Well Now That's Not Fair!

So Hector has been on a diet since September 13th, and would you believe in less than 2 months he has already lost 23 lbs? And I know he has because he is doing this thing through the VA and they gave him all this equipment where he has to weigh in on their scale and a voice tells him how much he weighs and if he's gained or lost, etc, and then it is transmitted over the telephone lines to the VA. He does this first thing in the morning in his office while I am putting on make-up to go to work so I hear it.

Now the funny part is he really isn't going crazy dieting or anything; he did give up fast food and sodas which I think really are the two biggies for him. He also takes Bob-the-Bulldog for a walk most days and he has actually started going to bed earlier which is something for him. I think going to bed earlier also helps him cut down on snacking which he used to do, like chips and crackers, etc, because he likes the salty stuff whereas I love my sweets. All in all though, he really has done a good job with it losing the pounds.

Now for myself, I know if I did the same thing, I would probably only lose 10 lbs (even if that much) in that 2 month period. I will say he has always lost weight pretty quickly whenever he has seriously put his mind to dieting (which he used to have to do in the Marine Corps).

It's just not fair that men in general lose weight faster than women. Yeah yeah I know, life isn't fair, but in the weight department it should be. And I admit to being a little jealous of his success, even if nothing is stopping me from trying. And I know I should. ***sigh***

I guess as long as one of us is losing weight. Maybe I should just let Hector write this blog...he's more successful at losing weight than me. (Pity party for one, anybody?)

Yeah, it just isn't fair. ***sigh***

Well, That's One Way To Diet

Yesterday when I got home from work, I went right to bed. Yep, to bed. From about 10:00am I just felt so sleepy and no matter what I did (even drank coffee in the afternoon) I just could not stay awake. I don't even know how I made it home really. As soon as I got into the house, I stopped long enough to put my purse up and take my shoes and jacket off and tell Hector that he and Sean Michael were on their own for dinner and then I set my alarm for 5am (so I could get up and take a shower, etc) and then into bed I went. And went right to sleep....until Hector came to bed at 9:30ish and his father called. Even so, I went right back to sleep after that.

I did wake up at 4 to use the bathroom and discovered I was hungry, too. But I figured I would go right back to sleep and get over being hungry, at least until I got to work and had my oatmeal. Which I did.

So going to sleep early has its advantages for sure. No snacking while making dinner. No overeating at dinner. No temptation to snack at 9 o'clock. And all the things I read say that getting a good night's sleep is important with helping weight loss. Of course maybe they don't quite mean going to bed as soon as you get home from work, but it was a good night's sleep, barring the interuptions (the phone call, the dog "fluffing up" his pillow, having to get up to pee, etc).

Of course on the flip side, probably not good for the family life and seeing them. Though, Sean Michael also went to bed early, like 6:30 because he was really tired too. Hector was the only one left up, and I think he just stayed up because he didn't want to put the dogs back in their crates so early and not get any attention. As it was, he was in bed by 9:30.

Anyway, it's kind of too bad I can't do this three or four times a week. Well I could, but I'm not usually quite that tired when I get home. And really I do like watching some tv and playing Bejeweled and Candy Crush before I hit the hay.

But man what a great way not to eat, right? I wish I could do that awake. ***sigh***

I Resisted.....(Or, aka The Cinnabon Saga Continues)

So this past weekend I went down to Newport News to see my pal Vickie. Which meant I went by the infamous Exit 104, aka the home of the Cinnabon in the truck stop, not only once, but twice because I had to come home. And I resisted the urge to stop. Truth to tell, I didn't think too much about it on my way down to Vickie's but on the way back, the thought was there. I stared at that sign really hard as I drove on by, but, I stayed in that far left lane and kept on going.

However......I can't say I was very good over the weekend and I think I'll blame Vickie (ok, just a little) because she had made these really really good spicy cookies that were right out of the oven and then came with a glass of milk. Yum!!! Not only that, she had a brownie recipe from The Pioneer Woman that had caramel and chocolate chips and nuts in it that we made Saturday evening and oh.my.goodness!! They were absolutely delicious!! Needless to say I had quite the sweet tooth this past weekend and it got happy!

I think the most part for the sweet tooth was because of the furlough and that did kind of put me on edge. So what better thing to do than eat, right? (Not to mention Vicki made spaghetti for dinner and I do love spaghetti!!) The good part is I gained only a pound which is better than 5. I have been pretty stagnant but of course that is my own fault for not doing what I am supposed to do, but at least I haven't gained any back from what I lost in the first place.

At any rate, with the whole furlough thing, I won't be going anywhere for a while, so I won't be tempted by the all mighty Cinnabon. And that's a good thing. :-)

1,000 Calories Later.......

You know what I think? I think I should never ever have another Cinnabon again. Well, ok, maybe not in the near future. Or maybe just the rest of this year.

