Fun Stuff!!

Some cool sites that I've stumbled upon: (not all diet related)

Virtual Pizza Parlor: - Just pick your crust, sauce and topping and it gives you the nutritional info. Very Cool!!

Baby Name Wizard: Just type in a name next to the > and it will tell you when the name was most popular.

Virtual Deli: Similar to pizza parlor, but for sandwiches.

Death Clock: A bit morbid, but in regards to your weight it's interesting to see if you lost weight how many years of life you might gain. I would gain 3-4 more years. And if I led a more optimistic life I would gain 11 years of life!!

Rubber Faces: Stretch the faces of your favorite celebrities.

Change of plans....

...diet plans, that is. I guess I haven't actually been on "a plan", but I've been counting calories. I've decided that I'm going to give Weight Watchers a try again. I liked it when I did it, but I hated keeping track of everything. But now that I haven't gotten in the habit of counting calories, I figure it's no different than leeping track of points. The thing with only couting calories is that I'm taking fat into consideration, but with WW I will be. I'm not signing up on the site or anything. I'm just going to follow the point guidelines. I know that you've done WW in the past, but I'm posting a link to some info just in case you forgot how many points for each weight range, etc. Just in case you want to give WW a second shot also. I also found this online points calculator. So my stats will still appear the same way, I'll just have points beside each meal instead of calories. At my current weight I get 26 points and then there are the 35 flex points. I'm not going to use the activity points.

Slacker!!

Ok, so I have really been slacking on the posts. I was doing so good about posting everyday but now it's been over a week! I've been crazy busy at work and it seems like we have had something going on every night this week!! I have done o.k. this week. I haven't been counting the calories, but I have still been eating healthy for the most part... there have been a couple of "treats" this week. I'm guessing I've been getting around 1800 a day. I weighed this morning though and I'm actually at 209. I think the 1200 was just way too low and that's why I plateaued so quickly. So Im shooting for 1500 a day. I'm still not 100% on the exercise, but I am doing better. Brayden and I actually got up this morning and went on a walk. We got outside and I remembered that Bobby took the car to work today, so we had to go without the stroller (it's in the car). It was cold and windy but he was quite the little trooper. I did however have to carry him piggy back the last couple of blocks. When we got home he said "ya know mom, that exercise felt good". I told him that from now one we would do it every Saturday, he was fine with that but insisted we take the stroller next time. That's probably best anyway. I could have gone a lot farther, but he was ready to come back to the house. Mom is coming to get him later today, so I'm going to go again after he's gone. Anyway, I'm back on the counting calories and posting bandwagon as of today. I am sooo glad to hear that you are "feeling it" now. It took me a good month or so to really put my foot down and decide to do it, but once I did it got much easier. It won't be long before we have awesome b4 and after pictures like the BL pics. I have a picture from August that I'm going to use as my before. I think I may put the same outfit on and take a picture of me now and post them next week. That will be my first b4 and after! I've lost a total of 20 lbs since then so you should be able to notice a difference. Keep on keeping on! You are doing great and I am very proud of you!! Love ya!!

Hello Strangers!

Hi guys and gals! I have been so swampped lately at home, work, school and well...life in general! I hope everyone is doing fine - I just wanted to stop by and say hello!! Running out of time to post so just wanted to leave you with this funny little note- Have A Great Weekend!

I'm Feeling It!

