I WON! I WON! I WON!

Ok...that title was the influence of my little devil.   She knew it would be something to grab your attention.   I honestly did win something, but not like the lottery or a car.

Another thing my wonderful company does to help promote healthy well being, is they have little wellness challenges throughout the year.  Some are to lose weight, some are to drink water, and some are to walk enough steps to make it from Chicago to Las Vegas.   This latest one is to promote health habits to eat 2 or more fruit servings in a day for the 3 weeks.   

Its based on the honor system.  But its no fun winning if you cheat.  Plus you miss out the importance and benefits for your body if you don't do it.  So I don't cheat.  

Image of the book I won.
2012 Copyright Dr Ann Kulze &
Wellness Council of America 

Each week, those who have an over all average of eating 2 fruits a day get entered into a drawing for a prize.

This past week I was one of the lucky weekly winners.   We all received this book, Dr. Ann's Eat Right for Life On The Go.

Normally I'm not excited about the prizes unless they're a gift certification to some place, but winning this just as I got back on track was prefect timing.

There are over 100 pages of tips and recipes - and the best part - the way its written and presented.  Its like reading a great magazine.  Fast and easy to read format relaying the information in a way that most anyone can follow. 

Not only does it cover all the basic things that have been preached to me over the years, but much much more helpful information.   My little angel and I decided if I'm excited about this information, there are probably more of you out there who would be excited about it too.   So I thought I'd include some scattered posts here and there so I can share the information. 

Just my standard disclosure - please note this is just information to share because its been proven helpful for me.   Before you try anything new, PLEASE, check with your own doctor or medical professional first.   I hope for all of us to live long happy healthy lives.   My little angel, little devil and I would all would hate if something that is healthy for me, ends up being harmful to someone else, especially if they could have found out from their doctor that they should have avoided it altogether before it did any harm.

Ok - On to the first tid-bit of information. 

SEAFOOD, MEAT & OMEGA-3

We're a few weeks in to lent, but still a few left.  Plus, if you love seafood like me, this information will always be great to have.  

When making up your shopping list for seafood, the book recommends your "oily" varieties because they provide an abundance of Omega 3 fats.   Some of these include salmon, herring, trout, tuna and halibut!

Both my little angel and little devil LOVE smoked salmon and halibut.  And even enjoy tuna!  A friend even talked me into trying a seared tuna steak once, and it was wonderful!   

The book also says its good to include any shellfish, so my shrimp, lobster, crab and scallops can stay on my shopping list.   Although its not mentioned in the book, my own medical professional has advised me to limit my shellfish to no more than once a month, if I use melted butter.  Otherwise not more than once a week.  Shellfish tend to be a little high in natural choelsterol content, so adding melted butter or other high fatty ingredients or cooking methods to shellfish, or any seafood is not good for me on a regular basis. 

Most doctors are fans of foods that provide the omega-3s EPA and DHA, since they can boost heart health and lower triglycerides. Plus research studies have shown they could also help folks who have rheumatoid arthritis, depression, and some other conditions.

But some of you might be still need to know how, why and what sources are the best.   To be safe, you should ask you doctor what’s best for you.  But here’s some basic info that might make asking your doctor questions a little bit easier.

WHY WE NEED TO EAT THEM:

Omega-3 fatty acids are needed to help our bodies function normally. But unfortunately, our body doesn’t make them, so we need to add them to our diet.

WHAT THEY DO FOR OUR BODIES:

Along with boosting heart health and lowering triglycerides, they can also aid in reducing inflammation in the blood vessels, the joints, and elsewhere.

WHERE DO WE GET THEM:

Although you there are several types and sources, doctors and nutritionists prefer we focus on 2 main forms. EPA and DHA (found in certain fish & DHA is found in Algae Oil, ) and ALA (found in plants like flax or walnuts or flaxseed oil, canola oil, olive oil, and soybean oil).   Although there are omega-3 supplements (EPA/DHA), check with your doctor first, as for some people, the supplements could cause the blood to thin and excess bleeding, particularly if you’re already taking anticoagulant drugs.   But even if you get your doctors ok for the supplements, my doctor and health coach feel we absorb and benefit more from getting Omego-3’s from natural resources in lieu of supplements.  Of course, they go on to say, if food allergies or other factors prevent you from buying the natural sources, taking the supplements are way better than not taking any at all.

