Yes, I'm alive!

Just busy. We finished our "Fiddler on the Roof" adventure and jumped right into "My Fair Lady". The good news? I'm getting a lot of exercise on stage. The bad news? I get home at 10:30 p.m. every night and have the munchies. And I give in to them! ARRGGH.

So I was reading today and I found this article that I completely agree with for many reasons.

What are your thoughts on this?

Never-Ending Challenge: Week 3

I am late in posting this.

I am still doing the challenges from Week 2. I am keeping them up through Week 3.

We have had a couple of very busy weeks!!

I wanted to post a link to this article about how our emotional state effects weight loss.

This is my BIGGEST hurdle.

I hope you are having a great week!

Calories?

One thing I'm always trying to figure out is how many calories I really need each day, and how much I burn. Obviously, if you burn more calories than you take in, you'll lose weight.

I found an awesome website (which I've probably mentioned before - but it's just THAT awesome) that calculates your BMR and RMR (Basal Metabolic Rate and Resting Metabolic Rate). These are basically the number of calories you burn if you do absolutely nothing for 24 hours.

But this website also has a really cool activity calculator where you put in your weight and the amount of minutes you do something. If you keep track of all of your activities in a twenty-four hour period, you could see how many calories you've burned.

Got a minute? Check out Calories Per Hour and their informative calculators!

Getting Motivated - YOU CAN DO IT TOO!!

One of my favorite motivational bloggers posted some GREAT ideas on how to get motivated to work out and keep at it.




His tips included:

• Work out at a consistent time every day. Many people say it takes at least 21 days (3 weeks) to form a habit. So get a calendar - decide on a time you will do this every day and start marking it off until it is second nature!!


• The Power of Positive thinking . . . VISUALIZE yourself having an awesome workout - and then make that dream come true!


• Uh-oh, have you been bad? Did you miss a workout? We teach our children that bad choices have consequences, so why don't our own? Create a punishment for yourself for when you miss a workout and find someone to hold you to it! For me, since my hubby does all the housework (Gosh, I love him) I would need to owe him by cooking dinner, doing dishes, cleaning the bathrooms, etc. and I would ask him to hold me accountable - because if we don't follow through on our punishments then we won't learn!!


• Having trouble getting started? Just tell yourself to do a few exercises and then you can quit if you want. I've noticed that once I start, I get more determined to finish at least 30 minutes - so JUST START. Stop making excuses! (Yes, I'm talking to myself here.)


• Support is a huge thing on completing goals - so find a workout buddy or create an online blog and TELL PEOPLE your struggles and your successes. Putting yourself out there can be a great motivator, because you don't want to let your workout buddy (or the entire online community who just might be reading your blog) down.


• JAM! Create a workout playlist and turn it UP!


• Did you workouts all week? Reward yourself! (NOT WITH FOOD!) Rent a movie that YOU have always wanted to watch, take some time for yourself, play a game with the kids, etc.


• KEEP TRACK OF EVERYTHING. I know that when I keep track of what I eat and how often I exercise, it is a great motivator. PLUS - you should keep track of your goals, your rewards for meeting them, and your punishments for when you don't!

Thank you Mark for those great tips! I'm getting it on this RIGHT NOW for myself!! How about you??

See Mark's entire post here: http://blog.marksalinas.com/2008/11/19/workout-motivation/

How to eat Heart Healthy and other things . . .

Due to my Dad's episodes this past week, I'm educating myself on eating diabetic friendly and heart healthy. It is difficult for people who eat out quite often to change their habits and start eating a healthier diet. I found a couple of really good websites that can help with this:




This link gives great tips on how to eat out and still make heart healthy choices. Here are some of their main tips (paraphrased) for eating out:

• Study the menu and ASK how foods are prepared. Don't be afraid, it's your health!


• Ask for substitutions, many times you can get margarine instead of butter or skim milk instead of whole. ASK!
  
• Ask for salad dressings and sauces ON THE SIDE and order LIGHT when available.


• Experiment with lemon juice or vinegar and oil instead of salad dressing.


• Skip the mayo or get it on the side - use mustard or ketchup instead.


• Ditch the french fries and dive into the veggies!
  
• Get a veggie pizza with half the cheese and extra sauce.


• Sometimes, plain is good . . . order a regular hamburger or broiled chicken and skip the toppings/sauces. Although it may bum you out in the beginning - it is better than the alternative, and you can grow to like it!


• For dessert - try frozen yogurt, sherbet, jell-o or fresh fruit!


• Try splitting your meal with your dining companion. Or ask for a box when you first get your meal so you can put half of it away for the next day. That way you aren't tempted to overeat.

And what about diabetic friendly foods? The Mayo Clinic site has some simple tips for eating healthy as a diabetic. Many of the tips are the same as eating heart healthy - don't be afraid to ask for substitutions, watch your portion sizes and get sauces/dressings on the side. The principles of diabetes nutrition are really quite simple:

• Variety! Eat a variety of HEALTHY foods.


• Limit fat and salt.


• Watch portion sizes.
  
• Eat at the same time every day.


• You don't have to skip dessert! Just plan for it and keep track of your carbs!


• Most important: Follow the guidelines given to you by your doctor!
  

It is all about making a change in your lifestyle and STICKING TO IT. We all CAN do this if we really try.

Be sure to check out the links above for more great information - and even if you don't have heart issues or diabetes - following these tips are good for all of us!!

