It's the End of March

Click the image to see a larger version of the graph.

Feeling good.  Got my scale exchanged at Kohl's.  I didn't lose quite as much this week, but I'm still heading in the right direction.  It's the end of the first month of my new effort to change my lifestyle.  I have really enjoyed feeling stronger and having more energy.  I have definitely had some struggles, though.  Pizza, brownies, Krispy Kremes, and burgers are difficult to say no to.  Not that I'm giving up those things entirely, I just need to make sure I stay balanced and don't let that kind of junk food overtake the healthy portion of my diet.  Whereas before I might eat an entire pizza on my own, I need to rewire my brain to eat smaller portions.  Before, I often would get fast food on my way to work, now I need to find healthier options to bring to work.  

Surprisingly, I think the part of the month that I have found most enjoyable has been getting some exercise.  I've really enjoyed taking walks.  One day I even took a 2 hour walk and it felt great!  The part that I'm getting sick of fastest is recording what I eat.  It does make me more aware of what and how much I'm eating, but it feels like it takes up an annoying amount of time.  My plan right now is to stick it out and keep recording what I eat until September, and then reevaluate if that's something I want to continue doing.  Maybe by that point I will have developed a good awareness of what and how much I eat without needing to record it.  

New Energy

I know it's only been a few weeks, but I definitely feel like I have MUCH more energy than I did before.  I am able to get more accomplished during the day without feeling sluggish.  I have also noticed that my hermit-like tendencies are a little lessened.  :-) 

And I've already gotten a few compliments that I look like I've lost some weight.  The changes may be really small, but I feel better about how I look, too.  That makes me feel great!

Encouragement

It is so refreshing to get encouragement from friends and family.  Even just a simple "You can do it!" or "Yay" on my blog gives me renewed motivation.

 Or when I'm home and my family makes a healthy dinner instead of pizza.  Or someone offering to help me learn how to make healthy food.  Giving me tips on things they have learned about living a healthy lifestyle.  And I especially like it when people invite me to join them in a healthy activity.  Even something as simple as going for a walk.

These may be simple things, but add up to a wonderful circle of support and I am so grateful.

10 down, 22 to go

I somehow managed to lose another 5 lbs this past week.  So, I've lost a total of 10 lbs and I feel great!  I have 22 more lbs to lose by September.  I'm still only planning on trying to lose 1-2 lbs a week.  You can keep track of my progress by looking at the bar at the top and bottom of my blog.  The one at the top measures my progress towards my September goal and the one at the bottom measures my progress towards my ultimate goal.

Here's an update on what I'm doing...

1. I'm trying to get some exercise every day.  At this point it's mostly walking.
2. I'm trying to eat healthier.  I'm aiming for half of what I eat being fruits and veggies.  I'm also trying to cut back on sodium intake.
3. I'm trying to eat less by only eating when I'm hungry and stopping before I'm over-full.

So far so good.


Aaand... my computer is on the fritz so I may not be able to update more than once a week.  We'll see.  But please keep reading and commenting!  It really helps me stay motivated!  (For the few of you who may be unaware, you can comment by going to the bottom of the post and clicking where it says "0 encouragements".  Or the number will be different if someone has already commented.)

Here's an issue I'd like to get your opinions on...
Am I losing weight too quickly?  They say if you lose only one or two lbs a week, you're more likely to keep it off.  But, I'm not sure what I would do differently to try to lose weight slower.  At this point I'm inclined to keep doing what I'm doing and let the weight fall off however quickly it wants to, but I'm not sure.

Oh, and my new scale broke.  Boo.  I'm going to see about getting an exchange.

Book Review - The New FIT OR FAT

I went to Goodwill yesterday and, as usual, found some great buys.  One of these is a book called The New FIT OR FAT by Covert Bailey.  My review is about this particular book which was published in 1991. There is a newer edition which I have not read called The Ultimate FIT OR FAT, which was published in 2000.

This book is an easy read with a lot of good information and some great tips for people who want to start to incorporate exercise into their lifestyle.

One of the things he talks about is why dieting alone is not the healthy way to lose weight.   People who have excess fat have a body chemistry that converts calories into fat.  When a person gains fat, it they gain it in their muscles as well as under their skin.  Dieting removes subcutaneous fat, but not intramuscular fat.  Exercise (especially aerobic exercise) reduces intramuscular fat, "increases muscle, tones it, alters its chemistry, and increases its metabolic rate.  All of these cause you to burn more calories even when asleep."

