Some of my Deerfield ladies and myself after workin' it at our Party In Pink!!!!Saturday, November 13, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
"Yea, we used to sit there and make fun of your thighs."
(Note: Sorry for the long delay...don't you love it when "life" happens : ) )
That is an interesting title isn't it? But it is true, someone did say that to me before. I can sit back and laugh about it now, but at the time my spirit was crushed! I have always had self esteem issues, so little phrases like the title really made my confidence take a nose dive. It was hard enough when beginning my weight loss journey still looking into the mirror and seeing a 190lb woman. The power of the mind really does play tricks on you.
When this "friend" said this to me, I was at the peak of being in shape and healthy. I had gone from wearing a size 14 dress to a size 3/5...my jeans went from a size 16 to a size 2. I had made drastic improvements on my body and the way I was taking care of myself. But that comment hurt my feelings and my confidence went away. When I went places I was afraid of what people thought about me...were my thighs still huge, is there anyone snickering at me? At that time my occupation was being a Youth Pastor so I was constantly in front of people-speaking, preaching, and presenting. I tried not to wear form fitting clothes because I still felt like I was still 190lbs. My childhood memories came back of being teased and put down, making me feel like nothing.
Finally the day came when my husband put his foot down. One day for church I busted out this XL sweater that I apparently just swam in...after the service he said "It's gotta go!". He made me get rid of all of my baggy XL clothes. When we were going through the clothes, I would look at him and ask "But what if I get big again, what if my weight comes back, I won't have any clothes to wear!?" He just looked at me and asked, "Are you planning on putting the weight back on? Do you really want to wear these again?" And that sealed it for me. I had made my decision to never be out of control with my weight again. I did not want to put the weight back on...so with that, bye bye big clothes! Well I did somehow manage to keep a favorite pair of Mount Union sweatpants : ) Thanks Sweetie!
Through time I have learned to look into the mirror and see my real image and have gained confidence. So, do I still talk with the woman who made the comment? Uh, no lol. I believe a key in maintaining happiness is to surround yourself with positive, uplifting people who will encourage you during times of trials and celebrate with you during times of success.
Do not let anyone stop you from reaching your goals! And when you begin or are continuing your weight loss journey never second guess yourself...get rid of that old you...get rid of those clothes and make it a personal goal to never ever let that weight come back! You need to ask yourself that same question my husband asked me "Are you planning on putting the weight back on?" And make that answer: "Nope...I don't ever want to see it again!" Do this for you...you deserve it : )
That is an interesting title isn't it? But it is true, someone did say that to me before. I can sit back and laugh about it now, but at the time my spirit was crushed! I have always had self esteem issues, so little phrases like the title really made my confidence take a nose dive. It was hard enough when beginning my weight loss journey still looking into the mirror and seeing a 190lb woman. The power of the mind really does play tricks on you.
When this "friend" said this to me, I was at the peak of being in shape and healthy. I had gone from wearing a size 14 dress to a size 3/5...my jeans went from a size 16 to a size 2. I had made drastic improvements on my body and the way I was taking care of myself. But that comment hurt my feelings and my confidence went away. When I went places I was afraid of what people thought about me...were my thighs still huge, is there anyone snickering at me? At that time my occupation was being a Youth Pastor so I was constantly in front of people-speaking, preaching, and presenting. I tried not to wear form fitting clothes because I still felt like I was still 190lbs. My childhood memories came back of being teased and put down, making me feel like nothing.
Finally the day came when my husband put his foot down. One day for church I busted out this XL sweater that I apparently just swam in...after the service he said "It's gotta go!". He made me get rid of all of my baggy XL clothes. When we were going through the clothes, I would look at him and ask "But what if I get big again, what if my weight comes back, I won't have any clothes to wear!?" He just looked at me and asked, "Are you planning on putting the weight back on? Do you really want to wear these again?" And that sealed it for me. I had made my decision to never be out of control with my weight again. I did not want to put the weight back on...so with that, bye bye big clothes! Well I did somehow manage to keep a favorite pair of Mount Union sweatpants : ) Thanks Sweetie!
Through time I have learned to look into the mirror and see my real image and have gained confidence. So, do I still talk with the woman who made the comment? Uh, no lol. I believe a key in maintaining happiness is to surround yourself with positive, uplifting people who will encourage you during times of trials and celebrate with you during times of success.
