Tag Archives: One Breath One Step

Mostly Wordless (ok, very-wordy) Wednesday

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Hope everyone is having a good week so far.  I spent Monday and Tuesday in the gym!  2/2 so far this week Hell yeah!! Today however is a day jam-packed with fun, a trip to the hospital to get the official results of my sleep clinic visit.  Watch twitter stream for up to the moment updates there, appointment is set for 3:15.  They will be getting an earful about the problems I had the morning of my study.  Later in the evening I am going out with some friends.  I am hoping to get in a few miles after the doctor’s office but before I go to the comedy club.  Thursday I have a workout date set up in Woodbury with my friend Jenn to get our sweat on!

So I meant to post this on #SweatySunday but Today is as good as any…

SweatySunday

Do you SEE that sweat pouring off of me?  I was working so hard!  Pounding out the miles on the elliptical.  I will break out under 250 pounds.  I am “chomping at its ass” I WILL succeed!!

I am still having some residual problems with my knees from my fall last Tuesday.  Remember the photo of my bruise from the fall… well they are changing color and the pain is starting to subside.  I can actually touch the bruises now.  I had up until yesterday not been able to touch them at all without intense pain.  I had been using Burt’s Bees Res-Q ointment on the bruises, it helps but it hurts to put it on because you have to touch the bruises!

So I am all about flaunting my icky scars and bruises, it’s the part of me that is like a guy.  Tonight at trivia I showed off my bruises.  Well… let me just say I feel so honored… Anyone can get a cast signed, but seriously who else gets their bruises doodled!

GetWellSoon

I don’t want to shower tonight (luckily I don’t need one as I had just come from the gym) but I LOVE this.  It made my bruise feel better.  Silly right?  It’s way better than any icepack or band-aid!

So Happy Wednesday everyone.  I hope to bring medically cleared good news tomorrow!

Also… Have you heard about the PriorFatGirl Summer get together?  Are you Going?  I am!  I am SO EXCITED!!! I will be attending both parts of the event and would love to meet you there!  I have attended several events in the past and have always come away from them with so much valuable information.  Check out the posts linked as One Breath One Step to see my recap from the last event!

One Breath One Post Take Three

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Losing Weight Without Losing Your Mind

This is where Jen took back over again.  Jen laughed and said the trick to losing weight without losing your mind is actually not letting the people around you know you have lost your mind.  I can totally relate to this because I have people who I thought were my friends telling me that I am insane when I now spend hours at a time in the gym.  That hurts my feelings.  Whether it is as a joke or serious my life has changed.

So now echoing in my head are Jen’s words. 

  •  Take responsibility for your own life. It is only you the you are responsible for.  Others do not get to judge me for my decisions
  • Use your resources and do not feel guilty about it. 
  • Move forward with no regrets.
  • You define you own success! You make your own success!
  • Do not be ashamed to customise order menu items when you are out to eat.  The server really doesn’t care if you want something a little different.  The kitchen staff these days is very used to making things differently because of the dietary restrictions of people these days.  Think of all the food allergies etc.  If you are that concerned over it, leave a bigger tip.
  • Break it down! Face things one small decision at a time.  Just because your decision right now wasnt the best, or perfect decision just fix it next time.  You cannot change the past, you just keep moving forward.
  • Never say Never.  Take the restrictions away.  The only reason you should deny yourself something is if you do not want it.  Make it a decision not a restriction.  I choose not to have (whatever).  Do not say I can’t have alfredo sauce, say I choose not to have alfredo sauce at this point because that creamy sauce is a trigger food that causes me to binge etc. 
  • It is okay to buy something take a bite and throw it away if all you wanted was a bite.
  • Take responsibility.  Make your choice and follow through with it.
  • It is okay to make deals with yourself.  Learning to compromise is a part of life.  I think of it as a balancing act I can have my cake and eat it too! I can eat my cake, but then I need to go to the gym afterwards.
  • Allow yourself to feel your feelings.  Feel them, express them!  Everyone who has been to a grocery store on a weekend has seen a child throw a tantrum.  If you need to throw one and whine about how bad your day is. DO IT.  Feel those feelings!! Once you are done with your tantrum it is time to put your big girl panties on Suck it up princess and do what you need to do.
  • Working on the emotions is not as easy as eating right but it is a component of the journey.
  • Food should not have all the power that it has been given.  Why is food so powerful?  Food is social food is comfort. 
  • Are you really hungry?  Is it a craving?  How in touch with your body are you? Can you put that handful of cereal back in the bowl for 30 seconds? how about 5 mins?  have a drink of water set the clock for 5 mins and come back to it.  Are you really in touch with your body?  I know I am not. I have been struggling with this since the beginning.  I go from zero-to-starving in no time.  I also get mouth hungry (cravings) that I just can’t seem to break.
  • If you can’t stop yourself from putting that Oreo in your mouth, don’t beat yourself up, sit down and think about why you did it, remember contrary to popular belief, NO ONE NEEDS AN OREO!

