Update

I know this blog isn't useful if I am not dieting and posting on it.  I do hope that there are still some people that care and want to know how I am doing on it.  If you are watching and caring, would you please comment and let me know?  I have been so stressful!!!!  I am trying to get PG and have been disappointed 3 months in a row now and that has caused me a lot of sadness and a lot of hormones.  I just want one more baby so bad I can't think of anything else.  I also took a job that started on Monday of this week and its stressful too.  I haven't been to the gym at all this week and next week will be more of the same thanks to my training schedule but when I get to my normal shift, all that is going to change.  I am going to get back into the gym with a vengeance and I am also going to start counting and losing again!!  I am so happy to get back to my routine of weight loss.  I have had a sufficient break and I know that worrying and fretting about getting pregnant is causing the opposite of the desired effect so I am just going to chill out about that and make weight loss my goal again.  I hope the baby will come when "she" is ready and my joy will be full!!!  I adore my boys but I want a girl to make our family complete.  I would be just as happy to get another boy too!  LOL - Anyways, please keep up with me and don't despair.  I am coming back next week and I will be posting up a storm!! Love and gratitude to all of you my readers!! xoxooxoxox  I WILL NEVER GIVE UP!!!!!!!!

S0 Happy!!

I weighed myself today and was stunned to see that I weigh 225 LOL !! What a great surprise!!!  I was assuming that since I have not been counting calories for a month now that I would have gained.  I had also cut down on my gym visits but not by choice.  Does this mean that I am learning what it means to at least maintain?  I sure hope so!!!  That part of the equation is sooo critical.  I am glad I can maintain because that will be the last and most enduring part of my life long weight loss.  I refuse to let the weight go back on.  This week I resolve to go back to the gym and stop letting life get in the way. I also resolve to eat well and stay full and to write down my food intake again.  I know that helps a lot and is the key to the success I have had.  Next Monday, I am going to find out what my BMR is again so I can be eating at or around that amount in order to lose weight.  I also resolve to drink a lot more water and to taper down my diet drink intake.  I love being healthy and I love how my pants and clothes feel, it is so marvelous!!!  I love that people are noticing my weight loss.  I love the dividends all around.  I am going to keep my goals this week and I will let you know how I do!!!  Time to get back in the saddle for reals this time!!!  Wish me luck! xox thanks for reading - over and out!

Trying to get back in the saddle...

I have been trying to get back to the point of losing and it is so hard!! Why does TTOTM do a number on you mentally as well as physically?  I am so depressed somehow and I don't know what is causing it.  I am just going to make sure that I get to the gym today and stop missing all the time.  I have only been managing to go about 2 times a week and that is just not enough.  If I go today and tomorrow, that is only 2 this week but I am just going to refuse to allow myself to miss any more.  I need 5x per week and that is how I am going to get back in the saddle.  I want to lose more weight and achieve my goal of 200 and I won't ever give up!!!  I am going to update this blog more too so I can have something to refer to for how much I have done.  Thank you for still staying in there with me, I know its a long journey, but I am ready to finish it.   I will never give up and never give in to fat!!!  Love you!

Maintaining at least

Well this isn't that fun of a diet blog anymore because I think I have lost my edge.  I haven't changed my eating habits but I have not been as careful and all I can do is maintain my 225.5 for the time being.  Thats ok because I am still working out and I kind of feel like it is a rest for me as long as I don't go back up.  This morning I burned 500 cals at the gym and that felt so good!  I am eating a squash and veggie stir fry for dinner and it smells soo good.  I am not eating bad stuff and am still trying to follow my plan, just not as carefully.  So this is me on a break I guess but I hope to be back at it as soon as I can and to renew my energy to do this.  I won't ever quit!!!!  :)  Thanks for still caring and I will see you on here more often, I promise!  Love you!

Back to good...

I am now back to 227 much to my great joy...lol - it is now up to me going lower than that.  I know I can and today I put in a kick butt workout at the gym.  I have cut down my eating a bit and I think that is helping.  I can't wait to see if I can get lower than 227 by Sunday, then I really will have renewed hope!! I will never ever ever ever give up, this is for life and I am not going to quit.  I can feel my fitness coming and I can dream of it and almost taste it.  I know I can get out of the 200s altogether and keep my weight healthy for the rest of my life.  It will happen!!  :)  Thanks for tuning in and for caring...love you bye!

Ok, I am still here...

