What Do You Eat????

"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Philippians 4;13

So many times I am asked what do you eat? Well a friend ask me recently this question and voiced her frustrations over trying to be healthy, eat right and lose weight. I thought I would share a little of what I told her with you. Well, it can be frustrating!! That is for sure!!! But we can do this !!!!! If I can do this anyone can!!!

Here is my menu that I shared with my friend.
>I begin my day with breakfast of either the Ham, Egg and cheese casserole from Living Lean or I have the new Cran Muffin from Living Lean with 1/2 a protein drink (EAS ADvantEDGE-chocolate fudge) this is about 345 calories. Then I do 45 minutes of exercise at home or I workout at the Body Dimensions-30 min cardio and 30 min with Gloria.
>At 10 AM every day I have a snack. Usually it is Yoplait lite flavored yogurt with 1/2 cup of low fat cottage cheese in it, sometimes I add some fruit (if I have fresh fruit on hand) and sometimes I just eat the yogurt. This is about 150-200 calories.
>At lunch I always have a Living Lean meal usually around 300 calories. Sometimes I add a small salad with lite raspberry vinaigrette. In the past few days i have started steaming fresh veggies from the garden. About 50 calories. So I have between 300-350 calories.
>At 3 PM everyday I eat a snack. The yogurt mentioned above (no fruit) or sometimes I have a Protein Shake mentioned above. 110 calories
>At supper I have another Living Lean meal. Sometimes a small salad and sometimes steamed veggies. 300-350 calories
>Then about 8 PM I have a Protein pudding from Living Lean 160 calories or a yogurt and cottage cheese (no fruit).

I average between 1350 and 1500 calories a day. I write down everything I eat and on the week ends I stay on my program. I do eat out but very seldom. Last Tuesday my husband took me and bought me two new outfits for reaching my goal. We went to Mooresville to shop and we ate supper at Sonny's Bar B Q. I had three ribs, green beans and 1/2 of a small sweet potato. It was delicious and I had a great time!!!. Shopping--DUH!!!

This is hard sometimes and I do face challenges everyday. Like hot, fresh donuts in the kitchen at work OR a cook out. We grilled last Friday where I work. We had pork tenderloin, slaw, baked beans, roasted veggies, potato salad and fresh fruit for dessert. I had some pork tenderloin and roasted veggies with just a bite of slaw (very little mayo in it) and a little fruit. I stay out of the kitchen on days there is food in there that is tempting and as for the cook out--I try to find out what is being served and plan ahead of time.

Talking over your menus and eating habits is good therapy for tracking down what might be hindering your goals. I talk to friends at work, some have the same eating temptations I do, and it helps to talk things out. I also talk to my trainer, Gloria, at Body Dimensions. She is great!! She tells me plain and to the point. That is what I need!! She has good suggestions, too. One I want to share with you is this. Breakfast is a hard meal for me. Egg whites or egg substitutes get old real quick. The meats commonly served at breakfast are all filled with fat. I like the Ham, Egg and Cheese casserole and Cran-muffins from Living Lean. Another good breakfast, Gloria's suggestions, is a Kashi waffle with just a tiny bit of peanut butter spread on it and a drizzle of honey or I use sugar free pancake syrup. I am diabetic and sugar is sugar, rather honey or the granulated kind!! Anyway, this is a nice change for breakfast. With fiber and protein to get your morning started right!!!

I hope this has helped some of you. I would love to here from you!! I hope to have my new picture on here real soon. Meet a goal have a picture taken!! Thanks for coming along on this journey to a healthier lifestyle

Rewards and Sabotage

"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Philippians 4:13

Rewards and Sabotage!! These two topics have been a torment to me every time I begin a new "diet". I have been on many, many diets but never a healthy lifestyle change as I am now. At one time I was a member of an organization, which I don't know if I can mention the name or not, anyway we met every week and weighed in. Every week if I lost weight I would go right out and have chicken tenders for supper afterwards. My thinking was that I had lost and I deserved a reward of something I really enjoy--well I enjoyed good old fried chicken. Sometimes I would have ice cream, another favorite. Of course I knew that I could not eat these again until I had a successful weight loss so I would eat all I could. Then struggle the whole week to lose the pounds I gained from this reward.

