Tuesday, October 23, 2012

October, week 3

Bonjour...weekly check-in time! Let's talk numbers, as in the 4 lbs I lost this last week.  Thanks mostly in part to the 3 day thing I keep squawking about.  I was thinking I'd try it again today but, it gets really hard! So maybe next week.  And cutting your calories that often just tells your body that you're starving to death and you lose muscle, not fat. So I don't recommend doing it all the time.  Once or twice a month to help out is probably good.

I think that those two weeks of slacking off  early this month and not eating very well has hurt my chances of reaching my goal of 10 lbs this month.  I'm not too sad about that because I'll be close, but lucky if I reach that mark.  I have a soft goal for the rest of the month of an additional 2 lbs, pretty sure I can do better, but baby steps.  I am already lighter than I have been in the last 4 years and other people are starting to notice!! Once I hit that 2 lb mark I will have lost a grand total of 20 lbs, a feat I have not achieved since I was about 20 by taking a random supplement that is no longer found on the market (scary!) But yea for small victories!!

This week's plan includes starting a round of the 30 day shred, 5 days a week for 30 days (and if you've ever attempted Jill's 30 day shred, you know that this workout is HARD!!) so I am a bit terrified.  I usually do it once or twice a week and am so sore after that that's all I can do! But I have yet to do a whole 5 days of workouts this month (last week my day 5 work out was a 1 mile walk with the kids so I don't count it) even though I have been planning it for sometime, so it may be time to step it up!

Does anyone know just how hard it has been to eat well this month? There is so much candy around that it has proven rather difficult!! I feel that October is one of my personal "bad" diet months.  November, eh, that's usually confined to one day of binge eating, and December usually I'm baking for other people, not having that stuff around the house, but October? The kids got a ton of candy from the Mickey's trick or treat party at Disneyland earlier this month, which means each person who went got about 1-2 lbs worth of candy each! Then we have an additional 3 days of trick or treating that we are doing this year at school/church/Halloween! So even more candy! I am also setting a smaller goal for next month for this reason.  I can't put so much pressure on myself when there will be temptation staring me down all the time, I'm human you know and chocolate is my weakness!!

Next week's update will include pictures and numbers! Time to let it all out there!

How's everyone else doing? Struggles? Victories? Fill me in!

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Would you give your kids cocaine?

Well, would you? I mean, no parent, even the crappy ones who take drugs themselves would willingly give their child something like that.  But in a recent study, it was found that certain processed (read: junk) foods can cause the brain to respond and have addictive cravings the same as someone who uses cocaine.  (This article was featured in Thursday's Daily Press newspaper, "Under Fire." Article could not be found online.)

Certain "over" processed foods, such as flamin' hot cheetos have recently come under fire for such reasons.  Researchers state that these foods are super processed with these flavors causing people to crave the heck out of them.  Foods are genetically engineered to so that the brain's pleasure centers are flooded with dopamine, which causes that "feel good" state thus perpetuating the need to repeat that feeling. And there you have it. Your kid is addicted to crack! (In the form of food)

I try so hard not to criticize other parents for their choices.  We live in an overly critical society and I try very hard to never want to not be a part of that, I mean, to each his own! Live and let live folks! That's Betty's stance! But giving your kids crap like soda, and junk ALL the time to me is absolutely unacceptable.  You wouldn't willingly give your kids poison would you? The why would you pollute them with unnecessary junk food? It's relatively the same concept! There is no nutritional value in giving your kid a soda, there is no benefit to them in giving them fast food ALL the time. In fact, the opposite is true, this is detrimental to their health and well being over time.  And people wonder why their kids are overweight, or why their kids teeth are rotting out. Really? Let's think! Childhood obesity is not the child's problem, it's the parents!

