I am not eating enough, or if I am eating too much, or what. Therefore, today, I am going to make a change. Today, I am going back to Weight Watchers. I have an unexpected day off of work (although I might have to work four hours later today), and there is a meeting at 10 AM at my closest meeting location. I have done a little bit of reading up on the new PointsPlus program, and I really like the bones of the program. I like that there is a focus on fat, fiber, carbs, and protein and how best to balance those. And I love that veggies and fruits, for the most part, are free. I did Weight Watchers when I first got married, and I was really successful with it, and I lost a good amount of weight. Of course, I gained it back because I really was still relying on processed foods and "low points" foods, and that just wasn't feasible for the long term. With my switch to cleaner eating, I feel like this new program will really work for me. And I think it will actually encourage cleaner eating because I am really going to want to get the most bang for my bucks, points-wise, and cleaner foods are the better way to do that. The good news is that after losing the weight I have this year, I now weigh just about as much as or even slightly less than I did the last time I was at a meeting. So I don't have to go in there with my tail completely between my legs (which is not the way anyone there would make me feel...the people at Weight Watchers are nothing but supportive, and I have never felt judged or ashamed, even at my heaviest, by anything they have done or said, although sometimes in my own head I have felt like I was slinking back to the fold after doing something "bad").<br />
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I was a little concerned to stick my Larabar into a PointsPlus calculator and find that it comes out to six points. I am interested to go to the meeting today and see what my daily allotment is. I will report back later and let you know how I come out!<br />
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----------<br />
<br />
Several hours later...<br />
<br />
I went to my first meeting! The leader was one of the women I remembered from when I used to go to WW meetings, and the meeting room was packed! They are also in a new, much nicer location that has a parking lot, which is nice, as the old location had on street parking only. I got my new program materials, and I also bought two of the PointsPlus calculators, as I like to keep one in my purse at all times and one handy to use. And this way, I have a back-up, in case I lose one. <br />
<br />
The new calculator is really nice, as you can calculate points on it and also do some tracking of your points on it. And the program materials look like they are really well done, although some of them are out-of-stock at my meeting location right now, so I will have to wait a bit to get my hands on them.<br />
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My weight was up a little from what my scale said yesterday, but I know that all scales are different, and I am excited to have a place to officially weigh in every week. The next meeting that I will probably be able to get to is Thursday evening, so I will weigh in again then. I get 36 points per day, along with the 49 flex points for the week. I also am noticing that my usual hour-long workout at the gym (which I gauge to be a moderate intensity, for the most part, with some higher intensity thrown in) equals seven additional points to work with. I will be interested to see what a week of eating this way brings my way in terms of results!<br />
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I have been having some back issues that seem to be related to my sciatic nerve, so I have not been to the gym this week. I am planning to head back there on Monday to get back into the swing of things though. I did go to yoga this week because it was our last class until January, but other than that, I have just been trying to give my back some rest to feel better. I really miss my time on the StairMaster and elliptical, and my reading of books has suffered a bit as a result of the break! My goal is to read 100 books this year, and I have about seven to go, so I have to get to that!<br />
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Make it a great day, everyone!MChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03740871776169412730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16480923.post-7874769147169615052010-11-16T04:43:00.000-08:002010-11-16T04:43:07.035-08:00Branching out...I have decided that the only way that I am ever going to break my habit of hitting a drive thru on my way home from work is if I know that I have easy-to-prepare foods waiting for me at home that will not require an hour to cook. I get out of work anywhere between 7 and 7:15 PM usually, and my commute home, if I don't make any stops, is about 40-45 minutes. Therefore, I usually get home right around 8 PM, and this is too late for me to start and finish cooking dinner. Add to that the fact that I usually try to be in bed by 9 PM if I am working the next day (because I get up at 4:30 AM to go to work), and this explains, sort of, the fast food route that I often take. I do make sure, 90% of the time, that what I am getting fits into my calorie goals for the day (which means I eat a lot of Chick-fil-a), but it doesn't fit into my overall goals because fast food is not good for you and should not be more than an occasional meal choice.<br />
