So far I have lost just under 16 lbs and am at over 5% body weight loss. My next goal is to lose 16 more lbs by December 4th. That would put me at a total of 11.5% body weight loss. It’s about 2 lbs a week until then. If I keep that up, I should be at 40 lbs lost by New Years.
Currently I’m taking Human Nutrition in preparation for nursing school. As part of the course, of course (see what I did there?), we are required to do a nutritional analysis. This means logging every bit of food and every minute of exercise to an online site where our teacher can access it and then analyzing our results.
We have to do it for 4-6 weeks. I’ve been doing it honestly for two weeks, and let me tell you I am not happy with what I see. I’ve also been toying with the idea of going gluten and dairy free and forgetting the red meat for a long time now. I’ve decided to implement these changes into my diet between now and Thanksgiving. The goal is to see how I feel, see if some of my issues clear up, and see if I lose any weight (with my slight insulin resistance, I’m not sure this will happen).
On top of that I’m attempting to work out one day on, two days off at the gym including weight lifting for the duration of the month (Thanksgiving is exactly 30 days from tomorrow. That’s crazy). I am pretty excited about this. After a shopping spree at the new Hy-Vee in Springfield (if you’re from the northern part of the Midwest you know about the wonders of Hy-Vee), I am set with gluten free essentials and a healthy amount of fruits and veges that I am hoping will get me though the next couple of weeks. It really is going to be a “detoxification” process, because I am pretty sure my body is addicted to processed sugar and artificial sweeter and caffeine. Not to mention salt, but the sodium question will not be addressed this time around. I’m resolving to only eat out once a week, so that means with my family birthdays upcoming I may have to skip out on some after church meals on Sunday.
Here are some things I jotted down during nutrition class this evening, things that are always on my mind but may be implemented in steps rather than all at once:
Goal: 10 servings of fruits and veges a day (note: these are goals, not requirements). This is to implement more fiber in my diet.
Goal: no red meat, gluten, or dairy products except for greek yogurt for the protein content.
Goal: balance carbohydrates and protein
Goal: drink at least 64 oz of water a day.
Goal: Start doing yoga again (for stress relief, because tonight my nutrition teacher said belly fat can develop as a result of stress! I didn’t know that!).
Goal: One day on, two days off regular exercise plan for a month.
Limit diet coke intake (yeesh!)
Green Tea (yum and good for you)
Fish or tuna twice a week (tuna is fish, but it’s whatev)
try to eat a few carrots daily for eye health
Try to replace sweet tooth to crave fruits instead (this sentence doesn’t make sense, but you get the gist)
Monitor Blood sugar levels (duh)
eat at least 4 times a day, try to equal amounts (ie no big meals, just several small ones).
And finally, the logging that needs to go on for both my sake and my nutritional analysis:
I’m going to attempt to post on facebook and twitter regarding my progress, and of course, use my blog as November will be a big blogging month for me anyway. What I need is support and encouragement. If you have a success story, please tell me! I’m not trying so much to lose weight as to feel better and improve my overall health. What do you think? Too much at one time, or do you think I’m doing well? Do you have any suggestions?
Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional! My blog is not intended to be medical advice. I have a health care team that is supervising me in my undertakings. If you plan on drastically c hanging your diet, beginning an exercise routine, trying to lose weight, or undertaking any other kind of health-related lifestyle change, it’s important to consult a doctor before beginning.
Last night I had a vivid dream that I was running for fun and it was easy, not hard like it is now. Was this dream predicting the future? Sent by the running gods to motivate me? Running a 5k was something I put on my goals this year, and because of the sub-zero temperatures here in the Uintah Basin I haven’t so much as ran 10 feet since the new year began.
Why on earth did I pick running? I like riding (on my bicycle), but running is something I’ve always hated. I think I just wanted a challenge this year, to do something I thought I’d never do. Plus, like so many other people, I lack motivation to exercise. Last year, when I was still with previous boy, we were in downtown Des Moines during the Dam-to-Dam race where runners can choose to run 5k, 10k, or 20k. I remember being jealous of the people who completed the race. I wanted to be a part of it.
