Friends

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Thank you Santa!!!

Well this year I was feeling kinda..uh not Christmasy. But after spending Christmas Day with my family I felt much better. It was wonderful. I didn't over eat because nothing really seemed to taste great. I did enjoy some smoked salmon and deviled eggs those are my vices so what am I gonna do lol.

I got a lot of great stuff. I got a camera which I am super excited about because I LOVE taking pictures of nature and just things in general. I also got this great rice cooker/steamer/slow cooker. I already have a slow cooker but I so wanted a good steamer to make veggies in. It is pretty big which is nice. I had a much smaller one and let me tell you it was great to cook the rice and steam the veggies all at the same time. But NOW I can cook rice, veggies and meat all at the same time.

Hubs and I are changing our eating come the new year. I am also getting an elliptical machine I hope. Im excited about that I just don't like going out running or walking in the rainy darkness around here.

So I would love to be able to tell you all I have lost 30 lbs come June, so keep your fingers crossed. :)

Saturday, December 18, 2010

For Sale:

Over the years I have bought many pieces of exercise equipment. Each attempt I have made I have a new piece of equipment to mark that beginning and failure. Most of this stuff is pretty cheap all under 500$. I have a exercise bike, rowing machine, manual treadmill. I feel like I need to get rid of this stuff that is staring me in the face mocking me. Its like saying to me you didn't do it you didn't do it. You spent the money and STILL didn't do it. At the same time I feel like I have this stuff and I might as well keep it and put it to use. I could do 15 minutes on each cardio machine and have a 45 minute workout done. This might be the route to take eventually. Like I said I am working on my food issues right now.

I have to get rid of my manual treadmill because I can't do it. It hurt my knee the first time I used it, I think because I have bad knees. It was an impulse buy and I should have thought it out better.

I have been doing great calorie wise the last few days. I am keeping it around 1500 calories. Trying to limit my fat intake. I actually picked up 2 dozen eggs, 2 loaves of bread, 1/2 gallon of milk and some Orange Spice tea all for 6 bucks! Can't beat that and now I can have eggs and sandwiches to eat at home.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Food and Me

I just spent the last 30 minutes explaining my eating issues, and the blog site didn’t save it. So here we go again..you probably will be getting a much less detailed version.

I attribute the main reason I am fat to my relationship with food. In the past when I have ventured down the weight loss road I have always been dedicated to exercise, walking, running, biking, swimming, workout DVD’s all of it. I have an inner athlete that just LOVES these things. Imagine if you will an animal maybe a monkey in a cage clinging to the bars and shaking them violently trying to get out…that is what my inner athlete does. So I know my fatness is not related to my lack of wanting or doing exercise. I have lost weight many times while doing an exercise program but my eating was still terrible. My first goal in this journey is to change my eating habits and then add in exercise again. I will do exercise here and there but not beat myself up if I miss a day.

I have issues with food. That much is obvious I have this bad habit of thinking wow that sounds yummy I need to eat it. These food issues are why I am fat.
I feel like I should just let out all my issues from my past it might show some insight into my problems.

Let me take you back to second grade..yet that is right I started early. I was not a fat kid at all, not even a little bit over weight. I was tall for my age, in fact I was the tallest kid in the class. It just so happens that my best friend was the smallest kid in the class. Of course being in 2nd grade I didn’t see that was the difference I just knew I was bigger and she was smaller so that must mean I was fat. I knew we couldn’t share clothes and that must be because I was fat. So I always had that in the back of my head and of course no one knew.

I was/am a funny person and a jokester. So people never thought to ask me if I was okay, hell I didn’t even know I wasn’t okay.

In junior high I got braces and I didn’t want to ever be laughed at for having food in my teeth, my solution was to not eat lunch at school. I would miss breakfast and not have much lunch and I was on the basketball team so I worked out really hard core. On days that I didn’t work out with basketball I was riding my bike sometimes for 6 miles at a time. I lived in a small town in Montana of 300 people so it was completely safe to go on these bike rides. I ate dinner normally which usually consisted of game meat (elk, deer) veggies and potatoes. I was super model skinny back then and it was not healthy at all. I was size 1. Looking at pictures of me I was pale and just looked sick.

Freshman year of high school I gained weight and filled out, I was eating lunch again because I got my braces off. I found out I was moving this year. That I thought was the worst moment of my life…obviously now I know there were worse moments. But for a teenager to have to leave the only home I ever knew that was tough. I never thought I would be the person that people wondered “what ever happen to her” but I was.

