Meet Ellie

UGh I am so mad that I always forget to post on here. I havn't been really good at posting at either of my blogs. But I am not giving up on it!
I have been so busy. But I am back in full force. I dont have much time to post about it right now though. I am heading out to a huge Christmas craft show with my Aunt in few minutes.
I'll just leave you with a pic of our new toy!
This is Ellie:

Been Busy!

I have so been slacking on updates!
I'll blame the gym...lol!
No with the recent birth of my niece, going to the gym, Kaila's tennis lessons and softball I just haven't had time to post on here.
I have however been very good with going to the gym. The trainer told me to do only 15 minutes a day of cardio. I stuck to that for a day...Then kicked it up to 45 minutes. I know what I can handle and have had no problems keeping to that. This week I only got to the gym 3 times. I am not upset with myself at all. We had 2 softball games after work so it was a no go. I could have gone on Friday but they are way too busy and I plan on that being my day off. I do want to get there at least 6 days a week though for cardio.
On Kiala's days for tennis I go walk around the track (it's around the football field) 3 times at a steady pace..Plus I go to the gym later. I have been doing my strength training as well. She has me doing a lot with my arms, a few for my abs and my legs. I guess it's for beginners. The first day I was sore the next morning but it's not so bad now. I even have myself doing more reps than she suggested. 6 weeks from the day I started I get re-evaluated (measured , weighed) and they give me a new strength training plan. I am supposed to change my cardio daily between: treadmill, recumbent bike and elliptical but I have been doing trdmill. The elliptical I can only get in 5 minutes! I am dying by then. The recumbent is too boring. It's also not a smooth ride. I figure once I get my cardio built up I'll give the elliptical a try again....

Strength Training...Check!

I got my strength training program all set today!
Boy there is this one thing that you lean over and let your top part of your body go down and up. I was petrified of falling over. I guess this helps get your back muscles going. Hopefully it will get rid of some of my back fat!
I was 10 minutes early to my appointment so I did that on the treadmill. Then afterwards I did 55 minutes. The time just goes by so fast in there. I watched Discovery Kids on the TV...LOL!
Now I am gonna go in the pool with D & K.

Going Good!

So I have been to the gym everyday since I joined. I had my first meeting with a trainer on Tuesday. We did my measurements..ugh that was awful. But I hopefully will never see those measurements again. I will be re-measured in 6 weeks and I know they will be down!
Wednesday I had my second appointment. At my first I picked 3 machines I would like to do my cardio on. Tredmill, recumbent bike and elliptical trainer. At my second they showed me how to work them. Now you may laugh but I am so glad they did! These things have so much info you have ot put in. You should put in your weight because a heavier person burns more calories than a lighter person. Yeah so everytime I do cardio I get to plug in my weight..ugh! And they told me not to fixate on my number...how can you do that if you have to put it in on a dialy basis? So she had me do 5 minutes on the teedmill..after 3 mins we check my heartrate. We used the machines tool for that and after 5 minutes she showed me how to do it on my neck. I didnt realize (or pay attention in the past) that it's good to check so you know if you are in fat burning mode. For me at my weight I should have 19-54 bpm. On the tredmill going 2.8 I was at 26 bpm. Then we went on to the bike....I still am not sure if I liked that. It's not a smooth ride...but I was a 28 after 5 mins on that. But there are TV above to watch so that is nice. I went on the tredmill (if you have a radio they have certain radio stations for the sound on the big tv's on the rumbent you are close enough to hear) and recumbent on Monday and watched the whole episode of Big Brother All Stars and didn't realize I had been moving for an hour! Then I went on the elliptical trainer! Now that sucker is crazy! After being on it for a minute I was sweating buckets! I had forgotten my towel so my short around my kneck was soaked! My bpm were 36 on that baby and I forced myself to get through the 5 minutes on that! Then she showed me the stretches to do. Dave laughed at me when I got home that night...said I looked like I had run a marathon.
Yesterday I dod the tredmill for 15 minutes and then went to the elliptical. I wanted to get through the 5 minutes without crying in my head. I got through it and probably lost a liter of wate rin the priocess! Thank God I remembered my towel! I plan on testing my cardio abilities on that one daily. I have an appointment to get my strength training program with my trainer tomorrow. I cant wait to start that! My trainer told me if you do strength trianing you burn more calories sitting down than soemone who just does cardio. You only burn calories while you are doing the cardio. Good to know! I dont plan on stepping on any scales till my 6 week measuring day!

I'm a Gym Member!