<br />
I also really have to realize that my formerly transient life has settled into something now. I have, in the last 11 years, spent time living with a roommate, living on my own, living with my parents and attending nursing school, living with my fiance and attending nursing school, living with my husband and attending nursing school, living with my husband and working night shift, and living with my husband and working the weekend day shift. I have been on the weekend day shift for about a year and a half, and I don't foresee that changing for quite a while. However, I have had such a history of things changing every few years that I have not ever really gotten into a routine. I don't cook dinner all that often, and I often find myself reaching for convenience foods. However, I don't want to spend the rest of my life eating this way, so it's time to realize that things don't seem like they are going to be changing much for a while, so now is the time to make a plan that I can stick to.<br />
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I don't really know that I will ever be one of those people who does all the cooking for the week on one day and fills her freezer with things that just have to be popped into the oven. However, I can certainly cook up some grains (like maybe a pot of brown rice, couscous, quinoa, or barley) and keep them on hand for quick meals. I can cook up some chicken or pork each week and use it in meals when I get home after work. I can keep some beans on hand and cooked up for a quick protein option. And I can commit to cooking dinner on the night that my husband and I are home together, instead of relying on my old stand-by of flour tortillas with cheese melted on them when I need a quick dinner. I can keep more veggies around the house (even if they are of the frozen variety), and I can keep fewer boxed items in my pantry. This week, I am off of work for four days, so I want to go to my local health food store and explore the bulk grain options (and restock my supply of steel cut oats). I also want to spend some time scouring the internet for ideas for cooking up said grains. A quick pilaf should not be that difficult, and simple stuff like that can be so yummy!<br />
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As I mentioned, I have quite a taste for flour tortillas. I am going to try making my own this week! I found a recipe for a whole wheat tortilla that has only four ingredients in it...whole wheat flour, water, vegetable oil (I will use canola), and salt (I will use sea salt). In comparison, my tortillas I buy have about 20 ingredients in them, some of which I don't even know what they are for. So this will be an interesting experiment! I hope it works!<br />
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Other than that, this week will hopefully include four gym trips and my yoga and pilates class tonight. And I am going to cut down on the amount of Splenda-sweetened diet flavored sparking waters I am drinking and rely more on my one liter Nalgene bottle (BPA-free!) with one packet of Wild Strawberry Crystal Lite in it. It's double-diluted, so the taste isn't too strong, but it makes the water go down much more easily. My goal is three bottles per day on most days. I also recently put a Pur water filter on my kitchen faucet, and I am not hating drinking water that does not come in a bottle! That will cut down both on the amount of money I spend on water and the amount of plastic that goes into our recycling bin.<br />
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Make it a great day, everyone!MChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03740871776169412730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16480923.post-39835890364781254952010-11-11T04:09:00.000-08:002010-11-11T04:09:31.242-08:00Good food that's good for you...Now that summer is quite obviously over, I will be having to make the transition to organic produce exclusively, since local produce is on its way out of here. My favorite local farm <a href="http://www.anniesacresfarm.com/">Annie's Acres</a> has things like potatoes and yams and even some greens from the greenhouse right now, and I am sure some of the other local farms have those items as well, but the bulk of what I am going to be buying going into the fall and winter will be from the grocery store. I have increased my food budget accordingly to absorb this cost as well as the cost for organic and/or humanely raised meats.<br />
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I went out to Annie's Acres yesterday to pick up my first meat and cheese order from her. She puts out an order form every couple of weeks for meats, yogurts, and cheeses that she then goes to pick up for her customers down in Lancaster County. Yesterday, I picked up some ground beef and pork, some center cut pork chops, some raw milk cheese, and some whole milk yogurt made with milk from grass fed Jersey cows. All of the farms that Annie gets these items from have been checked out by her and her husband to make sure that they feel good about the way the animals are being treated there. I trust her 100% to have the same standards I would have if I were visiting such a farm. The meat is more expensive than most meat you would find in a grocery store, but it fits right into my desire to buy only humanely raised meats. I am pretty excited about continuing to get meat and cheese this way throughout the fall and winter!<br />