Do not let anyone stop you from reaching your goals! And when you begin or are continuing your weight loss journey never second guess yourself...get rid of that old you...get rid of those clothes and make it a personal goal to never ever let that weight come back! You need to ask yourself that same question my husband asked me "Are you planning on putting the weight back on?" And make that answer: "Nope...I don't ever want to see it again!" Do this for you...you deserve it : )
Thursday, September 23, 2010
PARTY IN PINK INFO
Ok it is official!!!
PARTY IN PINK
When? October 10th, 2010
Location? G-Plex -Garresttville,Ohio
10340 INDUSTRIAL DR. GARRETTSVILLE, OH 44231
Time? 2-4pm
(2 hours of Zumba...what a better way to spend your Sunday afternoon!! Plus prizes and give-a-ways!)
Cost? $10: PreRegister
$15: At Door
Come and join three of the hottest Zumba instructors in the area help in the fight against Breast Cancer! Proceeds will go towards the Susan G. Komen Fund. Toss me an email if you are interested!!
PARTY IN PINK
When? October 10th, 2010
Location? G-Plex -Garresttville,Ohio
10340 INDUSTRIAL DR. GARRETTSVILLE, OH 44231
Time? 2-4pm
(2 hours of Zumba...what a better way to spend your Sunday afternoon!! Plus prizes and give-a-ways!)
Cost? $10: PreRegister
$15: At Door
Come and join three of the hottest Zumba instructors in the area help in the fight against Breast Cancer! Proceeds will go towards the Susan G. Komen Fund. Toss me an email if you are interested!!
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Back to the Grind!
So we've covered alot about food! But what about exercise??
Remember: Exercise is just as important as eating right! Sure eating healthy foods will give the proper nutrients your body needs, but we also need to be active-whether it is walking, swimming, taking fitness classes, Tai Chi, Yoga, Pilates...ANYTHING that gets your body up and working your cardiovascular system is a good thing : )
When I made the choice to lose my weight, I jumped online and started researching gyms in my area. I came across a community center nearby that offered so many options, I couldn't turn it down. So the membership was established! I began looking at the classes they offered, and one in particular instantly peaked my interest: ZUMBA! I have always loved to dance, and there is nothing more contagious than a Latin beat!
When the following Monday rolled around, instead of sleeping in with the kitty when my husband went off to work, I got out of bed. Monday of all days to begin a workout program...yikes! But I was energized and ready to go...I took the 15 min commute to the community center and signed up for the 8am class. The class was not very big, I think about 3 students and 1 instructor, so if I looked goofy doing Zumba, there would only be 3 witnesses!
The music played and I instantly fell in love! The moves were simple and basic. The instructor explained to me later that she took out a lot of the actual "Zumba moves" because it drew too much attention from onlookers...lol. The moves she chose were a little hokey, not gonna lie, but it did get me up and moving and I did return to that class every week! The class stayed small while it was in existence at this location. So my Mondays were filled with 60 mins of Zumba and then I would go out to the lifting area and re-familiarized myself with weight training equiptment. Lifting brought back memories of training for high school and especially college athletics, and I quickly found my groove again. On the other days I didn't have Zumba, I would do 30 mins on the elliptical (low resistance, high speed) and weight trained (low weight, high reps).
I was really into this Zumba thing and absolutely loved the instructor who taught it, she was fun and filled with high energy! I remember one time she was absent and someone attempted to sub for her, she had a cute Zumba shirt on, but yet brought in a dvd and tv to instruct the class. The dvd wasn't even Zumba, the class was a flop! I was deeply offended that this woman tried to pass that class off as Zumba lol. It turns out, sure this woman's specialty was not Zumba, but man she could kick your butt in other ways!
