So Christmas came and went since my last weigh in and I actually didn't do too bad. I did gain some weight, which is a little bit of a bummer, but I managed to stay under 190lbs even though I totally gorged myself this holiday season.
So today is the 28th of December 2012, and I, Danielle Hughes, am weighing in at 188.8 pounds.
So I did pretty good, not great, but at least I didn't kill all the progress I've made. I'm hoping that by next week and can break through the obesity barrier to just being overweight. And next week is going to be the first weigh in of the month (and the New Year!!!!) so I will have another comparison picture up.
So send good wishes my way! I will be so stoked when my BMI is under 30! Feel free to drop a comment below with good wishes or weight loss tips. Til next time!!
Friday, December 28, 2012
Friday, December 21, 2012
End of the World Weigh In
Alright it's Friday and it's time to weigh in. I've been doing pretty good with my diet, I did reintroduce carbs though only whole grains. No more white bread for me! And I've kept up with my little exercise routine as well. And again, I have lost weight this week!
Today is the 21st of December in 2012 (supposedly the end of the world) and I, Danielle Hughes, am weighing in today at 187.8lbs.
Not a huge drop, but it's still something. Here's hoping the holiday festivities don't totally kill my progress for next week. Til next time!
Today is the 21st of December in 2012 (supposedly the end of the world) and I, Danielle Hughes, am weighing in today at 187.8lbs.
Not a huge drop, but it's still something. Here's hoping the holiday festivities don't totally kill my progress for next week. Til next time!
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Quick Thoughts
So I have been doing some research about healthy weight loss and why it's hard for some people to lose weight. A lot of it was stuff that I had heard before; eat healthy, drink lots of water, exercise. But I came across a few things that I hadn't really thought about that were quite interesting, and I thought I would share my findings with you.
Why are you fat? The body stores fat for a variety of reasons outside of what you are eating. So if you're eating a low fat diet and can't lose weight there is obviously something else preventing you from doing so. So what's keeping the fat on? Simple. Toxins. And not just the obvious stuff either. But basically, your body stores fat cells to trap toxins and prevent them from making you ill. It's really pretty effective. Unfortunately we live in a society where toxins are everywhere! The air is loaded with pollution, a lot of people smoke, drinking alcohol, prescription drugs, household cleansers, our water is loaded with crap, I mean pretty well everything is just bad for you. But there's still more. When your body is under a lot of stress or you're depressed you produce stress hormones. For the average person, these stress hormones would be processed and removed by your body while you sleep. But, the average American just doesn't get enough sleep to combat all the stress hormones. So what does your body do? It has all these excess stress hormones stored up inside and you're consistently producing more. the body doesn't know what is causing the stress so it generally goes one of two ways, either you start losing weight and lose your appetite, or your body takes all the excess stress hormones and stores them in fat. Which makes sense, as until the past hundred years or so famine was a huge stresser for people. Store fat, don't die in famine. Great except there's not a famine. So you're just storing up all this fat from outside toxins and stress, which will undoubtedly make you more stressed.
So what do we do to combat all of this? First, take some time to really think about what has you stressed out or depressed and why it has you strung out on hormones. Just take a deep breath and come to terms with who you are. Take time to think about all the good in your life. If weight is a huge stresser for you think about your other traits that are awesome. Like I may be heavy, but I'm a good friend, I'm a fabulous musician, and I have great skin. Don't just stew on the need to lose weight.
And for the more external toxins, there are cleanses that one can do to help remove them. Most of these cleanses involve juicing and a lot of veggies and water. More specifically veggies that are loaded with chlorophyll. The chlorophyll will flush out those toxins super quick (and the fat that the toxins are in), and it's just good for you. Most of the veggies that are high in chlorophyll are the green leafy veggies such as collard greens and kale. Fresh parsley is also a good one to add to things as it is a super cleanser. It will even make your breath fresh and your sweat less smelly. It's that good.
After doing a little research I am pretty interested in trying one of these cleanses. Maybe for 2 weeks, not sure yet. But I am a smoker, I'm epileptic so I have been on meds since I was like 14, and I find myself stressed and/or depressed quite a lot. I would like to start this new year with a good cleanse to not only help me lose weight but to just be healthier. Start the new year fresh and clean on the inside, ya know. I will give up smoking during the cleanse which will be tremendously difficult, though I will probably start smoking after it is done. There are few things in my life that I truly truly enjoy and smoking is one of those things, so I'd probably have to lose a lung (I do mean that literally) before I would quit for real. You might think I'm crazy and stupid, but I assure you I am not. I know how bad it is for me. I know it could kill me. I just don't care. Getting in a car and going down the road has a greater likelihood of killing me, so yeah. I'm a smoker. It's a part of who I am.
But I have some more research to do on cleanses, find some recipes and what not. I'll fill you in when I have more to share on the subject. So til next time!
Why are you fat? The body stores fat for a variety of reasons outside of what you are eating. So if you're eating a low fat diet and can't lose weight there is obviously something else preventing you from doing so. So what's keeping the fat on? Simple. Toxins. And not just the obvious stuff either. But basically, your body stores fat cells to trap toxins and prevent them from making you ill. It's really pretty effective. Unfortunately we live in a society where toxins are everywhere! The air is loaded with pollution, a lot of people smoke, drinking alcohol, prescription drugs, household cleansers, our water is loaded with crap, I mean pretty well everything is just bad for you. But there's still more. When your body is under a lot of stress or you're depressed you produce stress hormones. For the average person, these stress hormones would be processed and removed by your body while you sleep. But, the average American just doesn't get enough sleep to combat all the stress hormones. So what does your body do? It has all these excess stress hormones stored up inside and you're consistently producing more. the body doesn't know what is causing the stress so it generally goes one of two ways, either you start losing weight and lose your appetite, or your body takes all the excess stress hormones and stores them in fat. Which makes sense, as until the past hundred years or so famine was a huge stresser for people. Store fat, don't die in famine. Great except there's not a famine. So you're just storing up all this fat from outside toxins and stress, which will undoubtedly make you more stressed.