What Kind of Resources Do you Have?

As you go through this journey your core group of friends may change.  You may very likely not be calling those couch potato friends of yours. This is not a reflection on them.  People grow and change, you may not want to sit and hang out shoving handfuls of popcorn into your mouth in the darkness of a theater as you learn how good it feels to push your body to its limits in the gym.  I have gone through this I have very few friends, luckily I am making contacts through my blog and at the gym that will hopefully lead to a great group of friends.

  • Set yourself up for success. 
  • Surround yourself with people who you will want to emulate.  People who make good decisions will influence your decisions.
  • Fake it `till you make it! 
  • Write it down.  Document it all, Keeping a journal helps provide a record of all kinds of things, food journals and blogs both provide insight about a bigger picture of what is going on in your life. 
  • Document you successes and struggles. 
  • Let yourself feel it! Allow yourself to experience EVERYTHING! Stop denying your feelings and DO NOT eat them!
  • Reach out for help!
  • Even on bad days you have to face your struggles.  By facing those struggles and recording them you set yourself up for success. 
  • Do what YOU need to do to be successful.
  • It is okay to take your own food with you when you go places.  If others are uncomfortable with it that is their problem. 
  • Customise your schedule to make it work for you.  Plan Plan Plan!
  • You do not need to use all your resources all the time.  You can mix and match them to make what works for you.

Jen did an AMAZING job with this event.  The goodie bag came with a lunch kit container some Barney Butter (my very fave almond butter of all!)  A Polar Discount code, some Coach Oats and some other things.  I don’t think many of us understand how much work goes into putting one of these events together.  I am so thankful that she was willing to put this together for us at the beginning of the year.  What a great way to kick off the New Year. 

After the event Jen, Carlos, Ann and I went to lunch at Victor’s 1959 Cafe in Minneapolis.  Which happens to be a place Guy Fieri from the food Network had visited for Diners Drive-in’s and Dives.  The food was sooo good! I will definitely be going back there.  The conversation was really nice.  I had a lovely time getting to know everyone also.  I hope my lack of sleep didn’t leave me rambling too much.  By lunchtime I had been up for somewhere in the 26 or 27 hour range of time. 

 I am very much looking forward to meeting up with the contacts and new friends that I have made in the last few months.  I want to do everything I can to support people on their journeys.  I have come a long way and still have a long road ahead of me.  So my offer stands, if you are in the Twin Cities, or passing through and want to grab coffee or dinner or go for a walk and chat contact me! I will share my story, I want to hear yours! The more we share the more we understand and learn.

Sadly my camera is crap, after the 6 years or so that it has been around I think this may be its last event.  Most of the photos are blurry and sad so I will spare you them. There is a photo of Stacy and one of Paul in my Flickr! but I did manage one good photo…

PFG Gang

Jen, Lindsay, Elle, JP

 

Wait! Wait There’s MORE!

