Wednesday's Weigh-in: Week 5 (How to be happy) :)

Well, first things first… I didn't lose any weight, the scale still says 156 lbs., but that doesn't bother me too much because I feel myself slowly changing physically and it's great. :) I am more flexible- I can finally touch my toes again. I am stronger- I picked up my 4 year old (37lbs.) without thinking about it the other day and it didn't hurt. I have better endurance- I pushed my double-jogger up and down 2.5 miles of hilly terrain and still felt energized. More than that though, I'm feeling my body firm up, and my muscles are starting to tone. Best of all, I am feeling HAPPY most of the time, so I thought I'd share my basic recipe for happiness.
How BJ feels Happy
1. Rain or Shine - Exercise (Jog with the stroller, use my spin bike, run up and down my stairs 100 times, follow an exercise video, or just go for a walk on days that I'm sick,).
2. Go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day. (When I get a good workout in before noon, I don't run into the insomnia problems I used to suffer from).
3. Drink LOTS of water (I don't drink my calories unless they're part of a smoothie which I make using whole fruits, vegetables and water).
4. Choose to eat healthy, but if I have to cheat with a treat, I only do so after I exercise. (This works great because after having put effort into burning calories, I don't normally want to ruin any hard work with something sugary.
5. Strive to eat just enough to feel satisfied, and not more. (I make a concerted effort to serve myself the portion I know I should eat, then thoroughly chew each bite, drink some water, wait 10 extra minutes, and I am good most of the time).
6. Spend time at the end of each evening reading something uplifting and reflecting on what I'm thankful for.

What makes YOU happy?

Saturday's Suggestion: Find alternatives to Fructose

The health trends in society come and go. RIght now it's all about something's 'glycemic index' levels. Since fructose has the lowest glycemic index levels, people think that that's how they should sweeten stuff. However, if you're trying to lose weight you might consider the following:

‎"The medical profession thinks fructose is better for diabetics than sugar," says Meira Field, PhD, a research chemist at United States Department of Agriculture, "but every cell in the body can metabolize glucose. However, all fructose must be metabolized in the liver. The livers of the rats on the high-fructose diet looked like the livers of alcoholics, plugged with fat and cirrhotic."[59] While a few other tissues (e.g., sperm cells[60] and some intestinal cells) do use fructose directly, fructose is almost entirely metabolized in the liver.[59]
"When fructose reaches the liver," says Dr. William J. Whelan, a biochemist at the University of Miami School of Medicine, "the liver goes bananas and stops everything else to metabolize the fructose." Eating fructose instead of glucose results in lower circulating insulin and leptin levels, and higher ghrelin levels after the meal.[61] Since leptin and insulin decrease appetite and ghrelin increases appetite, some researchers suspect that eating large amounts of fructose increases the likelihood of weight gain.[62]
"Excessive fructose consumption is also believed to contribute to the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease."

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose

I think it's important that people increase their education. Never stop learning, always question what you hear. I believe that fructose in moderation as it comes naturally as part of fruit is a good thing. However, if you want to bake something sweet, and feel full and satisfied afterward, you might want to consider using something with a higher glycemic index, like old-fashioned corn syrup which contains no fructose.

Thoughts for Thursday 6

Some days it's really hard to make yourself get some exercise in. On those days I put my exercise clothes on and refuse to change out of them until I've gotten at least some sort of workout in. Since I'm not a big fan of running around in spandex, it's a great motivation. :)

Thoughts for Thursday 5

I've been in a funk lately. The kids have been bothering me more than usual and my patience has been missing. It's really been keeping me down. However, today, I dragged myself out of bed extra early this morning and did a P90x workout called Yoga X. The difference is amazing. I realize now that because I haven't been exercising as regularly as usual my mood has been negatively affected. In order to find joy in life, I need to start my day off with the endorphins I get from a good workout. I'm recommitting to my active morning routine, and I'm working on figuring out more ways to spend quality time with my kids outside.

