10K Steps A Day

Yeah, after two weeks of wearing my wonderful FitBit, I *unsurprisingly* found that I don't walk anywhere close to 10,000 steps per day. I do figure, however, this is the easiest way to get in some extra exercise. According to those higher scientist powers that be, "a person who walks 10,000 steps a day will burn between 2000 and 3500 extra Calories per week."

On average, I walk about 4,000 steps a day.  That puts me pretty close to sedentary. Disgraceful.

Starting yesterday, I have decided to add an additional 2,000 steps for this week. One walk around my office area equals 1,000 steps, and I do this once in the morning and once and night. I will hopefully make it up to 10,000 steps in a few weeks.

I hope I can see the effect on the scales!

Addicted To Food

Heavy, one of my favorite shows, is off for the season. While that is certainly depressing, I have found another great show to take its place. Addicted to Food is a great show, if you haven't seen it. It's on the OWN network (which I didn't even know existed), and I have a new favorite hero in Tennie McCarty.

"Denial is not even knowing we are lying to ourselves."

"Compulsive eaters are controllers."

"We love her anyway."

The Actual Pot-Luck & Admin-Professionals Day!

First of all, Happy Administrative Professionals Day to all you Administrative Professionals out there! We gave our lovely admin some flowers and a card to show our appreciation today. She is actually the reason I decided to form the "Bikini-Ready" pot luck, she recently was diagnosed with diabetes and sometimes feels left out of our "normal" pot lucks.

I did bring my taco soup, and it was a hit. All told, I still feel like I could puke, but if I did I would puke healthy food. That should count for something, right?  I've had blackberries, strawberries, taco soup, and spinach salad. For dessert, a friend of mine brought THE MOST DELICIOUS no-fat, no-sugar dessert, I kid you not. I would recommend this so simple recipe to anyone.

White Chocolate Fudge Mousse

Ingredients:

• 1 box (1 ounce) Sugar Free Instant White Chocolate Pudding (JELL-O)
• 1 1/3 cups 1% low-fat milk (or skim milk)
• 1 cup Light Cool Whip, refrigerated (or similar whipped topping)
• 1 box (1 ounce) Sugar Free Instant Chocolate Fudge Pudding (JELL-O)
• 1 1/3 cups 1% low fat milk (or skim milk)
• 1 cup Light Cool Whip, refrigerated (or similar whipped topping)
• 1/2 cup Light Cool Whip (optional garnish)
• Dusting of cocoa powder (optional garnish)

Preparation:

1. Beat white chocolate pudding mix into 1 1/3 cups COLD milk in mixing bowl on medium-low speed for about 2 minutes. Scrape sides of bowl halfway and continue mixing. Stir in a cup of Cool Whip, mixing by hand just until blended. Pour into individual serving dishes. You can use the back of a spoon to smooth the tops.
2. In same mixing bowl, beat chocolate fudge pudding mix into 1 1/3 cups COLD milk in mixing bowl on medium-low speed for about 2 minutes. Scrape sides of bowl halfway and continue mixing. Stir in a cup of Cool Whip, mixing by hand just until blended. Pour into individual serving dishes. You can use the back of a spoon to smooth the tops.
3. Cover individual dishes with plastic wrap or foil and keep in refrigerator until ready to serve. Add a dollop of Light Cool Whip to the center of each and top that with a sprinkle of cocoa powder if desired.

Yield:
8 servings
Nutritional Information:
Per serving: 104 calories, 3 g protein, 17 g carbohydrate, 2.8 g fat, 2.5 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 0 g fiber, 346 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 24 percent.

Office Pot Luck

It is our monthly pot luck @ the office tomorrow - normally a horrible time that I loathe and binge, but I organized tomorrow's pot luck! So, tomorrow's pot luck theme is "Bikini-Ready Pot Luck" and it includes only good-for-you foods.

I am bringing taco soup, and although I have never tried it, it seems fairly easy. It's a crock-pot recipe, of course it's easy!

CROCK-POT TACO SOUP

--2 cans of kidney beans

--2 cans of pinto beans

--2 cans of corn

--1 large can of diced tomatoes

--1 can tomatoes and chilies

--1 packet taco seasoning

--1 packet ranch dressing mix

--1 lb browned ground turkey or hamburger

--shredded cheese and sour cream for embellishment (optional)

 

The Directions:

--brown meat if you are going to use it

--drain fat and add to crock pot stoneware insert (the meat. not the fat.)