So what do we do to combat all of this? First, take some time to really think about what has you stressed out or depressed and why it has you strung out on hormones. Just take a deep breath and come to terms with who you are. Take time to think about all the good in your life. If weight is a huge stresser for you think about your other traits that are awesome. Like I may be heavy, but I'm a good friend, I'm a fabulous musician, and I have great skin. Don't just stew on the need to lose weight.
And for the more external toxins, there are cleanses that one can do to help remove them. Most of these cleanses involve juicing and a lot of veggies and water. More specifically veggies that are loaded with chlorophyll. The chlorophyll will flush out those toxins super quick (and the fat that the toxins are in), and it's just good for you. Most of the veggies that are high in chlorophyll are the green leafy veggies such as collard greens and kale. Fresh parsley is also a good one to add to things as it is a super cleanser. It will even make your breath fresh and your sweat less smelly. It's that good.
After doing a little research I am pretty interested in trying one of these cleanses. Maybe for 2 weeks, not sure yet. But I am a smoker, I'm epileptic so I have been on meds since I was like 14, and I find myself stressed and/or depressed quite a lot. I would like to start this new year with a good cleanse to not only help me lose weight but to just be healthier. Start the new year fresh and clean on the inside, ya know. I will give up smoking during the cleanse which will be tremendously difficult, though I will probably start smoking after it is done. There are few things in my life that I truly truly enjoy and smoking is one of those things, so I'd probably have to lose a lung (I do mean that literally) before I would quit for real. You might think I'm crazy and stupid, but I assure you I am not. I know how bad it is for me. I know it could kill me. I just don't care. Getting in a car and going down the road has a greater likelihood of killing me, so yeah. I'm a smoker. It's a part of who I am.
But I have some more research to do on cleanses, find some recipes and what not. I'll fill you in when I have more to share on the subject. So til next time!
Friday, December 14, 2012
Random Update
It's been a while since I have posted anything but a weigh in, and I figured it's probably important to let people know exactly what I am doing to lose weight.
I have modified my diet slightly, so it's not really the South Beach Diet anymore. While I do try to stick to lots of veggies, lean proteins, and whole grains, it simply isn't always cost effective for me. My mine source of protein has to be eggs. They're cheap, versatile, and delicious. Perfect for the slightly broke dieter lol. I have also successfully given up regular soda and only drink diet, though most of my fluid intake is black coffee and water, which is probably where a lot of my weight loss is coming from actually. Before I started dieting I was consuming probably 3 cans of Coca-Cola a day, and at 140 calories per can, that's a total of 420 calories per day! That's almost a third of my daily allotted calories (I'm not a super active person, therefor I try to stick around 1200 to 1500 calories per day) in soda! Gross, right? I've also been eating at least one salad a day with an extremely light dressing (it has less than 3g of sugar per serving) and I keep a plethora of frozen veggies in the freezer to mix into eggs, serve with chicken, throw in the crockpot, etc. and when my husband just has to have some fast food, we go to Wendy's where I can get a cup of chilli and a baked potato. Wendy's chilli is one of the healthiest things you can get off of a fast food menu, btw, at 310 calories for a large chilli and 210 for a small. So not that bad.
I've also made it so that one day a week, usually Saturday, I can eat whatever I want. Pizza, burgers, whatever. This does not apply to soda, I still drink diet as I'm sure that the first time I get a regular Coke I probably won't go back to diet. But it's like a little reward every week for being good and eating proper. So far this has proved to be a good system to keep me on the right track.
I've also started working on a little exercise routine. I've recently started using Pinterest and I like to look there for little mini exercises. So far I have 2 that I have found to work into my everyday routine, it's not a lot but I'll be adding more to it as I find stuff I like.
The first routine I found is as follows: 50 jumping jacks (I hadn't done a jumping jack since high school! lol!), 20 crunches, 5 push ups, 20 mountain climbers, and a 30 second plank hold.
The second routine I found is an ab workout and it is as follows: You lay on your back and extend your legs into the air, toes pointed to the sky, then you "write" your ABCs with your toes. The bigger your letters, the better the workout. And let me tell you, it is a TOTAL ab workout! And it's not as easy as it sounds.
This week was rather monumental for me as I have finally broke through the 190's and have made my way into the 180's. I haven't been in the 180's since I was about 7 months pregnant with my daughter, which was roughly 2.5 years ago. Yeah. It's been a while.
I have lost a decent amount of weight recently, so I checked my BMI to see if I had gone from barely obese to just overweight. The answer was sadly no. However, I only have 3 pounds to lose before I am simply overweight and out of the danger zone. At 185lbs I will no longer be obese, and I am hoping to achieve that next week sometime. When I do hit that point I'll probably do a dance and post a sappy little bit here about how happy I am and how good I'm starting to look and what have you. Maybe I'll even include pictures as it is a pretty huge step in my weight loss.
Unfortunately I do not think that I will be making my first weight loss goal, which was to weigh 175lbs by the new year. It just took me too long to get my butt in gear and really start trying to lose weight. But I will be darn close to it, and I think that is totally possible for me to achieve my second goal of 150lbs by my birthday, September 22, next year.
So if you're here looking for inspiration, know that you CAN lose weight if you really put your mind to it. You just have to try and really dedicate yourself to the cause. I'm proof of that. I've lost 12 pounds in a month simply by eating right and working out. Good luck to you, and til next time!
