Ruts and Roadways

So, I think I’m in the rut.  You know the bumpy sloping dirt part next to the actual road.  I don’t think I’m “stuck” in the rut but I’m there. I know exactly what I need to do to move out of the rut. I need to move. I haven’t been able to find my motivation to actually move more than I have to. For now I’m moving slowly inside the rut, looking at the road that I want to be on. Excuses have been plentiful – I hate the cold, and its been cold so I don’t want to be outside. Work is really, really busy so I’ve been putting in extra hours. I can’t leave my kids alone at this age and there is a sitter shortage.  All good excuses, no?  No.

Exercise, good food choices, one day at a time, extra movement will all get me back on the road I want to travel. I had to take the Body Media Band off for a while. I wore it so often I ended up with a contact reaction on my skin, partly due to how dry it was over this winter.  I’ll be putting it back on this week. If you are wondering what the heck I’m talking about – see this post.

They say knowledge is power – I think action is power. You can have all the knowledge in the world but if you don’t do anything with it, there is no power to it.  My goal this week is to move for 15 min. more every day. I have a thousand things to pick from, I just need to pick one and then do it.  I’ll let you know which one.

So, let me know what kinds of ruts you’ve been stuck in and how you’ve gotten back on the road. Sheer willpower? A nudge from a friend, a shove from a best friend? 🙂  I look forward to your comments.

I’m Baaaccckkk!!!

Wow, I cannot believe how long its been since I’ve posted anything.

Update: I’ve moved, got my cats back from the shelter, had Christmas, one daughter became a teenager, celebrated New Years, and work became extremely busy busy busy!
I went off track w/ my food but have only gained 2 lbs. Right now I’m starting to track my food again and I’m trying to cut out sugar. I will also post more often to help me stay on track (again).

Healthy Decisions in a Whirlwind

So once again I’m behind on my posts. It seems like a bad habit I need to break.  Here is a quick follow-up.  The week before Thanksgiving I lost 1.8 lbs. and I tracked all my food on Thanksgiving (which was much better than last year, although still too much).  After that day I lost focus, got busy stopped tracking, and started picking like I used to do.  Fortunately I’ve been so busy packing, moving boxes and running around with my kids that my daily steps jumped by at least 2,000 each day.  This meant that instead of gaining back a bunch of weight I only went up .4 lbs. “whew!” For those following along, my total is 10.8 lbs.

I’m still in a kind of funk, but I do realize that if I don’t track all that I eat I will keep going up. You really have no idea how much you are putting in until you get precise about the food you eat.  Since I’m moving this weekend it will be very busy again, but I’ve already ordered food for the house that is healthy and will help keep me on track.

OK I’m at a loss for anything else because I’m so frazzled about moving, and my bed frame is broken, clothes aren’t packed, etc.   I’ll post again after the move!  Stay on track everyone!

Running behind – again!

Hello!

So I’m really overdue for a post here, sorry!  Between getting ready for a move, kids stuff, PTO stuff and just stuff I’ve let it slip.  Well here I am back again and 2.4 lbs lighter!  That is a total of 9.6 lbs down.  I’ve been on my own for weighing food and doing well.  It is hard, and it would be much easier if I could get on the ball and plan ahead better; but my life is full of last-minute events.

I said I would do a review of the BodyMedia arm band so here it is.  I really like it… OK I’m addicted to it.  I hate not being able to wear it and see how many calories I can burn.  Yes, you can wear it in bed, I hardly notice it. No you cannot wear it in the shower (really).  It tracks steps, how long you sleep – it even knows when you wake up during the night even if you don’t get out of bed. That is scary.  I guess I wake up a bunch at night for a minute & never remember. As long as you track your food on the system, it will tell you how many calories you consumed vs. how many you burned during the day.  Addictive!  I will expand on the activity tracking to say it even knows when you are doing moderate or vigorous activity!

This image is of the armband, an image of the website and the display clip you can buy – I don’t have that display clip.  There is also and iPhone app on which I can record food and add new foods.  I would love the ability to sync wirelessly to the app but maybe in the future.