One day I decided that I wanted to add something else into my routine, so I checked out the community center's class list again and found Yoga. I thought maybe some of my weight gain was due to the current stresses of my life and I have heard that Yoga could relax and reenergize you. Hrmm...let's just say Yoga is not my thing lol. Sure I could hold the positions, but relaxing? ARE YOU SERIOUS??? Being contorted into different lovely pretzel shapes is not my idea of relaxing. I know there are some people that Yoga really works wonders for (and kudos to you!), but it was and still is soooo not my thing! Taking the one Yoga class did reenergize and motivate me....to find something else to try! : )
When taking the tour of the facility, we were shown "the spinning room". Inside were these interesting little bikes you had to put together and adjust to your body. Spinning...it sounded like I could get into it, just never had the guts or confidence to try it out. I looked at the class schedule because they offered numerous types of Spinning Classes. I decided to take it light the first time 30 mins Spin 30 mins Abs. Guess who the instructor was?? Yup the pseudo Zumba lady lol. Oh man, I was in trouble! She was a drill instructor in that Spinning Class, pushing me to limits I had stored away in the "I was severly abused during my high school basketball season by running for two hours straight" memory bank. As we like to say, "It hurt so good". In Spinning there is interval training where you go from Heavy Resistance, Slow Speed (Hills), Light Resistance, High Speed (Downhill), to things called Jumps. Her encouraging phrase was always, "You can do anything for 30 seconds"...and she was absolutely right. I survived the Spinning portion of the morning...and then it was time for abs. Ok...while walking to the ab portion a woman asked me if I had ever done abs with this particular instructor yet...I said "Nope"...the woman looked at me, smiled, and said "Let me just say this, she used to be a health specialist for the Army" HA!!!! What did I get myself into? This instructor worked us!! I had never done abs like that before, but I never gave up and put everything I had into it! I mean we didn't get a break until the class was over...our resting state was doing Regular Crunch Postions abs for 1 min.
So the cycle began...Zumba, Elliptical, Spinning, Weight Training, and Eating Right...I was determined to lose my weight!
I had taken the Zumba class into December, but when January came around, it was a very sad month....the community center decided to cancel their Zumba program due to lack of interest! I was devastated...this program is what got my booty up and moving again and now it was going to be taken away! At the time I was not aware of the Zumba Network and how I could have researched for more classes in our area, so I had to move on. From October-January I went from 190lbs down to about 140lbs. I had reached the weight I was in high school and was back into a size 8 jean size! However, I was not confident whatsoever in my "new" body. Whenever I looked in the mirror I still saw the size 16 woman : / I still didn't feel comfortable being around a bunch of people, because I still saw those over weight pictures in my mind, and thought people looked down upon me or made fun of me. So I did not let my weight loss stop there...my goal was 125lbs before my birthday in April of that year.
Up Next: "Yea, we used to sit there and make fun of your thighs."
Remember: Exercise is just as important as eating right! Sure eating healthy foods will give the proper nutrients your body needs, but we also need to be active-whether it is walking, swimming, taking fitness classes, Tai Chi, Yoga, Pilates...ANYTHING that gets your body up and working your cardiovascular system is a good thing : )
When I made the choice to lose my weight, I jumped online and started researching gyms in my area. I came across a community center nearby that offered so many options, I couldn't turn it down. So the membership was established! I began looking at the classes they offered, and one in particular instantly peaked my interest: ZUMBA! I have always loved to dance, and there is nothing more contagious than a Latin beat!
When the following Monday rolled around, instead of sleeping in with the kitty when my husband went off to work, I got out of bed. Monday of all days to begin a workout program...yikes! But I was energized and ready to go...I took the 15 min commute to the community center and signed up for the 8am class. The class was not very big, I think about 3 students and 1 instructor, so if I looked goofy doing Zumba, there would only be 3 witnesses!
The music played and I instantly fell in love! The moves were simple and basic. The instructor explained to me later that she took out a lot of the actual "Zumba moves" because it drew too much attention from onlookers...lol. The moves she chose were a little hokey, not gonna lie, but it did get me up and moving and I did return to that class every week! The class stayed small while it was in existence at this location. So my Mondays were filled with 60 mins of Zumba and then I would go out to the lifting area and re-familiarized myself with weight training equiptment. Lifting brought back memories of training for high school and especially college athletics, and I quickly found my groove again. On the other days I didn't have Zumba, I would do 30 mins on the elliptical (low resistance, high speed) and weight trained (low weight, high reps).
I was really into this Zumba thing and absolutely loved the instructor who taught it, she was fun and filled with high energy! I remember one time she was absent and someone attempted to sub for her, she had a cute Zumba shirt on, but yet brought in a dvd and tv to instruct the class. The dvd wasn't even Zumba, the class was a flop! I was deeply offended that this woman tried to pass that class off as Zumba lol. It turns out, sure this woman's specialty was not Zumba, but man she could kick your butt in other ways!