I have modified my diet slightly, so it's not really the South Beach Diet anymore. While I do try to stick to lots of veggies, lean proteins, and whole grains, it simply isn't always cost effective for me. My mine source of protein has to be eggs. They're cheap, versatile, and delicious. Perfect for the slightly broke dieter lol. I have also successfully given up regular soda and only drink diet, though most of my fluid intake is black coffee and water, which is probably where a lot of my weight loss is coming from actually. Before I started dieting I was consuming probably 3 cans of Coca-Cola a day, and at 140 calories per can, that's a total of 420 calories per day! That's almost a third of my daily allotted calories (I'm not a super active person, therefor I try to stick around 1200 to 1500 calories per day) in soda! Gross, right? I've also been eating at least one salad a day with an extremely light dressing (it has less than 3g of sugar per serving) and I keep a plethora of frozen veggies in the freezer to mix into eggs, serve with chicken, throw in the crockpot, etc. and when my husband just has to have some fast food, we go to Wendy's where I can get a cup of chilli and a baked potato. Wendy's chilli is one of the healthiest things you can get off of a fast food menu, btw, at 310 calories for a large chilli and 210 for a small. So not that bad.
I've also made it so that one day a week, usually Saturday, I can eat whatever I want. Pizza, burgers, whatever. This does not apply to soda, I still drink diet as I'm sure that the first time I get a regular Coke I probably won't go back to diet. But it's like a little reward every week for being good and eating proper. So far this has proved to be a good system to keep me on the right track.
I've also started working on a little exercise routine. I've recently started using Pinterest and I like to look there for little mini exercises. So far I have 2 that I have found to work into my everyday routine, it's not a lot but I'll be adding more to it as I find stuff I like.
The first routine I found is as follows: 50 jumping jacks (I hadn't done a jumping jack since high school! lol!), 20 crunches, 5 push ups, 20 mountain climbers, and a 30 second plank hold.
The second routine I found is an ab workout and it is as follows: You lay on your back and extend your legs into the air, toes pointed to the sky, then you "write" your ABCs with your toes. The bigger your letters, the better the workout. And let me tell you, it is a TOTAL ab workout! And it's not as easy as it sounds.
This week was rather monumental for me as I have finally broke through the 190's and have made my way into the 180's. I haven't been in the 180's since I was about 7 months pregnant with my daughter, which was roughly 2.5 years ago. Yeah. It's been a while.
I have lost a decent amount of weight recently, so I checked my BMI to see if I had gone from barely obese to just overweight. The answer was sadly no. However, I only have 3 pounds to lose before I am simply overweight and out of the danger zone. At 185lbs I will no longer be obese, and I am hoping to achieve that next week sometime. When I do hit that point I'll probably do a dance and post a sappy little bit here about how happy I am and how good I'm starting to look and what have you. Maybe I'll even include pictures as it is a pretty huge step in my weight loss.
Unfortunately I do not think that I will be making my first weight loss goal, which was to weigh 175lbs by the new year. It just took me too long to get my butt in gear and really start trying to lose weight. But I will be darn close to it, and I think that is totally possible for me to achieve my second goal of 150lbs by my birthday, September 22, next year.
So if you're here looking for inspiration, know that you CAN lose weight if you really put your mind to it. You just have to try and really dedicate yourself to the cause. I'm proof of that. I've lost 12 pounds in a month simply by eating right and working out. Good luck to you, and til next time!
Friday Weigh In 12/14/2012
It is Friday and I have had another productive week. Yay! I have remained diligent and haven't been overeating and I have been more active; the results are making me quite happy.
Today is the 14th of December in 2012 and I, Danielle Hughes, am weighing in at 188.0lbs.
For those who might be wondering what happened to my darling cousin Katie, she gave up on her diet. Of course, she didn't really have much weight to lose to be to her ideal weight and was already in the healthy weight zone. She did lose some weight, I think she's around 125lbs now, which is awesome, and she's pretty well content with that. So from here on out it will be just me weighing in here. :(
Lately is does seem like everyday is an accomplishment for me with my weight and it is awesome. I feel great and plan on having more good news for you next week. Til next time!
Today is the 14th of December in 2012 and I, Danielle Hughes, am weighing in at 188.0lbs.
For those who might be wondering what happened to my darling cousin Katie, she gave up on her diet. Of course, she didn't really have much weight to lose to be to her ideal weight and was already in the healthy weight zone. She did lose some weight, I think she's around 125lbs now, which is awesome, and she's pretty well content with that. So from here on out it will be just me weighing in here. :(
Lately is does seem like everyday is an accomplishment for me with my weight and it is awesome. I feel great and plan on having more good news for you next week. Til next time!
Friday, December 7, 2012
First December 2012 Weigh In
Yay it's the first Friday of the month! That means you get your normal Friday weigh in plus pics from day 1 and pics from today to help visualize my progress.
If you read my last post you know that I am officially the smallest I've been since I had my daughter over 2 years ago, which is pretty awesome to me. And you would also know that I've been doing really good with my diet, which is also pretty awesome as its the first time I've ever been able to commit to a diet. So I'm feelin pretty darn good about myself right now.
If you read my last post you know that I am officially the smallest I've been since I had my daughter over 2 years ago, which is pretty awesome to me. And you would also know that I've been doing really good with my diet, which is also pretty awesome as its the first time I've ever been able to commit to a diet. So I'm feelin pretty darn good about myself right now.
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| Danielle, 16 November, 2012, 200.0lbs |
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| Danielle, 7 December, 2012, 191.2lbs |
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| Danielle, 16 November, 2012, 200.0lbs |
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| Danielle, 7 December, 2012, 191.2lbs |
| On the 7th of December, 2012, Danielle Hughes weighs in at 191.2 pounds. I have lost a total of 8.8 pounds since I started my diet regimen. Til next time! |
Thursday, December 6, 2012
I Feel Good!
So I am totally stoked today! I hopped on the scale this morning, same as I do every morning, and as of today I am officially the smallest I have been since I had my daughter! I am so proud of myself for sticking to my diet and actually losing weight this time! I did splurge and have a couple of Christmas cookies last night, but aside from the occasional indulgence I am sticking to my diet so well. I just hope that I can stick to my guns as more and more tasty treats come out through the holiday season.