It has been a while since I posted because I have been gone on vacation and have had family in town and it has been a very long 2 weeks and mostly not on my diet :( - The good news is I still weigh 228.5 so I didn't gain too much but it is still 1.5 lbs more than what I have gotten down too so I am really wanting to get that off.  It seems like the powers of hell have been conspiring against me lately.  I had TTOTM to add on top so it has been hard!! I had a great time in St George and Vegas last week and Sean and I enjoyed the much needed break from life.  I ate at buffets and snacked and ate candy bars and didnt exercise so it is a wonder I didn't do worse.  I am trying to get back on but it is hard when you have to find your motivation again.  I am not going to give up though.  I have a filthy house and I am so behind but I think that I will get that all taken care of this week.  Camo is starting Preschool tomorrow so I will have some time when he is gone to work hard on getting caught up.  I feel like I will do a lot better when I have my life routine back and it works for me again.  I tried to go to the gym today but they told me there was a 25 min wait for childcare so I went home sad and worked on my kitchen.  I had an appt for Tyler to see an ENT for his ears and it turns out he has to have tubes in his ears :(  poor baby.  I figured he would need to.  I really hope it helps him, the poor little baby.  More details on that to come.  Tonight I was practicing walking with him and he took his first little faltering steps on his own, it was soooooo cute!!! He is way passed the time to walk so I am so happy to see him trying.  I think his ears have played a big part in that and I am hopeful that he will be much better after the surgery.  Ok, now you are caught up on my life and you know that I won't give up my diet.  I will be back at it this week and hopeful to lose some more weight!  Love to all and see you soon! xo

Whew..

I woke up today and weighed in at 228 which makes me happy but I am hoping I can keep it up and go down to at least 225 by the weeks end.  That would be so nice but who knows if it will happen.  I know if I mess up bad that I can at least get it right back off.  I think I shall take that as another lesson learned.  If I want this to last, I have to know how to eat and how to forgive myself and keep trying.  Yay!  See you when I am lower!  Love you all!

rolling with the punches

This morning I woke up with great dismay to find I weigh 231.5  :(  Somehow I don't think that is real weight....could it be?  If so, I guess it is just life....I have to deal with it.  So in depression, I will face it and will work on being really diligent this week!  I do confess falling off the wagon over the weekend but I did sort of have a strategy.  I knew I wanted to have a free day on Saturday so I did kinda pig out.  The only bad thing I really ate though was chips and a cookie.  The rest was just normal food.  Then, I decided that since my family was coming over for dinner on Sunday night, I would just eat what I wanted too.  So two full days of being off my diet happened.  My strategy was to hope that my body would get shaken out of its plateau since I couldn't go lower than 227 before.  So I swam and biked on Saturday and rested on Sunday but I was still hoping that my body would shake out of this and start losing really good.  I also ovulated so I think that plays havoc on my hormones and I was hoping that being over would also cause me to drop.  We shall soon see I guess.  I have a full week of workouts planned and I am hoping to just have water and no more diet soda.  I think that may indirectly have something to do with it.   Am I nusts?  maybe but I have to learn how to overcome the bad weekends that will always be in life anyways right?  So I will use this to learn by and will always keep going and keep working toward my goal of a thinner me!! I know I can do this!!  I will post more soon and let you know what happened...Thanks for tuning in! xo

Water date :)

Since I decided how much I love the pool and always have, I invited Sean to come with me today.  We had such a good time!!!  It was such a blast to just visit and not have any interruptions.  Cameron was with his Aunt Nikki swimming down in Draper where she lives and Tyler went to the nursery at the gym so we were free for an hour to just play, talk and goof off.  It is amazing how you can find time to spend together if you just look.  Of course we had to scream down the water slide several times and swim laps and just hang out talking.  It was such a good time that I will be inviting my love to join me more often!! I love it!!  :)  I watched my calories real good today so I am hoping for a drop tomorrow!!!  :)  See you in the lower 220s soon!

Swimming!

I have always loved to be in the water so today I decided that it was finally time to include water in my weight loss.  I first need to give a shout out to my friend Kendra at the gym who reads my blog!! It was nice seeing you today and thanks for weighing me!  I owe Kendra big time because she taught me about Basal metabolic rates and told me how they work which changed the direction of my diet.  I can eat more and lose more weight and it is just freaking awesome.  I saw her a couple of weeks ago and in that time between visits, I have lost 5 pounds!  I am so happy!!!!! Thanks Kendra, very helpful!  Today I had so much fun in the water.  I have realized that I am either a great big kid or at least I know how to have fun like a kid...it is one of the two I think.  I feel like a kid when I am in the water for some reason and that was what I was feeling today.  I started with some water aerobics and then swam some laps.  I must have looked like an idiot doing the aerobics I came up with but they worked and I hoped no one was looking under the water...LOL - I swam some laps and that really got my heart rate up so I know that was useful.  I am very buoyant for some reason so I can just lay on my back and do nothing and float with my face out of the water and my whole body in a line, crazy huh.  It is very relaxing.  After my laps, I went over to the water slide and I think that is where my inner kid came out.  I climbed the 3 stories to go down it with the intent of getting a workout and I sure did.  I climbed up 3 times and went down 3 times and it was sooooo fun!!  I can't imagine a funner thing than screaming down a water slide.  I guess that part of me will never grow up.  After spending 30 minutes in the water, I went up to run/walk a half a mile or 6 laps.  I alternated walking and running so I got 3 laps of each which felt sooo good!  I have noticed that my recovery after running is getting so much better and that makes me so happy!!  I was trying to do anaeorbic conditioning which makes you work hard and then recover in an effort to fool your body into burning more.  I will have to see how well I did with it on the scale this week.  I live by the greatest and best cooking neighbors ever and of course they brought grilled steak, hot dogs and homemade guac and salsa over tonight - diet be darned at that point, it was just too good to pass up.  I counted my calories after pigging out and I stood at 2125 for the whole day which is only slightly out of range.  I think I am still ok considering my good workout.  They also brought homemade empanadas which are just plain heaven and I had one of those too.  I need to get better at saying no LOL - but I can't when it comes to their food.  I am going to make them some banana bread tomorrow to get them back...hehe such fun!  I have said goodbye to 260, the 250s, the 240s and the 230s and that is such an overwhelmingly good feeling!!!! It is awesome!!! I was 210 when I got married so that big marker will feel so good when I get to it.  It is just amazing to be on this journey, not really a journey because it will have no destination.  It will be a lifelong endeavor but one of the most important I can work toward. Thanks for your support and love...see you on the scales!! Love you! xoxoxox