In any case, 1,000 calories is really hard to burn off. It's too bad I don't like to run. ***sigh***

So. About That Cinnabon Cinnamon Roll........

Ok. So we are on our way to NC and the good thing about driving there is I really just want to get on the road and not stop and to just get there. And, since we left Friday night instead of Saturday morning, Sean Michael wasn't even thinking about cinamon rolls, so we just rolled right on by Exit 104. Phew! Just saved me 1000 calories. Yay!!

And then we're on our way home Sunday evening. I was going to again drive right on past. But. Every time I talked to Hector on the phone that day (3 or 4 times) he would bring up Cinnabon. Like wasn't I going to stop for Sean Michael? It wasn't fair that we got one and he didn't. Am I sure I don't need gas by the time we get to that exit?

By this time I'm thinking HE is the one who wants the Cinnabon, not Sean Michael (who I hadn't even mentioned it to), and at first I was not going to stop. Yes I did need gas but I was pretty sure I could make it to Fburg and get gas there and not have to stop. But.

Yes, I succumbed. I mean look at all that yumminess on a plate! Spicy cinnamon.....sweet sweet icing....crunchy pecans...what is there not to like?? I thought about how it would make a tasty breakfast for me in the morning and it isn't like I eat these all the time. I don't even know if the mall in Fburg has one and I'm not going to look, either, to ward off more temptation. So I bought three, one for each of us, and I have to admit I ended up eating mine that very night. That's how much motivation I had. But I will say, it was really really good.

And then I weighed myself Monday morning. That was really really bad.

No more cinnabon. (This year at least.)

Let the motivation begin!! (again!!)

You Know What Isn't Good For Losing Weight?

Cinnabon cinnamon rolls. Or more precisely, the ones that have icing all over them, then drizzled with another kind of icing, and then covered with pecans. I have to admit (which I didn't in my last post a couple of days ago) that on Monday we stopped at a Cinnabon (I had been craving one after watching an "Undercover Boss" on tv and Cinnabon was the subject) and we bought a couple. Oh. My. Goodness. It was sooooooo good! Now to be fair (to myself) I haven't been to a Cinnabon in years, so really this shouldn't count against me (too much). And I could only eat half of it in one sitting, and saved the other half for the next day (probably eating it while I was typing out that Motivation post).

However, I did not bring one home for Sean Michael. And he saw ours (the other one was Hector's). And he wasn't happy about not getting one. So, as we are going to NC this weekend, I promised him that we would stop and get him one too. Now this shoud be where the motivation kicks in and I forgo getting myself one, since I already indulged this week. I could even just send him in alone so that I don't have to smell them or see them.

I don't think that is going to happen.

Enough said.

Oh To Have Motivation.....

You would think that if one wanted to lose weight, one would get the motivation to do it. So what stops it? That's what I'd like to know.

Though I think I do know, really.

When I'm on a diet, I tend to think of food much more than when I'm not on one. And I think that makes it harder, you know? It would be really nice if you could just kind of shut your mind off to food when you want to, like right after you have a meal. I know I've read that if you feel like snacking you should drink a glass of water or do something to get your mind off of it, like go for a walk or read a book. Maybe that does work for some people, but usually I don't even think of those things and just go straight for the snack. Not a good thing. Boredom doesn't help either though, as when I am at work can attest to that. Now I could keep good-for-me snacks here in the fridge, like carrots and celery, but then that's where they would stay, in the fridge, because I don't like carrots and celery. I don't mind raw broccoli and cauliflour, but (yes, there is a but) I like them dipped in ranch or some kind of dressing, which defeats the purpose of their healthiness. Bummer, right? Back to square one.

Then we have exercise. I don't like it. I admit it. I wish I were one of those people who did, but I don't. Yet, I do enjoy the feeling afterwards, because it does make you feel good, and rather virtuous. (Until you have that piece of chocolate cake....) I recently read that to lose weight, it really isn't the exercise that does it, it is the amount of calories that you eat versus the amount of calories you expend. I would think that the calories you burn during exercise would count for some of that, but then again the amount that you do burn never seem to be all that much if you've ever seen the charts listing that sort of thing. Which is also a disappointment and a discouragement. On the other hand, exercise is good for the heart and body, etc etc. Now just to convince my brain that.

Yeah motivation. I wish they sold it in a store or something because I would buy it. How about you?

Musings About A Bag Of Sugar = 5 Pounds

I would say all of us have bought a bag of sugar or two in our time and we know that they weigh in at 5 pounds and they're pretty hefty and a good size bag.  Right?   But when we lose 5 pounds, we don't lose this massive size of body fat.  So it makes me wonder where we are losing the weight at and how much at a time.  I'm guessing we must lose an ounce here and a couple of ounces there, to equal a couple of pounds a week (if you're dieting, that is). 