Now that I’ve traded life on the plains for life in the mountains, it seems like it would be a good time to train while my body is used to 5,000 feet. But this damn winter has got me all a fluttered. I walk/ran a little bit in the fall before it got this cold, but since I got back on January 1 my life has been nothing short of sedentary. It’s probably just the post-holiday blues because my house has a lot of open space and there are plenty of things I can do to keep moving inside, but I am so not motivated to do much else except for watch movies in my bed.
I blame the weather.
I like capitalizing and not capitalizing random first letters in my post titles. Maybe I’m channeling Crystal?
Today I stepped on the scale and imagine my surprise when it showed me as 7 pounds lighter than I was three weeks ago! And (sorry TMI time) it’s even that time of the month, which usually makes you heavier! WOW, I am impressed. Part of it I’m sure is that I’ve had little to no snacks in my house. Mostly due to tight funding, with my trip to Provo last weekend. I guess it’s easy not to snack when there aren’t any snacks. And I even survived. As someone smart once told me, once you stop eating so much you don’t want to eat so much anymore.
I’m a little surprised, however, at how quickly the 7 pounds came off. Maybe it was a fluke, and when I get on the scale in the morning it will magically increase by 5 pounds. Who knows. But I know one thing for sure, there is nothing like a little success for motivation.
I even went for a walk tonight in the freezing cold. How’s that for a lifestyle change?
OH! And my blood sugars were also fantastic today, probably due to the low-carb style of the food I had in the house.
As you can imagine, since I haven’t been updating Sarah Loses It this week, I haven’t been fully focused on my weight loss program. I did OK on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, but on Thursday I went to camp with my boyfriend (more in tomorrow’s post) and was eating delicious, high calorie camp food for the rest of the week. Yum! I didn’t weigh myself yesterday because I had no access to a Wii fit or any other type of scale-thing since I was at camp. So I am just going to work my butt off (literally) this week and hope for a significant drop this Saturday.
That’s pretty much it for this Sunday Update. Keep living healthy!
Current Weight: Unknown
Goal Weight: 231 lbs
Goal Date: August 15
Weekly Goals:
-4 small meals a day
-Eat Breakfast!
-30 minutes of exercise/day
-Mix it up a bit: walk, bike, run!
-Sleep 8 hours/night
-Drink at least 32 oz of water/day
So this week has been awesome. I worked out 5/7 days and I tried my hardest to eat better and less. And I succeeded! I am happy to tell you that I lost 1.1 lbs! HURRAY. I am well on my way to reaching my goal!
Unfortunately today turned into another cheat day. But that’s OK, because it’s a new week and it can be my cheat day for this week! We had potluck at church for lunch and we had a Mexican buffet for dinner. All delicious of course.
And now, the updates!
Starting weight: 246 lbs
Current weight: 244.9 lbs
Goal Weight: 231 lbs
This Weeks Goals/Plan:
So that’s all folks! Have a great week!
Week one of my eleven week journey to lose fifteen pounds starts today. This blog is inspired by the lovely Ginger Vieira, a twitter and facebook friend of mine who runs the website living-in-progress dot com and has challenged her blog readers to lose ten pounds by August fifteenth here. I am upping it to fifteen just because of the sheer amount of weight I need to lose. I am hoping not to get overwhelmed this time. And, besides, I have you guys to help me out and keep me motivated, right?
Does anyone else want in on this challenge? Let me know and I will be sure to personally email you and check up on you during this time. Set a modest weight loss goal for the next eleven weeks, while the weather is nice and the sun is out, and we can work towards a healthier lifestyle together.
Starting Weight: 246 lbs
Goal Weight: 231 lbs
Goal Date: August 15, 2010
Week plan:
Good luck!
Logging is not near as fun as blogging. Logging basically involves remembering to write down every blood sugar test, every ounce of food consumed, and every moment of exercise and somehow quantify that data in a manner that will help you control your diabetes in some sort of a more manageable fashion.