Halfway!!

I have done it.  I could hardly believe the scale this morning.  It seems so unreal!!!!  Halfway!!!!!!!! I took off 30 lbs in 3 months.  I did it on my own and with my own hard work.  I am teaching my body to follow my desires to have a fit body and the pattern I am in won't ever change.  Even when I get to my goal weight, I am still going to be counting calories to maintain it.  I know I will never go back and that is the best part of this whole journey.  I am not on  "diet" because that word suggests that there will be an end somewhere.  I have changed my life and there is no going back.  I will not yo-yo anymore.  I will not gain fat and lose self-esteem.  I will not use food as an emotional crutch or as a means to "feel good" ever again.  It will always be a transaction for me which is teaching me to get the most energy, health and nutrition for my buck (or calories..hehe)  and that is now part of me.  I do not feel deprived or unsatisfied in the least bit.  I have more energy, more stamina and overall I feel great!  I know I will only feel better!  I get more sleep at night and I have no heartburn or any of the other bothersome digestive problems.  I know I have made a good choice in doing this and it has made me so happy.  Well, it's time to roll up my sleeves because I have 3 more months and 30 more lbs to go until I reach my first goal.  My final goal will be 180 if I can possibly get there, I won't give up until I do.  Thanks for reading and for your love and support.  It means the world to me!! Love you all!

Greetings from the diet battle front ...hehe

Still hanging in there and still trying - It is hard and the way is fraught with many emotions.  I have been getting lots of compliments on how I look which makes me feel good but it boils down to me believing in myself, that is the power I need to win this war.  It is the hardest commodity to come by for some reason but I manage to have enough self-discipline to keep it up for now.    We had family over tonight for dessert only...boo!  I should have gotten myself something special I could enjoy but nooooo...haha I didn't do anything that smart.  Instead, I watched as everyone savored the delicious homemade banana chocoloate chocolate chip muffins my brother-in-law brought over (they smelled heavenly!!!!!) and a sundae bar.   Alas, I only snitched a bite of muffin that I was giving to my baby and it was sooooo good!  I then ate my graham crackers and milk like a dutiful dieter should.  It is hard to say no dang it!!!  And to compound matters, I had TTOTM...lol (that time of the month - thanks Jen!)  so that does not help matters at all :(  I usually come to a diet halt and have to wait a few days to start losing again.  I did work out today though while Sean went swimming with the boys.   I wished I could have been with them but working out was more important so I did it.  I found out today that I can fast walk a 17 min mile.  I wonder if that is good?  It burned 132 calories so that was good to know.  I am going to start trying to be more diligent next week and see what I can do to get in to the 220s.  I can't wait!!! What a feat it will be to be at halfway!!  YAY!!!  I hope it is this week!  I ate a salad at Wendy's tonight for dinner.   I tried their cobb salad the last time so this time it was the cranberry pecan chicken salad that I tried....Oh...My...Gosh - SO GOOD!!!  I couldn't believe how good it was!! I got the lowest calorie dressing they had but I didn't really need that much of it.  It had bleu cheese and apples and a delicious breast of chicken on it, my goodness it was well worth the 510 calories I spent on it.  I love salad and I am glad for that.  It is a big meal that you can usually make very tasty without a lot of calories.  I tried the same type of salad over at Carl's Jr and it was good but not as good as the one at Wendy's.  I will definitely be wanting to eat that one again soon!!!  OK, I am done now but I hope the next post will find me out of the 230s for good!! Thanks for reading and keeping up with me! Love you !!