The thought: Starting your day off with a good workout can help you think more clearly and keep a more positive outlook!

This is SOOO Important... 'Sugar- The Bitter Truth'

I've always wondered how all of the extra sugar in ones diet effects the body at a biochemical level. With the way these experts have broken down the metabolic response in the body, I can now see how fructose is really a poison. Anatomy and Physiology classes were some of my favorite classes in college, so it was easy for me to follow along during the biochemical breakdown. Please, if you have 90 minutes to sit down and pay attention to what this doctor has to say, it might help you change your life for the better. In short: Sugar, more specifically Fructose, is a carbohydrate that is unrecognized by the brain and therefore you never receive the "I'm full" signals leading you to eat more and more. Also, is metabolizes like ethanol, and gets converted into fat. It's like consuming alcohol and all of the bad things that alcohol can do to your body, but without the buzz. If I drank, then I'd consider that to be a serious "Buzz Kill". Some people get a 'beer belly', well did you know you can get 'fructose belly'?
I'm feeling very passionate about this and I want to shout from the rooftops "Watch This Video!"

Thoughts for Thursday: 4

Body Health Thought: Multi-Vitamins. Since not everyone is perfect at eating a well balanced diet and/or has aversions to specific foods that could give you the essential nutrients and vitamins you need, it's important to take a multi-vitamin. Just make sure you're taking the appropriate vitamin for you. Children's, Women's, Men's and Senior's Vitamins are not the same. Having a good balance of Vitamins and Minerals in your life can really increase your energy and help boost your immune system.

Brain Health Thought: Multi-Vitamins.... hehe.... see a pattern? Anyway, since multi-vitamins can help you have the energy you need, then they help with your brain power. I don't know about you, but I can think a lot more clearly when I have energy, and also my memory seems to like me a lot more.

Week 20: Calorie Bank

Another week has come and gone. I'm tired and I'm busy, but I'm sticking to my own suggestions most of the time and it keeps working. :) For those of you who wonder about last week's Three Strikes game, I'm doing just fine. Since Thursday was my Anniversary, I traded eating sweets on Thursday with Saturday, so Saturday I was good. This week I've done ok, but I decided to permanently trade Tuesday for Saturday or Sunday because I attend a parenting class on Tuesday mornings and people always bring delicious muffins etc. If you're shocked, don't be, I just don't eat breakfast before class and I have a small salad for lunch and my calories end up balancing themselves out.

For those of you who don't really understand calories, let me see if I can explain by substituting $ for calories.

Let's pretend that every day you're given $2000 to spend on food. (This is only make believe.)
Breakfast: 2 bowls of Toasted Oats cereal (1 cup each) with Fat free milk (1 cup total) and 1 banana. -$460.
Lunch: A Turkey, Swiss Cheese, Avocado, and Tomato Sandwich on whole wheat bread with a couple of sliced carrots. -$550
Snack: A medium Apple with 2 Tbsp Peanut Butter for dipping. -$300.
Dinner: 2 slices of Pepperoni Pizza and 1 Breadstick. -$690.
Balance= $0
Dessert: 2 scoops Vanilla Ice Cream with Hot-Fudge Topping. -$350
Balance= -$350

Ideally we all want to keep our Calorie Bank Account balance at $0 every night.

If you think you're overweight then you're already in the (-) negative numbers.
For every extra pound you weigh, you owe $3500.
If you're 20 pounds overweight,
then your Calorie Bank Account balance is -$70,000.
(Starving yourself doesn't work because it freezes your account, and leads to fees.) The only way to bring the account to $0, is to steadily pay it down.
If you walk at a moderate pace for an hour, you earn $300, but if you continually choose that $350 Dessert, then you're slowly increasing your debt. The best way to look at the situation is to slightly reduce the amount of $ you spend each day, and work to add $ to your account.

