Healthy Challenge #2

Okay first of all I'm home in NJ. Well home, as in where my mom is. It's been a trying few days. I haven't stuck to any of my rules really. I had an adventure with Aaron yesterday where lots of sugary treats were devoured past 7:00pm. I didn't drink enough water. But tomorrow my goal is to have a good Monday.

That's it. Have a good Monday. Will you join me? It won't be too hard. It's just for Monday. Then Tuesday, we'll have a good Tuesday. But let's get off to a good start on Monday.

I'm going to run when I wake up. And I'm going to drink a gallon of water. And I'm only going to have one little piece of my baby's birthday cake. Because I'm pretty sure it's bad luck or something like that if I don't eat a piece. It'll be a good day.

I'm also going to do a pasta bar for baby's birthday. I'll have lots of yummy healthy options. Whole wheat pastas, and a few different sauces. And a great big salad. I'm so excited!

ONE POUND

Okay so it's been about a month since I last stepped on a scale. (Okay there was that one time at the doctor's on the 12th.) Other than I've tried to stay away from the scale. Tomorrow would have been a month since last weigh-in at 229. Today I weighed myself on the scale at Jazzercise. 228.

So many thoughts and emotions.

I feel like I've worked harder than 1 pound.

But maybe I haven't worked hard enough. Maybe I'm throwing toothpicks on a fire, and expecting a blaze as if I was using logs. But running/jogging 2 miles, and an hour of sweating my butt off cardio, doesn't feel like toothpicks. I've been eating healthy.

I guess I need to kick it up a few notches.

Then I start thinking. This is really as much as I can give right now. I mean I guess I could try a little harder. But I feel like I'm really trying to change my lifestyle. I don't want to do anything that I know I couldn't maintain my entire life. I don't want to lose weight only to gain it back again.

So if that it's it, than I shouldn't care about that stupid number. But I do!! It's so frustrating. I feel like what's the point of even working out at all if these are the results? I keep reminding myself that I'm working out for more than weight loss. But I really don't enjoy working out. I'm just hoping if I do it enough, and tell myself I love it, eventually I will. That whole fake til you make it gig.

I've been doing my best, but I think it's time for my best to get better. And I have a challenging time coming up. I am going to NJ for about a week. I always gain 5lbs whenever I go there. I am going to try to continue running while I'm there. And I'll be careful about what I eat. My goal will just be to not gain any weight while I'm there.

*sigh*

I am more than a number. My weight does not have any bearing on my worth. I am beautiful at any size.

Today was a good day

Today I woke up and ate a bowl of Kashi Go Lean Crunch. And a handful of pumpkin seeds because they were there. For lunch I had a bean cheese burrito with a whole wheat tortilla, and lots of salsa, no sour cream. (Actually I hate sour cream, but it makes it seem like a sacrifice if I mention it, right?) I had a banana and more and more pumpkin seeds throughout the day. For dinner I made cilantro lime jasmine rice, and Cuban black beans. It was so yummy!

I also ran another mile today! I walked for 2 minutes, ran for 2 minutes for about a mile. Then I decided to run the entire mile back. I wasn't going to. I was really tired today. And my feet still hurt. But then I just felt like running. It was like as soon as I gave myself permission NOT to run, I wanted to run. So I did. And I ran the entire mile in 11 minutes. That's probably a pretty pathetic time to most runners, but I am just impressed with myself for being to run an entire mile. I'll worry about my "time" as I get a little better at this sort of thing.

I also drank a gallon of water today. And I didn't eat anything with processed sugars (okay I had a sugar free, splenda sweetened ice pop, not sure if that counts). I sat on the couch and watched TV with the hubster without munching on anything. I really wanted ice cream, but I resisted. Thursday is when I wanted to weigh myself, but we'll be going out of town. So should I do it tomorrow? I guess so. I really don't think I've lost a pound. But I keep trying to get through my head, it's not about that. It's about changing myself. And the weight will come off. It has to. Right? Either that, or I'll just pregnant again and then it doesn't matter anyway.. KIDDING!

By the way I think tomorrow I'll blog about why I hate the Biggest Loser. Seriously losing 15lbs in a week can not be good! And if it is I want to be able to do it!!