Well I did it I joined a gym!!! I have always said I could do it at home but my butt just doesnt do it enough. My little sister joined a gym down the street from here and I got to go with her on a guest pass while she was there. It was very nice. My sister had already told me about a 3 month plan they had going on so I was all set to dgo that route. The Trainer I sat with does her job well! She has all this energy that just passes on to you and makes you want to go go go!!! So we sat down and figured some stuff out. If I joined for the 3 months summer special in 3 months I would have to pay the same amount to join again and do a monthly payment.Which would be silly! My sister got an amazing deal plus her insurance covers a lot so she only has to pay $12/month. My insurance covers nada...that bummed me out. But after I had given her my address she got way excited! They were running a special for their grand opening for customers who lived close by! Bingo I live right down the road. So I got 50% off!!! So I paid the downpayment (with help form my mom:Thank you mom!!!) and every month the rst will come out in small amounts. There were 2 plans to chose from...it would have only been $22/month but if I paid $29/month I would be a premium member. Making it so if the gym ever raises their prices I won't have to pay that increase...plus at next years renewal I would get 50% off for the year again...making it so I wont have to pay a downpayment and only pay $24/month. Plus I am a premium member for life. So if I ever leave for a year I still rejoin at the same price! Plus if I ever get hurt/pregnant and my doctor says I can't exercise they put a freeze on my account with a doctors note till I can start coming back in!
So I am an official gym member!

Check out the new link!!!

I was shown a new weightloss sight. It's awsome! Everything is free on it! I wanted to join so many weightloss sights that have all the features on here and they charged!
You must check it out. It has so many helpful features!

Exercise:
33 minutes on gazelle

Stregnth training:
50 broom twists
50 standing side bends

Update

Well obvioulsy we didn't stick it out on South Beach. I was hoping but that diet is just way too expensive! Just wasnt in our budget. But I did fiund a new food to love! My favorite is now mashed cauliflower. We have that now at least oince a week!
I decided for now I will get mor exercise in and do the Special K Challange. I strated last Monday. But their challenge is to have it for 2 meals. I only did it for 1 for the first week. Now this week I am doing it for lunch also. In between I have the snacks as well. I was worried about the sugar but I checked and the Almond Vanilla crunch is only 11 grams of sugar per serving. So that's not bad at all. I bough thatbecuase at least with the almonds I get some protein. I havnt had any shakyness in between meals at all.
I also shut down the kitchen after 8 pm. I would like it to be after 6pm but we aren't usually eating till then. I havnt been eating after dinner anyway. But the 8 pm mark is a just in case.
As for the exercise I have been waiting till my dinner settles. Usually I fele up to it at 8 pm. Which is good because there is usually something on TV to keep my mind occupied and make the time go by faster or make me go faster and not feel the burn.
I just pray I keep this motivation going. I did my measurements and weighed in. I dont plan on weighing in till a month is up....I do plan on checking my waist measurment next week.

After dinner settled:

2 miles on Gazelle
75 broom twists.

1 mile @ Park
Did this after dinner settled:
1 mile on Gazelle
*50 broom twists
No snacks after 8pm

*Use a broom or broomstick and lay it across your shoulders (going behind your neck) and let your arms outstretch up and over and hang over the bar slightly. Stand in front of a mirror, if possible, to watch your movements, keeping your feet about shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent, hips straight ahead and still, and twist at your waist. Start these nightly, doing 50 each night. When you twist left, then right, that is one. Gradually build yourself up to 200 per night. Even though they seem easy, you still have to watch because you can pull muscles this way.

Just Checking....

I am down 4 pounds since Monday's weight in.......probably water weight but I'll take it!

Hunger Vs. Cravings

The South Beach Diet™ encourages you to resist cravings and to respond to hunger. But if you're like many people, it's not always easy to tell which is which. I know I can't. Here are some simple guidelines that can help you determine the difference:
I got this from the SBD forum.

Hunger is the feeling you get when you experience a normal and gradual drop in blood sugar about four or five hours after a meal. It's your body's way of telling you that eating is overdue.

Cravings, on the other hand, happen within a couple of hours after your last meal. "They're caused by exaggerated spikes and dips in blood sugar that occur after we eat highly processed carbohydrates like white bread, cake, and white rice. These foods are digested so quickly that they cause an almost immediate rise in blood sugar followed by a rapid dip soon after," says Dr. Agatston, preventive cardiologist and author of The South Beach Diet™. It's this drop in blood sugar levels that causes a craving. Ironically, eating highly processed foods can actually make you hungry!