One day I decided that I wanted to add something else into my routine, so I checked out the community center's class list again and found Yoga. I thought maybe some of my weight gain was due to the current stresses of my life and I have heard that Yoga could relax and reenergize you. Hrmm...let's just say Yoga is not my thing lol. Sure I could hold the positions, but relaxing? ARE YOU SERIOUS??? Being contorted into different lovely pretzel shapes is not my idea of relaxing. I know there are some people that Yoga really works wonders for (and kudos to you!), but it was and still is soooo not my thing! Taking the one Yoga class did reenergize and motivate me....to find something else to try! : )
When taking the tour of the facility, we were shown "the spinning room". Inside were these interesting little bikes you had to put together and adjust to your body. Spinning...it sounded like I could get into it, just never had the guts or confidence to try it out. I looked at the class schedule because they offered numerous types of Spinning Classes. I decided to take it light the first time 30 mins Spin 30 mins Abs. Guess who the instructor was?? Yup the pseudo Zumba lady lol. Oh man, I was in trouble! She was a drill instructor in that Spinning Class, pushing me to limits I had stored away in the "I was severly abused during my high school basketball season by running for two hours straight" memory bank. As we like to say, "It hurt so good". In Spinning there is interval training where you go from Heavy Resistance, Slow Speed (Hills), Light Resistance, High Speed (Downhill), to things called Jumps. Her encouraging phrase was always, "You can do anything for 30 seconds"...and she was absolutely right. I survived the Spinning portion of the morning...and then it was time for abs. Ok...while walking to the ab portion a woman asked me if I had ever done abs with this particular instructor yet...I said "Nope"...the woman looked at me, smiled, and said "Let me just say this, she used to be a health specialist for the Army" HA!!!! What did I get myself into? This instructor worked us!! I had never done abs like that before, but I never gave up and put everything I had into it! I mean we didn't get a break until the class was over...our resting state was doing Regular Crunch Postions abs for 1 min.
So the cycle began...Zumba, Elliptical, Spinning, Weight Training, and Eating Right...I was determined to lose my weight!
I had taken the Zumba class into December, but when January came around, it was a very sad month....the community center decided to cancel their Zumba program due to lack of interest! I was devastated...this program is what got my booty up and moving again and now it was going to be taken away! At the time I was not aware of the Zumba Network and how I could have researched for more classes in our area, so I had to move on. From October-January I went from 190lbs down to about 140lbs. I had reached the weight I was in high school and was back into a size 8 jean size! However, I was not confident whatsoever in my "new" body. Whenever I looked in the mirror I still saw the size 16 woman : / I still didn't feel comfortable being around a bunch of people, because I still saw those over weight pictures in my mind, and thought people looked down upon me or made fun of me. So I did not let my weight loss stop there...my goal was 125lbs before my birthday in April of that year.
Up Next: "Yea, we used to sit there and make fun of your thighs."
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Keep Track of EVERYTHING!
As I said before, one must make sure their output is more than their input, as far as losing weight based on calories. However does this mean to starve yourself? Absolutely not!!! You see, if you don't put enough food into your system, sure you might lose weight, but it's not the correct weight loss you are looking for!
When your body is in starvation mode the body will actually start to burn your muscle! Once the calories and nutrients you placed into your body are used up, your body is still looking to burn and it will turn to your muscle supply! You do not want this to happen! So please keep a good eye on what you are eating!
When I heard about food journaling, I thought "Ok, I tried to keep a journal several times throughout my younger years...never really worked. I just wanted to doodle. Is this for me?" To my surprise, it wasn't as bad as I thought. It was sort of a challenge to myself, another motivational tool to assist in my weight loss.
Here's what I did: I took one day and just ate my regular diet, making sure I wrote EVERYTHING down. My human side made me think "It's okay if I don't log that piece of cake...or those few pretzels...or that glass of milk" But in the end everything counts, so log it! And I did! Jeepers!, after one regular day of eating I consumed way more calories than what my body needed!!
Here is an interesting tool online...
http://nutrition.about.com/od/changeyourdiet/a/calguide.htm
Copy and paste into your search bar! This site is awesome to figure out how many calories you need to maintain or loose weight. It also breaks it down by specific nutrient needs your body has! Use this as a base of intake! Make that daily number your goal! So now plan those meals accordingly...take the time out of your day to plan, YOU DESERVE TO DO THIS FOR YOURSELF!