But I can't wait for tomorrow's weigh in, and I think that next week I'll be out of the 190's and into the 180's which has me super excited. So I'll talk to you at tomorrow's weigh in!
But I can't wait for tomorrow's weigh in, and I think that next week I'll be out of the 190's and into the 180's which has me super excited. So I'll talk to you at tomorrow's weigh in!
Friday, November 30, 2012
Last Weigh in for November 2012
So it's Friday again!!! That means that it's time for another weigh in. And this time I can actually be proud of myself. And we have my cousin Katie weighing in today as well. Yay! And I've decided that next week, being that it will be the first weigh in of the month, we'll post pictures of us in the same outfits so you can actually see our progress. We'll continue this on the first Friday of every month until those outfits no longer fit, then we'll find another smaller outfit and use that until we don't fit and so on.
This is me, Danielle Hughes, age 25 on the 30th of November, 2012, and I weigh in at 193.0 pounds. I have lost a total of 7 pounds since my first weigh in.
This is my cousin Katie, age 22 on the 30th of November, 2012, and she weighs in at 126.8 pounds. Katie has lost a total of 5.6 pounds since her first weigh in.
I'm so proud of us! Here's hoping we keep up the good work! Til next time..
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| Danielle Hughes |
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| My cousin, Katie |
I'm so proud of us! Here's hoping we keep up the good work! Til next time..
Friday, November 23, 2012
Black Friday Weigh In
Well, it's Friday which means weigh in time has come again. This week only I will be weighing in as my darling cousin Katie is out of town with her mother for the holidays. Yay Katie! But continuing, I've got to say that I am pretty ashamed of myself. I had been doing good all week and was down to 195.4lbs which meant I had lost 5lbs, Yay me. But then comes Thanksgiving. The sad thing is that it started Wednesday night, I was hosting this year so well before dinner time my kitchen was pretty well occupied by Thanksgiving stuffs. So I was like screw it, let's eat out, I deserve Chinese food one last time before I go all crazy diet again. And then it was Thanksgiving and I was like I'm not going to be able to eat like this again until Christmas! And then my dad brought over this lovely wine, Gnarly Head Old Vine Zin, if you're a fan of zinfandel you should give it a try, and when I drink I have this tendency to eat more and I went nuts. Like my fingers are still swollen and I think I ate half a turtle pie. Yeah. It was like that. So I really really blew it last night. But for the part everyone's waiting for... The weigh in. :(
On Friday, the 23rd of November in 2012, I, Danielle Hughes weigh in at 201.2 pounds.
Yeah. I gained 1.2 pounds. Not good. I have a feeling that I am retaining quite a bit of water and that tomorrow or the next day I'm going to magically lose 5 pounds (that's how it worked when I started the diet) and that will be all good and well, though I still feel like crap today. Here's hoping that tomorrow will feel less crappy and that next week I'll actually have some results for you guys. Til next time, buh bye!
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Pre-Turkey Day Rant
So it's like officially holiday time with Thanksgiving being only 2 days away, and I've got to say it makes me hate dieting. It has me all frazzled about dieting and holidays. I'm currently leaning towards "ha ha, screw it I'm going to eat whatever I want on holidays!" but there's that sick little voice inside of me saying "but you have a weigh in on Friday and how totally embarrassed would you be if you slowed your progress?!" So as you can see, I'm pretty torn. So far I have been sticking to my diet like what and I've lost 5 pounds, which has me pretty happy. I mean I have given my daughter cookies without so much as licking my fingers! I am really trying to actively lose weight, why should a holiday be any different than a crappy Monday? Oh yeah, because my family expects me to cook them a lovely Thanksgiving dinner and I would cry if I slaved over a stove for 4 hours to pick at the turkey breast and munch at some celery while watching my family devour the super awesome yummy food I made. And I can't change the menu at this point either. The menu was already posted to my family, everyone has something to bring, there's just no changing it. I don't know. I suppose I'll just diet up until it's time to eat Thanksgiving dinner and then on Friday start up with the diet like nothing ever happened. Then on Christmas I'll just plan something healthier I guess. But I'm still eating a flippin Christmas cookie.
That was my little rant, and I'm done. See you on Friday!
That was my little rant, and I'm done. See you on Friday!
Friday, November 16, 2012
A Little Help From My Friends
Okay, so I know that I totally suck and have neglected this blog hardcore but that's all going to change. Recent events have pretty well flipped my life upside down and made me realize how pathetic I've been acting. I've been super lazy about dieting and exercising and I still have the nerve to bitch about how I'm fat and not losing any weight. Pathetic, right? Yeah. But no more! I am going to be taking charge of my life and accepting that I am responsible for my weight gain. It's not my husband's fault for wanting pizza, it's my fault for ordering it and then eating half a large pizza and a bunch of breaded wings and a liter of soda.
But moving on from how pathetic I've been to some quick updates. My super awesome cousin Katie has come to stay with me for a while and we've pretty well been partying for the past 2 weeks. And in those 2 weeks, we have both managed to put on about 10 pounds and we like freaked out. So I mentioned my little weight loss blog (she only knew about my makeup blog) and we got to talking and now she's going to help me with this a bit. Well, maybe help is the wrong word... She's joining me in my goal for weight loss (though she does have a lot less to lose than me) and has given me permission to document her weight loss as well as mine. Which, for me, is very helpful. It's just like additional support for me and it will totally help me stay on track.
So last night Katie and I decided to go to Meijer and pick up some of the things we needed to achieve our goal. We picked up a scale and tons of healthy groceries. We decided to do the South Beach Diet because it seems like just a really healthy lifestyle and I have read a ton of reviews from various magazines and blogs about how the South Beach Diet is extremely effective and super healthy all around.
