Healthy Eating?

I have been exercising like crazy with this Firm DVD and I'm stiff all over, but it's not doing anything. I'm actually gaining weight. It makes NO sense to me. So I sit and look back on my days and here's when I find. TOO MUCH FOOD going in and not enough calories going out.

So I'm going to start tracking my calories for a few weeks till I get a handle on what I SHOULD be eating. How much and of what.

When Jared and I were first married he did some work for a wonderful lady named Sue Randleman. She was Italian and would always feed us the yummiest food. I remember 2 incidents very clearly. Once she opened a can of olives and asked if I wanted a snack. She then gave me half the can of olives. That's about 20 olives. I remember thinking, "Oh my Word! That's a lot. My Mom only aloud us 5 each to make sure we all got an even amount." But I ate them anyway to be polite.

Next incident. She fed us spaghetti for dinner. I remember thinking, "Yeah, there's no way she could make spaghetti bad for you." Boy was I wrong. She dished up all our plates and my spaghetti and sauce literally was a small mountain covering my entire plate. I thought, "There's no way I can eat this much!" And Jared said out loud, "Great I'm gonna have to eat all mine and half of yours."

Problem is I don't eat like I used to. This is actually how I eat now. And Miss Sue was no small lady. I think to myself, "That small amount of food is not enough for one person. I need more than that. My body can't survive off that small amount of food." Well it did when I was first married. And it should be able to now.

1500 Calories a day, that's what I should be eating. I just had 2 slices of toast and 1 Cup of milk and that worked out to 280 calories. That's WAY!!!! more than I thought that tiny breakfast would add up to.

Small Portions, Healthy Choices. That's the goal today.

The Firm Challenge

I just finished "Cardio Overdrive" from the Firm workout videos. It was tough, but not too tough. I think my body (and mind) still think I'm skinny. I can do everything those ladies were doing but for some reason I still look like my last post. I think it's just consistency. I'll do these workouts then take a 3 day break, then do them again. I have to do them everyday if I want to see a difference.

The Firm promises visual result after just 10 workouts. Promises! That just doesn't seem possible to me. But each of these workouts is 1 hour long. I bet I could do that every day, just for 10 days just to see if they are right. I'll try it. Then post another picture, and you can tell me if you see a difference.

Yuck!

It's kind of hard to deny you've put on a few pounds when your belly looks like this.
I know this isn't the most pleasant thing to look at. But I would like to say that I will not be going out in a bikini any time soon. Feel free to say thank you!

So I am changing my ways in as many areas as I can. Cutting back on portions, drinking LOTS more water, not so many night time snacking, MOVING MOVING MOVING! I know if I don't move I won't loose.

And I do NOT want to keep looking like this. I will post more pictures as improvement keeps coming.

Jillian Michaels

Oh how I hate/love her. For the last 3 days I have been doing her "30 Day Shred" video. And I am dieing. I am so sore it's not even funny. But on the plus side, I'm not as sore this morning as I have been the last 2 mornings. So I'm taking that as a good sign.

Exercise

I come from a family of rather large people. Seriously, everyone in my family is overweight if not obese. I have come to the conclusion that being fat has a lot to do with genes. But it also has a lot to do with NOT GETTING OFF YOUR BUTT!

So, here's what I've noticed thus far. When I exercise, I lose weight. When I don't exercise, I don't lose weight. Go figure.

So in other words, if I want to get back in shape and actually have a figure again, that's not round, I HAVE to move every day. And I don't mean taking the stairs, or parking a few spots further away than I'd prefer. I mean actual sweating, hard breathing, red in the face EXERCISE!

I'm not 100% not sick still but I'm far enough better that I'm able to do real exercise again. And I love it! I NEVER want to actually do it. So I have to force myself to put on my exercise clothes and shoes every time. But when I start to exercise, it is so nice. My mind gets clearer, I feel excited, and I feel more alive. And that natural high lasts quite a long time after the fact too. Oh, and I'm sleeping SO good at night. My body needs that recovery rest time and so it's shutting down a lot easier than it normally does, and I'm sleeping deeper. So I'm feeling much more rested in the morning.

So tell me again, what are the draw backs to exercise? I lose weight, I sleep great, and I feel awesome! No negatives there.

Ran a 5 K for the 1st Time

I went to the gym last night and ran 3.2 miles. That's a 5 K!!! I am very proud of myself for actually running that long, it took me about 40 mins, not that fast, but at least I finished. Then I cooled down on the bike for 20 mins. I love exercising for a LONG time when I actually have the time to do it.

