one step at a time....

First things first: I just lost another two lbs! I am officially on the get right path! At 186lbs, I am close to where I was when I first moved out to DC. I've been losing about 1 lb per week, which is fantastic because I abhor diets. I don't believe in going on diets or doing temporary fixes for two main reasons:

1. Once you start to eat "regular" again, you gain the weight back!

2. I refuse to deprive myself and be hungry.

I am living proof that there is another way. I have a few friends who are losing weight (or wanting to), and while I'm not AT my goal, I can confidently share that my experience is no accident. I have been deliberately changing the way I think about food.

My secret? One step at a time. I am not trying to stop eating fried food, exercise 5 times a week, no carbs, lean meats, no sweets, etc. I have to live and enjoy my life.

Step 1: WATER. With [very] few exceptions, that's all I drink. I didn't have my first non-water drink for 6 weeks, and since then have only had limited interaction with those carbonated or juice alternatives. A friend of mine doesn't like water...so here are some tips to transition to it:

- crystal light (or some other target/walmart/store sugar free drink mix brand): its not kool-aid, but can definitely be helpful when weaning yourself off of pop or juice. overtime, you won't even need to "juice it up"

- lemons, limes, oranges, cucumbers, etc. no one said that water had to be boring. i'm not talking about flavored water, but throwing a few pieces of citrus fruit (or spa veggies!) in the water can help give it a bit of flavor. i promise it'll taste delish! find the thing that works for you!

What doesn't work? Vitamin Water. If you actually check the sugar and calorie content, its not much better than pop. If you're gonna drink it, you might as well enjoy a Pepsi (maybe that's just me :) ).

Step 2: Gotta step up my gym game...I'll check in to share how that goes. I have to get to the gym at least 3 times per week. I started off strong and have been slacking off since my big Convention 4 weeks ago. I'm back on it. Hopefully I'll lose at a rate of 1.5 to 2 lbs. I can't wait to get out of the 180's. The 190's went by so quickly.

That's it. I'm not going to go crazy on anything else...YET.

8 Best Supermarket Sweets

I know first-hand how much sugar can impact your diet and overall health. Since removing pop and juice from my 'diet' (among other healthier lifestyle choices), I have been able to drop 13 lbs. I once watched an episode of Thintervention (does that still come on?) and the trainer talked about limiting foods that had more than 15grams of sugar per serving. This article talks about the same thing...it suggests that 25 grams of sugar per day is advisable for women, and 37.5 for men.

Even if you can't get that low immediately, reducing your sugar intake can drastically change your life. Here's a way to still indulge while thinking smarter. While some of the items on this list are not my personal cup of tea (what does Gluten Free cake taste like?), it definitely provides some perspective. 8 Best Supermarket Sweets

A great "eat this, not that" article.

men versus women

i'm progressing well. better than i ever have. i've lost approximately 13 lbs in the last 11 weeks. while to some, this may not seem extraordinary, let me share a key fact: i have NEVER lost weight. (well, technically i lost baby weight shortly after my now 3yo daughter, but that was due to breast feeding and simply not being pregnant. oh - and i gained it right back.) i also had never seriously decided to lose weight. i wanted to lose weight, but hadn't committed any time or energy into thinking differently about food, exercise, and my overall health.

i'm sharing this wonderful, exciting news about losing 13 lbs because i was a bit envious (read: INSANELY JEALOUS) that my husband called me from the gym and informed me that he had lost another 10 lbs. ANOTHER TEN POUNDS. aside from the fact that he doesn't weigh himself each week like i do, it seems unfair that he gets to lose weight so quickly. he's also larger than i am and therefore has more weight to lose. i also understand that it can be easier for men to lose weight. while i am completely happy and excited about his progress - i can't help but think how unfair it is for the universe to make weight loss more difficult for women.

i've come to realize that some of it is our own fault. men and women have different eating and different weight loss habits. i read an article once on this, and found some really interesting ideas. you can read the article for all of the habits, but these really resonated with me.

1. have a one track mind - essentially this describes how women try to do it all when trying to lose weight. men decide to drink less beer or hit the gym hard. women try to do 50 different things...i learned in business that its better to do a few (or one) thing amazingly well than to do a bunch of things mediocre. so pick one thing (no pop/juice) and give it a go...you can always add things later. don't try to do it all at once.
2. grunt, groan, and sweat - to me this one and number 4 (see below) are seriously indicative of what i see at the gym AND what i used to do. we don't push ourselves. in my last post, i talked about how i pretend like i have a personal trainer. in my old days of non-weight loss, i would moderately walk and complain about why i wasn't losing weight. clinical studies show that increased intensity (even with less time) exercises were more effective in overall fitness. get that heart rate up and make your own bootcamp!
3. ditch the dinner drama - simply put, don't trip when you are tempted. sometimes you'll be tempted by foods that are delicious. that's life. you can't live in a bubble. if you could, we'd all be on slim fast, jenny craig, and nutrisystem forever and weigh 120 lbs. men don't obsess over that pizza they shouldn't have eaten or that amazing steak that will give them thunder thighs. instead, they eat the pizza and realize that they have to work it off later. emotional eating will make you lose every time. think like a man, if the food is good, eat it, but don't let it be defined by your mood...
4. pump iron - before my husband hurt his knee, we had gotten into a groove where we worked out together - and it was nice. he got to see how strong i was, and i got to do a man's workout. between russian deadlifts (or whatever its called), squats, and other weights i had never really lifted before, i was working things i hadn't. in my nice women's gym, i used to pick up 8 lb dumbells and do a few leg machines. now, i'm stronger and leaner for it. i lift what's appropriate for me, but realizing how important strength training is really helped me up my fitness game. technically muscle weighs more than fat, but you'll burn off the fat too, if you are doing it right. you don't see fat body builders - do you?