WHICH ONES SHOULD WE BUY:

Again, please check with your doctor.   Some will tell you that they prefer you get focus more on the sources of DHA and EPA (fish and fish oil) since they have proven health benefits not yet proven by the ALA sources.   However, the flaxseed and plants containing the ALA have been proven to be a great source of energy.  My health coach actually recommends a balance of both.  Especially since it’s easy to add flaxseed or walnuts to my morning oatmeal and then have the salmon, halibut or tuna for lunch or dinner.  

If your doctor won’t allow supplements, and you can use the other forms for other health reasons, then you could eat free-range poultry and beef as they will have higher levels of omega-3s than grain-fed meats.  But not as high as the fish and plant based sources.

 Should grass-fed meats be the option for you, be aware they contain other fats too.   Knowing your grades of meat will help.  According to the book, “Select” is the leanest, about 7% fat.  “Choice” is about 15-35% fat, and “Prime” 35-45% fat.   If your meat doesn’t have a grade on it, look for the marbling.  That’s the white stuff you see in and through the cut of meat.  The more marbling, the higher the fat content. 

RED MEATS (Beef, Pork & Lamb):

It’s recommended to limit to 2 or less servings A WEEK!  Don’t let your own little devils try to tell you it’s 2 or less serving per day.  You can get your Omega-3s from grass-fed chicken or pork too.

You should also avoid processed meats like sausage, bacon, ham and hot dogs.  Yes, ham.  And even limit or avoid the fatty cuts like ribs, rib eye, brisket, porter house, t-bones and the higher fat content ground beef.   If you need ground beef, don’t be afraid to select a leaner piece of beef and ask your butcher to ground it for you.   I actually just did that with pork. Or stick with ground sirloin, ground round or extra lean ground beef.

POULTRY (Turkey & Chicken):

This book recommends turkey or chicken breasts.  However, the dark meat, especially thighs are more recommended by my doctor and health coach.  Breasts tend to be larger than the 3 oz per serving portion.  And since fat content actually found in the thighs compared to the breasts, you’re better for going with the thigh as its more propionate to a 3 oz serving.

NOW WHAT?

Well now that you have all this information, what to do?  Well, my health coach and little angel will tell you to plan out your meals before going shopping.   Make a shopping list, and still to the list.  This would be a very difficult feat for my mom and some of my sisters.   With families and watching budgets, it very tempting to buy what is on sale or stock up in items not even on your list. My health coach would tell you stick to the list only and never stray from it.  But being on a strict budget myself living pay check to pay check mostly, it’s hard to spend more for the seafood on my list at $5 - $10 a pound when I see they have chicken thighs on sale for $0.99 a pound.   

Yes, you’re health should always be your top priority.  But it’s hard to be healthy if you need to pay the rent/mortgage, or put gas in your car so you can get to work.  So in this case, I’d go with my little angel’s plan.  Go ahead and get the chicken thighs that are on sale.  But look at the rest of your list and revise.   If you originally were planning for grilled halibut with cheese and broccoli and rice pilaf – put the cheese and rice pilaf back on the shelf.  Seriously!  Go put it back and cross it off the list.  If you don’t have it at home already, pick up a lemon, some paprika, garlic seasoning blend & liquid smoke.  Then pick up some lettuce and tomatoes and what other vegetables you like in your salad.  My little angel and I are assuming you were going to bake or grill the chicken thighs.  You should remove the skins.  A quick easy tip is to just spray each chicken breast with oil olive or artificial butter spray and shake on a little paprika and garlic season on both sides of the chick thighs.  Bake at 350 for about 1 hour or grill like you normally would.   In a skillet, add ½ cup of water and a tbsp of liquid smoke and your chopped broccoli.  Then sprinkle the same garlic seasoning over the broccoli and cook on high until the water starts to boil.  Then reduce heat and squeeze some lemon juice.  Stir around and keep checking.  One the broccoli is cooked to the firm or softness you like, it’s done.   I recommend not starting to cook the broccoli until you only have about 15 minutes left for your chicken to be done.  Serve with your salad and you now have a great healthy meal that you saved a lot of money on.  

Hopefully you find this information useful.   There are a lot of fun things in this book that I can combine with other knowledge from my doctor and health coach.   In the meantime, tomorrow is weigh-in day, so I’m really hoping to have a fun update for everyone after tomorrow.

Thanks again for all your support!

 

MY LITTLE ANGEL PREVAILS ONCE AGAIN!!!!



Doing a little happy dance thanks to allowing my little angel to speak louder then my little devil on again!!!  

