Gym!

I finally got to the gym last night and I think I will go again! I worked hard and was exceedingly proud of myself for going in the first place, since I didn't go until 9:40pm! I know that morning workouts are better for you because you end up burning more calories through the course of the day, instead of sleeping like I did, but working out at all will vastly improve my condition and ability to burn calories in general, so nights are good for now. I am also considering working out in the early morning before Eric goes to work but I am NOT a morning person and the thought of working out at 5:00 in the morning makes me laugh that I am even considering it!

The other reason that I am proud of myself is that when I got home from the gym, I ate a huge salad with lots of veggies and tuna on the side for protein. I sprinkled on a bit of cheese and ranch dressing. I know that's not that good for you, but I don't use that much (really) and its better than not eating the salad. Fat is not the enemy, excessive sugar is.

I have been shaky all morning today though and I don't know why. It's weird; it is the way I feel when I've had too much caffeine and not enough food, but I've had no caffeine and I just finished a large bowl of yummy chili. Who knows...I hope to work out again tonight, but I think Eric might be home too late. I am glad to be starting this routine because it is one of the harder ones to keep up.

I'm off for a little rest while the kiddos nap.

Weekend Food Log/Change of Plans

Well over this weekend, I finished off the pizza (ugh!) ate some boneless buffalo chicken wings on a special date with my husband (I had french fries too), the last bowl of ice cream and surely NOTHING healthy.

I am a little frustrated because I know that my eating has been just plain awful so far, and yet we just do not have the money for me to do this diet! Meat is expensive, organic is expensive, fruit is expensive...and if you don't use it fast enough, it goes bad!!! My husband and I have lately been debating the "good vs cheap" debate and for my husband, cheap is the primary factor. I know that I can't live that way for long but I don't really feel like I have a choice in the matter. I still want to try to start Perfect Weight America but before I do, I am going to make out a complete two week menu (from the samples in the book) and then I can budget out exactly what it will cost me. Plain and simple is that I am on the verge of all sorts of dietary problems: I am on the verge of having high blood pressure (I am thinking of going to Wal-Mart to use their machine!), I am confident, though not tested, for high-cholesterol and I will probably have Type 2 diabetes within a year or two if something doesn't change. The bottom line is that it is too expensive to eat junk!

The first two weeks of Perfect Weight America are pretty restrictive, especially on carbs, so perhaps I can wing it with our regular food minus the carbs. I might have to add a few ingredients to our shopping list, but they are probably few. The first month of PWA is a "detox" stage anyway, though not a cleanse, it is a method for resetting your system to begin to accept new things. I'll post my weekly menus once I have them established. I like to go grocery shopping with my husband (preferably without the kids) because it helps me hold to my budget better therefore, I plan grocery shopping for the end of the week. That is also the end of the week-long food diary, which is really making me feel piggish, I must say! The other problem that I am going to have is finding a good source for organic produce. I think that I will grab that list (from this site) of the 12 best foods to buy organic, but the list recommends practically every kind of food, so I might just use the list about the foods that don't need to be organic, here. These lists conflict a little, so we just might need to start to consider other ways to save money. Regardless, I know that organic is better, but just the foods are good for now. I will work on a cleanse once I get the hang of the actual diet that will hopefully get rid of the pesticides. I have also read that foods treated with chemicals are less healthy for you in nutritional value, but anything beats pizza!

In other news, I found out that I still have a gym membership, so I can start going there. I know full well that losing weight long-term is a two-fold change: diet and exercise. 30 minutes of medium to intense aerobics plus some weight training should work well. Everyone has a different theory on exercise, whether its lots of aerobics, lots of anaerobic exercise or a combination, they always agree that you should JUST DO IT!!! I am hoping to make it to the gym 5 days a week, another thing that I am going to write out in my plan. I think I will make a little booklet for my first two weeks, just looking at what I need for each day.

By the way, you can get more information on Perfect Weight America, here, but I also recommend reading one of Jordan Rubin's other books, The Maker's Diet because it goes into more depth on his health journey as well as some of the Biblical reasons behind his diet. The diets are pretty close, but I think that PWA is a little easier, more modern, so it is the one that I will be following. I also have a book on children's health by him because that is especially important to me right now. I will also be using Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon for recipes. You can find that book in the cookbook section of your local bookseller and it has a lot of really good information in it about traditional diets and the myth of "bad fats" along with a ton of recipes to cook everything imaginable!

Well, I'm off to do my planning!

Today's Food Log

I started my day with

1 small Jolly Rancher to dull the taste in my mouth (why didn't I brush my teeth?)

A double portion of Cream of Wheat (made with water), and 4 heaping tsps of brown sugar (it was too much sugar)

As a snack, I had a large bowl of lite ice cream, about 3 1/2 scoops.

I had a large bowl of homemade chili for lunch, it was made with less meat than the recipe calls for and more beans. I think it is pretty healthy (it uses ground beef though)

We were feeling pretty hungry for dinner, and we ended up ordering pizza.

I ate 2 slices of a medium pan pizza with pepperoni, 2 glasses of Mountain Dew, and 3 Chocolate Dunkers...not the high point, but it needs to be documented anyway.

I had planned on drinking coffee and even brewed it, but never drank it...that is good. I had a monster migraine by the afternoon and took 2 OTC Migraine pills, they have aspirin, tylenol and caffeine in them, so they are a veritable health hazard concoction. My goal for tomorrow is to drink more water, any water will be better than today!

My Current Stats

I measured myself today and I weigh 214 pounds, with clothes on, mid-day.

I wear a 2x top, and 20-22 on the bottom, depending on the fit.

My bra size is a 44DD.

My neck is 15 1/2 inches.

My bicep is 15 inches.

My waist measured at the belly button is 45 inches.

My hips measure 50 inches.

My thigh measures 27 inches.

My calf measures 15 1/2 inches.

Beginning tomorrow, I will be keeping and posting a food diary for one week, after which I will begin a lifestyle diet. Something must change. My tooth aches incessantly and we are out of dental insurance at the moment; I am sure that I need at least a root canal, possibly a crown. My scalp is dry and itchy, though my hair remains oily. These, I am sure, are only a small portion of the things wrong with me. It must change.

Some Pictures

This is a somewhat unflattering picture of me and the kids just last weekend. I now weigh in between 210-215 pounds, which means that if I combined my two children and subtracted their weight from my body, I would still be technically overweight.

This is a picture of me when I found out that I was pregnant with my son, Noah. I was a heavy 180 by then and felt it, but being pregnant and having a small baby just gave me too many reasons to eat junk and justify it. 

Here is a picture of me before having kids. This was not the lightest I had ever been, but it was a good idea of my "standard" ... It is hard to believe that I felt FAT constantly!