100 Days are Over - And we are just begining

Everyone looked so AWESOME this morning. Proud of their bodies, their new muscles, and positive habits. There was the sparkle of success in their eyes. It was great. We have learned so much about ourselves, our bodies and what we can do with a little bit of a push start. We will continue to make healthy choices by getting up and moving, choosing foods that make us feel better and not slow and sluggish.
PLUS we learned that there is no bad food and it is okay to have that occasional bag of popcorn and a soda or a bite of birthday cake or whatever. We like the way healthy feels!
Congratulations to all of you beautiful women!! You done good!

Do You Want to be a Mermaid or a Whale?

I got this e-mail via a friend and I just had to share it!! Enjoy...............

This pretty much says it all!!Recently, in a
large French city, a poster featuring a young, thin and tan woman
appeared in the window of a gym. It said:¨THIS SUMMER DO YOU WANT TO BE
A MERMAID OR A WHALE?¨A middle aged woman, whose physical
characteristics did not match those of the woman on the poster, responded
publicly to the question posed by the gym.

To Whom It May Concern: Whales
are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, sea lions, curious humans)..
They have an active sex life, they get pregnant and have adorable baby
whales. They have a wonderful time with dolphins stuffing themselves with
shrimp. They play and swim in the seas, seeing wonderful places
like Patagonia, the Barren Sea and the coral reefs of Polynesia. Whales
are wonderful singers and have even recorded CDs. They are incredible
creatures and virtually have no predators other than humans.. They are
loved, protected and admired by almost everyone in the world. Mermaids
don't exist. If they did exist, they would be lining up outside
the offices of Argentinean psychoanalysts due to identity crisis. Fish or
human? They don't have a sex life because they kill men who get close to
them not to mention how could they have sex? Just look at them.....where
is IT ?Therefore, they don't have kids either.. Not to mention who wants
to get close to a girl who smells like a fish store? The choice is
perfectly clear to me; I want to be a whale.

P.S. We are in an age when
media puts into our heads the idea that only skinny people are beautiful,
but I prefer to enjoy an ice cream with my kids, a good dinner with a man
who makes me shiver and a piece of chocolate with my friends. With time
we gain weight because we accumulate so much information and wisdom in
our heads that when there is no more room it distributes out to the rest
of our bodies. So we aren't heavy, we are enormously cultured, educated
and happy. Beginning today, when I look at my butt in the mirror I will
think, ¨Good grief, look how smart I am...¨

Challenge

I love this!

Heading down the home stretch.

Finishing

We are almost done with the 100 Day Heart Challenge - we may have crashed along the way but we are all going to burst through that ribbon with our arms held high.
Maybe I shouldn't use the word "finish" It is the begining of a healthy lifestyle. Moving more, making healthier choices and loving ourselves for who we are.
Dang I just got donut crumbs all over my key board!! Just kidding. It was celery (do they have crumbs?).

I am on vacation this week. What is cool about it is that I have planned lots of physical activities. Not once have I planned to go anywhere to eat. I have not monitored my eating this week but know I have made a lot of healthy choices verses what I would have several months ago. I went hiking with only water - no treats. I ate yogurts when I was craving sweets. I ate half of what I served myself or was served to me. I did eat cake, grilled cheese sandwiches and other things I have given up for the most part.
The thought that I have not lost weight during this 100 day HC has really eaten away at my spirit. I feel I have failed all the people that have worked so hard putting this all together. As I mentioned in my previous posts a lot has changed.
I hope to fight the feeling of failure and continue on trying to become healthier and more active. AND i do hope for a 40 lb weight loss sometime within the next year or so.

What do we teach the next generation?

I will be a first time grandma the end of September. FUN!! As we near the end of the 100 days I reflect on what I have learned, how firm I have gotten, how much healthier I eat AND at the scale which shows no weight loss. Am I a failure? Depends how you look at it. Some scales show that people have lost 25 or more pounds.... looking at it that way I am.

What we compare ourselves to is often how we determine that we are a failure. Didn't we learn that we must be a certain body size by looking at what the world found as "beautiful" Some of us can no more change ourself to look that way than we could will ourselves to be able to time travel. Yet as a child we didn't know that...