I am feeling so much better! I have felt so sluggish between being sick, recooping from the holidays and my new change to "the pill". My body is finally kind of relaxing and boy does it feel nice! I STILL haven't gotten into the exercise mode but Brian and I are going to work really hard Saturday on getting our house in order and all of our exercise equipment put in the extra bedroom. We SO need to do that. I am looking forward to his help in getting in the "exercise mode". It will make things alot easier knowing he is another person looking at me like "Okay Tiff get with it!" I think I have finally mastered the eating. For example I eat alot less every day, I cleaned out all of my cabinets and have lots of healthy choices, even our "snack" food is divided out and fat free, at Baylee's class party this morning I didn't have the first cookie or chip, I went to lunch with some ladies today and I did have some fries HOWEVER I did not eat even half of them and one of the ladies ordered dessert for us to share and I had 3 "very small" spoonfuls! That is the only day I really splurged though but I still didn't do too bad. I just feel I am getting the hang of - and actually enjoying! - eating better! There have been no complaints at home either! I have looked back at all your food journaling and you have done AWESOME! I am really proud of you! So (as I keep saying) I just HAVE to incorporate getting all of my water in everyday and exercising like crazy!! I am really going to try to take on some of Bob and Jillian's pointers that they have on the site:

http://www.nbc.com/The_Biggest_Loser/dietcenter/downloads/

I also looked at this before & after photos of people that pretty much just did their own thing and lost weight by cutting back and exercising! Like you keep saying we didn't gain it overnight so we aren't going to lose it overnight! Hope these are inspiring to you, also!

BTW - If I haven't already told you *I really like your "No Excuses" post and agree with it 100%! and *I really like our before picture at the top of the site! Okay - by for now! Have a great weekend!!!!

http://www.nbc.com/The_Biggest_Loser/weightlossgallery/wlg_p129.shtml#photo

http://www.nbc.com/The_Biggest_Loser/weightlossgallery/wlg_p123.shtml#photo

http://www.nbc.com/The_Biggest_Loser/weightlossgallery/wlg_p110.shtml#photo

http://www.nbc.com/The_Biggest_Loser/weightlossgallery/wlg_p105.shtml#photo

http://www.nbc.com/The_Biggest_Loser/weightlossgallery/wlg_p11.shtml#photo

http://www.nbc.com/The_Biggest_Loser/weightlossgallery/wlg_p36.shtml#photo

http://www.nbc.com/The_Biggest_Loser/weightlossgallery/wlg_p40.shtml#photo

http://www.nbc.com/The_Biggest_Loser/weightlossgallery/wlg_p44.shtml#photo

http://www.nbc.com/The_Biggest_Loser/weightlossgallery/wlg_p51.shtml#photo

http://www.nbc.com/The_Biggest_Loser/weightlossgallery/wlg_p53.shtml#photo

Weigh In Wednesday!

Well I am FINALLY back down to the weight of one of my first weigh ins - 252! Woohoo! I don't know how I did it but I finally did! So that puts me back to losing 10lbs since I started this thing late last summer. Imagine had I really really stuck to it all this time what I could have done! I really don't know how I did it other than I have been busier and the fact that I stayed in the bathroom with a stomach bug! I am also a little bloated right now because of Uncle TOM so maybe it was more...who knows! As I keep saying I HAVE to add in exercise! I mean it is getting ridiculous! I HAVE to do this! I have done SO well today and I am going to stick to it tonight by getting some sort of exercise in! Even if it is only 10 minutes I am doing it!!

I started drinking those Lipton To Go Green Teas with my water at least once a day. Green Tea is good for you and it has no calories, sugar or artificial flavors!

I am also going to try this www.staplepower.com My mom personally knows someone that did it and lost 15 pounds in 2 weeks. It may all be in your head - but whatever works!!

No Excuse Policy

Life will never present us with the perfect setting for losing weight (unless we sign up for the BL) There will always be something to blame for not being able to do it. Therefore, I have incorporated a no excuses policy into my regimen. I'm trying to catch myself when I make an excuse and then tell myself why it is lame and figure out a way to make it work. Here is a list of the excuses I used to use (ok I still use them on occasion) for not losing weight and what I try to tell myself. I actually started these last week and have been writing them down as I catch myself. I thought of a few more while writing this too. (WIL - why it's lame)

E: Because I have to cook for Bobby and Brayden and I don't want to cook seperate things!
WIL: Hello, they NEED to be eating healthy too. Do you want Brayden to grow up learning to eat healthy? Yes, then he needs to be eating healthy now. As far as Bobby is concerned, this is about me taking care of me! If he doesn't want to eat healthy then he knows where the skillet and the stove are.

