My challenge

My diet this week was ruined by Valentine’s Day. Candy giving holidays and diets just do not go hand in hand. Not to mention the fact that one of the holiday things we do with my son is bake cookies and cupcakes. So I have had a setback, I was down 4 lbs in January, and now I am back up 2 lbs. This gives me a total weight loss of 2 lbs since the beginning of the year, not really much to write home about huh.

I think all of the contributors on this blog each face unique challenges, not only are we in different places about how much we need to lose, but we all have different restrictions and hurdles to overcome. Here is one of the issues I am, and will, face with attempting to lose weight, and that is the fact that I am currently breastfeeding my 3 month old. (here is a shameless plug to get attention for my incredibly cute muffin)

From new mini

They – by which I mean some Doctors and common wisdom-, say that breastfeeding will help the weight fall right off. What “they” don’t tell you is that breast milk requires a larger amount of fat and protein to produce so some people DON’T lose those extra lbs, the body starts storing that fat for milk production. Current recommendations suggest you don’t try and lose more than 1 lb a week or it could affect your supply. Also that you exercise in moderation, because burning too much fat too fast could also affect supply. So here I am stuck in Limbo land. The lbs aren’t melting off, and how do you find that balance between losing too much and not enough?

So I am going to set a few goals this week

- Drink more water- this is a standard goal for me every week and I never manage to follow though.

- Work out, 20-30 minutes per day. We are still sold out of the Wii active in my area, but tomorrow should have them back in stock provided I can call early enough. I don’t know why I have it stuck in my head that this will be the way I can actually work out. I also bought a Mama and baby yoga DVD today at Target.

- - I am going to take “before” (and eventually “after” I hope!) pics and measurements. Depending on how self conscious I feel they may or may not make it into next week’s blog post. I think posting a before pic will be motivation to get rid of the fluff.

One of the things that has helped me to eat a little healthier at least is Meal planning. We all know that meal planning can help your budget, but I think it can also cut down on impulse eating. Have several meals planned out, the groceries ready to go in the fridge. You aren’t as likely to order a pizza or grab fast food on the way home if you have something waiting at home to be made. It also helps me buy those veggies if I have a plan for what to do with them rather than plunk them in the fridge and hope they get eaten. At least once per week I am going to do a vegetarian meal, this week a stir fry with brown rice. If it works out I’ll try and post the recipe.

REAL goals for this week

Document everything I eat. EVERYthing I eat. See, I've got this handy-dandy app on my iPhone called Lose It which makes it very simple to do, as long as I actually, well, do it.

Take the stairs. Have you heard? Up two, down three. That's a recommendation for how to take the stairs. i.e. I work on the 3rd floor. That's going up two. Given, there is an "empty" half-floor in between, so going from the 1st to the 3rd is really like going up three floors, not two. Regardless, I have used my healing ankle injury as an excuse for too long. I want to take the stairs at least twice daily (up to work, and down from work), every working day this week.

Exercise four times this week. Seriously. I bought the Wii Active after Tamara's suggestion last week. I started it yesterday afternoon, and it kicked my butt for a whole 15-ish minutes. I thought about setting it on the "medium" 30-Day Challenge, but decided on the "easy". Boy, am I glad I did. Few things;
1) this gal doesn't like to run. it made me run three times. THREE times.
2) it's made for skinny people. the leg band *barely* fits around my upper thigh.
3) most importantly, i felt really good after i finished. I sat down and didn't quite feel as much like napping as I did before I did it (course, I still rested my eyes for a few minutes. okay. for 75 minutes.). Plus, I just felt good that I was able to do it, and that I was dripping sweat and looking gnarly.

Eat fresh veggies. I want to go to the store and buy some peppers and carrots and celery and broccoli and just any sort of veggie that you can eat fresh. Sometimes fruits aren't that great for you, plus I don't like fruit with cheese... but veggies with a small chunk of cheese is supposed to be a snack that helps curb your appetite.

No sweets. Woah. That's a big one. But I'm serious. I want to see if I can go one week without sweets. Wait. Does this include Diet Pepsi? Lemme think about that one... yes. It does. It includes all sugary beverages. Water or unsweet tea or black coffee only.

I'm documenting my weight today, and will tell you in one week if I lost any weight, and if so, how much. I'm honestly hoping for something like, maybe 2-3 lbs? Is that a safe and reasonable amount to expect? Maybe I should go into this without any guesses... hmmm... wish me luck.