How do you know how many calories are in the foods you eat? Several ways!
1. Look at the package : ) It says it in the Nutritional Info!
2. If you are going out to eat...check out the restraunts website for their nutritional values before going there!...but be warned: CONTENTS WILL SHOCK YOU!!!!!!!
3. http://www.thecaloriecounter.com/ or http://www.calorieking.com/
Check these sites out to look up calories that may not be listed on foods!
4. A good friend just informed me that her cell phone has a calorie counter on it...how awesome!! If you got it...use it!
I know it may seem like a pain in the booty to do this...but trust me, if you are dedicated to that Calorie goal...go for it! Carry that little journal with you! Some advice: As soon as you eat it, log it! If you log as you go, you are able to see how many calories you have left for the day and can adjust accordingly!
So I said to log EVERYTHING...and this is so true. We covered logging our food...but have you ever considered logging your activities/calorie loss as well? Yup Yup! This is the next step!
This by far was the coolest thing I found online! At the time of my weight loss adventure, I was working from home. This meant I had time to do house work too! You better believe I was logging every little activity I did from showering to dishes to sweeping to playing with the cat; from driving to the gym to activities I did at the gym to sleeping. EVERYTHING! I wanted to know how many calories I was actually burning throughout the day.
Here are a couple I found useful:
http://primusweb.com/fitnesspartner/calculat.htm
This site is kind of confusing-you put your weight and duration of activity, it will then pop up a HUGE list of activities done for that duration and how many calories it burns.
http://www.soft4everyone.com/tools_activity_calorie_counter.php
This site is good to use because it calculates all of your activities together...saves you from doing the math : )
http://www.caloriesperhour.com/
Another option! I like this because it supports LIVESTRONG.COM!
There are so many ones out there! Don't like any of these...there are plenty more out there to choose from!!! : )
So your ultimate goal: More Out Than In...but get those nutrients your body needs!!!
When your body is in starvation mode the body will actually start to burn your muscle! Once the calories and nutrients you placed into your body are used up, your body is still looking to burn and it will turn to your muscle supply! You do not want this to happen! So please keep a good eye on what you are eating!
When I heard about food journaling, I thought "Ok, I tried to keep a journal several times throughout my younger years...never really worked. I just wanted to doodle. Is this for me?" To my surprise, it wasn't as bad as I thought. It was sort of a challenge to myself, another motivational tool to assist in my weight loss.
Here's what I did: I took one day and just ate my regular diet, making sure I wrote EVERYTHING down. My human side made me think "It's okay if I don't log that piece of cake...or those few pretzels...or that glass of milk" But in the end everything counts, so log it! And I did! Jeepers!, after one regular day of eating I consumed way more calories than what my body needed!!
Here is an interesting tool online...
http://nutrition.about.com/od/changeyourdiet/a/calguide.htm
Copy and paste into your search bar! This site is awesome to figure out how many calories you need to maintain or loose weight. It also breaks it down by specific nutrient needs your body has! Use this as a base of intake! Make that daily number your goal! So now plan those meals accordingly...take the time out of your day to plan, YOU DESERVE TO DO THIS FOR YOURSELF!
How do you know how many calories are in the foods you eat? Several ways!
1. Look at the package : ) It says it in the Nutritional Info!
2. If you are going out to eat...check out the restraunts website for their nutritional values before going there!...but be warned: CONTENTS WILL SHOCK YOU!!!!!!!
3. http://www.thecaloriecounter.com/ or http://www.calorieking.com/
Check these sites out to look up calories that may not be listed on foods!
4. A good friend just informed me that her cell phone has a calorie counter on it...how awesome!! If you got it...use it!
I know it may seem like a pain in the booty to do this...but trust me, if you are dedicated to that Calorie goal...go for it! Carry that little journal with you! Some advice: As soon as you eat it, log it! If you log as you go, you are able to see how many calories you have left for the day and can adjust accordingly!
So I said to log EVERYTHING...and this is so true. We covered logging our food...but have you ever considered logging your activities/calorie loss as well? Yup Yup! This is the next step!
