What to eat? Isn't there a cheeseburger on the menu?

What to eat?  What do I eat?  Recently I was asked what my nutrition plan was called.  I didn’t have a medical answer as it is fitted to me and my body type.  My smart mouth answer was, “Fat girl with bad knees needs to lose weight and keep it off to avoid knee surgery Plan”.  Kind of long for a plan name but pretty much on point as to what I’m doing.

So what do I eat?  That seems to be the big question.  When you eliminate pasta, potatoes, sweets, soda, and alcohol, what is left for an Iowa girl to eat besides Iowa’s basic food groups (pork, beef, chicken, and corn).

This is a basic day (actually this is my every day, I don’t really deviate from this with the exception of what protein (meat) I have at lunch and supper.  May sound boring, but food should be fuel not entertainment in my case.

Breakfast:  1 egg/tortilla (made from cauliflower)

Snack:  Nuts/raisins

Lunch:  Chicken and veggies

Snack:  Protein bar

Supper:  Whatever my hubby grills

Water:  60 ounces or more each day (with Crystal Light)

This has basically been my daily food intake for 9 months.  I range around 40-60 grams of protein and stay at about 1000 calories a day.  Low carbs and low fat.  Not a lot of sugar and try to exercise 30-60 minutes which ranges from 250 calories to 400 calories burned each time.  I don’t drink anything or very little when I eat.  This way I get more protein and less filler before I become full, plus with the working out I need protein for muscle development.  I always eat my protein first and if I’m still hungry I eat whatever happens to be on the menu which is usually veggies or cottage cheese on occasion.  I take a multivitiman in addition to Vitamin D, Vitamin B, Vitamin A, Calcium, and biotin (for my hair and nails) as supplements.  Plus from my test I seem to be low in these things even with the multivitmin.

This is all with a doctor’s supervision and believe it or not, I’m not hungry, sometimes I have to make myself eat because I really don’t feel  hungry.   There are certain days of the month where I feel like I’m Godzilla descending on Toyko and could destroy any food in my path.  Those days are a little harder to maintain.  It’s also a good time to keep your distance and run away as I do get a bit of King Kong’s attitude after the planes are buzzing around his head at this time.

I tried Weight Watchers, which is a fine program for most.  I just didn’t “fit” in to this program.(Plus I found myself competing with others or feeling bad because someone else lost more, I know this isn’t the way they planned it but it was the way my thought process worked)  As I’ve gotten older, carbs seem to be my weakness but also seem to be harder for my body to process and turn into energy instead of fat on my backside, my front side and well every side.  Atkins is very restrictive and I know after looking at my daily food intake you are saying it looks like Atkins, well yes it does “look” like it, but looks can be deceiving.   I can have anything I want, just have to watch my portions, with Atkins you CAN’T have, which is more of a mental thing for me I suppose.  South Beach is similar, I tried taking vitamins galore and different programs that always sounded like the solution but when it came to reality, no matter how dedicated I was, there wasn’t enough guidance or motivation to be successful. I guess a looming double knee surgery and the possibility of not being able to walk well at 70 was enough motivation for me.

I need daily reminders to be positive.  Sometimes the smallest step into the right direction ends up being the biggest step of your life.  Small steps take you to your end goal, it may not be as fast as running those steps but the distance to get there is the same, time is relative!

I find that I am generally happy most of the time.  I’m not dancing at my desk everyday (well, ok, you got me there, I like a good chair dance to a rockin tune to inject a little fun into my day and I’m also very well known for my drum solos at red lights in downtown Clarion, I believe I should start printing T-shirts to hand to the car next to me to promote my amazing musical talent), but I find I am more joyful.  Things don’t bother me as much as they used to. 