E: It's so hard because I have snacks and stuff all around for Bobby and Brayden.
WIL: Again, they do not need to be eating that junk either. Get rid of it and replace it with fruit and healthy snacks. (I still need to get rid of a few things)

E: By the time I get home, cook dinner, clean it up, give a bath, read a bedtime story etc...I'm too tired to excersize.
WIL: You're not a single parent. Bobby can give a bath and clean. Just ask. ( I did and he does, I mean his woman is working on getting skinny - he'll do anything he can to help)

E: I just don't like to exercise. It's not fun.
WIL: You don't like being fat and it's not fun. If you're serious about this, making the decision between the two should be easy

E: I hate water and I just can't make myself drink it.
WIL: Water is essentially flavorless, how can you hate it? It's the missing out on the other stuff that you hate. And yes, you CAN make yourself. You are a mentally stable adult that is capable of making decisions. Just decide to do it!

E: The girls at work wanted to go out for lunch today and they really wanted me to go.
WIL: Then go, just make a healthy choice. Nobody said that because you're going to eat out that you have to eat junk. And if they are going somewhere that eating healthy is not an option...then don't go. You aren't a teenager anymore and are capable of conquering the peer pressure. Just say no!!

E: I have too much to do to be messing with counting calories and eating healthy.
WIL: This is one of the lamest ones. It takes just as much time to eat a hamburger as it does a lean turkey sandwich with light mayo. If you don't have time to count calories, then don't, but that doesn't give you an excuse to eat chocolate cake for breakfast.

E: I'm losing so slowly, I'm just gonna quit and learn how to be happy being fat.
WIL: You gained it slowly and the best way to lose it is slowly. Hey at least you're losing. Do you really think you will ever be happy being fat...NO, so don't pretend that you can convince yourself to be.

E: I feel like crap today so I'm going to take it easy and eat whatever I want.
WIL: That's fine, take it easy. That doesn't mean you can eat whatever you want though. It doesn't take more energy or time to eat an apple vs a twinkie. You probably feel like crap because you are "obese" (Yes I said the "O" word. As Dr. Phil says you can't change what you don't acknowledge - 6 months ago I was considered "morbidly obese", so I'll take obese...for now. I have 25 lbs to lose before I'm considered simply as "overwieght")

E: If I am cooking something special for work etc, I have to eat it because I need to know that it tastes ok... it right?
WIL: Wrong, you've made that a hundred times and you know it tastes fine. You know it's yummy too and that's why you really want to taste it!

E: I ate too much today but hey it's still less than I used to eat. (I use this one alot)
WIL: Keep telling yourself that and you'll be back up to 2000 caloreis before you know it. You are trying to learn how to quit overeating....so quit OVEREATING!

E: Once I give in I might as well blow it the rest of the day.
WIL: This is the kind of thinking that got you where you are today. Doing this is like running a race and tripping halfway and then getting up and running back towards the starting line. That's crazy!

E: It's expensive to eat healthy.
WIL: The medical bills that result from diabetes and heartattacks cost a lot more than lean meat and whole grains!

E: It's so much harder to do on the weekend.
WIL: Saturday and Sunday are no different then Monday, Tuesday.... It's just another day. Still 24 hours, the sun still shines and the moon still comes out at night. There is absolutely no reason why you shouldn't be able to do at home what you do at work. If it's easier because you stay busy at work, then stay busy at home. If it's because you aren't surrounded by junk food at work, then don't surround yourself with it at home. On the weekend you should actually have more time to exercise and think through what you eat.

