What I've Been Doing This Last Year

Hi As you can see, it's been a few months since I last posted on this blog and just over a year since I last tracked my progress with living a healthy life.  A lot has happened since then.

My temp assignment at Vision Service Plan ended on July 31st, and I went on unemployment.  Finding more work was difficult, so I decided to try and go to school while on unemployment.  God had His hand all over that and blessed me in a tremendous way :)

I had no idea what the procedure was for starting school and being on unemployment, so I searched the California EDD website and found a pdf file about the California Training Benefits program.  In that pdf file, I read something about going to a Sacramento Works office to be approved to go to school while on unemployment, so I made my way to the nearest office and began the process.

Little did I know what lay in store for me...I went through the long, laborious process of trying to get my schooling paid for with a government grant, filling out paperwork and attending training classes at the Sacramento Works office.  I had to research the field in which I wanted retraining, see what the employment outlook was for it, and fill out a scholarship award packet.  I had to find someone who was an employer or employee in the field I had chosen and interview them as well.

God guided me every step of the way...it was awesome!  For the interview I had to do, I thought of a friend in my small group bible study.  I asked him if I could interview him and he was very kind and gracious in saying yes.  When I did the interview, one of the first questions I asked him was his title.  At that point I discovered that he was the chief financial officer for the Sacramento SPCA!  I found a big dog to interview!

My job history was pretty free-flowing...I took whatever jobs came along while working as a temp, and had never aimed for something specific before.  During the first couple of weeks after my temp assignment ended, I evaluated my career and looked at what made the most sense for me to pursue.  I chose accounting for a few reasons...numbers do what they're supposed to do, and if they don't, it's a mistake that can be tracked down.  I was also tired of being stuck with only a few career choices.  I've been a secretary, an admin assistant, I've done data entry in accounting departments, I've been a proofreader at a title company, a proofreading team lead there, and was a title examiner when I quit.  Accounting would fit into those job experiences quite well.

After I turned in the scholarship packet, all that was left was to wait and see if I got a scholarship.  One day I got a message from Jackie...I was approved!  The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) was funding my entire tuition to attend MTI College and go through their accounting technician program!  $16,000!  Wow!

I began school in October, and through the entire 36 weeks I managed to maintain a 4.0 GPA and graduate at the top of my small class My last class was on Thursday, July 1st, and I've been job-hunting since.

It's time for me to trust that God will bring me to the right job.  Most of the time I'm not worried about it; I keep searching online and applying, trusting that He will lead me to the right position and open the door to the job He has lined up for me. 

As for my working on losing weight, I didn't do much at all during this last year.  The good news is that I didn't gain any weight; I've been fluctuating between 232 and 237 lbs.  I can maintain my weight, which is good to know.

Along with looking for a job, I need to begin working on a healthy lifestyle again, that's my next challenge.  I have two options for exercise...walking and riding my bike.  Both are good, and doing either or both on a daily basis is my goal, as is keeping a food diary.

I'm not going to be following a rigid plan right now, although it might be better for me to do that.  At this point our budget is tight, so doing something like South Beach isn't an option.  Focusing on healthy food choices is the most important thing I can do, and that's something I have to do for the rest of my life.

The area I struggle with the most seems to be allowing myself splurges.  I find a reason to let myself have some type of splurge nearly every day, and that's not good.  If I want to lose weight and be healthier than I am now I can't keep doing that.

This brings me to this blog...writing about my efforts here will help me stay focused.  I need that :)  I'll be writing about all of that as well as the rest of my life.  Choosing to live a healthy life involves every aspect, not just diet and exercise. 

I hope you enjoy reading here, and that you share your thoughts and comments as well.  Those comments will be an encouragement to keep blogging away :)

Getting Back on Track

I haven't officially begun my healthy eating yet.   I've done my shopping and have purchased fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables, chicken breast and salmon fillets.  Whole grains, sprouted whole grain bread and some additional seasonings also made their way into my shopping basket.   There were other items as well.

I'm not following an official plan this time.   I need to develop a habit of healthy eating that's realistic and fits into the lifestyle of me and my husband.  I'll be working on portion control and proportions with my meals.  I'm using the portion guide at WebMD.com to help me determine proper sizes and amounts.

Tonight's dinner is chicken breast sauteed in a small amount of olive oil then I added some pesto.   I've also prepared a mixture of brown rice and Kashi's whole grain pilaf cooked in chicken broth and will be adding a bag of an asparagus vegetable mix.   I'll be heating that up in the pan in which I cooked the chicken so that the vegetables pick up that flavor.

Breakfasts will vary from 2 slices of sprouted whole grain toast spread with 1 1/2 tablespoons natural peanutbutter and topped with a sliced banana; steel cut oatmeal with fresh or frozen fruit and unsweetened vanilla soymilk; Yoplait yogurt with some granola and fresh fruit.

Lunches will be soups or stir-fries.  Dinner will be something like what I made this evening.   I still need to figure out snacks for me.   My husband will be snacking on things like cheesesticks and peanuts.  He needs to maintain or gain some weight, he's 6 feet tall and barely 150lbs.

Hmmmm...fresh cucumber with a lite cheesestick, or carrots and bell peppers with hummus.   Those are good snack ideas :)

Please feel free to share snack suggestions in the comments, I could use some help!

Greetings!

Another long break....how time flies!   I've been in school since October 5th and am halfway through my second term.  It's been a busy time for me, and since Christmas is just around the corner I've changed my blog's look to reflect the holiday season.

I hope that all of you are doing well, and that a wonderful Christmas is in store for you.   I want to share some of my school work here and I hope that it's motivating to you.

Look for new posts to come in just a bit.

Changes

Nearly two months have passed since my temp assignment at Vision Service Plan ended.  In that time, I haven't received a new temp assignment or found a job.  It's been an interesting time, and has given me the chance to stop and think about my career path and what I'd like to do.