I know it's hard. Shoot, despite my best efforts, my kid's favorite food is french fries!!  I was a product of this type of behavior, and I grew up an overweight child.   And I also admit that I allow my son to have some junk, occasionally, because we can't avoid it 100%, not a single one of us can.  Some days it's way easier to hit the McDonald's drive through on the way home, or to just let them have something like a soda for a special dinner out. The key is occasionally. Giving in to your child's whims, tantrums and begging is lazy parenting. (Ugh and I hate to go that route, but I am VERY passionate about this!!)

Just think of the struggles you are having yourselves to be healthy, do you really want that for your child? I know that this is the number one reason I am the food Nazi with my children.  They will never be allowed to raid the pantry, they do not get juice every day (maybe once or twice a week, and only one a day), they will never have a soda under my roof, they will eat at least one serving of fruit or vegetables daily, they will be extremely limited in having fast food. They will have the options to make wise food choices, they will learn why these things are not healthy for them, they will be allowed occasional treats because kids have gotta be kids, but they will be given every advantage to be as healthy as possible. Because I don't want them to be teased in school about their weight, or to have a phobia of eating in public, or to struggle their whole lives with obesity like me. And why would anyone else want that for their kids? This is such a passive epidemic, I mean how often do you think about that as you hand your child some chips or candy? You don't.  You really have to be mindful of these things and that requires extra effort to an already overwhelmed parent! But isn't it worth it? Like I said before, you wouldn't willing poison your child. Maybe take small steps and just be the bad guy and say no. One day, your son will be in fresh and easy begging you to buy him some cauliflower! (that one blew me away!) And think of how great that will make you feel! Hooray for small victories!

* I implore you to do some digging about some of these things, google, bing, do whatever to learn some of the facts surrounding these things! Becoming informed is like arming yourself for battle!*

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

A fat chick progress report

When I started writing this blog I never intended to have a huge group of followers, I mean, I still don't have a huge group of followers now, but sometimes I wish this was something a little more than an online diary of my life.  I originally wanted to inspire others, to share my trials as an over weight person, as a mom, as a wife, and I feel that I have stuck to that format pretty well.  I go through periods where I just feel un-motivated to write because I feel like who reads this crap any way? So I am not putting that kind of pressure on myself anymore.  I am writing my story and it is here for anyone who will listen.

If you have been following along recently, thanks for sticking with me!! I am still working my butt off, in a very literal sense.  My husband is starting to lament the butt that was! I am down 15 lbs and 5.5 inches (all over) total and have had a few weeks where it was pretty difficult to stay on track.  To think that this journey was going to be easy would be a naive mistake, and I was well aware that I would have some ups and downs, I just wasn't expecting them so soon in the process. But I am back on track, and a little behind schedule for my monthly goal, but I still fell that it is attainable.  I lost 10 last month and set a goal of 10 for this month as well, and while it's the 17th, and I've only lost 2 lbs so far this month, I still feel that I can reach that 10 mark by the 4th of Nov. (which is my weigh and measure day.) **fingers crossed!**

I am currently back on the 3 day military diet, for the 3rd time.  My first attempt I lost a total of 4 lbs, but I cheated on day 3 and didn't follow it exactly as planned, and the second time, I was just really unmotivated and didn't work out and only made it through 2 days, and I lost 0. So this time I have a laser focus and am currently on day 2. Most days I do the 20 min turbo jam work out but this week we are stepping it up (since I've been slacking) and I am doing the 40 min turbo jam work out and on alternate days, Jillian Michales 30 day shred. I'll probably go for a 2 mile run Saturday morning, so I'll have 6 days of cardio and 2 days of strength training this week. After I finish the military diet, it's back to a strict 1200-1500 calorie a day plan. That's how you do it folks, no magic cure, no magic pill. Diet AND exercise. Believe me, I have tried just about everything else out there under the sun! (read some of my previous entries!)

