My weight loss Goal

Nutrisystem 21 pounds lost and counting!

2014-04-06T01:33:00.000-07:00

So I started Nutrisystem and it's not been an easy journey. The meals are for the most part a lot smaller than what I'm used to eating. I have to supplement (and you're supposed to) a lot of vegetables and fruit to keep hunger at bay. I'm back to my calorie counting and I got a fitbit as well to track my exercise. I've been working out quite a bit too. I go to the gym after work 3 or 4 times a week for about 2-3 hours each visit. I go to my local YMCA. Feel free to check out my blog at Nutrisystem Blog You can also view my Fitbit site and hit me up with a friend request if you like as well. I have an account with MyFitnessPal where I log my meals and exercise as well. I'll admit though I've been a bit behind on keeping up with my food/exercise log recently. I'm going to redouble my efforts to get back in to the swing of things starting tomorrow. I won't do it today because I'm calling it a cheat day. It's my son's birthday party and we're having pizza, cake, and ice cream LOL. Well you got to have a cheat day every once in a while right?

HCG

2011-11-15T15:36:00.001-08:00

HCG or Human chorionic gonadotropin is a hormone produced during pregnancy. When a woman takes a pregnancy test this is what they are testing for in the urine or blood. Use of this hormone as a weight loss supplement has been proposed by Dr. Simeons who studied medicine and graduated summa cum laude from the University of Heidelberg in London. The theory is that the hormone protects your body from losing weight from muscle mass and therefore losing pounds of fat. His theories are of great debate as to their legitimacy. As with any supplement you never know how pure a product you are getting because it is not monitored by the FDA. In fact the FDA warns that while it is claimed to be homeopathic it does not meet the qualifications of homeopathic medicine, that you can not be sure of the quality or purity of the product you are getting, and there is no evidence of its effectiveness as a dietary supplement. FDA Warning

The key to success with HCG for weight loss seems to be the recommended diet plan that accompanies it. You should eat around 500 calories to no more than 800 a day. HCG does not act as an appetite suppressant although some supplements add an appetite suppressant to their product. Most experts believe that the diet is the reason for the weight loss not the HCG. For this diet the key is portion control, so you will need to buy a food scale. Meat should be 5-6 oz pre cooked, no bread or other starches, limit dairy as much as possible, and eat all the veggies you want. Make sure you drink all day. Take your weight and divide it in half and thats how many ounces you should be drinking. If you have the self control to be able to stick to this diet plan it is likely that you could lose this same weight without the drops. Dr. Simeon's weight losss plan

As with any supplement you should check with your doctor before you begin taking it. ARNP Karen Rye states that, "Medically it makes no sense (as to the effectiveness of HCG)... anytime you take something that effects your hormones you run the risk of it also effecting your mood (causing or worsening depression)."

Wellness Works

2011-09-16T00:50:00.000-07:00

I've joined a group through my employer called "Wellness Works". It's an incentive program for associates to get healthy. Yesterday I went to Lifetime Fitness to join and do a well check. I was actually surprised at how good my numbers are. My blood pressure was really good 100/58 with the recommendation of less than 120/80 being the goal. They did an interesting test on my body fat percentage. The guy doing my screening put my information into this handheld thing. He put in my height, weight, and age. I had to hold the thing out at arms length and somehow it calculated my body fat percentage, which was 39.7% the benchmark is less than 33% so this is going to be one of my goals to reach by the end of the program. My waist line is also something I need to work on with my circumference being 44" and the recommended is less than 35". They also did a lipid profile on me. I know that a while back when I had my cholesterol checked my total was close to 400. Yesterday my total was 234 with the goal to be less than 200, so I don't have far to go! My LDL (bad) cholesterol was 162 with the desired goal being less than 130. My good cholesterol was 44 HDL with greater than 40 being desirable (Yay!). My triglycerides were 140 less than 150 is the goal. My cholesterol ratio was 5.3 with the benchmark being less than 4.5. Overall for my lipid profile I'm not that far away from all of the recommended levels. They also did my glucose (sugar) which I was unaware that I needed to be fasting when I came for my appointment. However, my glucose was only 88 which falls well within the recommended amount of less than 100. I'm not sure if I should be worried that my glucose was this low when I had ate before I went to my appointment.

Their program has financial incentives. Points directly correlate to a dollar amount. I have to earn a total of 150 points over the 10 month period in order to receive the incentive and to be eligible for the final screening (same tests as above.) They have monthly activities which caps at 20 points. Things that I can do on a monthly basis are: Exercise Log 10 points, Nutrition Log 10 points, Wellness Class 5 points, CBL (computer based learning) 2 points, and Life Time weekly walk (10 laps = 1 mile) 4 points. There are a lot of other things that I can do to earn more points such as getting my yearly flu shot, donating blood, or eating one of the healthy choice meals served in the dining room at the hospital (my workplace.)