I also played Wii Fitt Plus for 40 + mins yesturday afternoon.

So it all pays off in the end though, I lost 0.4 lbs in 4 days. That's awesome. I really think this proper portion sizes and actually exerciseing will probably work. I feel SO GOOD when I exercise. I love when I'm sore the next day, like I am right now.

Moving Forward.

Smaller Portions

As a kid I was raised to clean my plate or I wouldn't get dessert. Dessert became a reward and something I strived for. Hence my current horrible sweet tooth. But I digress.

I wanted to talk about portion sizes. I notice when I dish up my kids plates I give them rather small servings, THEN and only THEN, if they want more because they are still hungry, then we give them more. They are being taught to eat just the right amount and not too much from the start.

I think it's natural for everyone to eat what is served to them. We don't want to waste food. So we end up eating MORE than we want to, because we can't stand to throw it away. So today I tried dishing up my plate at lunch time to match my sons (he's 4). Not that we had the same amount, but the thought was in place. I gave myself a serving that I felt was much smaller than I was hungry for. Well, after eating that, leftover lasagna, plus 2 slices of bread and 2 large glasses of water...I was full.

This surprises me every time. I always expect to still be starving after eating such a small amount, but I'm not. I'm full, not overflowing stuffed like normal, but full...and satisfied.

I prefer that feeling to the feelings stuffed brings. When I'm stuffed I feel bloated, tired, guilty, yuck, embarrassed and WAY self conscious. And this is even when I'm just eating Mac and Cheese for lunch with my kids. Mac and Cheese is not even that good, why would anyone gorge themselves on it. But...sometimes I do.

When my 2nd child was born I was in the hospital for 4 days afterwards (I'd had a C-section). They always gave me a menu to chose from for each meal. I remember when they brought me my first meal and the slice of pie that was for desert I wanted to just laugh at. It was most definitely a "Sliver." Well, after eating like that for 4 days, that's 12 meals, my body adjusted. That's all I needed. And really, shouldn't we only eat what we need, not necessarily what we WANT, especially when you're trying to lose weight.

So for the next week I'm going to try to feed myself MUCH smaller portions. Portions that look WAY too small, but in the back of my head I know will still fill me up.

Sick, but Losing

My toddler got me sick yesterday and I am feeling like a truck ran over me. My back hurts, my arms are sore, my legs don't move right and I am just way stinking tired. I really wanted to take Charlie on a walk tonight, but I'm not sure I could even make it to the mail box. My kids go back to school tomorrow, and I am really glad. I don't think I'll have the energy tomorrow to do more than sit on the couch with my also sick toddler and watch movies. YUCK!

I never know if it helps to exercise through an illness. But in my opinion if I'm exercising my body is using all it's sources to work on my muscles instead of getting rid of my virus. Therefore logic puts it that I'm going to be sicker longer. So if I just hang low for a few days, rest and relax I'll get more out of my work outs when I feel better AND I'll actually want to exercise BECAUSE I feel better.

Fresh Air

I just took my dog, Charlie, on a 2 mile walk. It's 3:00 in the afternoon and my hubby is home because it's Saturday. I usually only get to walk at night because I am a Mommy after all. But a nice, brisk, fresh air, sunny walk was wonderful. Charlie really enjoyed it and was wanting to run at the end, which he never wants to do. We both are better for it.

I'm feeling a bit tired at the moment, and a little cold. But mostly thirsty. Too much traffic on the roads during the day, but it was still fun.

New Year, New Me

I woke up this morning and turned on some music. Did a little dancing in front of the mirror and discovered some not so good things. My Arms! It kind of hit me right then. They are fat and looking more and more like my Moms every day.

I weighed in this morning at 157. When I graduated from HS I weighed 120. When I got married I weighed 125. I am 5 ft 6 in tall and 37 lbs overweight. That may not seem like a lot but looking at my arms this morning I am definitely seeing something I don't want to see.

I have to do something about this. Less intake, More moving. It's the only way.

I used to look at fat people and wonder how they let themselves get to that point. "Don't they know how to lose it?" But now I understand. It's a complete lifestyle change.

I used to be so active at 120 lbs. Bike riding, running, strength training, dancing, roller blading, hiking...etc. The list was endless. But that was when I was single. I have 4 kids now, all under 9 years old. So life is a little more busy. But I have to find a way.

I need to know how to balance my Health along side raising my family. I know it's possible, but I have to find what works for me. I don't just want to be skinny and hot. I want to be healthy and active, which I'm not.

Wish me luck with the New Year.