This morning we started our day with a weigh in. Every Friday we are going to weigh in and post our current weight to monitor our weight loss over time. I'll also include exactly how much weight we've lost since starting this. So heeeeerrrree we go!
This is me, Danielle Hughes, on the 16th of November in 2012. I am 25 years old and stand at 5'6" and weigh in at 200.0 pounds. I need to lose 50-60 pounds to be at a healthy body weight. This picture really depresses me to be quite honest. I have really let myself go. I mean, for real, I look like crap when I'm not sucking in my gut and wearing clothing layered in such a way as to hide my fat.
But moving on from how pathetic I've been to some quick updates. My super awesome cousin Katie has come to stay with me for a while and we've pretty well been partying for the past 2 weeks. And in those 2 weeks, we have both managed to put on about 10 pounds and we like freaked out. So I mentioned my little weight loss blog (she only knew about my makeup blog) and we got to talking and now she's going to help me with this a bit. Well, maybe help is the wrong word... She's joining me in my goal for weight loss (though she does have a lot less to lose than me) and has given me permission to document her weight loss as well as mine. Which, for me, is very helpful. It's just like additional support for me and it will totally help me stay on track.
So last night Katie and I decided to go to Meijer and pick up some of the things we needed to achieve our goal. We picked up a scale and tons of healthy groceries. We decided to do the South Beach Diet because it seems like just a really healthy lifestyle and I have read a ton of reviews from various magazines and blogs about how the South Beach Diet is extremely effective and super healthy all around.
This morning we started our day with a weigh in. Every Friday we are going to weigh in and post our current weight to monitor our weight loss over time. I'll also include exactly how much weight we've lost since starting this. So heeeeerrrree we go!
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| Danielle, 16 November, 2012; 200.0 pounds |
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| And from the side. |
And now I'm more depressed... This is like the way I looked when I was 7 months pregnant, no joke. And no, I am not pregnant, and yes, I am sure.
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| Katie, 16 November, 2012; 132.4 pounds |
This is my cousin Katie, also on the 16th of November, she is 22 years old, stands 5'2" and weighs in today at 132.4 pounds. She is currently at a healthy body weight, she just wants to lose a few pounds and be a little healthier.
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| And the side |
So far things are going pretty well, though considering we haven't even made it through 24 hours yet, that should be expected. The first 2 weeks of the South Beach Diet kind of suck, pretty much just protein and veggies, which is a bitch to adjust to. But we shall persevere!!!! Haha.. But we got this. After the first 2 weeks is up we can have bits of other stuffs to give a bit more variety to our palettes.
I suppose this is all for now, I'm going to order a Pilates tape this week and I'll let you guys know when we get it and set up a work out schedule or whatever. If I come up with any kick ass SBD recipes I'll post them. But if I come up with nothing, I'll at least talk at you next Friday for our next weigh in!
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Kick Ass Kale Soup
I am a total sucker for soup; I just love it, especially this time of year. I found this recipe a few years ago and being that it is super healthy and totally delicious I thought sharing it seemed appropriate. And if you've never cooked with kale, it's really easy. You just rinse the kale really well to make sure there's no dirt hidden in the folds of the leaves and then rip the leafy bits away from the spine. Afterwards just rip the kale into little pieces. Totally easy.
Now fair warning, this soup has a fairly long prep time because there is a LOT of chopping involved, though if you have a food processor it will probably only take a few minutes. I don't have a food processor so the prep time on this is based on chopping by hand not when using a food processor.
Prep Time: Approximately 30 minutes
Cook Time: 25-30 minutes
Ingredients
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 large bell pepper chopped (I like orange bell peppers because it just brightens the soup up a bit)
1 large onion chopped
1 cup carrots chopped
2 garlic cloves minced
2 cups red potatoes diced
6 cups kale ripped into bite size pieces (approximately one bunch of kale)
1 - 16 ounce can white kidney beans rinsed and drained
4-6 cups chicken stock
Salt and black pepper to taste
Approximately 1tsp each of thyme, sage, oregano, rosemary, and basil. I don't measure it, just add to taste.
1. Heat olive oil in a heavy bottom soup pot over medium high heat. Add onion and cook for 5-7 minutes or until lightly browned. Add bell pepper, carrots, and garlic and saute for 5 minutes.
2. Add potatoes, kale, beans chicken stock, salt, pepper, and spices and bring to a boil. Cook for about 10 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.
3. Add additional stock or water if soup becomes too thick. Let sit for about 5 minutes after cooking and serve. Enjoy!
Now fair warning, this soup has a fairly long prep time because there is a LOT of chopping involved, though if you have a food processor it will probably only take a few minutes. I don't have a food processor so the prep time on this is based on chopping by hand not when using a food processor.
Prep Time: Approximately 30 minutes
Cook Time: 25-30 minutes
Ingredients
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 large bell pepper chopped (I like orange bell peppers because it just brightens the soup up a bit)
1 large onion chopped
1 cup carrots chopped
2 garlic cloves minced
2 cups red potatoes diced
6 cups kale ripped into bite size pieces (approximately one bunch of kale)
1 - 16 ounce can white kidney beans rinsed and drained
4-6 cups chicken stock
Salt and black pepper to taste
Approximately 1tsp each of thyme, sage, oregano, rosemary, and basil. I don't measure it, just add to taste.
1. Heat olive oil in a heavy bottom soup pot over medium high heat. Add onion and cook for 5-7 minutes or until lightly browned. Add bell pepper, carrots, and garlic and saute for 5 minutes.
2. Add potatoes, kale, beans chicken stock, salt, pepper, and spices and bring to a boil. Cook for about 10 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.
3. Add additional stock or water if soup becomes too thick. Let sit for about 5 minutes after cooking and serve. Enjoy!
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Short 'n Sweet Random Update
This is just me checking in. I'm still having issues with my husband supporting my diet plan. When he comes home on the weekends he wants to be able to do nothing but fun which is pretty much eating out (fast food, pizza, that kind of crap) and watching tv/playing video games. So not helpful when you're struggling to lose weight, btw. But other than a few splurges when he's home I've been doing pretty good.
