Easy Weight Loss 4 You

Got this off the Weight Watcher’s site, and it pretty much fits with how I am feeling right now, and with my re-commitment to being OP, now and in the future:

My Declaration of Independence
When, in the course of my life, it becomes necessary for me to change how I handle certain aspects of my life, I know that I have enough strength to do that.

After all, I have a right to feel healthy, live to a ripe old age and enjoy myself.

I shouldn’t have to feel tired, depressed and unattractive, and I refuse to feel that way anymore.

I know losing weight is hard. When it comes to food, I have an especially hard time with potato chips, cocktails and snacking after work.

But it’s worth it to me to dedicate myself to the task of losing weight, and I will do what it takes to meet my weight goal of 140 pounds.

I am dedicated to my plan for weight loss, and to get there, I will exercise three times a week. And I will make time for myself without feeling guilty about it.

Now is my time, and I WILL make it happen. This is my Declaration of Independence from the obstacles I struggle with daily. Let the fireworks begin!

Good news for me this morning:  I have not actually gained a huge amount of weight.  I thought I would be up (or over) 170, easy, but the scale said 165.  Whew.

I pulled out my pointracker at breakfast and tracked all 6 of my breakfast points.

Now here it is, 2 hours later, and I am STARVING.

How am I handling it and how should you handle it(if the same thing happens to you)?

First–drink a nice big bottle of water. Make sure it’s at least 2 servings of your daily water goal.

Next–still hungry? Then listen to your body.  I was still hungry even after the water.  So, I went to the kitchen and looked for a snack that would satisfy my hunger and not cost me more than 3 flex points.  My snack of choice? Fiber One Chewy Bars in the Oats and Peanut Butter flavor.  That puppy is ooey, gooey, salty, sweet and packed with 9 grams of hunger bashing fiber.

That’s my tip for the morning.  I’ll be signing on later after lunch, with a lunch time review of one of Lean Cuisine’s “Double the Vegetables” frozen entree`s.

I know I’ve been quite quiet on the diet front, not blogging about my weight loss and the like. It’s been a particularly stressfull spring, and (like many others before me), I’ve fallen off the WW wagon.

The good news–I haven’t gained all my weight back. Still fitting into my size 12’s and all that.

The bad news–I won’t fit into those size 12’s for much longer if I don’t get a hold of myself and recommit.

Tomorrow is my usual weigh in day and the start of my WW week. Today I will clean out the fridge and pantry and get it stocked with point friendly foods and I will clean my gym clothes and get them ready for a week of getting back OP.

I still have my various weight loss helpers (I stopped taking the ProActol and my One a Day Weight Smart vitamins right around the time I fell off of WW) and I will use them once I’ve got myself firmly back On Program.

Anyway, back to the drawing board for me! Remember, you can post a question or comment for me or email me if you have a question that I might be able to answer. If I can’t answer it, I’ll find someone who can!

She watched weight plunge 175 pounds | www.tucsoncitizen.com ®

This is simply inspiring!  I’ve been feeling a bit down about not being able to lose my last 20 lbs, but then when I read about someone like this….I just feel like “Wow. If they can do it, what the heck am I whining about!?”

Great, inspirational read.

Easy Weight Loss 4 You » Fitness Product Reviews

Check out my first fitness review for the Usurf.

Calorie-dense recipes from newspapers affect community obesity rates

I love the food sections in our weekly paper, and I love to try out the recipes each week, too.  Looks like I better knock that habit off.  No wonder it can be difficult to lose weight when you’ve got pitfalls and traps like the newspaper’s food section.

My commitment this week(other than answering the TON of email I let back up in my gmail account. Sorry about–life got in the way yet again) :  On Wednesdays I will post a healthy recipe for all of us to enjoy and to help us not get tempted by the fatty recipes in that day’s food section of the paper!

Now onto Proactol front:  I started taking the pills and lost about 3 lbs that first week.  I was very happy as I had been in a plateau with my weight since Xmas.  Then life crashed in on me–Grandad fell–again! I got a serious kidney infection and I broke a tooth.  All that just kind got dumped on me and I forgot to take the Proactol.  I still have my bottle and I am putting it right next to my vitamins and other daily meds so that I will remember to take it every day, as directed.

Today’s Weight:  164 (eep! up those 3 lbs I had lost! grrrr)

I’ll take my Proactol and wi next week and we’ll see how it goes.  One thing I can say:  there were NO GROSS SIDE EFFECTS!  That was my one worry, that the Proactol would have the same side effects that foods made with Olestra would have and it didn’t! So that’s a big thumbs up already!

