Struggling A Bit

These past few days have been difficult. Finding myself in that place where I obssess over calorie differentials...how much have I eaten? how much have I burned? how much more can I eat and still lose weight?

But looking over the nutritional data reports on sparkpeople.com, I can see that I have taken in much less protein daily than I was in the beginning.  Tomorrow I will eat more protein.

Exercise is going very well...Anna thoroughly kicked my booty on Monday and Tuesday...then I took her CrazyStep class tonight....her choreography is so difficult that I stay so focused on the movements and time goes by quickly...and I am pouring sweat when I'm done.

Today was not a good water day....still more than last week..but not great...probably 32oz all day.

This is gonna sound nuts, but I love that stank sweat smell left over on my clothes after I've worked out really hard....it's like proof, since the real results aren't immediate.

Water plus First Workout with Anna

Yesterday I drank 84 oz of water, and took 200 trips to the potty.  As a teacher, it is difficult to get to the bathroom (can't leave kids unattended.) Yesterday, we had a plan day so it was o.k. ....we will see how it goes today.

As for my first workout with Anna...it was exactly what I wanted.  For thirty minutes she kept me moving doing strength exercises that would raise my heartrate intermittently.  She only gave me a couple of breaks that only lasted seconds for catching my breath and getting a sip of water.  I love the stuff she had me doing, b/c I know it is effective.  Walking lunges, back lunges, incline push-ups, pull-ups on the Gravitron, squats..love that she had me using the ball and my own body weight.  She knows her stuff, this one.  I followed it up with 20 minutes of cardio on the Elliptical.  Felt really good about it...meet her again today at 5pm.

Goals for Week 3

I want to give my body another big boost so I have two major goals for Week 3:

• Take in one gallon of water per day
• Exercise five times for 30 minutes

I have scheduled training sessions with Anna on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday, so that will help me stay true to this goal.  Only have to make myself work-out on my own two days.

Reflecting on Week 2:
During week two I found myself wanting to slip back into old habits like eating for fun, eating out, and giving into cravings. Like, Patience and I always talk about....I wonder why staying consistent is so difficult?  Why can't we make-up our mind to eat a certain way and stick with it....forever? 
However, my clothes DID fit better, which was so encouraging.  I hung an old pair of favorite jeans on my door for inspiration and hope to be back into them in a few weeks time. 
Still feeling VERY positive about this process.  And if you read this stuff, please let me know with a comment...It's pathetic that I need so much attention from others, but it help me stay accountable, because I want to make yall proud.

Week 2: Weigh-in, data

Week two was more difficult than week one....but, we still had success.

Heather:
Weight lost - 2.4 pounds (total of 8.2 pounds lost)
Average calories/day eaten for week: 1,438 (high 1,778 / low 1,092)
Daily water - about 12 oz at most per day
Exercise - 2 days (crappy I know)
Sweet teas - none
Cokes/Dr. Peppers - 2 really big ones (Thursday and Friday)

Family weight loss:
William - 2.0 pounds (total of 4.8 pounds lost)
Ramsey - .6 pounds lost (total of 1.6 pounds)
Isabelle -1.6 pounds (total of 3 pounds)
Isabelle is my number one fitness partner! She is so much fun and makes exercising much more enjoyable.  Love that girl.

Data from Week 1

These are averages and totals from the week respectively.....

Average daily calories : 1,172

Water: around 2 to 3 cups a day (bad Heather)

Exercise:  1 day for 30 minutes (again.....not good)

Average mood: really good, positive

Sweet Teas for the week: 1 large (so worth it, right Patience?)

Weight Lost: 5.8 pounds

Day 10: I survived....

Thanks yall!  I made it to the end of the day on the lowest end of my calorie range....just kept visualizing supper and felt much better after one of my favorite meals.  
Patience, you are right....I think that my usual stuff works during the week because I am so busy..but on days that I'm off, I need to distribute my calories more evenly with some energy foods at the beginning of the day. 
Live and learn.
Three day work week (halleluiah).

Day 10: NOW I AM HUNGRY!

I knew it would finally happen.  Today I am so flippin' hungry.  Ate my regular breakfast, had a different lunch (still within my calorie norm of 200 for lunch)...had an apple for a snack.  But it is 3:30 and supper seems so far away. 