I've been noticing some decent results from my yoga tape too. I've lost a little bit of weight since I started this weight loss regimen, about half a pant size. Nothing to brag about, but it's something. I've also noticed some added flexibility since I started my yoga and I've definitely been gaining strength in my core and lower body. All of which is awesome.
And as far as the Special K diet and the Pilates tape goes, I haven't started either yet. I forgot to go to the store last weekend, so I'm going to try the Special K diet next week. I would prefer to start the diet on a Monday, it just makes more sense to me as I will be doing it for 2 weeks. If it works well, I suppose I might go longer than the 2 weeks, but I'm really mostly just curious as to whether or not it works. I plan on picking up a Pilates tape this week or this coming weekend, and if I haven't found anything that sparks my interest I suppose I'll just have to check Amazon or something.
But overall, things are looking pretty sweet for me and my body image. I may or may not make my first goal, but honestly I am just totally happy that I'm moving forward at this point. And it seems pretty reasonable to me that at this rate in another week, week and a half I'll have dropped a full pant size. Just gotta keep on the way I'm going, try to pick healthier options when we get fast food. I guess I'll have to make a list of the fast food places and the lowest calorie meals for each place. I'll share my results later in another post. But thanks for reading and wish me luck!
I've been noticing some decent results from my yoga tape too. I've lost a little bit of weight since I started this weight loss regimen, about half a pant size. Nothing to brag about, but it's something. I've also noticed some added flexibility since I started my yoga and I've definitely been gaining strength in my core and lower body. All of which is awesome.
And as far as the Special K diet and the Pilates tape goes, I haven't started either yet. I forgot to go to the store last weekend, so I'm going to try the Special K diet next week. I would prefer to start the diet on a Monday, it just makes more sense to me as I will be doing it for 2 weeks. If it works well, I suppose I might go longer than the 2 weeks, but I'm really mostly just curious as to whether or not it works. I plan on picking up a Pilates tape this week or this coming weekend, and if I haven't found anything that sparks my interest I suppose I'll just have to check Amazon or something.
But overall, things are looking pretty sweet for me and my body image. I may or may not make my first goal, but honestly I am just totally happy that I'm moving forward at this point. And it seems pretty reasonable to me that at this rate in another week, week and a half I'll have dropped a full pant size. Just gotta keep on the way I'm going, try to pick healthier options when we get fast food. I guess I'll have to make a list of the fast food places and the lowest calorie meals for each place. I'll share my results later in another post. But thanks for reading and wish me luck!
Friday, October 19, 2012
Shame shame shame...
I know I haven't posted anything in ages, I just haven't known what I should say. It's been a really rocky time for me. I got really sick after my first post and I couldn't work out and I was so beat down trying to take care of me and my daughter that I wasn't eating overly healthy either. I felt like crap and didn't have the energy to bother with actually preparing and cooking meals. I was focused on just feeding myself whatever was easy, and as we all probably know that does not generally mean healthy foods. But then I got better and hopped back on the wagon. I was eating right, exercising for at least a half an hour 5 days a week, I was doing good. Well, except the weekends. The weekends weren't overly healthy. But my life got kinda weird. My husband started a new job and the hours are really wonky. He's pretty well been gone Monday through Friday, like out of town I don't get to see him at all gone, and then he's home for the weekend. And my husband, lucky guy that he is, is one of those people who can eat whatever he wants not work out and never gain a pound. And my daughter is the same way, and I totally forgot to mention that neither of them like to eat healthy food. My family is totally one of those that you have to hide vegetables in cheese or on pizza for them to touch them. I definitely don't have much of a support group at home. And with my husband gone so much, when he is home I pretty much forget about everything and cater to everything he wants to do which is primarily watching cartoons, gaming and playing with our daughter. Oh, and having me cook for him because I am a god in the kitchen. I know that sounds totally conceited, but it's true. I'm not good at a lot of things, I'm clumsy, undermotivated, and anti social, but holy crap can I cook. And he asks for things like chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, macaroni and cheese and biscuits and I deliver because it's what he wants.
Basically I'm just really struggling with this and I feel so disappointed in myself and so incredibly discouraged. It kills me that I don't have the will power to stick to my diet and find time to exercise when my husband is home. and even when he's gone I struggle to keep myself motivated with my workouts. I guess I just didn't realize how hard this was going to be for me. I suppose I should have known better, I mean a large part of who I am and what I do revolves around my love of cooking and making people happy with what I cook and to be quite honest I hate working out. Like, I don't mind exercising, when I lived in the city I used to walk everywhere and I loved it. You really get to take in the sights and there's a set destination therefor a point to the exercise. But setting aside time to exercise just to exercise seems so wasteful. I know it's not; I live in the middle of nowhere and on a road too dangerous to take my daughter in the stroller, so I need to do workout tapes or something just to keep my body healthy. But I still just feel so stupid doing those damn tapes. Especially when my husband is home. It kills me how out of shape I am and it is particularly obvious just how out of shape I am when I exercise. I sweat like crazy, wheeze a little, and grunt obscenities at the tv between circuits. It's probably hysterical to watch, and I just don't want my husband to see me like that. It's so embarassing. When we got together I was thin and cute and was in pretty great shape. I used to walk to work with him when we lived in town, it was about 3.5 miles, and it took us 15 minutes. And then I'd end up hanging at the coffee shop until someone I knew would stop in and then me and my friends would end up walking all over town to various friends houses to hang. And then after my husband got out of work we'd walk to the bar or the store and then walk home. I mean I was power walking like 10-20 miles a day, I was too busy to binge eat, and I was great. My legs were seriously solid, my tummy was flat, and I felt and looked fabulous. We looked fabulous together. It was great.