After explaining all of the benefits of exercise, Bailey goes on to explain how to exercise to lose weight.  He describes the difference between aerobic exercise and anaerobic exercise, and why aerobic exercise is the most beneficial way to lose weight.  He defines aerobic exercise as "steady exercise, exercise that demands an uninterrupted output from your muscles for a minimum of twelve minutes."  In contrast, anaerobic exercise occurs when you overexert yourself.  "If you make a muscle work too hard, it will need more oxygen than your heart and blood can deliver."

Also outlined in the book is a list of aerobic exercises that he recommends and how to begin doing aerobic exercise if you are a beginner or if you are excessively overweight.

This book has made me excited to exercise!  Breaking down exercise into 12 minute segments feels so much more doable to me right now than thinking about exercising for 2 hours straight.  I also feel like I can go at my own pace and not worry about how slow I am compared to other people.  I can't remember the last time I felt excited about exercise!  Woohoo!

Hurray!

According to my new scale, I lost 3 lbs this week!  That means I have lost 5lbs total and I have officially lost 1% of my original body weight.  Woohoo!  I'm excited that I didn't take a step back like I had expected I would.  On we go!

My New Scale

This weekend I bought a scale at Kohl's.  We were having a big sale... everything in the store was on sale and associates got an additional 30% off.  :-)  I bought what I think is the best scale that Kohl's has.  It's the Talyor Glass Bodyfat Scale.  It measures up to 440lbs (though I'm planning to not get any closer to that than I already am.)  It also measures body fat percentages and body water percentages.  Of course, right now I'm so big that the scale can only measure my weight, but I am okay with that.  It gives me something to look forward to; at some point over the next few years I will have lost enough weight for the scale to be able to measure my fat and water percentages.  That will be a great day.  I'm looking forward to it.  

Tomorrow morning I am going to weigh myself.  In my experience, I have found that it is not uncommon to get different measurements on different scales; on one scale I may weigh 2 or 3 lbs more than I did on another scale.  So, I am setting myself up for the possibility that even though I have done well this week, this new scale may read differently than the scale I used the last couple of weeks.  I have decided that I am not going to be disappointed if it says I have not lost any weight.  In the long run, if I consistently use my own new scale, I know it will measure accurate progress.  And that is what I'm aiming for.  

On another note, today was a great day nutritionally.  I have been recording what I eat and inputing it to sparkpeople.com's nutrition tracker.  Even though I have been eating healthier and cutting back on the amount that I eat, I have continued to go way above the number of calories that they recommend for someone my size.  But not today!  Today I met all of my goals for calories, fat, carbs, protein, and sodium!  I also went for a 40 minute walk today.  I feel great!

Going Shopping

I went shopping yesterday to pick up some healthy snacks.  I was amazed how difficult it is to find things to eat that are both healthy and affordable.  Fresh fruit and veggies are obviously healthy, but they are a little more expensive in winter than they are at other times of the year (unless they're canned, in which case they are not as rich in nutrients and have a lot more sodium or sugar).  And I also tried to find healthy cereal, crackers, granola, and breakfast bars.  I did manage to find some, but it took a lot of searching and label-reading.  Just about EVERYTHING out there is super high in sodium!  Sodium is one of the things I'm trying to cut back on.  And another thing, everything labelled "low fat" had about twice at much sodium as the "regular" option! Apparently, when food companies take out fat they throw in a bunch more salt to add to the flavor.  Crazy!  A lot of what I found that was actually healthy was organic-grown, which is more expensive.  I am still committed to trying to eat healthier, but this makes my pocketbook a little sad.  Any ideas?

Successful first week!

I had ups and downs; successes and failures, but I feel that I am headed in the right direction.  Thank you everyone for your support!  I am down 2 lbs since the start of the venture.  Today I had lunch at Good to Go with my mom and I took an hour long walk with Lauren and had a great time.  Having everyone's support makes all the difference.

I took a 45 minute walk today and it felt great!

The sun was shining and it was simply gorgeous outside.  It was a perfect day for a walk.  I am so grateful for everyone's encouragement.  It's really helping me to keep going with this.