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I have to rave about one of the items that I picked up from Annie's, and that is the <a href="http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/food/pequea_valley_farms_yogurt-38386864.html">Pequea Valley Farm yogurt</a> that she is selling. It comes from a farm in Ronks, PA, which is in Lancaster County, and it is an Amish farm. This is a whole milk yogurt, made, as I mentioned, from the milk of grass-fed Jersey cows. It is the most amazing yogurt I have ever tasted. So far, I have had the maple (150 calories) and the black cherry (210 calories), and I can't stop thinking about the final container I have to my refrigerator (peach - 200 calories), but I am going to attempt to hold off on eating that until tomorrow. I also have in my fridge my previously loved Chobani Greek yogurt in several flavors, but I am afraid that nothing will ever taste as good as this new-to-me yogurt. It's a bit more expensive, of course, than yogurt in the grocery store ($1.85 for a 6 oz. container or $6.75 for a quart, which is actually in the neighborhood of the cost of the pricey Fage Greek yogurt or the Siggi's Icelandic skyr that I sometimes buy at Wegmans). And it is not as high in protein as Greek yogurt, which is kind of a trade off. However, it is a trade off I am willing to make because it is SO good, and it comes from a farm right here in my home state. It's a win-win!<br />
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One of the next items on my list that I want to buy is a chest freezer to put down in our basement. I just want a small one (5 cubic feet), as it's just me and the hubs here, but I want to be able to buy meat in bulk when it's available to me and to be able to stockpile it somewhere. I used to buy club packs and chicken breast and pork chops and stock our freezer up. I don't buy those factory farm-raised meats anymore, but I do need some space for freezing items. I am looking forward to adding a freezer to the house sometime before the end of the year, hopefully!<br />
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Although I never go to the gym this early, I think I am going to go ahead and head over there now, as this has the possibility of being a busy day. And tonight for dinner, I plan to cook up some Organic Prairie Italian sausage with some jarred spaghetti sauce to serve with some of Wegmans new Super Pasta. It's pretty nice out here during the day right now, but it gets cold at night, so that will be a nice, comforting dinner. Actually, before I head out to the gym, I have to clean out the freezer. I have some frozen diet meals from the last century that I need to get rid of to make room for all this good stuff!<br />
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Make it a great day, everyone!MChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03740871776169412730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16480923.post-21035454694975572642010-10-22T09:39:00.000-07:002010-10-22T09:39:55.522-07:00Dear Body, You are awesome. Thanks for the great workout! Love, MaryThis is what I tweeted 1/3 of the way into my workout this morning:<br />
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<div class="tweet-image" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; float: left; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Liberation Sans', FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; height: 48px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 3px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 48px;"><a href="http://a2.twimg.com/profile_images/1149452898/Otto2_normal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Mary Casey" border="0" class="user-profile-link" data-user-id="7916432" height="48" src="http://a2.twimg.com/profile_images/1149452898/Otto2_normal.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: rgb(192, 41, 66) !important; cursor: move; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" width="48" /></a><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div></div><div class="tweet-content" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Liberation Sans', FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 58px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 48px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div class="tweet-row" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: relative;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="tweet-user-name" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><a class="tweet-screen-name user-profile-link" data-user-id="7916432" href="http://twitter.com/#!/MaryKC" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: rgb(192, 41, 66) !important; cursor: pointer; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="Mary Casey">MaryKC</a> <span class="tweet-full-name" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #999999; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Mary Casey</span> </span></div><div class="tweet-corner" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline-block; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div class="tweet-meta" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #999999; font-size: 11px; font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="icons" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"></span></div><span class="icons" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"></span><br />