Sorry about the serious rambling, for those of you who managed to decipher the poorly planned paragraphs above and make it this far, I salute you. I've just got a lot to get off my chest and I don't have many people that get what I'm going through. Well, not people I can talk to about this kind of stuff anywho. Most of my Dad's family is overweight or obese, but they do NOT talk about this kind of stuff. And I ended up with a lot of skinny gene friends.
But despite my dislike of workout tapes and my struggles with dieting, I have had more good days then bad with my regimen. At first I was dieting and working out and I couldn't see any results and it was super discouraging. I was working my ass off, I was sore, I really wanting a freakin soda, and I couldn't see any difference in my appearance and my clothes fit the same. It felt like I was making myself miserable for nothing. Then in my super bummy mood I ended up taking some time off the workouts (I think it was 3 days, not exactly sure) and then I started to notice that my pj's fit a little loose. It was one of those moments where I was super stoked followed by a face palm. I'm not stupid, I know basic biology and anatomy. When I was working out I was doing a Jillian Michaels kettle bell workout which is a serious cardio/strength workout. It's high intensity and is designed to seriously whip your body into shape. And let me tell you, it is hard. Like really really hard. Like after I finished the tape the first time I could barely walk. And when you do serious workouts, your muscles are stretched and tear just a bit. It's when the muscles heal that you get toned and lose weight as well as boost your metabolism. I was working my ass off everyday and not giving my muscles the time they needed to heal which is why I wasn't seeing any results. Duh.
So after my first little revelation as to what's wrong with my workout routine I had another. Bringing it back to basics yet again here. Because I allowed myself to become so sedentary and put on so much weight, my muscles aren't the only parts of my body that suffered. I need to consider the health of my joints as well. And it seems to me that I am almost 200lbs and have gone a very long time without working out. So doing seriously high intensity workouts squatting and jumping and what have you is not going to be easy on my joints. Especially when there is just so much weight being thrown on them. And I don't just want to be thin, I want to be healthy, so I really can't be throwing all I've got onto my poor under worked joints. But I also don't want to be taking a lot of time off between workouts. Easy solution, find a low intensity workout to do between my high intensity workouts. So I dug through my DVDs and found my old prenatal yoga DVD. It's a 45 minute tape, and it's a nice mellow workout. But at the same time I can feel the results without feeling like I just got hit by a bus. And it helps mellow me out before bed which is awesome as I have a hard time sleeping without my husband here. And yoga just makes me feel good, it makes me feel so relaxed and centered. And for another bonus I actually think I'm getting better results doing yoga than I was doing the kettle bell workout. Maybe my body just needs a little more time getting into semi-decent shape before I can get decent results with the kettle bell. I've got to remember that I am in the worst shape of my life and I need to take it slow or I'm just going to hurt myself.
So I've figured out what I am capable of, how much is too much, and that I need to take a break every couple of days to let my muscles heal. All stuff I knew before, but I've just never needed this much coddling when it came to working out. But I still want to do more without wrecking myself and I've been thinking about how I should do my workouts without hurting myself but still getting some variety in there so I don't just get bored and quit. I've decided to get a Pilates tape and vary my diet a little. I've done Pilates before and the results come quick and it doesn't beat the crap out of your body. It feels really organic and leaves me feeling good (like yoga) but I still feel like I got a good workout in. So I'm going to search for a great Pilates tape, they used to have one that I really like on Netflix, I think it was called Weight Loss Pilates or something like that. I'm going to see if I can't find it online later tonight because I really liked it.
And my dieting has been pretty basic up to this point. I only drink soda on the weekends (it's my treat to myself, I know it's stupid but I really like Coke) and I've been focusing on replacing junk food with healthier options. Instead of a cheese omelet for breakfast I have a small bowl of Special K, instead of microwave dinners for lunch I have a salad, that kind of thing. Just trying to cut out the empty calories really. However I was reading my cereal box and Special K has their Special K Challenge which claims that you will drop a pant size in 2 weeks just by following their meal plan. I had heard of their diet before but just kind of ignored it. But being that I like their products and I am actively trying to lose weight, I think that I'm going to give it a go starting next week. It's mostly stupid curiosity, but it's be cool if it worked. I'll let you guys know the details and whether or not it works in another post. I'll even include before and after pics.
But that's all for my seriously over due update, wish me luck in reaching my goals!!! Thanks for reading!
Basically I'm just really struggling with this and I feel so disappointed in myself and so incredibly discouraged. It kills me that I don't have the will power to stick to my diet and find time to exercise when my husband is home. and even when he's gone I struggle to keep myself motivated with my workouts. I guess I just didn't realize how hard this was going to be for me. I suppose I should have known better, I mean a large part of who I am and what I do revolves around my love of cooking and making people happy with what I cook and to be quite honest I hate working out. Like, I don't mind exercising, when I lived in the city I used to walk everywhere and I loved it. You really get to take in the sights and there's a set destination therefor a point to the exercise. But setting aside time to exercise just to exercise seems so wasteful. I know it's not; I live in the middle of nowhere and on a road too dangerous to take my daughter in the stroller, so I need to do workout tapes or something just to keep my body healthy. But I still just feel so stupid doing those damn tapes. Especially when my husband is home. It kills me how out of shape I am and it is particularly obvious just how out of shape I am when I exercise. I sweat like crazy, wheeze a little, and grunt obscenities at the tv between circuits. It's probably hysterical to watch, and I just don't want my husband to see me like that. It's so embarassing. When we got together I was thin and cute and was in pretty great shape. I used to walk to work with him when we lived in town, it was about 3.5 miles, and it took us 15 minutes. And then I'd end up hanging at the coffee shop until someone I knew would stop in and then me and my friends would end up walking all over town to various friends houses to hang. And then after my husband got out of work we'd walk to the bar or the store and then walk home. I mean I was power walking like 10-20 miles a day, I was too busy to binge eat, and I was great. My legs were seriously solid, my tummy was flat, and I felt and looked fabulous. We looked fabulous together. It was great.