I'm looking forward to participating in this program and hopefully it will help me to reach some of my weight loss goals. I know here lately I've been slacking off quite a bit. Ever since I started this job I have virtually quit doing all of my exercises. Finding time to do that is going to be tough. I have to do a minimum of 12 hours of exercise a month in order to be allowed to turn in my exercise log for points. This means that I will have to work out at least 1 hour every day that I have off from work. This is because I work 12 hour shifts with my weeks alternating between 36 and 48 hours a week (3 and 4 days).

The Plateau

2011-09-03T02:17:00.000-07:00

I seem to have reached a stand still with my weight loss. I haven't lost any more weight in the last month or so. Part of the problem is now that I'm working my schedule is more hectic than ever and I just can't seem to find the time or energy to do my exercise. My job is very stressful because I have yet to have a consistent schedule. They have me working nights, then days, then nights again. The days of the week that I work rotate. I am bound and determine to pick this up somehow or another I will start exercising again.

I wanted to do my weight loss as naturally as possible. I don't want to yo-yo. Of course, who does? I purchased a bottle of "SlimQuick: Naturals" and just started taking it yesterday. Hopefully this will help me get back on track. They also have a website which has support for motivation, meal plans, setting goals, and exercise. SlimQuick site I will keep everyone updated about the effectiveness of this product.

Twenty Pounds lighter!

2011-07-26T19:45:00.000-07:00

I went to my cardiologist the other day. I only see him once every six months. I didn't know what my weight was when I first started dieting months ago because I didn't have a scale to weigh myself on. Now I know, I lost 20 lbs! My doctor was very pleased with me and he said, "Now if you lose another 20 lbs over the next six months you'll look like a model on the cover of a magazine". I appreciate the thought but even another 20 lbs lighter would still not put me at an ideal weight. I'm glad I've made progress although I do wish I was losing weight faster.

I've got the year passes for our local water park. It's great to get out and do something on my days off and even better to be spending them with my family. I was surprised at how sore I was the day after having gone to the water park. Swimming is great exercise! I did also buy the waterproof camera but I haven't had a chance to test it out in the water just yet. Hopefully I'll get some pictures this coming week.

Work is also giving me a workout. I have to push around this thing we call a COW (computer on wheels). It's pretty heavy and I drag it along to each room I register. I did a lot of back and forth today especially. My ankles are swollen, my muscles are stiff, and I am exhausted but I know that not only am I bringing home the bacon, I'm losing more fat. I was surprised that since I haven't had the time to do my workouts and I feel like I'm eating more than I was before and I still lost another 5 lbs! I'm going to try to work in some more exercise into my schedule.

Twenty Pounds lighter!

2011-07-26T19:41:00.000-07:00

Work Off the Weight

2011-06-20T03:26:00.000-07:00

Things have gotten unbelievably hectic lately. Working 12 hours shifts at a hospital I have had less and less free time to do anything, including exercise. To make matters worse I work the night shift 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. I don't work a consistent schedule it's 2 days on 3 days off 3 days on 2 days off, etc. However, there is one major plus to having this job. I have been really busy busting my butt at work. I do a lot of walking and frequently I have to bring what they call the C.O.W with me (Computer On Wheels) which is actually kind of heavy. I feel like I'm eating more than before. Trying to stay up all night is not always easy and I've been turning to cappuccinos for caffeinated energy but as sweet as those are I know they have to be chock full of calories. I was therefore quite shocked to find that I had lost another 5 pounds.

I also plan to do something else for my family this summer. I have bought season passes for my family to a local water park. I'm hoping that not only will this give us something fun to do together this summer but that it will also provide us with some much needed exercise. I'm not the only one looking chunky. I'm hoping to get a water proof camera to take with us to the park so I can post some pictures of family fun and dare I say possibly me in a swim suit... oh I better not make threats like that. LOL Keep busy this summer and have fun!

Been a while but I'm still around

2011-05-31T19:30:00.000-07:00

Hello readers!

Things have been pretty hectic lately. I have been working at my new job about a month now. I work nights, 12 hour shifts, at our local community hospital. I really enjoy it but all I want to do when I get home is sleep, sleep, sleep! I have been keeping track of my weight loss. I am down a couple more pounds but not much. I'm thankful I'm not gaining the weight back because I haven't been keeping track of my calories like I used to. I've started drinking sugary drinks because after a few hours of working I start feeling dizzy. Hoping that doesn't make me gain weight again. Another obstacle to posting my blogs was my computer was not working. Thanks to CPU of Ocala it's working again. This of course was after I had used the Gateway recovery discs and sent it to Best Buy's Geek Squad and waiting on a second set of recovery discs because BB said the first set was faulty.

Tomorrow night I start learning how to register patients and that requires a lot of walking around. I'm sure my feet are going to hurt but I'm going to look at it as mandatory exercise. With any luck I'll start losing more weight. Trying to find the time to exercise when I'm not working is difficult but I'm going to figure something out.

