Tag Archives: my fitness pal

Starting Over: A Clean Slate

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Today, I struggled with a feeling that often surfaces — I saw a friend who’s lost an amazing amount of weight, and I instantly thought, “Why haven’t I done that?” I’m THRILLED for my friend, but it reminded me once again that I absolutely cannot compare myself to other people – as everybody is walking a completely different path in completely different shoes. However, recognizing other people’s success is always a good reminder of, “How I can try harder?” Here are the things I need to do to try harder: be kinder to myself, stop beating myself up in my head about my weight, drink more water, stop avoiding the scale, and curb the overeating.

With that, I’ve made a decision to start over. Here’s what I’m going to do: I’m restarting My Fitness Pal, at my current weight. I’ve been yo-yoing the past couple months, and who knows what from – muscle building, eating junk food, water retention, hormones, stress…. who knows! I’d been avoiding updating the weigh-in graph on the app, and for what? Because the number would bother me? Who cares – life goes on. I will start over. I’m starting fresh, with a clean slate, and it doesn’t matter how much weight I lost six months ago, or what weight I’m at today – what counts is that as of today, a new page has been turned. I need to track EVERYTHING on MyFitnessPal. Your support has been huge – I totally love seeing all of you stopping by the blog, writing comments to me, “liking” my updates. It really means a lot, and helps motivate me to keep trying. It’s also been awesome having April join in on the blog, because it reminds me that I’m never, ever alone, and someone with the very same blood and DNA as me shares the exact same struggles!

In addition, I’m going to start adding weekly weigh-ins again. We all know the scale and I have a mostly hateful relationship. However, I recognize that I need it to keep me in check. My first weigh in update will be posted on Friday, and I’m going to try reaaaaally hard to keep it up, because I need some more transparency about that number. I can’t disregard the amazing progress I’ve made so far, in particular, I’m thrilled at my transformation from out-of-shape to somewhat-fit. I look forward to getting stronger, better and faster, and am loving the new support system I have with my workout buddies Susannah, Merrie and Sally.

When you’re trying to change bad habits, do you ever find yourself just wanting to start over? It doesn’t need to be cold turkey, but it needs to be a marked point for me, where I say, “Ok, I’m starting over. I’m going to forget the past and just live in the present and focus on making a better future.”

Now – help me with my first starting over challenge. Next Thursday, I’m going to Mexico for a five day vacation. How do I log my food when I won’t have internet access? Should I go old-school and use a pen and paper, or try and trust myself without logging? Should I enjoy my vacay and eat what I want, but in moderation?

Diet to Go Week Three!

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Hello everybody! Let’s start off with some good news – Elisabeth G. won the KalorieBox Giveaway! Congrats, Elisabeth – watch for an e-mail!

I wish I could start this week’s post with another awesome weigh in like last week (Remember, 3.7 pounds?!), but unfortunately, it’s one of those times of the month *cringe, I know, this is awkward* and evidently my body is acting like a camel (ie so much water floating around my body I could hydrate an army). So we’re just going to skip the weigh in this week to give myself a couple days to um… dry out. (I weighed in and I’m up a couple pounds from last week – but I’m staying optimistic and know that I’ve done the work I need to do, and as KJPugs says, you always get the week you deserve eventually!) But on the positive side, I am still absolutely loving this week’s Diet to Go meals! This week was a mess of meetings, appointments and deadlines – so I was happy to see that the meals are truly “to go”, especially when I scarfed a smoked chicken sandwich in between stop lights as I drove to an offsite meeting. You can see photographic proof of that, here.

Diet to Go Omelet Pomodoro

Diet to Go Omelet Pomodoro

I had a lot of favorites, food wise, this week. Let’s talk about breakfast. Several years ago before I started this whole get healthier thing, I never ate breakfast. But now, it’s like “Whee! I get to eat!” when I wake up. Diet to Go has mastered the use of cheese and tomatoes when it applies to eggs. Today, I had this amazing omelet pomodoro (220 cals) – a basil spiced omelet with cheese oozing out of the middle and sicilian flavored asparagus tips. This breakfast was amazing – I even forced my husband to taste it as he was walking out the door to go to work.

Yummy Grilled Cheese French Toast from Diet to Go. Note the Fitbloggin post-its!

Yummy Grilled Cheese French Toast from Diet to Go. Note the Fitbloggin post-its!

Here’s one of my fav lunches from the week – a french toast style grilled turkey cheese sandwich with apricot pudding and a mushroom artichoke salad (560 cals). The apricot pudding was more like ice cream, and the bite I had of my mushroom artichoke salad was refreshing and tasty.. but then I couldn’t eat the rest because my cat licked the bowl and stole a mushroom out of it. Since I’m not a fan of sharing my meals with cat-breath (do you KNOW where they lick?!), I disposed of the artichoke mushroom salad but happily nommed on the rest.

