Saturday, February 27, 2010

Today's Update....

Breakfast - About Half a bowl of Cherios. Unfortunately my stomach wouldn't let me have any more than that. Splurged slightly by having a handful of saltines and a glass of ginger ale to settle my stomach.

Exercise - Not a good day in this aspect. I got half way through my walk and almost threw up so that was the end of that. We've decided either milk is agitating my sinuses or I might be some what lactose intolerant. I've never been much of a milk drinker in the past yet I've been having cereal for breakfast every day for the past month.

Lunch - Stomach was a bit better so I had a small sandwich with a left over piece of trout.

Dinner - My left over Chinese with just a bit of chicken broth to moisten the rice and add some flavor.

Extra Exercise - Once my stomach was better I did a couple more loads of wash. Finally done for a while.

Nighttime Snack - Just had a plum.

Nausea Sucks!

So I really got hit with the nausea today. Before anyone suggests it, pregnancy test came back negative (had to verify due to a late period and my IUD putting me at risk of tubal pregnancies). It's just my sinuses draining.

I have to say though. Whatever pregnant woman realized ginger ale and saltines help with nausea is a saint in my eyes. Yes my husband has informed me it was actually sailors that came up with it, but ya know what, I say the credit still goes to a pregnant woman. lol

Friday, February 26, 2010

In Need Of A Laugh...

And as usual, Lolcats has come to the rescue.

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Today's Update.

Breakfast - Bowl of Cherrios and a Banana.

Exercise - Walked my mile in 24:03. Didn't use my gloves today because my sinuses were bothering me again. Had to stop and start a couple times so I didn't get sick. Trying some new sinus meds tomorrow, hopefully they will help. Damn weather.

Lunch - Had a bit of the left over curried chicken salad from last night. Still not that great, but better than throwing it away in a couple days.

Dinner - Got some rice with steamed chicken and veggies from the local Chinese place. It needs some juice/broth or it's just a bit dry. Otherwise it tasted good.

Extra Exercise - Finishing my laundry.

Night time snack - Probably a plum. Having a cup of jasmine green tea as well.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Walking Playlist...

So I've set up a playlist on my old iPod that I have been playing when I walk. Hubby gave me his old iPod touch but my old one fits better in my arm band thing. Plus I don't worry so much about dropping it when I'm walking. Anyway, I set up a list of the songs that seem to be pushing me the best right now. It's 9 songs for a total of 33.9 minutes. Since I'm walking 24 minutes a day it means there's always 2 songs I don't hear each day so I'm rotating through. Here's my current playlist:

1. Whataya Want From Me by Adam Lambert
2. Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) by Beyonce
3. Sexy Back (Dirty Edit) by Justin Timberlake
4. Just Dance (feat. Colby O'Donis) by Lady Gaga
5. Bad Romance by Lady Gaga
6. Supermassive Black Hole by Muse
7. So What by Pink
8. Misery Business by Paramore
9. Breakin' Dishes by Rhianna


As my walk gets longer I'll add songs to the list. If anyone has any suggestions, feel free to add them here. I'm looking for songs with a good beat to them.

I Don't Wanna Walk...

That's how I feel this morning, unfortunately. My sinuses are in an uproar and I had to take an allergy pill.

But then I found this... It's called 'I don't WANNA walk this morning, you can't MAKE me!' And I found it over on Getting 2 Goal.

It put a smile on my face and I'm going to go walk now.

And one more smile before I post this and go walk my ever widening behind off...

Routines...

So it seems that there's been an interesting 'side effect' to this whole change. I seem to be falling into routines that I always struggled with previously. Every day after I exercise and take my shower, while I'm picking out my clothes for the day I set out my exercise clothes for the following day. I've never been a morning person but lately I've been getting up between 9 & 9:30. Also, I'm having an easier time remembering medications. I take my blood pressure pill with breakfast in the morning as well as a multi-vitamin that's supposed to help with metabolism and energy. And I have a powder I have to take at night due to some rather uncomfortable side effects of my gallbladder removal. I've had a hard time remembering these for as long as I've been on them. Yet they have worked themselves into my routine and are now a part of daily life.