Sunday, Wii Fit Day

Being last has so many advantages: some of which are having the fortune, and insight, of reading all your posts. They have moved me through the week, and kept fitness in the forefront of my mind. 7 days to follow you in your fitness ideas, also means 7 days without gravy. 7 days. No gravy. Woot!

I thought I would share my main fitness companion with you by explaining the Wii game that I play. It's called Wii active, and though it's not the Wii Fit you usually see, I still find it motivating, calorie burning and fun! I know some of you are considering this purchase, so I took a couple pictures of the "in-game" screens for you to see.

So, basic in-screen list of what's on the agenda for today. As you can see, it sucks. And it makes your butt hurt. A pain in the butt if you will.

Kev demonstrates another in-screen excercise... running. Yes, you do run in place... (unless you have a treadmill?) but it's still hard.

The controllers are either held in your hands, or strapped to your leg with a provided strap. They both sense motion, and thus your calorie count is tallied by the speed and movement the controllers make.

And voila! Calories burned, muscles toned, and all in a short 15-20 minutes. All in the comfort of your own home!

Thanks for such a great week ladies! What a great idea :)

*Special thanks to Kevin's avatar for helping in this blog post.

You Got To Move It, Move It!

Eating healthy, drinking lots of water, over-the-counter diet pills, fat burners, etc... are great aides when it comes to losing those unwanted pounds. However, if you don't get up and move, it's all a waste of money. Research has proven that you have to move to lose weight. Does this mean you have to run out and join a gym? Nope. Do you have to invest in countless exercise DVD's or exercise equipment that eventually turns in to clothes racks? Nope. It is a proven fact that simply getting your heart rate up is key to losing weight.


Walking is a great way to start building up stamina and losing weight. Start out by setting goals. If you are a beginner, like me, start out slow and build up. My goals are simple and realistic. Don't set your goal too high. You are not going to start out walking 5 miles a day, if you don't walk at all now. I have set my goal to take a walk around my block, twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. For me, it takes about 10 minutes to do so. I know that seems extreme, since it’s just a block. However, for my height and current weight, it's going to be a workout for me. Within two weeks, I hope to be able to walk the block twice in the morning and twice in the afternoon, in less than 15 minutes each time. By the end of the first month, I hope I can walk the block, three times in the morning and three times in the afternoon in less than 20 minutes.

Exercising doesn't have to be mundane or expensive. If you are not able to go for a walk outside due to the weather, etc... Jump in the car and go to the mall or your favorite department store. Walking the perimeter of the mall/store is great exercise and you can do window shopping at the same time! Just remember, keep moving! Don't stop to gawk at that new handbag or shoes in the display window. You can always come back to that store when you finish.

Setting realistic goals will help you succeed in your weight loss journey. So, I challenge all of you to put in those headphones and head out the door. Go for a walk around the neighborhood, your favorite park or local mall/department store. Because, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoNkfOHBzQk

Eating on the Go...

As I have taken this semester off of school, I am working 30 hours a week. I know, I know, that's not a lot but it's more than I am usually used to. So, I am trying to eat healthier on the go. I work in the deli of a grocery store so every day there are many fried and fatty options to eat. In order to resist this temptation, I have started to buy some of my favorite fruits. I like grapes and strawberries the best and they are very easy to pack for my break on work.

In addition to this, I have started to buy "diet" frozen, pre-packaged meals ("tv dinners"). I found a brand of meals that is cheaper at a discount food store called Aldi's. The brand is "Fit & Active" and my favorite meal is the Three Cheese Ziti.

With only 280 calories per container with 8 g of fat, 4.5 g from saturated fat, and 0 g from trans fat. 50 mg of cholesterol, 440 mg sodium, and 37 g of carbohydrates with 2 g of dietary fiber, 4 g of sugar, and 12 g of protein. 15% of your daily vitamin A, 10% vitamin C, 20% calcium, and 15% iron round out the nutritional information.

So, I have found ways to have a "healthy" (or at least low calorie lunch) at work. A 280 calorie dinner, a 3/4 cup serving of strawberries for about 75 calories, a 60 calorie sugar-free Jello-O pudding, and a diet rootbeer is a 415 calorie meal at work. (Or around 400 calories if grapes were subsituted.) Healthy, filling, and very satisfying! :-)

P.S. I had a nice picture of my tv dinner, but it isn't loading... I'll add it later.