I began this journey with an account balance of -$87,500 , and over the passed 20 weeks I've been able to pay it down to the point where I only owe $7,000. It's taken A LOT of hard work and self control, but I'm almost to the point where I can easily balance my account at $0 before bed every night. :)

Week 19: Three Strikes

This week I've decided to try and up my healthy eating habits. I'm trying to see if I can limit my intake of sweets to the weekend alone. While discussing my strategy with my niece Emily, we came up with the three strikes policy. Basically here are the rules of our game:

-No sugary foods Monday- Friday. (Fruits, and yogurts don't count)
-If you slip and eat a sweet goody, then you get a strike.
-If you get 3 strikes, then you have to give up being able to eat sweets on either the following Saturday or Sunday.

Want to play with me?

I'm trying to conquer my sugar addiction because sugar really isn't good for you.

Sugar raises insulin levels which inhibits growth hormones and promotes fat storage (especially around your mid-section). Sugar also suppresses your immune system.

Here are a couple of links about sugar that I found interesting:
Ask Dr Sears
Sugar Addiction
Healing Daily

Healing Daily:
"It was only in the 1970's that researchers found out that vitamin C was needed by white blood cells so that they could phagocytize viruses and bacteria. White blood cells require a 50 times higher concentration inside the cell as outside so they have to accumulate vitamin C...

We know that glucose (sugar) and vitamin C have similar chemical structures, so what happens when the sugar levels go up? They compete for one another upon entering the cells. And the thing that mediates the entry of glucose into the cells is the same thing that mediates the entry of vitamin C into the cells. If there is more glucose around, there is going to be less vitamin C allowed into the cell. It doesn't take much: a blood sugar value of 120 reduces the phagocytic index by 75%. So when you eat sugar, think of your immune system slowing down to a crawl."

Week 15

I know I skipped posting last week but I went camping and other stuff so I just didn't have time. I've decided not to take my measurements for a few weeks because I seem to be stuck in that area for now. We'll see what happens. I was hoping to have gone down 20 lbs. by my birthday, but I didn't quite make it... 18 lbs. is pretty good though. :)

Tomorrow's the 3rd Anniversary of my 26th birthday. I refuse to get older if my husband isn't around to acknowledge my age progression. :) Anyway, I'm going to eat whatever I want and I'm going to enjoy it. I try to eat healthy for the most part and I'm successful 90% of the time, but a few times a year I want to just indulge in delicious awful food like brownies and Oreos. :)

The reason I don't do it more than a couple of times a year though, is because it only takes 8 hrs for any extra calories you've consumed to metabolize and be stored as fat. That's why it's possible for people to gain a few pounds over Thanksgiving weekend. Honestly, I won't be able to eat that much anyway because my stomach has shrunk.

Stomachs are cool like that, they can either grow or shrink to accommodate how much food you put into them and tell them to get used to. It can take a couple of weeks for your stomach to shrink and you'll feel hungry, but if you persist in eating only the calories you should, your stomach will start to feel full faster after having eaten less.
Well, that's all for now. :) Have a great week!

Week 9: What's the Ideal?

People have different ideas of what the ideal body should look like. I think a woman's ideal proportions should be based on her own measurements. I'll explain my guidelines for my goals below:

Measure your Wrist. Wrist x 2= Neck. Neck x 2 = Waist.

Measure you Ankle. Ankle x 2 =Thigh. Thigh x 2 = Hips and Bust (Chest)

So here's my ideal:............ Here's my reality:
Wrist = 6 1/2 " ..................Wrist = 6 1/2"
Neck = 13 1/2 " .................Neck = 13 1/2"
Waist = 27 ".......................Waist = 30 1/2"

Ankle = 9 1/2 ".................Ankle = 9 1/2"
Thigh = 19 ".....................Thighs = 21 1/2 "
Hips = 38 ".......................Hips = 38 "
Bust = 38 ".......................Bust = 42 "

So, to reach my ideal I need to:
-lose 3 1/2 inches off waist
-lose 2 1/2 inches off each thigh
-lose 4 inches off my bust, although my husband may say otherwise...lol. :)

To go along with this idea I'm updating my goals box on the side bar. We'll see what happens.