What seems to be my wall I have to climb is my reaction to those around me.  Sometimes I have to work a little to maintain my joy.  And I’m not trying to force feed happiness on the world, but I also think,(and I was one of these people at one time so I know what I’m talking about)  that if you are in such an unhappy place no one can change that situation but you.  Someone can come around and make you smile and brighten a bit of your day but if your heart is unhappy that is only a temporary fix.  And I’m the Queen of Temporary Fixes, or at least I was.

The person that was stopping me from being happy was me.  It wasn’t the people I worked with, wasn’t my family or friends, wasn’t the world in general, because they couldn’t fix the problem I had. 

Attitude is something we have and sometimes do not realize the impact it has on others.  On the rare occasion that I am quiet (yes, this is not something that is overly common and seems to illicit many a joke and giggle that it is even possible for me be such) I notice a complete change in those around me and how they approach or communicate with me.  No I’m not the piped piper of happiness nor am I the bringer of sorrow, but my quiet attitude within the first crossing of paths in a day does predetermine subconsciously how my day and perhaps theirs will go.  I don’t realize I’m doing it until after the fact but I do see how when my attitude changes effects those around me.  And when I’m joyful, joking, funny, and bubbly, this too also has an effect but a much brighter one that seems to lighten people faces if only for that moment I cross their path.  ( I wonder if I get extra steps on my FitBit for all this path crossing, I think I should at least get 10 extra calories knocked off my FitnessPal app for a bubbly day, but then again maybe I should be added 50 calories for one of my quiet days, thank goodness they don’t happen that often.  Now wouldn’t that be an app to create, something similar to a mood ring, but you get points or gummy bears or something for a positive and happy outlook and maybe a little zap of electricity for when you are being a big poop.  Ok it’s only in the idea stage but you get my drift).

So look for your happy.  Take a minute and look around at all that you have, not what you don’t have.  Are you better now than you were 10, 5, or even 1 year ago? I know I am, and I strive to make each day count.  I really think most of my journey has been 40% effort, 60% mental, because once you make up your mind to do it and decide that is just the way it will be, the actual effort of doing it doesn't seem as hard.

So have a peachy month of July for the year is going quickly and this month is the start of the 2nd half of the year.  Before we know it we will see school supplies, Halloween decorations, Thanksgiving turkeys, and Christmas trees all over.  So until next week my friends, choose to be happy, that's half the battle.

Have a peachy 4th of July Holiday to All! 

Summer Memories

With the end of June looming upon us and the 4th of July holiday slowing creeping up, is it just me or does summer seem to really fly by.  I remember being in school as a kid and summer seemed to last forever.  Ok, when I was a kid we had to come up with our own thing to do, me I had a horse and rodeos and parades and horse shows but I don't ever remember being over scheduled.  But times were different and I remember my mom telling us to go outside and play and we didn't come back until it was dark.  I remember eating at friends houses for lunch or even just people in the neighborhood just feeding us.  (Guess we were quite the little beggars, but I don't remember ever starving to death) .  We drank water from the hose.  We didn't have a lot of money so getting to go to the pool once a week was a huge treat.  We made forts out in the field, we played with everybody.  We would climb trees and make up games.  Most of the time, I suspect our parents had NO CLUE what we were doing or what we were up to and they didn't start to worry about us until it was really dark.  And even after it got dark, we would hurry home and eat supper and beg to go out and play some more.  Hide and seek, kick the can, telling spooky stories basically until it was bed time.  We walked and rode our bikes everywhere and if someone didn't have a bike, they rode on the handlebars, heck when we finally got home and got dunked in the tub there was probably enough dirt in there to start a garden at the bottom of the tub.  There was always one person who had a little  money and you would get a soda and share it.  We NEVER stayed inside, even when it was raining, we always had a fort that we made.  There was never anything fun to watch during the day, we only had 4 channels to watch.  NO DVD's, no Netflix, no ipad, no Xbox.  I you were very lucky and had $10, you would go to the arcade and play video games and if you got really good that $10 would last you all day.  It was a like a casino for kids, it was always dark with lots of neon, jukebox playing music all the time and when you finally ventured back outside, your eyes had to readjust to the sunlight.

