The Toddler Diet

So I decided to try something new. Yesterday I decided that I think my main problem is portion control, and while I was doing weight watchers, that is one of the main things you learn to control while on the program.

Anyway, yesterday while getting the boys their lunch, I decided to try a new "diet". What I'm going to do is basically eat exactly what the boys eat. The same foods at the same portions. I figured that I don't feed them as much as I feed myself, so that's gotta be some portion control for ya! So I started with their lunch, having 4 fish sticks with 1 Tbsp ketchup, 1/2 cup applesauce, and 1/2 cup mac-n-cheese. I tell you what, I was actually FULL after that!

So call me crazy, but we'll see where this goes! I'm thinking it might actually work. I think it's a little like weight watchers because I'll be eating smaller portions, I'll still get to eat what I want, and I'll be getting more fruits and veggies (because I always give the boys those, and rarely do I eat them myself!) But I won't have to get hung up on counting POINTS.

Mix it up!

A lot of us are kinda stuck right now! Don't forget that it's totally normal for your weight loss to slow down after a while. The key is to not give up, and remember that just keeping the weight off is an accomplishment in itself.

My exercise tip of the day: Mix it up! The best way to keep your body in burning mode is to not continue doing the same exerise all the time. 3 weeks is the longest you want to keep doing the same thing. Doing slightly different things every day is a good idea too. Like, if you go for walks, go up a really steep hill one day, walk extra fast the next. Then after a couple weeks quit walking and start biking or something.

Also, make sure you're exercising at the optimum time of day. Different people have different opinions as to what time of day is best in general, but in my opinion the best time is the time that you can do the most. For me, for instance, even though I'm really tired from my day, I can get a much better workout in the evenings than the morning. Jason found that the best time for him was mid-morning, so he actually works his work schedule around that. So try out different times of day and see what works for you!

What's everyone doing for exercise right now anyway?

Venting About My Parents

Warning: I'm sorry I'm posting this on this blog, but I can't really post it on my own, because it's not private like this one is.

I just have to say that I really am so very upset with my parents. They have completely saddened, embarassed, and disappointed me.

For all of you who don't know what's going on in that area of my life right now.... I've basically removed me (and Eric and the boys) from that toxic relationship that we had with my parents. Nothing has changed, they are not making an effort to change and I feel as unhappy as I ever have with them. I basically told my mom that in an e-mail, also telling her not to call or e-mail me back. Yet she keeps commenting, like nothing is the matter, on my blog (which I figured she would continue to check anyway) putting my sister in the middle to send me messages, and expects to see me and the boys next month when she comes out this way for Monica's lasik surgery. She continues to either ignore or not understand what I'm telling her.

And today....my dad basically called and left a message on my answering machine threatening legal action if we didn't let them see the boys. C'mon! What kind of parents/grandparents would do that!? Why can't they just understand what I'm feeling and respect my wishes??? Why can't they see that I'm so much happier when I don't have to deal with them? I'm miserable when it comes to them. I hate answering the phone when she calls...I hate opening e-mails from her...because I never know what rude, selfish, and manipulative thing she's going to say next. (Seriously, I scream at the phone when she calls, especially if it's more than one time a day.)

I'm so sad that it had to come to this. Every one of you guys know how many chances we've given them, how many times we've forgiven them, and how many times we've tried to let things go and move on with them. I just can't deal with it anymore. It's affecting my emotional well-being too much, and I don't want the venom of my mother's bite to ever reach my children; it's already affected way too much of my life that I don't want it affecting theirs.

I suppose on the plus side, though, all of the stress that this is causing me is making me forget and/or not want to eat, just like when I was in high-school (when I may have been slightly anorexic due to control issues...caused by my parents). So I suppose that's some strategy talk for ya!

I apologize if you didn't want to read this. Like I said, I've been wanting to get this out for a while, but feel like I can't put it on my own blog.

Sneakrets

So, I had to borrow some of Jen's old jeans back when I was a fatty. But the other day, I noticed the smallest pair I had borrowed from her, which fit me pretty snugly at first, were quite roomy. SO I tried on some of my size 3 jeans. :) Yes, thats right. They FIT. *sigh* its such a beauteous thing to feel cute again. :) Of course, I still want to lose a bit more, so they don't fit me quite as snug on the thighs, but hey hey its still a victory!!
My exercising has been mostly all the walking I do to all of my classes. It seriously is a workout. Especially the stairs up to Old Main. I don't know how many there are, but I know there are a lot. SO, if you guys don't get to the gym, try parking your car as far away from the store as you can and fast walk into the store. Take the stairs more often. As for eating, it helps me to have healthy snacks around that I actually like. For me, thats cucumbers, grapes, baby spinach for yummy salads, baby carrots, etc... So anytime I get the munchies, I just eat those! :)
OH, and a really good ab workout: Lay on your back, and put a rolled up towel like right under your hips, underneath you, and bend your knees. then, lift up your feet, and alternate touching your toes to the ground, kinda fast. Just barely touch your toe to the ground, and then lift it back up to the bent position as you bring your other big toe down to the ground. Do it fast, keeping your core muscles tight and using your lower abs to do the work. Good stuff!! If this explanation doesn't make sense, call me and I will explain it better. :)

Cool Site...