Can I tell you something else? Since I've started all of this, I have not only noticed that I am, indeed, getting smaller, but I feel SO much better as well.  These past few weeks, where I've been eating junk and not working out very much, I've noticed I felt really crummy. Moody, tired, irritable, and there were a couple of days that I was having stomach issues as well.  Somehow, my body has convinced itself that working out and eating better makes the whole body feel great, and now, I feel like I need to move and eat better to feel good.  Think about it.  If you're reading this and you aren't very active and aren't eating very well, and you are tired and run down all the time, try going for a walk, even if it's a very short walk, do this for 3 or 4 days and tell me that you don't feel better by day 4. It's amazing what a very small change can do for you!

I *should* be posting next week about my results with the 3 day thing and just a general progress update. Stay tuned!!

Friday, September 14, 2012

Is this thing on?

About 4 weeks in and I am down (I wish I could say 10 dammit!) 9 lbs. It's been a bit of a long road, but it's a big step in the right direction.  I still have 6 to lose this month (yikes) to meet my goal. But we are trucking along.  The 3 day military diet worked a little, I guess.  I was pretty much cheating and a hungry mean person by day 3 but I lost 4 lbs. I ended up gaining 1 lb back, only to lose it again a couple days ago.  Some days I just don't want to do it. It is getting hard to stay motivated, and I am pretty hungry all the time. But that's what happens. Jillian Michael's says "Get comfortable with uncomfortable." in one of her DVDs and I am at that stage! This is a life change, and life change of any sort is HARD WORK! You just can't afford to be inconsistent.

I'm still plugging away at 4-5 days of cardio.  I keep trying to add strength training to that, but that only happens about 1 day a week.  I'll try for 2 next week, scouts honor! I did start running again and instead of trying to work my way through the c25k program I decided to just screw it and go balls to the wall and put in 2 miles every other day.  And I did, I logged 6 miles this week, improving my total time by over 1 min. (It's half running, half walking, I wish I could just jump right in and trot 2 miles! Psh!) I also add in some turbo jam or one of my Jillian workouts on my off days.

My next move is cutting back on calories even more, trying like heck to stay in the 1200-1500 range, since it looks like I'll be nursing even less now that little guy is eating solids. I'm a little sad to lose out on the calorie burning benefits of nursing! But he and I have found a good groove where he nurses about 3 times a day. And I am done pumping in the middle of the night! Whew!

Send happy thoughts my way, as the next couple weeks I'm looking for a big push at 3 lbs each week. I could use the good mojo!! I am also trying another detox drink thing, that doesn't affect my eating (Yea!) but should cause me to lose some water weight. Again, I'll be your Guinna pig and report back to you! If you'd like to know more about the 3 day military diet, just shot me a message!

Monday, September 10, 2012

Winning at pinning, food, ch. 2

I was supposed to do this yesterday, oops. We got busy doing nothing in particular and I never got to it.  But here is another winner, winner chicken dinner recipe from pinterest that we love.

Mini Chicken Pot Pies:
 Ok, pretty freaking easy:

*Bisquick (my hub does this part and mixes 2 batches worth to get 12 mini pies, also stick with the only use water kind, I buy a big box because we use it for tons of other things which I'll feature here as well!)
*Diced chicken
*Add your own  diced veggies ( we used carrots and potatoes the first time, but the carrots were still crunchy and I don;t love cooked carrots, so we just used the potatoes the second time. You should nuke the potato in the micro for 7 mins to get it tender)
*I thought of this genius idea of using cream of chicken soup as the traditional "gravy" for the pot pies, and let me tell you, it was fabulous!! I used about a tbsp and will try 2 tbsp's next time!
*Shredded cheddar

preheat oven to 375
Mix up your 2 batches of pancake mix and fill a greased (or pam or whatevs) muffin tin with 1 tbsp of mixture

Add veggies and chicken
Add cream of chicken soup on top of veggies and chicken

Cover with 1 tbsp of batter
Add a sprinkle of shredded cheese (or you can mix it in with your chicken and veggies)
Bake for 25-30 mins (they should be a nice golden color)

These are so good, and you can make them and freeze them for later (apparently) and also mix and make different types as well. My little guy even loves these kid sized friendly "muffins"

Enjoy!!