Black Bean Soup and Pretzel from Diet to Go

Black Bean Soup and Pretzel from Diet to Go

This lunch is easily another one of my favorites- see that little pretzel there? I would like to raid the pretzel factory that makes me, because I’m pretty sure I could just lay in my bed and eat soft pretzels all day and be perfectly content. Add an iced cold raspberry lambic and I’m in heaven. Booze, carbs and bed… what could be better?! Anyways, I’m off topic. This lunch was super yummy because it’s something I wouldn’t normally pick for myself but I really enjoyed it. The black bean soup had a nice spicy touch, with lots of smokiness (probably from cumin), some juicy strips of bell peppers, and a lightly salty broth. I dipped the pretzel in it and enjoyed a peach pudding for my dessert. This meals comes in at 700 calories but includes a string cheese which is not shown here since I saved that for a snack. The thing is, when you look at some of the calorie counts for the meals, your instinct might be “My god! That’s a lot of calories!” but when you factor in the portion sizes and the fact that you’re pretty much full all day long, it all equals out. I’ve actually ended up coming under calories a lot in myFitnessPal, simply because I’m too full to eat the “extra” like the string cheese or yogurt that comes with the meals.

Diet to Go Turkey Dinner

Diet to Go Turkey Dinner

This meal does not photograph beautifully, but it was delish! Has anyone ever tried the SmartOnes Turkey and Gravy Dinner? It used to be a favorite of mine, but now that I’ve had this one I can see that was a weak favorite, for sure. These mashed potatoes were REAL – no instant junk here – and the turkey was lightly seasoned with a simple brown gravy. This was truly a comfort food meal.

If you’re interested in trying Diet to Go for yourself, check out their website here. You can use coupon code FEB15PERCENT to save 15% off any meal plan, and you can also enter next week for your chance to win a week worth of free meals!  /

Does anybody have any questions about Diet to Go? Have at it! :)

Thailand Tuesday Week 8

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Hello friends! After a couple of weeks of my bitching and moaning, I’m back with a great weigh in – this week

I lost 2.2 pounds!

Avocado and egg white. Yummy, protein-packed, good fat breakfast!

As I’ve learned, weight-loss for some people is black and white – move more, eat less. For me, it’s not so simple. If other people’s weight loss is black and white, mine is like EVERY COLOR OF THE RAINBOW. For me it’s a fine tuning process – moving more (a lot more), eating less CRAP, and focusing on the intracacies of my diet – how much protein, carbs, water, salt…. This past week, I decided to tweak my eating by not completely cutting out carbs, but by eating less of them. You all know I’m a fiend for crunchy, salty munchies – like popcorn, or crackers, or 100-calorie packs. After checking out MyFitnessPal for the past couple weeks, I noticed I was staying within my calories but eating too many little crackery/bready things. I decided to cut back and focus on lean proteins like egg whites, chicken breast, edamame and healthy fats like avocado – and boom – with my fitness schedule – down 2.2 pounds. I just might be on to something.

The scale might not be moving drastically, but I can see changes in things like the way clothes fit. I’m usually not comfortable in an outfit this form fitting – but I feel like on this day, I was able to pull it off!

So clearly at this point, it would take an unhealthy miracle to reach 20 pounds lost before Thailand, but as usual, this journey for me is not so much about the number but of improving my health, feeling better and being able to squeeze into hot jeans. (JK, kinda, on that last part). I’m looking forward to next week’s weigh in now that I feel like I’ve cracked part of the code on why my weight loss was so sluggish – we’ll see what happens! I hope you have an amazing week – I have some exciting news on Thursday related to a new fitness challenge – and April will be here tomorrow!

PS: Have I mentioned how grateful I am for YOU?! Yes, you. The person reading this. You might know me well, or you might not even know me at all, but every time I see that somebody has read my blog I am so thankful! Your support and encouragement is the best thing in the world and I KNOW I will reach my goal with your help. <3

 

Thailand 20 Tuesday – Week 6

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Hello friends! Last night, after another great cardio workout, I thought to myself “I’m going to get on the scale tomorrow and have lost like FOUR POUNDS! Yes! I can feel it!” Well… I got on the scale this morning and I lost a number FOUR… but it was .4. WOMP WOMP. Cue the sad clown music.

Not quite where I want to be after six weeks, but I’m going to try not to be a Debbie Downer…

My initial reaction is to cry, throw things and break the scale. Well, thankfully, I have two very wise men in my life – my husband and my brother. Husband reminded me that I’ve been working hard and looking and feeling better – and I can’t get too discouraged. My brother surprised me with some major wisdom – see our chat below to see what I mean (When did he grow up? In my mind he will always be 12 years old and fishing for crawdads from the neighborhood creek.)

Here’s what I know is working:

1) I’ve been really good about cardio, and I can feel it. I have more energy, it’s not as “hard”, and I’m feeling calmer and less stressed than usual. I clocked in 5 hours of sweaty, hard cardio exercise this week which is major for me. So I have to applaud myself for that. I even mastered 10 minutes on the stair machine last night, which was a big deal for me!

2) I’m consistently tracking on MyFitnessPal and have stayed within my daily range which is 1,600 calories. I’m going to meet with my dietitian next week to see if I maybe need to reduce calories further (I hope not, but think I might have to!). I’m eating lots of veggies, whole grains and lean proteins, and making smart choices when I go out to eat.