Good lesson learned...lol I think :)

Ok so I was making a fuss this week over hitting a diet plateau and having family in town and the whole 9 yards right?  Well I think I inadvertently got myself back on track.  How? I don't really know.  All I know is that I only hit the gym 3 times and I ate slightly over my calories each day.  I didn't go hog wild but I did eat more than I usually do.  Is that the answer?  LOL I think that is funny!  Who would have guessed?  I about passed out this morning when I weighed and it said 233.5!! SO HAPPY!  So I guess it isn't all about driving and achieving, your body knows better than that.  If you do the same things all day every day,  I think the body gets used to it and conserves a lot of energy even though you feel like you are expending way more than you should.  So maybe I got my first plateau under my belt, I am hoping so!  I have 2 free 30 minute sessions with a trainer over at the gym so I have planned to use them together on Monday at 4 so  I think that is going to give me some more help.  I talked to the gal I am meeting with on Friday and she told me she can totally help me.  I am so excited!  I will learn how to keep going and to finally get this weight off of me.  It's about time and this time it is final.  I refuse to yo-yo any longer.  Thanks for reading! See you in the 220s as soon as I get there!! xoxo bye!

Falling off the wagon.....dang it

So who said this diet stuff is easy...oh..me? yeah I guess I only thought that.  Ok, so I got 23 lbs off myself but then the first dreaded plateau hit and so did many a family gathering because family came to town.   I am so sad!  It is hard!!!  I just decided that even though I had tried to count my calories and make wise choices, I just couldn't do it.  I didn't go stark raving mad or anything but I did eat more than I should have and I savored the moment with family and the enjoyment of homemade food and dessert.  It is so good sometimes.  I sort of hoped that my having a week of total diet oblivion might help me get out of this plateau and help me start losing again.  I was going to start fresh on monday and then the neighbors decided to share their barbeque of grilled steak,  hot dogs, rice and guac with us and it was the best food I have ever eaten it seemed like!!!! LOL How do hispanic people do that??? I just really want to know.  They make the best food I have ever eaten and I count myself lucky but also cursed a bit to have such wonderful neighbors who always share their delicious food with me.  I guess I should look at it this way:  Dieting isn't easy nor is it something that you should kill yourself doing.  I slip and fall along the way.  I just really hope that my slipping will help me get back into the swing of things and that I will find my diet mojo again.  I went to the gym yesterday and today and I worked out with a vengeance!! It felt great and I am not going to ever give that up so at least I can say that much :)  I ate my calories like a good girl today and was quite satisfied.  However,  in addition to my evil yet heavenly dinner last night, I also made 4 batches of raspberry jelly with my Dad and that came with a lot of tasting...uh to make sure it was good?? Oh ok - I just flat enjoyed it and did not want to forgo.  So good for me LOL - next time I will and this week I will be back on the wagon for another hopeful long haul of weight loss.  Thanks for reading!! Over and out :)

Happy Fourth!

I had a great weekend and overcame some food obstacles.  I had my cycle last week and it ended with the funeral for my friends nephew so all in all it was a hard week.  I was so depressed and soooo sad because of the loss of a little 7 year old named Kobe.  I wanted to eat but I stood my ground.  I did eat a little extra but I made good choices and I got through it.  I know my battle with weight will never truly be over so I have to stay diligent for the rest of my days if I want to keep the weight that I am losing right now off.  It is so hard but the fact that I have lost 23 pounds is so exciting to me that I am willing to keep trying.  I found that I will need to get to 180 to not be overweight anymore so that is 57 more pounds...blech :( but hey, if I were to feel good and have energy and age well because of it, wouldn't that be worth it?  I would say a big huge YES!  See you on the scales!

20lbs!!!!! I am in shock!

One third of the way through my diet journey and I did it in 2 months!  I am really seriously in shock!  I know it is a math game to lose weight but I told myself for so long that I couldn't do it that I had almost come to believe it wholly and truly.  I almost failed myself completely with my mind set of not being able to lose any weight.  The sad reality is that I was addicted to food and soda and I was medicating myself for pain I was feeling in life with chocolate and sugar of any variety.  It is so sad to me.   A couple of days before I started my diet,  my mind caught hold of a thought I believe was placed there by my guardian angel.  That thought was "I am healing my body with water"  It was so profound to me that I dropped my soda habit that very day.  I only drank water for about 4 days before starting my diet and that was the catalyst to me believing that I could start watching what I eat and losing weight.   It worked!  Now 2 months and 20 lbs later, I feel better and look better and my skin looks better from drinking water and from the good things I eat.  I exercise more than I ever have in my life and I stay true to my commitment to see this thing through to the end when I can say, I lost 60 pounds.  Won't that be a great day?  That is only my first goal and I intend to go lower from there but the day I can hop on the scale and see that 200, I think I will throw a party! :)  What a great day that will be and only 4 months from now hopefully!!!!!  Thanks for reading!  Love you!