Today's Update.

Breakfast - a bowl of the cranberry ginger cereal I found at Whole Foods over the weekend, a banana and a glass of water.

Exercise - Made it a half mile before I had to pee. Took a couple sips of water and started up again. Made it another 8th of a mile before my sinus issues made me stop again. Had to wait about an hour for the nausea to pass but finished the mile for a total time of 24:03. Disappointing but as I said in Rule #3, Any exercise is better than none. All I have to say other than that..... is it spring yet so my sinuses will straighten out?

Lunch - No soup like I wanted. So just having a light sandwich on pumpernickel since my stomach is still a bit flaky. Having a Yoplait light yogurt with it in the Red Velvet Cake flavor.

Dinner - Tried a new recipe for Curried Chicken Salad. We weren't impressed. It wasn't bad per say, but it just wasn't what you think of when you hear curry and chicken in the same sentence.

Exercise via Chores - Meant to do laundry today but with all the ups and downs of my stomach I forgot about it. Oops. Guess I'll have to do it tomorrow.

Nighttime Snack - Having a cup of Jasmine Green Tea and a mini bag of Orville Redenbacher Smart Pop Kettle Corn.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

New Post for Technorati...

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Low Cal Recipes... Fish in Parchment Paper

Every so often I'll try and add a yummy recipe. If someone else has one they really like, feel free to share! Most of my recipes will be for chicken or fish as that's mostly what I cook in my house but I will try to add others when I can.



Fish In Parchment Paper

3-4 Fish Fillets or 1 Fillet Large Enough for 3-4 People
1/4 Cup White Wine
McCormick Gourmet Seafood Seasoning Blend
Lemon Juice
Kosher or Sea Salt
Pepper

Preheat oven to 350. On a cookie sheet that I have covered with tin foil for easy clean up, I lay out one sheet of Parchment Paper. I cut the sheet and 1 other sheet 1-2 inches larger than the cookie sheet on each end. Lay the fish on the parchment and drizzle with wine. If you don't have a decent puddle around the fish, you may need more wine. Use a wine you're willing to drink. Using any wine because it's cheap could result in yucky fish. If you're willing to drink it, it should cook well. Drizzle with lemon juice to add a bit of flavor. Sprinkle fish with salt, pepper and seasoning to taste. Do not fully coat. You want to add flavor, not over power. Cover with second pieces of parchment and fold edges to form a sealed package. Bake for 30 minutes. Open package and serve.

My family absolutely adores fish cooked this way. You can serve almost any side with it.

Today's Update....

6 posts in one day, what am I thinking! lol. Not every day will be like this but I wanted to get a lot of the who what and why out there before I started on the updates.

That said, here's my update for the day....

Breakfast - Had a bowl of this light bulk cereal that hubby and I found at Whole Foods on Sunday. I only got 2 bowls worth. Don't think I'll get it again at least for a while. Just a little too 'grainy' for me to be honest. Had a banana and a glass of water with it. Remembered my multi vitamin and blood pressure pill for a change.

Exercise - Did my mile in 24:02. Had to stop at the half mile mark to catch my breath as I was feeling light headed. It's amazing what adding those 2 pound weighted gloves has done. By the end I'm sweating like a pig and my legs and arms are really feeling the burn. Hopefully next week I can push through the full mile, or at least three quarters without a break. Continued to take 2-3 gulps out of a rather large bottle of water at every eighth of a mile. I go through about half a bottle a mile.

Lunch - Had a turkey sandwich with very light mayo and one slice of colby jack cheese on this multi grain bread we got at Whole Foods over the weekend. Also had one yoplait light yogurt in the banana cream pie flavor. Very nummy.

Dinner - Making my fish in parchment paper that we all love so much. Trying this box of wild porcini mushroom risotto with it. Having a bag of frozen peas with it.

Misc. Exercise Via Chores - Doing laundry today. Several loads of clothes. Means lots of trips up and down the basement stairs.

Nighttime Snack - Had a plum while watching TV.

Why I Am Doing This...