3) Here’s a few items of miscellany: I sometimes wonder if I need to go “no brain” on the food and do something like Jenny Craig. What’s the feedback on Jenny Craig? It sounds really, really expensive and I know I’d miss cooking – but I wonder if I need to be on something that’s already pre-measured and portion-controlled. Thoughts? Also, I officially need to take my measurements today. For weeks like this where I’m a grumpzilla after my weigh in, it would help to know if at least SOMETHING is shrinking (and please God, don’t let it be my boobs). I’m waiting to get a call back from the doc about my thyroid test. Could this be a missing link?

There’s also some pressure when you blog about your weight to log in every week and have a glowing success story for your readers. I even thought to myself this morning, “Do I need to fib a little bit? People aren’t going to want to read that I had another subpar week.” Shameful, I know. I think sometimes that I should stop blogging about weightloss since I never seem to succeed with it, and go back to writing about things I’m good at – how the cat got caught in the birdbath, how to talk to people on social media, how to make the best stovetop popcorn ever. And while I let myself have a little bloggy pity party, I remembered that this blog isn’t about writing some fancy, nice happy ending story. It’s not fiction. It’s reality. It’s about my goal to lose weight, and unfortunately, since it’s real life, it’s not always going to be cheery sparkle rainbow unicorn poop. Ya feel me?

So that’s what’s up on Thailand 20 Tuesday. Maybe I should rename to this to Thailand Trying Tuesday. Thailand Torture Tuesday. Thailand TinyLoss Tuesday. Thailand “Sometimes I think I’ll be fat forever” Tuesday. Thailand “I can’t wait to go to Thailand even if I am the same weight” Tuesday. Thailand “At least I’m healthy” Tuesday. Thailand “Is it Wednesday Yet?” Tuesday. Yes. Or maybe something more simple… just Thailand Tuesday. :) Till next time.. I’m keepin’ on keepin’ on. How are you doing today?

Avoiding temptation – By April

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“Your face does look thinner”,  my friend said to me as I adoringly took a bite out of garlic bread dressed to the nines in three cheeses and butter.  We were eating at Black Angus, a restaurant I had never once been to and went in with the logic that I would be able to get a salad and resist the free refills of liquid sugar.

I did start out the evening with good intentions.  My friend’s compliment even seemed to motivate me more to make a healthy choice, even though that motivation was quickly destroyed by it’s maniacal brother, Temptation.  After all, I had even ordered that damn cheesy bread because it was the least amount of calories on our choices of appetizer items! As I pondered about why the restaurant would throw on an extra 120 calories of Parmesan cheese on steamed broccoli, I realized that there is no way my brain was going to win the extreme battle that was going on with my stomach.  I ended up ordering a steak, salad, and mashed potatoes… plus ate half of the chocolate chip cookie and ice cream after it.

Stomach: 1    Brain:  0

That meal alone was around 1,700 calories, according to My Fitness Pal.  It would’ve been a lot worse if I didn’t eat the other half of salad and entree.  Either way, that’s a lot of exercise I’m going to have to do to make up for that meal if I want to see that magical number on the scale drop next week…

Because that’s what the scale did again for me this week! I lost another two pounds!

Disgracefully, I gained back two of those original pounds lost on the first week so really my official progress is 3.5 pounds since October 1st.  That’s just how my body is.  If I had a relationship status with my body on Facebook, it would surely be “It’s complicated.”

If I were to weigh myself tomorrow, I bet my meal boosted me up five pounds just because of the extreme bloating from the meal.  It doesn’t make sense considering I need to eat 3,500 to actually gain a pound but that’s just the cruel way my body work. My sister, Alyssa, knows all about this!  Our bodies just like to bounce up and down, week by week, slowly making the ground below us a little bit lower than before…

But knowing this does also just push me harder to make sure I make up for it!

Ladies, does your body weight bounce up and down drastically in within a day like my sister and mine?  I bet we’re not the only ones!

How do you handle when your brain is losing the battle with your stomach?!

Peace and Monkeys,

April

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

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UHi everybody – just a quick check in today! It might be goin’ slow, but the scale is on a downward trend! Today I lost another .8 of a pound, and while it’s not a whole pound, it’s close, so I’ll take it! I’ve been tracking on My Fitness Pal and reaaaally paying attention to portion sizes, and that seems to be helping. For example, this BLT on sourdough clocked in at 428 calories – notice the plates? Look familiar? 428 calories isn’t exactly low-cal, but for the richness of this sandwich and the yummy-ness factor, it works great for me.

;

So far I’m down 7.8 pounds and hoping to hit 10 by the end of the month. I need to remember to drink my water and also to amp it up in the physical activity department. I plan on buying some work clothes this weekend, so I wonder if I’ll be able to see or feel it anywhere.

That’s pretty much all I’ve got (I’m sleepy!) so I’ll write more to you on Monday. Have a fantastic Friday!

*update: this morning I lost another .2, so I officially hit 8 pounds lost! Yay!