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So in my last post I shared a lot of information with you.  Luckily it is all there to refer back to, that’s why I took so many notes so that whatever didn’t sink in right away could be absorbed over time.  Jen did a phenomenal job yesterday getting everyone involved and mingling.  Now I would like you for a moment to get involved in the exercise that she has us do.  Stand up if you have ever lost one pound.  (Yes you should really stand up! get up get up! This is movement that is exercise!) We all looked around, so many people all on the same path.  Knowing we aren’t alone.  (So please imagine 50 or so people with you) Jen proceeded with 5, then 10, then 20, 25, 30, 40, and 50.  As the numbers went up the number of people standing shrunk.  As the numbers went up, and people sat down my anxiety level went through the roof!!!  Seriously, I was not prepared to have people looking at me.  I did not look around at this point.  Jen asked those still standing to come to the front of the room.  There were four of us.  Myself Sarah, Sara, and another Sara (but I am unsure if it was Sara or Sarah).  Each of us had lost over 50 pounds. 

As I stood there and revealed my 153 pound weight loss to a room full of people I could not help but still feel like a loser.  The others revealed their better than 50 pound losses and they looked great! Yet there I stood, 153 pounds less than my highest in late 2009, a solid 20+ pounds less than the last time I was in that very room and how did I feel.  I still felt a bit inferior.  I am STILL in the high 200′s which means I still need to lose more weight.  To have come as far as I have, to be recognized for losing that amount of weight, and to still feel like I was not good enough, there is something wrong inside me. 

I used the short break to mingle and chat with a few people about how I am accomplishing my goals, but only after refocusing my mind.  I took just a few moments to remind myself that I cannot compare myself to others.  Each of our journeys is ours alone.  We can support each other, and cheer one another on build each other up but we take those steps alone.

So the next speaker was Stacy Klone of KitchenWerks.  She spoke at the last PFG event but this was not the same topic.  Stacy shared a bit about herself again this time.  She let us know that many years ago she had gastric bypass surgery, which is and was a very personal decision.  She has had to change her eating ever since then.  You can’t have things like bread and pasta and rice. 

Stacy said that it is very important to prepare yourself for this journey by being able to laugh at yourself.  She talked about the first time she felt her hip bones and thought there was something wrong with her.  My bones have become palpable lately.  I can tap on my collar bones as I sit trying to figure out a problem, and when I lay down my ribs can be seen and my hip bones, we don’t even want to talk about how bony I am.  She also wanted us to realize that there is much more to the journey to wellness than just the numbers that are on the scale.  You need to take a personal inventory.  Take note of how you feel, measure and see yourself off of the scale.  How do your clothes fit? Even if the weight isn’t coming off if you are doing things right and feeling better and making the small changes for longterm then don’t sweat it. 