I've done a lot of drifting with my career, basically taking whatever job came along.  I'm tired of that after doing it for nearly 20 years. I've gained some great experience with data entry, administrative assistant work, and have learned title examining. It's time to take control, though.

The unemployment rate in California is over 10%, and employers have their choice of employees.  I'm a good employee, but there is no demand for title examiners, I can't keep doing data entry, and my secretarial skills are over 10 years old.   As you can see, it's not going to be easy to find a permanent job.

Over the last year I've had plenty of time to think about this, and after my assignment at VSP ended, I gave my career future serious consideration.   I also filed for unemployment benefits because I wasn't sure I'd get a new assignment right away.  Good thing I did that, because I didn't :)

Working with the California EDD is a royal pain in the patoot.   You might as well give up calling them from your home phone, you won't get through.  I did some research on their website to find out about going to school and staying on unemployment, which led me to their flyer with information about California Training Benefits (CTB).  From reading that I learned that I needed to go to a Sacramento Works One Stop Career Center and see if I could qualify for WIA in order to take advantage of the CTB program (you can also qualify if you haven't worked for4 weeks and meet other criteria).

My adventure continued as I went to a one stop career center a few miles from where I live.  I met with a couple of career coaches who were very helpful and found out what I needed to do.  I had to attend some workshops at the career center, and then fill out a scholarship application.   One of the criteria was that I had to choose a course that was approved by WIA and then do research about the job outlook, pay rates, demand, etc.  I also had to interview an employer or employee in the job I was choosing.

Again, I was very fortunate.  It turns out one of my friends from church is not only in the career field, but is a Finance Director/Controller!   I didn't know his job title, and when he told me I said, "OOooohhhh, I got the big guy!"

I did a lot of research, and it culminated with the news that not only did my application get approved, but this course was also qualified under ARRA (The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act) and my tuition would be paid 100%!!!

So here I am, less than 2 weeks away from my orientation and the beginning of classes at the school of my choice, and ready for a new stage in my life, that of student!

I have a new laptop with the appropriate software, wireless internet connectivity, and the drive to get good grades and make the Dean's List.   Woohoo!!!

I am taking an accounting clerk course at a nearby business college, and will graduate on July 2,2010.

I am blessed :)

I'm Back!

And I'm ready for more blogging :)  Life has taken another change this last 2-3 weeks...I was working as a temp for Vision Service Plan (VSP) up to the 31st of July.  I'd been there for a year, and I knew the end of the assignment was coming.  It wasn't a surprise or a shock.  It had been a good year, and VSP is rightly named as one of the 100 best companies to work for in the United States.

After my temp assignment ended, I assumed that my agency would have another assignment for me rather quickly, but that hasn't materialized yet.  As a precaution, I applied for unemployment and found out last week that I'll be receiving a regular check.  That's a huge relief :)

I decided to take advantage of this opportunity and look into whether or not I qualify for taking classes while staying on unemployment, and am still waiting to find out.  If I do qualify, I plan to take a course in bookkeeping and office management to enhance my skills.  I have almost all the experience I need to be an office manager except for the bookkeeping skills, so this would be a good move for me.

Meanwhile, I've been in a waiting mode this last two weeks, and everything has been put on hold, including this blog.  It's a bad habit of mine, doing nothing while in waiting mode.  I need to stop that.

This blog will still be about my journey to a healthier life, but I'm going to expand the focus to include thrifty living and my experiences with that.  I'll be sharing great websites and resources, as well as my experiences.

Oh, I'll also be posting about our new kitten, The Mighty Diesel Thunderpurr.  I think you'll like him :)



Happy Monday!

ZZzzzzzzzzz.......

Sleep that knits up the ravell'd sleeve of care,
The death of each day's life, sore labour's bath,
Balm of hurt minds, great nature's second course,
Chief nourisher in life's feast...
~ Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act II, Scene II

And if tonight my soul may find her peace
in sleep, and sink in good oblivion,
and in the morning wake like a new-opened flower
then I have been dipped again in God, and new-created.
~ D.H. Lawrence

O bed! O bed! delicious bed!
That heaven upon earth to the weary head.
~ Thomas Hood, Miss Kilmansegg - Her Dream

The best bridge between despair and hope is a good night's sleep.
~ E. Joseph Cossman

Even thus last night, and two nights more I lay,
And could not win thee, Sleep, by any stealth:
So do not let me wear to-night away.
Without thee what is all the morning's wealth?
Come, blessed barrier between day and day,
Dear mother of fresh thoughts and joyous health!
~ William Wordsworth, "To Sleep"

Finish each day before you begin the next, and interpose a solid wall of sleep between the two. This you cannot do without temperance. ~ ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Come, cuddle your head on my shoulder, dear, your head like the golden-rod, and we will go sailing away from here to the beautiful land of Nod."
~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Sleep. That most wonderful time of the day when you get to lie down on your bed, snuggle up with your pillow and blankets, cozy up to your spouse and cuddle with your cat....it's wonderful :)

But did you know that a good night's sleep also helps with weight loss?

Check out this article:

Lose Weight With a Good Night's Sleep?
Sleepers Getting Less Than 6 Hours of Sleep a Night Tended to Be Heavier Than Longer Sleepers in Study
By Caroline Wilbert
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

If you are trying to lose weight, a good night’s sleep might help.

A new study found a link between sleep and weight. Study participants who were so-called short sleepers (meaning they got less than six hours per night) tended to have on average a higher body mass index, or BMI, than long sleepers.

The small study, presented at the American Thoracic Society’s International Conference in San Diego, was conducted with 14 nurses at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Nurses received counseling on nutrition, exercise, stress management, and sleep improvement through the program.

The participants wore armbands that measured total activity, body temperature, body position, and other indicators of rest and activity.

The average BMI for short sleepers was 28.3. That compares to an average BMI of 24.5 for long sleepers. The BMI range for normal weight is considered to be 18.5-24.9 and for overweight 25.0-29.9. BMI is calculated from a person's weight and height and is an indicator of body fat.