Sorry about the serious rambling, for those of you who managed to decipher the poorly planned paragraphs above and make it this far, I salute you. I've just got a lot to get off my chest and I don't have many people that get what I'm going through. Well, not people I can talk to about this kind of stuff anywho. Most of my Dad's family is overweight or obese, but they do NOT talk about this kind of stuff. And I ended up with a lot of skinny gene friends.
But despite my dislike of workout tapes and my struggles with dieting, I have had more good days then bad with my regimen. At first I was dieting and working out and I couldn't see any results and it was super discouraging. I was working my ass off, I was sore, I really wanting a freakin soda, and I couldn't see any difference in my appearance and my clothes fit the same. It felt like I was making myself miserable for nothing. Then in my super bummy mood I ended up taking some time off the workouts (I think it was 3 days, not exactly sure) and then I started to notice that my pj's fit a little loose. It was one of those moments where I was super stoked followed by a face palm. I'm not stupid, I know basic biology and anatomy. When I was working out I was doing a Jillian Michaels kettle bell workout which is a serious cardio/strength workout. It's high intensity and is designed to seriously whip your body into shape. And let me tell you, it is hard. Like really really hard. Like after I finished the tape the first time I could barely walk. And when you do serious workouts, your muscles are stretched and tear just a bit. It's when the muscles heal that you get toned and lose weight as well as boost your metabolism. I was working my ass off everyday and not giving my muscles the time they needed to heal which is why I wasn't seeing any results. Duh.
So after my first little revelation as to what's wrong with my workout routine I had another. Bringing it back to basics yet again here. Because I allowed myself to become so sedentary and put on so much weight, my muscles aren't the only parts of my body that suffered. I need to consider the health of my joints as well. And it seems to me that I am almost 200lbs and have gone a very long time without working out. So doing seriously high intensity workouts squatting and jumping and what have you is not going to be easy on my joints. Especially when there is just so much weight being thrown on them. And I don't just want to be thin, I want to be healthy, so I really can't be throwing all I've got onto my poor under worked joints. But I also don't want to be taking a lot of time off between workouts. Easy solution, find a low intensity workout to do between my high intensity workouts. So I dug through my DVDs and found my old prenatal yoga DVD. It's a 45 minute tape, and it's a nice mellow workout. But at the same time I can feel the results without feeling like I just got hit by a bus. And it helps mellow me out before bed which is awesome as I have a hard time sleeping without my husband here. And yoga just makes me feel good, it makes me feel so relaxed and centered. And for another bonus I actually think I'm getting better results doing yoga than I was doing the kettle bell workout. Maybe my body just needs a little more time getting into semi-decent shape before I can get decent results with the kettle bell. I've got to remember that I am in the worst shape of my life and I need to take it slow or I'm just going to hurt myself.
So I've figured out what I am capable of, how much is too much, and that I need to take a break every couple of days to let my muscles heal. All stuff I knew before, but I've just never needed this much coddling when it came to working out. But I still want to do more without wrecking myself and I've been thinking about how I should do my workouts without hurting myself but still getting some variety in there so I don't just get bored and quit. I've decided to get a Pilates tape and vary my diet a little. I've done Pilates before and the results come quick and it doesn't beat the crap out of your body. It feels really organic and leaves me feeling good (like yoga) but I still feel like I got a good workout in. So I'm going to search for a great Pilates tape, they used to have one that I really like on Netflix, I think it was called Weight Loss Pilates or something like that. I'm going to see if I can't find it online later tonight because I really liked it.
And my dieting has been pretty basic up to this point. I only drink soda on the weekends (it's my treat to myself, I know it's stupid but I really like Coke) and I've been focusing on replacing junk food with healthier options. Instead of a cheese omelet for breakfast I have a small bowl of Special K, instead of microwave dinners for lunch I have a salad, that kind of thing. Just trying to cut out the empty calories really. However I was reading my cereal box and Special K has their Special K Challenge which claims that you will drop a pant size in 2 weeks just by following their meal plan. I had heard of their diet before but just kind of ignored it. But being that I like their products and I am actively trying to lose weight, I think that I'm going to give it a go starting next week. It's mostly stupid curiosity, but it's be cool if it worked. I'll let you guys know the details and whether or not it works in another post. I'll even include before and after pics.
But that's all for my seriously over due update, wish me luck in reaching my goals!!! Thanks for reading!
Saturday, September 22, 2012
In The Beginning, There Was Fat
This is a photo of me shortly after my wedding in August of 2008. I weighed in at about 155 pounds, which is pretty close to my healthy weight. I think that if I were about 10-15 pounds lighter or maybe just more all over tone I would be at a perfect weight for me.
So, if you haven't guessed, this blog is kind of my journey through weight loss. I am going to be dieting and exercising my weigh down the scale and I feel that keeping what is essentially a public journal of my struggles, successes, favorite healthy recipes, etc will keep me pushing to lose weight because I am really not into public humiliation. And that may sound harsh, but I've been saying that I am going to lose weight for 2 years now, and it's time I followed through with my plans. I want to be happier when I look into the mirror, I want to fit into my favorite pants, and most of all I want to be able to keep up with my daughter and I want her to have a mom she can be proud of.
My 25th birthday was yesterday (though it still feels like today as I haven't gone to sleep yet) and my first major goal in weight loss is to get to my pre-pregnancy weight of approximately 170 pounds before January 1, 2013. My second major goal is to make it approximately 150 pounds by my birthday, September 22, next year. I'm sure there will be tons of other smaller goals, but this is kind of an intro to my blog so I just wanted to get the big goals out there.
So basically, this is the first day of the rest of my life. And yeah, I know exactly how cheesy that sounds and I really don't care.
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