I just took this Fabulous health quiz. It's awesome. It asks tons of questions about your family, health, friends, eating habits, excercise and lots of stuff. It then tells you your body's age in comparison with your Calendar age. It takes an hour or two after you take it for your results to come in but this lady that told me about it said that after taking it, it would send her an e-mail a day saying what things she could eat or do to improve her overall health. The site it http://www.realage.com/
Make sure you have fifteen to twenty mins to take it.

Strategy

OK, so everybody did so awesome this week that I want to hear everybody's strategies. I'll start.

Jana: I'm on the South Beach Diet, and the first 2 weeks are very strict, meant to reverse insulin resistance (reteach your body to process sugars properly) and get rid of your sugar and carb cravings. And guess what, it's working! Last night I made spaghetti for Jeff and Emma, and I had chicken and veggies, and I wasn't jealous of their pasta at all.

Typical day:

Breakfast: Vegetable omelet (when I say veggies, keep in mind I don't eat potatoes or carrots b/c they are not acceptable as far as blood sugar goes..and sugar makes you fat.)

Snack: nuts
Lunch: Tuna salad and sugar-free jell-o
Snack: celery stuffed with laughing cow light cheese
Dinner: Balsamic chicken and cooked veggies (red peppers, onions, garlic, zucchini, mushrooms cooked w/olive oil, salt, and pepper)
Dessert: Ricotta creme (part-skim ricotta cheese w/cocoa, vanilla, and sugar substitute. Yummyish, kind of strange texture)
I have been doing 1/2 hour aerobic exercise every morning as well.
So that's me--I haven't had any sugar since New Years day--the most I've had is in light yogurt, which I realized I can't actually have until after my strict 2-week phase. Then I'll be able to have one or two fruits and one serving of whole-grain carbs a day. I do miss the fruit, and cereal. But I don't miss pasta, bread, rice, and potatoes like I thought I would, since that's what I lived on before. On Sunday I made cookies because I love to bake on Sundays, and it was hard to resist the cookie dough, but not so much the cookies themselves. We gave most of them away, and I'm not all that tempted by the ones left here.

What is everybody else doing?

Christine: My eating strategy is totally up in the air right now, because my weight loss has leveled out and I need to step it up again! So I'll be checking out everyone else's strategies to decide what to do, so everybody do this post!

For exercise I've been doing an hour on the treadmill, but now I'll be adding my new turbo jam videos! Did the first one last night, it's pretty sweet.

UPDATE!! I've decided to do south beach! I started on the 10th and I like it! Also I highly recommend turbo jam, it's tons of fun, lots of hard work but not too hard to follow. Plus there are lots of different work-outs so you don't get bored.

Net here - Ooh, I've seen commercials for the turbo jam videos, they seem pretty dang awesome. We no longer have snackies in the house. We can snack on fruit or yogurt, but mostly I just don't snack anymore, unless it's a little handfull of dark chocolate. I knew I couldn't give up chocolate, so only dark for me, and only a little bit. We're eating more veggies and less red meat and fat and smaller portions. We use our Wii to do dance dance revolution, put it on workout mode and set it for the number of calories we want to burn. We did 160 last time, but will probably do 200 next time. We bought body balls and sit and those if we watch tv at night. That's the gist of what I'm doin.

Mer here...

I have no strategy. I'm eating less, but still eating stuff that I probably shouldn't be (like freakin' Girl Scout cookies....they couldn't have come at a worse time!) But I expected to continue to gain until this baby is born. I mean, it's kind of inevitable. But I am shooting for just a half a pound a week gain, which is just enough.

Eric, I have noticed, is mainly eating less. I don't see him snacking nearly as much, and he has cut way back on the soda. Rugby will be starting soon, and that is when he really plans on kicking some butt.

We did get some pilates videos, but haven't had a chance to do them yet.

My Turn! It's MoM. I am using the Body For Life book. When I am being a good girl, I choose a protien and a carb and veggies from the chart in the book of acceptable foods and eat them in the right doses. I mean serving sizes. (and Lean Cuisine lunches at school) . And I try to eat what they call 6 meals a day but actually it just being sure to snack properly so you don't get really hungry. The excercises are Weight Training so right now I am just using 10 lb dumbells to get started and doing the excercises in the book. It's nice because there are pictures and descriptions of the lifts to do. I am learning so I have a ways to go to figure out how to do it right. I do that every other day and the other days I will go to curves or I might start at a real gym I will be touring tomorrow.

DaD is eating what I fix and eating salads at Buster's Restaraunt at many lunch times. Of course he is still running 3 - 4 times a week and will be starting the weights too this week.

Free gym pass

Hey, today I saw in a magazine that you can go to Bally's total fitness and get a free 8-week pass good through March, I think. So I looked it up and saw that it's part of a "National Body Challenge" through Discovery Health. I'm going to sign up. The link is on the link list. And here it is again. http://health.discovery.com/national-body-challenge/national-body-challenge.html