I need to find a better way to deal with stress

The moment I start to feel the stress level around me rise, I instantly want to put something in my mouth. Tonight was particularly stressful with the kiddo's. Now that the hubs is graciously putting them to bed, all I want to do is stuff my face with the chocolate chip cookies I made today. I realize that this only hinders my goals, and even makes me feel gross since I'm already full. But really I am writing this post to keep myself from mindlessly entering the kitchen and downing 4 cookies before even thinking about it.

I do this all day long. And I get easily stressed out. Part of it is just lack of sleep lately. Another part is my poor coping strategies. I like to avoid things. Food helps me avoid, because food makes me happy. And I can think about delicious gooey chocolateness instead of screaming baby and disobedient toddler.

I think I should start meditating or something. Find my zen. Count to 10. Breathe. I'm sure there are plenty of ways besides eating my way to oblivion.

I also think if I keep my house cleaner, have more of a structured schedule, and always remember my morning prayers I will handle stress better. I'm really bad at these things. Messes automatically elevate my stress. I'm going to at least focus on that more this week. And I'm really thinking I might get a book on meditation.

So can I consider myself a "runner" now?

So I ran an ENTIRE mile without stopping. Not even once. I just kept chugging along. And I felt really great. I think I could have kept going, but I reeeaallly had to pee and that was seriously my biggest discomfort. And my calves were burning like crazy. And my feet hurt. I think I need new sneakers because I don't think your feet are supposed to hurt. Or are they? Then I walked a little further, than turned around and went back. I went a total of 3 miles. I am so pleased with myself.

It was really nice. Lake Erie is only a few minutes from our house, and there's a really beautiful park with a popular running/biking trail. Right now the leaves are all changing colors. The weather is perfect. My mind goes to weird a place when I run. I was pretending the birds chirping in the trees that surround the path were friends and family cheering me on. The leaves that were falling were confetti as I crossed the finish line (is there confetti in races? I doubt it, but oh well it was in my own little world).

I also looked at all the different leaves. Their different colors, shapes, sizes. I imagined if the largest leaf in a pile felt insecure about his large size. If the dull boring brown leaf was envious of the vibrant reds and oranges that surrounded her. If the red maple was really as confident as it looked, or was it really insecure about the few tiny holes no one else really noticed. And then I wondered.... am I really losing my mind? I am giving personality to leaves. And then I started thinking about wanting to go to a chiropractor. Yeah I don't get the connection either.

But YAY for 3 miles. And an entire one ran!

5 straight days of working out!!

Okay so I've had this goal forever to workout every day except Sunday. Something has always happened to be a good enough excuse to not do it. But I have worked out every single day since Monday. And worked out HARD!

Monday - Jazzercise for 60 minutes. And just in case you aren't familiar with the awesomeness that is Jazzercise, it's dance aerobics, and then strength training. It's my favorite way to work out. I like to pretend I'm just dancing, and not exercising, even though sweat is literally pouring off of me. And then the strength training is pretty intense, although varies a lot by teacher. Some instructors totally kick my butt, and others are a lot easier, but still a good workout.

Tuesday - Ran 2.4 miles while pushing about 60 lb of kid in stroller. I ran for a 1/10 of a mile, than walked a 1/10. Did that the whole time. Occasionally running 2/10. And sometimes walking a little longer because I was carrying about 35 of the 60lb of kids. It was a beautiful day. Hard workout but felt so good.

Wednesday - Jazz'd it up

Thurday - ran for 30 minutese. Up and down hills. I cried. It sucked.

Today - Again Jazz.

Tomorrow I plan on going for a "long" run. I don't know, I want to see if I can run 3 miles. And at least 1 without stopping. But it's kind of depending on the weather. I just don't have the dedication to run in freezing rain. But if it is raining I'll run up and down my stairs or something.

Yaaay for 5 days of exercise!!!

And now to NOT celebrate with delicious pumpkin cake......

More about body image

The time I felt the very best about my body was right after giving birth to my first baby girl. I remember coming home from the hospital and I was able to put my regular old jeans back on. I still had a little pouch, but it didn't bother me at all. I LOVED my body. I was amazed that this little person was created inside me. I gave birth to her. I was nourishing her with milk my body was creating just for her. It really didn't have anything to do with my weight, but more realizing the sheer miracle that was my body. I felt terrible for ever saying I hated my body, when it capable of such miracles.

Fast forward a few years later, right after I gave birth to second baby. I don't feel the same way at all! I remember when my dad first saw me after I had her and he was taken aback by how big my belly still was. And it still is. And while my body did the exact same thing it did the first time, and it's no less miraculous... somehow I just don't feel the same way. I wish I did. That was a good feeling. Maybe it does have a little to do with the fact that I still can't wear the jeans I wore before I got pregnant with her.