My family didn't have money, we didn't take vacations or go to amusement parks.  But we had imagination and ingenuity.  We didn't know that people could go to the pool EVERY DAY!  We just wanted to hang with our friends and just be outside and enjoy everything that entailed.

Enough of our stroll down memory lane!

This summer season is flying by and it seems even though I have more hours of sunlight, it gets hard to get everything done in a day I want to get done.  Oh for the days where my most deep thought was who do I call over in Red Rover?  (You know that game you lined up and called someone from the other team, then would come running at you full speed and as long as they didn't break your hands apart they were part of your team.  Also the precursor of WWF, I believe because you could easily clothesline a person and flip them on their back, so I'm think Vince McMahon must have been an Olympic Red Rover champion as a kid)

So try to get out and enjoy some summer, it's whipping by quickly.  Next week it's July 4th with the awe of fireworks and BBQ's and celebrating the USA as only we can.

So this is just a little diddy of the thoughts that are in my head this week.  Working out and keeping on course, trying hard to up my game this last few months left in my goal year, but know I can do more once concessions are done and a bit more free time is available.

So go out and soak up some Vitamin D.  Take a minute to just look up at the clouds or enjoy the endless blue of the sky.  It's Iowa and I know that can be hard to find the sun lately with all the rain and severe weather we seem to be partaking in but if you see a sliver of sunlight, take a break and go out and enjoy it and remember when you were a kid and your most stress thing to worry about was weather there was enough peanut butter for your sandwich!!!

Have a peachy week my friends and until next time!

9 MONTHS-274 DAYS-394,560 MINUTES Without Chocolate!

9 MONTHS!  I've been doing this for 9 MONTHS Straight!  No cheating, no jumping off the wagon, basically NO EXCUSES not to do what I HAD to do.  And this was a "had to" situation.  if I didn't jump on this weight loss adventure, I was going to have to have knee surgery on both knees.  Now 9 months may not seem like a long time, but you try going without soda and chocolate for 9 months and tell me how easy it is.

274 days as of the 19th of June.  It doesn't seem like it's been that long.  Three more months and one year will be here.  This is just boggling my mind to no end.  I don't know if I've ever done anything consistently for 274 days except breath, eat and sleep, and apparently I used that "eat" thing a bit more often than not.  This is an accomplishment for me so don't mind me why I toot my own horn, TOOT TOOT!  These hang on my fridge at home, so I have a daily reminder of what I am doing.




With the 9 month anniversary comes the 9 month checkup with my doctor, who has guided me on my journey and put me on my path, luckily I didn't have to do blood work this time (Not a favorite of mine, but it's the only way they can tell if my vitamins are where they should be).  I was nervous.  My palms were even a bit sweaty to be honest.  I had been working so hard and every time I checked in with my doctor and dietitian  my inner doubter personality was expecting them to tell me I needed to do better.  I wasn't giving the right amount of effort or that I wasn't where I should be at this stage of the game.  Amazing what my imagination can conjure up when I'm sitting in the lobby of a hospital.

So to the scale I go, I ask that the nurse doesn't tell me the number and that she let the doctor give me "the news".  She smiles and agrees and tips her clip board so I can't see what numbers she is writing down.  On to the exam room and after a few preliminary test, blood pressure, pulse (luckily both are good and strong), I "patiently" (get it PATIENTly, ok, I thought it was clever) wait for the doctor.  After some niceties and a quick check of my chart.........

Drum roll please!!  According to my doctor, I've exceeded what they expected for my one year at 9 months.  Which means I'm 3 months ahead of schedule.  I've accomplished something that they say they didn't expect me to hit until I was one year into this journey.  In fact they even said I've exceeded beyond what they normally expect.  My dedication to my eating and exercise are beyond what most people do.  I told them I was determined and they said that they could see that I was taking this seriously and was giving it 100%.  They also stated most people start to slack at 6 months and they see an increase at 9 months or a stalemate of their weight.  Not little ole me, I am apparently slam dunking this life changing experience and it's nothing but net baby.  I'm waiting for my sneaker endorsement deal any day now.

