Christmas is over, whew!

Well, I'll put it past me. I'll consider it one of my low times. I never thought Christmas would be as stressful as it was. With running around from house to house, buying this and that, and making sure everyone was happy, I didn't make time for me!

Now 2 days later, I'm sick with a head cold, feel bloated, and back to square one.

However, these words below are encouraging:

You have been more thoughtful as of late, and have begun to be more true to yourself. This is due to your own recent introspection. Yes, dear Leo, you really can change your life. All it takes is time and commitment. You have made great progress in your personal development. Continue on this path and you will wind up in a much better place. Keep your eye on the goal, but don't be so focused that you forget to enjoy the journey.

Don't push food on me, bro!

I hate this time of the year at work when everyone is pushing you to eat, eat, and eat some more! I am proud of my restraint and turned my back on all things chocolate. I'd rather eat cheese than chocolate any day of the week anyway. Though I will mention I have had some help (supplemental help) with my cravings and appetite in general. I'm taking Tight FEM and it does work. In fact, this is one of the reasons why I finally got off the 5 months plateau. Plus, I'm eating clean(er). Heck, I don't even drink the way I used too either. This is a good thing since alcohol is probably the main cause of fat, drunk, and stupid. I'd rather not be a part of that club! What's a girl to do? Stay tuned, it's going to be a long weekend!

Thank you for all your support.

Thank you for coming to my blog (also my new friends from Bodybuilding.com) and supporting me! I still got a long road ahead on my fitness goals but I'm having fun. Down to 145-149lbs! I hope to have a full length shot of before and after put up pretty soon.

Enjoy the weekend!

When in Tokyo..

I stumbled onto this site when I was looking at the Junk Flood Blog a few months ago. This is one of the best sites I've come across in a long time. Mike Beddall is from Ottawa, Canada and is living in Japan. His site has everything you've always wanted to know about Japan and more. I asked him a few weeks ago if I could reprint his "ab-project". I thought I'd like to introduce more people to his site and see how he lost 7lbs. in 2 weeks(!) eating local food (good and bad) instead as well as all his other popular past posts. It is a relative carnival of East meets West!

Oh, and Mike, if you ever read this! Domo arigato!

The Only Diet You Will Ever Need…Supposedly

By Douglas Kalman, MS, RD,FACN

(My words are in italics.)

To start off with, on this diet, you’ll have to eat every four hours – even if you’re not hungry (except for when you’re sleeping, of course). Second, your meals are counted by the calories or estimated calorie portion. Third, food items with as little as 200 calories count as meal. A must on this diet system is that you to eat within one hour of completing exercise, and this counts as one of your meals.

Using these guidelines, there’s an absolute understanding that no matter what your preference is, you must have breakfast daily (meal one). This meal has to be protein-centric (meaning that the meal must have more protein than anything else). A first meal option is four egg whites mixed with one (1) ounce of cheese (omelet style) with 1 cup of diced up fruit. Optimally, this meal also has green tea (or something like Lipo-6, Tetrazene, or even MX-LS7) - *Please see a Doctor before taking any OTC medications or supplements. Lipo-6 made my heart race and I stopped taking it. You’re better off drinking green tea for a metabolism boost.

Meal two should be a mixture of mostly protein and fat (known as a P + F meal). This meal can contain a small steak and some natural peanut butter. (Ok, I’d like to see what recipe they came up with for this.) Ideally, the third meal contains carbohydrates, rich in fiber, some protein and even some fat. Such a meal can be 2 cups or mixed vegetable greens with diced chicken breast and 1 tablespoon of oil (canola or extra virgin olive oil) and vinegar dressing (balsamic vinegar). (Add 2 tablespoons of Grey Poupon mustard for texture and tang.) All meals should be accompanied by a cup of natural green tea or a daily serving (per day, not per meal) of any of the aforementioned weight-loss products.

Meal four is more of a snack and one that has some protein and calcium, and is low in sugar, such as an 8 ounce sugar free, light yogurt or 1 percent cottage cheese is recommended.