What are you teaching you children, grandkids etc to compare themselves to? How are you teaching them to just be healthy and to accept that one person's perfect size may be a size one and anothers may be a size 12 etc.

Have you discovered that you just want to be healthy or are you still comparing yourself to someone you have no chance in hell of looking like?

Stress vs Peace

I used to belong to several singing groups. One of my favorite songs has this line in it... "There is peace in the midst of a storm tossed life"
This week has been crazy. Stress and fading faith in mankind has assaulted me. Not only that but trying to not binge eat during this time.
I am glad to say that I did make a lot of healthy choices even if I did over eat a few times. My worst was about 20 deep fried tater tots with fry sauce.
BUT what is cool about all this is that I made a conscious effort not to binge eat and was aware of my normal reaction and how it is different this time.
In order to handle the stress and deal with the people my sense of humor, my dependence on Him (the Lord) did give me some peace. I have a long ways to go but it was great to know that I am getting stronger every day.
Here is wishing you each peace in the midst of this storm tossed life.

Weigh-in tomorrow

I am worried about weighing in tomorrow. I am hoping the scales have started to move. I know I am down clothes sizes but I am weird as I want to see the scale moving on down!

Aching Feet

My feet are aching along with my ankles. I think it is time I bought some really good exercise shoes. Traci suggested "Runners Corner" so tomorrow I will go shell out money for good shoes. Never thought I would exercise enough to have to pay more than $10 bucks for a pair of shoes. Kinda exciting.

Eating more for less

Since I am a vegetarian I have to use a lot of tofu and egg whites for protein. Unfortunately I love carbs and fruits better. SO I need to get a bit more creative with my recipes so I can get full instead of using all my servings/calories that my body needs on carbs.

Seriously! Answers Required.

Serious discussion here folks..... I hate people who can loose weight! (Not really - I am excited for all who are loosing - I am just frustrated)

I talked to a lady today who is my age. She said she got a trainer and by working out and eating healthy she has lost 10 lbs in 2 weeks. WHAT IS UP FOLKS??? I am not doing that. I may joke about my food and how "bad" I am being but I am doing pretty good. I have cut out a lot of foods that I used to eat and I eat a lot less so..... why is my scale just creeping down ounce by ounce? Do you know how many ounces are in a lb? Then many of my friends are on the HGH Diet and are loosing tons of weight. It is so tempting not to join them.................... Ok I vented

I Have Returned!

St. George is HOT! Yuck!

Nice thing about heat is that you are not very hungry.

I left for St. George on Thursday. I ate healthy Thursday and Friday and Saturday until about noon. It was downhill from there. Several reasons - I overate around 3 pm and for some reason felt like I had blown it so continued bad eating the rest of the day. Today is not so bad. I drank a lot of cold coffee drinks on the way home because I was trying to stay awake. So I will eat healthier the rest of the day.

I exercised Friday and will exercise tonight. That way I only missed one of my regular exercise days (Thursday).

Back to reality tomorrow - it was good to spend several days with my mom and her friends in St George.

Food Diary

So.... todays food (so far)

BREAKFAST

Oatmeal

Boiled Egg (just the white part)

1/4 cup frozen grapes

LUNCH

1/2 cup bananna squash

1 cup Cottage cheese

1 1/2 cup raw brocclli, carrots, califlower, sunflower seeds and black beans

SNACK

2 Morningstar Spicy Bean Patties

NOW - lets see what tonight brings...

Be strong Michelle - you can do it - you can do - you can do it!!!

Sweating to the Oldies

I remember Opera stating that she never sweated when she exercised UNTIL she started working out on a regular basis. I am drenched by the time I get through exercising. Has anyone else noticed that they sweat more now than when they started?

Food Food Love My Food

OK - so I have no clue who else reads this blog besides the few who respond to something I have written. It could be all of the Intermountain employees. SO................

I will blog what I eat - OUCH

I was hungry this morning - so I had the following: 1 cup oatmeal, 1/4 cup raisins, 1 boiled egg, 1 yogurt with 1/4 cup granola on top.