   

As many of you may remember, I had a great summer & fall listening to my little angel so I stayed focus on my long term goal to become healthier and more in shape.  Like with most people, I lost some of that focus over the holidays and the first couple of months of 2013.  Old habits of how I used to deal with stress and drama slowly crept back, given my little devil a louder voice.   




I'm adding this as a reminder
of one of my motivations -
 to get a tattoo to cover my scar
on 5-27-13

 In the past, once things like that happened, it was easy to stay defeated and let my little devil have more control of my choices.   But luckily for me, as I learned last summer, I can't let those moments determine the paths I choose.  Sure life happens!  Life will always be full of change!  Full of curve balls and pot holes always trying to trip us up all the way.  It’s also crazy to think I will always be on track 100% of the time.  As my little angel reminds me, thinking that just sets you up for thoughts of disappointment and failure.  Instead, my little angel reminds me all these little pitfalls along my journey are not only OK, but they are much needed lessons so I can truly understand what works for my body and what doesn't. The whole point is to develop a new healthy lifestyle I can live with for the rest of my life.  So I need to test being able to eat differently, think differently, and even exercise differently.  That is how I'm going to learn what works for me, and me alone.  So I strongly encourage all of you trying to develop your own new healthier routine for the rest if your life – allow yourself to make a mistake- in fact- plan for them!   They are part of the life lesson to learn about the  new you.  The key is that once you learn something isn't working or prevents you from reaching your goal - ACCEPT IT!  DON’T FIGHT IT!   Make a note that it's something you learned about yourself and adjust your plan/habits with this new knowledge. 




For example, last summer I completely eliminated all processed & artificial sugars from my diet.   I stayed in track through the holidays mostly.  I shed so many pounds, but also had increased my exercise routine and was eating healthier and more reasonable portioned sized meals.   A few weeks ago, as in all our lives, I had to deal with a lot of stress and anxiety.  I subconsciously resorted to old habits of over indulging in comfort foods and my sweet tooth.   Next thing I realized, some of those once shed pounds were finding their way back. 

In the past, the guilt and shame would be enough to keep me off track.  I would feel overwhelmed and frustrated, not to mention, extremely guilty & defeated.   Each night I would tell myself tomorrow was a new day, and I'd start over again.  Each new day I'd wake up saying to myself, today would be a good day.  But it didn’t last longer than my morning routing.  I would still let my little devil have too much say and power over my little angel’s words of wisdom.   Something would happen during the day to stress or overwhelm me.  I'd make an excuse why it was OK not to exercise or OK to 'treat' myself to some unhealthily food or portion size.  Next thing I knew,  my "tomorrow is a new day" day was suddenly 3-6 months later.

However, I'm very happy to report that didn't happen this time! 

Don’t think I’m some miracle person.  This still wasn't automatic.  I was very happy to stop by binge-eating of comfort foods after just one day.  But it did take me about 2 weeks to get back on track completely with not only eating healthy and exercising, but also, to re-apply all that I learn.   And now, I can say I'm grateful for all the lessons I got to learn about myself this past month or so.  

My first lesson - it's OK to find out what doesn't work for you!  I know this will sound like a broken record.  But for me, I need to keep saying it over and over so it sinks it.   My little angel reminds me that I have to embrace this, so that if I have a bad week, which I most likely will in life, I won’t feel guilty and ashamed anymore.   By doing so, I don't let those old negative feelings hamper my ability to stay focus on my long- term goals.  

Raman Noodles with Shrimp
Garlic & Tomato Sauce

Next thing I learned - although all my blood sugar numbers are in the healthy range, if I truly want to achieve that size 6 toned body, processed and artificial sugars are not good for me.  I also learned I can satisfy all my sweet tooth cravings with fresh fruits and other nature-made sweet things like honey.   Having indulged in processed & artificial sugar added foods, not only did I gain weight, but I felt sluggish and even started to feel aches and pains in some joints in muscles I thought I had gotten rid of for good.  

This next thing I learned, exercise is my friend in more ways then one!   Not only is it helping to get my body into a tattoo-ready canvas, but its helping me mentally and for my long-term goals.   First, my little angel reminded me how exercising has been improving my joint and energy levels.   A few years ago, I felt like my joints would just ache when it was cold out.   My feet were always sore having bad arches.   And I was sub-consciously avoiding stairs from the pain I’d feel in my knees.   Since I started last summer, I’m no longer wasting money on arch supports for my shoes!  I realized I not only go up stairs without feeling pain, but I no longer stop to think about the fact that I’m going up stairs anymore.   And the only time I feel aches and pains in my muscles and joints, is after a good workout.  And it’s the good soreness, not the type I used to need pain killers for.   My little angel also reminded me I hadn’t needed to buy a new bottle of Aleve since last June either!   Another great accomplishment, seeing how I used lived for the 2-for-1 sales at the local drug stores.