Well, on Monday I met my second goal of 25 pounds!!!.. I have lost 55 lbs. since January 16, 2008. BUT!! I certainly am not going out and binge on fried chicken or ice cream. My husband is taking me shopping tonight for a couple new outfits. A much better reward than food!!! So the next time you reach a goal don't think food as a reward. Think real hard of something that will make you feel that you have reached an achievement in your life not something you are going to have to work off your hips and waist!!

The other thing I have trouble with is sabotage. This seems like a harsh word and I am sure those around you do not mean to do it. But it happens. As a diabetic it seems that the hardest thing to get family and friends to realize is that you must eat differently than before you knew you were diabetic. The same is true of trying to live a healthier lifestyle. When someone says, "Oh, I made this new cake and brought you a piece." For two reasons I cannot eat it. Well what do you do!! Most of the time I thank them and take it home and my husband eats it. But I have been thinking about this. The next time I am just going to politely tell them thank you and I appreciate the thought but I cannot eat this cake. I am diabetic and I am trying real hard to stay with a healthy eating program.

I have had several ask how I handle the "food in the office" scenario. Well I just do not eat it. I always take two snacks with me to work. Most of the time it is Living Lean Protein Pudding, yogurt or yogurt with cottage cheese (mixed together this is really good and full of protein). When donuts or cake or candy or other items show up in the kitchen I avoid the kitchen as much as possible and have my snacks at 10AM and at 3 pm as always at my desk.

The bottom line is that you have to make choices for yourself. You have to put yourself first when it comes to eating healthy and living healthy. Some people will understand and some will not. Some may think I am selfish. But for 30-60 minutes a day what I do, exercise, cardio and workouts, is simply just for me!!! My food choices are just for me and what I want to achieve on the road to a healthier lifestyle.

Thanks for joining me on this journey. Faith
OH yes, I have set a new goal--30 pounds by October 16th!! Stay tuned!!!

OH HAPPY DAY!!!!!!

"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Philippians 4:13

I do most of my blogging on my lunch hour at work. So I am sitting here eating Teriyaki Chicken with mixed steamed veggies and new red potatoes. A Living Lean Meal, of course. It is delicious!! It was weigh in day today!! When I weigh in it is not simply standing on the scales and reading the verdict. Gloria, my trainer at Body Dimensions Fitness, does not allow me to bend and peek. I stand perfectly straight and still. Today she solicited the help of a fellow gymster. I stood there and waited, what seemed like forever. You see I set a goal to lose 25 pounds by the 16th of June. This 25 pounds has been a more difficult journey than the first 30 pounds. I have had quite a few challenges. Anyway she finally asked for help in reading the scales exactly right. Now these are the "older" kind, not the digital, because of course the digital would not read up to 351 pounds, where I started. So Gloria reads off the numbers 92, 94, 95, then she announces 297. Well I was elated!! I am finally below 300 pounds. It is very hard to express the joy I feel in words. But believe me I am gloriously happy!!!!! Then it hit me I have lost 10 more pounds for a total of 54 pounds!!

Now as for my 25 pound goal, well I missed it by one pound. However today is the 13th and I am going to weigh again on Monday the 16th and be one pound less for a 25 pound goal. I had to make some phone calls and announce the news to my husband and my closest friends and supporters. I went to work, after a 30 minute cardio and 30 minute workout, and some of my co-workers were eagerly awaiting the news because they knew it was weigh in day!! My precious, most attentive and loving husband offered to take me out to eat to celebrate. However, celebrating weight loss with a big meal is a little ridiculous, wouldn't you agree!!!! So he is taking me shopping for a new outfit!! Much better!!