But, I don't totally hate my body. I'm not entirely uncomfortable in my skin. I do think my body is quite miraculous, and I'm grateful for it. And sometimes I look down, or look in the mirror and I don't think I'm really fat. I can't believe the number on the scale because I don't think I look like 227lbs or whatever I am. I think I have like the opposite of anorexic people, who really have distorted view of themselves and see themselves as much larger than they really are. I think I see myself smaller than I really am. And maybe that's a good thing?

But then I try to fit into pants that fit 2 years ago, and can't them over my rear. Or I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror and see my belly and realize I looked better 6 months pregnant. And I cry. And then eat. Stress eater, remember? So I am definitely motivated to stick with my healthy new lifestyle. But I have bad moments. But I also realize that even the skinniest person probably feels fat some days. So I guess it's normal, and maybe I always will feel like this. But I'm starting to think more about body image than my actual body. I think it's more important to get a healthy body image, than a healthy body. Well maybe not more important than a healthy body, but at least more important than a skinny body. I know people who have lots tons of weight and still feel so insecure about their bodies. I don't want that to be me. I want to be happy with my body no matter what its size. I want to love this body, now. So I'll let you know how that goes, k?

Body Image

So I've been thinking about why I want to lose weight. And all these other thoughts with the body weight set theory and whatever. I am interested in researching all this. I'll write about it as I do. But what's on my mind right now is a confession.

I want to be skinny because I want people to be jealous of my hot bod.

Yeah that's it. I said it. I now look longingly at "skinny" people and I'm like DANG! I want that body. And I want people to look at me be like DANG! I want that body. And thing is I know that no matter how skinny I get, there will always be someone skinnier.

But why do I even care? My hubs loves me, curves and all. My kids love me. I don't have any known health issues. So shouldn't I just be happy being the way I am?

No, I want to be SKINNY! This totally contradicts my last posts, right? That's why it's a confession. I want to be all "Yeah, I'm just trying to be healthy" and I do. And I am. But the underlying reason, and really my greatest motivation is because I think skinny people are better respected. And well liked.

Maybe this is ridiculous. Maybe it's just my perception. But no one respects the fat people. Just for example, (and there are countless others) the governor of New Jersey, Chris Christi. Living in AZ during the election I didn't hear much about him or his politics. All I heard was about his weight. Like seriously?! I just feel like if I lose weight and fit into a size 12 or 10 I would get more respect. From who? I really don't know.

So it's not pretty. But that's the truth. I just wanna be skinny.

Okay it's nap time

Okay so the littlest one is now asleep I can try to put a little more mental energy to this post. I can't find the original blog I was talking about, but this is pretty much the idea. Basically what it says is that our bodies have a predetermined weight, kind of like our height or eye color. Our bodies are set to be some particular weight. "When you go below your body's natural set point, your metabolism will react and start to slow down to try and conserve energy. Your body will start to sense it's in a state of semi-starvation and will try to use the few calories it receives more effectively." Likewise it also says how hard it can be to go ABOVE your set point. Your metabolism speeds up, your body temp rises to burn more calories.

Anyway I just find this theory really interesting. It also says the only way to know what your body's set weight is, is by eating healthy and moderately exercising. It can take a year of doing this before your metabolism can "fix" itself from damage due to overeating or dieting, and to settle into your healthy weight.

I personally believe this theory. It makes sense to me, and I tend to believe things that make sense. I think of people I know who just can't gain weight no matter how hard they try. Drinking milkshakes before bed, drinking 500calorie protein shakes, just desperate to put on a few pounds. While others are doing the opposite to lose weight. You see it all the time. However, do I believe this means my set weight is over 200lbs? No way. I'm just trying to say that I don't think it's 160lbs either. I'm not sure what it is. And I don't want to focus so much on that number. I'd rather focus on eating healthy, quitting all the bad habits I've developed over the years, and exercising. I believe if I can do all these things I will reach my set weight. And maintaining your set weight shouldn't be as much of a struggle because it's where your body wants to be.

I can't find the exact study I read earlier. It studied 50 people. Half they restricted their diets to 500 calories a day, and had them exercise. The other half ate up to 10,000 calories a day, and limited their physical activity. They did lose and gain weight respectively, but not at the rate you would expect. And all went back to their original weight soon after the study ended.