Some people will say 'why bother, big is beautiful too' or 'be happy as you are' or 'why be concerned with what others think', etcetera. And on average I would agree. That said, I still have come to the decision that I need to lose weight and there are many reasons for that. First off, I don't like myself as I am. Yes big can be beautiful, I just don't feel like ME big is beautiful. Now that's not to say that with my personal hangups I won't find skinny me beautiful either but that's an issue to tackle at a later date.

Also, the weight added to my metal rods is not good. I've been told for years that there's a chance I could bend my rods and have to go through the surgery all over again, even longer this time as they would have to remove these and put new ones in. I don't want that to happen. I've never wanted it to happen but no one ever said this would be easy either.

On top of it being bad for my rods, I'm finding that the combination of the rods and the weight is making certain things more difficult. I won't go into details on this as to be blunt some of it is just TMI and fricken gross. I will say that between the two I just can't move certain ways and we'll leave it at that.

Another reason is clothing. I'm tired of having to shop in big girl departements or big girl stores or online because not every place carries my size. I want to be able to walk into the Gap or walk into Lord and Taylor or some random store and buy a cute top and not get upset when they don't have my size. I don't want to walk into a store and ask a sales girl if they carry my size and have them look at me like a gross fat cow just because I don't wear a size 2. Not saying I'll ever wear a size 2, but I'll be honest.... size 22 isn't always easy to find.

Slight TMI here but another reason I'm doing this has to do with my husband. I'm not doing this for him, and I don't recommend that anyone do anything like this for anyone but their self. That said, sexual relations just aren't as fun when you feel like a beached whale. I love my husband, I love being with my husband that way, but the weight just doesn't help the possibilities or the desire to do so. Enough said, moving on. lol

Another reason for doing this is my father. I'm not doing this for him, I'm not doing this for his approval. But I sit here and I look at him and he's 77 years old, sits on his behind most days and looks like he's pregnant with quadruplets and perhaps a beach ball. He doesn't exercise because 'it hurts his hips and knees' and he consumes more red meat, salt and alcohol on a daily basis than one human should. I don't want to be like that. If my husband and I ever actually adopt children like we've talked about, I want to be able to do things with those children. And I don't want those children to be like I am now simply because the house is constantly full of Hostess, Ben & Jerry's & Oreos.

Most of all, I'm doing this for my self esteem. I've never been anything more than 'the stupid little fat girl' in the eyes of so many people that it's how I've come to see myself. I want to be more than that. Granted the weight is only part of the issue there, but it's something I have the choice of changing and I'm doing my best to do just that.

That said, I welcome anyone who reads this blog to this journey of mine. I hope you will find it informative, encouraging, maybe even funny at times. Whatever you take from this, feel free to send me a message. If it's negative, don't bother as I get enough of that in my life. But helpful hints and encouragement are always welcome and appreciated!

Exercise

Exercise is one of those words that should be added to a list of bad words. But it's a necessity. Over the years I've had people say 'oh you should job 4 miles a day' or 'do some sit ups' or whatever. For the most part I've ignored the statements because plain and simple, I can't. I'm not one of those active outdoorsy types who put on short shorts and run for days or participate in a billion sports. Never have been, never will be. I've also found gym memberships to be useless. If they work for you, that's awesome. Personally, I find that I feel like I'm being judged and I also easily find excuses not to go. That said, I went to our local Walmart and spent almost $300 to get a nice new treadmill. It's not 'top of the line' by any means. But it works, it holds my weight and I can walk on it.

I started on February 1st walking 1 mile a day. That first day my mile clocked in at 25 minutes. Over the course of the next 2 weeks I increased my speed until I was walking anywhere from 2.5-2.7 mph and doing the mile in 23:08. On February 18th I added a pair of 2 pound weighted gloves to the mix, really getting my arms into the walk. I've had to slow down just the 2.5 mph, but my legs work harder to keep me walking straight and I feel like I've gotten an overall better walk in. All this has been cronicled on my Facebook and I'll start doing so here as well. With the addition of the gloves I have gone from walking the full mile with no breaks to having to pause in the middle and catch my breath again. I hope next week I can do the full mile again. And once I'm able to do that I will start planning to walk further.