Surprisingly, the overweight participants were significantly more active than their normal-weight peers. The overweight participants took an average of 13,896 steps per day, compared to 11,292 for normal-weight participants. The overweight participants also burned nearly 1,000 more calories per day on average than their normal-weight peers.

“We found so many interesting links in our data,” lead researcher Arn Eliasson, MD, says in a written statement. “Primarily, we want to know what is driving the weight differences, and why sleep and weight appear to be connected."

There are several possible reasons, Eliasson says. Lack of sleep may disrupt natural hormonal balances, triggering overeating. Stress could also be a factor -- contributing to less sleep and more eating in the same people.

He says that "higher perceived stress may erode sleep. Stress and being less rested may cause these individuals to be less organized than normal-weight individuals, meaning they would have to make more trips and take more steps to accomplish the same tasks. This might add to their stress and encourage other unhealthy behaviors, like stress eating."

Eliasson and colleagues are planning more studies to investigate the link between stress, sleep, and metabolism.

So make it a priority to get to bed a little earlier and get 7-8 hours of sleep a night. You'll not only feel refreshed, you'll also be healthier!

All-or-Nothing Thinking

As I've gotten older, I've come to realize that I suffer from all-or-nothing thinking. A friend of mine once told me that I was a perfectionist, and I laughed until she explained that I was the type of perfectionist who completely gave up trying at all if I couldn't do it perfectly.

What a bondage! Perfection or nothing at all...and so I ended up doing nothing at all, seemingly giving up while anger and frustration seethed deep inside.

This thinking has affected every area of my life, keeping me from trying new things (if I can't do it right the first time, I wasn't going to do it at all), keeping me from being myself with people I didn't know well (hey, if they don't know who I really am, their rejection won't mean as much), keeping the house clean (it didn't stay clean, and I was easily overwhelmed so it was easier to ignore it than to fight what seemed to be a losing battle), and more obviously, this thinking kept me from living a healthy life.

All or nothing...I didn't give myself room to make mistakes, to recover from those mistakes and move on, learning from them. I buried my anger and disappointment in food and an attitude of "why bother?" It wouldn't make a difference anyway.

Over the past few years I've slowly been learning to let go of this and to take those risks and make mistakes. The truth is, I don't have to be perfect to be liked, and even to be loved. I simply need to do my best and give myself grace when I mess up.

Applying this truth to my physical health is giving me the room to live my life and the freedom to make those healthy choices.

I found this article on About.com's Weight Loss Channel. I found it to be extremely helpful and hope it's the same for you :)

5 Steps to Banish All-or-Nothing Thinking
Take the middle ground when it comes to losing weight.
By Jennifer R. Scott, About.com

When you want to lose a significant amount of weight, it's easy to fall into all-or-nothing thinking ...

You rationalize: 1. ) You have to follow a super-strict diet to succeed and/or 2.) If you fall off the wagon and eat junk for a day or two, you've blown it altogether.

This train of thought can be very detrimental to your weight loss efforts, but it's all too easy to fall into. So what's a "loser" to do?

Step One: Loosen Up
The first way to avoid all-or-nothing thinking is to shake the idea that you must follow an extremely restrictive diet to lose weight.

The fact is, most people who successfully maintain weight loss don't diet. They make healthy, permanent lifestyle changes, such as cutting back on calories, practicing portion control, and reigning in emotional eating.

Successful "losers" focus on weight management, not just weight loss.

Step Two: Give In... Just a Little
Severely limiting your food intake or completely cutting out your favorite foods sets you up to binge. Temptation becomes much less powerful when you can have just a taste of something "bad" now and again instead of telling yourself it's off limits for good.

This can be daunting at first. But you will become accustomed to satisfying your craving with a smaller amount of your trigger foods and you'll learn "when to say when".

Step Three: Stop Saying the "D Word"
We "go on" and "go off" diets after every holiday season; we say "I start my Monday." only to be off it by the weekend. Nobody says "I start my new way of life Monday." But that's exactly what we need to do. An effective diet isn't just for Christmas, it's for life.

To find a way-of-eating that works for the long haul, be leery of any plan that restricts entire food groups or that relies on one type of food (e.g. soup, pre-prepared entrees) as its mainstay.

We need variety not only for nutritional reasons, but also to satisfy ourselves. Believe me, because I've been there: Go on a diet that requires you to eat foods you don't like -- or completely omits your favorites -- and you will eventually dread every meal.

Step Four: Forgive Yourself
So ... you've decided to give Step Two a try and allow yourself your favorite treat, chocolate chip cookies. But you don't stop at a couple ... you eat half the package. Then, for breakfast tomorrow morning ... you polish off the other half.

Have you completely blown your diet again? Does that mean it’s time to give up altogether? Do you think, "Maybe I'm just not cut out for this." and go back to old eating habits?

Not allowing yourself to make mistakes is the worst mistake you can make. Seriously.

Here's some food for thought: All-or-nothing thinking is a way to let yourself off the hook. It's an escape route. ("Oh, now I've screwed up. Glad I don't have to bother anymore".).

There's an old saying that goes, "No matter how far along you are down the wrong path, it's never too late to turn back.". So don't think just because you made bad choices today, you can't start over tomorrow.

It sounds trite, but every day truly is a new beginning. You can't erase last night’s binge, but you can aim for a much healthier today!

Step 5: Celebrate Small Victories
Go ahead: Praise yourself for the small challenges you surmount; you won't give up so easily if you do.

Yes, choosing 2-percent over whole milk is a victory. Doing an exercise video on Friday is a triumph, even if it’s the first day you've exercised this week.

Take it easy on yourself as you're learning how to be a new, improved, healthier you. After all, you're only human... a soon-to-be-much-lighter human!

Moving Forward

It's been a difficult couple of weeks dealing with Riley being sick and then having him put to sleep. I put my focus on following South Beach, exercising and blogging aside so I could spend time with Riley and then give myself room to mourn his loss.