Mid morning i was bored because i was in a video conference meeting. I ate 3 small "fun size" Butterfingers (my favorite) I also ate a whole roll of lifesavers throughout the day. Lunch was a baked potato with 1/2 cup Marinara sauce and broccoli. Supper was 2 pieces of toast, 1 TBS peanut butter and 3/4 cup yogurt. That was my calories today. If I had left out the sugar treats I could have eaten 300 extra calories.

I did exercise 1 1/2 hours and burned 600 calories.

Victory Dance

Contrary to popular belief - I do not know how to do a victory dance.

Contrary to popular belief - I am not sure I will every learn how to do a victory dance.

Contrary to popular belief - I do not have a handle on this food thing

Contrary to popular belief - I think I may fail at this 100 day healthy heart

challenge

I am reading the book "Intuitive Eating" Not sure I get it.

I do believe that:

Victory comes one bite at a time

Victory comes one refusal of a bite at a time.

I have reversal victory syndrome -

So instead of crying in my milk (does everything have to do with food?) I will make a eating menu for today and stick to it. Let me grab the Oreo's while I decide what to eat today - - - just joking. I will sip on my coffee.

You gotta be kidding me!

Ok - my sis-in-law buys this awesome treadmill with all the bells and whistles. Has it two week. Walks 1/2 hour every other day and says she has lost 6 lbs. She is older than me by the way.

I have worked for weeks and not lost over 2 lbs.

Maybe my scale is broke. Maybe I need to change my bodies set point - HOW?

Maybe if I cover the scale numbers with a paper with my desired weight written on it my body will just loose the required weight. So if I weigh 5000 lbs and want to weigh 1000 lbs I will see that number every time I weigh and my body will automatically loose weight - sound to far fetched?

You gotta better idea??

I am hungry - hungry - hungry

I love my carbs - I do not get that full unless I have my carbs.

So healthy carbs are - - - - okay whatever they are I eat too much of them and the not so healthy carbs.

It takes energy and effort to stay away from so many of them. Since I do not eat meat carbs are my main source of food. In order to eat less I have to cook. I come home and just fix for me because everyone has their own eating schedule. So... time that I quit procrastinating and do my menu and cook a little.

I got the exercise part almost down but I am way behind on the food thing and we are almost half way through this thing. That is a bit scary to me!!

Back on Track

I have been under the weather. Stressed and sick. I didn't weigh, only made it 1/2 hour with my trainer because I felt terrible. Didn't write down what I ate - didn't turn in my logs.

So - need a quick turn around and a restart for tomorrow. I feel like I have blown the whole thing. Weird games play the tunes in my mind.

You have missed days - messed up with the food thing so you have failed again.

Not going to listen (at least that is what I am trying to convince myself of) New start tomorrow????

That is ALL I have to say about this past weekend!

Am I Judging?

I have struggled with weight all my life so I would hope I would never judge anyone. Yet I find myself looking at what people are eating and thinking to myself "If they just knew how many portions they are eating they would just freak out!"

Okay - so I can eat a whole pie in a day (berry or pecan). If I made it last through the whole day and didn't eat too much else I am sure it is okay and it all evens out. That it is until now I realize that 1/20 the of the pie is a serving and that serving has 350 calories in it!!

So - I don't think I am judging........ am I?

You Are What You Eat

I know there are no "good or bad" foods and that we can eat our favorite foods ect. BUT what foods do you no longer eat on a regular basis and what new foods have you added?

I am not sure what I have added that much. Maybe more celery and bell peppers. I have stopped eating as many breads and treats as I use to. I like to eat foods with lower calories so I can eat smaller meals through out the day.

V8 juice also helps me get the veggies I need. I am afraid I like fruit a lot better! I have decreased the number of bananas I eat especially after finding out what the size of one serving is!

I had 2 stress days - stress days often mean I eat carbs and sweets. When logging my food yesterday I really didn't want to write down all the stuff I had eaten but I did. I ate 560 calories of junk food. I didn't even want to look at the fat grams! After I choose to eat that way I am always a bit down on myself. I also had a HUGE headache add those two together and I did not want to exercise. I did though. When you do that you feel like everything is under control again. I ate better today. I did have a small amount of desert but not 560 calories worth. Just 120.

I think I will be a fruit head and not a cabbage head!

