My Five Holiday Survival Tips......NOT

With the Thanksgiving holiday behind us I would like to share my 5 tips on how I survived the holiday without gaining weight.......ha! fooled you!  I am totally kidding since yes, I did survive, but no I did not come through unscathed.  In fact I ended up GAINING 4 pounds!  I really should be happy that it was only 4 as I put aside my no dessert/extra sugar pledge and splurged on Thanksgiving with a piece of pecan pie (my absolute favorite, go figure since it is probably the most sugar-laden pie there is) and a small slice of a decadent chocolate cheesecake my cousin made.

I should backtrack a little.  I found myself pretty much alone for 7 days because of the Wisconsin gun deer hunt season that my hubby and darling daughter drive 4 hours to the western part of the state to participate in. By choice I didn't plan much for myself to do those days.  I had a lay-off from work that whole week and I wanted to regroup and recharge my batteries after some stress filled weeks.  Time to indulge in my favorite pastime-reading! So off to the library I went for my fill of feel-good and self help books.  I also started reading the Fifty Shades Of Gray series for a little "light" reading.

In the end I figure I had way too much free time by myself especially at night because I became victim to the 5 gallon pain of ice cream I had in the house for my family.  Up until then the ice cream did not bother me one bit, but I think being alone with my demons took over my sane mind and the end result? Insanity!!

My only saving grace in all this was the fact that for most of my time off it was gorgeous outside and I did lots of walking until the Friday after Thanksgiving when it turned cold.

So my sad holiday tale ends with an extra 4 pounds, and I wish if the only reason would be the holiday I could live with that.  My struggle is way more than that and I work everyday to push those old demons back down to the basement where they belong.  We all have to remember that our past does not define us today!

Enough of the glass half empty stuff, because I am not that person in reality!  This is a new week and I do feel very good.  Even though I had an unexpected day off today I am making the best of it.  I already got a nice walk in today, am eating right, and I am doing some I really enjoy to do by writing.  So to my extra 4 pounds I say "off with you" so I can feel great in my skinny dress for Christmas!

The Plateau Sets In but Wait.....

Hummmmm...heavy sigh!!  I have not posted in awhile on purpose.  Yes, I hit the fearful plateau.  For two weeks I struggled with the scale pretty much staying the same,  then it slowly began to creep up.  This called for drastic measures.
 I pretty much dealt very well with the no dessert pledge, but I began to eat larger portion sizes than I should have and I let my exercise routine slack a little too.  What I was left with was a 6 pound gain and a big self defeated attitude.  Here I was accomplishing something I had little strength to do before (the sugar thing) but I just couldn't seem to loose anymore weight.  I knew I needed to up the anti or I was not gonna get to my goal.
So almost two weeks ago I went back at it full force with a stricter eating regimen, a diet cleanse that has me eating just protein and veggies at meals and two fruits along with my amino acids. No wine!(gasp), but I have been allowing myself one square of dark chocolate after 2 of my meals. Plus I make sure that I am getting at least 30 minutes of exercise in daily and I have begun doing some toning to get the flabbiness down.
Eureka!  I have again jump started my weight loss and am back on the right track!  As of this morning, I am back down to my 157 and am working on just 7 more pounds!
The best thing that happened this week was I got my health assessment back and I was elated to see my total cholesterol went from 240 down to 204.  This was done only 4 weeks after I gave up all that sugar!!  I am now on 8 weeks so I may wait awhile and have it retested.  Actually my weight was okay, I just need to work on the flabbiness.  I am proof positive that a small lifestyle change can really do wonders.  Do I miss the sugar?  at times, yes, but I made it through Halloween when there were lots of tempting treats at work!  I imagine the upcoming holidays will be the ultimate test.  Thanksgiving is coming up and my favorite pie-pecan!!  I will take it as it comes.  They say it takes like what 26 days to break a habit?  I am way past that now and my confidence grows a little each day. 