Ok, I think that's it for now. I kind of got on a roll. I went back through all of my post and counted how many times I made excuses. Once I hit ten, I quit counting. Most of my excuses in the post have to do with exercise more than eating. The eating healthier and less has actually be pretty easy for me. It's the exercise that's been a bit of a struggle. I am working on it though and applying the "No Excuses" policy. I say going forward that we are not allowed to post any excuses. What do you think? If I do...it's your job to call me out. If I don't do well one day, that's fine, I just can't make an excuse. I have to be honest and blame no one but myself. The post should read like this: "I did pretty bad today. I have no excuse, I simply did not want to do it today. I was lazy and didn't think I was worth the effort." Because even if I did have to work late and I was tired and had a lot to do when I got home...the truth still is that I was lazy and I didn't think I was worth the effort....if I thought I was worth it...I would've done it no matter what. I'll be the first to say that yes I will still have days like that. Everyday is not going to be perfect. It's ok to have days like that, but I can't allow myself to let a day turn into a week and then a month. It's all about one day at a time. If you screw it up one day, go to sleep and wake up with a new attitude. No matter what, there is absolutely no valid excuse for not doing it. Even if the worst of worst happens (whatever that may be), it doesn't mean I have to give up on me and throw in the towel. It just means I have to work harder and be stronger. Ok I'll hush now. It's just the more I talk about it the more it gets engrained (is that a word) into my head. I'm going to read this post everyday.

Love ya girl!! We are worth it and we do deserve this!

I'm Back!

Well I have been out of the loop lately haven't I? I will cut to the chase with my weight. I am back at 255. One less than last week but not where I wanted to be at this point in the game. I have had SO much going on:

1. Missing days with Baylee & I being sick.
2. Playing "catch up" when I am at work.
3. Taking a night class - fun, fun!
4. ATTEMPTING to get my home in some kind of order!

Needless to say, as usual, I put my health on the back burner. I have GOT to stop doing that. I have also decided no matter how much I WANT to lose weight and how much I "cut back" if I don't start drinking my water like I should and exercise I will NEVER make it! I talked to Brian and we are going to work on getting our extra bedroom cleaned up and the exercise equipment brought back in there. It has been hard to exercise because the only time I have time to do it is first thing in the morning and late at night and by then I don't want to walk by my self. (Especially since we don't have street lights!) SO one thing at a time. I plan on working on the extra bedroom tonight and tomorrow. As of Monday I will have my exercise equipment in there and I will be back in the game. I HAVE to do this and I know I can it is just like sometimes I let life get in the way. I am VERY proud of you! You have done so well!

Wednesday Weigh In: Traci

Down just barely a pound from last week...but I guess at least it went down.

I really want to see a 3 or 4 lb loss soon. I have to get my butt on that treadmill!!

NO EXCUSES!

Weigh - In Wednesday: A Day Late!

I was out sick yesterday so I missed my weigh in. I told you I gained two pounds from my last weigh in from all of my pigging out! Well I am back down to 256 - one pound more than last week and one pound less than a couple of days ago!

I am really into it today! I feel great! I took some vitamins. I took a B Comples (which is good for your metabolism) that contains Vitamin C and Iron (which I need because I have low iron.) I am also starting today on taking Juice Plus. I don't know if you have ever heard of it but it isn't really a "supplement" it is considered "whole food". You can get info from www.juiceplus.com
A lady at work told me about it when I first started here. There is no replacement for actually eating the fruits and veggies but it is good for someone that cannot get all the required ones in each day. Here is a little info on it:

INFO FOR JUICE PLUS

Just two Orchard Blend capsules and two Garden Blend capsules provide the vitamin C of four oranges, the beta carotene of three raw carrots, and more vitamin E than several servings of spinach and broccoli … plus the many other vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, and antioxidants found in the fruit and vegetable powders they contain.

Juice Plus+® provides the nutritional essence of 17 different fruits, vegetables, and grains in convenient and inexpensive capsule form. Juice Plus+ Orchard Blend® contains seven of the most nutritious fruits around: apples, oranges, pineapple, cranberries, peaches, acerola cherries, and papaya. Juice Plus+ Garden Blend® contains ten nutrient-dense vegetables and grains: carrots, parsley, beets, kale, broccoli, cabbage, spinach, tomatoes, and barley and oat fibers.