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

It's all for science

So, last week I had a bad week.  And by bad I mean that I didn't lose any weight.  I didn't gain any either, but I did work out 4 days for what seemed like nothing.  Boo.  I was sooo ridiculously hungry all week and I had no idea why.  Was it from working out so much? Was it from not eating as much as my fat A is used to? Or was I just hungry for no reason at all?  Then the answer became very clear, something that I didn't anticipate, Aunt Flo showed up.  I was wondering when she'd return, usually right around nine months post-partum my OB said, but my Aunt showed up a few months early.  It's cool, I'd rather get this show on the road and get back to normal. But since the mystery was solved (and copious amounts of food was eaten!) I have resolved to be much more proactive this week. 

I have decided to take it up a notch since now my knee (praise the Lord!!) is feeling much better.  Work outs will still be 4 days a week BUT an hour long each day, with weight training added in.  And I am starting a 3 day "military diet" tomorrow. After I complete it, I will let you know the results and give you the deets, but for now, let me be your Guinna pig.  You all probably know that my philosophy is never about finding a quick fix, it's about slow and steady wins the race, but I'm looking at this as a "detox" of sorts after my naughty weekend, and as usual, I will probably slightly modify it to meet my needs.

I am close to hitting my first goal, losing all weight gained from Lucas, I have 11 lbs to go and plan on killing that this month.  Then it's off to conquering my Ethan weight gain, which will end up being about 38 more lbs...yikes!! But the goal is to have that gone by Jan 1st!! Then to my Everest!! The final 30-50 ( I may hit a certain wight and be cool with never reaching my soft goal weight) To which I promise some gnarly before and after pics, but there's no way in H-E double hockey sticks I'm putting up before pics without there being some afters to show as well!! Yikes! Stick with me kids, this is the real deal this time!

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Winning at pinning, food, ch. 1

Heyo....So lately I've been making some food and crafts that I've gotten off of pinterest and I really want to share some of it with you all because stuff this awesome! This is the food part of this "series" I'll probably also do a craft series. It depends on how much y'all like this part. So, feedback??

This week's recipe is one we tried last week and it was so sublimely tasty I wanted to share it first! We ate the whole thing and I could have made two and eaten one by myself! Here is the original link, as I never follow a recipe to the T, I love having a little room for creativity so I just follow the basics. Thanks to emmalinaviolet.wordpress.com for the original recipe and photos, because credit is due where it's found!

Buffalo chicken garbage bread (or as I'm going to call it, Buffalo Chicken Calzone!)

1 tube of premade pizza dough (or any pizza dough, rolled into a rectangle, I get the Pillsbury stuff)
1-2 cups diced chicken (ok, I didn't really measure, I use the frozen diced Tyson chicken and eyeball it)
2 cups of mozz cheese ( I only know this because 1 bag of shredded cheese = 2 cups)
Hot sauce
ranch dressing ( or blue cheese if you prefer...)

Grab that pizza dough and roll it out to form a rectangle, let that bad boy sit for about 20 mins.

Spread dough with a layer of ranch, here I didn't measure either, I used a basting brush and brushed on probably about a half a cup of ranch, if you use too much it will definitely overpower the roll.

Toss the (cooked) diced chicken in hot sauce, use as much of the hot sauce as you'd like here, we went easy on it this round, next time we will use much more for that extra kick! Add chicken to dough, here you can also add more hot sauce if you'd like, experiment!!

Put shredded cheese on top of all this deliciousness, you can use all 2 cups or as little as you'd like, but if you like  cheesy, gooey goodness, use 2 cups, it's perfect.

Roll that beautiful creation up like a burrito, it will be sticky so be gentle as to not tear the dough.
Bake at 425 for 20-25 mins, it should be nice and brown on the outside, but apparently sometimes it can be doughy on the inside, ours came out perfect at 25 mins.

Eat the crap out of this yummy stuff! If you try this one, please let me know how you liked it!