Nearing the end

I can't believe today was our second-to-last nutrition class. Looking back, these last several weeks have certainly gone by very fast. I've learned new things and refreshed my memory on things I already knew. I've changed my eating habits and have incorporated a good exercise program into my schedule. I've met new people and have learned from them. I'm pleased with the progress I've made and look forward to eventually getting to my goal. This has been a great process to get there.
Today in our class we talked about maintaining once we get to our goal. That is something I've been a little concerned about because our focus has been on weight loss and healthy changes, but once we get to our goal we're going to have to change direction a bit so that we don't continue to lose. After all, you can lose too much and that isn't healthy either.
I've exercised in the past, and I intend to continue to exercise. I feel so much better when I do. In fact, when I went to the gym on Saturday they called me aside to tell me my membership had expired and I needed to renew. So, we're now members for the next 2 years. We'd gotten such a good deal to begin with and they carry it over each time we renew, so we just can't pass it up!!

Eating spaghetti

What's with the snow yesterday anyhow? I know it didn't last long but still - it is spring!!
The kids came for dinner last night - I planned something pretty easy since I was scheduled to work 2:30-4:30. We had spaghetti, salad, and French bread. I carefully measured out my 2/3 cup of noodles and put them on my plate. I looked at that amount and thought - are you kidding me? That's all I get? But, I didn't add any to it and put my allowed amount of sauce on, ate 1 piece of French bread, and had 2 helpings of salad. That amount of spaghetti and sauce actually was enough for me - it gave me the taste and flavor without overindulging. That's what I like about the lessons we've learned - portion control and eating real foods. I didn't feel like I was missing out on anything or eating (or not eating) a forbidden food. Nothing's forbidden - it's just moderation and control.

I have 2 part-time jobs. One of them I can't seem to get rid of the Sunday shift. I teach in Relief Society on the 4th Sunday. My shift overlaps church time and it's been really hard since the first of the year to get all of Sunday off. My shift changed to different times today, so in order to be off in time to teach I had to trade with someone and get the last hour of my shift off. Then, I had to work again from 2:30-4:30. (Church was out at 2:00.) There wasn't enought time to fix much to eat by the time I got home, so I grabbed a BANANA - I don't really even like bananas, but they're easy to eat, readily accessible, and healthy. So, I ate a banana! Much better for me than chips or a cookie or something like that! This challenge has certainly helped me in this area.
I wore a suit today that I've had for several years that I really like. I haven't worn it in quite awhile because it was too tight in the arms and in the rear. Today it was too loose on top (not necessarily one of the places you want to lose!!) I like the suit so I'll have to find someone that is good at alterations and have them take it in for me so I can still wear it. I tried on one of the pairs of jeans that I'd bought at DI last month and - oh yeah, they fit!! I'm wearing them right now and they're comfortable.
My hubby is starting to see some results from his eating healthier and exercising. It's funny how just seeing a little success can help keep you on target and continue on instead of giving up and throwing the towel in.

For the whole family

Yesterday's class was fun. We were told about the 20 worst meals - ohmigosh, we were flabbergasted as to the amount of calories, fat grams, carbos, etc. in some of those dishes. Can you imagine eating one meal worth over 2700 calories?!!
My husband is more onboard with me than before. He's been exercising, but now is watching what he eats even more. He ate his grilled burger without the bun last night and tonight turned down a malt (he loves malts - light on the chocolate syrup please). We have plans to go to our son-in-law's graduation from dental school and he sees that by the time we go to that he could be down at least 10 (if not more) pounds, and when we go to pick up our son from his mission in late July, he could be fairly close to his goal weight. Things are more realistic to him - and he realizes he can eat real food, not be limited by low carbs or high proteins. This challenge is good for the entire family.

Weeding!

I just came in from weeding the front and side flower beds and half of the one in the back. Boy, my weeds are doing REALLY good! It's such a good feeling to be able to pull those weeds and dead growth from last year and reveal the tulips and new growth of the perennials. For the past few years I've gone to Thanksgiving Point after they've pulled their tulip bulbs and bought several dozen. The are looking awesome this year and I just love the fact that I have such a variety. You never know what you're buying, so it's a very pleasant surprise when they come up in the spring. I've never been disappointed with any of the colors or shapes - except for when one doesn't bloom!! I was sad to find a bag of bulbs in my office that didn't get planted last fall, so I'm hoping they'll still be good! I hope to get the rest of the weeding done tomorrow.

