My 2nd Nutrisystem Weigh In

Well, only .8 pounds this week. Sort of. Maybe. My scales broke 1 day before my weigh in, so we had to buy a new one. It's the same brand but surely they are all going to weigh differently. I really need to average 2 pounds a week to meet my Thanksgiving goal, so maybe this week will be better. I don't want to put too much pressure on myself, but I also want to make that goal dangit!

Betty Lou Checks Out of Detox: (Nearly) Caffeine and Sugar Free

It's Monday, June 22nd. What have I been doing all month? Why, a 21-Day Cleanse that's what. That's right. Since June 1st I've avoided:

• Sugar
• Caffeine
• All animal products
• Gluten
• Alcohol

It all started when I got back from a trip to New York. As I was looking at my receipts for my expense report, I realized that I had more than my share of pretty much everything on the list above and I didn't feel that great. I was tired and puffy. I felt like crap. Which is not to say I felt great when I left on the trip in the first place.

I happened to pick up an advanced copy of a book on that trip that outlined a 21 Day cleanse and I read the first part of it at the airport while waiting for my delayed flight... and eating dinner at Panda Express (in my defense, choices are very limited in the Virgin America terminal at JFK).

I started the plan on June 1st, a Monday. As always, I was excited to start something new and, although this plan isn't really about weight loss as much as it is about cleaning the body of toxins and cravings, of course I hoped for the best. I figured a 21-Day anything is good for a 10 pound loss, right? Note: the only exception to this plan: I gave myself permission to have greek yogurt. It's just one of those things that I love and, let's face it, nonfat greek yogurt is not my biggest issue. What else did I eat? Lot's of stuff. And I found some really good recipes and ingredients that I wouldn't have use otherwise, but I'll post about those at another time.

Day 1 was fine. I'd stocked up on all kinds of fruits and veggies and gluten free things and I was fine.
Day 2 was ok if you don't count the dull headache at the end of the day.
Day 3 was not so great. I felt tired and I didn't like the black bean soup I took to work for lunch. But I stuck with all day. My headache was seriously setting in by the time I left the office. Byt the time I got home that night, it was debilitating. I couldn't see straight. I was nauseous. I drank extra water (my cure-all) and went to bed early. I slept from 7:30-6:45. When I woke up, I felt much better.
Day 4-6 So far, so good. Cravings gone for the most part. Not even really missing coffee that much.
Day 7 My son's bday party. Started out great. Made vegan cupcakes and they were disgusting. Jut horrible. I'm not saying all vegan cupcakes are bad, but these we're inedible. I regrouped and made the most wholesome cupcakes I could muster at the last minute. I made the conscience decision to have a single cupcake that day. It was not sugar or gluten or dairy free, but it scrumptious. Later that evening, I also had a beer. It had been a long, hot day. It was not an alcohol free beer ;-).
Day 8-13 Totally on plan.
Day 14 Sunday morning. Really wanted a cup of coffee. Didn't give in to that, but did have a bagel. It was good but I didn't let it derail me completely. Went to the farmer's market and stocked up on fresh veggies and fruits for the week.
Day 15 Stayed strong but some it was a struggle
Day 16 One word: cappuccino. It was delicious.
Day 17 Another cappuccino, but not as delicious this time. Realized that I can do coffee occasionally without it ruling my life. Bonus points for me: cappuccino has far less milk and calories in it that my usual latte, so cutting back on two things with one smallish change.
Day 18-20 In the home stretch and realizing that I really can make most of these changes and stick with them. Had spicy tuna roll for lunch. Not feeling guilty about a little raw tuna. At least it was brown rice.
Day 21, Father's Day. Didn't completely stick to plan (made savory crepes for breakfast=eggs, gluten) and posole for dinner (chicken stock).

All in all, I did great. I've been calling this an experiment because I wanted to see how I felt physically, but it was just as much a mental experiment for me. My craving are pretty much gone. Is that a physical thing or a mental thing? I'm not sure, but it's a good thing. It's Day 22 at 2:30pm and I'm not hungry at all. I'm not dying to have... anything. Maybe some water... I'm kinda thirsty. This morning I had a gluten free waffle with strawberries. For lunch I had leftover squash tacos in corn tortillas. No coffee. No sugar. I'm fine.

What I don't think I can continue with is the no animal products. I wish I could go vegan but for several reasons (sushi anyone?), it's just not realistic for me right now. Maybe I'll post about that some other time, too.