When in doubt, exercise!

2011-04-16T11:04:00.000-07:00

I still have very limited access to the internet, Gateway sucks (my computer is still in the shop)! In the meantime I try to guess what my caloric intake is adding it up in my head. I have no doubt that this is probably a very inaccurate process but it's better than eating indiscriminately. Then, yesterday, I took my daughter to the doctor and afterwords she wanted to use a $5 McDonald's gift card she got from going to a friend's church. I decided to eat some breakfast too and got a bacon egg and cheese breakfast sandwich. The top and bottom of the sandwich tastes like pancakes with syrup in the center. Undoubtedly probably one of the most unhealthy meals I've had in a very long time. When my fiance went grocery shopping (he's so sweet!) he tried to get me some of the Weight Watchers frozen candy bars but the store didn't carry any. He came home instead with Snickers ice cream bars. Now as far as calories go there isn't much difference but saturated fat is pretty high. He also didn't get me any Lean Cuisine's which in general spare me from eating what the family eats and last night we had (baked) french fries and wings. Again, not the healthiest foods. After having ate all of these unhealthy food items I decided that I should double my exercise for the day and hope that was enough to combat what I'm sure was an excessive amount of calories! Temptations are everywhere and it's not always possible to eat healthy. I am always telling my children that you can pretty much eat whatever you want so long as you plan to exercise it off. I worry about my kids getting some sort of eating disorder they are definitely too young to diet. My daughter in particular who is 13, I feel is especially susceptible. While I don't believe you should eat just anything, I do still firmly believe that exercise should be your primary method of weight loss. Keep in mind I mean eating healthy foods not sitting around eating Baskin Robbins all day long.

Hard to track

2011-04-12T17:44:00.000-07:00

I know it has been forever since I posted last. My computer has bit the dust apparently even Best Buy's Geek Squad can't fix it. Bummer :( Meanwhile since I relied so heavily Livestrong's The Daily Plate to keep track of my calories I have been having a hard time keeping track of my calories on my own. However, I have maintained my exercising... er well I was.. it's been 2 days now since I exercised last. I was doing my usual dancing and as I turned my ankle made this wonky popping noise. Right now my ankle is still very sore and I've got bruises on my feet, not a good sign. A couple years ago I let my broken ankle totally derail my weight loss goals and I don't want to slide into that same excuse. Well, I am using my mother's laptop so I can't be on long, I just wanted to let my readers know I'm still alive and kicking. Oh, yeah and I have been tracking my weight with our new scale and it looks like I lost 3 pounds.. I hate these things though I can get on and see one number and then step off and back on and have a totally different result. However, I did go to my doctor and they said according to my last weight I lost 3 pounds. I'm struggling but I'm trying to be stubborn about it and not give up!

New Clothes

2011-04-03T20:08:00.000-07:00

I used to loathe clothes shopping. I would try things on and they would be too small or wouldn't fit me right. I found it very depressing and I'd always want to just go home and cry. Today was my first goal to lose a certain amount of weight and I am disappointed that I didn't meet it. However, I have what is a more important accomplishment: Dropping clothes sizes.

Today I went shopping with my mother and sister to Ross and I tried on some size 2x shirts (what I've been in for the last couple years) and they didn't fit... they were too big! How exciting is that? I tried on this really pretty shirt and it is just baggy on me and I'm like, "This shirt doesn't fit me, but you know I'm not upset about that at all!" LOL I was able to wear size XL shirts and I can not even remember the last time I was able to fit into a shirt that size.

My sister seems to think I have lost a lot of weight. The problem is that I didn't have a working scale and I was going by what I weighed at the doctors office, but even then I hadn't been to my doctor in quite a while. I know I got up to about 260 lbs but I was pretty sure I'd dropped down to 250 before I even started my current diet. My sister said I looked like I weighed 280 before and now I've got a scale and I keep bouncing back and forth a couple of pounds between 247 and 253 averaging out to 250. Obviously I am thinner I can wear clothes I couldn't before. I'm wearing clothes out of my "wishful thinking" box that has clothes that don't (or didn't) fit me anymore. I'm wearing a shirt from that box right now that I remember my belly hanging out of. Whether or not I have lost any weight it is more important to be healthy and therefore more important that I am toning up than losing weight. It also is important to note that I have been able to step on my scale, step off, and then step right back on and end up with a weight that is a couple pounds different from the weight I just had. My sister says that her Weight Watchers scale that it doesn't matter where you place your feet it gives and accurate reading every single time. I also got a regular dial scale for this very reason because there is less of a chance of me getting a different weight stepping on to that than with the regular digital one we have.