Monday Morning Weigh-In

Fall is definitely in the air here, but today I had a huge spring in my step!  This morning I stepped on the scale and to my total delight it came in at a nine pound total weight loss.  Yes, that is NINE pounds!! I was doing a happy dance in the bathroom at 3:30 am.  Starting weight, 168 current, weight 159!!

I have been doing fairly well following my food routine Monday through Thursdays.  The weekend I deviate somewhat, but I still feel triumphant when I can bypass sugar.  Take this past weekend for instance.  Saturday myself and a couple of friends of mine volunteered to help out at a K-9 Cancer fundraising event at our local Vet Clinic.  We worked the food table, and ended up standing behind the table with all the donated baked goods.  It was our job to push these delectable delights.  Are you kidding me?  A sugar addict pushing bakery?  Proudly I have to say I was only slightly tempted by the mouth watering brownie bars with frosting and crushed oreos on top.  I refrained, you can ask my friends who were busy stashing goodies away for themselves to take home. Instead I grabbed a loaf of Parmesan herb bread! 

No thanks!  I don't want any!!

Anyway I do have a basic food routine that I try to stick to. Breakfast usually consists of a large serving of low-fat cottage cheese, 6 triscuit crackers, and a greek yogurt.  Mid morning snack is an apple and string cheese.  Lunch varies between a Smart Ones frozen dinner, a sandwich on multi grain bread with deli turkey or other deli meat, lettuce, and mayo or hummus.  Mid afternoon snack is either a handful of almonds or a chocolate rice cake with natural peanut butter.  Dinner is whatever I make for my family or whatever I want if we go out to eat on the weekends.  I try to get in my 4 cups of veggies a day.  I know some of these things have sugar in them but I am not really that strict when it comes to non desert items.  The rice cake and the peanut butter have minimal sugar content. I have been more mindful of my white flour intake also as I know this converts to sugar rapidly in the body.

Since I have lots more energy taking the amino acids and cutting out all those sugary treats I have been able to stick to a walking routine.  Still, my goal is to do more resistance training.  I am thinking of joining a local Zumba class with a friend.  I also would like to try Yoga.  I find I do much better in the exercise area if I am doing it with a friend.  Going to a gym on my own does not seem to work for me.  Walking does since I have an energetic dog that is practically waiting for me everyday when I get home with her leash in her mouth!

I feel great, have tons of energy, and I know I am on the right track.  I am very pleased with what I have done so far.

If you have not read the Diet Cure yet, next week I will explain the role the amino acids are playing in my weight loss.

The Diet Cure To The Rescue!!!

I don't make it a big secret that I love sugar,  you could even say I am addicted to it!

 Did you know that research has shown that sugar can be as addictive as alcohol or cocaine? 

Did you know that the average American consumes 22 teaspoons of sugar a day? 

Do I binge on sugar everyday?  No!

My love of sugary treats....bars, cookies, cakes, and candy have always been my best friends when I had to push uncomfortable emotions away.  The worst is anger, I swallow my anger in the form of sugar.  Does this make me feel better?  Yes, until I have realized I just ate a whole box of Reeses Peanut butter cereal in one sitting! Then I just get this sick bloated feeling and most times the next day I have what I call my sugar "hangover".

Not everyone knows this about me.  I can hide it very well.  Those of you that have had an experience like this know what I am talking about.  It's not  pretty.  Unlike most other addictions there is really no social stigma with it unless you are very overweight or binging and purging. Remember I am not doing this everyday just when I cant deal with certain emotions.

Most of my life I have wrestled with an extra 20 to 30 pounds.  I did have a period of almost 3 years when I was a perfect size 8 and was eating very healthy and exercising.  I was in my early 30s at the time before I became pregnant with my daughter.  I felt wonderful and content with myself.  Now that I am almost fifty, suffer from Hypothyroidism, and on the border of high cholesterol.  I need to really do something to turn my life around. 