3 Great dinner ideas!

OK so the first idea is soup.  If you don't like soup, then skip down to the second idea.  If you do like soup, then the next question is what kind do you like?  For me, I always grew up and loved and still love Campbell's condensed soups.  Yes, I know there are soups that aren't condensed and a lot of people think they taste better like Progresso and the likes.  I just happen to be one of the ones that doesn't like their soup.  I don't know what it is about it that I don't like. but I don't.  I discovered that Campbell's condensed makes 4 varieties of light soup that I love for only 70 calories per serving!! The whole can is just 175 and that is filling!!  Here are the 4 kinds:

Chicken mushroom barley
Chicken Gumbo
Italian-style wedding
Chicken with white and wild rice

They are soooo good and so nourishing.  I know that summer is not a time for soup usually but when you are dieting,  you need to have that sense of fullness sometimes and this gives it!  I usually have mine with a piece of Sarah Lee diet bread and a tsp of low cal marg spread.  It is a meal that holds you over and keeps your calories counting on the low end!  Give them a try!

The second idea is a hobo dinner.  Yes, I said hobo dinner!  In tinfoil with cut up steak bits, carrots and so forth!! It is sooo good!!  The only bad thing is that you can't really count it unless you measured it all out.  Here is my list of ingredients and I will tell you why I think its low cal and what I do to count it.

Start with these:

potatoes (on the fewer side as they have more cal's)
carrots
red pepper
yellow squash
zucchini
green pepper
onion
steak (small portion cut up)

I always take some foil and put down pam on it and then I put the meat and season it.  I then put in the chopped veggies and spray it with no cal butter spray and add more seasoning.  I then have Sean throw it on the grill (all wrapped up in a couple of sheets of foil and made kinda thin so it will cook)  and cook it for app 20 flipping midway through the cook time.  It comes out all perfectly seasoned and done and the best part is you are eating mostly veggies!!  You could count and measure but what i do is wait until dinner and save up a few extra calories before I eat like last night when I had 700 left and then after dinner, I ate some graham crackers and milk and was done for the day.  You do want to be careful not to go hog wild but you can enjoy this and not feel guilty!! It is so delicious!! You could even try veggie version without the meat and I know it will still be sooo good.   It is something that I don't do all the time, but when I do it, I feel like I am being naughty but in reality, it is just fine.

The third idea is a turkey burger!  It is soooooo good.  I grill turkey burgers and eat them on sarah lee diet buns and that is only 240 cals!!!  Then add ketchup for 15 cals per tbls or mustard for free.  I then add tomato, onion, lettuce and pickles and it is soooooooooo good.  It is so fresh and delish and I do it quite often to get a low cal dinner.  You could even try it with a salad, low cal baked lays, sliced cucumbers on the side or with 8 wheat thins and string cheese (145 cals for the crackers and cheese combo).   Having a burger makes dieting worth doing and it is so filling.  Don't forget to leave off the cheese unless you have some that is very low cal as regular cheese is pretty high in fat and calories.  Enjoy!!!!

I hope you will try these ideas!!  I have been hoping and praying for the 230s this week so send me some love and hope I will get there!! hehe thanks!!

Sorry for the neglect! I am here!

Hi Everybody! I am here.  I had my first crash weekend and ate myself practically to death..haha - just kidding but I did eat way to much this past weekend so this week was used to try and do damage control :( but I am finally back to where I was and hopefully will be losing an extra pound or two on top of that.  I have decided that I love my diet in many ways.  The big reason is because it makes me feel better.  Who can put a price tag on that?  It is worth everything you do to feel good.  I never realized that it seems but now I have and I will never let this frame of mind go ever again.  Here are the building blocks of my plan:

1. I have a food journal - if you don't have one, get one.  It is a very important part of my day and I write everything that I eat in it and I keep a diligent tab on every piece of food I put into my mouth.  I count the calories there too so I always know how many I have left to eat and what options I could possibly have for eating.  It is great and I recommend getting one for sure.

2.  Here are most of the foods  that I try to keep on hand for this diet :

lots of fresh veggies like:
carrots
lettuce
celery
red peppers
tomatoes
onions
squash
cucumbers (a big must)

low cal bread from Sarah Lee
no calorie butter spray (I can't believe it's not butter brand)
whip cream! (yes its only 25 cals for 2 TBLS)
multi-grain waffles
popcorn
apples
frozen berries
lowfat or nonfat yogurt
applesauce
low cal frozen dinners (you choose the brand - lean cuisines and WW are great! so are healthy choice)
100 calories snack packs (oreos, cheezits..whatever :)
salsa ( any kind, very low cal )
tuna
canned and frozen chicken
low cal dressing for salad
eggs
rice cakes
frozen veggies
low cal jam or jelly
triscuits or wheat thins
string cheese
extra chewing gum
Fresca (any diet drink will work, I just LOVE Fresca :) )


This is just a small list but it is some of my mainstays.  It is good to make a list of things you really like and try to keep a lot of variety on hand so you can choose your snacks throughout the day and make each calorie mean something so you won't feel hungry or deprived.  I love gum in between meals as it helps me feel less hungry.  I love anything that is free too like celery - YUM!  I feel much better and have more strength and stamina when I eat right and I also have no more need for TUMS which is a big blessing in itself.