I realize there are holes in this theory. I also believe you can change your body's set point. It all just takes work. Weight loss is not rocket science. Burn more calories than you consume. Easier said than done though, right?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. I'll post some links

http://medweb.mit.edu/pdf/set_point_theory.pdf

http://books.google.com/books?id=UriYBuiH_FkC&pg=PA658&lpg=PA658&dq=study+of+weight+loss+set+point&source=bl&ots=nNn2X6nrmj&sig=v4abKCr_8yHy-w6nM8L2obhO7BI&hl=en&ei=5Ky9TOzQGoOB8gaS66X9Bg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBkQ6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=study%20of%20weight%20loss%20set%20point&f=false

And sorry if this seems like I'm making excuses. I'm so not. I just stumbled across this and found it really interesting. And it confirmed some things I had already thought about. I still plan on continuing what I'm doing, full steam ahead! But I'm trying to do it for reasons other than weight loss. I Jazzercise because it's so fun. And an escape for me. And it doesn't hurt that I burn 600 calories in an hour. I'm trying to eat healthy food because it makes me feel good. I like the way I feel after eating a nice fresh green salad with chopped grilled chicken way better than the way I feel after eating 2 fried chicken legs. So that's what I'm trying to focus on. And cutting out all the binging, and picking, and other fat habits, because they're just no fun.

Anyway I have way more thoughts on the subject that I'll post later, but this is getting long!

?

So I was reading these studies that basically say your body is set to be a certain weight. And it will fight to keep you that weight. It will slow everything down, holding onto calories, and go into a type of starvation mode. It also said of course you can fight this, but it will be a FIGHT for the rest of your life. And that only 20% of people who lose weight actually keep it off. And "keeping it off" was defined by keeping off 10% of your body weight, or something like that.

Anyway it got me thinking. Can I live like this the rest of my life? And the more I thought, the more I thought about what I'm actually doing. I am not doing anything drastic. I am just trying to stop bad habits. That I can do. I could never cut out carbs for life. Or spend 2 hours a gym every day.

So I'll just keep doing what I'm doing and see where that gets me. Because really if for me being skinny means having to do either of those things it just won't work. I feel confident that eating a healthy amount of calories, never truly depriving myself, will work.

I will try to find those websites and post them. It was interesting. I never knew there was this whole movement of "fat acceptance". I'll try to comment on it when I don't have a baby on my lap fighting me for the keyboard.

What I ate for my birthday.

So I tried not to have the attitude of "it's my birthday so I'm going to eat anything I want" because that totally sabotages my weight loss efforts. And it makes it seem like I'm depriving myself the rest of the year, when I'm not trying to be like that. Right? But I did give myself more slack today. Like I ate 4 oreos. And a nice sized piece of Chocolate Silk Pie. But for dinner I had the most delicious Cilantro-Lime Shrimp ever. I was going to eat in tortillas like shrimp tacos, but I was out of rice, avocados and black beans. So I just ate it over lettuce. It was heavenly. So good. And filling. At least with the pie. And maybe that nice sized piece was really two. And maybe by two, I mean there's only 1/4 of the pie left... but I had help! Oh I had help. Olivia, Abigail and Aaron all inhaled it. It was delicious.

But overall I don't feel good about my weight loss efforts this past week. I am determined to step it up this week. I am going to stick with the goals I set about 4 weeks ago with a new passion. If I haven't posted them before here's what I've added one week at a time.

1- No eating anything with more than 12 grams of sugar per serving.

2- Drink half your body weight in oz of water. (ie, if you weigh 200lbs drink 100 oz of water. It sounds like a lot, and it is, but it is the KEY! I'm sure of it. At least that's what I hear. I really haven't lost enough weight to start claiming I have the KEY yet.)

3 - No eating after 7:00pm.

4 - Taking a multivitamin/supplement every day.

I am going to be perfect in these 4 things this week. I don't know if we'll add anything new until I get these 4 down. The only one I can almost say I've mastered is not eating after 7. I did better at my Reliv than previous weeks but not twice a day like I promised. I drank SOME water every day, but not close to the oz mark I want to hit every day. And I def did terrible in the sugar department this week. And if you're looking for a number of pounds lost, I'm not going to weigh myself until Oct. 28th. That's a month from the last time I weighed myself, not counting when I went to the doctor and HAD to be weighed. I'm actually looking forward to it, and I'm going to work so hard for that number to be a big one!

and yeah yeah yeah... not about the number... I know! :)

Birthdays

So tomorrow is my birthdaaayy! I am debating on whether or not I should try a "healthy" cake recipe. But considering it's MY birthday, I think I am just going to go for the yum factor than muster all the willpower I possess and control my portion. And try not to pick while I bake.