And I had yummy healthy food today, too.  Kristi made an amazing stir-fry that was just delightful! :-)

Going for a Walk

I've decided that this week I am going to add some exercise.  I'm going to start with walking because, well, I'm too scared to do anything else at the moment.  It is really difficult for someone my size to do many of the exercises that other people might consider basic; so I'm going to start where I can feel comfortable and I am not going to feel guilty about it.  I figure adding any kind of movement is an improvement at this point.

National Nutrition Month

Since the first change I'm making toward a healthier lifestyle is healthier eating, I was excited to find out that March is National Nutrition Month!  SparkPeople has come up with a downloadable "31 Days to a Healthier Diet" Calendar for this month.  It gives you one tip for a healthy diet for each day of March.  It's really cool and totally doable!  Some of them are really basic (like today's), but some tips offer great advice that I wouldn't have really considered otherwise.  It's nice to have small daily goals already set up for you.

Here's today's tip: 

Drink water. It's the only beverage your body really needs and craves. Gradually replace soda, flavored coffees, sugary drinks and other high-cal liquids with water. Aim for 8-12 cups each day.

Take a look at the rest of the calendar.  Click the picture.

3rd shift

I wonder if working 3rd shift will affect my ability to lose weight.  I sure hope not.  I've heard that lack of sleep is bad for you and in some cases can cause weight gain.  Of course, being part-time, I don't work every night.  I wish I did, I get more sleep when I have some semblance of a sleep schedule.  I usually try to get around 8 hours or so after work, but I'm not sure if that fully makes up for it or not.

SparkPeople

Now that I have my goals for how much to lose and by when, I should come up with a plan.  I know it will affect how much I eat, what I eat, and how much I exercise.  Over the next few years my eating and exercise habits are going to have to change drastically, but I don't want to overwhelm myself right at the beginning.  So, now I need to find some not-too-demanding things I can do to begin a healthier lifestyle.  Any ideas?

There is a website called SparkPeople that has been recommended to me.  It is a free weight loss and fitness program online which offers

• Personalized diet & fitness plan
• Calorie counter, exercise tracker, fitness demonstrations & videos
• Answers from our dietitians & trainers on message boards

So for the next couple of weeks I'm going to check it out and see what kind of plans they recommend.

Healthy Fast Food

My Mom and I work at our church together on Tuesday mornings with M&Ms.  M&Ms (Moms and Mentors with Peanuts) is a Bible Study run by our church for moms.  My mom teaches a class of 3year olds and I have a class of 4 year olds.  They are way cute.  Of course, playing with young energetic kids all morning does take quite a bit of energy, so we are usually quite hungry by the time it's done.


Today my mom treated me to lunch and we went to a new place called Good to Go, a healthy fast food restaurant in Holland.  They offer eat in, drive thru, and catering services.  Good to Go has all sorts of wonderful menu selections that are all approved by Holistic Nutrition Center of Holland.  I had half of a Chicken Club Panini on Multi-grain Wheat and a Fresh Organic Green Mix Salad.  My mom had an A+BLT sandwich on Sun dried Tomato Pesto Bread.  The food was DELICIOUS!  I highly recommend it.  And they have Dairy Free, Vegetarian, Vegan, Low Fat, and Gluten-Free options!  All sorts of salads, wraps, paninis, soups, rice bowls, and even dessert!  And at around $6 an entree, it's affordable, too.  The servers were knowledgeable and friendly and before our lunch was done we decided to make it a weekly After-M&Ms-treat!  I'm so excited!

"Owner Lance Sonneveldt, 40, had his fair share of fast food after 10 years of working as a medical salesman. After awhile, he ate energy bars for lunch just to avoid unhealthy chain fare.

'You’ve got to have a substitute to greasy burgers and fries,' he said. 'I believe now more than ever this country needs a healthy option.'"

"Good to Go supports the green movement by using Michigan suppliers and quick-decomposing cups and utensils. " - Holland Sentinel

The Beginning.

Here's me.  Melissa.

I have some pretty great qualities.  I'm good with kids, I have a good sense of humor, I love to help others, I can sing and act, I have really pretty eyes, I'm sweet, supportive, caring, and... humble.  I am also very overweight.  Big time. 

I've been a big girl pretty much my whole life.  I was chubby all throughout my childhood and preteen years.  I thinned out a little in middle-school when I shot up and grew some curves.  But when I stopped increasing in height, the curves decided to keep on  growing.  I became obese when I was in high-school.  Several years later at a massive 323 lbs I am classified as morbidly obese.