Observations

As I checked out at Macey's tonight I took a look at the food I was putting on the belt. I'd just grabbed what was on my list, and didn't realize how healthy everything was. I had fresh fruits and vegetables, yogurt, boneless skinless chicken breasts, lean pork chops, milk and bread. No pop, candy, cookies, sugared cereal, etc. I thought to myself - wow, how "disgustingly healthy!!" I'd done that without even thinking about it!
When at Gold's Gym Friday morning I looked at the "wall of TV's" and was surprised at the number of ads for quick-fix medications and infomercials to help get rid of the weight quickly and with no work at all. We are a society of quick-fixes, forgetting that the problem didn't come overnight or in a week or a month. We had to really work at letting ourselves get out of shape and unhealthy over a long period of time. The cure will take time also. I'm thankful to be able to participate in this heart challenge and be reminded that the only way to truly lose weight and become healthy is with a lifestyle change.
One final observation - I bent over to tie my shoes on Friday and realized after they were tied that I hadn't had to huff and puff to do it nor hold my breath. Sweet!!

Fad Diets

In our class today we talked about fad diets. A fad diet is simply a weight loss diet that becomes very popular (often quickly) and then may fall out of favor (sometimes just as quickly). She described several different fad diets and what they were known for. She also gave us a handout that had a series of questions to ask about a diet to determine whether it's a fad diet or not:
Recommendations that promise a quick fix
Dire warnings of dangers from a single product or regimen
Claims that sound too good to be true
Simplistic conclusions drawn from a complex study
Recommendations based on a single study
Dramatic statements that are refuted by reputable scientific organizations
Lists of "good" and "bad" foods
Recommendations made to help sell a product
Recommendations based on studies published without review by other researchers
Recommendations from studies that ignore differences among individuals or groups
Eliminated one or more of the five food groups
I also learned something I hadn't thought much about before - that we need at least 800 calories a day just to maintain life. Interesting! So these diets that have you eating only 500-600 calories a day really aren't good for you - you need more than that just to stay alive. I am really glad that we've been exercising and eating healthy foods - afterall, once you "go off a diet and start to eat real food again" is when a lot of people find themselves gaining weight again. We've been eating "real" food all along so we won't have to readjust to normal food.
Jalaine also gave us some guidelines when shopping for good food:
Shop for in-season fresh fruits.
Make food from scratch.
Buy healthy foods in bulk.
Eat before you go to the grocery store.
Make a grocery list and stick to it.
Be flexible with the items on sale - adjust your list.
Look at sale ads, use coupons.
Shop the perimeter instead of the inside of the store.
Use a variety of foods.
Read labels and look at the unit price.

Does It Get Any Better Than This?

What an absolutely gorgeous day today was. The blue sky, the sunshine, the warm temperature, the whiteness of the snow on Timp, the beauty of the flowering trees and the spring flowers - seriously, does it get any better than this? There were lots of people out enjoying the warm spring day - walking, sitting on the grass, riding bikes and motorcycles.
I went to the gym at the hospital to meet up with Dylan and work out only to find that they are recarpeting the gym area. Some of the machines were unaccessible, so I told Dylan that I was going to go to Gold's and work out there this week instead of at the hospital. I only go to the hospital 2 days a week where Dylan oversees my workout so this week will be a little different. Once it's been recarpeted we'll meet up again there.

Easter Sunday

Today was certainly a very nice day. The kids came over and the grandchildren looked for hidden eggs (filled with candy, money, or a pick of a toy) that my daughter Brie had set up. Afterwards they flew kites, jumped on the tramp, and colored our driveway with sidewalk chalk. I found out a couple of years ago that my family doesn't like ham for Easter dinner (I on the other hand LOVE ham). I decided to make something they like instead, so we had roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, and carrots. The beef and carrots cooked in the crock pot all day - mmmmmmm tender and delicious!
I measured out the proper portion of mashed potatoes, beef, and broccoli (I don't care for cooked carrots so I made some broccoli too). I also made homemade rolls - by the time dinner came around I was more than ready to eat, so I did help myself to one beforehand and one during dinner (I'd saved my exchanges for that!). I measured out my mashed potatoes and roast beef, and then I noticed 2 of my daughters doing the same thing. You just never know when someone's watching and being inspired also.
I talked to my mom to wish her a Happy Easter. She had knee surgery at the end of January and is just now starting to feel better and get her appetite back. (She told me she went out to lunch with friends and then last night had popcorn and 1/2 a batch of fudge for supper!! She must be feeling better!) She's lost weight over the past year - a lot of it by not even trying (how unfair is that!) She's gone from 185 at her highest to her present weight of 133 - she told me she weighs now what she did in high school. Go mom! There were 10 girls in high school (they called themselves the 10 pigs) that still get together every year. This year marks her 60th high school reunion, so she's hoping she stays around this weight for the reunion in October.