The only thing I don’t like about this system is the food menu.  There is not a lot of regular food or normal food on here.  The entire Jenny Craig menu is on here, but I had to add things like sugar snap peas and green peppers.  That’s what I get for not eating the Jenny food I guess.

The charge lasts a long time. Usually what I do is sync it while I’m in the shower and then I add my food each night.  Sometimes I add food during the day on the phone if I remember.

All in all I love it. Is it expensive? Yes. Was it worth it?  I really think it is.  It’s the mini me on my shoulder (or arm) telling me to get up and move.

Here is a link to the system, you can decide for yourself.  Click here to learn more.

Disclaimer – Neither BodyMedia or Jenny Craig has asked me to review the product and I haven’t been paid to review it.

More is Less!

Hi all,

As a follow-up to my last post which should have been a full post I’ve lost 1.8 lbs!  I asked my counselor to bump it to 2 but she laughed at me. 🙂  I have finished all the Jenny Craig food as of last night but have already started counting calories on my own food since what I had left was just a meal or two.  It is not easy!  Counting the ounces etc. is easy, but how much cheese was melted on that chicken, did I really eat a cup of salad or was it two?  It is tedious, which is why the Jenny Craig food is so simple! By the way they have changed their name to “Jenny” and dropped the Craig and Mariah Carey is now the new spokesperson – not sure I can relate to her.

I watched the streaming video of the new announcement of Jenny with some great Doctors and Mariah. It was a good video but I still don’t really relate to having stars be the spokesperson.  She has the money to have people cook for her and train her to get back into shape. I’d really rather see regular people succeeding and put them on-screen.  Here is the link if you want to watch it.  http://www.jennycraig.com/jennylive

I have definitely gone over my calorie count on a day or two but I’m getting used to it. I’m trying to keep to 1200 calories a day.  I’m also moving more. I was up at 5:30 am the other day so I vacuumed instead of just sitting and drinking coffee.  I’ve been toying with the idea of cutting out chemicals from my diet.  That would be extremely hard. I mean going to food that are not processed, more natural nothing that had added chemicals, preservatives etc.  The one issue is that its much more expensive to eat that way. I’m just not sure I can really do it.

So, the goal this week is to move more – 5,000 steps a day and to really count absolutely everything that I put in my mouth and if I cannot find the nutrition information then I shouldn’t eat it – right?  I’d like to get to 8,000 steps a day like they said on the video – wish me luck!  I have a couple hours before I have meet my new potential landlord so I think I’ll go for walk.  Have a great day everyone!

Quick Update

Hi!

A quick update for everyone.  I’ve decided that even though I really don’t like to cook (not a surprise to those that know me) I am going to put my Jenny Craig account on hold.  I have an amazing opportunity to move to a new apartment, which means redoing my finances.  If I get this apartment I need the money I’m spending.  How much are you spending Maureen?

I’m not saying this to knock Jenny Craig – I LOVE Jenny Craig. I LOVE 99% of their food and I LOVE their counselors, most of whom have already gone through the program. Its expensive.  The ad says lose 20lbs for $20 plus the cost of food.  One week – the entire week including syrups, salad dressings etc. is up around $135.00. I think its worth it.  The peace of mind knowing I have exactly what I need to eat healthy is great.  OK I know your jaw dropped, so close it now.

But, I’m moving and I need that cushion of money to move.  Will I go back? I’m not sure.  What I’d like to do is keep weighing weekly and talking with them if they let me.  I’ll let you know if they are willing to do that.

In the meantime wish me luck that I get this new place & that I learn how to cook better!

Week Four – Progress??

I hope everyone survived Halloween.  I did for the most part.  I had to make cake pops, cupcakes and a Pumpkin cake so there was a lot of temptation around. We had cakes, frosting, melted candy etc.  I’ve been doing this so long I don’t really get tempted to eat any of it. Plus it doesn’t stay in my house.