So ultimately, by my next birthday I would love to be 180 lbs. That's 50 lbs this year. Doable. Totally doable.

But here's the thing. I know we're not done having kids. I might even get pregnant before my next birthday (who knows, right?). So it seems futile to try to lose weight, knowing I'll be pregnant again.

So I guess that's why I'm trying to just break the fat habits. Just trying to be healthy. A friend recommended the book, Intuitive Eating, I think I am going to check out. Sounds interesting. I'll let you know if I read it. Or if anyone out there has read it I'd love to know what you think.

So I guess maybe forget that whole 50lb goal. I just hope by next birthday I'll be in better shape. I'll come up with a more measurable goal later. Something like being able to run a mile without stopping. Or being able to do a pull up. Yeah just one. Trust me it'd be a miracle. I have to think about it. I'll come up with something.

Meanwhile, I'm celebrating the fact that I ate ONE Oreo today. I don't know that I've ever eaten just one oreo in my entire life.

HOLY DELISH!

Okay, I am no where near Asian. I'm about as far away as you can get. And I'm pretty sure the last recipe and this one are Asian inspired. And last night in my opinion was a bit of a flop, but these lettuce wraps. OH MY HECK. SO GROOOOOD (great and good...)! Normally my requirements for LOVING a dish is that it a.) has a ton of cheese, b.) has some sort of heavy cream involved somehow, c.) is deep fried, or d.) all of the above. This dish is lacking all of those things, and yet is still one of my favorite things I've ever cooked.

Five-Spice Turkey & Lettuce Wraps

285 calories (whaaaaat!)

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup instant brown rice (I used regular brown rice and cooked it normal)

2 teaspoons sesame oil - I actually completely forgot about this.

1 pound 93%-lean ground turkey

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger Again I only had the ground powder stuff, worked though.

1 large red bell pepper, finely diced I used green, it was like 30 cents cheaper, and I'm cheap like that

1 8-ounce can water chestnuts, rinsed and chopped

1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth

2 tablespoons hoisin sauce

1 teaspoon five-spice powder I found both of these ingredients in the Asian food aisle at Wegmans

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 heads Boston lettuce, leaves separated

1/2 cup chopped fresh herbs, such as cilantro, basil, mint and/or chives Oops forgot that too. That's what happens when you don't print the recipe and keep running back and forth from computer to kitchen.

1 large carrot, shredded

Bring water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add rice; reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a large nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Add turkey and ginger; cook, crumbling with a wooden spoon, until the turkey is cooked through, about 6 minutes. Stir in the cooked rice, bell pepper, water chestnuts, broth, hoisin sauce, five-spice powder and salt; cook until heated through, about 1 minute.

To serve, spoon portions of the turkey mixture into lettuce leaves, top with herbs and carrot and roll into wraps.

These were heavenly. I would never ever buy hoisin sauce or whatever, if it wasn't for this recipe. I am so glad I did. It wasn't very expensive, and it was SO good. I'm thinking I will be making this at least once a week. It is that good. Olivia ate it with a spoon straight from the pan, and Abigail ate just as much. By the way, I should mention I made this for lunch (hence the earlier post). It is so so so yummy, and filling. And 285 calories! Can't beat that. Did I mention it was good?

Dinner Recipe

So I made Shrimp Fried Rice for dinner. When I originally copied the recipe to my desktop I only copied the ingredients... don't know how that happened. So anyway, I bought all the stuff then couldn't find (read: was too lazy to really look) for the original recipe so I winged it. I wasn't a very big fan. But my hubby finished his bowl, Olivia ate a few bites, and Abigail inhaled what Olivia left over.

So here's the ingredients :

1 cup cooked brown rice

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tablespoon grated ginger

3 ounces precooked shrimp

2 cups bok choy

And here's what I did. Cooked the rice. Then combined sesame oil, soy sauce, garlic and ginger and shrimp in a wok. Then I added the bok choy. Then I added the rice. Then I decided it needed more shrimp so I added them. That was a mistake. The bok choy got really mushy while the rest of the shrimp cooked. I also cooked my rice in chicken broth because I thought that would give it a little more flavor. Only problem it was like totally clashing flavors. So yeah don't try that.