Taking Juice Plus+® capsules every day provides the nutritional foundation we so desperately need that is so lacking in our diets today.
There is no substitute for eating a wide variety of fresh, raw fruits and vegetables, at least 7-13 servings every day. But if you’re like most people, you don’t eat enough fruits or vegetables or enough variety. And those fruits and vegetables that we do eat tend to be overprocessed, over-cooked, or too far removed from the field, and thus lack much of the nutrition provided by fresh, raw fruits and vegetables. That’s why there’s Juice Plus+®. It’s a convenient, affordable, and natural whole food based nutritional product that harnesses the nutritional power of 17 vegetables, fruits, and grains. Juice Plus+® is not a vitamin supplement, providing a limited number of handpicked nutrients. Juice Plus+® is a whole food based product providing the wide array of nutrients found in a variety of nutritious fruits, vegetables, and grains. It’s the next best thing to fruits and vegetables … because we don’t get nearly enough of the real thing every day.

Weigh-In Wednesday: Traci

I almost forgot to weigh in today....


Up 1 from a few days ago but still down 1.2 lbs from last weigh in!

Salad Dressing

I LOVE salad, but I'm very picky when it comes to the dressing. The real stuff has so many calories and the fat free stuff is usually pretty nasty. I found these Cottage Cheese dressings and they sound ok and only have about 10 calories per Tbsp. They may end up being nasty too, but I'm gonna give the Thousand Island one a try. I'll let you know There are a lot of other really good recipes here also.

http://www.3fatchicks.com/cookbook/viewrecipe/197


This dessert sounds very yummy!!
http://www.3fatchicks.com/cookbook/viewrecipe/552

Dr's Appt

I went for my Adipex follow up today. Last time I was there (s0metime in Nov) I weighed in at 228.5 Today I was at 214 (I weighed in this morning at home at 211, i ate breakfast and have had 60 oz of water since then though). She said 14 lbs in that amount of time was great. She called in the refills and I go back on the 14th of February. My goal is to be at 199 by then. That's almost 4 lbs a week but I'm going to push myself to do it. If they can do it on the BL then I can do it. I'm bumping the cardio up to 40 minutes a night, sticking to my 1200 on the weekends and getting at least 100 oz of water a day. I can do this and SO CAN YOU!!! I know it's hard, but we've got to keep keepin' on. Not only for ourselves but for the kids.

WE ARE WORTH THE EFFORT AND TIME!!

Are you still taking the Adipex? I don't think I would have gotten this far without it. The nurse that did my weigh in took it for 6 months. She looks awesome. She lost 70lbs. She showed me her "fat" pictures. They were very inspirational!

Congrats!

(On the 210!) That is awesome! Only 11 pounds away from Onederland!! Woohoo! As far as my weekend....lets just say not so well! As I said in my last post we are starting a 3 month diet and I am going to have to be way more strict on it so to be honest I pigged out all weekend! I ate everything I crave to get it out of my system! As of this morning I had gained 2.2 pounds which some of it may be water weight because I ate alot of salty stuff. (I had Kyoto's for lunch yesterday which tends to bloat me!) SO I am on clean slate this morning! It feels good. Between the competition, this site and encouragement from you there is no way I can go wrong!!

Goal Day

Well yesterday was my first mini goal date. My goal was to be at 206 by the 15th. Well I weighed in yesterday at 210.2 Only 4 lbs away from my goal and I am pleased with that. Bobby said that I have proved that I can do this and he has agreed to put trying for baby number 2 on hold for now. No matter what I weigh though as of April 1 we are going to begin trying. I would like to be at 180 by then, but that would be 30 lbs in 11 weeks. My goal is to lose 2 a week, so that only puts me at 188. I would be ecstatic with that. I'll shoot for the 30 though, just to push me. I have finally started to bump up the exercising so hopefully that will help. How did you do this weekend??