<span class="icons" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div class="extra-icons" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 2px; margin-right: 2px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: absolute; right: 5px; top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="inlinemedia-icons" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline-block; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 2px; margin-right: 2px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"></span></div></div></span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div></div></div></div><div class="tweet-row" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: relative;"><div class="tweet-text" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Just did 30 min. on the ArcTrainer. Moving on to the StairMaster & will finish up on the elliptical-all machines I was scared of 6 mos. ago!</div></div></div></div><br />
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And that is a true story. Six months ago, I was going to the gym and using the treadmill and only the treadmill. I was planning to turn myself into a runner via the C25K program. And I was steering clear of all the cardio machines there, except for an occasional turn on the recumbent bikes. My, how things have changed.<br />
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Back in June, I decided to climb on the elliptical to see how that would go. And it went well, which was amazing to me because the last time I had been on an elliptical, during my gym orientation, which was at least three years ago, I thought I would die on the elliptical after less than five minutes. Since that day in June, I have continued to progress on the elliptical, using the different programs to change up my workout. I have added the ArcTrainer in pretty regularly, and this week, I got on the StairMaster for the first time since my early- to mid-20s. And I am loving challenging myself and enjoying some variety in my cardio workouts.<br />
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This morning, I did 30 minutes on the ArcTrainer, 30 minutes on the StairMaster, and 30 minutes on the elliptical, and it was AWESOME! I burned over 1000 calories, I sweat BUCKETS, and I felt amazing at the end! I tried a similar workout earlier this week and actually overdid it, in that I got lightheaded and queasy on the elliptical, I think from hypoglycemia. I had eaten about 900 calories at that point in the day, and once I burned 900 calories through exercise, my body revolted. I took care of that today by taking a cue from distance runners who use gels in their runs and eating a Larabar after I was 2/3 of the way done with my workout. It was PERFECTION. I felt strong to the finish.<br />
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When I was done, I was so proud of my body. I have been working hard, and it shows when I can get through a rather intense workout like that. I am certain not up there with elite runners or anything like that, but this is such progress for my former couch potato self, and it was so amazing to feel so strong at the end of my gym session. And even when my eating is not going as well as it could be, this was a great reminder that the gym is still there for me, and exercise can still feel great!<br />
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Make it a great day, everyone!MChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03740871776169412730noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16480923.post-68525568656731747312010-10-18T04:14:00.000-07:002010-10-18T04:14:39.008-07:00Long time, no...well, hear from, I guess.Hello! I am still here! I have been struggling a bit YET AGAIN on a plateau, but I am feeling good! I refuse to believe that my current weight (anywhere from 231 to 234 pounds is my body's "happy weight," but I have not really been seeing the scale making drastic progress in the downward direction. Of course, I also have not been quite as "on" with the healthy eating (and that has manifested itself in me not being particularly "on" with my blogging), but I have made some progress in the past few weeks. And the healthy eating will come back...I just have to recommit to it.<br />
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I do have to share that I do think that my whole "Mary as a Math Problem" idea has shown some real merit. In the first two weeks after I put that plan into action, I did lose weight. I had been hovering at a higher-than-recently 234.5 pounds, and after one week, I was down to 232.5, and the next week, I went down to 230.5, which was the lowest weight I have seen in a while. Now, after a weekend of excess (beer at some friends', cake at a birthday party, night at the bar, tailgate before a football game), I am no longer at that lowest weight, but it's okay because I know getting back there will be no problem. I didn't eat/drink 14,000 extra calories, so some of the four pounds hanging on right now are not true pounds. Getting back on track should get rid of those quickly enough.<br />