Sure, when I'm looking in the mirror at the big bulging roll of fat around my belly, the double-chin, the chubby fingers, the stretch lines, the thunder-thighs, I don't like what I see.  The fact that I can't see my feet while I'm walking down stairs is unnerving.  It can be difficult to find clothes that fit well and look good.  I love playing with kids, but it's hard to find fun games that don't require me to get off my butt. It's embarrassing running out of breath from walking up a single flight of stairs. In theatre, there aren't very many roles for women my size.  And as a whole, the more I weigh, the less I am able to do the things I want.  And then there are the many health risks of being morbidly obese.  In light of all these things, why is it so hard for me to lose weight?


It all boils down to this: I love food and I hate exercise.


When I'm looking at a plate of brownies, am I thinking about my thunder thighs?  Nope... There IS a split second of thought before I begin devouring; I'm thinking about how good those brownies smell and how chewy and delicious they will be. Then the split-second ends, the brain switches off, and I go into "devour" mode.  When I think about exercising, do I find myself thinking about strengthening my heart, gaining endurance, and building a stronger calorie-fighting machine?  Nope... I'm thinking about getting breathless, sweaty, uncomfortable, sore, and inevitably embarrassing myself.  Somehow watching the next episode on hulu sounds much more appealing.


But, in the end I am forced look myself in the mirror again and am reminded that I don't want to stay obese forever.  I've tried to lose weight before, but it's hard to find motivation strong enough to carry me through the many temptations to sit on my butt and engorge myself.  So, for the last few weeks I have been pondering what would motivate me to get fit and stay fit.  Then, as I was sitting with a friend in Applebees, munching on a cowboy burger and seasoned fries, it came to me.


Here's my sister, Hannah.

Gorgeous, talented, artistic, funny, stylish, versatile.  And she's an amazing singer, song-writer, and pianist.  She plays viola and guitar, too!  In my opinion, she has IT.  Star quality.  And yet, she doesn't know what she wants to do with her life.  I've asked her before if she would ever consider auditioning for American Idol, but she's not sure about the idea.  Here's what I think about it: if she doesn't win, fine, but I think she has a good chance of getting pretty far and the process could open up her eyes to whether or not she should use her talents in a music career. I think it's quite possible that she will find that God is leading her to pursue music.  So, this is what occurred to me... I want to lose weight and I want her to audition, so if I can tie those two things together, and convince Hannah to agree, maybe it will be enough motivation to accomplish both!


So, I did a little bit of research on healthy weight-loss goals and came up with a proposal that Hannah AGREED to!!  Here it is...
My ultimate weight loss goal is to get below 200lbs.  Whew.  I think I was in 9th grade when I passed that mark and haven't been anywhere near it since.  If I can manage to get below 200 lbs by September of 2012, Hannah will audition for American Idol.


According to my research, it should take about 6 months or so for an individual to safely lose 10% of their body weight.  Losing weight slowly in this manner is supposed to help the person keep it off.  I currently weigh 323 lbs.  So, with healthy lifestyle changes I can safely lose about 10% of that (or 32 lbs) by September 1.  By then, I should weigh 291 lbs.  Then, I'll take 10% of that (29 lbs) and aim to lose that by March 1 of 2011 which will bring me to 262 lbs.  If I continue to set 10% as my goal for every 6 months, by September 1 of 2012 I will have lost 132 lbs (41% of my current body weight) and will be at 191 lbs!


Is this an attainable goal?   I read that most people can lose about 1 or 2 lbs a week with healthy lifestyle changes. So, setting goals in increments of 10% is a good, because it means that at most (based on my current weight) I only have to lose about 1.2 lbs a week.  I also like the idea of looking at my weight loss in percentages, because it isn't as daunting as thinking about losing 132 lbs.  There are lots of small successes that I can look forward to.  Every  1, 5 or 10% is a victory!


It's been a while since I've tried to lose weight, and even longer since I actually succeeded, so I'm going to have to do some research and get some knowledgeable opinions.  I do have some basic knowledge about how to lose weight.  There are a million weight loss programs out there, but it all pretty much boils down to eating less, eating healthier, and exercising.  To be honest, none of those three things are very appealing to me.  The one that I can tolerate most is eating healthier, so until I can find a good method to follow, that's where I'm going to start.  Fewer "junk" calories and more earth-grown entrees.  Pass me the peas!