What Worked for Me

I'm really not sure what to do for my first post, especially since I'm 28 weeks pregnant, so I figure I'll just give some pointers on what has worked well for me in the past concerning weight loss and healthy eating. And this is what I'll probably try to do once the baby arrives when I need to rid myself of the weight.

I have struggled with my metabolism most of my adult life (after college) and I got to a point where I was miserable one summer about five and a half years ago (right before I met MK). I looked into the Sugar Busters diet (their website is still in the dark ages), because I had heard it worked well, and any time I had cut out my sugar before, I had some success with weight loss. I had joined a gym and tried just working out for a few weeks beforehand but hadn't had much success, so I decided to work in some healthier eating. With Sugar Busters, you cut down a lot of your sugars and bread. It sounds really difficult and it's not easy at first, but once you get used to not eating as much sugar, you don't crave it. Honest.

One thing I love about the diet plan is that it allowed me to substitute my beloved bread with healthier versions...whole grains, stone ground wheat, rye, etc. So, if I had a bad carb craving, I could curb it with a healthy carb instead of loading up on refined sugars. You really can cater it to your needs and wants.

If you want to get started with this, substitution is the best way to begin. Here are some examples of things I ate:

• Whole wheat spaghetti noodles with a little bit of olive oil, parmesan cheese, canned chicken, and seasoning like garlic salt and Cavendars Greek Seasoning. These noodles are also good with lean ground beef and spaghetti sauce for a lower-fat version of spaghetti.
  
  
• Dark chocolate with at least 70% cocoa (try to avoid anything with high fructose corn syrup--that means non-diet sodas too)
  
  
• Triscuits with chicken salad or tuna salad. Use canned chicken or tuna, light mayo (not too much of it) and add in some celery or dill relish. You can also use whole wheat pitas with some lettuce.
  
  
• Plenty of fish. Fish is a great lean meat and this diet plan calls for lean cuts of meat. You can broil, grill, or bake them and add your favorite seasonings. Just don't get carried away with any creamy, fatty sauces.
  
  
• Can't live without potatoes? Try sweet potatoes. They even have sweet potato fries now and they are excellent. Just don't add "too" much butter. :)
  
  

It doesn't sound like it, but even these small changes can make a huge difference if you stick to them. Use stone-ground whole wheat bread for your sandwiches, try sugar-free candy if you have a sweet tooth, brown rice instead of white, and just try to stay away from all things white: bread and sugar. I know it sounds gross right now, but I promise you get used to the taste after a week or two. You need plenty of veggies and protein as well.

On the exercise part of this, I was going to the gym about three times a week and using the weight machines. I'd work on my legs one day and then the next, alternate to my arms. I'd walk on the treadmill for about 15-20 minutes so I wasn't at the gym for more than an hour at a time. My body started toning up and I actually lost about 25 pounds in four months. It just takes motivation and dedication and if you can, get an accountability partner.

To get the book, go here.

Wednesday - Taco Soup Dinner

Yesterday, Erin asked for recipe ideas for the week. So, I shared with her my favorite Weight Watchers recipe, Taco Soup. After discussing it with her, I had to make it. So, I went to the store and bought the ingredients. This is a 1 pot meal. You gotta love that! So the recipe is as follows:

1lb lean hamburger (you can also substitute ground turkey or chicken)
1 small onion, diced (this can be omitted if you wish)
1/4c green bell pepper, diced (this can be omitted if you wish)
1 16oz can black beans, drained
1 16oz can whole kernel corn, drained
1 16oz can of kidney beans - do not drain
1 16oz can of diced tomatoes - do not drain
1 can of Mild RoTel tomatoes (or any heat level you prefer) - do not drain
1 package if Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing powder
1 package of Taco Bell Taco seasoning (or any brand you prefer)
1 to 1.5c of water
Salt & Pepper to taste

In a large pot, add a tsp of oil, bell pepper, onion and saute to onions are just about clear. Add in your ground meat, salt and pepper, and brown. Drain meat, peppers, & onion. Put meat mixture back into pot and add beans, tomatoes, and corn. Mix well. Mix ranch dressing & seasoning packs to water and pour into pot. Mix well. Start with 1 cup of water. If the soup is too thick, add 1/2 cup more of water. Be careful not to add too much water, as the soup will lose it's taco flavor. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat and cover. Let simmer for 30 to 45 minutes.

