Five Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me About Weight Loss

I love to "surf" the web for all kind of new recipes, nutrition advice and workout routines...so in my search I found this article. I completely agree with what is said in it and hope it helps you! Click HERE to read more...

Meeting My Goals...How I Did It.

I have lost 40 lbs...I am a size 10, with room!!!!!! WOOT!!! I want to shout it from the rooftops, jump up and down, do the victory dance....THIS IS SO HUGE! I haven't been here since marriage with my weight and I haven't been this size since Junior High!!!!!

September was rough with more cheats than I wanted to have, but I survived and just this first part of October the weight and inches are just falling off again. This has been my goal since...well, since after I had Hailey. It's taken me so long to figure out how to lose it. Really. I have no problem with the exercise thing, although when I began that years ago, it was really tough. The habit with exercise was established but eating right has been the hard thing. I love to eat healthy, but I'm realizing I've been eating too much food. It really comes down to calories in and calories out, but more importantly what kind of calories you are putting in and putting in the right combinations. I've struggled with the "carb" and "fat" issue for years. Do I eat carbs? Do I eat fat? For years the NO FAT thing was huge, but that is so WRONG! So, I added in fat, but then I was eating too much (nuts, cheese, good oils). As for carbs, I lost weight many times before cutting out my carbs. That works temporarily but there is no way you can maintain that, so I would add back in my carbs, but too many carbs, and would then gain back the blasted 10-15 pounds I was always trying to get off.

I'm very grateful for my friend Melanie, who gave me her "formula". She competed in a Naturals Bodybuilding show and trimmed 30+ lbs. She looked amazing! If I could lift weights with her for a year and she could trim down, then so could I, right?! I am grateful for her motivating me.

So, I will give you the formula...it's simple really, but may seem sort of technical. Do with it what you will. I will also post on here a couple of books I've been reading that encourage the same way of eating, plus also have some great ideas for exercise. Check them out at the library! (Look at bottom of post for book titles)

Calories each day: 1500 (to trim last 10-15 lbs, reduce to 1200 calories, this is where I am now)
Fat grams per day: 1.5 grams of fat per body fat percentage you are...so if you are 30% body fat, then you should eat no more than 45 grams of fat each day.

AVOID eating Fat around your workout!!!

Carbohydrate Intake Daily: NO MORE than what you weight...in grams. So if you weight 200 lbs., then eat NO MORE than 200 grams!! I would try to keep my carbs around 100 grams per day. It's important to eat less carbs, but DO NOT cut them out of your diet. You need them for energy. DO NOT eat less than 50 carbs per day. Your brain needs carbs to function ;) It is important to cut back on carbs in order to lose. If you find that you are not losing weight, then really watch where your carbs are coming from and when you are eating them.

EAT CARBS EARLY IN THE DAY!!!! DO NOT eat carbs before bed...why do you need energy to sleep?! You need carbs around your workout, so, if you workout in the evening, eat your carbs (1/2 cup rice, 1 slice whole grain bread, 1/2 cup oatmeal, sweet potatoes, fruit) ONE hour before your workout in the evening. This will ensure you have the energy you need to not die out there!

My husband put together a great template in Excel where I could track all of these things, if you would like a copy, then email me at jen78johns@yahoo.com. I would be happy to answer any specific questions that way as well!

I am on a quest to get to my "ideal" weight, so that is another 15 pounds. I would like to see if I could be a size 4-6. I had a friend on Facebook say to me " be happy where you are, don't keep dangling the carrot in front of yourself, when you've accomplished so much". I agree with her, but then again, this is a lifestyle change for me. I AM happy where I'm at...soooo happy! If I continue eating right and exercising, then it will come off, if need be...and if not, so what?!

Stay tuned....I have a AWESOME Protein Pancake recipe you'll love!