This recipe is about 300 cals for a generous serving. There's about 4 g of fiber. Low fat. Next time I'll add an onion, more garlic, maybe a little more soy sauce, use fresh ginger, and not do those things I already mentioned.

Tomorrow's recipe... Lettuce Wraps. I hope they turn out a little better or my husband is going to be praying for this health kick to end. I feel satisfied, and ate way less calories than I normally would.

I read an article today about weight loss. It had a lot of things I've heard before but never really let sink in.

One of the things it said was that it's a myth that the muscle owns the fat in front of it. For example, your ab muscles own your belly fat. So by doing crunches you are burning belly fat. Apparently not. Of course crunches and all that do something. You burn calories. But unfortunately we don't get to decide where our bodies will take that fat from.

I've lost 3lbs so far.

And I swear it's all from my boobs! WTH!

So anyway, Jazzercise is really good because you work large muscle groups, and I just really trust that the instructor knows what she's doing. I'm not worrying much about my workouts right now because I really think right now for me, just following the leader is best.

I've pinpointed another bad habit. I pick. I guess I've mentioned this before. But seriously, I am so gross with what I will eat. We went to Chipotle for dinner tonight (I know, big dieter no-no, right? Totally breaks like every rule of my last post. But I tried to stay on the healthy side and I made sure I had enough cals for it..). We brought a bag home with some left overs. That lasted about 30 seconds after we walked in the door. Then I went to throw the bag away, and noticed about 5 little black beans that had fallen out of the burrito. I scarfed em. Along with whatever shreds of lettuce were stuck to them. I do stuff like this ALL THE TIME. It must add up. And I don't ever count it, because how many cals are in 5 flippin' black beans?! But like I said, doing this all day I'm sure adds up. I'll have to work on catching myself. Sometimes I pretend like I'm in a reality show and all of you are watching me. How lame am I? But it helps. I keep joking with Aaron that my people are watching, so I have to be good. He thinks knows that I'm pretty much nuts.

Tomorrow night for dinner I'm making Shrimp Fried Brown Rice. It follows all the rules. I'll post the recipe after I make it and let you know what we think. It contains Bok Choy. Since I'm pretty sure I have no idea what that is, it must be good for you.

Dr. Oz

Oh I how I heart Doctor Oz. He has a Dinner Challenge, that I just signed up for. Basically his 3 rules are:

Dinner Rule #1: Portion Your Protein

You should be eating no more than 4 oz. of lean protein during meals. Measure your meat portions against an everyday kitchen sponge - compare them side by side and by volume; this will leave you with 4 oz. of protein and only 200 calories. Hint: Stay away from "prime" cuts of beef; this only means they have more fat in them. Stick to lean cuts.

Dinner Rule #2: Fill Up on Fiber

You must get at least 5 grams of fiber with your dinner. Look to low-calorie, high-fiber foods to get you there. Think whole grains and vegetables. You want to measure by volume - not weight. Use a 4 oz. ladle as your guide. For example, a 4 oz. ladle-full of peas will give you the desired fiber and about 200 calories. Hint: The average American only eats 10-12 grams of fiber a day; the ideal amount for a healthy diet is 25 grams.

Dinner Rule #3: Double the Veggies, Double the Spice

The benefits of a meal full of vegetables and spices are many. These nutritional powerhouses harbor powerful antioxidants, can be digestive aids and potent cancer-fighters. Seasoning your meals with natural spices - instead of butters and fat - will help you conserve calories. By doubling your portion of vegetables, you're only adding an additional 100 calories to your dinner.

The Perfect 500 Calorie Dinner:

Protein = 200 calories

Fiber = 200 calories

Vegetables = 100 calories

I'm going to try to come up with some yummy recipes that follow these rules. Anyone know already?

IT'S OUT

Okay so this totally irked me.

I went to the doctor today and told her I wanted my Mirena out. I was not expecting her to give me a hard time about it. But she did. She asked me what my "story" was. And I told her. I was about 200 elbees when they put this darn thing inside me and then doing nothing different, I am now 230. She told me MILLIONS of people have used the Mirena and I would be THE very first to report weight gain as a side effect. REALLY? I'd be the FIRST? I know that's not true. And I told her I wanted it out anyway. She said she'd really hate to see me get it out, for that reason only since it's the best form of birth control currently on the market. I had some other personal reasons I wanted it out, so she went ahead and removed it. But seriously! Flippity, flippin, ey. It's my body, I say I want it out, who gives a rip. And you can't say I'm the first to report weight gain, but whatev.