I also learned that as much as I think I’m eating healthy, I’m not 100% there yet.   Sometime last November I stopped keeping my daily food & exercise log.   My little angel and I can already hear many of you groan as you read this.  Probably even saying to yourself that you don’t have time or just don’t want to track what you eat.   But trust me, it is so important.   I really like myfitnesspal.com.  They have both an online website and an app for your phone.  But you don’t even need that!  Even if all you carry with you is a folded piece of paper in your purse or wallet, with access to a pen or pencil, right down what you eat all day!   My little angel and I prefer to make sure we have everything entered before dinner, so we can plan for our calories left over.   But if you prefer to track at the end of the night, that works too.  Eventually you’ll have an idea of what you’re eating and less likely to go over your calories, or points for my WW friends.  But I learned that for me, I need to track throughout the day.  Plus, since I do have a smart phone, my little angel has more fun tracking other things, like fat, protein, carbs, sodium, sugars, and my exercise. 

Adding exercise in is great!   When I exercise, it tells me how many calories I burned off.   The tool adds the calories back into my allowable calorie intake amount for the day.   Instead of eating those earned calories, I rather keep those calories in the “burned off” category and not “re-ate” them.  We need to burn approximately 3500 calories to shed one pound through exercise.   So if after exercising, it tells me I burnt off 220 calories, I prefer to think that I now only have to burn 3280 more calories to shed another pound, instead of thinking I burned off enough to have a 220 calorie chocolate chip cookie or not feel guilty about having a 325 calorie margarita at dinner.  For me, once I burn off calories, I want them gone for good.   I have a lot of stored calories on my body that I are more important to me to lose, then it is to digest any extra calories that weren’t apart of my regular planned calorie count for the day.  Don’t get me wrong though.  If I’m hungry and I want to have a little something extra and I have the extra exercise calories, I’m not feeling guilty about eating them.  But my little angel reminds me to do that only occasionally, not regularly.

The last lesson I’ve had to learn, and am still working on with my little devil is this….

It is OK to put myself first!

Raman Noodles with green chillies
Avocado, Tomatoes, black beans,
green pepper, paprika, & munster cheese

Not sure if its an Irish-thing, Catholic-thing, or little of both.   But some where along the years of growing up with Catholic and family beliefs, and being a woman, I got so wrapped up in being there for others, I not only wasn’t there for myself, but the guilt was so over-whelming whenever I tried to do something for myself but couldn’t be there to help someone else. So I stopped being there for myself.   Guilt is a dangerous emotion.   Catholics are raised to be humble and self-sacrificing.  My family up-bringing was also filled with family tradition and values.   Your family is important.  Friends may come and go, but your family is always there for you.   The guilt of not being let into heaven, or becoming the black sheep of the family if I broke tradition, was a huge influence on most important decisions in my life.  But through it all, I never thought of being there for others as a sacrifice, because I felt less guilty doing so.

Maybe its just a natural instinct or from being a girl-scout, but I have always loved and got great joy from helping others.  I liked being asked to clap out the erases for the teacher and even continued on volunteering in the library after all my community service hours were done.  Being crafty, I was so honored and blessed to be part of many close family and friend’s wedding days by making various accessories fro them.   My love of cooking allowed me to be able to make something or help out in the kitchen for a party.   My love of children and animals made babysitting or animal watching not only fill a void in my life, but brought many wondering memories I would never have wanted to miss.   Then finally, all my challenges in life, I believe have made me a very open-minded and non-judgmental person, giving me tools to be a good listener to help others get through their challenging moments in life.   Not one of these things would I ever want to change.  

But that’s also my biggest challenge. Being able to help others is something I take so much pride and happiness from.  It’s a huge part of who I am.  It’s something my little angel has always been so proud of me for.  So the struggle to allow myself to put myself first and not feel guilty about it, while finding the balance to still be available to help others, will probably be an on going challenge for me. 