I would like to share with you a couple of incidents that happened to me this past week that makes all this hard work worthwhile. First I was in Wal-Mart early on Saturday morning waiting for my sister. I do some shopping at Wal-Mart in Hickory because it is on my way to work and I can do a little shopping before I get to the office. Well this Wal-Mart associate came up to me and said that she had seen me in the store quite often real early in the morning and that she almost did not recognize me. "You have lost so much weight and look so good" she said. I waited for the next question. "How are you doing it." So I begin to tell her about Gloria Trull and Body Dimensions Fitness and how great I feel and how good a trainer Gloria is. Then I tell her all about Lorin Gryder and Living Lean Meals and how delicious the food is and about how it is formulated with the right amounts of good carbs and protein, etc. She asked about the websites and I wrote them down for her. All of this explaining takes a while. It really is not simply exercise and watch what you eat!!!! It is a lifestyle change that means you are putting yourself first for that time of working out and planning your menu!! (This sounds like the subject of another blog) It is really nice to be complimented on the hard work you put into a healthier lifestyle!!

When I got home I got to thinking there must be a way to give the information on Body Dimensions Fitness and Living Lean Meals to others. So I came up with a business card which includes my name and the two websites. I just love handing them out to people who ask about my weight loss.

I also ran into the mother of someone I work with at the Farmer's market in Hickory on Wednesday. She almost walked right by me. When I spoke she was amazed and said that if I had not spoken she would have walked right by. She had some very kind words to say and expressed her pride in me for taking control of my life and trying to get healthy. She is the dearest person. She also, in the most honest and kind way, expressed how run down and ragged I look the last time she saw me which was before Christmas. I was appreciative of her honesty. I knew I was just about at the end of my rope at that time. I had just had the worse case of bronchitis and with the weight I could barely make it through a day at work. I was so exhausted when I got home that I sat down and feel asleep. I could not hardly walk down the hall of the office building, where I worked, and back to my office and still be able to breath. I dreaded going anywhere especially shopping. I had honestly considered asking the doctor about a handicap tag for my car. Oh yes, this is true!!! Thank the Lord for a dear and precious friend who encouraged me to join the gym!!! This sweet, precious lady continued to praise my achievements and told me how great I look.

Now I know being modest is very becoming and I was humbled by both these experiences but I would be lying to you if I told you that I was not effected by these encounters. I felt great and the compliments were wonderful and it made me want to try even harder to lose the next 50 pounds!!!

Thanks for joining me on my journey to a healthy lifestyle. Faith

Not Always an Easy Journey

"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Philippians 4:13

You know how you go along through life and everything is going just fine and then there is always something that comes along and brings everything to a screeching halt. With the Lord's help you get through these hard times and the challenges that we face day to day. Well losing weight is no different. You loose steadily and suddenly something throws a wrench in the mix. I had several wrenches this last two weeks: four social occasions, stress, sickness, etc.

When you are letting the whole world in on your journey to a healthy lifestyle it is great to announce every success and every pound lost!!! It is harder to say I gained or I maintained. Well this two weeks I maintained!!! Yes, I did not lose a pound!!! Disappointed? I certainly was. Ready to cry and dreading telling all my supporters that I only maintain I voiced my tearfulness and dread to who else but my trainer, Gloria Trull. I have come to trust her completely and many times share the ups and downs before you ever read them. The Lord has blessed her with a great talent in knowing how to reach her clients. After our little talk and her encouragement that, yes I did not lose but that I had four social occasions, stressful week and sickness and I triumphantly managed to maintain my weight and not gain, I felt so much better and was ready to go to work and face my co-workers with a positive attitude!!! And then she said, " WE NEED TO PUMP UP THE CARDIO!!!"

Now this is not an excuse to go out and eat unhealthy foods and indulge in self pity or give up. I intend to try even harder and pump up that cardio. I am still focusing on that goal date of June 16. I am not thinking of anything but success in the future.

I do want all of you to know that I really appreciate the comments and encouragement from each of you. I really enjoy hearing from you. Thanks for following my progress! Faith