Friday evening I went to look at a kitten and ended up taking him home with me. He's an adorable little guy, still nameless as my husband and I debate different names, but we're getting closer :)

I still miss my Riley, but this kitten is helping to ease that loss and bring my focus onto the present. I know this might sound a bit extreme to some of you, but Riley was that one special pet so many people dream of having, my loyal and loving companion. I'd had him since he was 3 weeks old, and he bonded with me as his mom. He would sleep on my back at night, lay on the computer desk in front of me when I was online, come running when I called him, play fetch with me, sit at my feet and meow at me to pick him up and then let me carry him around the house as he observed everything from this new vantage point with a lively curiousity and intelligence. He would begin to purr the moment I touched him, and when I came home he would almost always come to greet me. Riley was sweet-natured, loving, playful, curious, intelligent, soft and cuddly, gentle, and so affectionate with me. He really was my baby cat, and a true gift of love from God.

My husband and I are having a time of it trying to come up with a name for the new kitten, but we'll find one eventually.

I began walking again last night after work, and will be continuing to walk on a daily basis at least 5 times a week. As soon as we get our living room uncluttered this weekend, I'm going to begin the core exercises outlined in "Never Say Diet" by Chantel Hobbs, using an exercise ball. I'll begin doing those 2-3 times a week for 20 minutes a day.

I haven't done too poorly with healthy eating choices, but I wasn't following my plan very closely. I allowed myself some less healthy choices here and there, and am actually quite pleased that as of today I'm at 233.2 lbs! That's great news, all things considered :)

I do have some recipe reviews which I'll be posting in a few days, as well as an article I've found about how pets contribute to our emotional and mental well-being. Yep, they're part of a healthy life as well!

Update

It's been a couple of days since I posted.  I've been doing ok with my eating, not so consistent with my exercise, and it's pretty much due to stress. 

My beloved cat Riley is sick, and I'm afraid this is it for him.  My sweet husband is taking him to the vet tomorrow morning as Riley hasn't improved much at all, and I'm prepared for the worst.  I'm hoping for the best, though.

I'm so thankful for my husband...Riley has been in my life for over 10 years, and he's that one special pet of a lifetime.  We bonded when I found him at 3 weeks old, and he's my baby cat.  He's been with me through so much and has always been such a sweet and delightful companion.  I can't face taking him to the vet and hearing bad news, so my husband is doing that for me.  If this is the worst, my husband has promised to hold Riley and love on him while he's being put to sleep.  That's a huge comfort to me.  I know my husband loves Riley and will make his last moments full of love.

I won't be walking tonight, just in case.  I plan to spend as much time as I can with my baby cat, holding him and loving on him.  I've done so much crying over the thought of this the last few days, and I'm tearing up now.

If this is the end of the road for Riley, my husband and I are going to have him buried at a local pet cemetary in their country garden area.  I've never wanted to do this for any other pet, but Riley deserves this.  If we owned a house, I'd bury Riley in the backyard, but we rent, so that's not an option.

I'll be back posting tomorrow with news one way or the other.

Regrouping and Exercising in Blazing Heat

From the potluck on last week, I didn't do so well and gained a few pounds back. I still suspect that some of that is water weight due to a large amount of salt, and also due to that time of the month (sorry to any guys who might be reading, but that does factor in).

Sometime last week I posted the portion list for phase 2 of South Beach, and I made food choices for this week based on that. One thing I realized is that I needed to up my vegetable quantities for lunch and dinner.

I'm solving that problem by having steamed vegetables for lunch with some sweet Italian chicken sausage and adding different seasoning blends.

Breakfast is some chicken and apple sausage mixed with scrambled eggs and a bit of queso fresco, sautéed squash (mostly from our garden), bell peppers and black beans.

I'm also going to make a really thick and chunky spaghetti sauce with ground turkey and lean ground beef, squash (also mostly from our garden), asparagus, bell peppers, fresh tomatoes from our garden, mushrooms and onions. It'll actually be less like a sauce with some vegetables mixed in and more like a vegetable dish with some sauce added. I'll add a little whole wheat pasta to that and bake it.

The weather here is getting really hot. We're supposed to top 100° again today. Bleah. I hate stinking hot weather. It’s even worse when you live in a house without air conditioning.

I’m still planning to walk this evening. Fortunately, McKinley Park has a lot of trees, so that keeps it from feeling so hot. I did find some tips on exercising in the heat that I wanted to share:

Hot-weather exercise: How to keep cool
Outdoor exercise can be challenging when the temperature soars. Stay safe during hot-weather exercise by drinking enough fluids, wearing proper clothing and timing your workout to avoid extreme heat.

By Mayo Clinic staff

In the excitement of a pickup basketball game or the relaxation of a friendly round of golf, you might not notice the temperature rising — but your body will. If you exercise outdoors in the heat, use caution and common sense to prevent heat-related illnesses.

How hot weather affects your body
Exercising in hot weather puts extra stress on your heart and lungs. Both the exercise itself and the air temperature increase your body temperature. To dissipate heat, more blood circulates through your skin. This leaves less blood for your muscles, which increases your heart rate. If the humidity is high, your body faces added stress because sweat doesn't readily evaporate from your skin — which only pushes your body temperature higher.

Under normal conditions, your skin, blood vessels and perspiration level adjust to the heat. But these natural cooling systems may fail if you're exposed to high temperatures and humidity for too long. The result may be a heat-related illness, such as heat cramps, heat exhaustion or heatstroke.

To keep it cool during hot-weather exercise, keep these basic precautions in mind:

~ Take it slow. If you're used to exercising indoors or in cooler weather, take it easy at first. As your body adapts to the heat, gradually increase the length and intensity of your workouts. If you have a chronic medical condition or take medication, ask your doctor if you need to take additional precautions.