Munching on down

As I shared in our class this morning I had a meltdown with stress yesterday and reverted to my habbit of stuffing my face - by the way did you know the fatter your face is the less wrinkles you have? Sorry I diverted - One of the items I choose was Mentos. I ate the whole roll. So..... I go to the site where I log what I eat "Livestrong.com" and type in Mentos. Guess what the serving size is?? ONE - yes just ONE!!! Then why the heck do they sell it in a loonnnggggg roll? That was a killer in the calorie department. Kinda went down hill from there.

" I am angry because......" Crying out the pain.

Did any of you see Oprah this past week when she was interviewing a lady who does counseling with overweight children and showing clips of the counciling? Please forgive me if I don't get all the facts straight as I didn't watch much of it. My husband must of recorded it as it was late evening when he turned it on. I was busy doing something but was listening and occasionally glancing at the screen. In a large room there were parents and over weight children seated in a circle. A child would come to the middle and tell his/her parent why they are angry. Burst of rage, frustration, fear, angry, loneliness spilled out and into the soul of those listening. Very emotional stuff. Too emotional for me. Too close to home for me. Needless to say I found something to do in another room.

I remember distinctly the first time I was caught eating to sooth over my stressful/troubled day. I was in 3rd grade. I won't go into details but I can even remember where I was hiding and what I was getting ready to eat (no surprise it was carbs).

I didn't know it then but that was a fix that kept me sane on the outside and slowly killed me on the inside.

I am not saying every person that needs to loose weight is in the above category. I would dare say that some are. I could write forever on the dark dance I have had with food.

Last week my 1st stepfather died. He had sexually abused me. The obituary read that he was loved by all and was respected as a godly Christian man. If I could stand in the circle I would scream.... "I am angry because I knew you were a bad person yet you made me say that I loved you. I am angry that the one time you did a fatherly gesture it ended up that you were only doing it because you knew you would be alone with me. For goodness sakes I was a vulnerable child. I am angry because you got to run away to a new life. I am angry that you didn't suffer more than you did. I am angry that you had a church family that said you were so awesome when you weren't."

Well..... so it goes. I am 47 and still have some anger and some issues that I am not at all interested in dealing with. BUT the greatest thing is that I know who I am. I know that my anger towards this man will be very short lived and the only reason I even thought about him was because I heard he had died and then looked up his obituary (yes - that was a stupid thing to do!) I just need to process it a bit AND then set it aside. BUT the second greatest thing is that I didn't feel the need to stuff down the feelings with food. YUP - cool huh?

Jump Rope

I did a bit of research regarding jump roping - I was relieved to see how we need to work up to 3 minutes. I totally dislike jump ing rope but I do want to get up to 3 minutes. Guess it is a pride thing. BUT my knees are killing me.

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Those new to jump roping should plan to master the skill of jumping rope first, before thinking of it as a conditioning tool. A beginner can start with short jump rope sessions several times each week, working up to jumping for 3-5 minutes three times a week. A boxer uses a jump rope as a tool for conditioning and a boxing round is 3 minutes, so 3 minute rounds are something good to strive for.

As the body gets conditioned a workout might look like this:

1. Jump Rope for 3 minutes

2. Rest for 60 seconds

3. Complete 5 rounds

Read more: http://fitness.suite101.com/article.cfm/jump_rope_for_exercise#ixzz0JYqJWiTO&C

Discombobulated

I totally spaced that this was Wednesday. I missed my appointment with my trainer. I had Mon and Tues off because of company and didn't exercise those days. Made me mad I missed out on a trainer session.

I lost 4 oz. Big deal!!! SO back to paying extra attention to portions etc. I found a web site where I can log everything I eat and it gives me everything - calories, fat, carbs , protein. I like it and it makes it easier to see what I am eating. It also calculates the calories I use with what type of exercise that I do.

On I go - middle of 4th week.

1 1/2 Hours of Exercise

Unlike the cartoon I actually did 1 1/2 hours of physical exercise. Cardio (I can do 4 miles in a hour now), weights and working out doors.