http://www.self.com/fitness/workouts/2010/11/lose-weight-like-a-guy

bottom line, i'm happy for his weight loss, and will try to think more like a man, when it comes to my own health and fitness goals.

weight watchers - sorta...

i have several friends who have done weight watchers with tremendous success, so i wanted to sort of try it out. by 'sort of' i mean i don't want to pay each week or go to meetings, but i want to follow the plan. what this ended up meaning was that i wasn't officially doing weight watchers, but since i'm watching my weight (pun intended), i think the spirit of it is there. at the end of the day, what's most important is that you find something that works for your life and change your lifestyle. so here's a brief overview of what i've been doing since january 2011:

- no pop or juice: a major source for [empty] calories. i was addicted to pepsi and indulged in juice more than i should have, so for me, there was no moderation. this was more difficult than i expected at first, but i started off substituting crystal light (and the sometimes more delicious target and walmart varities) but very quickly realized that water could be delicious. my secret? buying a new water bottle that i thought was cute and chic! i use it at work, when i work out, even when i travel! now i drink at LEAST 2-3 30 oz containers a day (more if i work out).

- workout at least 3 times per week: i am a wife and mother and have a 3hr round trip commute to and from work most days, so i don't have the luxury of working out everyday. my husband works and goes to school full time, i want my daughter to go to bed at a decent hour, and i need my sanity (read: sleep). while i strive to workout as many days as a can, i do force myself to get the gym at least 3 times a week.

- workout like i'm with a trainer: i have never actually had a personal training session, but i can see why they are tremendously valuable. i will observe other people's sessions and try to imitate the things that they do in terms of exercises and workouts that i don't think about doing. what's more important, however, is that i push myself in my workouts. the old me used to walk at a moderate pace for 30 minutes, do some light weights, and call it a great work out. NO WONDER i wasn't losing any weight! i was at a plateau before i had even started! now, i push myself harder than i think i can go. if i'm not breathing hard or sweating, i haven't pushed it to the limit. i make sure that i up my resistance/speed/weight/level on whatever machine/exercise i'm doing at least once per week...if i find its too difficult - i simply do intervals to alternate between my max and something more comfortable. that's supposedly better for weight loss anyway. i also make sure that my cardio is at least 45min-1hr. i want my body working as hard as it can for as long as it can. i'd love to do the 4 hr workouts that i see on "biggest loser" or mtv's new "i used to be fat", but remember - i have a real life. i WISH i had 4 hrs a day to workout. also, its not exactly a maintainable lifestyle.

- stop acting like a fat girl: this will be different for every thickums out there, but for me, there were a few simple things. be more active, stop buying junk food for the family, no more movie theater food. the first two are probably obvious, but they are not always easy to do...especially when you have to buy groceries for a family. its one thing to limit your own food choices - but i realized that my family would benefit as well. and now we're all healthier for it. the movie theater food was a realization for me even though we don't go to the movies often. when i was growing up, we NEVER ate movie theater food, mostly because it was expensive and there were 6 of us. my husband introduced me to large cherry pepsi's and hot dogs and i grew hooked! i realized though, we were being the fat people at the movie theater. some people are happy being fat and fabulous - i am not. i started by moving to smaller sized drinks and no food, and now i am movie theater food free!

outside of these specific things, not acting like a fat girl meant no more free refills on beverages (except water), no more extra deserts, and MORE salads. i had always been averse to salad because i thought it was a side dish, but once i began to explore ways to make my own salads good (avocados, corn, etc. <-- ie things that I LIKE), i discovered that salads can be amazing AND healthy (salad spritzer instead of dressing PLEASE!).

- all in moderation: what's just as important as what i am doing, are the things that i am NOT doing. i am not doing a low carb, high protein diet. i am not drinking diet sodas instead of regular. i am not doing anything temporarily...i am changing my lifestyle, so it has to be something that i can manage given the constraints and realities of my life... i AM occasionally having a sangria (or 3!) or going out to eat with my husband for our anniversary. the difference is, i know think differently about food and don't even eat as much as i used to. no seconds for me, drink water before and after the meal...and i'm usually good.

- weight watchers: the remix: as i mentioned, i have lots of friends who do weight watchers. i like to call mine the spirit of weight watchers. here's what i think about every day:

- drink lots of water (read 2-3 30 oz containers each day)

- fresh fruits and vegetables are 0 points (this is from points plus!)

- eat breakfast each morning

- log your meals each day - i don't do this anymore, because i have a pretty good sense of how my food intake has changed...but i may start back up for the sake of the blog and to stay on top of my game. its more helpful than you realize in terms of understanding how much you eat and how many calories those items are. i recommend getting an app for your smartphone that calculates the calories so you can see how many calories you consume/burn versus how many you are allotted for weight loss.

there are several more things that i've done to be successful, but i'll share those as we go....the bottom line is this. i weighed 202 lbs january 15 and now weight 188 lbs on april 8. while a part of me does not feel comfortable sharing my weight, i am VERY comfortable sharing my weight loss, and for the sake of transparency, i want to show you that it can be done. and i was ALWAYS the biggest skeptic out there. my intermediate goal is 170 by august 2011 and as you can see, i am WELL on my way. i hope you'll find something useful in my experience.

welcome back...welcome back....welcome back!

the idea behind this blog was never about "dieting". we are simply two "thick" girls trying to get right for ourselves!

we haven't posted in a while but i wanted to share our progress because i know we have both been doing some amazing things! hopefully we can share our journeys to date and continue to share our success (and sometimes setbacks) on our way to fabulous! the ultimate goal is for us to have a FABULOUS 30th next year with amazing bodies!!