Last week, I challenged you all to keep a food journal with me for just one week. I am sorry to say I only made it four days. The weekend was crazy and there was lots of snacking involved (two six hours drives – driving is the worst, I want to eat the entire time!) so I just didn’t get around to writing it all down. But today I started again, complete with calorie intake and exercise goals at the top of the page for the day. I am actually more motivated now that I’ve realized it isn’t that hard!
Here are the pictures of my journal and my entries for Wednesday and Thursday. It is so much more fun if you have a cute notebook and fun pens!
I asked you all to send me pictures of your own food journals. I only received pictures from one person. Casey is awesome and you should read her blog here. She is a type 1 diabetic and a pharmacist, which makes her pretty cool. Here are her pictures:
Thanks, Casey!
What my journal showed me was that I am getting the majority of my food intake after about 4pm. While I do snack sometimes in the afternoon, I usually eat calorie-heavy dinners (whatever dad cooks) and then continue to snack until whenever I fall asleep. Now that I know this, I can work to change it!
Back before I used a continuous glucose monitor, I started testing 15-17 times a day (about every hour I was awake) and logging these numbers to try to mimic a CGMS before dropping the cash. This was how I discovered how badly I was suffering from Dawn Phenomenon!
Do you keep a food, blood sugar, or exercise journal? When you first started, what did you find out?
So folks, this is the end of the week featuring weight loss, but it is not the end of my journey or my talk of weight loss here on Sarahndipity. See, often times, I feel as though my life is controlled by food. Diabetes doesn’t do much to help this feeling go away. It’s always about eating or not eating, what I’m eating, what I’m not supposed to be eating, how much I can have and how much I want. You can see how maybe having type 1 diabetes could set someone up to struggle with weight issues. But, I am ready to take control back from food. I have been taking control of my diabetes and now it is time to take control of my total health.
That being said, here are some of my goals for this week. Please share your own goals with me in the comments section. Together, we can strive for healthier lives.
–Indulge more intentionally and less often.
For example, this evening, instead of mindlessly munching on animal crackers, I counted out a serving and made sure to chew every cracker before swallowing it, and really enjoy each one. I was sad when they were gone, but I waited 20 minutes (even though I so wanted more) and both the craving and the hunger went away.
–Make a distraction box
I got this idea from that Diabetic Living article I mentioned yesterday. You basically write down activities (go on a walk, knit, bike ride, scrapbook, clean) that might distract you from your craving or hunger and when you want to eat for emotional reasons, you draw an activity and do it. Seems like fun to me. And I love making things – so this project seems perfect.
–Make a playlist
This idea comes from that same slide show linked above. The basic theory is that music triggers emotional receptors just like food does. So I want to create a play list on my trusty Ipod, Kirk, and try tapping into my emotions that way rather than with food, as the article suggests.
–Drink more water
Seems like a given, but the past week or so since I gave up the lovely Diet Coke, I have not been drinking more water. I have been drinking a whole lot of nothing. And I think the massive headache I suffered yesterday may have been the result of dehydration. Water can fill you up. I need to make this a goal.
–Sleep more
I’m pretty much set at a 2am bedtime. Next week my goal is to push it back to 1. Nothing too challenging, and not cutting out too much of my late night study time as I approach finals week (eek!). The challenging part will be keeping my bedtime “early” once summer break hits two weeks from now. (Note to self: get a life.)
I hope that you all have enjoyed weight loss week. Doing all the research I did for it sure did help me out. I look forward to keeping you posted with my weight loss journey. I am not setting specific weight loss or exercise goals because I find that they just set me up for failure and guilt. By changing my lifestyle in small ways, I hope that my goal of reaching a healthier and more comfortable weight can be reached.
On Monday, I’ll let you all know how my food journal panned out. Don’t forget to email your pictures of your filled journal if you took my challenge to sajabla@yahoo.com. I can’t wait to post our collection!