I am happier!  I still have my little insecurities, but who doesn't.  I take more pictures with me in them, which is a huge change.  And looking at them, I sometimes don't recognize myself.  New clothes and a sassy haircut and I have to do a double take when I see pictures with me in them.

I'm exercising, weight training, doing some yoga (still a challenge for me because I can't seem to shut off the dialog in my brain to do this effectively, but I still give it a shot), I can run without pain.  I'm in the process of purchasing a kayak for myself.  I have to wear my son's tshirts because mine are way to big and look like dresses on me.  I can wear jackets and sweatshirts that were tight or too small on me 9 months ago and hang on me now.  I don't get winded going on hikes or shopping at the mall.  I see an inner light that I knew was there but was so faint 9 months ago I truly did not think it would ever shine bright again.  NO ONE'S opinions or judgments effect my personal state of mind.  I'm done worrying why someone doesn't like me or why people treat each other the way they do.  I've decided to be happy and if someone doesn't like it, then they don't have to be in my company.

I was nice to to someone whom I don't really agree with their practices and whom in the past this person hasn't been the nicest to me and when asked by another person why I would do something nice for them, I said, "Being nice is a reflection of the person being nice, not of the person receiving the kindness!"  (Yeah I was pretty shocked by how profound this sounded when it came out my mouth, but I had been in the sun for about 4 hours in the Arizona heat so maybe when I'm dehydrated I'm much more Zen than I thought)

So here's my pic right before I started and my 9 month selfie, will do a full body at one year, but think you can tell a difference in my face.



I can see a difference when I put them side by side, and if I had known I was going to take my selfie today I would have brushed my hair and put on a bit more makeup but it is what it is.  I wanted it to be today my actual 9 month anniversary.  I look at these two pictures and I'm a bit in awe at the difference I see and I have a very critical eye, but looking at picture number one I can remember in very exacting detail how I felt and what was going on my my head.  I see that now, but at the time I was too far in to see anything.

So now on to the nitty gritty of this blog, the stats for 9 months:

MONTHS NO SODA/ALCOHOL :  

10 Months

MONTHS NO PASTA/BREAD/POTATOES/SWEETS:  

9 Months

DRESS SIZES LOST:  

8, borderline on 9

TOTAL POUNDS LOST:  

92 lbs

TOTAL POUNDS UNTIL GOAL:  

26 Pounds to Go

I'm desperately hoping and working at hitting 100 pounds in the next month or so but 26 pounds in 3 months is only a little over 8 pounds a month and I plan on crushing that goal but these last pounds seem to be a bit harder to lose.  I'm doing it healthy with the help of a doctor and dietitian, but mostly with the support of my amazing husband and family who are my biggest cheerleaders.

So there you go.

  9 months, 92 pounds, basically 9 dress sizes.  

So it seems that 9's are my new favorite number this month.

So there it is.  I'm so close to my goal that I can't lose momentum but I also know that this is not a one year journey but a lifelong adventure that I am on.  I'm determined to be a better me.  Surround myself with those that bring me positive energy and to always try to find joy in every day.  Doesn't sound like a lot, but when you think about it, it's sometimes is harder to find but the reward is greater.

So enjoy your third week of June and I hope you are enjoying the summer.  Until next time my friends.

Have a PEACHY week!

5 Stages of Working Out

HOT is the best way to describe what is in the immediate future for Iowa. Now I'm all for warmer temps, but add humidity to the heat and my hair decides on its own what kind of "pretty" I will be for the day.  I straighten my hair, but I have naturally curly hair and when the humidity hits it, look out!  But that is my cross to bear.