We moved to Washington, to what I thought was a huge town. Compared to my previous town it was but compared to where I have been since then it was a tiny town. I stopped exercising and playing sports it was unsafe to ride my bike because of traffic and I was shy so I didn’t want to play sports since I was the new kid. So I stayed at home. Something that still sort of shocks me is recently my sister and I were talking and she goes “do you remember how you use to cook food in the middle of the night” and I was like yeah I did that in Montana a few times just like egg and toast or something. She was like NO you use to do that all the time in Washington. I HONESTLY DIDN’T REMEMBER THIS!!! I still can’t remember doing this but at the same time I know I did. Food was my comfort at that time I guess. I soon met my still best friend. We use to go out and eat all the time. My home diet changed to we were eating no game meat, we ate take out a LOT because that wasn’t a luxury we had in Montana so we ate out a lot. During my high school years I went from weighing 120 in Montana to weighing 170 by the time I graduated in Washington.

Somewhere in that time period my parents got divorced I started college a few times and I ended up weighing 220lbs. I knew my life was out of control at that point so I went to my doctor and asked her help. She said exercise and eat right and come back here in a month and lets see how you did. So I started a walking program and eating right...I lost 10lbs. But then my car got hit by a drunk driver while it was parked in front of my house. My car and my mom’s car was the only thing that kept the driver from crashing into my mom’s bedroom while she slept. (We normally did NOT park the cars in the street it was luck that night). So after that I was so mad that I had to walk everywhere not by choice but because someone ruined my car that I stopped exercising and never went back to the doctor. I also dropped out of school because I didn’t know what I wanted to do. So I gained that weight back.
I got a job working at Curves because I wanted to lose weight. I loved that job but didn’t lose weight. I couldn’t get my eating habits under control. At this point I knew what I needed to do but I just couldn’t do it. Eventually I found a job working at a health insurance company. I gained the remainder of the 20 lbs I have on my body from my desk job.

I lost enough weight to be down to 218 two years ago, but I stopped exercising because I was going to start water aerobics at school. I was so excited. But I ended up gaining weight doing that. Why? Because my eating habits never changed, my exercise level dropped a bit and here I am. I am 5-10 lbs lighter then my highest weight on any given day.

My first goal is to break into the 215 area. This goal is a reasonable one I think. My long term goal is to lose about 60-70 lbs. To do this I need to get a good grasp on my eating habits and be aware of why I am eating. Eating needs to be solely for energy for my body and nothing more. I have tried the whole food journal thing it makes me feel guilty but doesn’t stop me from eating terrible things or large portion sizes….if that little book could reach out and slap the things out of my hand then it might help.

I am slowly changing the foods I like that are bad with foods I like that are good. I made a list of food I like that is good for me. Keep in mind I don’t eat things like potato chips and candy or ice cream or any or that…oh those aren’t my downfall. My downfall is FAST FOOD and portion sizes. When I eat at home I eat to much food and when I go out I am so tempted by those nasty food joints it is unreal. So I have stopped eating fried food when I go out…Step 1. Next step is to stop eating out at all.

Wow sound like such a blabber mouth but that really really helped me get it out and feel better. I would like to be healthy and fit when I graduate College.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Dinner and a Recipe

Tonight I decided to make some oven baked fries and some Salisbury meatballs. It may not be super healthy but at least I am eating at home which is a great thing for me.

I thought I would make a list of my favorite food things.

Greek Yogurt- Plain
I LOVE this stuff. Not to promote a particular brand but I had some at Costco the other day it was amazing, they put a little honey on it and man was that good. Plus you get 20 grams of protein in there. I don't eat a lot of protein so getting it anyway I can is great.

Frozen Blueberries
These go great in Greek Yogurt. Plus you can whip up some Oatmeal Muffins*recipe below* and throw them in.

Oatmeal-
I HATE this stuff but it is very good for your body. I think we don't get enough fiber in our diets and it can cause problems. Since I HATE oatmeal I get creative, I make muffins, or I will put a bit of sugar free syrup in it just to make me think its something else.

Spinach-
Love to put it on my sandwiches, in my eggs, salad and pizzas

These are some of my favorite things obviously the list goes on and on. I am a FOOD lover so as I try to lose weight I will be taking some of my recipes and making them healthier.