I have finally figured out what works for me on food. I have a bowl that holds one cup (since I had a gastric bypass in 2001 that is okay for me to do just one cup). I eat from that 5 times a day. Only problem is I still get way more fruit than vegies. I am going to go to V8 juice for the vegies. With my IBS I can eat a big salad about 2 -3 times a week and then that is it. I love winter squash and summer squash but Peggy was saying winter squash is a carb. DANG IT!

It feels good to start feeling stronger with muscles etc.

I hope you all are doing ok. Cheering you on!

Emotions this weekend

My dad dies 2 years ago. I have been told I have not put closer on it. Can you ever? Maybe it is because I have lived so far away from home since I was 15. Anyhow. Will deal with the emotions I feel. I am sad today because I am not in California enjoying my god daughter.

It is those emotions that I can not stuff down with my drug of choice - food.

I hate feeling sad - I hate feeling helpless to change reality of family dynamics.

PS: There was cake and ice cream last night. I had some mint tea instead.

Yummy Treat

Guess what I found was a good treat? I froze grapes in small cups then poured a titch of sprite over them and ate them that way So very good!

Counting

I am finding it hard to really count up the calories of what I have eaten. I do manage to write down what I eat and I kinda have an idea about what it might be. I do know by looking at the list if I have over eaten or not.

I almost wish that I can just tell someone what I want to eat for the week and then they can tell me how much I get everyday.

As we get better at measuring etc maybe it will all fall into place.

Any good suggestions? What is the easiest for you?

Tired

I am so tired this morning. When I am tired I want my comfor foods along with my HUGE mug of coffee.

I did forgo the comfort food but went ahead and drank my coffee. So far it hasn't worked though.

I am proud that I didn't eat what I wanted! Hate to ruin all that hard exercise.

Will make out menus today as I have a 4 day weekend and don't want to blow it. Want to make healthy decisions.

It Still Boggles My Mind

Potion Control - there are those words again. It amazes me how small correct serving portions actually are. If you look at the chart below you will see how huge the portions are now days compared to 20 years ago. No wonder we struggle with weight in this country. I still mourn the passing of large servings though but not the calories that are left off my hips!

I think I traumatized my son

I wanted before and after pictures - even though 2 weeks had all ready passed. I dressed in my biking shorts and tank top. My son was the first one I saw so I handed him the camera and asked him to shoot away - front, back and side. I hope he doesn't keep that picture in his mind forever. Poor boy.

test

test

Wishing doesn't make it so

Some friends and I were talking today about being blessed with the "trial" of weight loss.

Wishing we didn't face this challenge doesn't make it so.

I am sure there are people that would trade their trials for our trials.

The good part about this 100 Day Heart Challenge is that we can use camaraderie and humor as we learn how to eat healthier, taking the time for us to set aside time to exercise our bodies and hearts and prepare and enjoy eating healthier foods.

Week 3 - Weigh In

So I have only lost 2 lbs. BUT since I have had some really bad eating days I am happy for those two pounds.

I am learning a few things. I need to count my calories, portions, etc better. I have concentrated more on remembering to write everything down and when I read back on it I am not seeing it match what the dietitian says I ought to be eating.

I will try and plan meals several days ahead so I know what I am going to eat.

When I want to emotionally eat I have to give it over to the good Lord. I can go out side and start pulling weeds, open my Bible and read stories of those who overcame.

My mother-in-law got to our house last night. My night time ritual of my own quiet time is rather hard to do when sleeping on the love sit in the main room of the house. TV blaring, mother-in-law talking through it the whole time. She has so much that runs around in that cute head of hers and she voices it all so thus the never ending talking. I like my quiet! Talk about wanting to stuff food down my face to calm all my stress! This morning I remembered a text from the Bible that says we should be content in all things - situations etc. Great time to learn how to put this text into practice while not stress eating.

Goals for this week:

1. Eat the alotted number of protiens, carbs, and fats in my book

2. Portion Control - measure everything I eat

3. Work ouot 1 1/2 hours every day I need to add that extra 1/2 hour

4. Work out more with weights

Portion Sizes

Yesterday was a great day for my exercise routine but alas my portion sizes continue to be TOO BIG I must work on getting them much smaller.

From the much loved size of the elephant down to the size of the little ole mouse.

It is difficult on weekends and on my days house too eat in a planned manner. I will need to write out what I am going to eat on my days off and hope that helps.