So I have one more week before the big 9 month milestone (hard to believe it's been 9 months)  After getting back from Arizona and with concession stand and catching up at work, I haven't been as dedicated to my routine as I should. Sitting in a box in 90 degree weather with no breeze running a popcorn popper is like sitting in a sweat lodge waiting for the hallucinations to come about to find what my spirit animal should be, (I've decided it should be a penguin!  Cause I really like penguins plus they like to play in the snow and always look like they are dressed up to go somewhere fancy).

 I've thought long and hard on this and I believe that there are stages I go through each day regarding my workout.  This thought process is a sure fire mission in mental self control or mental unbalance depending on your point of view, but what's funny is I go through all five stages in about a 10 minute period.  I'm a bit loony but efficient apparently. These are my 5 stages of working out:

1 - DENIAL    

 I think the scale must be off.  I must be retaining water.  Is it that time of the month?

2 - ANGER

Why can't I be like those girls that eat and eat and never gain weight!  I look at a picture of a cake and I gain 5 pounds.  Why does it seem so easy for everyone else?

3 - BARGAINING 

If I don't work out tonight, I will just work twice as hard tomorrow or I will eat this now and will work out more to balance out what I ate. (which we all know if a big fat lie, but we are willing to believe that we wouldn't lie to ourselves like that, right?)

4 - DEPRESSION

"I should have worked out.  Why didn't I just go?  I've failed again! I'm eating a cheesecake"

5 - ACCEPTANCE 

Put your shoes on because YOU deserve to be the best YOU possible! Only YOU can do this.  When you find your fairy god mother you can skip the workout but until then get your happy behind to the gym and get it done!

Now the 5 stages I go through are similar in some ways to the 5 stages of grief.  Cause heaven knows I feel grief when I don't work out and I step on the scale and the number hasn't moved.  I have been lucky enough that the number hasn't gone up, that might require an oxygen tank and mask and perhaps a 24 hours psychiatrist handy for the bloody aftermath that I am sure would follow seeing the number climb rather than decline! Perhaps this is why my cats stand at the door of the bathroom when I step on the scale because they sense that there may be a disturbance in the universe about to happen and animals can sense those kinds of things ahead of time.

I get many kudos and well wishes from people on my journey on how well I'm doing.  And I cherish every single ounce of encouragement I get, but there are days where I want to tell them "Thank you but today is hard, like I want to binge eat a big greasy cheeseburger on a sesame seed bun with a large order of french fries and a snickers bar to the point of being miserable.  Today feels like I am having to WORK at this.  I already have 2 jobs, and this one doesn't add any value to my checkbook..  I'm having a moment and WANT to just throw in the towel and give in and do whatever I want and have whatever I want!"  But that rant of mine is a passing thought and the person smiling at me and giving me their wonderful gift of encouragement doesn't need to hear I'm having a moment of weakness.  They are giving me their time and positivity, and sometimes that is enough to smack me out of my funk of the moment.  Honestly, it usually snaps me back into my reality and changes my perspective rather quickly.  In fact it happened last night.  I went to the gym, was getting ready to get on the elliptical and was only going to do the bare minimum.  But a sweet woman, whom goes to my church, and works out around the same time I do every day, came over and told me how great I looked and I should be so proud of how far I've come.  After talking a few minutes with her, I felt like she helped me to empty my pity bucket and fill my "I CAN DO THIS" bucket.  She didn't have to tell me, but she took time out of her workout to just tell me, "Good Job!"  My mental state made a complete 180 and I was ready to put all my effort into my workout.  I really think if I hadn't spoke to her I would have done my workout but not to the extreme I ended with.  I struggle like everyone else, but I try, I really try to stay in the positive, but I do have my moments of weakness, but it's funny how I always seem to run into someone who's read my blog or hasn't seen me in a while and the look of surprise and happiness that they give me is better than any drug on the market.  She didn't know I was having a stressful day and just wanted to "get my workout over with", she just wanted to tell me that it encouraged her to see my hard work and that she wanted me to know that she noticed.