Frustrated

2011-03-23T19:25:00.000-07:00

I am almost to the deadline of my first goal and I don't think I'm going to make it. I'm really frustrated with my lack of progress. I haven't given up yet, despite a strong desire to do so. I am still exercising at least every other day and when I do exercise I do minimum of 1 hour. I also am still monitoring my caloric intake and keeping it below the 1317 but every once in a while I dip into the calories earned by my exercise.

I did finally get a new scale one is digital that my sister gave me, the other is a more traditional scale. Still I seem to be stuck at this weight. I think I mentioned before that I am afraid that my recent increase on my Verapamil (blood pressure medication) could contribute to my weight. The last 2 times they increased my dosage I gained 10 lbs (each time.) I haven't gained any weight but I haven't lost any either. Still I am toning up I do fit into clothes that I couldn't a few months ago. However, I figure if I'm going to be stuck taking a medication that slows down my metabolism I need something to balance things out, I'm taking Alli (an FDA approved weight loss medication OTC).

Weight Watcher Snacks

2011-03-09T19:29:00.000-08:00

I am not on the Weight Watchers plan but there are plenty of food options by Weight Watchers that you can buy at your local grocery store. I have got their Strawberry Smoothie Bar PointsPlus ™ value 2 which is 60 calories for each bar. I also have Ice Cream Candy Bars PointsPlus ™ value 4 which is 150 calories and tastes a lot like a snicker's ice cream bar. These desserts have been a life saver for me. I was struggling with the diet and staying under the calories I need to lose the weight I want. I was feeling hungry all the time and it led to several disastrous days when by around midnight I would just completely give up and eat something high in sugar and calories and just totally ruin my whole day! I like having something sweet on hand that I'm "allowed" to eat that isn't going to crash my diet and when I add that to the raw veggies that I snack on (you can eat a ton for very little calories) I don't feel hungry either.

I know people are probably getting tired of hearing me talk about my games. I exercise at least an hour and I shoot to do it every day. This is not always possible but I make an effort to do it even when I feel exhausted, when I feel like crap. Usually by the time I've finished exercising I feel a lot better than what I did before I started. That seems really backwards to me but even though I'm worn out from exercising and my muscles are sore, I don't feel that sickly fatigue that seems to plague my day-to-day life. I took my three games: Just Dance 2, Gold's Gym Dance Workout, and Zumba with me to my friend's house (an hour drive) last weekend. I wanted her to try the different games and get a feel for which one she liked the best. We went swimming on Saturday and then came back to her house and did Just Dance 2 for at least an hour (I think it was closer to 2 though). Then on Sunday we did the Zumba and Gold's Gym for another couple hours. When I got home I went to break out my favorite game, Just Dance 2, and it was not in the case! I can't believe I left it behind, so what I did was go on to youtube and look up videos for JD2 and I was able to play them on the large HDTV and my kids and I all danced along. I was surprised that I enjoyed dancing without playing the game, I do enjoy beating my kids (age 16, 13, and 10) but I enjoy being able to do an activity with my kids, without them fighting, much more. Today my older son and I did 80 minutes of Zumba. We did one beginner class (20 minutes) and 3 intermediate classes also 20 minutes each. I have to agree with my friend I definitely think the Zumba gives you a much better workout. By the time we were finished I was sweating and exhausted way more so than I would be after spending the same amount of time on the Just Dance 2 game. However, there is something to be said about motivation. I don't want my exercise routine to be something that I dread. I love playing Just Dance 2 and so there is much more motivation for me to get up and do it. Although over the past couple days doing the Zumba I have become more familiar with some of the songs which was my primary complaint with the game. Off to get my beauty sleep!

I dropped 2 pant sizes!

2011-03-07T14:19:00.000-08:00

I've been a little disappointed with my lack of progress at losing weight but I put on a pair of my jeans and found that I have to hold them up to keep them from falling off me! I decided to take my measurements and was pleased with the results. Apparently I am slimming down even if I haven't lost that much weight. I think in the long run it is more healthy to be fit than light.

I remember as a teenager always worrying about my weight because girls who I thought were chunky actually weighed less than I did. This was the beginning of my poor self-image. I failed to realize how much a difference my height, bone structure, and muscles made in my weight. I was always very active and muscular. Even now after years of a sedentary lifestyle people are usually impressed with how strong I am. I am 5'8" and on average am around 4 inches taller than most other women I know. I have never liked the term "big boned" but the fact of the matter is, I do have a large frame. Even when I was too thin I weighed 142 pounds. I could fit into dress sizes as small as 3 depending on how they were made. Usually my broad shoulders or wide hips prevented anything smaller than a 7/8 from fitting me.