Oatmeal Muffins

2 1/2 cups Quick Cooking Oatmeal
1 egg beaten
2/3 cup water
1/2 cup raisins ( I used cranberries so substitute any thing you like)

Combine all ingredients and stir with a fork until all ingredients are moist. Spoon into greased muffin pan. Bake at 425 for 20 minutes.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Just Trekking

Today again has been uneventful, I have been having crazy ideas of getting really fit and doing half marathons or even triathlons. We will see what time brings. I got some cleaning done yesterday and set up my workout area so it is all ready to go. I have a library of workout dvds and enough workout equipment to open my own gym. (Not really but it seems like it)

I have been eating well, yesterday I feel like I went over my calories. Not badly but I was disappointed in what I did.

Today is a better day. I am thinking of making some oven fries and burger or something. I don't know. Nothing sounds good, which is a good thing. Because I used to get in trouble when things always sounded good.

Friday, December 10, 2010

On a Boat

Well not yet, but if it keeps raining here in town I am going to need a boat. Luckily for me we don't live in a flood area. We live near a river but the river would have to rise VERY high (were talking noah's ark high) in order for it to flood us.

I haven't done anything today..Booo

Well that isn't true I went down to the PSU to get some things in order for when I transfer there next fall. Im a planner what can I say. I am very excited to make this next step in my life. I have a major issuing finishing things and I will finish school and I will finish my weight loss journey. I am getting much to old to keep doing the irresponsible thing.

The food thing is going well. I have decided that I would like to eat more Greek Yogurt. I just love that stuff, I use to have the whole regular yogurt makes me gag thing, the texture was to much for me. But Greek Yogurt I love. I plan on eating it with fruits. I also would like to start eating more beans or any type of fiber. We are seriously lacking fiber. I don't want to get disgusting here but I wonder if as a society we are lacking in these areas and if its not causing some of our health issues. At least in the intestinal regions.

I was talking to my husband earlier and reminded why I decided to go back and get my bachelor's degree. I would ideally like to make a decent amount of money, so that I might be able to open a fitness center for lower income people. It would offer exercise programs, nutritional guidance and some after school programs for children. It likely will never happen, but helping people has always been something I love to do.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Best Intentions

Sometimes I have the best intentions to workout and suddenly the whole day is past me by and I have not exercised. I use to do yoga and I just loved that and I have many dvd's that I could use to keep doing yoga, but I just don't ever get around to it. I need to start making "appointments" with myself and doing this. My goal is to do cardio for 4 days a week and do yoga as much as possible.


At least I am having a nice healthy Lentil Soup for dinner. I love soup any and all kind. My mom thinks I am strange because I can throw together a homemade soup quickly and it is yummy. She hates soup.

So my plan to take this day by day is working so far. Today is almost over and I have done well with eating, just no exercise.

Rain...rain...more rain

I do think it is going to be an exceptionally wet winter this year. Bummer! I have lived here for over 10 years now and the wet and gray is just starting to get to me. It is a strange thing here. You go from say April to Early October and the places is just beautiful, very little rain, nice and sunny. But then you get to the end of October and the rain comes and the sun leaves and it just sucks! Even in Montana at least we got a nice sunny day that almost made you forget there was 4 feet of snow outside. Oh well right...

I am 1 lb away from meeting my goal. I am pretty happy about that. I have a new idea which is take it day by day. Don't look to far ahead just focus on what I can do right now. For example I can make the choice to eat something healthy or I can make the choice to eat something bad. Little things like that.

So I keep trekking along or maybe swimming at this point there is that much rain :)

Other Motivation

We went to Las Vegas for the first time this year. We honestly didn't love the casinos and all that. But we had a great time just looking around and going on little outtings. We went to Red Rock Canyon and some other places.

We went to Hoover Dam, mostly because James' Great Great Grandfather helped with it. Lake Mead is named after him. So we went and looked at that and did the whole tourist thing. It was pretty impressive. Here are some pictures of that trip. To remind me of the wonderful time we had. To remind me of why I am trying to get healthy. And to remind me that there are places that are sunny and not always rainy like here.













One Year Later

I can't believe it has been a year since I last wrote here. (almost) I have done little to keep myself on this weight loss plan. I haven't gained any weight this year which is great. But I haven't lost any either. So here I go again...

There are a few points I would like to make which are different from last year.

I am eating better or at least more aware of what I am eating.
My sister is my partner in this weight loss journey, she has less to lose then me but it helps.
We will be hiking again this summer...and I don't want to be fat and out of breath on my 6 mile uphill hikes again.

I WILL do this. I am giving myself a year to work really hard on this. No backing out this time.