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And now I have something else to share. I have decided to apply to be the next <a href="http://www.priorfatgirl.com/2010/10/wanted-a-future-priorfatgirl.html">priorfatgirl</a>! This is a contest put on by a blogger I really enjoy who is a prior fat girl (her words, not mine). Jen lost 100 pounds through improvement in her eating habits and dedication to exercise. She is offering other bloggers who are working their way toward health the opportunity to join the list of priorfatgirls out there whose only connection to their fat jeans is as a memento that shows them how far they have come. I have decided to put my application out there because I want to put myself out there. I don't know that I will be chosen to be the next priorfatgirl, but just sending in my self-nomination is enough for me. It will be a confirmation to myself that I am DOING THIS (even if the scale this week doesn't really agree)!<br />
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Make it a great day, everyone!MChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03740871776169412730noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16480923.post-2827189259966388422010-09-27T17:51:00.000-07:002010-09-27T17:51:31.465-07:00Wherein I geek out about the Polar FT7...this will probably get boring.Suffice to say, I really, really love having a heart rate monitor! I have been using it to turn myself into a bit of an algebra problem, and I have had some surprising results! Initially, as detailed in my last post, I planned to do four days of "all day" wears of the HRM to gauge my calorie burn. I was planning to do one day at work, one day at home all day, one day at home with a normal gym workout, and one day at home with my yoga/pilates class as part of the day. In thinking further about this, I decided that two days would actually be enough...one work day and one home day.<br />
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The first day was Saturday, which was a day that I worked my usual 12-hour shift as a nurse (I work in the NICU, for those who don't know that already). I put the HRM on in the morning when I got up and took it off when I felt myself falling asleep that night. I ended up wearing it for sixteen hours total, and I then gave myself an estimated calorie burn (100 calories per hours) for sleeping the other eight hours of the 24. <br />
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I didn't have any real idea what the results of this little experiment would be. Recently, I have been cutting back on the calories I was eating because of this plateau I have been on, and I figured that this might confirm that this was the way to go. I did some quick math to decide that a 500 calorie deficit per day should result in roughly one pound of weight loss per week, with a 750 calorie deficit leading to 1.5 pounds and a 1000 calorie deficit leading to two pounds lost. I sort of thought I would burn somewhere around 2600-2800 calories in 24 hours on a workday, and this would lead me to aim for 1600-1800 calories of intake per day for a 1000 calorie deficit.<br />
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Well, I was a little off there. I did burn about 2600 calories (2640, to be exact), but I burned all that during my 16 awake hours. On a day like that one, eating 1600 calories resulted in an 1800 calorie deficit. NOT enough food! A one-way ticket to "starvation mode," really. It was shocking to see, but I was so glad to have that information! Based on that day, I have decided that my calorie goals for a workday will be about 2400 calories. That is roughly a 1000 calorie deficit, so even if I am overestimating the calories I burn while I sleep (which is information I found on several different websites, so I tend to believe it's close to the true amount), I should have plenty of a deficit to lead to weight loss.<br />
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In further thinking about measuring my calorie burn on a non-work day, I decided that I would wear the HRM for eight hours to get an estimate of my calorie burn per hour while hanging out at home, and then I would double that to allow for 16 hours of awake time, still allowing for eight hours of sleep at 100 calories per hour of sleep. After seeing how many calories I burned during my workday, a lot of which involved spending time sitting at a computer and charting, as well as sitting by my patients' bedsides for a good portion of the day, I really thought I would see some major calorie burn, even at home. However, I spend a lot of my time at home sitting, either on the bed while watching TV or reading or at a table with my netbook open in front of me. And the results of those eight hours really showed how different that is!<br />
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In eight hours this morning, I burned, according to the HRM, 867 calories. Doubling that and adding in the 800 calories for eight hours of sleep suggests that I burn as my base on non-work days roughly 2500 calories in 24 hours. This is more what I was expecting for my base calorie intake! Allowing for a 1000 calorie deficit leads me to aim for a 1500 calorie intake as the base on my non-work days. Going with this plan, I will also eat back most, if not all, of my workout calories on these days. Today, I burned about 750 calories during about an hour and ten minutes of cardio (including cool downs and transition time from the Arc Trainer to the elliptical), so adding that to the 1500 calories led me today to aim for 2250 calories of intake for a 1000 calorie deficit.<br />