Weigh-In Wednesday & Other News

Well I will start in with my Weigh-In from Wednesday. I didn't lose but at least I didn't gain!! I stayed at 255!! Ugh.

I have not been very motivated AT ALL the past couple of days. I am wondering if it is because everything is a disaster right now. My house is a disorganized wreck, my car is awful and my office was until a couple of days ago. I know it sounds stupid but when I am unorganized it is like I can't function! Not to mention the fact that I have been broke so couldn't really grocery shop like I wanted to!

So I am starting fresh "kinda". I am off Monday for MLK day so I am going to take this weekend to get my house & car clean and organized. I might even put a few new coats of paint on the walls. When I leave work today I want to leave things in good order so I can't start fresh on Tuesday when I come back to work. I am going to clean out my cabinets and fridge and go shopping and only by "safe" foods. I am going to get my extra bedroom cleaned and get my exercise equipment back in there. I am getting fired up just by talking about it!! I guess it is easier when you are organized and things seem to flow easier!

Not to mention the fact I got "The Biggest Loser" competition going here at work. We are going to go for 3 months each doing our own "diet plans" and see who loses the highest percentage of weight. The Biggest Loser gets the money in the "pot". So far we have 9 maybe 10 people so that puts us up to either $180.00 or $200.00!!! We have someone very trust worthy and not involved to keep the money and do our weigh in. We are going to weight in Tuesday and then we won't have another official weigh in until our last one on April 17th!

I have the advantage though because I have this site and you and I can post each week and get encouragment from you and doing this!! It feels good to come here and put in words how I am feeling!

Recipe

Beef and Biscuits
1 lb of Extra Lean Ground Beef
1/2 c Chopped Onion
1/2 c Bell Pepper

1 Clove of Garlic

8 oz Can of Tomato Sauce
10 oz Can of Regular Refrigerated Biscuits (not Grands)
1 c of 2% Monterey Jack or Colby Cheese shredeed
1/2 c Light Sour Cream
1 Egg, slightly beaten

Preheat oven to 375

In large skillet brown the ground beef, onion, garlic and bell pepper, drain. Stir it tomato sauce and simmer on low while preparing biscuits.

Seperate biscuits into 10. Pull each biscuit into 2 layers (this part is a bit tricky, the biscuits need to be cold and right out of the fridge or they are hard to pull apart) Lay 10 halves on the bottom of a lightly greased 8x11 casserole dish or a deep 9 inch pie plate. Reserve the other 10 halves for the top.

Remove meat mixture from heat and stir in 1/2 cup of cheese, the sour cream and the egg; mix well. Spoon over layer of biscuits. Arrange remainng biscuits on top of meat mixture.
Bake for 25 minutes, remove and add remaining cheese; bake an additional 5 minutes.

Makes 8 servings. Each serving is only 242 calories! Enjoy!!

To My Blog Friends!

Got this in an email and couldn't resist! I thought it was real cute. I am actually a little nervous today because we get our yearly evaluations. I strive to do my best but sometimes......anyway!

Hope you have a great day!

Weigh-In Wednesday: Traci

Down 3.9 lbs since last weigh and down 8.6lbs since original weigh in on Dec 6th. It's going slow, but at least it's going. I knew I would put a few back on after the flush over the weekend. I always seem do worse on the weekends, so I've decided I'm going to do the modified flush every weekend. I think if I have a certain strict paln to focus on I will do better than just winging it.

I Am Trying!

So last night I ended up changing around my menu some. I ended up eating 1415 calories yesterday and my activities were only at 1409 calories! Ugh! The thing is all and all I ate really good and I walked an HOUR last night!!

Today I am at 1204 calorie wise already!! I am going to have to work out more I suppose or this weight is not going to EVER come off!! I was worried about my calories but based on my BL book my average calorie intake for weight loss should be 1800 a day!! If I am not losing now I sure won't lose with 1800! I really need to pick up the exercise more. I mean on BL that is how they lose all that weight! They exercise like two hours everyday!!! Scary!