Tuesdays Update on Move It Monday

Workout Mommy is no longer my friend. Ha ha. Just kidding. But I seriously thought I was going to die . . .

Here is what I attempted last night:

1. March or jog in place
2. 25 squats
3. Run up/down a flight of stairs 10 times.
4. 15 push ups
5. 25 lunges on right leg only
6. 15 push ups
7. 25 lunges on left leg only
8. 25 mountain climbers
9. 20 squat kicks
10. Breathe!
11. Finish off with 25 crunches, 2 sets

Here is what I did:

1. Marched around the room like an idiot while my cats looked at me like I was deranged
2. Did 2 squats and remembered how much I hated them - but finished all 25 anyway
3. Attempted to run up and down the stairs quietly (the kids were in bed) - and made it 3 times before my knees started screaming at me and I decided maybe it was a little too much too fast . .
4. I did my 15 pushups - and started sweating
5. I did 25 modified dance-type lunges on one leg - because my knee was really mad at me by this time and was not capable of doing real lunges
6. I thought about doing 15 more pushups - and then I thought - NAAAH - let's do more lunges on the other leg!
7. I did my 25 modified lunges on the other leg. (Modified means EASIER AND LESS PAINFUL!)
8. I did 25 mountain climbers - which are actually quite fun!
9. I did 20 squat kicks which were also pretty fun - but my husband started looking at me like I was nuts at this point.
10. I stopped to breathe and didn't get up.
11. I did my crunches before bed.
12. I spent the evening thinking of ways to get even with the woman whose words motivated me to almost kill myself with fitness . . .

Today - I'm sticking to walking!!! Happy Tuesday!!

Move It Monday with the Workout Mommy

Thanks to the Workout Mommy I have an inspiration to get moving today. It may kill me - but I'm going to try it!!

MOVE IT MONDAY!

Come on - try it with me!!!

Happy Monday Everyone!!

So far this week . . . doing better . . .

I have been tracking my food (since Sunday). And last night, I walked for an hour around the neighborhood. Tonight, Hunkahubby and I have plans to do PUSH-UPS. Woohoo!!

I've also been drinking a TON of water (and subsequently, visiting the bathroom more often).

All in all, I believe I'm getting back on track - and I'm ready to get off this plateau I've been stuck at (through much fault of my own.)

And because we all know another HOLIDAY is fast approaching, here are some tips from The Fit Shack, on how to avoid Holiday Weight Gain.

Happy Tuesday!

I need your thoughts . . .

I've been hearing more chatter lately about meal size and meal times. For example - I've heard it is better to eat a larger breakfast, a middle sized lunch, and a smaller dinner. (Of course, most people I know do exactly the opposite.)

I decided to look around this morning for some articles about meal sizes and times. I found some pretty interesting things.

First - this review of a diet book about 'eating dinner for breakfast'. This sounds pretty interesting. Have any of you read this book? It follows the large breakfast, medium lunch, and small dinner principle.

This article is good as it shows what 300-400 calorie meals look like. Which is very helpful for people who are trying to be smart about their choices and it wakes them up to how many calories they have actually been eating per day. (Weight Watchers did that for me in a big way. When I calculated the number of POINTS I'd been eating per day, it was WAY more than I should have been eating. It makes it easier for me to make better choices now. Something that is a lot of points is really not worth it!)

Here are some random cool tools from CalorieKing.

And here is a great article about habits that prevent weight loss. Some really great tips here.

And then finally - this article about how to force your body to melt fat like butter. I've heard this before as well - that eating the same things at the same time every day will not help you lose weight. That you have to 'switch things up' to 'keep your body guessing.'

What I want to know from all of you is . . . what do YOU think? Have you heard of any studies about meal times and sizes? How do YOU eat your meals? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Have a great Saturday!

ZZZZZ

I have a quarterly meeting at work this week. Not only was I in charge of organizing it, but Hunkahubby helped me with the food and 'ambience.' All without a babysitter for our 3 munchkins. Needless to say - we are lacking sleep or time this week . . .

So I thought I'd lead you to a link about the effects of sleep or lack of sleep on weight loss.

(Maybe this is my excuse if my weigh-in isn't so great on Friday . . .)

Happy Thursday!

Handing out some love linkage

I first want to update and say that AFTER I did Day 1 of my push-up challenge, I had so much energy, that I grabbed my best buddy from down the street and we walked around the neighborhood for 45 minutes. Woohoo! I was feeling good! I just hope I can keep it up!

And I also wanted to point out that I have been reading a lot of interesting, informative and HELPFUL posts lately - and I wanted to share them with all of you!!

First off - I had to give my Wii Fit some love. Here is a story about a local family that uses the Wii and the Wii Fit to bridge generational gaps!! I love this gaming system just because of that. It is awesome that Grandparents and Grandchildren are finding ways to bond (and get healthier!)

I also found this post by WorkoutMommy very motivational - since I'm on this new push-up kick, I actually got excited about trying out the different planks in this video!

I also absolutely LOVE the message in this post especially the part about the diet mentality vs. the healthy approach. Although I've finally gotten AWAY from the whole 'diet mentality' I still don't think I'm quite where I need to be.

And finally - I want to point you to a list I posted a couple of days ago on my personal blog. It has such great points - that I think you all will enjoy it as well. Be sure to check out #8, #14, #39 and especially #16!!!

Have a great Wednesday!