~ Drink plenty of fluids. Your body's ability to sweat and cool down depends on adequate rehydration. Drink plenty of water while you're working out — even if you don't feel thirsty. If you're planning to exercise intensely or for longer than one hour, consider sports drinks instead. These drinks can replace the sodium, chloride and potassium you lose through sweating. Avoid drinks that contain caffeine or alcohol, which actually promote fluid loss.

~ Dress appropriately. Lightweight, loosefitting clothing promotes sweat evaporation and cooling by letting more air pass over your body. Avoid dark colors, which can absorb the heat. A light-colored hat can limit your exposure to the sun.

~ Avoid midday sun. Exercise in the morning or evening — when it's likely to be cooler outdoors — rather than the middle of the day. If possible, exercise in the shade or in a pool.

~ Wear sunscreen. A sunburn decreases your body's ability to cool itself.

~ Have a backup plan. If you're concerned about the heat or humidity, stay indoors. Work out at the gym, walk laps inside the mall or climb stairs inside an air-conditioned building.

Know when to call it quits

During hot-weather exercise, be on the lookout for heat-related illness. Signs and symptoms may include:
~ Weakness
~ Headache
~ Dizziness
~ Muscle cramps
~ Nausea or vomiting
~ Rapid heartbeat

If you suspect a heat-related illness, stop exercising and get out of the heat. Drink water, and wet and fan your skin. If you don't feel better within 60 minutes, contact your doctor. If you develop a fever higher than 102 F (38.9 C) or become faint or confused, seek immediate medical help.

Regular physical activity is important — but don't let hot-weather workouts put your health at risk.

Focus on Mini-Goals

The big picture of how much weight I need to lose can be overwhelming. It's much easier if I look at this 5lbs at a time. That I can do, and I can see the progress quickly, within a month or so.  It's like eating an elephant...how do you do it?  One bite at a time (by Hunter Nuttal):

It’s not just about big goals

Many people make a major mistake in being entirely focused on big goals. If your goal is to become a best-selling novelist, great. But that’s a really big goal. If you base too much of your life satisfaction on achieving it, you’ll be unhappy for a very long time (possibly your whole life).

Long term goals are great, because aiming high lets us strive to be the best we can be. But for every long term goal you have, you want to have many short and medium term goals. If being a best-selling novelist is your long term goal, what smaller goals can you come up with that you should achieve along the way? Maybe for now, you’d be happy to come up with an idea for a character you want to include in your first novel.

The beauty of small goals

When you have small goals like that, there are a couple of advantages. First, a small goal gives you something concrete to focus on. If you want to become a best-selling novelist, how will you make that happen? You can easily be overwhelmed by such a huge task. If you don’t know specifically what to do, you’re only going to get frustrated. As time goes by, you notice over and over that your goal still hasn’t been achieved, yet you’re not sure what to do about it. But it’s a lot easier to come up with an idea for a character. When you know exactly what to do, you’re much more likely to take inspired action.

Second, you enjoy the satisfaction of achieving a goal and enjoying the benefits. Even if it’s a small goal, you feel good for checking it off your to-do list (whether it’s on paper or just in your head). You also get to have something that brings a little satisfaction right now. When you have your idea for a character, that in itself means something, even though you have a long way to go to your ultimate goal.

Life is a journey, not a destination

Your life satisfaction will probably be a lot higher if you view your life as a series of many small milestones, instead of one huge milestone that you may or may not ever achieve. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t have big goals, only that you should also have smaller ones to focus on along the way.

If you want to lose 40 pounds, great. But don’t just focus on that one huge goal. If you do, then every time you get on the scale, you’re only going to notice that you haven’t achieved your goal yet, and so you continually reinforce failure in your mind.

So break it down into smaller goals. There are plenty of goals you can try to accomplish even before losing 1 pound. Maybe you want to read a book about weight loss, or find a support group, or learn a new healthy recipe. A series of small accomplishments will keep you on track and make you feel good about your life, whether or not you eventually go on to accomplish your ultimate goal. If you end up eating the whole elephant, that’s wonderful. But don’t forget to enjoy the bites along the way.

To explore this a little further, this article also emphasizes the importance of setting realistic weight loss goals:

Setting Realistic Weight Loss Goals
Realistic weight loss ambitions can help you stay on track—and reach your diet goals.
By Kathleen Doheny
WebMD Feature
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

Turns out, it's not the occasional piece of Death by Chocolate Cake that does in our weight loss efforts. It's the universal wish to lose a lot of weight ASAP and the expectation that we can simply diet it away easily.

Weight control experts call it the false-hope syndrome -- when dieters have unrealistic expectations about exactly how long it will take to shed excess pounds.

Unfortunately, research shows that unrealistic expectations boost the risk of dropping out of a weight loss program. And though at least one study has found that dieters may temporarily eat less if their expectations are too high, that undereating may be replaced by overeating at the very next temptation.

Overall, experts concur, unrealistic weight loss objectives are not productive, and can trigger failure. The best way to go: smaller, realistic goals, says Janet Polivy, PhD, a psychologist at the University of Toronto at Mississauga, Canada.

The question is: How do you set realistic weight loss goals?

5 Ways to Set Sensible Weight Loss Goals

When WebMD asked the experts for their tips on setting realistic weight loss goals, their recommendations came down to a few simple strategies. But before you put these to use, remember to talk your weight loss plans over with your doctor.

* Resolve to lose slowly.    "Medically, most clinicians would say goals of losing five to 10 percent [of your start weight] are achievable," says Jennifer A. Linde, PhD, assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.

So if you weigh 200 pounds, a reachable target would be to lose 10 to 20 pounds.

* Do the math. "A realistic goal is losing 1 to 2 pounds a week to stay healthy," says Linde.  That means being realistic about your time frame. If you need to lose 25 pounds, figure you are embarking on at least a three-month program. Fifty pounds? Assume a time frame of at least six months. Aim to burn 500 to 1000 calories a day either by eating less, exercising more, or both.

* Set short term goals. Reach for minimilestones. Instead of focusing on just losing 25 pounds, go for -- and celebrate -- that first 5-pound loss.