I still have a poor self-image. I am absolutely disgusted with how big I am now. I stopped buying pants that button up and instead started wearing clothes with flexible elastic. I am grateful that it seems I look smaller than I am. I suppose it is possible that people are just trying to be polite but I think it's hard to fake the jaw dropping response I usually get when I tell people how much I weigh or how big my clothes are. When I tell people that I am over 100 pounds over weight they tell me that I would look sick if I lost that much weight. I have to constantly remind myself that it is more important to be healthy than it is to meet some ideal weight. I joked with my friend about the Wii Fit plus saying, "That's obese!" when I do my weigh-in. She said, "Mine says, 'That's morbidly obese!'" I laughed and told her, there is no such thing as morbidly obese on the Wii Fit game and if there was I would certainly fit into that category. My daughter did her weigh-in and I was surprised that she's on the high end of "healthy weight". You would be shocked too if you saw how skinny she is (pictured left), it is very hard to imagine that if she were to gain a couple of pounds she would fall into an "at risk" category. She is very much built like me, 5'7" and even though she looks like a bean pole , I suppose she has a large frame too. Last year she was in the drama club and they were trying to find one of the costume dresses to fit her and they pulled out one dress that looked like it would undoubtedly fit her and then when we tried to zip it up, it wouldn't go any higher than the middle of her back. Her shoulders were to broad. They did eventually find a dress that fit her and she shared it with another girl who I would say was a little but on the heavy side. I worry about her having an eating disorder because she is constantly worried about her weight.

Here is a photo of my daughter in her costume from last year:

Aerobic exercise

2011-03-04T08:42:00.000-08:00

Alright, I have finished my morning workout. I have plans to workout again this afternoon, too. Just pray that I have the energy to do it. I spent one hour and thirty-four minutes on the Just Dance 2 game. I got 5,700 sweat points just today. I thought I'd give you a run down of my routine:

I start off doing a song that I had to download (free)
Katy Perry's "Firework"

The rest of the songs were included on the game
Avril Lavigne – "Girlfriend"
Beastie Boys – "Body Movin’ (Fatboy Slim Remix)"
Benny Benassi presents “The Biz” – "Satisfaction"
Blondie – "Call Me"
Ke$ha – "TiK ToK"
Outkast – "Hey Ya!"
Rihanna – "S.O.S."
Snap! – "The Power"
Studio Allstars – "Jump"
Studio Musicians – "Crazy In Love"
The Hit Crew – "Holiday"
The Hit Crew – "Toxic"
The Pussycat Dolls – "When I Grow Up"
The Ting Tings – "That’s Not My Name"
and ending with doing Katy Perry's "Firework" again

After that I got out my Wii Fit Plus and the Wii balance board and weighed myself. The balance board doesn't weigh correctly on carpet but it should be accurate to itself and if that is true then I have only lost 1 pound over the last two weeks. That is very disconcerting to say the least but I hoping that perhaps it's because I'm a little bloated right now. I do think, however, it is also very possible that is because I just started a new higher dose (about 2 weeks ago) of Verapamil for my heart palpitations and blood pressure. The side effect of lowering your pulse is that it lowers your metabolism too and the last two times they changed my meds to a higher dose I gained 10 pounds (each time). Having said that I suppose that I should count myself lucky that I haven't gained any weight. I also looked at the graph on the Wii Fit Plus and saw that I have lost about 10 pounds since last year, once again this is not a lot of weight but it's great that I haven't gained any.

Just Dance 2

2011-02-28T20:07:00.000-08:00

I simply can not tell you how much I love this game! I did an hours worth on it early this morning then did another hour with the kids when they got home from school and after they went to bed spent about another hour trying to get it just right for video. I wasn't having as much success with the recording part. I downloaded another song to add to it and what I wanted was Katy Perry's "Firework" which I was just shocked to see it was FREE!
I am really sore all over and I will probably hurt even worse tomorrow but I know that this is a step in the right direction. I think most people believe that workouts should be these tedious boring routines but that's simply not true. You have to find what is right for you, do something you really enjoy. For me it is not fun to run on a treadmill or lift weights. Dancing, however, is a blast! I took Zumba classes when I still had my membership to the YMCA but it got to where we just couldn't afford that anymore. Honestly I like being able to do it in the comfort of my own home where I don't feel like everyone is staring at me.
Despite my better judgment I'm going to upload some of the video I shot today. I kept messing up and it was making me nuts. Even though I have lost weight I have to face facts I am still fat and for right now I don't look all that hot. I am just trying to keep positive my weight goal is to lose 2 lbs a week which would have me reaching an ideal weight in almost exactly one years time. Sometimes it's hard not to get depressed over the slow progress and the not-so-visible results. I know my clothes are getting baggy on me ugh that reminds me I was going to get out my Wii fit balance board and check to see if I've lost anymore weight.

Eating Disorders

2011-02-25T17:02:00.000-08:00

I subscribe to posts from NAMI and I found one today that caught my interest.

Joelle Maletis talks about her experience with dancing, eating disorders and her impressions on the Academy Award nominated Black Swan. NAMI Advocate Magazine <-click for link

I was pleasantly surprised when I sent the author an email that she responded genuinely and sincerely to:

Ms. Maletis:

I enjoyed reading your article on eating disorders. I was awe struck by your mental strength. Over coming an eating disorder (I can only imagine) is a great and continual struggle in and of itself let alone dealing with counseling other individuals who have a similar disorder on a regular basis.