1 cup of the soup has 211 calories, 4 grams of fat, 30.8 grams of carbs, and 6.6 grams of fiber. 1 cup of this soup is 2 points on the Weight Watchers program. I always add a bit of cheese and sour cream to mine. This does affect the calories, but just factor them in with the soup. This soup does well in a crock pot too. Its a soup that is so satisfying. I don't even feel guilty about eating it!

Enjoy!

It doesn't always work the way you hope

I was so excited about this blog that I spent a few days brainstorming my first post. I decided I was going to try a new low calorie recipe and document it for you. I picked a 350 calorie salmon dish that looked fantastic when I found it on the real simple website. I took pictures of the lentil and spinach salad and the Salmon cooking under the broiler. I ate approximately 2 bites before looking over at my husband, trying to gauge his reaction. We exchanged glances and he ate another bite or two before I gave him the ok. "I don't want to eat mine either, honey, go ahead and find something else in the pantry." That's a good man for you. Eating your failed food experiment, and he doesn't need the diet! And my older son, O, well he just looked at his plate and said "Oh that's a yucky, I want cheese and crackers" So, for dinner we ate cheese, crackers, non-fat plain yogurt and a handful of grapes. I feel most food groups were represented. That recipe was immediately deleted from the stash, and I hope the next one I try works out a bit better.

It can be difficult to find good lower cal meals when Paula Deen's recipes hold a special place in your heart. This is something I battle more now that I have a family. The food needs to please the picky two year old and his "meat and potatoes" daddy. I am of the opinion that you don't have to stay away from all of the food you love. That is a recipe for disaster and binging. I try and make an effort to make some of my favorite things diet friendly. I am totally with Erin on this, make simple substitutions to cut out fat. After browning my ground beef I'll rinse it and the pan in boiling water before adding more ingredients, takes a lot of the fat off. I throw ice cubes in my chile, the fat solidifies around the ice and you can scoop it right out. Just don't leave the cube in long enough to melt.

The food is not my issue, my biggest challenge is working out. Eating healthier I can do but, getting myself off the couch will present a challenge and is my biggest goal. Something I can do in the 30 minute nap-time overlap I get is a must and leaving the house to go to the gym is simply not an option. I am looking into the Wii, and Wii fit. However, every store in my area is sold out, and Amazon is asking a whopping $400 for the set. So until then I need to figure something else out. Any suggestions?

Monday

I received the Weight Watcher's newsletter via email from my mother late last week. It was unusual, as it's the first time I'd ever gotten this from her. Mind you, Mom's been in Weight Watchers for, well, maybe 1.5 years, and in that time, she's lost nearly 100 lbs. So, my mom will shed some enlightenment on this trek for me, I imagine.

Anyways, the main reason she sent it to me is because I had a disaster in my Crock Pot last week, and there were WW Crock Pot recipes that she said sounded good. I printed a bunch of them and added them to my home binder to use in the future. Most of the time that I'll write here, I'll include a new recipe, and a few little ways that I was able to make it a bit healthier. Last night, I made French Onion Soup and it was amazing! I found a delicious recipe where you use olive oil instead of butter to saute the onions, and I limited the cheese that I put on top-- also chose a little more parmesan than havarti, and made my slices of french bread for toast a little thinner than you might normally.. I don't know how much of a difference many of those choices made, but it feels a little healthier, and it was delicious!



My main goals during this blogging time are to be able to not get winded during longer walks, and fit into all the pants in my closet. I'm not putting a weight loss goal on here, because that's so deceiving. I lost about 20 lbs while in China in November and December, and I came absolutely no closer to fitting in the pants. It boggles my mind, but all I know is I need to do some work. I am fine with eating healthy, but I'm much more comfortable sitting on the couch than getting up and working out. That's a big one I need to work on.

And lastly, I want to be as comfortable with my body as my boyfriend is. I want to love the parts that he loves on me. Cause you know, if you can't love yourself, who else is going to do it?

About Us

We all have a different story, and will share those stories, struggles, and motivations with you in our own format.

@chidanemum-- Hey! I'm Erin. I like to think I'll write this blog from a different angle; I have to limit certain exercises because of some health conditions. At the ripe ol' age of 27, I have rheumatoid arthritis-- so I will try to get into things like yoga and walking. I had some changes in medications that caused me to gain over 75 lbs in a year. It's been three years since that happened, and I have no excuse to still be carrying around this extra weight. I have a huge problem with portion control, but I have a pretty good idea of what I need to do... it's just the "doing it" that gets me hung up. I also love to try new recipes, so will be trying to put a super healthy spin on some favorites (for example, using applesauce in place of oil).