Gonna watch t.v. and try not to eat the coffee table.

Weigh-In Week 1

Couldn't be happier with this week's weigh-in......

I lost: 5.8 pounds.

William lost 2.8 pounds.

Ramsey lost 1 pound.

Isabelle lost 2.4 pounds.

So, great results when the only thing I changed was portion control through calorie counting.  No diet pills, no increase of water intake, no exercise, no special foods, no restrictions. 
I stayed within my calorie range of 1200-1600.

This week I add exercise.  Spring and summer clothes...here I come!

More than just a personal trainer.......

So, I went to see Anna the trainer today for my consultation (sat on the couch and got to know each other a bit, both wrote down our training dates for the next six weeks, covered my history/concerns, talked about nutrition, etc.) and....I am so impressed! This gal's got a laundry list of credentials.  She has a Masters degree in fitness and kinesiology (which she got after she earned a Masters in accounting and decided it wasn't for her!)  In short, I was really impressed with her positive attitude, her passion for what she does, and just how seriously she takes personal training. 

I'm even more excited about next Tuesday when she does the one hour fitness assessment.  It is how she collects baseline data in five different areas:

1. Body Composition - Body Fat Assessment, Circumference measurements
2. Cardio Endurance - 3 minute step test
3. Strength Endurance - How many push-ups in 1 minute? and sit-ups in 1 minute?
4. Strength Maximum - weight max for all large muscle groups
5. Flexibility

Anna was also excited to know that I am already keeping an online food diary with Spark People, because it is something she asks her clients to do. She took the first six days home to look over and make comments.
So our plan is three 30 minute sessions on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays...which will include strength and cardio.  She asked me to commit to two 30 minute sessions on my own every week, too...which I plan to do on the weekends. 

So, my plan is coming together!

By-the-way....it is the end of day 6 and I'm still feeling strong.

Day 5

Days 1 - 4 have been a breeze so far.  I've been keeping my calories on the low end of my goal range.  

Tomorrow at 5pm, I have my "consultation" with Anna, the fitness trainer from my gym, Anytime Fitness (which I love, because you can go 'anytime', go figure).  This is just for her to talk to me about my fitness goals and schedule the next 19 training sessions. The next session will be a "fitness assessment" that lasts one hour.  Anna is very young...I would guess early 20's but she went to college to get a degree in this area, and conducts herself very professionally.  So, I am really excited to see how she approaches this mess I have gotten myself into.

Another epiphany:  Beef has way more calories than chicken...which I guess I knew but forgot the huge difference. 

Spark People

The online food diary that I am using is at sparkpeople.com.  I read about it in several fitness magazines....now I know why.  It is an extremely useful tool.  When you first log on the screens seem a little busy, and there is so much that is overwhelming.  However, if you will focus on the nutrition tab and just learn quickly how to log your calories, then the rest sorts itself out.  Last year I used another online food diary at everydayhealth.com and it was just more trouble than it was worth.

Here are my favorite things about sparkpeople.com:

• Once you put in your weight info and it calculates your BMR, the daily calories goal is a RANGE rather than one number. For instance my goal calories are between 1200-1600.  So I can shoot for the low number but not feel bad if I creep toward 1600.  For example, I only ate 1200 calories yesterday and I didn't feel deprived. However tomorrow night I may be starving, but I have that allowance to move up to 1600 without feeling guilty....because at 1600 calories a day, I will still lose one pound a week.
• the speed of the website is fast (so no waiting for windows to pop-up)
• it is easy to add your own favorite foods
• you can copy meals to other days easily (very useful, since most of us eat the same thing for breakfast/lunch everyday)
• You can make "food groupings" so you don't have to add every component of a complex meal everytime you eat it...for example (roast beef stew, taco salad, chicken/broccoli/cornbread).  This is so relevant, because as families we all have our standard meals.  Even more importantly, once you have measured out the portions for servings...you don't have to reread the contents of each package again.  You can just pull up the website and see that taco salad has 1/3 cup of ground beef, 1/3 cup of cheese, 12 Doritos, etc.  So, this is reinforcing your portion control behaviors. 
• There are really cool tools that help you track your nutrition easily...like pie charts to show you the percentages of fat/carbs/protien you are getting each day as compared to what you should be getting for your goal weight.

