I'm Only Human



So, it's been a little over 3 months since I started this weight loss journey and I'm down 25 lbs. The issue I've found lately is that you can take the fat girl out of the refrigerator...but you can't take the refrigerator out of the fat girl. Meaning, you can resist temptations when they are not around...but the desire may still remain below the surface if you are around those foods again. Case in point. I am at my mother's house for the Summer...or part of it. I was eating well when I was at my house and buying food for myself and my daughter. Here, everyone is not on the same page. So there are chips in the house, cookies, cakes, ice cream, an occasional doughnut...and I have succumbed to temptations a few times. Granted, it was only enough to maintain my weight, not gain weight...but I don't like the feeling of not losing weight on a weekly basis. So, I want to go home!!! I need to get back to my routines and buying my own food again. It's easy to resist when the food is not around...but put it in the kitchen and the resistance goes out the window. So ladies and gentleman...I'm nowhere near down, nor out...but if you are also on this journey, it just goes to show you how you should always keeps those foods out of the house. Even if you believe you will only eat a few of them!

Why sugars are so bad for you!

 

So, I'm reading this book, and I finally understand why eating so much sugar (which I don't do anymore) was so bad for me! In order to understand food and weight, you have to first understand what happens inside of your body when you eat. When you eat carbohydrates, glucose is formed, and is carried through your bloodstream and used as energy throughout your body. The level of glucose in your bloodstream at any given time should remain between 80-100 mg/dl. Now, in the book, she mentions carbs, so I'm not sure what happens when you eat healthy foods. I'm sure it probably still goes up...maybe just not as much?


When you eat foods that are high in carbs, sugar, high fructose corn syrup, most words that end in -ose, etc., your blood sugar levels spike to over 100. When this happens, your body produces insulin, which is used to regulate the blood sugar level and return it to a normal, safe range. The more of these foods you eat, the more your blood sugar levels spike; and the more insulin your body produces. It is a vicious cycle. If your body continues to receive these foods, it will produce more and more insulin, almost to the point of resistance. This is why diabetics need insulin injections; because their body no longer produces enough insulin, on its own, to regulate their blood sugar levels. NOW, I see why doctors try to get you to eat less carbs, sugary foods, etc., when you are younger. You never want to spike your blood sugar levels up and down repeatedly.


I also learned, that caffeine and artificial sweeteners do the same thing as sugar. So although that diet soda may not add any extra calories to your diet, it is adding caffeine and artificial sweeteners, and it IS causing your blood sugar levels to spike.


Please note: I am not a doctor; nor do I play one on television. I do, however, attempt to relay the information I read in the best, and most accurate light as possible. We are all in this together!

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Here is a good breakdown I found on a website:

Carbohydrates are your body’s primary energy source, and they’re a crucial part of any healthy diet. Carbs should never be avoided, but it is important to understand that not all carbs are alike.
Carbohydrates can be either simple, “bad”, or complex “good”, based on their chemical makeup and what your body does with them. Complex carbohydrates, like whole grains and legumes, contain longer chains of sugar molecules; these usually take more time for the body to break down and use. This, in turn, provides you with a more even amount of energy.

Carbohydrates in the Diet: The Detail on Simple Carbohydrates

Simple carbohydrates are composed of simple-to-digest, basic sugars with little real value for your body. The higher in sugar and lower in fiber, the worse the carbohydrate is for you.
Fruits and vegetables are actually simple carbohydrates, still composed of basic sugars, although they are drastically different from other foods in the category, like cookies and cakes. The fiber in fruits and vegetables changes the way that the body processes their sugars and slows down their digestion, making them a bit more like complex carbohydrates. 

Oh, the Pressure!!!



Thought of the day: if you don't have a pressure cooker, buy one!!! This is the best thing I have in my kitchen. It's great for leftovers; and it cooks really quickly. Many times we want and need to eat veggies; but if you are like me, you don't know how to flavor them without adding, butter, sugar, salt, etc. So, pressure cooker to the rescue! Tonight, I made homemade turkey meatballs. I baked them in the oven for 45 minutes so that they were done before I put them in the pressure cooker. Then I added them to the pressure cooker with a can of great northern beans, a can of Italian diced tomatoes, a can of Italian stewed tomatoes, a can of no salt added corn, and some frozen mixed veggies. Add about 2 cups of water and pressure cook for 6 minutes...dinner is served!!! NO added seasonings and everything tastes great! My two year old daughter even ate some and she's a picky eater!

Beating the Heat in the Desert!!!