Planning For Success

  • Have you ever worked in a place that has a break room? Have you worked in more than once place like this?  Did you ever notice they all smell the same?  All processed and packaged foods microwaved end up smelling the same. 
  • You eat with your eyes first.  You see the food first, then you smell the food, and then you taste if.  Make sure the food looks beautiful first.  Microwave dinners are not pretty. 
  • When people think of veggies most think about celery and carrots.  There are hundreds of kinds of vegetables out there.  From parsnips to eggplant and onions to radishes.  You can’t hate all the veggies out there.
  • You need to start adding veggies and fruits to every meal!  So start thinking about where can you add a veggie.  So think about your breakfast.  It needs to be balanced.  (Remember protein fat and carbohydrates)  So cold cereal isn’t really the best choice.  However a Chobani Yogurt with some granola and fresh berries would be better.  Sautee some mushrooms onions and spinach with garlic add them to some eggs serve that with a high fiber high protein bread round. At lunch instead of, (or in addition to) lettuce on your sandwich try adding some broccoli slaw for an added crunch.  At dinner make sure you are serving a veggie or two with your meal.  Salad every night works, but you can also use veggies as a topping.  Grind up veggies into a fine sprinkle and top things with them.  Sprinkle it on and into anything. 
  • You need to plan for veggies.  They are not just going to fall into your diet.  Plan for them, buy them and use them.   There are so many ways to cook and serve them.  A few examples are raw, steamed, roasted, grilled, mashed.
  •  If you are buying your veggies and they are becoming a mushy soup in your refrigerator then you are wasting your money.
  • Plan your menu from what is in your pantry (this was kind of implied and was definitely from the last talk)  But if you are trying to make recipes and have to buy every ingredient every time it is a waste and you likely wont end up making the recipes anyway. 
  • Do not use your food as a reward.  If you feel the need to eat something, whether it is a Little Debbie snack cake, a Milky Way Simply Caramel Bar, some chips do it before you go workout.  Eating it before your workout means it is done and over with you can feel like you have moved past it and have left it behind. 
  • Experiment with your foods! Don’t be afraid to try something new.  There are no rules about food.  You can mix and match things.
  • Kids do not come out eating Mac and Cheese and Nuggetts.  You control what their diet is.  Kids menus are loaded with garbage.  Let them order off the adult menu or share what you ordered with them.  Most restaurant portions are more than one serving, so you can share what you ordered with your child. 
  • Get kids involved with their food.  If you let a child help you cook, or get involved with the food they will be more likely to try the food.  They will also be more proud of their food.  Let kids help in the kitchen whether it is stirring or peeling or helping plan the menu.  Kids want to be involved.
  • If you have canned or packaged food that is going to soon go bad and you know you wont eat it take it to the food shelf/food pantry.  They will accept anything as long as it is still sealed.  Even 100 calorie packs that you are tired of eating.  If you wont eat it someone else will. 
  • Plan for your snacks.  Plan them ahead of time so you are not starving and grabbing anything you can get your hands on.  Great snacks include things like Nuts or Veggies, cheese, and meat.  Remember though that like meals your snacks should be balanced.  A key step in this is to prep your veggies when you bring them home from the store. 
  • Stop yourself from snacking on unwanted things that are in your fridge and pantry by making them less accessible.  Move that container of ice cream to the back of the freezer, put those chips at the back of the pantry and the chocolate bars in the back of the fridge.  Put the freshly prepped veggies in the front of the fridge.  Why you ask?  Because you eat with your eyes first.  You are more likely to grab something convenient from the front that move a bunch of things to get to the back.  So make the good stuff easy to reach!  Out of sight out of mind.
  • Make sure when you are cooking foods that you cook them completely.  Even if you are planning on re-heating them for lunch the next day they need to be fully cooked first.  If you are packing the lunch into containers glass is better for microwaving than plastic (especially over 4 minutes) Pack the foods to look appealing.  Reheat the foods to 165 degrees.  We all carry thermometers in our pockets right?  No? 165 guideline is steam coming off the food, its hot enough that you need to blow on it.  Easy right?
  • Need lunch ideas?  Last nights dinner can be made into todays lunch if you change the side dishes and perhaps add a few other spices.  Play with it until it looks like something new!
  • Play with your cooking!  Recipes are not hard and fast rules.  Chicken and Turkey can be swapped out for each other.  You can also swap those for pork.  You can also swap them out for beef or shrimp.  Not every recipe will work with different proteins but it is about experimenting. 
  • As your eating habits change your cravings will change.  Stacy told us a story about how she used to LOVE HoHo’s and a while back she had a HoHo again after so many years and it was the most disgusting thing she had ever tasted.  Your tastes change.

Stacy did a great job! She served a veggie medley to help everyone get their first serving of veggies for the day.  I did not partake as I was not hungry, it smelled wonderful though.  As soon as she makes the recipe available I will pass it along to you all! 

Since this is getting so long I will recap Jen’s portion in the next post.  So much wonderful info I don’t want you to miss anything!

No one told me there would be Homework

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So a few days before the PriorFatGirl event we received an email with some homework in it. 

BRING an example of healthy. A photo or whatever. You will not need to introduce it but it will be seen by others. You can take it back at the end of the event.

This actually caused me a good deal of stress at first though, I didn’t want to pick the wrong thing.  I talked out my thoughts about the whole idea of healthy with Robb.  I didn’t know if Jen meant a healthy person, or healthy choices?  My head was still spinning as I tried to figure out how to illustrate my idea of healthy.  As I have started on this journey I have moved myself into what I would call healthy.  However to most I still don’t look healthy (unless you reference my before photos, then my god do I look so healthy and happy!).  That is not what it was about.  So I embarked on defining healthy with photos I found on the web. 

Take a moment and think about it, when you think of healthy what do you think of?  I would love to know what you think!

To me “Healthy” when asked is this context of how do I see it composed of many parts. 