Today I will measure (I hate that word) all my food and count every calorie to make sure I following the eating plan that the dietitian laid out for me.

The Gravity of the Situation

HA! It is so true.

I know that exercise won't firm up all the loose skin from decades of weight gain and loss.

Thought for the day - Thank goodness I do not live in a nudist colony!

Aroma's and Sight's

I wonder if by the time these two got done arguing if all the dieters on the block had raided the vehicles. I would have hit the doughnut truck.

Since I learned that we have to exercise 1 1/2 hours each day to loose weight (I am still cursing that piece of knowledge) I took the dogs on a walk last night after I got home. Walking by someones home a delicious smell wafted under my twitching nose. I can assure you it wasn't vegetables!

So - was my mouth watering because I was reminded of a food that tastes delicious or because I was hungry? Often the smell and sight of good food can trick us into thinking we are hungry when in reality we just want the taste.

Must remember that...... think before I bite.

Silly Face

Family Reunions - What ya going to do? You want to look good, you know your clothes are tighter than they have been in a long time. BUT - you have to show up. It is only family - they love you just the way you are BUT you don't love yourself. Shame seems to drive your every thought and each time the camera is on you you wonder if it will catch the extra rolls that now appear under every shirt you own. Disgusted you chide yourself for letting your weight control your every thought once again.

Thus the funny face - thus the cropping of the photo. So is it all about external beauty? Is that what this heart challenge all about? It isn't a get thin become beautiful challenge. Thus the fight to remember that it is health that will let you enjoy life not constant dieting and hating self because of failing.

So folks - the real me has roles, flabby thighs and a desire to become healthy and strong WITHOUT dieting but by exercising and making healthy choice because I am worth it! Now - where is that 7 layer chocolate cake? JUST KIDDING

Breaking away from that "D" word

"No - I can't have that - I am on a diet" If I had a dime for every time I have said that or I have heard that I wouldn't be here typing this! I would be on some exotic island with a daily trainer and dietitian/chef.

We had cake at a baby shower today. I ate a bite. NOT because I am on a diet but because I wanted to save my fat calories for later on.

Again it is a choice not a diet.

Making it all work

I love the magazines that have all these ideas of healthy eating tips. Using applesauce in recipes instead of oil, sauteing in 1/2 water and 1/2 oil and so and so forth. THEN at the back of the magazine are all these fat laden, sugar filled, gooey, luscious looking deserts! What the heck???????????????? So.... the trick is to find healthy deserts to satisfy that sweet tooth I get at the end of every day. My favorite so far is Greek yogurt with a bit of honey and the frozen mixed fruit (thawed a bit) strawberries, peaches, mango and pineapple.

Carbs

When I was younger (16 or 17) I went on a diet where you could only eat 60 carbs a day. I can not remember if it worked or not. I just remember what a pain it was to figure out the carbs.

So... I can eat carbs on the healthy eating plan. About 60 per meal. Since I am a vegetarian I can eat beans, lentils, egg whites, soybeans, low fat dairy. I am adding to that baked potato with skins, whole grain brain (with about 14 - 16 grams of fiber in it). I love my carbs so if I am setting up a life long pattern of eating healthy then I have to add my potatoes and bread. I can salsa, low fat cottage cheese or Greek yogurt to top my potato with. Tis all about eating healthy.

Crash and Burn

Before joining the HC I had gotten my body use to exercising. I just needed to up the number of days exercised to 6 instead of 3 - 4. That went good last week. I still need to get more weight lifting etc in.

Food wise - now that is a different story! Last week started off good but ended in a crash and burn. I would have to say my crash and burn was worse than normal. We were told by the dietitian - Jenny (Is that right? Think so.) to try and shorten our turn around time. So if we screw up try and get right back into it instead of waiting several days, weeks or months.

So..................... I am back on the band wagon today. I use favorite scriptures to remind me that God is in control and not my appetite. Last night and this morning did a study on His strength that is available. Nice to know I can rely on His and not mine!

Each one of us that is in the HC has our own methods of conquering whatever it is that is causing us to be unhealthy. It is great to share our thoughts and methods as a way of helping each other learn new habits as we travel the road to a healthier heart.