So never underestimate the power of a kind word and a smile.

So next week is the big 9 month update. Hopefully there will be a change from my 8 month stats, only time will tell.

So encourage those around you.  A smile or a small word of encouragement may only be a little thing to you but may be life changing to the person that receives it.

So hydrate my Iowa friends who are out and about in this humid and hot weather the next few days.

Have a peachy week my friends.

Let Them Eat Cake As I watch them Eat Cake

Sorry for the delay in my posts, I was in sunny Arizona last week and was unable to give you your weekly dose of my witty world.

Cake, it should be good for you right.  It has eggs, flour, butter....these are ingredients from natural things, but you mix it all up and but on some frosting and somehow it becomes this delicious and sinful concoction that apparently in my case, makes my fat cells explode to unrealistic sizes.

To show my amount of will power, I sat in front of the following piece of cake and a glass of champagne (good stuff, not your HyVee brand) for 35 minutes during a banquet I was attending.  I was planning on refusing when the waiter brought it by, but unfortunately he was quick at hand and I was busy looking the opposite way talking and was distracted.  Now this piece of cake was only inches from my nose and I could smell it.... IT SMELLS WONDERFUL!!!!! and according to my table mates, it tasted heavenly good.  But a sweet man sitting next to me, whom I have the pleasure of working with and who knows my weight loss journey, leaned over to me and whispered with frosting on his lip, "It's not that good".  I told him he was sweet but a lousy liar.

Temptation is something I deal with often, not day to day as before, but here it was a special occasion, I could have had a bite and a sip of champagne, it wouldn't have killed me.  The food police wouldn't have come out and slapped on 10 pounds on my hips for defying my journey.  I wasn't going to go to food jail or be beat mercilessly by cooked spaghetti while being pelted by meatballs all while standing a big piece of garlic bread (can you tell I really miss pasta and bread)

As I sat there basically staring at this piece of cake it was like an old western showdown at sunset.  The cake was just egging me to eat it.  "One bite won't be the end of the world", I heard it say.  But I stood steadfast with my hands by my sides, trying not to draw my fork and take the first shot.  Those first few minutes weren't very eventful, but as 20 minutes went by, I was starting to negotiate with my inner self.  I could just take ONE bite, a tiny one.  I could do 10 more minutes on the treadmill and it would even out.  Don't be such a goody goody and take the leap into all those wonderful fluffy frosting and filling, just filling your nose with sinful delight.

The cake was smiling, thinking it was going to win this showdown.  It saw as my eyes turned glassy from staring at it.  It told me to draw.  Don't be a yellow bellied, lily livered chicken, I heard it say.  Pick up that fork and be a man! (Kind of a chauvinistic little piece of cake, but I got what it was saying to me)

At the 35 minute mark, I decided to make my move.  I put my hands on either side of the plate of the light and heavenly smelling piece of cake and I...........slide it to the middle of the table and got up and walked back to my room.

So in this particular showdown, Cake-zero, Sandy-One!  My will power overruled my brain.  Will I ever eat cake again!!!  I sure hope so.  It's has never been my plan to eliminate food, but to eat healthier and better, but I still have a stigma in my head and perhaps a fear that once I step off the wagon the first time, it will get easier and easier to do and before I know it I will be back to where I started and I really don't want to do that.

So that was my victory for the week.  May not seem like a big one to most, but to me it was like winning a gold medal.  I should have stood up and started singing the National Anthem.  I have my struggles, but I look at the big picture and I'm not perfect, in any way.  But I am committing 110% to my journey and it that means I have to give up a little cake, then so be it.

I don't win all my battles, but I was very proud of myself for winning this one.  So to all cake out there that seems to be looking to settle the score of their fallen comrade, who probably ended up being tossed into the garbage, bring it on!  I am ready to rumble!

Stay strong my friends, and remember if you slip today, there is always tomorrow to start anew.  Have a champagne wishes and cake dreams kind of week!