@hannahbella3-- Hi, I'm Hannah and two years ago I had a baby. My body hasn't been the same since. Especially after I added that second baby a couple months ago. I went from being the skinny girl that could eat anything and not gain a pound to a mama with a few too many curves. I don't want to crash diet, or go crazy with the workouts. I don't even want to make it back to my pre-pregnancy weight. I just want to be fit and healthy. My goal is to loose 20 lbs and fit back into real - read 'not maternity' - pants again someday soon.

@KayteeScarlett--My name is Michelle. I don't think there has ever been a point in my life when I've considered myself "thin". I've always been a big girl and have had problems with my weight all my life. My goal is not so much to be "thin" because my body isn't designed to be skinny. My main goal is to be healthy. If I eat healthier and live a healthier lifestyle I'll lose the weight!

@kyrstind-- Kyrstin here. I am 22 years old (in March 2010) and will be getting married in June. When I left high school I was the skinny curvy girl... now, I'm just the REALLY curvy girl. I would like to lose about 20 pounds before the wedding and lift weights to tone my arms and back so I look awesome in my dress! I also would like to become more healthy and start exercising to help my asthma. It is the worst in the dead, cold winter, allergy season, and when it's super humid and hot during the Iowa summer (so basically, all year around). I'm not too concerned about getting to my "ideal" weight because every body is different... but I do want to feel comfortable in a swimsuit... I love the beach. And I do have a honeymoon coming up!

@mama_dixie-- My name is Leann and as of this posting, I am 27 weeks pregnant; obviously, I will not be losing any weight within the next 3 months. However, I want to go ahead and prepare myself for after the baby boy comes because I know I will need to lose the weight and have struggled as an adult with my metabolism. Also, I've gained well over 20 pounds in pregnancy and will probably end up gaining over 30. Before pregnancy, I was already out of my healthy weight range. I am 5'3 and never really struggled with my weight until my early 20s. I was able to lose weight a few times but only with proper exercise and diet (the Sugar Busters diet worked really well for me and helped me curb my sweet tooth). I can't just do either/or because it doesn't work for me. So...I want to start getting better eating habits right now. I should have already started that, being pregnant and all, but it's hard when you don't have to necessarily watch what you eat. I also should walk more but it's hard when you're tired and heavy and have to work all day. The reason I'm here is for moral support and accountability. I really look forward to what we can all do together.

@stephann00--My name is Stephanie. I've never been thin or skinny. I've been an overweight girl my entire life. My problem is, I love food. Period. I have gone from being cute and curvy to being obese. I want to change from being obese. I no longer want to have to shop specialty stores for clothes. I want to be healthy and happy. I have a lot of weight to lose, but that's why Im here. I do not have the expectation of being 100 lbs. That's not realistic. My goal is to be a size 10. Now that's realistic and I know I can do it!

@twilighttamara-- Hi! I'm Tamara. Sixteen very short months ago, I gave birth to a beautiful boy. During the pregnancy, I took "eating for two" to a whole new level. Now, in order to prepare for baby two, and to generally feel better, I'd like to lose about 30 pounds. I am addicted to bread, I love high fat yogurt, and you'll rarely catch me eating a carrot. This should probably change. I'm excited to set a healthy example for my son, and to keep up with my husband. Looking forward to seeing how well we can all do, because I know we can do it together.

Contacts

We can all be reached via Twitter DM.

Contributors (in alphabetical order of twitter name):

@chidanemum - Erin
@hannahbella3 - Hannah
@KayteeScarlett - Michelle
@kyrstind - Kyrstin
@mama_dixie - Leann
@stephann00 - Stephanie
@twilighttamara - Tamara

Welcome to our Fit Blog!

Welcome to *our* humble blog. So, I'm only speaking for myself, but I only know one of these co-writers in person. I met the rest on Twitter (@chidanemum), and we have decided to start a blog together. We'll be taking turns writing (nearly?) daily all about keeping fit.

Some days, it'll be something motivational. Some days, it'll be a link to an article about exercising. Some days, we'll talk about the walk we took with our dogs. Some days, we'll write about how we played on Wii fit. Some days, we'll write about the donuts that we *didn't* eat for breakfast. You get the idea. We're encouraging each other.

We hope to have weekly updates with our weight losses (only for those willing to share!), but quite honestly, at this point none of us know how this will pan out. Heck, if we're the only people that end up following this, I think that's great.

There couldn't possibly be a better support system!