If you google a picture of 5 lbs of fat (I did and I'm not going to post one because it's yucky), it does look bigger than this bag of sugar.   Imagine losing that in your stomach, all at once...it sure would make the clothes fit looser and make a person look a bit thinner.  And if you multiply it by 2 or 4 or 10, it just seems like one would be skinny (depending on how much they had to lose of course).  But no, unfortunately it doesn't work that way....we lose it so it isn't all that noticeable until you've lost a lot. So then I wondered, what happens to the fat that you lose? Does it just melt away or what? Then I remembered that Google is my friend, and this is what I came up with: The short answer is that our bodies convert molecules in fat cells to usable forms of energy, thus shrinking the cells. Interesting. It's too bad they don't shrink faster, or all at once in one spot like a 5 lb. bag of sugar size. Reading on, I found that muscle takes up less space than fat, so that if you have a pound of fat and a pound of muscle, the fat portion will be larger. Somehow that doesn't really make sense to me; it seems like it would be the reverse. But what do I know...I'm not a doctor or scientist. Ah well. A little here and there is better than none at all I suppose. So let me take my bag of sugar and go make cookies. ;-)

Being Sick Helps

So I'm back from vacation and back to work and haven't been to the gym yet, though I do keep telling myself I really need to. However, on the bright side, while I was on vacation, I was sick for a week straight with a sore throat and runny nose and just feeling crappy in general, BUT I lost 6 pounds.  And I've kept it off, along with 2 more to date.  So in total 8 pounds, which of course isn't a whole lot but better than being 8 pounds heavier, you know?

While I haven't been actively been dieting per se, I have been watching what I eat more and have cut out a lot of sweets (which we all know are my downfall).  We've been eating salads and fish and chicken, though this past Tuesday I was dying for a cheeseburger so I made myself one and it was
d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s!  And yesterday.....well,  I actually had a Little Debbie snack, the peanut butter chocolate wafer things. Normally I am not a Little Debbies fan but these were in the freezer and reminded me of when Reeses made something similar back in the very late 90s and I would freeze them and they were sooooo good, so I tried these and while not as good as Reeses, still they were good.  I wish the chocolate wasn't waxy tasting but oh well, it hit the spot.  Now I just have to stay out of the freezer. lol

Today I only had my coffee (you really didn't think I was going to give that up did you???) and a 100 calorie pack of popcorn and a bottle of water  so far.  I know I should have had breakfast but I didn't.  And tonight for dinner I think it might just be a smoothie to get a jump on the weekend. 

And next week is another week....I may actually hit that gym. :-)

I Went To The Gym Today...Oh What Fun.....

Yes, I went to the gym here on base today. No, not on my own. lol  Ms Williams from upstairs got me to go with her and a SSgt, and, while not looking forward to it, I did go with them.  Mostly I've avoided the gym just out of being self-conscious and being around all those skinny Marines, but it really wasn't that bad.  Everyone just did their own thing and weren't paying us any attention, or at least if they were we didn't notice.

Anyway, we did 17 minutes on the treadmill, and then we got on the elliptical.  Come to find out, I'm not very coordinated, (which really I already knew)  because I didn't do all that well on it.  The SSgt said I was going backwards. I can't figure out how you can tell if you're backwards or not.  At any rate, I only stayed on it for a few minutes (I can see why it would be a good workout....I was tired just after those few minutes!) and then I went to the stationary bicycle and did 2.5 miles on it.  All in all I did work up quite a sweat and felt pretty good afterwards. SSgt said next week we're going to do stairs, etc, and I'm like, hey, I'm just starting out and I'm not going to kill myself doing this.  I'm doing this at my own pace and do what I want to do.

The one thing I need to do though is put some music on my phone so that I can listen to music while working out, because for me, just staring ahead is boring as heck.  Well, they do have tvs you can watch up on the wall, but you need earphones for that,  and I didn't bring any.  But I would rather listen to music than watch whatever they have on the tv, so I need to get some music on my phone asap.

After we left the gym, Alma and I walked across the street to the PX to get something to eat, though I really wasn't in the mood for food, I wanted a smoothie.  I had strawberries in the freezer here at work, along with a blender I had bought a couple of weeks ago just for this purpose,  so at the PX I found pre-made strawberry Slim Fast and strawberry yogurt, which I bought and then came back and made my strawberry smoothie. Though the smell of the Slim Fast was rather off-putting, once it was all mixed up with everything else, it tasted pretty darn good and was relatively healthy.

The only bad thing about starting this regime is it is only going to be for a couple of weeks because then we go to California on July 2nd and bringing back Vanessa and Jeanna and Kyla, so I won't start it all back up until August. 

But I guess two weeks for now is better than none, so there ya go. Let the workouts begin (again....)

You Know You're Depressed When......

you eat half a chocolate pie in one sitting.  :-0

Uh oh......