I am curious though, do you also counsel people with over-eating disorders? I've not read nor heard much on the subject. <DELETE, DELETE, DELETE>

Sorry, I babbled on for way to long. I didn't want to waste your time, just only ask if you know about and might consider writing an article on the subject of over eating?

Thanks for your time:

Kathy

IT'S JUST A SOCIAL, SWING, AND LATIN THING: A GUIDE TO SOCIAL DANCE (Just something I found online written by Joelle Maletis)

Dear Kathy,
Thank you so much for your support and your email! I do appreciate it; and, not seen as babbling at all. :-)
Yes, I do work with people with broad spectrum eating disorders (including Binge Eating Disorder (BED) typically leading to obesity) and dual diagnosis such as depression, bipolar, etc. Actually, eating disorders and other psychological struggles go hand in hand and are very common. I say that in hopes that it's reassuring to you; not making excuses. Western medicine likes to put labels on things; although a good road map, like everything else, it's not a one-size-fits-all model. Actually, BED will go into the new DSM-TR-V eating disorder criteria.
To answer your questions: eating disorders doesn't mean ultra-skinny. Actually, most folks with eating issues are average or plus sizes. Thin is definitely a misnomer. So, it's possible to have Bulimia without throwing up and/or BED and not be thin. It's important to see a specialist who treats eating disorders as well as a physician. I would recommend that you speak with your current therapist about this and referrals to the people that can best help you in conjunction with your current therapy.
Further, the over-eating specialists in the field are tied into Stanford University: if you google Dr. Christy Telch, leading researcher for BED and DBT with eating disorders, she has several books/articles. Also, look at Hal Lynne Micali, MA., MFT who is also a specialist with BED and DBT. They are the leaders in the field of BED research and treatment.
The other thing is to research out sugar. There are many explanations for "sugar addictions". One explanation is that refined sugar runs on the same neurotransmitters that heroine does. It makes us pretend to feel good and gives us energy. So, I think taking a look at "refined sugar" research is another key to your struggles. There are many good articles out there. Look at Scientific American Mind back issues on-line; they have several.
Finally, there's a new concept of eating called Intuitive Eating. There are many books on it. I like this theory because it helps you identify emotions around eating (not how much your eating) and teaching your body to listen to your its hunger signals. Over time, you begin to eat when hungry and stop eating when full. It's a little more complex than that but I use it a lot.
I hope this helps on your journey to recovery through learning. Making the decision to move into recovery is the hardest part. Realizing that it's a process and that they'll be good days and bad ones is the beginning. It's hard work but I have faith you can do it! Reaching out is the first step. There's no one right way or treatment that's fail proof; find the one that works best for you and try it. If it doesn't work or you don't like it... try something else! There's tons of approaches for EDs/Depression?Bipolar. These things are not you! There a life challenge to learn how to manage. Please feel fee to email again if you have more questions.
Best of luck!
My warmest regards,
Joelle

-- I think it is very important to raise awareness about eating disorders and I feel that since I am writing about weight loss that this is a very pertinent subject! Please be sure that if you are trying to lose weight to do it in a healthy way, do not go below your recommended weight, and consult a physician for large weight loss goals. ---

Now that's embarassing! LOL

2011-02-24T20:06:00.000-08:00

I've been waiting until I could make good on my threat... I mean promise, to post a video of my daughter and I exercising on the Wii. I've been doing pretty good with my weight loss goal but I still don't have a working scale to do a weigh in on, I will get money on the first so that's on my to do list (along with new tires and a 3 license pack of Net Nanny.)

I've been eating a lot of Lean Cuisine because they're easy to calculate calories because it's right on the box but still it's not too hard using The Daily Plate to calculate because their database is pretty expansive. That way when I eat a regular meal with the family I can put in individual items into their database and let it find the calories for me. You still have to do some measuring and whatnot, for example: 2 tablespoons of country crock light. The neat thing is say the database has the serving size measured in ounces and you measured in cups the pull down menu allows you to select that and will calculate how many servings you ate. Sometimes you'll end up with a really strange calorie count like 104.662 for example but still it's better than trying to figure out the math yourself.

Alright so here goes the first video is of Naomi and I dancing on the Wii to Just Dance 2. The song is Girlfriend by Avril Lavigne and it is a duet so we both have different parts to dance to.

Next we did "Tik Tok" by Kesha which was a solo but you can do two players so on this we're supposed to be in sync although... lol not so much

Then I decided to show everyone how you can have when you have no idea what you are doing. We play Amor on the Zumba game and neither one of us were doing it right so we look very goofy!

Another day of success!