Dr. Oz and omentum

Dr. Oz with an unhealthy omentum, Oprah with a healthy one.

I love to watch Dr. Oz on Oprah - he is SO smart. One day he was talking about the omentum. The say-what? I'd never heard of it before. So, my ears perked up a bit and listened a little more closely.
So, you ask yourself - what is an omentum? I went online and found a couple of things from JoLynn Braley and also from the book "You on a Diet" by Dr. Mehmet C. Oz and Dr. Michael F. Roizen. Dr. Oz describes it as "A fatty layer of tissue located inside the belly that hangs underneath the muscles in your stomach." It varies greatly in thickness, depending on how much fat is stored there.
The omentum is the best indicator of how you deal with chronic stress. If you are under constant stress, your body “releases high amounts of steroids into your bloodstream in the form of the hormone cortisol”. Your body has to deal with these excess hormones, and this is your omentum’s job. Your omentum takes these hormones from your bloodstream, and the hormones in turn step up the ability of your omentum to store fat.
This results in a fat belly for you, which is the easiest indicator of how much chronic stress you are under in your life. The problem (besides your dismay over your looks) is that the fat stored in your omentum is the first source of fuel that your internal organs use, especially your liver. All of those added hormones throw off your metabolism by making your omentum resistant to insulin, which means that sugar is floating around in your bloodstream instead of being used as normal by your cells. The results are:
Tissue damage from chronically raised blood sugar.
Your hormone balance is upset due to your omentum taking in an abundance of inflammatory chemicals.
More inflammatory chemicals are sent marauding around your system because your omentum is sending “high-octane” fat as a form of fuel directly to your liver, which in turn sends out the chemicals.
Your omentum creates inflammation throughout your system (a serious health risk) by giving your internal organs fuel. Remember, the fat in your omentum is the first source of fuel for all internal organs, not only the liver.
Your omentum causes (bad) cholesterol and triglyceride levels to rise by fueling your liver with its fat.
Hhow can you easily tell if your omentum is overweight? If you have a (hard) beer belly, or an apple shaped body, your omentum is likely storing fat.
You can also measure your waist: if you are a woman and you measure over 35 inches, or a man over 40 inches, then your omentum is taking up space. These measurements put you at major risk for a heart attack since your omentum is now approximately 5 inches thick (). It is in there, creating an inflammatory process that will irritate your arteries and possibly block them.
I'm hoping that with this challenge, change of eating habits, and exercise that my omentum will look more like the one Oprah's holding than the one Dr. Oz is holding!!

Chef Mike

Chef Mike came to speak to us today. We'd been warned by Jalaine that he was funny, but he was more than funny. Some of his comments were downright hilarious. The time with him went by very fast today!
One of the things he talked about was our loser strategies. We "have to know you to know what you need to do." He also mentioned that all of our eating needs to be conscious eating. (I've learned from this class that I am an unconscious eater - I eat without thinking what I'm putting into my mouth!)
He had some good suggestions to help us with our meal planning - that we should plan our menu for a month at a time (hmmm, we do our budget for a month at a time but hadn't given much thought to doing the same with meal planning.) By doing this and shopping sales and discount places, we can save ourselves some money too.
He mentioned that we need to have a plan to snack - I hadn't thought about that before either, but it makes total sense. Look for things we can incorporate into our diet.
He also said that our most effective way of losing weight (besides consuming less and exercising more) is to carry our own weight - by jogging or walking.
We need to be aware of our eating patterns - one suggestion was to cut fruit into smaller pieces - instead of just eating the apple by taking bites from the whole apple, cut it into lots of small pieces.
No food is evil - how we eat, what we do with it is evil!
Our health should be the #1 concern and motivation in dieting.
I'm looking forward to our last nutrition class when he'll be coming in to cook for us and share some recipes.

Bumping it up a bit!

Me and trainer Dylan

Dylan and I bumped up my workouts a bit by adding some leg machines to my routine. I've done some of these machines before but it's been quite awhile since I've used them. Plus, he added calves to the workout - I've never done calves before and you should have seen me trying to get the hang of it. I don't know why it was so difficult to have my brain figure out what he was telling me to do, but after he showed me what to do the light bulb went on and I did them correctly!!