3. The last and equally important part of my diet is exercise.  I hit the gym 4-5 times per week without fail.  If I miss a day, I work extra hard the next day.  I also have Sundays to rest and I just relax.  The gym is my time and I defend it.  I take my babies to the childcare and I workout with vigor because I know I have to build lean muscle mass.  Somedays it is a hard thing to do but I always switch things up and I allow myself to do whatever feels the best that day.  I don't punish myself with hard routines or things that I can't stand or handle.  I try to make the gym a good experience and I do a lot of walking there as well.  I always have about 30-45 minutes of cardio and about 10 minutes of weight lifting.  I  switch off with my upper and lower body workouts every other day.  I am in the process of making it more weight lifting as I get stronger because it burns more calories.  Sean and I have gotten our bikes out for summer bike rides and I am looking forward to that!  There are a lot of things to do that keep you active even if it is doing some crunches while you watch TV (I am going to start!) or even if you do arm circles while you are walking or doing anything else.  I love arm circles and it gets rid of your chubby arms which is the best part of all.

Ok.  I hope this helps.  Please give questions or comments - I want to hear from you!  I am going to post my weight again on Saturday morning, wish me luck!  Love to all! xo

Still here and still kickin!

Hi Everyone!! I am sorry it takes me a while to update this blog.  Sometimes I just get going doing other things and wish I could just sit and blog everyday.  I have gotten to the point where my weight loss is slowing a bit but I still hope it is healthy loss because it is not all just falling off of me.  It gets kind of frustrating because you do want to see big results every week but that is just not possible with a busy schedule and life happening like it does.  I had several days this week where I went over my boundaries...LOL - geez the smore I had was sooooooooo good.  I had to stop at one but it was very good.  I also had my period this week so that makes it even tougher to lose weight for me as I have to battle mood swings, more desire for munchies and an overall sense of discouragement most of the time.  However,  I have proven to myself now that I can do this and I won't give up.  This week, I plan to go down to 1700 calories instead of 1800 and I am going to stick to that for a few more weeks to see how much I can go down.  I weaned my baby so that has also made my heart ache so bad that I can hardly think of anything else.  It hurts when your little ones get bigger :(  I just have to think about my new baby who will come along someday soon and I will be so happy for that.  Life is all about perspective.  Today I have a dim one so I am going to change it to realize that I can be happy and positive every day if I just make up my mind to be.  I am so thankful I have a gym membership because that really helps me mentally.  I love to go workout and take that little time for myself and all the time knowing that I am making a huge difference in my overall well-being.  I feel better when I workout, I sleep better and I have more energy.  I am going to keep up with my food journal which has really been helping me keep track and I am also going to drink a lot of water.  It is not easy to diet but it is worth it.  I would like to add my tip for the day on weight loss.  It is to eat a lot of salad!  Never underestimate what a delicious salad can do for you.  For me, it is very satisfying.  I take romaine hearts and chop them up small and add red peppers, celery, carrots, cukes, and tomatoes.  It is soooo scrumptious!!! I also use a fat free sesame dressing with a sprinkle of chili lime salt! mmmmm - It helps make your bowels work better and the green leafy lettuces are good for preventing cancer and good for your liver.  You can make your salad any old way you like it and add apples too for a yummy treat.  I also add some tuna sometimes.  Salads are a great way to get your veggies and an integral part of feeling good I have found.  I hope this week will give me good results!! I am going to try for them at least!  Love to all and thanks for tuning in!  Over and out! xoxo

Update time!

Hi and I don't know how many people are looking at this blog, I guess I need to promote it.  I am so happy because I just weighed in at 249.5 this morning!!!! I am so excited!!! I am not going to update my ticker until I get my final weigh in for the week on Sunday and will let you know what that is.  For now, saying goodbye to the 250s and 260 is enough for me, I couldn't be happier!! I will never get that overweight again!! I think that being overweight and out of shape is unbearable and this new life is giving me more energy and stamina already.  I can spend 20 minutes on the same machine doing cardio at the gym where I could just barely do 10 minutes when I first started.  It doesn't take me too long to walk a fast mile either where I started with just a few laps at a time.  It is starting to make me feel better and I love it!! I spend between 30-45 minutes at the gym now and that includes rotating upper and lower body weights every other day.  I want to improve on all of that too as I go and to drop my calories in about another 2 months to 1500 to see how much further I can go down.  I won't stop until I reach 200 which is my goal.  I want to go lower than that but hey, 60 pounds off of me would be a great start!!!  Thanks for reading and I hope to see you again on my blog soon!!! xoxo

Discipline

It's funny how having the discipline to do this diet has changed me.  I never used to think that I had it in me.  I was always afraid to start dieting because I figured I would just binge on food or I would just say "oh what the heck, I can always start again tomorrow" but for some reason, this time is different.  I am finding that the discipline is what is helping me lose and be successful.  It is control that I am feeling.  It is a sense of purpose combined with the self esteem that comes from knowing that I am working on the art of self-mastery.  I am so happy for this diet and so happy that I am showing myself that I can do it.  I have the discipline to see it through to the end and to be a person that is a healthy eater after my diet and forever.