Meal five should again be rich in fiber and contain protein. For this, a piece of salmon with a couple of cups of steamed vegetables, rounded out by a small amount of extra virgin olive oil drizzled over the vegetables is thought to be optimal.

The last meal of the day is smaller than the prior five and contain protein and carbohydrate. For this you can use the “low carb” dairy beverages (Hood) or something like a banana mixed with two cups of protein powder and crushed ice in water (a protein rich drink) to close out the day. (Whew!) This style of eating uses proteins combined with fibrous vegetables (carbohydrates) or proteins with fats, but hardly ever uses carbohydrates with fats, in order to maintain stable blood sugar levels and to maximize satiety and fat burning all day long. Try this type of diet to expeditiously burn any unwanted weight and let me know how it works for you.

How did I get here?

Doesn’t it seem we are always “waiting or weight-in” for something in our lives? When it comes to people wanting to lose weight there are, “the patient ones”, sticking to and being rather disgustingly nonchalant about the whole eating and exercise plan, that a whole other group forms which I like to call, “the impatient ones”. These guys aren’t singing, “We Got A Long Way To Go” by Jerry Reed in their morning shower by any means. Some days they are banging their heads in frustration when the scale simply won’t budge and may even go up! This group is the reason the diet pill industry is according to DietPillCentral.com, “expected to reach revenues of $40 billion in 2006.”

Well, there are days when I plug along just fine and dandy and there are days when I find myself on BodyBuilding.com, desperately clutching my credit card as I order, yet another bottle of Xpel. As I mentioned in a previous post, I’m my own worst enemy. I find myself getting closer to my goal and yet I still struggle daily with my eating. Did I mention I exercise 5 days a week, over an hour at a time? I actually enjoy strength training and with the right music, cardio isn’t too shabby either.

Almost a year ago, December 2006 to be exact, I bought copies of two magazines, Fitness, and Fitness Rx for Women. These were their New Year Specials and I can’t possibly begin to tell how helpful they have been over the past year. I lost over 30lbs. but because I’m my own worst enemy and since I exercise like a fiend, I’ve been on a plateau for the past few months. In the January/February 2007 Fitness Magazine, Dawn Jackson Blatner, RN, LDN developed a 7-Day Start Diet*. An eating plan consisting of Breakfast, Two-Snacks, Lunch, and Dinner recipes for one(!) along with the entire calorie intake for that particular day. For four full months, I became “patient”. I followed Dawn’s eating plan. (No cheat days!) I followed the Spot Accelerated Plan in Fitness Rx for Women. I lost weight fast! Friends, family, co-workers were astounded. How did I do it, they asked? I showed them how and gave them shopping lists. Boy was I full of myself!

After a while, boredom sets in. I alternated the plan to suit my tastes. I’d have weeks of vegetarian meals only. I learned to eat sweet potatoes, peanut butter, and celery. I don’t know why I hated peanut butter, I love it now. And celery? This is the first thing I will grab on a vegetable crudite’. However, after a long hard stressful day at work and an intense workout creates one heck of a ravenous appetite. I began to cheat at night and weekends. (See Self Sabotage: What’s With the Cheese? Post.) And here I am so close…so close; I can taste it between patient and impatient weight-in for the sun.

*Pending approval from Fitness Magazine on reprinting of the 7 Day Start Diet. Dawn said it belonged to Fitness and she didn’t mind if I reprinted it for you all. I’d like to cover my bases just in case. She added me to her testimonials, too.

http://www.dawnjacksonblatner.com/about/test.php

"I can't tell you how many of my friends have been very successful using your Fitness Magazine 7-Day Eating Plan! I know there are others who'd be interested, too, and I would love to share the plan and your website with them on my blog. Thanks!"
--Lora
Boston, MA

Oh, oh, Diet Teas! Warning from the FDA!

A cup of hot herbal tea may feel soothing to the soul, but instead of soothing the body, some herbal teas can make you sick.