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So there's my plan. I am going to aim for about 2400 calories per day on the days that I work a 12-hour shift, and I am going to aim for 1500 calories per day, plus the calories I burn in my workouts, on the days that I don't work. I am hoping that this will jump start my weight loss and start me on a downward journey once again. I am finding that it is a little difficult to hit these calorie goals for me so far because I am so used to restricting myself throughout the day, but I am sure this will get easier. I am going to continue to try to clean up my eating as well, which will definitely help.<br />
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The only other question I had for myself is what I would do about these calorie goals once I started losing weight. I decided that I would take some cues from the Weight Watchers program on this one. Back in the day, when I first did the Points program on WW, every time you lost 10 pounds, you ate 2 Points less in calories each day. Assuming each Point is equivalent to 50-60 calories, I am going to lower my calorie intake goals by 100 calories per day for each ten pounds I lose. <br />
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It feels so good to have a plan that has some sort of concrete information behind me! I am a little concerned that I might find myself gaining a little weight as my body gets used to getting more calories, but I am feeling confident that my body will start dropping weight again soon. <br />
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I have also started setting some fitness goals, but this post has gone on (and on and on and on) for long enough, so those will be saved for another day. Make it a great day, everyone!MChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03740871776169412730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16480923.post-88412820627125262572010-09-23T13:12:00.000-07:002010-09-23T13:12:20.584-07:00The Next LevelAfter talking about it for months, I finally went and bought a Polar FT7 heartrate monitor (HRM) today! I am so excited because I love gadgets, and I had high expectations. I am happy to say that the HRM met all my expectations and then some!<br />
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Set-up was a breeze, and I tried out the chest strap at home to make sure I knew how to use it. The strap is for sizes M to XXL, and it looks like it can be adjusted to fit a variety of chest sizes. And it was easy to position. I pushed the start button on the watch, and after a moment, it indicated that my heartrate was being measured! I turned it off then because I didn't need to measure my calorie burn for lunch eating and internet surfing, but I headed to the gym soon after lunch to test it out during a workout.<br />
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The first surprise I got was when I climbed on the Cybex ArcTrainer at the gym. The HRM was able to sync with the machine so that my heartrate was displayed up on the monitor. I loved that! I didn't have to keep looking down at my wrist to see what my heartrate was, and this made it so easy to stay in a target zone. I was trying to stay at the top of the cardio zone, and I was able to achieve that without much problem. I was dripping sweat from the intensity of the workout!<br />
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After I had done 30 minutes on the ArcTrainer, I climbed on a Precor elliptical. And once again, my heartrate came right up on the display on the elliptical! I was so excited about this because it meant that I could keep track of where my heartrate was on the elliptical and work to the level that I needed to stay again at the top of the cardio range. I definitely worked harder on the elliptical than I usually do, and I felt it! After a total of 1 hour and 10 minutes (including cooldowns and transition time), I had burned 739 calories! I am so excited to have a concrete number for my calorie burn because it will help me figure out how many calories to eat back on the days I work out.<br />
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I was interested to see how the HRM measured my calories vs. how the cardio machines at the gym do. On the ArcTrainer, I put my weight in before working out, and on the elliptical, I put my weight and age in. Neither asks for gender. It turns out that the ArcTrainer was overestimating by quite a bit how many calories I was burning, while the elliptical was underestimating by a small to moderate amount my calorie burn. The science nerd in me is super excited to have the HRM to tell me exactly what I am burning at the gym and at my yoga/pilates class as I work toward my fitness and weight loss goals.<br />