Last September I went on the Dukan Diet and successfully dropped 11 pounds and felt terrific.  I did well for 6 weeks and I let myself slip at a wedding in October and had one cupcake.  This sent me on a very slow downward spiral that less than a year later left me with all 11 pounds gained back, feeling terrible and binging on sugar again.

So the question for me is always why can't I just have a little like a normal person?  Everyone tells me that the secret is to allow myself a little and I will be satisfied.  Really?  In my experience that does not work for me.

This is wear the book The Diet Cure comes in.  The thing that caught my eye was at the top of the book were the words No Willpower Required!    The Diet Cure by Julia Ross is an 8-step program to rebalance your body chemistry and end your food cravings, weight gain, and mood swings-naturally.  I was sold. 

So after taking a short quiz at the beginning you find out which of the eight steps you need to focus on to rebalance your body.  This is done through taking certain amino acids!  Best thing was, I could see results for my sugar craving almost instantly through taking the amino acid L-glutamine.  Almost unbelievable!  Since I had none of the conditions listed in the book that would require my doctors approval, I decided to give it a try and ordered a list of amino acids.  What harm could it do since you just stay on them for a short period of time until your body is regulated and you find your cravings are gone without taking them (usually a period of up to 3 months). 

So I take the L-glutamine for cravings, L-tryosine for energy, DLPA to enhance feelings of comfort and pleasure, and 5HTP to improve mood, sleep, and PM cravings.

I have to say that I questioned the speed as to which the L-glutamine was suppose to work, but it did work almost instantly.  My cravings disappeared.  I actually could go to a reunion last week and not even bother to wonder over to the dessert table.  Better yet, it did not bother me one bit when everyone around me was eating dessert! 

I have lost 4 pounds so far and only weigh myself about once a week, but I feel great and have energy to exercise everyday.  I know it is a slow weight loss but I see that as the best kind right now cause I am changing my life and not on a "diet".  The book is so full of all kinds of information and I will go into it more in later posts.  For now though I am really happy with my progress and know that it will not be easy.  If I can get past the 2 month mark it will be a milestone for me.

 I should say not say if, but when!!

Back On My Weight Loss Journey

Summer is almost over, vacations are done, only 4 more weeks till Megan starts her first year of high school.  It is about time I stop making excuses and get back to taking care of this extra 20 pounds I'm carrying around. 

Excuses, I have a long list

Too hot
Too tired
I have to spend quality time on Pinterest
I have to cook/clean/wash/clean out the cat box
I dont wanna exersise by myself
My feet/back/legs/pinky finger hurts
I'm on vacation
I love ice cream
My summer clothes wont fit if I lose weight
Ect, ect, ect...

Enough already!!

Its time to get back on the saddle again.  Not only that, but I watched the 60 Minutes piece on sugar being toxic last night.  I LOVE sugar.  I am a firm believer that sugar is addictive.  One cookie is never enough for me. That is some scary stuff.  Sugar leading to all kinds of bad things.  I can believe it.  I just found out I have borderline high cholesterol.  I am convinced sugar is to blame.  Well, I am the one who eats the stuff so technically I am to blame. You know what I mean.

I have been having great success with the Dukan Diet.  It is not easy to do.  I think for  now I will just go the old fashion way.  Cutting calories and exercise!  I have to focus on portion control and NO sugar, no white flour.  More fruits (yuk, I am not a fruit eater!  crazy I know) and veggies.

Getting fit and healthy is one journey that never ends and for this girl who loves travel and adventure , it is my biggest challenge yet.

If you are driving through my town and see someone parked in front of the  Dairy Queen looking longingly at customers walking away from the window with giant size blizzards and a pool of drool under her car, that would be me.

A Dukan Diet Supper

What to have for supper?  This question is one that is sometimes easy to answer and most times it leaves me clueless.  So I ask the hubby and daughter to give me some suggestions.  They usually look at me with the look that you are talking French to them.  Total bewilderment.  Yah, big help they are.