Unfortunately it didn't weight 30lbs. But maybe that is fortunate since I would hate to have anything 30lbs taken out from that area...

And maybe she was right. Maybe it has nothing to do with it. And if that's the case I am going to be sad, but I'll just keep chuggin along. And eventually doing the right things, I'll see results.

Checking In

So YESTERDAY I promised you all that I would take my vitamins twice a day the way I am supposed to.

And I only took it once.

Which IS one more than before my challenge.

And I started today off right and took it as soon as I woke up. And I WILL take it again.

Also, yesterday I did awesome about not eating anything with more than 12 grams of sugar per serving. For breakfast I had a bowl of multigrain cheerio's with skim milk. For lunch I had a hearty whole grain english muffin with a slice of american cheese. I had a snack of a Real Fruit Ice Pop, sugar free. Then for dinner I had 2 slices of pizza. I probably should have stopped at one. Then I had to drive the entire 30 minute drive home with the left over pizza on my lap. And I swear it was just begging me to open the box, and take just one more bite. I kept telling Aaron, "I am stronger than this pizza. I am stronger than this pizza." It really shouldn't be that hard, right? I mean to not eat something delicious when you're not even hungry? And it wasn't even THAT delicious. But I did it! It's the small things I need to celebrate. (Besides I had the left over slice for breakfast this morning...)

I also drank a decent amount of water. I didn't really keep track, but whenever I thought of it I filled up at 12oz glass with water and drank it.

And I didn't eat past 7pm. Okay that's a lie. I took my reliv at like 9:00. And it left a nasty taste in my mouth so what choice did I have but to eat 2, or maaaybe 3 teeenie tiny bites of ice cream? But that was it!

Today is National Face Your Fears Day. What are you afraid of? I've pretty much faced my worst fears. The dentist. Escalators. Natural Childbirth. Short of searching out a rapist, I think I've faced my fears, and hopefully that's not one I'll ever face. But this weight loss thing is kind of like facing fears right? It's kind of scary to change habits. To stop doing what I've always done.

Anyway later today I am going to my OB to get my IUD out. I'll let ya'll know if this thing weighs 30lbs or not. ;)

Healthy Challenge

Every time I've tried to lose weight in the past it's been an all or nothing approach. This time I am trying to gradually develop healthy habits. Plus kick my work out into high gear. Which I am happy to say really has already become a habit for me. I wake up at 5am, go to Jazzercise at 5:30 and have my work out done before 7am. I love it. And yeah, that has nothing to do with the rest of this post, but was just for me to brag.

So my challenge to myself, and anyone who wants to join, this week is to be perfect in taking my multi-vitamin. For me it's a product called Reliv, that I absolutely love. When I take it I feel better, have more energy, and it's just a good thing. So why do I struggle taking it? I hate the way it tastes!! But I need to just put on my big girl panties and get over it. I'll let you know how I do.

I have heard that when your body isn't getting the nutrition it needs it keeps sending out hunger signals until that nutritional need is met. I have no idea if that's true or not. It makes sense to me, and that's kind of what I tend to go with.

My theory about Mirena IUD

So this isn't fact. This isn't even science. It's just my own musings, and some logic, and some google research.

But I think that part of the reason IUD's work is because it makes your body think you are pregnant. By something being in the uterus, obviously the only other time something is in there is when you're pregnant. So I think my body is holding onto all these calories so ferociously to preserve a nonexistent fetus.

But we'll find out Tuesday. Well in the weeks to follow Tuesday. I am getting this thing out. I hope the weight will start to come off easier once my body is mine again.

I got pregnant in June 2007. I was still nursing Olivia when I got pregnant again in Sept 2008. Then around the time I weened Abigail, I got the Mirena. I am anxious to not have any kind of extra estrogen or hormones flowing through my body.

In my mind the doctor is going to pull out like 50lbs along with this IUD. Wouldn't that be nice!

Minor success?

Today I had a baby shower to attend. I decided to buy all the moms-to-be boxes of chocolate.

But then I thought, is that silly? Are people going to laugh at me for dumb gift? Aren't showers supposed to be gifts for the baby? And I got super stressed thinking about this major decision of what to buy for the baby shower.

So I bought myself a candy bar.