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My plan for the upcoming week is to wear the HRM one day when I am at home for the entire day, one day when I am home for the day and then have yoga/pilates, one day when I am home for the day and go to the gym for my usual workout, and one day that I am working my 12-hour shift at the hospital, all for all my waking hours (I will estimate 100 calories per hour burned while I am sleeping, based on some information I have found online), in order to get an idea of how many calories I burn during the day in all of these instances. This will give me concrete calorie goals for 1.5 pounds of weight loss a week...and here's hoping it will get me off this plateau I have been on!<br />
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Make it a great day, everyone!MChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03740871776169412730noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16480923.post-49828126122843471692010-09-08T05:38:00.000-07:002010-09-08T05:38:05.042-07:00Back in the right direction...Today, when I stepped on the scale, I weighed 233.5 pounds! That is the lowest I have weighed on this new scale, and it's represents a total of 41 pounds lost! Earlier in the week, I was weighing in at 237.5 pounds (Hello, water weight!), so this is represents movement in the desired direction! Look out...I am BACK!<br />
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This was a very stressful weekend at work...perhaps the most difficult stretch of time I have had at work since I became a nurse. I let that stress get to me in a way that manifested itself in fast food for dinner on Saturday and Monday nights on my way home from the hospital. On Saturday, I stopped at Sonic for a cheeseburger and cheese tots, and on Sunday, I stopped at Sheetz and ate cheese fries and a Cuban flatbread. On both days, I stayed within my calorie goals for the day (because I didn't really have time during the day to eat as much as I usually would have), but there is no way that I should have been eating that stuff at all, let alone at the time of day I was. Grocery shopping is scheduled for Thursday (after I get paid), so it's time to fill the house back up with healthy, whole, clean foods so that there is something to eat at home on nights like that. <br />
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Last night, I started a new yoga class with a different instructor (due to the fact that my previous instructor didn't have a class at a location that worked for me). I really like the new instructor, and once I get used to the difference in the class, I know I will really like it. It's an integrated yoga and pilates class, and it was definitely a challenge! However, I also found during it that I could do things that I didn't think I was able to! For example, one things we did was start from downward dog, lift one leg as high as we could behind us, and then swing our knee through our arms to do directly into pigeon pose. I didn't think there was any way I would have the upper arm strength to do this, but I was able to do it without a problem! I also was able to go from pigeon pose back into down dog without a problem. Both pose changes were challenging, but they were not impossible for me! I also found that I was able to go directly from cobra into down dog by just lifting my hips back, without going through a hands-and-knees position first. It was the first time I tried that, as I assumed I couldn't do it, so this was a great feeling! When I started taking yoga a year ago, I could not even do downward dog for very long because my strength was so bad, and now it is one of my favorite poses! Love it!<br />
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Today, I am heading back to the gym for the first of three cardio days I have planned this week. I don't go back to work until Saturday, so I am planning to spend some time with my friends the elliptical and the arc trainer for these three days. At my gym, we have two different ellipticals. We have one type that has an adjustable crossramp, which also has fixed arms. I have usually used this one because I was not a big fan of the arm motion on the elliptical, and there were some interval workouts that I liked that varied both the slant of the crossramp and the tension on the leg motion. Well, a few weeks ago, because I was watching an episode of "Say Yes to the Dress" while on the arc trainer, I decided to use the elliptical directly behind the arc trainer I was on. This elliptical had the moving arms, but it had a fixed crossramp. I assumed the programs on it would be similar, but instead I found a sort of random program that involved some major changes in the resistance on leg motion. It was SUCH a challenge, to the point that at some portions of it, I could not move my legs through the motion very quickly at all, and the next day, I had plenty of soreness in all my leg muscles. I also felt soreness in my arms from keeping my arms moving on the handles for most of the workout. This gives me some new plans for my elliptical workouts because I thought I was being challenged more by the other type of machine, but it really wasn't true! <br />
