Friday, November 6, 2009

Day 5 and no progress

So, I weighed again today and while I wasn't as *up* as I was the other day, I still weighed more than I did Monday, and I hadn't had a Dr. Pepper.  I'm seriously considering cheating today, just because I'm pissed that I haven't lost anything.  Of course, my expectations are too high.  I haven't modified my diet yet and I'm not exercising.  I am also not eating anymore than I normally would, though, which is why I'd hoped that cutting out the Dr. Pepper (which I've replaced mostly with water) would drop at least a pound.

My original plan had plan to adopt one new healthy habit a week.  I'm starting to rethink that plan.  I'm wanting to adopt more than one to speed this little process along.  I"m resisting, though, because that is my usual path to failure.  I try too much, too quick.  I can't keep up with what I start because it is too much and I end up giving up.  That is why I've given myself a year to do this. 

So, I'm thinking what I'll do is stick with the one official change each week, but if I can squeeze in more healthy stuff here and there I will, but I'll remain very forgiving of myself if I don't. 

Okay...so the food for yesterday:
pancake on a stick for breakfast
cupcake
lasagna, salad, bread and carrot cake for lunch.
small ice cream treat
carne guidsada and a tortilla for dinner
cupcake

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Day 5 - Checking In

To be honest, Day 4 sucked and today ain't looking too hot either.  Yesterday was incredibly crappy and frustrating day in the office.  So while I made it through the day with no Dr. Pepper, and my meals were even kinda decent, I had Pizza for supper.  Cheese pizza and a cupcake with buttercream frosting (had to make 'em for the kiddo to take to school).  Of course this week, my only goal is to cut out the Dr. Pepper.  But when I got on the scale this morning (and I'm not supposed to do that again until Monday), I weighed more than I did 3 days ago!  I know that doesn't necessarily mean anything.  But, it was incredibly deflating and did nothing for the headache I woke up with.

So, here is what I ate yesterday:
IHOP for brunch (hubby had an appt. w/the cardiologist and we were celebrating that the heart is okay...)
- two eggs over easy
- hashbrowns
- 1 pancake
- two pieces of bacon
Peanut butter & jelly sandwich
Peanut butter crackers
Two pieces of cheese pizza
cupcake

Oh, yes...I can see that my diet need MUCH improvement.  That'll come later.  I broke down and had a diet Dr. Pepper today to try to get rid of a headache after 8 advil.  At least it was diet.

See you tomorrow!

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Day 4 - Hanging In

I'm patting myself on the back and praying simultaneously.  The pat is for sticking to my No Dr. Pepper rule so far.  The prayer is because it feels a bit harder today, than the last two.  I have a headache and am finding myself easily irritated.

So, again with what I ate yesterday:
1% milk w/nestle chocolate
bacon sandwich made with Orowheat 100 cal bread
garden salad w/cilantro ranch dressing
chilli
4 small chocolate chip cookies
hot tea
two homemade soft tacos (beans, meat, cheese, sour cream, tomatoes, onions and guacomole).
Pretzels
small handful of halloween candy (prolly 5 fun size pieces).

I may go ahead and add some exercise sooner rather than later.  My pants were still pretty snug this morning, not that just drinking water should've had that much of an impact, but still, it would be nice to be comfortable in my clothes. 

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Day 3 - Checking In

So far I’m doing okay on my week #1 goal to give up my Dr. Pepper dependency. But, I’ve gotta admit, I’m really kinda craving one as I type this.

I thought today would be a good day give you, my dear reader, a little background on what brought me here. In my mind, I’ve always been overweight. I’m not sure that technically my weight has always measured clinically obese, but I’ve always felt larger than my peer groups. I can remember this feeling from back in junior high when I first noticed that my thighs rubbed when I walked and not everyone else’s did.

I can recall trying a couple of diets while in high school.  But, I can’t say that I really got interested in concerted efforts at dropping pounds until after I had children. Since that time I’ve tried weight loss drugs including phentermine and meridia. The thing about phentermine was that if I lost ten pounds the month I was on it, I’d gain back 18 when I went off of it. It was a very self-defeating experience.