A new recipe? how droll.....stop the coach!!

Lianna's Chinese Chicken Salad

1 oz canned Chicken - 30 cals
1 1/2 C prepack coleslaw (cabbage and carrots all shredded) - 25 cals
3 black olives sliced - 25 cals
1/4 red bell pepper finely chopped - mostly free
2 Tbls fat free sesame dressing - 90 cals

all total - 170 calories!!  Mix all ingredients and toss in dressing.  Soooo yummy!!  I had it with a Healthy Choice Cafe Steamer for lunch today called Chicken Fresca which was chicken and veg's in a lite cream sauce for only 230 calories!! And it was sooo good and very filling!  My lunch today was tons of food and satisfaction for 400 calories.  Can your lunch do that? hehe - see you soon!! :)

After 2 whole weeks....7.5lbs lost!

I am so excited!!  What a great feeling it is to lose weight and know that you are making yourself healthier everyday by the good choices you make.  I have been having fun playing the "counting" game and seeing how much I can really eat for the 1800 calories I give myself and I have been pleasantly surprised!  I really feel full and have not suffered for the lack of food.  I am in awe that I have been able to do this and that I haven't given up yet.  I don't plan on ever giving up.  It is just too important to me and feeling good will be a good payoff when I am done.  I am so happy that there is gum to chew..LOL - I can't tell you how many times that gum has given me the satisfaction that I really want.  It is easy to chew and helps you want to drink water.  I have found that Extra has some really good new flavors and a lot of them are fruity - me likey a lot.  I also love to eat my grahams and milk as a treat, that has saved me too.  I usually save 2 full sheets of graham crackers and 8 oz of milk as my last calories of the day and to be eaten and enjoyed after my babies are sound asleep and off to dreamland.  I need a little break and a treat after a day of dieting and that does the trick just perfectly.  I am going to be out of town this week from Thursday through Sunday so I am going to have to be creative about my choices while on the road.  I don't think it is anything that a little planning can't resolve.  We are driving to Steamboat Springs Colorado and it is a  6 hour journey from Salt Lake.  I plan on loading up a snack/lunch/treat box with healthy stuff for me and my kids.  I think it will make the trip nicer for us and it will mean less temptation from the gas stations we will inevitably visit with their wide variety of high calorie snacks and sweets that always seem fun to eat on a trip.  I used to be notorious for that kind of stuff...sunflower seeds, bubble gum, lots of candy bars and of course something sour like sweetarts, nerds or sprees...LOL.  Now, my snacks will include a bag of cut up apples and some carrots along with some celery.  I will also take my snack packs and some premade turkey sandwichs made especially for calorie counting.  These are all good things for sharing with Sean and the boys as well.  Yay for preparation and making sure you can keep with your diet, regardless of the situation.
             I made it to the gym for a workout 3 times this week.  Each time I tried to spend at least 30 minutes in actually working out.  I usually go to the eliptical machines for 10 or 15 and the stationary bikes for the same then I finish up by trying to or coming close to walking a mile.  I also did some good gardening that took up a lot of calories.  I tried to park a ways away from places I went to also so I could get some exercise in that way too.  I kind of feel like the gym is too boring to be going to 5 times a week for just work out stuff.  I like going to the gym with Camo for his swimming classes and not feeling like my workout is waiting on top of that and not to mention the time that it all takes.  I am going to try doing some work on my mini trampoline as well because I have heard that is good for cardio activity.  I want to make the workout and exercise as fun and not boring as I can.
            Anyways,  this is it for today.  I am so happy for my weight loss so far and I am here to support and help anyone who wants to try it with me, good luck if you do!!  I am here to share that experience with you.  I hope you all have a good week and I will be blogging all throughout this week to add my thoughts and anything I can think of that helps.  See you on the scales!!!!

Top 10 healthy snacks I love to eat

1. 1/2 C Mountain High Vanilla yogurt and 1 C frozen berries (raspberries, blueberries and marionberries)
Total calories = 160
2. Nabisco Oreo 100 calorie snack packs - nuff said!!
3. 1 small gala apple - Total calories is just 70
4. 5 C air popped corn with no calorie butter spray - Total calories = 75
5. 2 sheets of graham crackers and 8 oz nonfat milk - Total calories = 210
6. Sliced cucumbers with chili lime salt (oh soooo good!!)  8 calories in a 1 C portion - thats nothing!
7. 1 C sliced fresh strawberries just 30 calories
8.  1 piece of whole wheat toast with no calories butter spray,  a teeny sprinkle of sugar and cinnamon - app 80 calories - mmmm
9. Nabisco 100 calorie snacks packs of cheezits and chex party mix (whatever its called)  that satisfies my need to crunch!!
10. any sort of low cal fruits that I can get on sale like a mango - again with chili lime salt (believe it or not) its the ultimate fruit and veggie booster!! Sooo good!  1 whole mango is 130 calories.