Bragging Rights!

Saturday night was the priesthood session of general conference. Tradition has been for the boys to go with Dave to priesthood and the girls and I go to dinner together. With Mitch on his mission and Brian in St. George, Dave went to priesthood by himself and out to dinner afterwards with one of our sons-in-law. With both Tonya and Krysta gone, there were only 4 (including the 17-month old) that went for Girls Night Out - this time around we went to Chili's in AF. I ate a grilled chicken sandwich and broccoli- say what!! I only had 3 or 4 bites of that scrumptious dessert - Molten Chocolate Cake! We did some shopping afterwards and I tried some capris on and a jean skirt. They were both a size 10 - I didn't end up getting either, but it was oh-so-nice to be able to fit into a 10!! Then, I checked the size of the jeans I was wearing (it was the first time I'd worn them). They were comfortable so I just naturally assumed they were a size 12. Nope, they too were a size 10 - hooray hooray!! This dieting and exercising is starting to pay off!!!

1/2-way there!!

Wow! It's hard to believe we're halfway through our 100-Day Heart Challenge. I've learned a lot and have been challenged physically and have been rewarded for the hard work and changes I'm making. I look forward to the next half to see what other improvements I can make in my eating habits and workouts.
Normally by this time I would have decided that where I'm currently at is good enough and would have started to get "lazy". I'm so glad to be able to keep going. This competition is good for me - I have a "somewhat" competitive nature so this challenge is certainly keeping me on track and motivated.
I am thankful for my "team" for this heart challenge - Tracy, Jalaine, the other participants, my family, and of course Dylan - my trainer. He is keeping on top of things and when the weights seem to get too "easy" he bumps me up. He's also going to add some exercises using weight machines that will work additional parts of my body (are there really any parts left that aren't being worked?!!) Thanks to all of you. I'm being "reshaped" both physically and mentally.

Nutrition class focus - emotional eating

We talked about emotional eating today in our nutrition class. We can be an emotional eater both when we're happy or sad. I've never considered myself to be an emotional eater - I eat more because I like the taste of whatever I'm eating, but I've also discovered I'm an unconscious eater. When fixing food I'll "taste" what I'm cooking, if there's a bowl of candy or pretzels or whatever, I grab some as I walk by. I'm trying much more now to be a "conscious" eater in that I deliberately keep track of what goes into my mouth and try to put those things that are good or healthy for me. I have had desserts on occasion throughout the challenge, but I have limited myself to only a couple of bites so that I get the taste, satisfy the craving, but don't overindulge. And guess what - life goes on if I don't eat a whole piece of pie or cake and I actually don't really miss any of that stuff!!
To help avoid emotional eating she told us to ask ourselves 4 questions - Am I biologically hungry right now? What am I feeling? What do I need? and Would you please ........? For me the biggest question was the one Am I biologically hungry right now? She also talked about the hunger scale and that we should eat when we feel between 3 and 6: 3- stomach is empty and occasionally growls; need to eat soon. 4 - initial fullness that is not recognizable at first, food still looks good. 5 - satisfied feeling that allows for a bit more to be eaten, or stopping there. 6 - comfortable fullness taht results in a satisfied feeling by half hour later. I hadn't thought about measuring hunger on a scale before but it makes sense, especially when you're trying to change eating habits.
Jalaine reminded us that we need to take baby steps - change comes gradually; it's a process. As I thought about my weight, etc. at the beginning of this challenge I was reminded that I didn't get to that weight or cholesterol level or blood pressure, etc. overnight, and I wasn't going to "fix" it overnight. I need to be patient with myself and my progress.
She also talked about the ABC's of behavior - first there's the Antecedents (thoughts, feelings, etc.) before the behavior. It actually triggers the Behavior - which is the actual activity or conduct. Then there's the Consequence - which is the result of the behavior and can be positive or negative.
I'm really thankful and feel blessed to be a part of this challenge as I have learned so much. I think we all have and are all making conscious efforts and changes that will stay with us throughout the rest of our lives. I told my husband one morning that I think I used to be one of those that liked to "live to eat" whereas now I feel more like I "eat to live". My life doesn't revolve around food. I eat smaller portions and healthier foods and I actually like it. I was never one much for fruits and vegetables - give me cake or cookies, etc. for breakfast and I was just fine! Now I eat 100% whole wheat toast or yogurt with bran cereal in it. I know the sweet tooth is still there - it's just being controlled much better.