I am a Spark Person.

Measuring for True Serving Size

We are using a kitchen scale, measuring cups, and measuring spoons to keep the most accurate count of our daily calories.  It is actually liberating rather than restrictive to be so precise.  It gives me comfort, because I feel certain that I am safely within my calorie intake, while also showing me that I can eat so much more of some things than others.  When we had roast, I had more meat than I would have guessed for 4 oz.  And I really was surprised how 12 Doritos (=1 serving) was plenty for my taco salad.  I was also surprised how much 1/4 cup of shredded cheese actually looks like (more than I thought) and how much 1/3 cup of ground beef covers (again, way more that I would have thought.)  The carrot thing is still amazing to me....55 calories in one cup...geez.

Measure? Yes I can.

Day 1 - Amazing

I feel amazing here at the end of my first day!

Ate 1550 calories, exercised, feel great...but, that is normal for me.  Days 4, 10, 20...those are the hard ones. 

Epiphany - 1 whole cup of carrots only has 55 calories...wow. 

Spark People is tedious at first, but I really like it.  Specifically, I like how you can make a food group (meal) and save it.  For instance, today we had roast at lunch.  I broke the meal down into all of the components and made a food group.  So next time I cook it, I can just click to add that food group to my daily food diary.  Easy.  Also did it for the tacos I ate tonight.

I really think the reason I feel so well, is that I didn't change anything extreme, just minded my calories (portions).  And I was also very careful to incorporate more healthy fruits, veggies, nuts, and fats. 

William struggled a little today emotionally..he was kind of blue when he realized what the size of a healthy portion really looks like.  But, he's a trooper.  Isabelle was fine all day! And of course Ramsey didn't even notice the changes.

So good day.  Thank you God.    We did in fact pray at each meal for God's help in our healthy life endeavors. 

Eve of Day One

I am ready.  William is ready.

Tomorrow morning we all will get it up well before time for church so that we can each weigh (kids, too).  Already have Sparkpeople accounts set-up.  Know what I am eating for breakfast and lunch for the whole first week.  So excited.

Decided against rock-star trainer, because our schedules are not very compatible.  My second choice will be back from her vacation on Monday.  But, tomorrow I will work-out on my own.

On Monday, my principal and her sidekick will be coming into do the first of two, one-hour formal evaluations.  Geez...it is so awkward to teach as if you don't have an adult audience. We have only been back at work after Christmas vacation for less than a week, and already the stress level is high.  Gotta figure out how to NOT let that stress translate into emotional eating. 

Feeling strong...feeling excited..feeling anxious, too.

Diet Plan

William and I have decided that we are not going to buy into any particular diet plan (Weight Watchers, Nutrisystem, etc).  Tell us what you think about our plan.
We are going to use Sparkpeople.com to log our daily calories.  That's all.  Nothing fancy, but we want to do something that we can use for the whole family and that will relevant to the children forever.  In other words we want to teach them about calories, fat content, fiber, protein, portion sizes, ...rather than "points" ...

So, we will be getting our Spark People account ready (FREEEEE!) and begin the diet Sunday.

Oh...and even better news....rock star personal trainer called back! We are working-out the details.  And William is thinking of doing P90X at home. 

For tonight only, Roll Tide!!!

Support of Friends and Family.....Essential!

I realize that losing weight and becoming fit is a very personal thing....and some people choose to approach it that way.  However, for me, having the support of friends and family has been in the past and is now my lifeline.  And if you know me, that is true of all things with me.  I am just not the kind of person to work through issues in my head. They must be verbalized in some manner (chatted, cried, screamed, but mostly whined). Of course airing your dirty size 14 laundry is not always the best idea....but it is who I am, for better or worse.

It has been my experience, that positive comments and encouragement do in fact pop into my brain when I am ready to slow down the treadmill, lessen the resistance on machines, or stop midway through run. Even when I am ready to dive face first into a bag of Doritos or circus peanuts....there are voices of those who believe in me and voices who inspire me.....like Patience (Fitness and Nutrition Guru), Dora (#1 Cheerleader, Sounding Board, and Fellow Emotional Eater), Geannie (Legendary Work-out Machine and Mother of Guru), Mama (Dowager Duchess of "All My Girls are B.E.A.U.T.F.U.L.!"), and there are others....  My Life's V.I.P.s who log onto my silly little blog to say wonderful stuff, Tiffany who brings me water every time she gets herself some from the lunchroom, Melinda who has never stopped believing in me, my kids who say they are proud of me, "Thomas" a.k.a. Kristen who inspires me, and of course..... my Willy who looks at me with soft eyes no matter my weight and makes me feel like I'm still the girl he married 10 years ago.