The pumpkin cake on the other hand was a problem.  It stayed. I had no one to give it to and my kids wanted to try it.  I made it out of angel cake and double stacked the cakes, covered it in frosting and decorated it. It was a huge challenge and I called this cake the bane of my existence.  May that is why I had a piece. I couldn’t help it.  The frosting was too sweet but the cake was good.  I threw out the rest of the cake, which was really sad, but necessary.  I feel very guilty for having it because I was doing so well.  I have a tendency to dwell on poor food choices and beat myself up over them, but I’m trying not to do that this time. (sorta)  I hate telling my counselor that I ate things I shouldn’t have.  She’s really nice and trying to help me but I still don’t like admitting it.

It’s a new day and new opportunities to make better choices.  Today has been pretty good except I haven’t had enough veggies.  When I’m cold I tend to not want salads, so I have to just eat them no matter what.  Because I was doing so well I dropped 1.2 lbs.  Not as much as I thought but now I’m back to where I was before I gained.  The scale is moving in the right direction.

Last week I asked for suggestions for getting more movement.  My friend Jonathan emailed me some suggestions.  Some of them I already do but I wanted to share a few with you in case you haven’t thought of them yet.

• If you bring your lunch, leave it in a cooler in the car so that you have to walk to get it.
• If you have to pick up the children, try to arrive 5 minutes early and get out of the car and walk up and down the sidewalk, or walk around the car, or walk into the building to greet them.
• On dry days, park in the furthest spot from work / or the mall / or even picking up the children.  Heck – when you get home, park a few houses away if you don’t have bundles to carry.
• Take the stairs as much as possible.  I heard walking up is more healthy on your knees than walking down – even though down is a lot easier.
• Walk around the mall.  Leave your purse in the trunk of the car – so that you can not buy ANYTHING.
• Try to find a walking buddy – someone to is going to call to organize a walk, and give you structure.  Maybe your oldest child can help you.  Make a spreadsheet of possible walking opportunities, and put a check in the columns that you are successful in completing.  even if its short walk around Crescent.  This way, having someone else involved will be less of an excuse not to go for a walk.

Thanks for those Jonathan!

So I feel like I’ve done the one step forward two steps back dance, but slowing getting the hang of it.  If I want to lose the weight I need to step up my game. Tracking all my steps and food has really helped me see just how I spend my day.  Next week I’ll finally do a review of the BodyMedia band I’ve been wearing.  I hope you find this blog useful! See you next week if not sooner.

Week Three: My Getting Fit Adventure

I’ve been putting off writing for a couple of reasons. The first is that I haven’t been feeling great lately but the second is because I gained a pound. Now I know a pound is not much, but I haven’t been doing this very long so having a gain this early in kind of threw me.  I could say it’s because I wasn’t feeling good, or I did some extra food (which I didn’t) and give all the emotional reasons I didn’t lose and gained. When it comes down to it, the calories burned was no where near the calories consumed.  I didn’t move enough and hardly at all on Sunday.  Its back to the drawing board and making a plan to get more movement into my week. If anyone knows of a way to burn calories while driving let me know!

I promised you a wall of candy – here it is.

 This candy isle in Walgreens was taller than me and I’m 5’8″!  I couldn’t believe how much Halloween candy there was here and now in Jumbo bags (green sign on the left).  Halloween is a nightmare at my house (pun intended).  I have two kids who love to trick or treat and then for weeks after there is all the candy hanging around. I try to think of all kinds of ways to not eat it. Last year that didn’t work out well at all.

This year I’m taking a different approach.  I found out how much exercise you have to do in one week to work off some of the bite sized ‘evil things’ that we think aren’t doing any harm.  In my book this means ‘in addition to the exercise I’m already supposed to do.

Here is a short list of candy and their calories & carbs per serving.  It’s very short, my original list was over 2 pages.