I realize that walking 1 mile is no huge accomplishment. But as I said in my rules, any exercise is better than no exercise. And everyone has to start somewhere. This is my start. In 24 days I have not missed walking a single day. That's progress in my eyes and I plan to keep it up. Hopefully in a week or two I can add a quarter mile to my walk and keep adding from there.

When I added the gloves on the 18th I clocked in at 24:03 and did on the 19th & 20th as well. For the last 4 days I've come in at 24:02. My best time was 23:06 on the 10th & 12th. But I will take the minute difference in favor of what feels like a harder better workout.

My Goals.

In my rules I already mentioned my goals. Here I'd like to talk about some of the short and long term goals I have. I may add some over time but here's what I have thought of at this time. Also, I am not looking to accomplish these goals in any order, I'm simply using numbers to help me keep the goals straight.

1. Stand up straight, look down and not see my belly sticking out past 'the girls'. This goal has already been accomplished. It always bothered me to see that belly sticking out past my breasts. It's really rather depressing. But now when I look down, all I see is 'the girls'.

2. Have some room in my jeans for a change. This is another already accomplished goal. I have gotten really tired of most of my jeans being tight and having some that I can't wear at certain times of the month, etcetera. As of right now, I can wear every pair of jeans I own comfortably. Some have more room than others, but they all fit without me being afraid to pop a button or something.

3. Get under 200 lbs. I don't know what I weighed when I started this change. I don't own a scale and I refuse to buy one as I get too obsessive over the numbers and it disheartens me. That said, I know courtesy of a doctor's visit that I was around 230 before the holidays. I know I gained weight around the holidays so I'm guessing myself to be at approximately 240 when I started. When I have a doctor's visit where I'm at 199 lbs or less, I'll consider this goal achieved and not a moment sooner.

4. Get to my high school weight. I believe I was around 175 in high school. Still rather big but no where near as big as I am now. When I go to a doctor's and weight in at 174 or less, I'll consider this goal achieved.

5. Get to my 'recommended' weight. Depending who you ask, my recommended weight is anywhere from 110 - 140 lbs. That's a rather large range. So I'm shooting for somewhere in the middle. I figure 125 sounds healthy to me. If I find that to be too thin for whatever reason, I may adjust by 5 or 10 pounds at a later date. Time will tell.

6. Stick to my changes for 1 year. I started on February 1st, 2010. Come February 1st, 2011 I hope to still be making these changes and reaching my goals.

7. Make it through the holidays without the 10-20 lb weight gain. I would like to make it through Thanksgiving and Christmas without overindulging for 2 months straight and gaining so much weight. This past holiday season was really bad for that.

These are the goals for now. I'm sure more will come at a later date.

My Rules....

This is the rules I'm following on this journey. Some may change over time and some may be added.

Rule #1 - Don't call it a diet. The word diet just puts you in a mindset for failure. Find a word or phrase that works for you. I like "Change In Nutritional Habits".

Rule #2 - Don't count the numbers. Society as a whole is too OCD when it comes to numbers. I am a woman. My weight fluctuates based on things like menstrual cycle. Obsessing over numbers will only dishearten my attempts to lose weight and make me more likely to fail. The same goes for calorie counts. I don't have the patience to count each and every calorie that goes into a meal. The exception to this rule is that I will compare calorie counts between the items I am buying.

Rule #3 - Exercise but don't over do it. Know your limitations. If you have played couch potato most of your life, don't think you can run 10 miles your first day. Pick a reasonable goal and extend that goal as your body allows. Any exercise is better than none.

Rule #4 - Moderation not deprivation. If there is something you can't live without, have it but in moderation. I can't handle a sandwich without mayo. To me a sandwich is bland, dry and not enjoyable to eat in the least without it. So I have mayo. I just go light on the amount of it. I get the flavor & moisture but less calories than I used to.