Ok, so I have been doing pretty well and staying away from sweets and keeping the calories below 1500. And walking a couple of miles, though today I haven't because one walking buddy is off and I didn't feel like walking down by myself to the track to meet the other. (Not to mention it is raining a bit.) But I am going to get on the treadmill when I get home and make up for it, as much fun as that sounds. Not. lol

However, food-wise today hasn't been my best.......this morning when the barista made my drink she put whipped cream on it, because after all, it IS Friday and she thought I needed it.  (To be fair, before I went on this diet, they were all kind of used to putting whipped cream on my drink on Fridays and she figured this was no different.) And, well, whipped cream....I couldn't be rude and tell her to take it off. And when I got outside I couldn't just very well pop off the lid and scoop it off.....without making a mess anyway and I didn't want to do that.  So of course I ate it. And of course had to count that extra 100 calories into my calorie count, along with my oatmeal and actual drink. 

Then along comes lunch time.  I brought a Lean Cuisine, a banana, and a tangerine with me this morning, with the intention of the LC for lunch, and then if I got hungry in the afternoon the fruit would be a good healthy snack (though honestly I meant to have the banana with my oatmeal and then didn't after the whipped cream).  So I had my LC for lunch, and it was pretty good,  except that whenever I eat one of those things, for some reason I crave sweets after them.  And I don't mean sweet fruit, either.  I mean like the chocolate I keep in a jar on my desk for the Marines here.  Normally I am not even tempted by it so it is usually not a problem.  But after that LC,  I kept hearing the miniature Hershey bars calling my name, and, well, I ate 5 of them.  ***hangs head in shame***  So there's an extra 210 calories I hadn't counted on for today. 

And that makes my entire calorie count at 1170, and which doesn't leave much in the way of dinner, though dinner is supposed to be salmon, baked sweet potato, and broccoli. 3 oz of salmon has 127 calories and a baked sweet potato has about 100, and a spear of broccoli only has 13, so I guess I'll be good to go, but I also realize those extra calories I had today were not what one would call healthy.  At least I won't go over 1500 calories, and I will hopefully work off a couple of hundred on the treadmill, so all is not lost. 

I guess I need to break it to the barista no more whipped cream Fridays.  ***sigh***

Let The Games Begin....

Well, okay, actually they started officially on Sunday and, if I do say so myself, so far so good.

 I printed out journal pages for what I eat and what exercise I do and bought myself a binder to put them in, and started them on this past Sunday.  Granted, I am only 4 days into this, but better than not, right?  I have been counting calories and so far have kept under 1300 which I didn't really mean to do.  I would like to keep them between 1400 - 1600 so that I have room to go below in case I hit a plateau.

 It is amazing how many calories things have! lol   And for just small amounts of things, you know?  Like 190 calories for just 2 Tbls of peanut butter.  To eat just a peanut butter sandwich, using the 100 calorie bread, is 290, though, of course, if I didn't really want to taste the peanut butter I could put half that amount.  On the other hand peanut butter is a good protein and it is actually what I had for lunch today, a peanut butter banana sandwich and it has kept me full all afternoon and that's a good thing.

I have hit the treadmill at half an hour at a time, doing a little over a mile.  I'm just not gonna kill myself over this and just build up to a good pace eventually.  Today I went walking around the track with two women at work and I have to say that was so much more fun than on a boring treadmill with no one to talk to.  We walked about 1 3/4 mile like it was nothing, so I enjoyed that.  And we're going to keep on walking as long as the weather isn't too crappy out.  Next week I am going to add other exercise to my regime so that I get in some weights, etc. 

I have also found some great ideas on Pinterest both in food and exercise that I am printing out and keeping around so that I can see them and not forget about them.  

So, Week One has started and we'll see what happens.  Let's hope the motivation stays with me!

Back On The Treadmill

Yep, I did it. I got back on the treadmill today. I went a little over a mile in a half hour and even though it was not a long time or distance, it still made me feel good.  I decided that I am just not going to push it too far like I have before, and plus I really don't want to re-injure my left ankle. So I figure I just start out nice and slow and pick up the pace as I go along, and add in other exercises too. I didn't gain the weight overnight and I won't lose it overnight, so I am going to just try and take it one day at a time.

The one thing I need to do though is make some kind of logbook and log in what I've done as far as exercise, what I've eaten, calories, weight, etc, so I can keep track of that sort of thing, so I can see my (hopefully) progress. Tomorrow I am going to look online and see if there is anything like that that I can print out and make into a binder for myself.  I have seen actual books like that at the bookstore but not for  exactly what I want to put in it, so I figure I'm going to just have to make my own if I can't find any on the computer. 

But at least I have finally taken that first step. May 2013 be THE year I get thin. Wish me luck!

January 1, 2013

Well, here we go.......

***crosses fingers***