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I think I have officially become an enormous gym nerd after that paragraph. Oh, well...make it a great day, everyone!MChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03740871776169412730noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16480923.post-42410595412808010282010-09-02T12:51:00.000-07:002010-09-02T12:51:23.228-07:00What's the hurry?I am a big fan of instant gratification. There is just something so great about setting a goal, working just a little bit, and achieving it almost immediately. Unfortunately, weight loss is not an instant gratification sort of thing. Nope, losing weight is all about delayed gratification. And this is why it can be so <i>frustrating</i>. It's natural to want to make changes and immediately see the results of those changes. Unfortunately, with weight loss, that doesn't really happen.<br />
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This is what I keep reminding myself as I hang out on this little bit of a plateau that I find myself on. I have lost about 40 pounds in the last seven months. Unfortunately, at the six-month mark, I had also lost...about 40 pounds. Hmmm...another month in and not much to show for it <i>on the scale</i>. However, I have kept up my healthy habits. I have continued working out. I have even challenged myself by adding the arc trainer to my routine at the gym. I have realized that running isn't for me right now (thereby <i>listening to my body</i>), and I have replaced the C25K program with other cardio exercise that I enjoy.<br />
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When all is said and done, my ultimate goal is to lose about 100 pounds. When I started out, I had no idea how long it would take to do this. I sort of had a pipe dream that it would be a year-long effort, but I didn't really <i>know</i> this. It was just sort of an idea that I had floating around in my head. I know now that it will take longer than that. And I think I should want it to take longer than that because the longer it takes, the most realistically I lost it. And the more realistically I lose it, the better the chance that I will keep it off. <br />
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I have been thinking about this a lot lately because I have read a couple of blogs where weight loss of 100 pounds took two or even three years. And I am starting to think that I have been measuring myself up against an unrealistic goal. Therefore, for now, I am going to stop thinking of things by way of time, and I am going to start looking at the little progresses I make each day. If it takes me two years to lost 100 pounds, then that is the right amount of time for me. If it takes three years, that is still the right amount of time. The important thing is reaching my destination...it's not all about how long it takes me to get there. And this is something I have trouble remembering because I want it to happen NOW!<br />
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Make it a great day, everyone!MChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03740871776169412730noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16480923.post-11012660093917246702010-08-27T15:03:00.001-07:002010-08-27T15:03:14.152-07:00Getting the word out...My husband often listens to me with only one ear when I start talking<br>about my topic of the moment. I tend to be a complete information<br>whore (info ho'), so when I become interested in a topic, I spend a<br>lot of time reading about it and thinking about it and talking about<br>it. I am sure it gets to be repetitive and a bit boring.<p>My topic of the moment recently has been the importance of unprocessed<br>and organic foods in the human diet. After reading 'Animal, Vegetable,<br>Miracle' and watching 'Food, Inc.,' I began paying more attention to<br>where my food is coming from and, as a result, where my husband's food<br>is coming from. I have focused more on local than on organic where<br>produce is concerned, but once winter hits, I will go organic as much<br>as possible. I have put a lot fewer processed foods in my shopping<br>cart. I have bought only organic chicken thighs from Wegmans,<br>grass-fed beef from Wegmans, naked pork chops from Stew Leonard's<br>(during my best grocery shopping trip EVER during my visit to my<br>sister's, and Applegate Farms turkey burgers that came from Whole<br>Foods during that same visit to CT. And my sister was in PA this<br>weekend and brought me a new box of turkey burgers because my original<br>supply has been depleted.<p>This is a lot of background to an entertaining story. Today, my dear<br>husband asked me to look up for him something he saw on PBS late last<br>night. It was all about how cows are not made to eat corn and how corn<br>fed cows give us meat and milk that is higher in cholesterol than meat<br>and milk from cows fed a grass diet. Eureka! He's late to the party,<br>but he's finding it out! I told him that we were eating only organic<br>or humanely-raised meats, and he was a little surprised, but happy, to<br>hear this. He approaches this plan from a health standpoint, instead<br>of the health/animal love standpoint that I do, but the important<br>thing is that he made it there.<p>Regarding food and fitness, I am doing better, although still a bit<br>hit-or-miss. I went to a retirement party today and enjoyed some cake,<br>homemade truffles, and chips. But I am feeling good about things and<br>expect to see the scale moving in a downward direction soon.<p>Make it a great day, everyone!<p>-- <br>Sent from my mobile device<p>"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." -GandhiMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03740871776169412730noreply@blogger.com0