Enjoy and please add your own favorite low cal snacks to my list in the comments!

What I changed...

I decided to post the top 5 things that I changed for the better.  There are many more things I can change and will change but these are the top things that made a difference for me in my decision to go on a diet or I should actually say decision to change my health and eating forever.

1.  First, I stopped drinking soda everyday, completely.  I loved Sprite so much that I drank it every single day and up to 104oz on some days.  Can you believe that?? Boy, that is yet another answer to why I am fat.  Soda is simply horrible for your body.  It robs your body of much needed calcium,  adds no nutrition to your body whatsoever, and almost doubles your chances of having kidney problems.  It should be a no brainer but it was very hard to quit.  I did quit though and I am so happy I did.  Right now I drink mostly water and allow myself measured portions of milk so I can count the calories.  Water is healing and your body needs it in so many ways.  I know that drinking water is the best thing I can do to lose weight.

2.  I stopped eating butter.  Ouch, that hurt to give it up but I had to.  I found a no calorie spray called "I can't believe it's not butter" and that works great for a quick spray of buttery taste and especially on popcorn or toast.  It tastes great and does the trick.

3. I don't eat anymore sugary treats at all in any form.  I realize that I could possibly fold it into my daily calories but I have learned that sugar is bad for your body.  Your body doesn't  know how to metabolize it fast enough so it turns to fat.  I do allow myself to have a weight watcher brownie sundae once in a while but not much.  I look for foods that have natural sugar or no sugar.  I don't like fake sugar either so I skip that.  The good thing about it is that you lose the cravings as time goes by.  I don't think I will ever go back to eating them because of what I know.

4. I decided to stick with 1800 calories everyday.  I have read where you should take the weight you want to be at and multiple that by 10.  I hope someday to be back to that but I think it will take a while.  I don't care because I won't give up.  I haven't weaned Tyler yet so I think that 1800 is safe for me to continue nursing.  Years ago when I was on Jenny Craig, I started at 1700 calories per day and I lost 40 pounds.  This time around, I am much fatter so I don't think it will hurt to go with 1800.  I have lost 5 pounds so my body is obviously responding to it.  I will go down in daily calories as I get closer to my goal weight.

5. I eat a lot of salad.  Veggies are so good for us and there are many that you can eat without any guilt.  I found out that one cup of sliced cucumbers is only 8 calories!! lol.  There is also celery, romaine, red bell peppers and carrots that are low in calories among others.  I found a delicious fat free dressing and I just go from there.  I make a delicious salad with all my fav veggies and my dressing measured out and I go to town!  I even add a few calorie counted croutons sometimes and its fantastic.  I don't mind eating salad every day.  It's important to eat fresh fruits and veggies everyday in order to have a healthy weight loss.

These things have really helped me and I am searching everyday for more things I can do.  I have been working out at the gym 4 to 5 days a week and that is yet another big change for me.  I can't wait to get more weight off!  Thanks for reading!

Welcome to my weight loss journey!

Hi and thank you for stopping by!  I am a food-a-holic!! I have gained so much weight that I am just miserable and have finally reached my breaking point.  I can't go on this way, not being the mother of two beautiful and energetic boys....nu-uh, not going to happen.  They need me.  They need a Mom that can run and play with them.  They need me to feel good so I can care for them properly.  They need me and so I have to fix me.  My two sons are my life and my inspiration.  They are such joys to me and I love them like I never thought I could love anyone.  They are my life in every sense of the word.  This last year I was nursing and never thought that practical weight loss applied to me because nursing Moms aren't supposed to lose weight or count calories.  But you know something?  They aren't supposed to guzzle Sprite, eat chocolate donuts, devour chocolate or eat too much at every meal either!  I had a lingering question all that time...."gee...why am I so fat?" and now I know.  When you start to count calories, it opens your eyes!!  One example I will use is butter.  I was born loving butter and never stopped.  Who doesn't love butter?  It goes on everything from toast to veggies to popcorn and the more you have, the better the food tastes that you cake it on to.  I love butter.  I never once stopped to realize that butter on its own has a whopping 100 calories PER TABLESPOON....hit me over the head with a hammer why don't you.  I never knew that...ever.  That is just one of the answers to why I am fat and I found dozens more.  So...needless to say, I found my way to the thought of counting calories and striking down the walls I have built with food for self-medication and for comfort.  I changed radically!!! And so can anyone of you who are reading this blog.  I know I can lose weight now!  I changed my habits and changed my foods and counted my calories (1800 for me) for one week and off came 4lbs just like that!  I know it is a lifestyle change and that I will not be able to keep up the bad habits I had or I will risk all kinds of bad health not to mention harming my children's future by my lack of participation in it.  I am in this for the long haul and will not give up.  I am counting and losing and you can too!  Please hang in to this blog and follow me on my path to health and hopefully, I can make a difference in your life every bit as much as you will in mine by just being here.  Until next time!! See you on the scales!!! and may our healthy choices last a lifetime!!!  Stay tuned!