Thoughts for Thursday: 3

Body Health Thought: Do you take a multi-vitamin? I do. It's important to make sure you get your daily vitamins. Sometimes if you're lacking in a certain vitamin/mineral you'll have cravings for things that aren't the best for you. I have a weakness for chocolate which comes from a low level of magnesium. It's important to try and keep your calcium and magnesium levels balanced. Here's a cool article all about why some dark chocolate can actually be good for you. :)


Brain Health Thought: I have a heck of a time remembering things, but I find that if I purposely set aside a little time each day to memorize a verse of poetry or scripture that my memory works better. Like muscles in the body, different areas of the brain need to be used and exercised to work properly. Give it a try, find a book of poetry or scripture that has passages you enjoy and try and memorize one every day, you may be surprised by the results. :)

Week 4- Time out

Well this week has been very crazy because of the visitors we've had. We had a lot of fun but it was difficult to stick to my routine so I had to put this blog on the back burner. Oh well, now things are starting to get back to normal and I'll do my best to resume where I left off.

After visiting the Pediatrician this week I have decided to slow my progress for the sake of my baby. Your body stores toxins in your fat and if you burn your fat too quickly, you release those toxins back into your body. Anyway, long story short, losing weight too quickly can flood your breast-milk with bad things and can be bad for the baby. That said, my new goal is to lose about 1 pound a week.

For now I'm going to keep doing the same things I've been doing for the past few weeks. My husband will be deploying soon so if my blog is a little inconsistent I'm sorry, but I might need some time out.

Thoughts for Thursday: 2

Body Health Thought:

So, last week I posted a picture of some cookies next to some carrots, and one of my friend wrote: "if I could only get those carrots to look half as tempting as those cookies." This got me really started thinking about what it is I do to help keep from overindulging. I realized that what I tend to do is eat a good amount of something healthy, like carrots, before I eat something like cookies, that way I don't have as much room to shove an entire dozen cookies into my belly and onto my waistline. Next time you feel like a treat, eat something healthy first and you should find it easier to eat less of your guilty pleasure. :)

Brain Health Thought:

Some weeks seem harder than others, and it's at times like those that I find I really need to set aside time to worry. I know it sounds funny, but if I give myself a 10 minute window in which I'm allowed to worry, once that 10 minute timer goes off I am able to shove the worries out of the way. Next, I take a few minutes to write down whatever productive thoughts may have come about during my worry session, and then I take 5 minutes to clear my mind and focus on my breathing. I find these simple steps can be really refreshing and help me to concentrate on the things that I need to get done and can control. :)

Fitness Friday:1

I have to convince myself to start slow, so the thought of the day is Small Steps!


I've decided that an achievable small fitness goal will be to run one mile without stopping. If I walk as much as I can, and run in progressively longer distances, I will succeed. What about you? Figure out one small realistic fitness goal you can set for yourself and begin working toward it. If I can do it, so can you! :)

Thoughts for Thursday: 1

Body Health Thought:

Do you Eat to Live or do you Live to Eat? Put thought into your food choices. Are you eating something because it's convenient and you're hungry, or do you want to give your body the best fuel you can? Next time you go to grab a snack, think about whether or not it's good for you.



Brain Health Thought:

If you're anything like me as you work on de-junking your body you might want to clean up other parts of your life. I was thinking about my stress levels the other day and I decided that I was going to get rid of stressors that I have control over. This week I'm focusing on de-junking my house. I hate clutter, it makes me nervous and it's hard to relax when I look around and see clutter. I've decided to make a goal of getting rid of one piece of clutter every day. To accommodate this goal, I'm setting aside a box to fill to take to Goodwill. Think about it, if you get rid of one piece of clutter everyday for a year, that's 365 pieces of junk gone! ... Sounds great to me! :D