This is especially true with so-called dieter's teas, herbal teas containing senna, aloe, buckthorn, and other plant-derived laxatives that, when consumed in excessive amounts, can cause diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, stomach cramps, chronic constipation, fainting, and perhaps death.

In recent years, FDA has received "adverse event" reports, including the deaths of four young women, in which dieter's teas may have been a contributing factor.

As a result, FDA is advising consumers to follow package directions carefully when using dieter's teas and other dietary supplements containing senna, aloe, and other stimulant laxatives. Consumers should seek medical attention for persistent diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and other bowel problems to prevent more serious complications.

New Eating Plans...er..Diet Books?

After a relatively short amount of time, my new diet books arrived. "The Volumetrics - Eating Plan" - Barbara Rolls, PH.d, and "The Fast Food Diet" - Stephen Sinatra, M.D.

I have always been on the look out for a new way to lose weight. Cabbage Soup diet, Mayo Clinic diet, Atkins, South Beach, Scarsdale diet have helped me in some ways but never long term. I can't live without bread nor can I live without cheese. (My last meal on earth will most likely be a cheese sandwich.) When you've eaten a certain way for most of your life it is hard to change even after 21 days!

Yet this Fast Food Diet book at only $.49 from the used section of Amazon.com by the way, appeals to my penny-pinching habits. I can go to Wendy's? Cool!

I'll keep you updated!

O/T: Congratulations to the Boston Red Sox sweeping the World Series against Colorado Rockies! The parade is tomorrow by the way for you fans. If I get any pictures I will post them here. :)

I can't forget the New England Patriots. 52-6! I hope they can keep it going and take Peyton Manning down a notch at next weeks game!

Calling All Ghosthunters!

A little slow at work today and who needs another lecture on food when the weekend is almost here?

Teacher Maria de Silva Agustina said yesterday: “One child called it the Blair Witch Playground. We believe it is haunted.”

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article385529.ece

By the way copy and paste the link.

See you tomorrow!

Self-Sabotage (What's with the cheese?)

For the past few months, I've been on a virtual roller coaster of life's usual ups and downs. I'm my biggest critic and worst enemy. I know what you're thinking. Oh, another one of those weight loss blogs that pervade the internet. Yawn!. What's on Fox tonight? Yes, yes, I know! I get tired of those mindless blogs, too, but yet, drawn to them the way cars slow down along the freeway to view an accident or when one compulsively reads the headlines of Star or National Enquirer at the check out line at the supermarket.

They always tell you to write some of food/lifestyle journal. Which I used to do a few years ago until I got into trouble with people reading the thing! I'll save that saga for another blog. (Insert evil grin here.) I spend more time deciding what to do than actually doing it these days. I push myself to go to the gym 5 days a week. I try to eat right. I enjoy researching articles on diet (eating plans) and exercise. I'll even try a few eating plans to see if they work. Sometimes they do, often times they do not. I start over but then the weekend appears and my best efforts during the week can be dashed away in a single evening of alcoholic/cheese eating bliss!

One of these days, I'll get the eating bit right. I'll be tracking my progress in here for you to advise, comment, or constructively critique. What do I eat now, you ask?

Here's an example of any one of my (week) days:

Breakfast: 2 slices of whole-wheat toast with a smear of hummus, Boca Meatless Burger. Small Glass of 1% Milk.

Snack: Half of a Sliced Green Apple, 5 Wheat Thins with Peanut Butter.

Lunch: Greek Salad with Half Pita. (I love kalamata olives!)

Snack: Depends on how full I got with the salad. I might get a Low Fat Dannon Yogurt for protein.

Dinner: Baked Chicken L'Orange with side salad (light drizzle of olive oil and Mrs. Dash!)

And in the morning and at night I drink Green Tea. Once in a while ice coffee with coffee mate (no sugar).

Weight In as of 10/24/2007 - 155lbs. My (1st Goal) 150lbs. - Ultimate Goal 135lbs.

October 25, 2007

Thank you for the comments! Yes, I should eat more protein. I'm not a big fan of red meat anymore. I'd rather get my protein through soy and other vegetables. I take it one day at a time.

Cheers!