As some of you know, I live in the desert! When I first started this journey I was 313 lbs. Today, I am down to 295. Two more lbs. and I'll be down 20 since February 2012. One thing I've noticed though, is when the temperature goes up, my urge to cook healthy food goes DOWN! I feel like it's just too darn hot to cook. So, I have a remedy for that. I prep my food in the morning; when it's the coolest of the day. I chop up everything I need to chop up and put it in containers in the fridge. That way, when it gets hot and I don't want to cook, I can just throw the food in the pot and I don't have to be in the kitchen as long! This is especially true if I'm making something in the pressure cooker because all you have to add is the food and the water, put the top on it, set the timer and it cooks in minutes.

Another thing I've found is frozen yogurt can substitute for ice cream on a HOT day! Around here, that is almost EVERY day! :) Look for a brand called "Eating Right". They make all kinds of food items from frozen yogurt, to pastas, to kids' foods. I believe the yogurt I'm eating right now has 90 calories per 1/2 cup. I'm eating 2 servings...BUT...if you put it in an ice cream cone it just adds an additional 20 calories and you can probably get away with just eating 1 serving and still feel like you are eating 2! I've also heard that frozen grapes are delicious. Haven't tried that idea yet! :)

It's Not a Treat...It's a Trick!!!



Do you have a habit of rewarding your hard work and effort with a sweet treat? Do you reward your exercising with a candy bar or other junk food item? Well, that's not a treat...it's a trick! Rewards are designed to give you pleasure and celebrate your achievements. They shouldn't make you go backwards. They should not bring you back down. Do you know what happens after you consume that "treat"? You feel guilty about the excess sugar and calories you consumed. Then what happens? You eat more junk and you fall prey to that vicious cycle of binge eating and feeling sorry for yourself. SO, how do you conquer this demon?

Don't treat yourself with food items! I have a rewards chart right next to my weight chart. I divided my weight into equal increments and every time I lose a pound I mark it off the chart. For example, I started at 313. Now I'm down to 300. So, I marked 13 squares off my chart. After every 10 lbs., I get a reward. My first reward, was a bicycle. This bicycle not only rewards my accomplishment of losing the 10 lbs., it helps me accomplish my goals further because I ride it for pleasure; as well as exercise. I don't reward myself with ice cream, pizza, etc. When you think about it, why would you "reward" yourself with something that is only going to make your workouts and your journey that much harder? Overcome the past and create a new future!

Do You See What I See?

What do you see when you look in the mirror? One of the first steps on this journey we call weight loss (or winning, as I like to call it...) is to admit to ourselves that we are not perfect. Too often we strive for "perfection" without knowing or understanding fully what "perfection" is. The reason the word is in quotation marks is because it doesn't really exist! When I look in the mirror, I see a beautiful woman that wakes up with her back hurting, her knees hurting, and sometimes even her feet hurting. I see a smaller, more vibrant woman just screaming to break out of this exterior shell and become the vivacious woman she longs to be. I don't see low self esteem...I don't see self doubt anymore...because if I don't think I can do it, guess what??? I won't!!! You have to visualize that finish line in order to cross it. You are your biggest coach...but also your greatest enemy. Just like my 2 year old daughter tells me all the time: "You can do it mom!!!". Just those words help to get me through each day and each meal.

It's actually not as hard today as it was the first 2 weeks. In those weeks, I was detoxing from sugar. I've successfully cut my sugar intake by about 85-90% or more. I no longer add white sugar to any of my foods. If the food used to require sugar, it is a food I just try not to eat. I don't add sugar to my cereals, nor my pastas...primarily because I haven't been consuming too much pasta anyway...and when I made the stewed apples, I used some brown sugar. I look at the labels on EVERYTHING I consume. If it has high fructose corn syrup in it, I don't buy it. If it has more than 5-7 grams of sugar per serving, I try not to buy it. The only issue with sugar is that it doesn't specify on the labels, at least I don't think it does, how much of that sugar is natural sugar, for instance, fruit has a lot of sugar in it...BUT it's not the same as white sugar and your body does not treat it the same way.

If we were all "perfect" than God would have created us all to look exactly the same way!!! We don't!!! So don't strive to become something you cannot achieve...strive to become the woman or man God has created you to be!!! And YOU CAN DO IT too!!!

I Won Another 2 Lbs.!!!



We, as Americans, do not like to lose. Losing has always been seen in a negative light. We don't like to lose money, we don't like to lose bets, and even losing weight has some underlying negative feelings associated with it. So, this time, I plan on using reverse Psychology on my body. I'm not losing weight, I'm winning life! When I say I've won another pound or two, it means that I'm winning another day, week, month, or year on my life! I'm adding to my years as I take away these pounds. So come on, win a few with me! You'll be glad you did! ;)