So, now for the big weight loss reveal... ready... 6.2 pounds. Not bad. But not 10. On June 1, I was 221.0--I'd gained everything back and then some. This morning I was 214.8. I don't think you need me to point out that my net loss of the year to date is not stellar. What to do, what to do?

Two things:

1. Stick with some of the new habits I've formed: avoid sugar, gluten, and alcohol; limit animal products and caffeine; maintain increased amount of veegies and fresh fruits; drink more water.
2. Get a move on! I've made no progress at all in getting more exercise. I'm so all or nothing when it comes to exercise. Here's my latest: I've downloaded the C25K app to my iPhone. Today is Day 1. It's a 9 week plan to get me running 5k (3.1 miles) nonstop. I've scoped out a 5k the first weekend in Sept. I'll run 3-4 times a week with pushups, crunches, tricep dips, pullups on the in-between days.

Happy now? I am.

OnStar? I think I need directions...

Hello? This is Betty Lou and I'm lost. Where was I going? Well, I thought I was on the road to health and wellness/hotness, but I must have taken a wrong turn on or about March 10 and I've been driving aimlessly for weeks now. There were a few time where I thought I was back on the right road, but I realize now that I've just been going around in circles.

I have a number of good excuses: the kids in the back seat distracted me; there were other good-hearted but clueless drivers on the road... drivers that bake and share the goodies; the car broke down in front of a birthday party and I had to go in to use the ... cupcake? I guess one won't hurt!; I got car sick. To be honest, it's just hard to stay on the right track. It just is.

So, OnStar, can you help me? The big sign that says "stop"? Yes, I see it right in front of me. Let me see if I have this straight: I come to a complete stop at the stop sign and then proceed with caution through the intersection of Popcorn and Cookies; I'll pass Ice Cream, Tortilla Chips and Full Fat Cheese on the right and Mini Bagels with Butter on the left; proceed onto the Expressway of Fitness and Well Being (stopping along the way for walks, time at the gym, and the farmer's market) and I'll see the signs to Happiness. Just follow the signs? Got it! Thank you so much.

Betty Lou Gets Clear, Gets Organized, and Gets Skinny!

We could sit here all day and gripe about how hard/impossible/unfair this whole weight loss thing is, right? About how wish we had more time to exercise, or sleep, or plan, or get organized or [enter your need here].... or that we were pampered celebrities so that we could just hire a chef, or a personal trainer, or a plastic surgeon or a [enter your wish here]. But that's not getting us anywhere, is it? I mean, we've done that already, so we know that's not all that effective. Sure, Peggy Sue, we've both lost a little, but we've also backtracked a lot. So, once again, I'm thinking we need to circle the wagons, rally the troops, call in for reinforcement, put on our big fat girl pants (or would that be our fat big girl pants) and get this thing over with. What in the world are we waiting for?

I know this will come as huge news to you, PS, but it's all about the math and planning. And you know that math was never my strong suit, so maybe that's why it's taken me all this time to just put all down on paper, but that's what I did last night. I figured what my calories intake and activity level should be daily and weekly in order to lose 2 pound a week. Is it unrealistic to expect 2 pounds a week? Perhaps. But I'll work for 2 and be happy enough with 1 a week. I may not be good at math, but I can handle this. I'm perfectly happy to make this all one big math problem and take the emotion out of it as much as possible. Just look at the whole objectively. It's not forever... I mean it is forever, but it will only be this hard for a little while. Right? Please tell me I'm right. Pretty please?

So here, once again, is my plan:

• Track and count, track and count. 1600 calories per day. Whole, organic foods as much as possible. Lots o' fruits, veggies and lean proteins...the usual.
  
• Move and sweat, move and sweat. Burn 2600/week (using 100 cals per mile or 15 mins other cardio)
• Sip and drink, sip and drink. 100 oz water/day
• Sleep and dream, sleep and dream. Minimum 7 hours per night.

and finally

• Plan and plan, plan and plan. Plan to the cows come home. Plan meals, plan time to exercise, plan everything. I realize that no matter what I manage to achieve by doing the things above, if I don't go back to approaching this in an organized way I'll go back to square one the very moment I lose focus and try to wing it. So plan and plan and then plan the plan some more.
  

It's doesn't get more basic than that. Does it?

Gimme 5... er... Take 5!

What I'm trying say is: Whoohoo! I finally lost five pounds! 5.6 to be exact. Took long enough, huh? I got off to a slow start, but now that I'm tracking calories, I think I'm on the right track. That still leaves me with a whole gob of pounds left to lose, but I'm finally thinking I can do it. It's funny that my 5 pound "reward" was supposed to be new sunglasses (I broke my favorite pair and my backup pair disappeared off my desk at work!) and I bought some on sale a few days ago but forgot about them until my weigh-in yesterday. I guess my brain knew that I'd lost this week. I can't wait until my pants know!