Rule #5 - Pick a day to splurge. Saturday is my day to splurge. That doesn't mean I have pancakes for breakfast, cheesecake for lunch and roast beef with mashed potatoes and gravy for dinner with chocolate cake for dessert. That would just ruin all the progress of the week. What it means is I might have something special for dinner. Or perhaps a dessert. And I won't take that huge piece of chocolate cake that could feed a small country with just the 3 inches of frosting alone. Instead I will have a single serve torte with a dab of custard in it and fresh fruit on top. It's sweet, I feel as if I've splurged, but it's not as bad for me as some things would be. Is it a fattening dessert, hell yes. But still not as bad for me as some things. You have to treat yourself once in a while or you'll get disheartened, just do it with Rule #4 in mind.

Rule #6 - Find ways to "trick" yourself. I suffer from cravings, just like most people. Sometimes it's something sweet, sometimes it's salt, but there's always something I crave. Find ways to make yourself feel like you've fulfilled that craving without completely blowing the diet. One of my favorite tricks is popsicles. I get some really good popsicles by Edy's that have only 45 calories and I feel like I've had a sweet treat. Fresh fruit will also work in that instance. And instead of reaching for the bag of chips when I want salt, I've started popping a mini bag of low fat popcorn. Sprinkle a minimal amount of salt when you open the bag and it will curb any salt craving in a way that's not adding to the waistline.

Rule #7 - Make allowances for what's not in your control. Also known as 'you don't have to eat it'. You can not control everything, it's just not possible. Sometimes you can't completely stick to the diet because of outside influences. That's okay. Just don't over do it if possible and get back on the horse so to speak as soon as you can. One of my biggest obstacles in this respect is my father. We share cooking duty in this house. I've recently tried to take on more of the duties but I just can't take over all of them. And unfortunately some little fairy decided to whisper in my father's ear once upon a time and told him that gravy isn't fattening. The man just has no concept of low calories or low fat. But just because he makes it doesn't mean I have to eat it. Yes it irritates him and yes I might get complaints from the chef that I'm not enjoying all he cooked, but SO WHAT! That's right. So What! Is not hurting his feelings by eating gravy more important than my health and sticking to my change in nutritional habits? No way! He'll get over it, my waistline and health won't.

Rule #8 - Oily Fish & Chicken are your friend and less is more when it comes to Red Meat. This I can't take credit for in the least. It's something I've learned from a recent episode of Alton Brown's show Good Eats over on The Food Network. Alton was starting to pack on the pounds a bit and made some changes in his eating habits that has helped him lose weight. I've taken his changes into consideration and incorporated them into mine as much as I can. I do my best to get at least 3 meals containing oily fish each week and am eating a lot more chicken. Since my father is the big red meat chef in the house, I've left him 2-3 dinners a week to make whatever red meat dish strikes his fancy. It's still more red meat that Alton recommended, but it's what I can live with in this household. There's already been complaints about limiting that much, I can only imagine what it would be like if we cut it more.

Rule #9 - Just because someone famous or on some program recommends something doesn't make it true or make it work for you. Yes above I said I took advice from Alton Brown, that said, I'm not following it 100% either. I've taken it as advice but not as a 'you must do this'. Just because Celebrity X is on the cover of People Magazine saying 'I lost blah pounds eating nothing but fish flakes and you can too' doesn't mean it will work for you. Most celebrities have personal trainers and nutritionists and what not in their corner keeping them healthy and pushing them to work out 20 hours a day and what not. The average Joe like myself doesn't. I have 1 person I can count on 24/7 to push me to meet my goals and that's myself. Not to say I don't get help and encouragement elsewhere, but the only one guaranteed to be around and see everything I eat and do every day is me.

Rule #10 - Know who you can count on. There will be people in your corner helping and encouraging and people who just won't. Know who those people are and do what you can to avoid the rest as much as possible. My husband is my best source of encouragement with my mother being a close second. I know that when I need someone to say 'you're doing great, keep it up' or 'don't eat that, you know it's no good for you', I go to them. My best friend Alissa is also a good source for this, as well as some of the people I know on Facebook. I also know that my father is not someone to go to for these things. I fully admit to being one of those women who still have a little girl in them seeking daddy's love and approval. Unfortunately I've also learned I'm not likely to get it. So for the most part I've stopped talking to him about my exercise goals and my eating habits because I will only get negativity from him and all that does is upset me and make me want to eat a box full of Hostess products.