  • Balanced diet/ Good Nutrition
  • Hydration
  • Exercise
  • Sleep

These are the four core points that I illustrated in my example of healthy for the PFG event.  I went with simple representations but my point was easily understood.  I wanted to include regular  medical checkups but could not find something to show that.

So I am going to Do this Wrap up in more than one part… First up is Paul…

So when Paul Kriegler (Personal Trainer & Nutrition coach from Lifetime Fitness) got up to talk I wondered if my homework would match up with what he had to say.  (I won’t keep you in suspense My homework is A+ work!)

How to change your diet without going on a diet!

So here is where I pass along the secret that unless you were at the PFG event and don’t know the super secret handshake I cannot divulge the secrets that were given to us! … Just kidding! However as anyone on this journey to a new lifestyle and not a quick fix knows there is 8-minute six-exercises to the flattest stomach and tightest abs. 

A few of the most important things I took away from what was said and feel that should be shared are…

  • You are worth the time it takes. Whether it is the time it takes to exercise, or prep your food, you are worth it. 
  • Enjoy your food, food is fuel but you need to enjoy it.
  • You need to be able to move and feed good in this life.  If you can’t achieve this, you need to change what you eat.  Small changes make a big impact.
  • How do you determine Success?  If you are not the same as you once were, “Not as bad as I used to be”  That sure sounds like success to me!

There are no real hard fast rules for dieting, and what works for one person will not always work for everyone.  I cannot tell you how many times I have done Weight Watchers and it has not worked for me.  (I can also tell you how much I want to push people in the face that say well you weren’t doing it right because you don’t know you were not there, but I digress.)

Some general ground rules Paul shared with us…

Nourishment

  • When you eat food (because that’s what we eat right?) you should be eating a balanced plate.  This does not mean put it on a scale.  (although I weigh my food)  This means your plate contains a combination of 3 things.  Protein (to grow and repair of muscle and other cells), Fat (to insulate cells and energy and help release fat soluble vitamins), and Carbohydrates (quick fuel for our bodies).  Yes, okay there are other components minerals etc but this is a general thing so HUSH!
  • Life can exist on Protein and fat alone.  Our bodies can convert fat and protein into carbohydrates.  This process is why Atkins works.  However because Food is linked to mood after a while you start to go a bit crazy.  ”I would punch a baby for sure” Was a comment from JP about being the thought of Atkins depriving himself of carby goodness. 
  • Like all meals your snacks should be balanced.  (To this I add my own rule) all snacks should be enjoyed  to their fullest, put it on a plate whenever possible.  Sit at the table whenever possible.  Focus on your food.
  • Make your meals from real food! When was the last time you saw a McNuggett running around, or picked one-off the tree? Can you farm it? No?  Work on this!  Catch it, Farm it, raise it!  Work to reduce the number of processed foods from your diets.  Can you eliminate just one thing?  Small changes make for long-term success!
  • Meals are not small! We are so overfed and undernourished today.  A Burger from McSpankys has tons of calories but they are not quality calories.  They do not nourish your body.  (They certainly don’t nourish your wallet!)
  • Focus on eating 21 meals a week.  21 large meals.  This seems like an overwhelming task.  For me this seems nearly impossible.  given my schedule I think I would have to eat nearly non stop.  Most Saturdays I think I eat once a day, plus a snack if I am lucky.
  • Make the 21 meals less stressful by practicing the 80/20 rule.  The 80/20 rule is where you do your very best 80% of the time.  This means if only 17 of your meals make it into the balanced category you are doing great! the balance of them, you don’t stress over.  Pick your battles, 80% is damn good!
  • Bulk up your meals!  Get them big to get you full so you get those nutrients your body needs!  A healthy diet has lots of veggies and fruits in it (3:1 Veg to fruit).  We should be getting 9-13 servings of veggies a day, that is an overwhelming task, they reduced the suggestion to 5 and most don’t even get that! Did you have any veggies today?  Were they corn or potatoes?  There are more than 300 kinds of veggies out there! Experiment with them!  Even if you have to use a little fat to eat them do it!  (Who doesn’t want a little bacon or cheese sauce with their veggies?)
  • Veggies will set you free!!
  •  A serving of veggies is equal to about the size of your fist.  Your daily intake of veggies should be equivalent to about the size of your head. 
  • Pick one or two small diet changes to make and apply them.  Be consistent in your change and make no excuses!  NO EXCUSES!!! I really like that part. 
  • Food is how you communicate with your internal environment.  You MUST be intentional with your communication!