I have some other goals/rewards in mind. I'm trying not to tie losses to dates because that usually doesn't work for me. Just going along with my plan... counting my calories and getting my exercise in... should keep my going in the right direction. It's so easy for me to get discouraged, but somehow, I have to keep my eyes on the ultimate prize and trust that I'll get to my goals if I stick with it.

I haven't been tracking my food carefully for the last few days. A crazy make-due schedule took over that was out of my hands and then I came down with the flu. I'm feeling better today and I'll be back to my normal meals and tracking tomorrow.

Queen of Denial

It's time to face the ugly truth. Time to stop kidding myself. Denial is no longer an option. In the wake of some emotional eating today, I realized that I must be more vigilant in this fight against fat. Assuming that I can wing it through the day, shoot from the hip, and otherwise sail through a diet are ideas of utter nonsense right now. I had wanted to just focus on exercising for a while, but my current eating habits are sabotaging even those attempts.

So what does that mean? Ugh. Groan. Whine. Well, for one thing, I have to start counting calories, of course. And that is an activity that I seriously detest. But the realization that, at least temporarily, I must inflict this kind of torture on myself is all too clear. I am partaking too often in mindless eating. This has to stop. Determining the number of calories is a little tricky since I'm a nursing mother, but after some careful research (okay, a few minutes on the internet) I am going to start with 1800 calories. Nursing mothers need anywhere from 200-500 extra calories a day, and I feel like that's a safe place to start. A drastic cut in calories could spell disaster for my milk supply; and after enduring breastfeeding hell for the first 3 months of Elvis' life and not knowing from one day to the next whether I would be able to continue nursing him, I'm not about to do anything that would endanger that. Okay. Daily calorie recording form printed off? Check.

Next. Time to step up the exercise. After perusing at least a dozen TiVo-ed exercise shows, I have quite an arsenal of workout options available to me. The best ones are one hour shows. My favorite one so far (favorite meaning it looked like the best one while I sat on my tush watching it) is Total Body Workout on BYU-TV. Because it's a college station...drumroll...NO COMMERCIALS!!!! Oh wait. That means more workout time. Well, it's not like I don't need it. Anyway, so far I have step, yoga, stability ball, and basic aerobics workouts taped. I especially appreciate the modest workout clothing and the REAL people who are part of the exercise posse. I don't think I want to plan out in detail which workouts on which days, but I DO know that I want to commit to 1 hour of intense exercise, and anything after that is great (like Wii Fit....not much intensity there, but fun). Lots of workouts ready to go? Check.

And next, and easiest, water. I've been doing pretty well with water. But time to step that up as well. I have read many times and from many sources that you should divide your weight in half and that number represents how many ounces of water you should drink per day. So that's what I'm going to shoot for. Big honkin' water bottle ready to fill almost 4 times daily? Check.

The last, and probably the most important for me personally, is sugar. I have PCOS (PolyCystic Ovary Syndrome). In a nutshell, where sugar is concerned, my pancreas overreacts to the sugar that I consume (sugar meaning actual sugar as well as anything that turns to sugar in the body, like carbs). So my pancreas releases tons of insulin to process the sugars. There ends up being a surplus, and the insulin can't just go back to the pancreas so it signals the body to crave more sugar so it will have a job to do. Then, when I eat that sugar in whatever form, my pancreas overreacts again. And so on. And so on. And so on. The cure? There is none. But there is a solution; I've tried it before and it really works. Diet.

Not just any diet. The Insulin-Resistance Diet. And that approach, in another nutshell, is to link protein to other things I eat. For example, if I'm going to have a serving of rice I need to pair that with a lean protein. The protein slows the body's reaction to the carb/sugar making it less likely that my pancreas will go into overdrive. Here are the rules:

• No more than 2 servings of carbs at a time.
• Space carb intake at least 2 hours apart.
• Always pair a serving of carbs with a serving of protein (15 g carb to 7 g protein)
• Except for corn and potatoes, eat unlimited amounts of veggies to satisfy hunger.
• Carbs found in high-protein dairy and vegetable proteins do not count as carbs.

This way of eating takes a bit of brain power. But even just remembering to eat a protein before or with a carb, not even taking into account the grams, is helpful. That's what I did in the past. And it worked. My energy was better. My sugar cravings decreased significantly. And I just felt better. Eating plan to lose weight and avoid diabetes? Check.