I’ve also tried Metabolic Research Center, Weight Watchers, LA Weightloss and various fad diets like Atkins, the Cabbage Soup Diet, etc. Some worked for a little while. None resulted in significant or permanent weight loss. I should throw in the mix that along with all these diet attempts were sporadic attempts at exercising.

Along the way, I probably dropped a fortune in diet books and those womens’ magazines that have a new diet in them every month. But, I also spent some of that fortune on health oriented magazines like Prevention, Shape, Self and Fitness. I recognize the advice in these magazines to be mostly sound, but it still seemed geared, for the most part, toward people who were already somewhat health conscious and not still struggling to get there.

However, it was in these magazines and other similar printed material, that I kept reading about the lifestyle change. There is a whole mindset out there that is more about adopting a healthy lifestyle, and not trying for any quick fix. The weight loss piece of the deal seems to be the, “if you build, it will come,” sort. So that is where I am today. I’m going to adopt those small steps toward a healthy lifestyle. I’m also going to hope and pray that doing so will result in some significant weight loss for me over the course of the next year.

Now, I promised to post my daily food intake. Keep in mind that I'm not modifying my diet yet.  Here is yesterday’s:

Bacon sandwich (made with 100 cal Orowheat bread)
Chocolate milk (1% milk and nestle quick)
Vanilla Almond Shredded Wheat + 1% milk
Peanut butter crackers
Lean Cuisine
Apple Sauce
Hot Chocolate
100 Cal popcorn
Skittles
Roast Beef
Instant Taters (last night was a basketball night for the kiddo)
Tortilla
And there were a few pieces or hard candy in there throughout the day.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Day 2 - Weighing In

As promised, I weighed in this morning.  The scale (digital) has me at 196.2.  I'm 5'5".  That gives me a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 32.6, which means I'm obese.  According to the Center for Disease Control, BMI is a measure of fatness.  It is supposed to be fairly accurate, though I believe you can easily find debate out in cyberspace on the topic.

The last time I checked, my weight would have to get down to somewhere between 145 pounds and 150 pounds for me to register as "Normal" based on the BMI charts.  I can honestly say that I don't recall when I might've last weighed in that range.  I can recall weighing around 165 shortly after having my second child, and I felt good at that weight. 

According to the measurements I provided yesterday, my waist to hip ratio measures a .87.  For a woman, anything higher than .85 is an indication of potential future heart troubles. 

So, much like the pictures on the previous post, things just don't look good at the moment.  I haven't had a soda today.  So far so good.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Day 1 - Getting Started

So today is day one. I’m committing to this blog for one year. For one year I will slowly adapt the better habits that are supposed to help me get naturally to a healthy weight. I will not follow any fads or try anything that promises quick and easy weight loss. I’m going to test the advice of all those experts who say its all about the small change, the lifestyle, etc. I’m hoping they’re on to something. I guess we’ll see.

Here is how it’ll work. Today I’m going to post some of my stats and some rather lovely pics of yours truly. Every three months I’ll update the stats and the pics. At the start of each week I’ll announce what one change I’m going to make during the week in the interest of a healthy lifestyle (always with the ultimate goal of losing weight). Every day I’ll post about my success in sticking to the weekly goal. I’ll also post my daily food intake and, when I start, my daily exercise routine. Periodically, I’ll probably also blog a bit about my general opinion of certain subjects relative to the weightloss industry or my particular experiences with this project.
So here are some lovely snaps of me as of today:


Full Frontal (yes I am embarrassed)

And the Wonderful Rear View
I didn't weigh in today, so you'll get that tomorrow, but here are my current measurements:
widest area around the breast = 43.5 inches
around the belly button = 39 inches
3 finders down from there = 42 inches
wides area around the butt = 45 inches
bicep = 14.5 inches
thigh = 25.25 inches

My goal for this week is to cut out soda completely.  My drink of choice is Dr. Pepper, but I'll drink pretty much any dark cola.  So this week I cut it out completely.  I've read that if you regularly drink one soda a day and cut it out, that change alone could amount to as much as a twenty pound weight loss in one year.  I guess we'll see.

My goal for next week will be to do at least thirty minutes of exercise three times a week.  I'm telling you now because if I can get a head start by squeezing in a session or two this week, I will.

So, that is it for now.  I'm guessing that's enough public humiliation for any one person in a day.