Hydration

The next thing talked about was Hydration.  Suzanne Somers was apparently on tv recently talking about pollution in the environment.  There are chemicals ad toxins in the air and food and water that get trapped in our bodies.  I am not getting all new age here.  I promise!  Fat is a storage system in your body.  When you start to lose weight, and burn that body fat off the toxins that are stored in your body fat are released into your body. 

I have spent the better part of my life dehydrated.  I do not drink enough water.  I do not drink enough anything actually.  My role model growing up was my mom who downs Diet Coke like we should drink water.  At least she is drinking something.  It is suggested that to flush your system properly that you drink HALF your body weight in ounces in water each day.   So at 275 Pounds I need to drink about 138 ounces or so.  That is an overwhelming number when I think about it.  If we learned anything from BP this last year the solution to pollution is dilution.  So I shall chug away at my water with my new PriorFatGirl water bottle to help get my toxins out.

 Activity

  • Muscle weighs more than far (we know this right, even though a pound is a pound) however, muscle burns fat!
  • Protein is under recommended in our diets.  Our bodies need protein! It builds muscles!
  • People are afraid of protein because they think it will be too hard on their bodies.  Most people can handle at least double what they are currently consuming for protein.
  • Bodies obtain the best amino acids and nutrition from animal proteins.  However there are amino acids found in veggie proteins that are awesome too.  So mix your proteins for best results!
  • Your body burns about 25 calories to digest 100 calories worth of protein, as opposed to the 3 to 5 calories it takes to digest the same 100 calories worth of carbs or fat.  This means protein has a thermogenic effect.

Misc. Other Highlights

  • Eat the food/foods that satisfy your hunger. 
  • Fat Fiber and Protein are the foods that will satisfy you the most.  (Healthy fats nuts, cheese olives eggs, seeds things that have good mouth feel and taste good)
  • Your body needs fats to feed satisfied
  • Listen to your hunger.  Are you in touch with your hunger?  I still struggle with this at times.  The clock does not determine when you are hungry.  Get in touch with your body.  Learn your hunger cues.  I am working on cravings vs hunger right now. I like to call it the Mouth Hungry Monster do I just want to put it in my mouth because it tastes good?
  • Journaling will set you up for success.  Your journal will give you a place to be accountable as long as you are honest with yourself in it. I keep both a food journal and this journal as tools to keep me on track. 
  • Identify your food/situational triggers.  Are there certain foods that make you binge? lack of sleep? social situations? Eliminate or change them! Make it work for you! Set yourself up for success!
  • Food is an experience to share with others, so ask others to support you.  If this means you bring your own food then DO IT! If others give you a hard time about it… STOP HANGING OUT WITH THEM!
  • Influence the environment around you.  What goes around comes around.  Set yourself up for longterm success.
  • Taking photos of your food can help you visually balance your diet.  What color is missing from your plate?
  • “Successful people track their results, no matter what their profession is!” –Carlos
  • Embrace the trouble, it is worth it! You are worth it… YOU ARE WORTH IT!
  • Sleep is an important key to being healthy.  Ask anyone who is an athlete what part of their regimen they enjoy most and sleep will be a likely answer.
  • Devote everyday to learning something new.  It can be about anything, yourself, something you enjoy.  Trivia is your friend!
  • Weight loss is possible and probable! Lose it, kiss it goodbye forever but it is a lasting consistent commitment to yourself.
  • Your slight changes will make differences, after all weight-loss is a side-effect of a different life style!

 So that wraps up the first portion of the One Breath One Step Event. I promise I will recap the rest of the event.  Including the fact that apparently I was the biggest loser in the house and how that made me feel. I want to talk about the incredible people I talked to,  I have some photos  to share as well.  But I think this has gone on too long already.