So, what's the stumbling block here? Time. The one thing I will never have enough of. Well, I probably won't ever have enough books either, but I digress. Anyway, time is a commodity in short supply here at home. I home school. I have a demanding (but sweet) nursing baby. I have four other children who need my attention. I have a home to take care of. Yadda, yadda, yadda. In all this whirlwind of responsibility, I also have myself to take care of. I have been mindful lately of the need to prioritize and take care of first things first. The most important thing is my spirituality. And at first when considering where exercise and dieting fit in to my life and it's huge list of stuff, I didn't consider that to be tantamount in the long run. But upon more careful pondering I realized that it is a part of my spirituality. It affects my spirit. It weighs me down physically, emotionally, and spiritually. And it keeps me from becoming the woman I have always wanted to be. I am not saying that it overshadows things that are more important to me like prayer, scripture study, and the like. But I do see in a very real sense how important it is to my spirit that I take care of this body, this temple, that has been entrusted to me. I am ashamed of how badly I have treated it so far, and I want to redeem myself by caring for it with a reverence I should have had all along. New respect for the body and what a healthy body means to me? Check.

Let me just close with a few motivational quotes that I really ought to read to myself daily.

Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.
Robert Collier

To climb steep hills requires a slow pace at first.
Shakespeare

Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall.
Confucius

Our plans miscarry because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind.
Seneca

Extremely long post? Check.

Back in the Saddle

It's no secret that I had a bad, bad food day the other day. There's no beating around the bush about that. When I weighed-in this morning, I started kicking myself all over again about it. But then I saw a comment by one of our many, many readers that mentioned how I got back on the horse and had a better day yesterday. And it's true. I did. That's a victory in itself. Part of the reason I had a better day yesterday is because I did not want to post about another disastrous day of eating. Our daily report keeps me accountable to Peggy Sue and to myself and to all of our devoted readers. That's why Peggy Sue and I are writing this blog and bearing our souls and the horrifying numbers on our scales for all the blogosphere to see. Some people are wired to do this on their own. Clearly, we're not. We need that extra added push...perhaps not unlike the contestants on The Biggest Loser that Peggy Sue mentioned earlier, we seem need the prospect of public humiliation to succeed.

Let's be real. We're gonna have good days and we're gonna have bad days. But now that we've put it all out there for the world to see, we're both determined to meet our goals one pound and one step at a time. I'm rearing to go (get it? horse reference...) achieve the best Week 3 in history. But in order to do that, Peggy Sue, we do need to step it up. You've already talked about planning... I see your planning , and I raise you a mile a day. I only averaged 2.8 miles over 7 days last week and that's not going to get me to Shamrock on time. So my challenge is to up that daily average to 3.8 miles/day this week. You with me, Peg?

My focus? Not dieting, that's for sure.

It's true, I've had some success with diets in the past. But, obviously, not lasting success. My biggest roadblock usually has to do with me struggling with myself to make time for a "diet". Time to plan meals, time to cook different versions of meals for all the different preferences that exist in my house, and time to regroup when I'm having a bad day or week, so that I don't just give up. I've had a change of heart when it comes to dieting. I'm not dieting anymore. I'm focusing doing what I know works for the long haul:

• Eating reasonable portions of whole, organic (whenever possible) foods. Period.
• Allowing myself a single portion of whatever I want, if I really want it
• Getting my heart rate up for the equivalent of 5 miles, 5 days/week and getting some strength training in 3 days
• Staying hydrated
• Getting at least 7 hours of sleep each night (no matter what's on TV!)

These are changes that I want to make part of my life permanently, not the next three months or the next year. I don't want to struggle with myself over a strict diet just to rebound later.



Dieting is war. And I hereby declare a truce with myself.

What's your focus?

I tend to make goals too difficult sometimes by obsessing over the details. So this year, I want to focus on, well, just having a focus. Nothing more...well, at least not at first. Yes, I want to lose at least 50 pounds and that's specific. But my plan for how to accomplish that is simple for now. I want to focus on:

• Eating more fruits and veggies.
• Making sure I get my water in daily.
• Doing something to sweat/move my body 6 days a week.
• Cutting back on the sugar...important for me because I have PCOS.
• Eating slower.

I feel like if I can do these things, I'm off to a great start. Plus, because these goals are approachable, I'm not setting myself up for failure like I usually do. I really think that once I can get some good, basic habits in place I will be ready to tackle something more specific.

So what's your focus?