This by far was the coolest thing I found online! At the time of my weight loss adventure, I was working from home. This meant I had time to do house work too! You better believe I was logging every little activity I did from showering to dishes to sweeping to playing with the cat; from driving to the gym to activities I did at the gym to sleeping. EVERYTHING! I wanted to know how many calories I was actually burning throughout the day.
Here are a couple I found useful:
http://primusweb.com/fitnesspartner/calculat.htm
This site is kind of confusing-you put your weight and duration of activity, it will then pop up a HUGE list of activities done for that duration and how many calories it burns.
http://www.soft4everyone.com/tools_activity_calorie_counter.php
This site is good to use because it calculates all of your activities together...saves you from doing the math : )
http://www.caloriesperhour.com/
Another option! I like this because it supports LIVESTRONG.COM!
There are so many ones out there! Don't like any of these...there are plenty more out there to choose from!!! : )
So your ultimate goal: More Out Than In...but get those nutrients your body needs!!!
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Where do I begin?
Ok, so reality has set in about the weight gain...so what did I do about it? Everything that I could!
I mean the issue weighed very heavily on me, no pun intended...every picture I looked at I couldn't believe how I had missed it before (including wedding pictures!), I couldn't believe the food I had in the fridge, and the habits that had formed.
So I went to the one place that seems to have some answers these days...the internet. I started researching weight loss tips, products, exercise programs, etc.
The #1 weight loss tip that somehow opened my eyes was: "Make sure your output is more than your input". Making sure that the calories I was consuming was less than what I was burning through exercise. It suprised me, once I got started, how few people knew this one small trick to losing weight!
The #2 weight loss tip that kind of goes hand-in-hand with #1 was "Keep a food journal" Everything you eat is going to have an effect on your body, whether in a positive or negative way. At the beginning I was logging every little thing that entered my stomach...and wow, that really is the best way to make you stop and realize what is actually in the food you are eating AND that it is going into your body!!
You really can learn a lot about food by doing this. Some people just focus on the calories, but trust me there are other things you need to look out for too. How often do you look at a food's nutrition label? If you haven't in a while, I suggest you do it immediately the next time you shop!
My husband and I enjoy doing this...especially looking at sodium content...let me just say "YIKES!!!" The world of food seems to have turned into a salt factory! Let's begin by looking at what may seem as everyone's worst enemy...but alas there is hope for it yet: Fat.
-Low-Fat/Non-Fat: Yes, this sounds wonderful...and it sounds like an easy way out. "Well if it's low-fat or non-fat, it must be pretty darn good and the fat won't even be there in the first place. Hey I may not have to exercise after all!" Correction: Where there is low-fat/no-fat: there is usually high-carb which in turn may mean more sugar and there may also be a high Sodium content! That's right, to make up for the lack of taste in low-fat/non-fat foods, manufacturers will load up the sugar and salt. If you consume a lot of sugar/salt and just let it sit...guess what, it will form into fat. So what I suggest is to be smart when you are buying food & drinks, READ YOUR LABELS and COMPARE the low-fat/non-fat foods with the "norm" of the same product. EXAMPLE: YOGURT. I was on a huge yogurt kick, but noticed I was not losing weight and sometimes gained here or there. Well after looking at the back of my low-fat yogurt, sure I was only consuming 80 calories, but I also noticed that I was consuming over 42 grams of sugar from a 6oz cup...this is not good, I might as well have been eating ice cream for breakfast! So please be careful...read your labels!
Also, I believe people get hung up on the word "fat". When one hears the word "fat" one can just imagine the mental image of lard and tubs of shortening. But here's the thing...not all fat is bad, there is healthy fat...and trust me, your body NEEDS healthy fat! Now, don't start running for the cookies just yet...let's first take a look at Our Fat Family:
*Saturated Fats: Ok people, when you hear the word saturated, what do you think of? I think of something being soaked...and this is exactly what you need to remember Saturated=BAD. Saturated Fat is our bad guy here. Consume too much of this bad boy and this is where your high cholesterol, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes steps in. Where do we find saturated fat? Animal fats (food from animals), dairy fat (butter, cream, milk, cheese made from 2% or higher), shortening. These products should be kept to a minimum.