Before now, I never thought of my little devil as having a voice in this part of my life.  But apparently she did.  My little devil is the one who made me feel guilty and not allow my little angel to speak up more.  My little angel telling me that needing to love myself by putting my own simple needs first hadn’t been heard in years.   After a while, she just gave up trying to remind me.  My little angel seemed to have just accepted defeat in this battle against my little devil.  But no more.  I now have to let my little angel speak up to keep me in balance.   She must have a stronger louder voice to say, its not only OK to do things just because they’re for me and make me happy, but as along as its not illegal or unhealthy, I have to start doing them more.  She has to remind me that it’s equally as important as if I were helping someone else.   Course, my little angel also must work with my little devil to help me keep that balance between still being there for others, while making sure I don’t sacrifice loving and respecting myself.   

 

Lettuce, tomato, black olive,
black beans, turkey bacon bits, &
taco seasoning



So, now that I have shared all the lessons I learned, its time to share some even better news.  After allowing my little angel to become the louder voice again, I got back on track with tracking my food, eating healthy and exercising more consistently.    So after just 2 short weeks of being back on track, I quickly shed almost 7lbs!  

I'm back to experimenting with healthier fun recipes and loving it too!   And if my scale at home is anything like the one in my group meetings, this Thursday’s weigh in should show I I’m back on track to shedding pounds like I did last summer! Happy Dancing all around!!!

I'll keep you posted and thanks again for all you support me on this journey!

No Sympathy Please – Just Awareness and Acceptance

It’s been a very long time since I’ve written anything on this blog so I humbly and honestly apologize.  Part of me could blame the holidays and part of me would say I was just waiting for a good week to report about.   The successful weeks did happen, but it was hard to find the time to sit down and write.  Next thing I knew, it was over 4 months later and no updates.  So if you were one of those following and looking up to me for inspiration, I apologize for letting you down.  But on a good note, hopefully this is a good reminder that no matter how often or how long you fall off track from your goals, it’s never too late to pick up and start again.   

Let’s see, where do I begin.  My weight loss – oh wait – my shedding of weight – do not want to find any of those pounds again.   Well, good news/bad news.   Good news is that I haven’t gained what I normally would have during the holidays.  I was more aware of my eating and consistently paid attention to portion sizes and tried to choose healthier choices.  I stayed aware from all the baked cookies, cakes and pies that were at all the parties, food days at work.  I even managed to stay away from all the baked goods on my mom’s annual dinning room table spread.  I did, however, indulge in 2 pieces of Fannie May chocolates and a chocolate chip cookie the following day.  But I still considered that to be one of my biggest achievements.   One other huge moment was my mom’s candied sweet potatoes.  Normally I take some with the marshmallows, and then smashed them with a fork to create little crevices to hold more of the syrupy sauce, not to mention as a nice gravy over my turkey.  But this year, I stuck to just a little serving of mashed potatoes and proudly just passed the entire candied sweet potato dish on when it came my way.  I did still use my mom’s mushroom gravy, but opted for more mushrooms than gravy.   And probably for the first time in ages, you could still see parts of my plate after I took a little of everything that I wanted. 

New Years was also probably one of the best ones I’ve had in a few years. I had to work, and opted to exercise before going home.   In years past, New Years Eve was more like a “last indulge before I start my diet” day and exercising was never on my mind.  After work, I headed out!  Since most of my friends and family are married now, they seem to resort to all having house parties with the kids.   While I totally understand how particular that is, being still single and branching out, the new me just didn’t want to be sitting and standing around talking.  I wanted fun excitement, with the potential to maybe flirt and experience that kiss at midnight with someone new, like you see in the movies.  I spent New Years Eve out dancing and had just 2 martinis.  They served champagne at midnight, and thanks to not having sugar much anymore, it was too sweet for me to drink more than a sip.  And no, there was no flirting or midnight’s kiss with a stranger, but I had a great night just being out dancing and doing something new.   

2013 has turned out to be an interesting roller coaster however.   It started off really wonderful, full of energy and excitement.   I haven’t given up on it being a great year, but just like life, its sure has had it share of ups and downs already.  We’ve had the strangest Chicago winter again.  Either sub-zero wind chills or up in the 40’s, and usually changing in the same week.  Down south by me, we’ve had mostly rain, which I love.  But the northern suburbs were hit with almost a foot of snow on the same day I was receiving text alerts for flood warnings.   

But the roller coaster didn’t stop with the weather.  Life threw me a few curve balls too.   I’d be good about exercising, but then not make good food choices.  Eating proper portion sizes would be out of whack again, and I stopped tracking my food all together.  Then when I’d be eating healthy, I didn’t seem to have the time or energy to go work out.  And it didn’t help that my company weight loss group program didn’t start up again until almost the end of January.  So the added inspiration from my group was missing. 