Books:
Body at Home by Jorge Cruise
Body for Life by Bill Phillips

Long, Slow, Journey

Life with 5 is insane! I haven't really been doing that great with my eating until the last week. I hopped on the scale today and found that I have lost 4 more pounds. It would have been more, if I would have eaten better, but to be honest, I just find myself drowning in days full of cleaning, kids and more. Cutting out sugar is my biggest problem. How can I get through my days without something a little sweet in them?! Well, enough whining, I'm back on track. I'm actually amazed I still lost weight over the last month! I'm not going to rationalize that and give myself permission to be a glutton. No more. I have been ever so religious this week, and I feel okay. The cravings are diminishing somewhat.

So, what am I doing? What is "eating healthy" to me? There are many ways to eat healthy. I prefer to just eat whole grains, protein (meat, beans, eggs), and lots of veggies and eat things in moderation, but sometimes to jump start things I will do something different. For me the easiest way to lose weight is to cut back on my carbs for awhile. So, I am eating chicken, turkey, fish, (once a week) red meat, eggs, all the veggies I want, one handful of nuts a day, and tonz of water. I am limiting my oils, to 1 tablespoon a day. I do add 1/2 a banana in my protein shakes, yes I do drink one a day. So my typical day goes like this...

Breakfast - 2-3 eggs and a spinach parsley shake (sounds gross, but is quite refreshing)

Lunch - Chicken breast with a huge salad, cilantro-lime dressing (homemade)

Snack - 1 handful of nuts, and/or a spinach shake

Dinner - (ground turkey) taco salad. I do have light sour cream and salsa.

Snack - Protein Shake

Usually when I eat this way I can lose about 10 pounds in 2-3 weeks. I am still nursing Ruthie, so I am making sure I get enough calories and supplement Flax Seeds in my shakes and Nutrional Yeast Powder (1 Tablespoon) once a day, to ensure I can continue to breastfeed.

I feel like it is essential to get in protein, for me, because I always experience hair loss after I have my babies and this seems to help it. The only drawback to this way of eating is I do have to cut back on the exercise. I find that I don't have the endurance I need, but I don't do this for long before I add in fruit and grains in moderation. I don't think this is a healthy way to eat for the long term. So, I'll keep you posted on how I do! Feel free to join me!

1 1/2 weeks

Okay, so I lost 1 pound. Big Deal. However, I must note that about 4 weeks ago I decided to eat less meat. When I got on the scale one week ago, I was 10 lbs lighter than I was 4 weeks ago! So, I guess losing an additional pound this week is good, right?! So, all in all instead of losing 40 lbs, I have 30 lbs to lose.

This week was hard. My commitment was to eat no sugar. I failed. I did have Cold Stone on Friday night. I got a medium size and didn't finish it. That's the bad part of this week. The good part was I'm running 4 miles twice a week! I'm trying to slowly increase my speed and one day each week my mileage. It's tough, but I've done it before, so I know it will come easier as I keep at it. I learned a few things this week as I paid more attention to what I eat...First...there are so many "rules" on how to eat. This gets so overwhelming at times, don't you think?! I mean who in the heck has time to eat 5-6 small meals each day?! I don't! I find that I eat very light in the morning (another rule tells you this should be your biggest meal of the day...not possible for me, this is a crazy time of day!), a nice meal after the gym for lunch. I do have a protein shake in the afternoon and then eat later in the evening...around 6:30 or so. Sometimes I will have a fruit shake late in the evening. My thoughts are, you have to do what works best for YOU! It really comes down to calories in/out.

My favorite thing this week are my homemade bean quesadillas. My neighbor gave me the best home made tortilla recipe with sprouted wheat. They are amazing! They are completely fat free and loaded with whole grains and flax. Sounds like cardboard, doesn't it?! They aren't! I need her permission to share them with you :) I also put on my amazing refried bean recipe I shared with you a couple of weeks ago and sprinkle a very small amount of cheese. I have had this for lunch all week. Sounds boring but I crave them, so I'm going to eat them until I don't anymore! It has really helped me to cut back on meat. I find that I crave more beans. I make sure I combine whole grains when I eat beans as to ensure I'm getting whole proteins.

My goals this week...DRINK MORE WATER. This is so hard for me!
Also, not eating after 7 p.m. I find that most of the bad food, like sugar, happens in the evening.

Good luck to me! Please share any tips that have helped you lose weight, I'm open to suggestions!