*Trans-Fat: This Fat is pretty much Saturated Fats even more evil sibling. Ever read the word hydrogenate on the back of your foods? When you see this word, put the food down and walk away!! Hydrogenate is the process of taking out oragnic (nutritional) compounds from food or liquids in order to achieve a longer shelf life. Through this process, trans-fatty acids are created and will be found in your food...especially commercially packaged foods: French fries from some fast food places, vegetable shortening, stick margarine, microwaved popcorn, peanut butter, low-fat/non-fat ice cream, bread, crackers, protein bars. Trans-Fat is a man-made fat and when it is consumed it may raise the LDL levels in your blood which may lead to deadly diseases.
*Unsaturated: *Sigh*, doesn't the word "unsaturated" just make you feel better!! And it should. This guy is one of our fat heros! Polyunsaturated fats include: Seafood like salmon and fish oil, as well as oils made from corn, sunflower, and soy, nuts, leafy greens, whole grain wheat, bananas, etc. These super foods contain Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids (which our body has difficulty creating on its own!). These acids help ward off heart disease and is thought to help improve our memory...think of it as "brain food"! So be smart...swap some of that red meat for fish...eat a handful of almonds...use virgin and nut based oil dressings for your salads...use liquid vegetable oils made from corn, sunflower, olive, canola, or soybean when cooking!
Look for polyunsaturated and monounsaturated...but stay away from trans-unsaturated! It's for the same reason stated above...factories will take out the nutrition and organic substance from these foods to provide a longer shelf life
Please keep in mind that just because I'm saying there are good fats, does not mean we should binge on them : ) Like I said be smart, and just add some into your lifestyle!
So what did we learn from today's long winded blog?
*First and foremost, realize and admit there is something to be done about our weight gain. Admit a lack of self control, admit the bad habits, admit your downward spiral!!
*IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO TAKE ACTION TOWARDS A HEALTHY LIFE!! You deserve to be healthy & happy!! We all do, so don't short change your life...get up and get motivated.
*Find that motivation...find a mantra/phrase to repeat to yourself when your feeling down (we'll get into that later!), get a role model...and I don't mean one of those super skinny peeps in the magazines that look as though they are looking for care packages from Korea...Find a real woman who is healthy (there is a difference between skinny and healthy)!
*Start looking at your input/output ratio!!
*Begin a food journal!!!
*Be smart about fats...Fat can be your friend...just choose your friends wisely!!
NEXT: Keep track of EVERYTHING!!!!!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
OMG!! THAT'S ME!!!!!
Have you ever had one of those days that shakes you to the core...when something happens that just opens your eyes to reality? The day that I "discovered" my weight gain was not a pretty day...it was kind of frightening!!!
Halloween 2006: My husband and I just love carving pumpkins for this spooky holiday! AND we loooove taking pictures and goofy videos of our silly creations. Well I was sitting there in a pink tank top and yellow capri sweats (I can still see the outfit in my mind) and my hubby took a pic. We were really enjoying the evening...until I saw the picture he took. My thighs were HUGE, my arms were HUGE, my face was HUGE, and my tummy was HUGE....I WAS HUGE! I was like "OMG Is that ME??" After seeing that picture I threw open our picture albums and started looking at pictures of myself during the past 2 years, and I was so shocked and upset. Whether it was stress weight or happy weight, the weight was there and finally the numbers on the scale clicked into connection with these pictures and it blew my mind. "How did I let myself get to this point?" "What am I going to do?" "Do I have to give up my love of food?" "Where do I begin?"
That really is the question...where do we begin with this struggle to lose weight?
Halloween 2006: My husband and I just love carving pumpkins for this spooky holiday! AND we loooove taking pictures and goofy videos of our silly creations. Well I was sitting there in a pink tank top and yellow capri sweats (I can still see the outfit in my mind) and my hubby took a pic. We were really enjoying the evening...until I saw the picture he took. My thighs were HUGE, my arms were HUGE, my face was HUGE, and my tummy was HUGE....I WAS HUGE! I was like "OMG Is that ME??" After seeing that picture I threw open our picture albums and started looking at pictures of myself during the past 2 years, and I was so shocked and upset. Whether it was stress weight or happy weight, the weight was there and finally the numbers on the scale clicked into connection with these pictures and it blew my mind. "How did I let myself get to this point?" "What am I going to do?" "Do I have to give up my love of food?" "Where do I begin?"
That really is the question...where do we begin with this struggle to lose weight?
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