The success is because I only ate half (so far... but I swear I'm making Aaron eat the rest). Plus, I didn't have any sweets at the shower. Even though they looked delicious and tempting. Go me, right?

I realized I need to find a better way to deal with stress. And not stress over ridiculous things like what people will think of my shower gift. Once I figure that out, I'll get back to you. Because I really do think it's my biggest hurdle right now.

My Fat Habits

Okay so I thought it'd be good to write about why I'm fat. Why am I fat? (Fat's an ugly word. Almost anytime someone uses it, it's almost always followed by, 'you're not fat!' And maybe I'm not "fat" according to some definitions, but according to the BMI thing I am OBESE. That's an even uglier word if ya ask me...) Back to the topic here. I have some bad habits. I want to recognize them, and destroy them.

For starters, I am a stress eater. HUGE stress eater. If I'm even feeling slightly anxious I am looking for something to put in my mouth. Specifically something sweet.

I also can not walk past food and leave it alone. I will pick at it and eat it. I am still the little kid with my finger in the frosting of the cake. Sometimes the food doesn't even have to be visible. I still find it hard to walk through my mother's kitchen without pulling something from the cupboard.

Along these same lines I always finish everything on my plate. I try to leave a few bites, since that's advice I've been given. And it's not like I have a problem with waste. I have a problem with never feeling full. I can honestly out eat almost everyone I know. I literally have to force myself to stop eating. The only time I ever feel full is when I'm pregnant. Otherwise, I'm like a bottomless pit.

Okay healthy things I do naturally, or sometimes force myself to do. I always take the stairs. I park far away. I play with my kids. I drink a lot of water. I never (very rarely) drink soda. It's a rare treat to get a candy bar or anything like that. We eat a lot of lean meats, whole wheat, fruits, and vegetables. By all that I SHOULD be skinny, right??? Guess I have to kick those fat habits.

Also, I bake like the BEST chocolate chip cookies ever. When I make them, I lose all self control, am grateful for my bottomless stomach and I devour a dozen the first day I make them. So yeahh taking a little break from making those for a while. But every once and a while... I just have to make them. When all the forces in the world align and I can hear the chocolate chips beckoning me from their drawer. I hear it when I see a whole stick of butter still perfectly wrapped in it's paper. When I come across a brand new bag of soft brown sugar. When I pull out the gallon of milk and they have a flippin' ad for cookies on the back! It's all a conspiracy to make me fat, I know it.

Intro.

So I'm starting a blog to just document my weight loss. I have another blog where I update about my cuties, that's mainly for family and friends. So if you stumbled across this blog, not from reading my other blog here's a bit of info about me.

I'm 25, soon to be 26 (birthday is in 9 more dayssss!!). I weigh 229lbs according the scale at Jazzercise. This is the most I have ever weighed, not pregnant. And really not much more than this at the end of my last pregnancy. I got married in 2005. I weighed around 175. I was about 200lbs when we got pregnant with our first baby in 2007. By the end of that pregnancy I was 228. I came home from the hospital 215, and was back to 200 within the next 3 weeks. I stayed around there until we got pregnant again in 2008. This time I was probably 235 by the end of my pregnancy. I came home from the hospital probably 220. I lost a bit. I got down to about 210, maybe 208, then about 6 months ago I got a Mirena IUD. Which brings to me where I am today. 229.

UGH. I hate that number.

I hate that number because it starts with 2. Followed by another 2. Followed by a 9!!!!

But weight loss isn't about focusing on numbers right?

Right.

So anyway... I have a profile on myfitnesspal.com Which I am lovin'. I write down every single item of food that enters my mouth. I track my exercise. I make an honest attempt at staying within my caloric goal, and I succeed most days. I try not to eat anything with more than 8 grams of sugar a serving. I try to drink A GALLON of water a day. And I don't eat past 7:00pm (most days). I have an awesome friend/cousin-in-law (do those exist? They certainly do in our family) who has been helping me do little challenges for a week trying to create healthy habits. Anyone want in? That's why this blog, is Breaking Fat Habits. Perhaps someone else reading this blog wants to join us? I'd love more ideas of things we could add each week, and some more people to be accountable to. Email me, lauren.opie@gmail.com

I am going to try to update this daily with thoughts and recipes and whatnot. But if you didn't catch that, I do have two kids about 18 months apart who keep me pretty busy... and one of which is currently smearing lipstick all over her face, and just got hands on mascara so I better jet.