Even as I type this, I know those are all excuses.  I really lost whatever it was that I had last summer.  I actually realized I was just making excuses by mid-January when I tried to blame it on fruit being so expensive now that it was out of season.  And I wasn’t able to grow veggies year round.  I seriously laughed at myself in the middle of the grocery store when I tried to blame my 2 pound weight gain on not being able to buy blueberries on sale anymore.   Deep down I knew that was crazy.   If I wasn’t able to buy as many fruits and veggies on sale, I should weigh less from not being able to eat them, not more.  Even if I had fewer fruits and vegetables available in my price range, that was no excuse for not tracking my daily calories.  I couldn’t tell you the last time I tracked an entire week of my food.  And if I had, I’m sure there would be more than 3 days a week where I was well over my 1380 daily calories limit!  And even a few days it was probably double that and no added exercise to make up for the extra calories.  

My little angel needed to come back and be more vocal.  My little devil was back to making more sense.  I pulled out my phone and started tracking my food again.  My little rollercoaster car was back on track making the upward climb towards reaching my goal!  

Or at least, so I thought….

Just like with all of us, I really have to accept that not all days can be happy upbeat moments to keep me focused and on track with my goals.   I’m starting to learn that some of my bad habits, while maybe be broken, they aren’t completely gone.  It’s sort of like when you clean your house.   We’ve all seen it.  You have your house all clean and the tables are dust free and shiny.  It’s so pretty and a huge weight is lifted off your shoulders when it’s all done.  You put all the cleaning supplies away and sit down to relax.  Maybe read a book, catch up with a friend on the phone, or watch a movie or program you recorded.   Next thing you know, that pesky dust starts to come back, one speck at a time.  If we had all the time in the world, we could just use a dust cloth and continue to whip the dust away as a starts to form.  Never letting it get built up again.   But most of us have lives outside of keeping a table dust free.  So we get ok with letting the dust fall and land a little here or there.   We realize that we just need to dedicate a little time each week to keep up on top of the dust, and we’re back to being on track with a nice clean house, ready to show off.   If we don’t make time to stay on top of the dust, it just keeps piling up.   

Well, it has to be the same for my healthier journey.  If I’m truly going to get and stay healthier, I not only have to make sure I make time each week to stay on top of it, I must except that even though I may have “dusted” away a bad habit for now, that doesn’t mean the habit isn’t still lingering around me waiting to land again.  It’s something that I’m always going to have keep an eye on to make sure it doesn’t start piling up again.  If I allow it to pile up again, its going to take a lot more time and effort to get rid of it again.  So no more putting off tracking and monitoring my food and calories.  I need to make sure I am tracking every day so that the pounds don’t start piling up again.  I can just focus on “dusting away” the extra pounds I already have.

So here’s to a brand new week.   Weigh-ins are now on Thursdays, instead of Tuesdays.   Not thrilled with the change, but life doesn’t stay the same, so what the heck.  I’m going with the flow.  

Work also started few new programs to help with healthy wellness initiatives.   One, they installed a “tread-desk”.  This is an actual work station with a computer and phone.  But instead of a chair to sit on, you stand and walk while you work.  It can’t go more than 4 miles an hour.  Which works great for me, since I pretty much only speed walk at under take anyway.  And since its not like we’re supposed to have a true workout on it, like we do in the fitness center.  Its just a new way to work and not having to sit at your desk all day. 

The other things they’ve started doing is creating new “challenges” to help us create new healthy habits.  When I started, they already had the incentive that if you walk 7000 or more steps for 45 days in a quarter, they’ll give you $50 in your HSA account.   They’ve also have random challenges to avoid gaining weight through the holidays, or maybe walk from Chicago to Las Vegas (counting steps) by specific time, and be entered to win great prizes or money.  On top of that, they’ve added a “drink water” challenge and this new one, to eat 2-4 servings of fruit during the next 3 weeks.  No clue on what the weekly prizes will be yet.  But knowing that I struggle getting fresh fruits in during the winter months, I’ve very excited about embracing this new challenge to help me bring this great habit back again.   

And the other habit I need to focus on, is letting my little angle be the bigger voice.  I have to go back to letting her remind me while grocery shopping why the instant gratification of the non-healthy options are no where near as satisfying as the happy dance feeling I get after weighing in and seeing the number get smaller and smaller.  I also need to stop letting my little devil talk me out of exercising so much.   She especially needs to stop convincing me that its ok to work during lunch and just work out at home later.   Not only because I know I’m not great on working out after work, but I’m entitled to take a lunch break and should absolutely take advantage of the free fitness center in my building!   