2011-02-17T20:27:00.000-08:00

I kept my calories down again today. I feel wonderful. I'm starting to not feel so hungry all of the time. Part of that is knowing what foods you can eat. Vegetables are wonderful. I love broccoli cooked or raw. For lunch I had 2 cups frozen and then cooked broccoli which equals 50 calories. Isn't that wonderful? I can eat 2 cups of something without ruining my day! I plan to go shopping and I'm going to be getting a whole bunch of vegetables so I won't get bored. I had a lean cuisine for dinner which was only 280 calories. I was still feeling a little hungry so I added a slice of white bread (60) and put some country crock margarine on it (60). I had a yogurt (90) for dessert about 2 hours later and then a couple hours after that I had cheddar cheese (110) and crackers (80) for an evening snack. That sounds like a lot of food but I'm still under my 1317 for the day. I'm trying to keep things balanced as well and it looks like I ate quite a bit of fat today which I can only guess came from the cheese. I'm going to look into some low fat cheese but I've tried some in the past that was pretty gross. Well, baby steps I'm staying positive here. I have also got my splenda now so I've been drinking that in my green tea which means Zero calories for what I drink!

I exercised for two Hours!!

2011-02-16T20:37:00.000-08:00

I ache all over. I could make a pretty lengthy paragraph with my list of bodily aches right now but you know I still feel great because I did something good for myself. I did my Just Dance 2 and my Zumba games for a total of two hours. I briefly entertained the notion of playing my Gold's Gym Dance Workout but I just simply do not have the energy. I also got on my Wii Fit game briefly. I just wanted to get a general idea of what my weight is. I was surprised to find it's been 51 days since I got on the Wii Fit last. I wish I could tell you exactly what my weight is but using the balance board on carpet gives you an inaccurate reading. However, it is consistent to itself so when I say I lost over five pounds since the last time I was on it, I can say I honestly lost 5 pounds.

We went to put new batteries in our scale and it's missing the feet. This means that the scale is still not working and we probably need to get a new one because it's doubtful that we'll find the feet. I'm a little frustrated because I would like to be able to measure my progress with some concrete numbers.

I also did an awesome job and stayed under my calorie limit, and I mean my 1317 calorie limit not the modified limit with my exercise! It feels like a solid win today, especially after the day I had yesterday. Yesterday, I didn't exercise at all. Yesterday, I went over my calorie goal. I went so far over my calorie goal that I had even more calories than I did on the first day when I hadn't planned on starting a diet. Yesterday, I was very bummed out about how I did. It is depressing and I felt like a failure. Having said that, it makes me appreciate days when I do what I'm supposed to exercise and eat right.

I have another goal in mind. Sometime, hopefully by this weekend, I plan to have a video up of me exercising on the Wii. I will probably film it while exercising with my daughter. I'm half tempted to film just her because well I'm still not proud of the way my body looks and my daughter.. well she looks like I did at 13- a tooth pick!

Know a trick to losing weight? Have a weight loss goal of your own to share?? Leave me a comment!

Checking in, Goals Met!

2011-02-14T19:12:00.000-08:00

Before I head off to bed I wanted to make sure and blog about today's progress. I didn't manage to stay under 1317 calories but I did stay under my allowed calories when I added in my dance exercise. Again, this is not ideal but it is better than completely busting my diet. Being Valentine's Day I feel I did pretty good, I did not succumb to the temptation of chocolates or any other naughty sweets that are flaunted on this holiday. I had peanut butter and honey on white bread for lunch keeping to the serving sizes the sandwich cost me a total of 380 calories. I think what really put me over today was not having any Splenda in the house, since we're out I'm using sugar for my tea which makes each glass almost a 100 calories. With that in mind, shopping tomorrow!! For dinner we had pot roast beef, rice, and green beans.. nothing fancy. For dessert I ate a single serving of fat-free yogurt. I'm excited that I met my exercise goal and still managed to keep my calories down.

Yes! One hour of exercise done!

2011-02-14T15:18:00.000-08:00

I got back from dropping off the kids and actually felt like exercising! That is a truly rare thing in itself so I took advantage of it. I turned on the Wii and played Just Dance 2, don't laugh it is a workout! I spent an hour dancing with only small breaks between songs. I set myself a goal of 1 song a day, the lightest goal that you can have. I finished my weekly goal for that setting within the hour (with time to spare.) After that, I increased my goal to the next level "tough" setting of 3 songs a day. I didn't realize that when I did that I would be erasing all of the progress I had already made. However, I went ahead and also completed today's daily goal giving me a total of 10 songs. The first goal had 2100 "sweat points" for the week and then I had an additional 1198 sweat points for my (second) daily goal.

The picture is kind of blurry. I wish I had thought to take a photo of my first accomplishment with the easy setting and meeting my weekly goal in one day. However, you can see that it is for the "Tough Program", my score of 1198 and in the center it says, "Good Job! You have met your daily objective!"