So many view the word "craving" as desiring a particular food or beverage. "Oh I am so craving chocolate right now!" But cravings in the SB sense are more of an overwhelming, quickly brought on "hunger pang". SB cravings that the program helps control are not food specific. Anything food specific is a mental craving or desire. SB may help that indirectly because if you are not really hungry from the blood sugar/insulin response, you may be able to have the mental strength to maintain your own self control more easily. But you still need some form of self control and a determination that you are going to succeed and stay on plan to the greatest extent possible. Recognizing the differenence between hunger and physical cravings is an important thing to learn and be aware of with your body.

Keep blood sugar level:
High GI foods cause such a sugar rush, that the body overproduces insulin. And too much insulin then takes the blood sugar too low.... High insulin levels promote fat storage. The high insulin as a result of the sugar rush pushes glucose into the cells as quickly as possible, and any sugar not used IMMEDIATELY is stored as fat. Or if the cells are glucose intolerant (part of metabolic syndrome) the excess sugar in the blood will be stored as fat. Actually, the blood sugar will also be used to replenish glycogen stores (energy storage in the muscles), but if those are already full, the blood sugar goes straight to fat. That's why keeping blood sugar levels more even also keeps insulin levels much lower, and thus avoids the fat deposition effects of excess insulin.

Craving is another word for reactive hypoglycemia! For years I knew I suffered with hypoglycemia, and the "cure" I thought was eat some sweets.......Oh how I suffered! If I only had a cheese stick instead.....

Day 1 on the Beach

Well yesterday was not too bad.

Here are my meals:
2 eggs omlette-
1/4 c shreded RF cheddar cheese
oranges pepper and mushrooms
1 cup ff milk

mid morning snack-
RF string cheese

Lunch-
1 hard boiled egg mixed w/ light mayo
rolled up in 2 romaine leaves
garden Salad w/ garbanzo beans and 1tbs lite ceasar

Afternoon snack-
30 pistachios

Dinner-
Grilled chicken breast
1 cup broccoli
1 cup mashed cauliflower 1 cup ff milk

Dessert-
Mocha Ricotta

96 ounces of water

The day was going great till after 8pm...I wsnt hungry...but that's normally when we munch while we watch our favorite shows. It was really hard not to run to the cabinet and eat some whole wheat saltines...ugh! i finally conviced dh that we needed to watch tv in the bedroom....

South Beach

So dh and I started planning on Easter to start South Beach April 24th. I bought the book back in September when my obgyn suggested that when I asked of a good weightloss plan for those with PCOS. Back then I didnt have the will power to do it alone. Now that dh has seen how his mom and dad have lost alot he is willing. So I found many recipes...re-read the book and got my shopping list together.
I found alot of helpful info on this message board. They have a grocery list and an outline. Which the book doesnt-they just give you a menu. At first I was really confused when I found the board because in phase one you arent supposed to eat dairy (meaning milk and plain yogurt..cheese is a protein on SB) or tomatoes (so says the book) but since the book came out there have been changes and now you can have both in phase 1 in moderation. So I am glad I found that sight.
South Beach is so different from Atkins...from what I see it's much healthier. There are many veggies I can have on this that I couldnt on Atkins. No I cant have corn and peas but I dont miss them much anyway. South Beach wants you to get your carbs from your veggies so veggies are very important on it. Plus after phase 1 I will be allowed to have fruits and pasta...back in moderation and whole grain carbs.

QOTD

"The chains of habit are generally too small to be felt until they are too strong to be broken."
Samuel Johnson

WATP

I am doing pretty good with the WATP/Water challenge. Doing much better with the water intake. I have been drinking on avg 80 oz/day. Some more than that.
Walking I have been doing the 1 mile walk. OK that I know is not good for me. I know I can do more than that. On Friday and saturday i did 3 miles/day. UGH! I need to get my motivation going. I think it's down because I ahvnt been drinking my 100 oz. I can feel the difference if I dont get in the amount my body needs! So side goal-get in that 100 oz!!!!!

QOTD

"Ultimately, the only power to which man should aspire is that which he exercises over himself."
Elie Wiesel

52 Tips for Losing Weight-A Tip A Week!

If you add one of these tips a week to your daily routine, in one year you will have developed some very healthy habits!