* Track your progress. Record your successes in a way that works for you. Take advantage of online programs, use a notebook, or keep a journal. Whatever keeps you on track.

* Think about long-term goals. "It's OK to think big, Linde says, "but it may mean starting small and working towards a big goal."

So if your long-term goal is losing 50 pounds in a year, for example, maybe your short-term goal is getting through the day without eating too much.

There's an old saying: Lose it slowly, keep it off. This adage makes sense for at least one reason: Losing weight slowly means you've had time to adopt new behaviors, like eating less and exercising more.

And when you focus on the process of changing your habits --- not just on losing weight -- those new and healthier habits will be a big boost in helping you attain your weight loss goals.

I Am In Control

I am in control of my choices. If I eat too much, it was my choice. The food didn't make me do it, my cravings didn't make me do it, heck, that time of the month didn't make me do it. It was me. Completely, totally, solely me.

I ate off plan Wednesday, and I ate too much. It was the fault of the potlucks. Ok, it was me :P I was tempted, and I gave in. Not only did I have a potluck in the evening, but there was a potluck at work as well.

The food was good, and I realized while eating it that I was making poor choices, but I decided to indulge.

Beating up on myself is not an option...today is a day of re-evaluation of my eating plan and creating a better structure for myself. We'll see how this impacts me over the next few days; right now I think most of the gain is water retention from too much salt yesterday.

Did I lose the war? Nope, just a battle, and I can learn from that :) I WILL win this war, I have the determination, the courage, the will power and the ability.

I WILL DO THIS

Scales and Weight

I have a new scale. It's much more accurate than my old spring-dial scale. I actually weigh about 2 lbs more than the old scale indicated. I'm going to just begin recording the new weight and not make any adjustments for the change, so this week I'm up 1.4 lbs to 236.4. If I use the old scale, It has me at 234, but I'm not going to use the old scale any longer as it gives me different readings each time I step on it.

Since it looks like I didn't lose much weight this last week, I need to evaluate what I'm eating against the following guidelines for phase 2 of South Beach:

BREAKFAST
Protein: Quantity is not limited. (it may be unlimited, but I plan to stick with 1 serving, which is about the size of a deck of cards)
Vegetables: Minimum 1/2 cup.
Fruit: 1 fruit serving allowed daily (with this meal or other). Gradually increase to 3 total servings for the day.
Starch: 1 starch serving allowed daily (with this meal or other). Gradually increase to 2 or 3 total servings for the day.
Milk/Dairy: 2 cups allowed daily (including yogurt)
Fat: 1 tsp mayonnaise or oil (optional)

LUNCH
Protein: Quantity is not limited.
Vegetables: Minimum 2 cups.
Fruit: 1 fruit serving allowed daily (with this meal or other). Gradually increase to 3 total servings for the day.
Starch: 1 starch serving allowed daily (with this meal or other). Gradually increase to 2 or 3 total servings for the day.
Milk/Dairy: 2 cups allowed daily (including yogurt)
Fat: 1 Tbsp mayonnaise or oil

DINNER
Protein: Quantity is not limited.
Vegetables: Minimum 2 cups.
Fruit: 1 fruit serving allowed daily (with this meal or other). Gradually increase to 3 total servings for the day.
Starch: 1 starch serving allowed daily (with this meal or other). Gradually increase to 2 or 3 total servings for the day.
Milk/Dairy: 2 cups allowed daily (including yogurt)
Fat: 1 Tbsp mayonnaise or oil

SNACKS AND DESSERT
Snacks and dessert are optional. Choose a protein, vegetable, fat-free plain yogurt, artificially sweetened non-fat flavored yogurt, nuts/seeds, or a Sweet Treat.

BEVERAGES
Diet, decaffeinated, sugar-free drinks are not limited. You can enjoy caffeinated coffee or diet sodas with caffeine added, but limit to 1 - 2 servings per day.

To sum it up:

Protein: Quantity is not limited, but I want to stay with 3-4 servings a day
Vegetables: 5 cups a day
Fruit: 1 fruit serving
Starch: 1 starch serving
Milk/Dairy: 2 cups allowed daily
Fat: 3 Tbsp
Snacks/Dessert: a protein, vegetable, fat-free plain yogurt, artificially sweetened non-fat flavored yogurt, nuts/seeds, or a Sweet Treat.

I am definitely falling short on the vegetables, I need to add more to my menu for the day.

Twittering

I've begun to Twitter, and have added it to the sidebar of my blog. I have a pretty ordinary life, but if you want to see what's going on throughout my day, now you can :)

Is This Too Much?

One of the many reasons I believe I've gained weight is that I have no idea what constitutes a healthy portion size. My husband has commented in the past that I'm putting too much food on his plate, and has also mentioned that I'm eating too much at one meal. Basically (and sadly), I blew him off. Most of what I served was healthy, what was the big deal?

Research has shown that Americans often underestimate how many calories they are consuming each day by as much as 25%.

~ WebMD.com

I suspect I was underestimating it by a larger amount as well as eating past the point of being full. Frankly, I was being a gluttonous pig :( I'm not proud of that, but it helps me to face the reality. I could ponder on the reasons I was doing that, but doing so won't change a thing. I need to take action, not indulge in months of staring at my bellybutton and not making any changes until I know why I'm doing this.

Taking action includes doing research online and sharing my discoveries here in my blog, not only to get this ingrained in my brain, but to share it with others who may be where I've been and hope they find it helpful.

Even if a food is healthy, too much of it at one meal can still result in a weight gain. Learning about correct portion sizes is essential in living a healthy life.

So what is a correct portion size? Do I have to remember a bunch of numbers and try to do math everytime I have a meal or a snack? That's a LOT of work! Help!

MealsMatter.org comes to the rescue :)

If you are confused when reading a food label, try relating the portion size of a serving to everyday items. It is an easy way to visualize what a true portion size looks like.

