Spring is here!

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Marielliott

Officially Spring doesn't start until tomorrow. But oh my - the weather says Spring - the birds are chirping Spring - it's Spring to me! And with Spring comes rebirth, a rejuvenated energy. My life is in transition right now. I am losing some stability and comfort but gaining freedom and joy. I've taken huge risks in my life before, but never with three kids and a mortgage.
So. Here I go. I weighed today and lost 1.2 pounds. I'm not sure if it had anything to do with my healthy choices but more to do with stress and uncertainty. Still - it's a start! haha The good news is - I got the Wii Fit out and I'll definitely have more time to use it!
Sammi

Week One over and feeling great!

Tweet So, it's been a week and I am so fired up! I love that the inner skinny girl is just kicking this fat girls butt.
I had my official weigh in today and I was absolutely floored. I seriously couldn't believe it.  263 pounds.

That's a 12 pound loss!!!

Now, I know that a lot of that is water weight. I know that I will not lose that much next week. Heck, I probably won't lose at all as my body adjusts. But HOT DOG! 12 pounds sure feels good! I feel more energetic. More alive. I know that losing the 12 pounds didnt do that but losing something sure boosted my confidence and that's half of this battle. I hope you all are feeling this "I can do anything" energy also. It makes this fight a little more enjoyable.

How about a little challenge for the upcoming week? Pick one small thing to accomplish. Maybe work out 3 times this week. Maybe give up your favorite soda. I kicked my Pepsi habit but Im struggling on drinking enough water. That will be my challenge for the week. Drink 8 glasses every day. Let me know what yours is!

~Candie

Week 1 Update

Tweet Week 1 is over! Yay!

Today is my official weigh-in day. I lost 1.8 pounds! I have now lost 3.4 pounds overall since I began exercising 5 weeks ago. This week I began "dieting" and/or making a concious effort to eat better and that is what made all the difference.

Here is my recap of what I accomplished this past week:

*5 workouts at the gym
*1 trip to the grocery store
*Only 4 meals from restaurants (only 1 fast food)
*Cooked more meals
*Ate nothing processed or from a can
*Dramatically reduced unhealthy carbs (a few handfuls of sunchips, one flour tortilla and one serving of whole wheat pasta is all that I consumed)
*Lots of lean meats, eggs, veggies, fruit and yogurt
*Took body measurements and calculated body fat and waist-to-hip ratio
*Switched to light salad dressing
*Started mixing juice half and half with water

Negative Experiences:

*Feeling hungry often between meals
*Frequent headaches
*Low energy
*Cravings

Goal for this week:

*Drink more water
*Eat better breakfasts

Would love to hear about your ups and downs.
Do you have a new goal for the week?

Love,
Blondie

Soda and my addiction to the internet

Tweet Week 1 over and 2lbs lost. Soda and my addiction to the internet are killing me! I need to excercise more for sure. My food choices were not excellent but better than normal. I cant wait for the weather to warm up so I can walk more at night (I always feel like people are looking at me when I walk during the day).

You Could Be Obese And Not Even Know It!

Tweet Think if you are at a healthy weight then you are in the clear? If so, then think again...

Many people calculate their BMI or Body Mass Index. In fact, our individual weight loss tickers are calculating our BMI for us as we monitor the pounds we lose. You can find BMI calculators all over the internet and there is probably one hanging in your doctor’s office. Body Mass Index is simply an individual’s body weight divided by the square of his or her height. BMI does not measure your percentage of body fat. According to my BMI, I am just barely at a “healthy” weight. Calculate your BMI!

In addition to eating more healthfully, I am exercising regularly as well. Yesterday, I decided to take my body measurements because I know that sometimes your body is actually changing even though your scale may not be budging. If you are exercising, you can lose inches before you start to lose pounds because fat is being replaced with muscle. So, I took my baseline measurements for my entire body. I will repeat them in a month. Learn how to take your body measurements.

After taking my measurements, I decided to calculate my body fat percentage. You only need to measure your body in 4 places (waist, wrist, forearm and hips) in order to calculate your body fat percentage. I plugged my numbers in and was quite shocked at the outcome. More than a third of my body is FAT. According to the Body Fat Percentage Chart, that percentage places me in the “obese” category.
Calculate your Body Fat!

If you want to go one step further, you can use your waist and hip measurements to calculate your Waist to Hip Ratio. Once again, my calculations put me in the most unhealthy category and indicated that I am at High Risk for diseases such as diabetes, coronary heart disease and high blood pressure. All of these diseases run in my family. I also have an apple body shape because I gain weight in my abdomen. Calculate your Waist to Hip Ratio and check out the Ratio Chart!

So, I started thinking about all of this information that I had just learned and I asked myself... "How can I be at a healthy weight and also obese and high risk for scary diseases?" What I found was that I have what is now being called "Normal Weight Obesity." Sounds like an oxymoron, right?!?! Well, it is real and it is serious. I now know that even though my weight may be "normal" on the charts, I am still at risk for many of the same diseases as someone who is actually obese. I have a large body fat percentage and though I may not be able to change my apple body shape and where I carry that excess FAT (thanks genetics!) - I can do something to reduce it. Now one of my goals is to work to reduce FAT and not just weight!
Learn more about Normal Weight Obesity!

Sorry for the lengthy post (I'm a writer). I hope you find this information informative and helpful. I am so grateful to be a part of this project. I am learning so much about my body and finally taking ownership of the body that I own!

Cheers ~ Blondie! :)

Stress -n- Sugar

Tweet Lately I have been able to recognize my two main sources of frustration linked to food issues. Today I am going to set two goals for myself for this week. 7 days. Then I will report back my trials and triumphs.

The first is stress. Life has peaks and valleys. My brain knows this. But for some reason it can feel like I am not going to ever get out of this valley. Logically I know I will - but it's just that feeling of being completely overwhelmed and not trusting my judgment. It seems the more stressed or worried I am, the hungrier I get.

I'm not exactly sure how to battle this. I have meditated before for short-term calmness is high pressure situations. I have read many people talking about it as a life-saver. Ok meditation. I will set a 3 minutes a day goal.

My second huge problem is my addiction to sugar. Chocolate, bread, chocolate, pasta. I'm a vegetarian and it seems that I am substituting protein with starchs about 70% of the time. The fact that I am hypoglycemic and my blood sugar is dangerously low does not help. So my sugar goal is to take my medication everyday.

This weeks goals: 3 minutes a day meditation and 1 blood sugar balancer pill everyday. :-)

What about you? Post in the comments your goal for this week so we can support each other thru this!
~Sammi

They make me feel not so alone

Tweet Yesterday I made the decision to really buckle down and get this diet thing going thanks to an invite from Dream! I feel really inspired reading the posts from the ladies involved in this project. They make me feel not so alone. I have decided to weigh myself only on Mondays since I weighed in yesterday. I ate relatively healthy today but could have done better and I definatly need to incorporate some excercise into my daily activites. Tomorrow my goal is to find a good diet and go food shopping.

<3,

Rachel