Rule #11 - Don't be afraid to try new things. I fully admit to being one of those kids that would only eat this or that (white bread) or who went ewww when someone tried to get me to eat something new (fish). That said I have grown up and my tastes have changed. In this effort to eat healthier I'm also trying new things. To me bread used to come in White and That Other Crap. Now I'm actually eating some of that 'other crap' and am finding that not only is it better for me, but I actually like it. Another big thing was fish. Fish used to be crappy sticks or crappy patties with gobs of tartar sauce. Now I'm finding recipes for tons of different kinds of fish and I have stopped using the tartar sauce. Keeping with my 'eat more oily fish' goals, I keep a list of what are oily fish in my purse to take with me when I grocery shop. This week we tried Red Snapper for the first time and I like it a lot! I also recently tried Sardines for the first time. Now I'm a bit picky about them. One thing that's a must is boneless and skinless, but they're really not as bad as I thought they would be. Recently I also tried Sushi for the first time and found it rather enjoyable. I wouldn't want to eat it every day but once in a while is fine and it's a great way to get in my oily fish quota.

Rule #12 - Set reasonable, attainable, short and long term goals. Many times I've said 'My goal is to get down to blah pounds' or I want to lose blah pounds'. And within a few weeks I'm back on the couch eating cake and ice cream and the goal is long forgotten. Long term goals are a good thing. But you need short term goals as well. I have a variety of goals, some I've already reached and some I have yet to reach. But each time I reach one it's an achievement. I'm 5'2". Or as some people would say 'a short shit'. The recommended weight for someone my height varies anywhere from 110-140. It all depends on who you ask. My first goal was for my jeans to not be so tight. I've reached that within a month. I can actually pull my jeans out from my body without sucking in my belly. Another goal I've reached is I wanted to be able to stand up straight and look down without seeing my belly stick out past 'the girls'. I've also reached that goal. One of my longer term goals is to get down to the weight that I was in high school (approximately 175). I'll talk more about my goals in another post but I think you get the idea.

More rules may come but that's all I can think of for now.

A Bit About Me....

I suppose I should start this blog off with a bit of the 'who and why' stuff. First off, my name is Kristen Staubitz. I'm 32 years old and live in Michigan with my wonderful husband Marc, my senior citizen father John and our 3 cat (Kira, Cory & Midnight) and 1 dog (Milly). I am currently unemployed but have been searching for a job for a while now (damn economy). I like to read and write. I'm not exactly an outdoors/active type. And I tend to suffer from a good amount of medical issues.

The biggest of those medical issues is that I have scoliosis (curvature of the spine) and had to have 2 metal rods put in my back when I was 11 years old. A whole butt load of issues has come with that. I get arthritis like a little old lady and feel the weather changes. I don't bend and move the same way other people do. And it makes some things that other people can do easily just plain hurt.

As if that's not enough, I suffer from high blood pressure, depression and anxiety, my gallbladder was removed a few years ago and I just recently had to have a procedure to get rid of my second kidney stone. Yes, when it rains it pours.

Between all of this, as well as a love of junk food and some not so helpful family members, I've spent most of my life overweight. I was that rather round girl in school that people liked to make fun of. As if the back surgery and the special treatment I needed from that didn't put enough of a bulls-eye on me.

You might be wondering at this point, why should you care about any of this. In truth, you don't have to. I'm simply trying to give some background before I get into the real reason for this blog.

After almost 30 years overweight, I've finally got determined to lose it once and for all. Enough of the crash diets and the yo yo diets. In fact, to hell with 'diets' at all. No I'm going for a change to my nutritional habits. And coming up on the end of my first month, it's working for me.

My goal in making this blog is to keep track of my progress in this goal. If by some chance someone reads this and finds it helpful in their own goals, that's awesome. If not, then maybe they'll find some humor in this fat girl's attempt to be thin for a change.

Oh and P.S.... please excuse the typos. Sometimes my hands just can't keep up with my brain. lol