Woman's fist or baseball - a serving of vegetables or fruit is about the size of your fist

A rounded handful - about one half cup cooked or raw veggies or cut fruit, a piece of fruit, or ½ cup of cooked rice or pasta – this is a good measure for a snack serving, such as chips or pretzels

Deck of cards - a serving of meat, fish or poultry or the palm of your hand (don't count your fingers!) – for example, one chicken breast, ¼ pound hamburger patty or a medium pork chop

Golf ball or large egg - one quarter cup of dried fruit or nuts

Tennis ball - about one half cup of ice cream

Computer mouse - about the size of a small baked potato

Compact disc - about the size of one serving of pancake or small waffle

Thumb tip - about one teaspoon of peanut butter

Six dice - a serving of cheese

Check book - a serving of fish (approximately 3 oz.)

Eyeball it! Take a look at the recommended serving sizes on the new USDA MyPyramid Food Guidance System. Get out a measuring cup or a food scale and practice measuring some of your favorite foods onto a plate, so that you can see how much (or how little!) a ½ cup or 3-ounce serving is. This will help you "eyeball" a reasonable serving!

That's pretty easy to remember, especially for those of us who do better with visuals than with math.

WebMD.com has some more useful information:

Other ways of developing and maintaining proper portion control include:

At home
~ Use smaller dishes at meals.
~ Serve food in the appropriate portion amounts and don't go back for seconds.
~ Put away any leftovers in separate, portion-controlled amounts. Consider freezing the portions you likely won't eat for a while.
~ Never eat out of the bag or carton.
~Don't keep platters of food on the table; you are more likely to "pick" at it or have a second serving without even realizing it.

At restaurants
~ Ask for half or smaller portions.
~ Eyeball your appropriate portion, set the rest aside, and ask for a doggie bag right away. Servings at many restaurants are often big enough to provide meals for two days.
~ If you have dessert, share.

At the supermarket
~ Beware of "mini-snacks" -- tiny crackers, cookies, and pretzels. ~ Most people end up eating more than they realize, and the calories add up.
~ Choose foods packaged in individual serving sizes.
~ If you're the type who eats ice cream out of the carton, pick up ice cream sandwiches or other individual size servings.

Finally to get an idea of what a serving looks like on a plate, as well as the comparisons mentioned above (and more), check out this portion plate size guide at WebMD.com

This page has some helpful downloads you can print and carry when you go shopping or are meal-planning.

I also discovered another neat site - The Portion Plate. I may be purchasing that plate to help me as I'm learning.

I need to begin implementing this. I'm following the South Beach diet and am eating lean meats, lots of vegetables, some fruits, nuts and whole grains. I've cut out white flour and refined sugar. I'm doing well but I think I'm eating too much of some things and not enough of others.

That means I need to learn about serving amounts as well as sizes.

Recommended servings a day:

Bread, cereal, rice and pasta - 6-11 servings a day
Fruit - 2-4 servings a day
Vegetables - 3-5 servings a day
Meat, poultry, fish, dry beans, eggs and nuts - 2-3 servings a day
Milk, yogurt, cheese - 2-3 servings a day
Fats, oils, and sweets -sparingly

What's On My Mind

I haven't gone walking the last two days due to my schedule. Every other Tuesday I visit an independent living center to sell Avon to the residents, and this was that week. Usually I'm too busy in between getting home from work and leaving for the center to fit a walk in, and I'm there for at least an hour, so by the time I get home it's too late to walk. It's almost dark and the neighborhood I live in doesn't have many street lights. It's also an older neighborhood with uneven sidewalks.

 

Last night I could have walked, but didn't. I usually meet my friend Amy at McKinley Park to walk, but last night she had a dentist appointment so I didn't want to use the gas to drive out there when I could walk in my neighborhood. The thing is, I didn't walk. I knew I should, but I wasn't motivated enough.

 

Tonight will be different. I'm meeting Amy (and anyone else who shows up) and will be walking around the park 3 times. I'm really looking forward to that.

 

What's really neat is that now that I've been exercising regularly my body is craving the activity. If I don't get out and walk I feel like a racehorse that's being restrained. Not that I'm as fast or as sleek or as athletic as a racehorse, I'm more like a Shetland pony, (a cute one!) but that description fits the feeling best :)

 

 

I stopped at Trader Joe's last night...I love, love, love that store! If we ever move someplace where there's no TJ's, I'm going to be majorly bummed. MAJORLY. I bought some dry roasted unsalted almonds and some lightly salted cashews (bless you! The word 'cashew' sounds like a sneeze to me :P ) that were packaged in single serving bags. It makes it easy for me to take just one to work each day and not overeat.

I also bought a package of dutch goat cheese in slices. I so love cheese. I'm a cheese fanatic. I'll browse the cheeses at TJs for nearly 10 minutes sometimes trying to decide which variety to buy.

 

Cheese is one thing I don't skimp on, and I rarely buy low-fat cheeses. I just make sure to eat a smaller amount. I know this means I won't lose weight as quickly but it's a small amount and I don't think it's going to affect the weight loss too much. If it does, that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make at this time.

 

A favorite snack of mine is steamed string beans. I bought a package of green and yellow string beans at TJs, microwaved them in the bag and am now enjoying them as a snack along with a Baby Bel cheddar round and some of the lightly salted cashews.

 

What I'm drinking at home right now is an iced tea blend of green tea and passion fruit tropical tea. It's refreshing and naturally sweet with just enough passion fruit flavor. It's not overwhelming, I can still taste the tea. I don't like teas with strong fruit flavor, so I usually avoid them. I especially avoid raspberry teas because I don't like raspberries. However, the first time I was at Panda Express I ordered an iced tea and didn't know it was flavored.

 

When I tasted it I fell in love, and ever since I've made my own at home. It took some time to find passion fruit flavored tea, but I did it. I make it in a 1 gallon jug of water, adding 3 green tea bags and one pitcher-sized passion fruit tea bag. It's great for summer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thinking About Food

One of the things I've been thinking about lately is that in order to make healthy choices you have to change the way you think about food.