And this is my daily notice from Wii showing the game I played: Just Dance 2 and the amount of time I played one hour and six minutes :)

What can I say it is a step in the right direction. According to the Livestrong website an hour of dancing equals about 520 calories burnt. Now I'm still going to do my best to stay under the 1317 calorie goal because I want to make up for over eating yesterday and it could help me lose more weight.

Happy Valentines Day!

Oops!

2011-02-14T05:23:00.000-08:00

Well, I won't lie to my readers. I blew my diet last night. I had 2 Tequila Sunrises and one of AppleBees chicken quesadilla appetizers. This pushed my calories to 2175 putting me over by a whopping 858 calories. I plan to exercise it off today and for the future make Sunday's my cheat day. I can't let this discourage me I only just got started! I admit it is very hard not to be discouraged but I know that going out is a very rare thing for me and if I do plan to go out in the future I hope to plan for it better. By this I mean if I had been aware earlier that I would be going out I wouldn't have ate dinner at home first.

The food debate: Do I eat out?

2011-02-13T16:41:00.000-08:00

I've been pretty good today and I've done all my totals for everything I ate today. I had a Lean Cuisine for lunch, I didn't eat breakfast. One step at a time, two meals is better than one big one. I ate a regular dinner with the family. Regular meals are hard to calculate sometimes but I try to break them up by ingredient and estimate how much I had that way. Tonight Rob made a favorite around our house, it doesn't really have a name. The meal consists of cubed potatoes, ground hamburger, and a sauce or cheese. Tonight he made it with a brown gravy sauce and we had creamed corn on the side. I fought the urge to eat vanilla cookies for several hours today and now my friend wants me to go with her to AppleBees for Karaoke night. Of course, you know what that means, more food? I really would like to have some cheese fries but looking at the calories, I think I'm going to pass but you know I'm going to have something. My friend has been using the Weight Watchers plan to start her diet. I'll probably update you on her progress from time to time as well.

Once again I am using The Daily Plate on Livestrong to calculate my calories see this LINK to start your free account and start counting your calories with ease!

Above you can see that I still have just over 200 calories to "spend" if I want to meet my weight loss goal. Of course I could always just be done for the night but I pretty sure that just being at the restaurant with my friends means I will be eating something.

Above are my totals so far today. As I mentioned I only ate lunch and dinner so no need to highlight a bunch of empty boxes!

Here you can see today's calorie consumption compared to yesterdays, I am doing much better today! Watch out though those sneaky little fries if I chose to eat them at AppleBees would've cost me 630 calories!!

Well, if I don't eat anything else tonight I have kept all of my totals, not just my calories, below my daily goals. This is exciting, I have managed to keep my calories on track before but rarely do I have my other totals on track as well!

Wow, I'm pretty heavy on my carbs today I'd like to see that ratio come down and to increase my protein intake. I will do my best to follow up tonight with whatever I do eat at AppleBees if not I will pick it back up tomorrow.

Specific and Realistic

2011-02-13T11:42:00.000-08:00

From the comments I received I wanted to step up and meet some of those requests.

First off I didn't mention how much I do weigh, 255 pounds. Specifically losing 2 pounds a week is my goal but I also want to set a specific deadline: lose 10 lbs by my son's birthday on April 3rd. (If I lose 2 pounds a week I should exceed this goal). I have yo-yo'd 10 pounds in a much shorter time so a more difficult goal that I am going to set is 20 pounds by my daughter's birthday May 28. I will of course update by each of their birthdays (if not sooner) how much weight I have lost and set new goals on the basis of what I weigh then.

Next I want to say specifically what I'm going to be doing for exercise. Primarily I plan to work out on the Wii using Zumba, Gold's Gym Dance Workout, and Just Dance 2. My plan is to shoot for an hour a day. However, I'm not sure how realistic that is so I'm going to hold myself to doing the Wii at least 3 days a week an hour each.

Finally, I did want to mention my game plan for what I will be eating. I plan to cut sweets out of my diet and this is likely to be my most difficult goal so I will wean my way off them. The first step I'm going to do is abide to portions. I have a really bad habit of eating, like I did yesterday, as many as 4 servings in one sitting. For many people this may not be an issue but for me it is and it's a hard one. To sit down and only eat 2 cookies or one Swiss Miss roll is something I have a problem with. Once I'm down to normal portions I am going to limit myself to 5 days a week, then 3 days a week, and finally one day a week. I don't think it is a realistic goal to completely eliminate all sweets from my diet and it would be dooming myself to fail. To be more specific I will say do each goal in one weeks time. Also, I am going to be eating at least two meals a day (compared to my normal ONE) so that my body will have more energy and I won't always feel like I'm starving. I am going to work my way up to having 3 smaller meals and two healthy snacks a day. For a lot of people this sounds counter-intuitive but really research has shown that this is the best way to keep weight off. I will log my foods daily on Livestrong.com and report them to my blog whether or not I met my daily calorie goal.