Meal planning is especially hard when one member of the household is trying to follow a diet.  So when I opened my new Dukan Diet Cookbook for ideas I was pleasantly surprised to see many recipes would work great for the whole house.  

My first recipe I tried was the Chicken With Mushrooms And Asparagus.  What a hit.  The only thing I tweeked was I added a one pound bag of shirataki noodles.  This was also the first time I used these high fiber, low carb and calorie Asian noodles.  They were great and took on the taste of the dish. The great thing is, is that my local supermarket has these noodles. You can order them through the Dukan website also. All three of us loved this dish and I am happy to say there were no leftovers.

Try out this Dukan recipe and let me know what you think!  I think I will love this cookbook.

Back On The Dukan Diet Bandwagon

As you may know-last September/October I started the Dukan Diet to much success.  I shed 11 pounds on it and felt great!  Then the holidays and my busy life got in the way (along with my sugar habit) and the weight slowly crept back up.
Two weeks ago after a terrible Memorial Day weekend I decided enough was enough and I had to jump back on the diet.  I did 6 days on the attack phase and managed to drop 6 pounds.  I also downloaded two apps to help me out.  One is called Slimkicker for my Ipad and Map My Walk for my android phone.  I did blog about Slimkicker in a previous post.  Map My Walk uses the GPS on my phone to track my route, MPH, time, pace and you can share your success to Facebook and Twitter.

I am now on the Cruise phase and have dropped another 3 pounds according to my scale this morning.  The thing is, is that I have been doing great during the week.  Being on a strict schedule with work works well.  Everything is timed.  I pack all my food the night before.  I am on a great schedule with walking our great trail system in town almost every weekday when I get home from work.  It works great having a teenage daughter who is now home for the summer and helps me out doing chores which frees me up to get my daily walk in.

The trouble is weekends.  My Friday, Saturdays, and Sundays are a REAL challenge.  We tend to eat a couple meals out which is disastrous for me.  Portion control is painful since I am a lifetime member of the clean plate club.  I'm busy doing cleaning , gardening and getting leisure activities in with friends and family.  The last thing I have on my mind is planning meals and exercise. I try to make sure I have plenty of Dukan approved food in my fridge.  If you peek in my fridge now you would see a supply of cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, boiled eggs, and lean meats.  Plus some fresh cut veggies for veggie days.  I have not been perfect on the weekends, and that is where I need to improve.  Why is it so hard to remember how great you feel when you are eating right and working out?

So here we go again...but this time I will do it.  How is it that I have traveled half way around the world without anyone I knew and yet I have such a hard time trying to lose 20 pounds?  Gosh, losing weight and staying healthy is hard!  Hopefully with the help of writing this blog and sharing Dukan recipes plus support from friends and family, I will be a diet success!

So....I Had A Piece Of Cake

Yesterday was the first time I had cheated on my Dukan Diet. It was just a little piece of cake that's all.

Now I went into this with the intention to stick it out for the long haul, but yesterday I knew I would have a hard time. It happened to be my cousins daughters first birthday party. I knew there would be plenty of food and oh no a (gasp!) birthday cake.

I did fine during the lunch having just my protien and veggies since it was veggie day. There was a great selection of fresh veggies. The problem came when all the presents were unwrapped and out came that cake! Well my mouth started to water so much that i could have used the birthday girls bib. My thoughts immediately started a wrestling match in my head do I or don't I. As the cake was being cut and served I still was trying to work up the courage to say no. It came to my turn and the "do it" won out. I had the smallest piece cut and gave my daughter the red balloon out of frosting on the top of my piece. I stuck my fork into that piece of cake and it was heaven when it hit my mouth. The inner layer of frosting was slightly lemony. I savored it, eating slowly. When it was gone I did feel a little guilt, but that went away.

Was it worth it? It sure was. Today I got right back on that horse and am back in full swing. I do have to say that I think my slight stomach ach this morning had something to do with having that piece of birthday cake yesterday. It's a good reminder that I'm serious about losing the weight this time and keeping it off!