My old way of thinking about food was basically to eat whatever appealed to me at the time, not considering calories, the health value, how much fat it contained or anything like that. I know how to make healthy choices, but I totally ignored that in favor of my appetite.

The result of that thinking has been a weight gain throughout my adult years, resulting in a high weight of 290 or so pounds.

Over the years since that time I've been retraining my way of thinking about food. Overall I've done well, although at times I've backslidden into old habits.

It's not that you need to completely eliminate the less healthy foods, you can have them, but in moderation. However, the majority of your diet should be healthy foods...whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats, healthy oils.

There are some food that should be almost, if not completely eliminated. This would include most fast food, processed foods, fried foods, candy, and the like. Doritos taste yummy (trust me, I love them) but they offer no real nutritional value, and a steady diet of McDonalds, Doritos, Snickers, Coke, ice cream and Burger King offers little in the way of health and too much in the way of fat and empty calories.

It's important to get hold of that concept, and to learn to view healthy foods as the more desirable. In a previous post about the importance of enjoyment, I mentioned that it's vital to learn to enjoy healthy food. Sometimes that's not easy. In the past few days I've had cravings for pizza and fried chicken. It's not that I can't have those ever again, it's that right now if I did have some I'd likely have too much, and I'd lose some of the progress I've been making.

Sometimes a craving strikes and won't go away. What I do is wait and see if it goes away by distracting myself with an activity...not food. If the craving vanishes, I didn't eat other stuff to try and fill that craving. Sometimes the craving just won't go away. Satisfy it by having a small portion of what you're craving. If it's fast food, go through the drive through and get a small burger and a salad, no fries, no soda.

You really do have to retrain your brain and your taste buds. Experiment with new seasoning blends and fresh herbs. Find healthy recipes and try them out.

If white bread is your thing (or that fake wheat bread), be bold and try a sprouted whole grain bread. Replace your normal pasta with whole grain pasta, and use brown rice instead of white rice.

Add fresh vegetables to your diet. Explore vegetarian recipe websites for new and interesting ways to prepare vegetables.

Look at this new way of eating as an adventure, something new and exciting with fantastic side benefits of better health and feeling great.

And do set aside a meal or two here and there (not regularly, just occasionally) to enjoy an old favorite. I've already decided that I will be going to The Squeeze Inn once a quarter to have my favorite Squeeze with cheese (pictured at the top of this post) and an order of fries.

Bleah! Too Much Salt!

Yesterday I didn't do as well with my eating as I'd planned. The beans I had for lunch had way too much salt, and last night I ate a whole rotisserie cooked chicken breast (no skin). I didn't have enough vegetables or water. This morning I weighed 2lbs higher than yesterday. I'm hoping most of that was water weight.

I have a couple of choices...I can beat myself up and then give up with making healthy choices, because I screwed up and what difference does it make anyway? I might as well eat what I want since I can't do this long-term.

Orrrrr....I can look at yesterday as a small stumble on this journey. I didn't fall, I didn't overeat, I didn't mess everything up. I can regroup and plan for days like yesterday.

So, what am I doing? Today's food isn't as salty, and I'll be sure to have lots of vegetables and drink lots of iced tea. (I don't make a strong iced tea. 3 teabags to 1 gallon of water makes for a very light and delicate drink with very little caffeine).

Keeping the journey in mind!

Official Weigh-in Day...Woohoo!

I've designated Mondays as my official weigh-in day, so while I watch my weight all week, I record it on Monday mornings.

This morning I was very pleased to see that I'm at 235 :) That makes 10 lbs I've officially lost in 3 weeks, and adding a slice of whole grain bread for breakfast as well as a fruit drink (I'll be posting about that drink more later) isn't having a negative impact. I'm also adding some brown rice to other meals.

Beginning this evening I'll be walking 3 miles a day, then in July I'll be adding 20 minutes of core exercises to my evenings. To do that I'll be buying an exercise ball and a yoga mat, and doing the exercises in Chantel Hobb's book "Never Say Diet".

I'm developing a lifestyle that works for me by taking items that I like from different sources. The majority of my eating plan is based on South Beach, along with a few daily supplements such as psyllium husk and a glass of water with some unfiltered apple cider vinegar included. I'm also taking a fruit/vegetable supplement , but I can't recall the name so I'll write about that later.

I pulled some of my exercise plan from "Never Say Diet", which advocates slow changes. Chantel's plan recommends 30 minutes of exercise a day for the first month, and not working on anything else. In the second month she has readers start with focusing on eating better.

What I'm taking from her book is doing one big change at a time and doing it for a month before adding another. This first month I'm walking regularly and then next month I'll be adding her core exercises for an additional 20 minutes a day.

Meanwhile (back at the ranch :P ) I'm keeping my eating habits in focus and am constantly evaluating my meals and snacks along with my weight on a daily basis.

All of this along with the encouragement and support of my husband and friends is making this very doable, and I'm seeing progress :)

 

Making Progress

I weigh myself every morning so I can stay motivated and keep focused on my goal.  Mondays are my official weigh-in day.  That's the weight I use on my tickers and to mark my progress.

I was very pleased this morning to step on the scale and find that I weigh 235 :)  I'm using an old type spring-dial scale, so it's not giving me the most accurate weight.  I went ahead and ordered a really cool Weight Watchers scale online and am waiting (heh!) for it to get here.  I'm pretty sure it'll show a different weight than the current spring dial scale.

I'm also gathering recipes for next week and am putting together a shopping list for today.  I'll be heading out to Super Walmart to get most of my shopping done, and will also be going to Home Depot to buy some dirt and manure.  Lastly I plan to go to Berean Christian Book Store and buy a book for my niece.

A busy day ahead of me, but the weather is beautiful, I'm making progress, and my sweet husband loves me :)  It doesn't get much better than this.