--sprinkle seasoning packets on top of meat

--drain and rinse the beans and add

--add the ENTIRE contents of the corn and tomato cans
--stir.

Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4-5. I think the longer you cook soup, the better, so if you have the time, opt for cooking on low. Stir well, and serve with a handful of shredded cheese and a dollop of sour cream.

Without the sour cream or cheese, it has about 200 calories per serving. Eat the taco soup with some veggie/fruit tray, and it's a good pot luck!

7th Weigh In - 4/25/2011

Today's Weight:                   294.6
Starting Weight:                  302.0
Weight loss to date:            -7.94 lbs in 6 weeks      

Easter hit me hard, ha ha. But I had a great weekend, and that is what matters. My spontaneous activity was Saturday, hubby and I went target shooting. It was my first time ever shooting guns, and I had always been leery of it in the past. But I did it, and I actually had a good time! It's one heck of a stress reliever.

Happy Monday!

Spontaneous

So hubby and I sat down and had a huge heart to heart - about issues going on with ourselves and issues with us together - and I think it worked out well for me. I'm trying my hardest to focus on my issues.

I am working through a book that basically says I need to worry about my life, and let others live their own. I don't think that means not work on issues in a marriage, but I think that means instead of laying blame on someone else, I need to stop and evaluate what my contribution to the problem is, and fix my issues.

One of the other lightbulb moments for me in this book (which I will probably reveal at a later time - I need to work up the courage to share some things on my blog) was that no amount of control is going to help any situation. Control is a farce. We have no control over anything but ourselves. I can only fix what's wrong with me, and offer support to those who want to work through their own problems.

Anyway, being spontaneous is something I have learned recently that I need to work on. Actually I am not spontaneous at all. It's partly due to my weight issues, but I feel like if I have some control over what is happening or going to happen, I can manage. If I plan where I'm going, I can determine if I'll need to wear something to try and hide my fat, or if I need to avoid somewhere (hello, roller coasters) that I won't fit, or figure out the best place to stand so the least amount of people notice me (hello, social parties).

I am going to do one spontaneous activity this weekend, that is my plan. Baby steps!

Happy Weekend!

Perspective

I really do not know what I would do without my husband. He is able to put so many things into perspective for me it's crazy.
He gently let me in on the fact that although he is 100% behind my weight loss goal, that I may be neglecting other parts of my life.
I took a while to think it over, and I realize that I have been. I am so focused on losing weight that I have let other parts of my life slip, and that just isn't healthy either.
I find myself thinking about food a larger part of the day than I should, and I need to make a conscious effort not to. I want to get to a place when I don't think about food, that I think about other important things and I just eat for energy.
It's a huge hill to climb, but it is going to be a big part of getting healthy.

The Teeth - Day 10

Can I say that I *REALLY* hope I'm able to see these results with my weight loss too?

I started using the Crest Whitening Toothpaste along with the Whitening strips. This stuff is amazing.

Day 0 VS Day 3 VS Day 10

6th Weigh In - 4/18/2011

Today's Weight:   295.5

I am very happy with this week's weigh-in. This means I've lost all my vacation water weight plus. :)

Hubby bought me a Fitbit! I used it all weekend, and now I have it on at work. I can definitely tell that I walk around a lot more on the weekends than the weekdays. I suppose that's another good reason it's time to start doing exercises on those days.

Happy Monday!

Happy Friday!

It's a dark, rainy, blustery day here, and I don't want to be working! I would love to be at home in my pajamas, reading the new Lincoln & Child book that's calling my name. I love to read - but when you have 2 little ones running around your ankles I find that it's getting harder and harder to find the time. When they go to bed, I'm usually not far behind.

I am going to *try* and start logging my food for realz, not necessarily just in my head. Usually during the day I'm calculating up the totals, and I might be approximating here and there. I might have better luck if I can write it down and actually see the totals on paper. Maybe that 40 calorie coffee creamer doesn't look so appealing on paper, right? Maybe I'll skip the coffee creamer when I see it on paper, and see that I can do without it.

Anyway, I hope you all have a great weekend! And, just in case you were wondering...