• Hershey Kisses Plain – 26 calories and 8 g carb each kiss
• M&Ms, plain, Fun size (18 g) – 88 calories and 12 g carb
• Miniature Bars (MilkyWay, Snickers, 3 Muskateers) – average 38 calories and 5 g carb each
• Nestle’s Crunch Bars Fun size (10 g) 50 calories and 7 grams carb
• Tootsie Rolls – Midgee – 23 calories and 7 g carb
• Almond Joy Snack size (15 g) – 80 calories and 10 g carb
• Snickers Bars, Fun size (17 g) – 80 calories and 10 g carb
• Twix, Snack size (10 g) – 50 calories and 7 g carb
• Laffy Taffy, Chocolate, small bars (8 g each) – 32 calories and 7 g carb
• Milk Duds Snack size (12 g) – 54 calories and 9 g carb
• Candy Corn, Brach’s – 11 pieces – 70 calories and 18 g carb

Now, lets say my daughter gave me all her Almond Joys while we were trick or treating, and I ate about four of them.  That is 320 calories I have to burn just from walking around having fun.  I would have to (I meaning for my height and weight)

Walk for an hour at 3 mph
Wash dishes for 1 hour
Ride a bike for 1 hour
Step Aerobics for 40 min
Run at 6 mph for 20 min

You get the idea right?  Temporary satisfaction but lots of work to make up for it. So what are the tips to help us not eat the candy?

• Chew gum
• Bring your own snacks with you
• Walk with Sugar Free Hot Cocoa if cold ( sparkling water if warm)
• Eat first and brush your teeth before you go.

Ok your turn. What are your tips for not eating or over eating on Halloween?

My Latest Halloween Cake

Week Two Recap

I’ve been trying to decide if I want to write about my last week or write a review of the armband I’m wearing, mostly because it wasn’t a good week.  I decided that I should write about my week because if I didn’t write about the downs as well as the ups what good would it do anyone?

In my last post I wrote about the convention I went to. I forgot to mention what a kick-ass convention it was.  I was  able to see a lot of my mentors in person which was amazing.  I won’t go over the decisions I made about food again, you can read that here.  Even though it was only week two and I had lost weight I kept thinking I could do this without Jenny Craig right?  Why can’t I do this on my own?  Part of this was the jealousy of cooking meals that I couldn’t eat (at least not yet).  Then after a week I finally snapped out of it and realized the following;

a. I joined Jenny Craig because I have no idea how or what I’m eating.
b. I don’t like to cook. I cook but only because I have to. My sister pointed out that its more that I don’t like to prep. She could be right.
c. This is helping me control my calorie intake and portions.

I was just being emotional about food.  Imagine that! Me, emotional about food!

So along with the kid stresses, life stresses and food stresses knowing that I have a meal waiting for me that is healthy and the right size took some pressure off.  I ended up with another 2.4 lb weight loss for the week, which is a huge win in my mind, even if I did have off days. Which of course means, if I can lose weight with the crappy stressful week I had – anyone can!! Woo!

New goal: be better at sticking the food (duh) and get 5,000 steps a day. I’m not sure how I’m going to do that with all the driving around I do, but I’ll figure something out.

Next blog… towering walls of candy!

Some emotional updates and blog moves

Hello!

This week I am a little up and down. Up because of the many amazingly supportive comments on my previous posts – thank you so much! Down because I still have to make dinner for my kids and sometimes I just want what they are having, so there is a little bit of jealousy creeping in. The steak tips my Dad had last night were amazing! *sigh*.

Anyway, I just got back from an excellent Social Media Summit (http://esmboston.eventbrite.com/). It was great. I was actually there to learn for my job and I did! I have lots of ideas to research and hopefully implement.

Something I forgot to plan on – eating at a convention, ugh. I really thought I had a handle on how to do this but I fell right back into my old routine – too much coffee, not enough water and not enough good food.

I obviously couldn’t bring my Jenny Craig food with me. I did eat a great breakfast but that is about it.

At lunch there was a salad (yes I had salad) spinach wraps with lettuce and tomato but only the choice of turkey, ham roast beef or a chicken salad. I don’t trust anything with mayo so I opted for the turkey cold cuts. Not too bad right? Well, then there was minestrone soup (bland) and later chocolate covered strawberries, brownies, and orange slices with shaved chocolate. I tried all of them. 😦

So I’m home and feeling like a failure and I’m being crabby about it. More to come…