Eliminate one tablespoon of fat a day and you will lose 10 pounds in a year.
Avoid strange fad diets — if you can’t eat that way for the rest of your life, don’t waste your time or your health.
Limit alcohol consumption — each serving contains 100 to150 calories.
Eat fruit at least twice a day.
Keep a food diary about your food choices, indicating how hungry you are each time you eat. Pay particular attention to your level of hunger when you snack.
Perform aerobic exercise a minimum of 30 minutes three times a week. Log this on your food diary. Gradually increase the length and frequency of your workouts.
Weigh yourself no more than twice a week.
Give yourself a non-food reward for every 5 pounds lost.
Slow down your eating speed — make meals last at least 20 minutes. Try eating with the other hand or taking a sip of water between bites.
Use smaller plates.
Bring your lunch to work at least three times a week.
Start to strength train twice a week. Building muscle increases your metabolism and forces your body to use fat, not muscle, when you’re cutting back on calories.
Stop eating while watching television.
Have someone else put away leftovers.
Buy a good low-fat, low-calorie cookbook or magazine subscription.
Try two new reduced-calorie recipes a month.
Eat breakfast daily.
Don’t read while eating.
Have a sweet treat once a week.
Keep healthful snacks at home and at work.
Limit your cheese consumption to reduce fat and saturated fat — use cheese and lunchmeat with less than 5 grams of fat per ounce.
Add calorie counting or fat-gram counting to your food diary for a few weeks if your weight loss is slowing down. Maybe you’re missing something.
Substitute herbs and spices for salt.
Shop for food when you are not hungry, and use a shopping list.
Replace ground beef with ground turkey or soy crumbles in dishes such as spaghetti. Don’t skip the protein in your meals; find a leaner substitute.
Eat three vegetables a day.
Always eat sitting down.
Request that your family and friends respect your efforts to lose weight and get fit — beware of loving “sabotage.”
Take a walk when you’re stressed or angry.
Eat two dairy products a day — be aware of your calcium intake. Select low-fat or nonfat dairy products to reduce fat calories.
Order dressings and sauces on the side and apply them with a fork.
Increase your fiber intake — chose whole-grain breads, cereals and pasta products, legumes, and raw fruits and vegetables.
Add slow-down food to your meals — crunchy vegetables, a large glass of water, hot soup or beverages, or fresh fruit to fill you up.
Cook with chicken broth, nonstick cooking spray, wine or water.
Drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day.
Shrink portion sizes of meats and starches, and pile on the vegetables.
Ask how the food is prepared when ordering in a restaurant.
Choose low-fat frozen yogurt or frozen juice bars instead of ice cream. Be careful of the portion size — these foods still have calories!
Select clear broth- or tomato-based soups over white soups.
Keep the junk foods out of sight in your home and workplace.
Take walking shoes or a jump rope with you when you travel to keep up with your exercise.
If you?re getting off track, try to pre-plan your food intake for the next three days by writing it down.
Buy frozen diet dinners with 10 grams of fat or less and 800 milligrams of sodium or less.
Avoid batter coating or breading.
Use two egg whites in baking instead of one whole egg.
Stretch during television commercials — arm circles, leg lifts, head tilts, etc.
Eliminate the butter on your rolls or popcorn.
Learn to say “no” gracefully when a friend or relative offers you a second helping.
Choose pizza with vegetable toppings rather than high-fat meats, such as sausage and pepperoni. Ask for less cheese. Have you ever tried tomato pie?
Choose cooking techniques that keep fat to a minimum, such as baking, grilling, broiling, roasting or steaming.
Add more low-fat soy products to your diet for the soy protein and health benefits.
Forgive yourself when you slip — and make the next food choice a healthy one.

QOTD

"The difference between try and triumph is just a little umph!"
Marvin Phillips

Yay!

Wow I am so excited !!! 16 women have sign up for this challenge! This is so good! I wasnt sure how many would be interested! I think this is going to be a great month for losing inches for me and many more women!!!!

I am alive...lol!

I have been so busy trying to exercise, eat healthy and start a WATP challenge on the board I am a CL for that I forget to post on here...bad me!
Well as stated above I have been setting up a challenge. It's a Walk Away The pounds Challenge. We all set goals for the month (mine is to walk 50 miles-I walked 45 in March). We also have a water challenge. Whoever drinks the most water for the week wins! I was hoping to get in 100 oz/ day! So far today I am already at 100 oz and I know i will drink more as the night goes on!

I will update!!!

I am so sorry I ahnt updated! I promise to do that today! Right now I am off to do my Walk Away The Pounds 2 mile with water weights. If I procrastinate anymore I wont do it! So off I go!!!

How many....

ounces of water do you need daily to help flush fat?
100 ounces! So get to drinking!!

QOTD

"The good Lord gave you a body that can stand most anything. It's your mind you have to convince."
Vincent Lombardi

QOTD

"The good Lord gave you a body that can stand most anything. It's your mind you have to convince."
Vincent Lombardi