Breakfast:    Oatmeal               290 (I have a soft spot for McDonald's new Oatmeal...)

                        Milk                     100

                      Coffee Creamer     40

Snack:           Thin Crisps          130

Lunch:            Salad                   200

                      Lean Cuisine        230

Snack:            Milano                 120

Dinner:           Hot Dog              346

                      Tater Tots            127

Total: 1587

Cheating the Scale

In a recent survey by a British-based diet website, about 3,000 women were asked how they try to cheat the scale.  

50% Weigh themselves naked

40% Go to the bathroom first

10% Hold their breath
3%  Stand on one leg
3% Wait for a full moon

Let's see....


Weight themselves naked - always.
Go to the bathroom first - of course.
Hold their breath - yep.
Stand on one leg - I don't think I can stand on one leg on my scale. I may need to try that!
Wait for a full moon - I can honestly say I've never done this one.

I can also claim to use the following methods to cheat the scale: haircut, shaving legs, only weighing early in the morning. :)

FDA proposes more calorie count information

Today I had an (almost) all day office meeting. It was phenomenally boring. As a result, I began searching the Internet for random news articles that interest me, and came across this.

I will not lie; I was on the fence about this for a long time. I knew personally I would benefit greatly from restaurants putting caloric information on their menus, but I had heard that it was rather expensive for restaurants to submit their food for the testing required. The proposal by the FDA is for restaurants with more than 20 locations be required to put their caloric information on the menu. This helps out not only me but also the small businesses out there. I like it.

It surprised me when I went into Panera the other day and they had their calorie information on the menu. I was head-down in my iPhone, trying to look up the nutritional information. My husband kept nudging me to give my order, and I kept ingnoring him. Finally, after the 3rd nudge, I rather nastily said, "I'm looking up the calorie information, you go first!" To which I had to apologize profusely after I realized he was trying to show me the calorie information was already up there.

Oops. But, woohoo Panera!

The Teeth - Day 3

I am way past day 3 of my whitening treatment for my teeth, but I haven't had a chance to upload the picture.  I honestly didn't think I'd see a difference after 3 days, but I did. I can even tell a bigger difference when it is side by side.

Awesomeness! I'm looking forward to seeing day 20.

Day 0 VS Day 3

5th Weigh In - 4/11/2011

Today's weight: 297.5

This is not totally unexpected. I am coming off a vacation weekend, and my rings are cutting off circulation to my fingers. :)

I enjoyed myself this weekend! I didn't come home with what we'll call " loads of money", but I had a good time gambling nevertheless. The key to gambling is like the key to weight loss - all in moderation. I did manage to make it home with some money, and since I consider that found money I went out and bought Your Shape: Fitness Evolved for the Kinect/Xbox.

I went bowling Saturday night and I woke up Sunday sore all over. I figure that's a clue that it is time to start exercising. ;)

The Parent Trap

As I mentioned before, I'm currently on my way to gamble a bit of my tax return away. As it so happens, my mother is a heck of a lot of fun gambling, so she is going with us. Tonight is a short lay-over in the city she lives, and then we will head that way tomorrow.

It is amazing what junk food you can find exploding around this house. Without trying hard, I have already located the following:

1. Double-stuff Oreos
2. Chips-Ahoy
3. Pringles
4. Cosmic Brownies (which pack a whopping 280 calories per brownie)
5. Tons of Snickers Bars
6. Whole Milk (Whole milk mom, really?)
7. A jar full of M&Ms

My parents don't eat this stuff. No, they keep it around for us kids & their grand kids. "How's the diet going?" my mom asks after offering me whole milk & cookies.

I guess that's what parents are for!

4th Weigh In - 4/4/2011

Today's weight: 297

I think I may need to read up on the law of diminishing returns. ;)

Not too worried about it, this morning my wedding ring is so tight it's leaving a red ring around my ring finger. I must be retaining water for some reason, could be stress, could be too much salt, could be because it is that time.

My 6 year old daughter, Big Red (her brother & her have red hair from some strange recessive gene in our family - hubby & I are brunettes.) is heading to Disney this morning with her grandparents. Flying always makes me nervous, and I am especially nervous since I'm not there with her. (Hello, my name is Rae Rae J and I'm a control freak.)


Have a great Monday!