Until tomorrow!

Weight Loss Miracles: Weight Loss Remedy - Overcoming Weight Loss Excuses

I have been guilty of each and everyone of these excuses.  How about you?

Americans Eating Fewer Vegetables

Fascinating article on how Americans are eating fewer and fewer veggies as part of their normal diet.

As hard as it is to believe, there are still some people who don’t know about all the benefits that can be had by simply adding more vegetables (and fruits, for that matter) to their diets.

Granted, we’ve all heard it since the time we were very small: “Eat Your Vegetables!”
As children, our main goal was to NOT eat vegetables, and we couldn’t wait until we were “grown ups” so we wouldn’t ever have to eat veggies again!

As we aged, however, we learned the truth: We NEED vegetables AND fruits to stay healthy, live longer, and to help keep us at the healthiest weight for us!

The recommended daily serving for fruits and vegetables is 5-10 servings a day. If you have ever consciously tried to get all the recommended servings of fruits and vegetables in on a single day, you know how tricky that can be.

Why do they recommend that amount? Do we really need that many fruits and veggies? Well, try going for a whole week without eating any fruits or vegetables. I would bet a thousand bucks you will be feeling pretty crummy by the end of that week.

So, how do we get the right amount of fruits and vegetables in our daily diets? First of all, figure out what a serving really is; a medium size fruit or vegetable is generally considered one serving. When you think of it that way, suddenly getting 5 to 10 of those in to your diet in a single day doesn’t sound all that difficult, does it?

And there are plenty of ways to getting the right amount of vegetables and fruit into your daily diet. You can pick up some of your favorite fruits and veggies at the store, clean and cut them the night before, so they are ready for easy snacking or for use in recipes the next day! That way, you could use them in salads, recipes like soup or stew, or just put them in plastic bags as a quick and nutritious alternative to potato chips! (Hint-baby carrots taste delicious and are OH SO SATISFYING when dipped into your favorite salsa!)

These “pre-bagged” fruits and veggies come in super handy at work when the munchies suddenly attack; rather than going to the vending machines, grab for your healthy stash of veggies and fruit that you got ready and bagged the night before.

Another great way of sneaking vegetables in to your daily menu is to make a salad with your dinner every night. Just make sure you don’t drown it with dressings! A great alternative to dressings is to spray a little of WishBone’s Salad Spritzers onto your salad. You get a delicious, light flavor of fancy dressings with a fraction of the fat and calories!

To summarize,the best way to get in the recommended daily amount of fruits and vegetables is to plan for it. Make sure to include a raw vegetable (which is healthier) along with a cooked vegetable in your lunch or dinners. Use fruit as an addition to your breakfast or desert.

With just a few simple changes, you can be well on the way to getting in your 5 to 10 daily servings of fruit in no time flat!

For more Diet Tips, be sure to check out:

Weight Loss Research

Fascinating news report on NBC 4LA last night:

Study Puts Diets To The Test - Health

In a nutshell, the study found that the dieters had more success with Atkins than with the other diets(my personal fave, WW, was not among the other diets)

The doctors felt that cutting out carbs was signifcant in the success. More importantly, they found no rise in cholesterol for the Atkin’s dieters, even though the Atkins diet is higher in fat.

It was the higher fat content that led the researchers to believe that helped dieters stave off slip ups where they indulge in overeating–they are already getting the taste satisfying fat right in their diet, so they don’t end up craving high fat foods should they slip up.

Now a quick proactol update: I’ve been taking it for nearly a week, now. I’m not noticing any ill side-effects (I had been concerned about those–I got stung by the Olestra wonder ingredient, once. Boy did I regret THAT bag of chips) I haven’t weighed in yet. I do that on Saturday.

I don’t know how the loss (if any) there will be. Unfortunately, I’m PMSing big time right now, plus I haven’t had the time to exercise (what with checking on granddad daily and work stress). Add that to the fact that I went to a…. Mexican Restaurant last night…well I just don’t know WHAT to expect.

If I don’t show a loss, I’m not going to call it a failure. I definitely want to give Proactol a least a month or month and a half before I render a verdict.

It’s been a bit of a traumatic February for me and mine.  Our grandfather took a very bad fall and broke his hip.  He had surgery and was in rehab for several weeks.  We’ve got him home, now, and we found a nurse to come in and check on him daily.  Whew!

So, I’m back, I’ve got the Proactol and I’m ready to start taking it and recording the results!

I’ve also made a startling discovery of my own regarding weight loss. Stay tuned for it tomorrow!