You know the drill. You’re going about your day, cleaning up your apartment, the TV is lulling in the background. When all of the sudden, a candy bar commercial pops up on the screen. And then it hits you like a barrel full of bricks.
I WANT CHOCOLATE!!!
But you have none in the house. Your mind goes to the gas station down the street. There is a lot of chocolate there. 99 cents a bar. So you start searching the house for change. You realize you’re being crazy. I don’t need chocolate that badly. So you continue cleaning.
But then you’re doing the laundry, and low and behold when you remove your clothes from the washing machine you find a one dollar bill.
You think. I should save this. It could be put to good use, like my morning coffee. But you can’t stop thinking about that chocolate bar down at the gas station with your name on it.
So even though you are the only one at home, you grab your keys and sneak out to your car as quietly as possible. This is a secret mission. No one can know. Especially not your alter egos, Sarah McEatHealthyson and Diabetty.
In your car you find four quarters. You know it’s parking meter money but you can’t help but think, I could buy the king size.
So, without thinking or considering, you run inside the gas station and buy that king sized cookies and creme hershey’s bar.
Actually it happens to me far too often. I just cleaned out my car and found about five thousand candy wrappers under my seats (I rarely clean out my car). But what do we do when we’re craving cookies, cakes, potato chips, and other things that are not only hell on our waistlines but are also blood sugar raising culprits?
Diabetic Living’s online site has a great slideshow on conquering cravings. Cravings are my second biggest problem after emotional eating. I start to crave sugar and sweets after just seeing a picture of them or a commercial on TV. Sugar is really the thing I crave the most. Imagine that, a diabetic craving sugar. (There are rumors circulating that artificial sweeteners can increase cravings for sweets. I decided to test this theory by breaking up with diet coke, although we are still chatting on occasion. Results of this test are pending.)
Here are some things I am using in order to try to control my cravings:
1. Think, Do I really want to eat this?
What are my favorite sweets? Reeses white chocolate cups and chocolate cupcakes, for sure. But should I really satisfy my craving for store-brand Oreos? Are they even that good? (NO, they are not). By making a list of foods you Really Love and calling this your “allow” list, you can cut back on the extra calories in the cravings you didn’t really want in the first place.
2. Try something different.
Lately, when I’m craving something high calorie like chocolate cake or brownies, I’ve tried satisfying my craving with something else – like fresh fruit or a spoonful of peanut butter. It gives me the sweet taste my brain is telling me I want and it is a lower calorie option. Peanut butter gets stuck in my mouth, making me not want to eat anything else. Fresh strawberries are my absolute favorite when it comes to this and I am starting to crave them more than I am chocolate, and they’re in season now!
Here’s a hint: If you’re craving potato chips, eat something salty, like a handful of salted nuts or a baked version of the chips. If you’re craving something sweet, be sure to eat something sweet. Otherwise, you may keep munching and end up feeding your craving anyway.
3. Drink a glass of water and wait ten minutes before giving in on a craving.
Sometimes, when I think I am hungry or when I am craving something, it seems as though I may be dehydrated. A glass of water could do the trick! You can also try filling your craving with diet soda, if you drink it.
4. Remember, everything in moderation.
Giving in to cravings isn’t always a bad thing. Labeling foods “good” and “bad” often causes us to feel guilt when we eat the “bad” foods and in turn eat more “bad” foods, because of that emotional cycle I talked about yesterday. Giving in to a chocolate craving by eating one or two Hershey’s kisses can be a good way to control your cravings without letting them get out of control.
5. Wait it out
For me, if I just wait the craving will go away. Set a timer for 20 minutes. If when the timer goes off, you’re still fighting the craving, give in. If you’re not, don’t let the timer trigger your craving again. Drink a glass of water and move on with your day.
These are just a few things I want to try this week. Let me know if you have any other ideas or things that work for you when you’re fighting cravings.
How are you doing on your food journals? Is anyone finding it helpful?
The SaJaBla Life 