So for those of you who suffer in silence....I say holler it all from the driveway (cause there are no mountaintops around here) and rally support, all the while disregarding all  negative thoughts and people.

 

Seeking Trainer

I got no response from rockstar trainer, so I inquired about a trainer from my gym that is pretty popular.  She is on vacation until Monday.  The owner of the gym is texting her my number to see if she wants to go ahead and schedule something for next week.

Mulling over my start date...and I think it will be this coming Sunday. 

Metabolic Weight Loss Center is a No Go

Today I went to the Metabolic Weight Loss Center satellite office in Waycross for a free consultation.  My superhero sister, Dora, had success with this method in the past....and I wanted to give it a try.  I think the office in Valdosta has been around a lot longer and is way more developed and sophisticated.

Monday 01-04-2010 @ 4:15pm
William and I walk up a flight of stairs in a very old musty building in downtown.
First of all, the office is a very small room with bare walls, old desk, phone, no computer, a filing cabinet, and one bookshelf full of Metabolic products (not very appealing).  The one employee is very nice, but just not very motivationg if you know what I mean (awkward). She weighs us both and tells us all our depressing info, including how much of our body is fat (gross!)   Then we sit by the formica desk, and she spins around the "FOLDER".  You know...the folder with a powerpoint presentation that has been printed and slipped into sheet protectors. Then the folder is flipped on its side and there you have a very impressive FOLDER PRESENTATION!!! personalized just for you (and every other person who walks through the door).  It is black and white and tells you all you need to know about weight loss.

• You will be healthier  (oh good, didn't know that)
• It will improve your appearance (seriously?...)
• You will have more energy.
• Blah
• Blah
• More Blah
• It will help you socially. (WHAT?)

Then she breaks down the cost:
We will both need a 17 week "treatment plan".  Plus several supplements (one of them mandatory for the contract).  She annoys me when she keeps referring to the most expensive and impressive supplement as "he".....she says, "MRC6 is our most comprehensive supplement.  He has a little bit of everything.  He works on your body fat by attacking cortisol, and he even has thermogenic properties!"  That kind of pill would definitely be a "she" in my book, cause "he" never would work that hard and be able to multi-task so well.    
Finally she goes over the cost.... William and I are both given free consultations, so we get a discount for having a spouse sign-up.
Here is the breakdown:
17 weeks of service - $268 EACH (just for weighing us twice a week and charting our progress)
Mandantory supplement - $90 each EVERY MONTH
Total Minimum Cost for both of us for 17 weeks = $1,256.
Total Minimum Cost for just me for 17 weeks = $960.

So we told the nice girl we would think about it and get back to her. 

And I really did think about it.  But, I decided no for a few reasons:
#1 Non-motivating environment
#2 Non-motivating personnel
#3 Super restrictive diet plans
#4 Really need to spend more on some of the other supplements available
#5 Plan included NO exercise (even discourages it at first b/c of lack of energy)
#6 Would be difficult to feed whole family this way (and I really want to feed the whole family in a healthy wholesome manner.)
#7 The cost just seems to be exorbitant for the service

Let me say before I close that I realize this may be just the ticket for many people, as it was for Dora.  But, I don't think it is something I can buy into (figuratively or literally).

Other ammo gathering....left message with a very popular local personal trainer.  Fingers crossed.  But, tomorrow I am also going to inquire at my gym about a couple of other personal trainers.  Still expensive, but no where near as much ...and also something I can buy into. 

Considering weight watchers again.....

Any thoughts from my friends?
(and thanks so much for all of your kind comments so far...it is far more helpful and important to me than you could ever know....feel free to give constructive criticism or give me some "no bull" talk as needed.) 

Gathering my ammo.....

• Super-Dooper Body Fat Scale
• Digital Kitchen Scale
• Charts
• Books
• Name and number of Personal Trainer
• Twizzlers (just kidding)