No more allowing my little devil to make excuses for me!!!!  I have a couple big goals this year.  And the biggest one is to get a tattoo on May 27, 2013!  It will be the anniversary of me needing emergency surgery to save my life when I was 13 days old.   The original scar was apparently less then a centimeter and had 6 little stitches.   Instead of staying that size, it grew with me.  Even in my younger skinny days, I was never comfortable wearing a 2 piece swimsuit because of it.   Over time, it began to remind me of thorny stem of a rose, but without the flower on it.   So I thought it would look better if I had a rose tattooed over it to disguise the scar.   But the problem was that by the time I decided that would be a cool idea, I no longer had my flat stomach.   So I made it a goal for me this year.  I would lose enough weight and exercise to flatten my stomach my May 27^th.  It would be very fitting to get the tattoo on the anniversary of my life-saving surgery.   Not only because the scar symbolizes how my life was saved, but the rose has become a symbol for life too.   Add to it that being on this new health journey is bringing a new beginning to my life, I’m contemplating making it a yellow rose, which is sometimes considered the rose color for new beginnings, course, I’ve also seen white and black. But I have a few months to decide as I workout and reach my goal.

I hope you are all making good choices, and if not, I hope you’re thinking about getting back your little rollercoaster car back on the tracks and maybe join me for a ride.  

Another Piece To The Puzzle

One little flower left this fall.

 Yes - It's Tuesday, which means its group weigh in day.   Course yesterday, I also had my Phase 2 provider appointment.  Personally, I felt like the provider visit was a little too soon.  Its only week 3 of the group meetings, and I would have preferred something more half-way through the program.   My little angel, little devil and I will later realize that it was a great thing for this to be earlier during the 12 weeks, than it was during Phase 1. 

 



Bailey catching up with me!

Before I get into the visits, I want to tell you about what a great weekend I had.   Saturday, Bailey and I made it out to the Kankakee River State Park again.  We missed the fall colors, but the weather was just prefect for both of us.   Now, because I was in such better shape, my little angel's natural girl side was doing her own happy dance when my little devil encouraged me over come some of my fears and climb up and down paths to get closer to the water.   When Bailey and I were there last time, I was still very hesitant to go on any of them.   Before, my knee was still a little painful going up and downstairs, and not having anyone with to "rescue me", I stayed away from the steeper paths.  But not this time!  I was climbing over and under fallen trees, along with up and down some steeper paths that were slick from the recent rain.  And I loved every minute of it!!! 

Sunday was a great day too!  Not only was the weather even more beautiful, but I got to spend some quality time with my great friend, Kerrie, power walking around Centennial Park in Orland.  We finished in just under an hour.  And since Kerrie is such better shape then me, I was naturally pushing myself to stay at her same pace.   Only once did I need to slow down.  Plus usually when I'm walking, its been on a pretty flat path.  So it was great that  her route pushed me to go on some hills and a set of stairs.  I was a little winded going back up the stairs, but not enough to quit.   I also noticed I could talk and keep up again.  In the past I talking slowed me down so much, I didn't want to talk at all.   Being able to talk and keep up was another little happy moment for my little angel and I.   Plus, it was so great just being able to have a great friend to catch up with.

I also told Kerrie how I really want to be able to run a 5K one day.  She told me about this great training app.   C25K -  Couch to 5K.   It gives you tips to go at your own pace, but you technically can go from doing nothing, (aka sitting on the couch) to running a 5K in at little as 8 weeks!!!  I have downloaded the app and tried it Monday.   If anyone is considering training to run I highly recommend it. Just make sure you get the one marked as "free".  

OK, OK...on to my measurement updates.  As with all visits with the health coach, nurse and provider appointments, it started out with a weigh in and measurements.  I did shed a little more weight from the week before, but my little angel has decided to just give you the total update later, as I had another weigh in today as part of the group.   My measurements, which was not too surprising, showed I lost more inches in both my waist and hips, which also helped show improvement in my BMI score again.  

I've decided to consider my measurements from mid-September as my starting date for Phase 2.   Last time, I didn't show much of a loss in my waist.  In fact, I didn't show any loss during the first measurement of Phase 1, and it took until the end of Phase 1 to show a 1 inch loss.   I wasn't too discouraged as my waist has always been unproportionately smaller.  Course, now that people, who I haven't seen since I started, mention how they can see a difference, my little angel and I are always hoping for good numbers.  Especially since I know I've really increased my exercise this last month.   My little angel and I held our breath as Melissa wrapped the tape measure around my waist.   She always does the measurement in centimeters, so I have to wait till I get back to my desk to translate.  But I knew the number went down, and more than I expected.  When I used my converter, I did a little happy dance.   I lost 1.25 inches in only 4 weeks.   More than it took me to shed in the entire 12 weeks prior! 

Next were my hip measurements.   Here I was hoping for a good number, especially since my little angel knew it my hips were the main factor determining what size jeans I can wear.   Although I was finally wearing "The Jeans" and other dress slacks in the same size, there were still others I wasn't quite yet ready to wear.   Once again, I was happily surprised when I did the calculations to see that in 4 weeks, I lost a little bit more than 1.5 inches in my hips too!  

Because of the similar loss in both my waist and hips, my waist/hip ratio stayed the same, which is still in the healthy range.

My BMI dropped 1 full point again.  Bringing it to being a totally of being down 12.5 points from July!!!!

After Melissa took my measurements, it was time to wait for the doctor.  But it ended up being the physician's assistant.   This time, we talked a lot more about my family history.  Which brought up the discussion of my cholesterol level (LDL) again.

If you remember, although it was on the high end of normal, both my doctor and nurse were a little concerned for my age.   However, after dropping about 20 points and I'm still losing weight, my doctor was not worried about my cholesterol and was OK with just waiting for my next blood work results at the end of Phase 2.  However, it was still a concern for my physician's assistant, especially after learning there is some family history of heart problems on my mom's side.   So she really wanted me to start taking medication to help lower my cholesterol at a faster rate.   Before I could go the medication, I would need to do another blood test to make sure I didn't have any liver issues. 

Needless to say, I was not thrilled and really wanted to wait until the end of this phase as my doctor originally planned.  But the blood test was free, and so would the medication, so I agreed to having the blood test done.  As my mom and I discussed later, I could always go back to the doctor and see what her thoughts were before going on the medication.

This bring us all to today. 

My weigh in and group meeting was first.   I think I mentioned before that  I've decided to start the count over from the beginning of each Phase.   Between last week and today, I shed a total of 3.2 pounds!  A great relief for my little angel and I, as I was a little discouraged last week after not showing a loss because I had to weigh in later in the day. Now, being back on track,  since the beginning of Phase 2, I've shed a total of another 6.8lbs!!!

Shortly after the meeting, I received the news about my new blood work.   Good news, the test for liver showed up normal.  Again, I was happy, because having had my gall bladder removed years ago, I know my liver has to work extra.  Even though I felt fine, I wasn't  going to be 100% sure until the test results confirmed it.  So this was great news for my little angel and I.  But that wasn't all my test results showed.

Apparently, I have an underactive thyroid, known as Hypothyroidism, and need to start taking a thyroid treatment medication.   For some people, being diagnosed with a condition is a bad or scary thing.  While I am a little concerned, a sense of relief came over me.  It seemed like another piece to the puzzle for why I struggle with losing weight, not to mention lifting the curtain to help explain some other issues I thought were just a normal part of not being in my 20's any more. 

For those who aren't famillar with a hypothyroid, basically its a condition where your body doesn't produce enough of important horomones.  This leads to upsetting the normal balance of chemical reactions in your body.  All of this can lead to weight gain and high cholestrol, but also fatigue, dry skin, muscle aches/stiffness, swelling in joints, heavier periods, depression, senstivity to cold, trouble concentrating/ focusing, and a few other things. 

Having experienced many of these since I turned 40, I had assumed it was all apart of aging and no real cure.   So having this diagnosis, I am so looking forward to having is treated.  The thought of getting rid some, if not all, of these symptoms, plus gaining energy again and helping me further my weight loss goals, while lowering my cholestrol, I'm very pleased and encouraged more so than before. 



Bailey keeping an eye on me as I climbed back up.



So my advice to all of you, is what I've been saying all along.  If you attempting to lose more then just a few pounds, or want to lose weight for more than a week or two, PLEASE GO TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR!   Don't be like me and assume things are all a part of getting older.  Let your doctor know.  I'm not saying you will have the same thing as me, but let your doctor help you rule out any other underlying issues that could be preventing you or be making it harder for you to reach your goal.  For me, it was like finding that piece I didn't even know was missing yet.  But so happy I found it and am one step closer to seeing what the finished puzzle will finally look like. 



Thanks again for reading and all your support.  I know I say this every time, but I really do appreciate all of you!!!