Monday, January 31, 2011

If only...

If only my pups could be my workout partners!  That would be the best incentive for me to workout.  I would love to see Butterscotch dancing along and Chewie having a blast getting all of that excess energy out.  Sadly, Butterscotch runs upstairs and hides when I get the Wii balance board out and Chewie begins barking when I move too quickly for his taste.  It's tough to workout and not give them enough of an outlet for all of that crazy puppiness within!

Friday, January 28, 2011

Not 100% Ready...But Getting There

The thing about dieting & losing weight, for me, is that I do some parts before I try to augment the plan.  For example, I am working out rather regularly.  I love it & want to take advantage of the time I have while unemployed to do so.  Once I get a job, it may be more difficult to fit it in to my schedule, but I'll cross that bridge once I get to it.  I love the Wii workouts that I do on Active 2 and the NFL Training Camp.  Plus, I love being active on my days off of those with the dance games on Wii, too!  It's an investment, but well worth it!

As of now, though, I haven't changed my eating habits (as evidenced by my Facebook status last night of needing pizza).  Stress still influences me to run to the fridge or, worse yet, the grocery store while hungry.  Sadly, so does boredom.  Hubby & I are planning the grocery shopping for the first week of using the FoodMover again, and I'm excited to do so.  I just have to be ready to run with it. 

Here's an admission I bet you didn't expect...I LOVE FOOD!  Yep, I said it.  I don't know if I'm a food addict, but I do know that I love the stuff!  I love socializing over it.  I love trying new foods.  I love going out with Hubby for meals.  I love the all-you-can-eat Las Vegas buffets!  I've even dreamed of fast foods bouncing across my point of view when dieting (no joke!).  Hubby said I was downright adorable, mumbling "Chicken wings...tacos...Portillo's...pizza" one night when we had been on our diet years ago.  The funny thing is, though I do love fast food, I love slow food, too.  And, I love me some veggies!  Okay...getting hungry...gotta stop talking about this so much!

Truth is, I have to get ready for the process of dieting, but can't take too long in doing so.  After all, this is my health & happiness.  It's a fine balance that I know many people go through.  To them and to myself, good luck!

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Product Review: The Richard Simmons Food Mover

The Richard Simmons Food Mover & kit

I know what people think about Richard Simmons: he isn't in the spotlight like he was in the 80s, but he's still wearing those metallic shorts & bouncing around!  True.  However, what people don't think about is how he is able to bounce around at almost 63 years old!

When I began this program years ago (the first time), I found it to be simple and fun and requiring little math to calculate calories, fat grams, etc.  I had chosen it over others because I figured that he would be out of business by now if what he said wasn't successful.  I spoke with my physician about it & he just looked at me and said, "This is how people are SUPPOSED to eat, so go for  it."  That was a great endorsement and one that I followed through with for longer than any other diet.

The idea is simple with the actual Food Mover: in order to maintain a specific number of calories daily (as explained in the instructional booklet that is included with the kit), one needs to have so many servings of fruit, grains, proteins, veggies, fats (YES...one NEEDS fats), dairy, and water.  With each serving that counts (I'll explain in a bit), a window gets closed.  Close the windows all day long and the calories are tracked.  As a bonus, there are motivational windows with positive mantras to help one keep on track.

For someone like me, the BONUS foods are a complete and utter blessing!  Bonus foods are foods for which NO windows close.  For examples, if you want to have a salad comprised of lettuce, cucumbers, celery, & mushrooms, HAVE ALL THAT YOU WANT!  I eat dry salads, so this fills me up.  The dressing must be measured, but for me, that didn't matter one bit!  These are bonuses!  HOORAY!

The first week is the only one in which someone needs to eat specific foods. It jump-starts the metabolism for what is to come.  It is the "Blast-Off" week (better known at our home as the "Blast-OUT" week) & it is high in fiber and gets its name from that.  After week one, it's all up to the user.  There are meal plans given online through the Richard Simmons webpage (membership has a monthly fee and the support, I believe, is well worth it) or one can look at the dietetic exchanges to find out which windows the must close.  Since Mom is a type 2 diabetic, I was familiar with the exchanges and found cookbooks that offered that information on each recipe.  That was all I had to do.

It seems very similar to the points systems taught through Weight Watchers as well.  I haven't tried that program, so I can neither judge it negatively or positively, but this I have tried and I loved it!  "Why did you get off track?", you may ask.  I made excuses for letting my stress get to me and the easiest one to make was monetary.  I believed it to be more expensive...WHICH IT IS NOT.  As with any change in lifestyle, one has to be ready, and I wasn't at the time.

So, I HIGHLY recommend this to anyone starting out!  My rating is (out of 5):

Ease of Use:  ❤❤❤❤❤  Recipes are as simple or difficult as you want them (with the exception of the 1st week, which are SO simple, too!)

Cost:  ❤❤❤❤ It may cost a bit more if one chooses to join the online support of the Clubhouse on his site (I recommend this if you have the ability, but do not feel it's absolutely needed to start up.).  The kit is $20 and the foods are what you can manage in your budget.

Enjoyment:  ❤❤❤❤ Yes, I'd enjoy being able to eat anything I want without thinking of it, but that isn't how the body is going to work with me.  I'm going to have this the rest of my days, so I'd rather enjoy my body than enjoy stuffing my face & feeling sluggish & guilty later on.

Results:  ❤❤❤❤❤  Both Hubby & I lost weight on this & kept it off for a good period of time.  That's why we are taking it on again!

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Well, here we go!

I thought I would blog about how it feels to be a gal of my size.  I was inspired by the A & E reality show, "Heavy."  I've been watching it and have been quite moved, since the struggles of the participants are not far from the struggles I have had for decades now.

I was in 8th grade when it really first hit.  My folks went to parent-teacher conferences at my junior high school and were told by my gym teachers that they should urge me to choose "Modified P.E." for my freshman year at high school.  "Modified P.E." was known to us students as "Fat People Gym."  I was very heavy for my height and not active or skilled at P.E. whatsoever.  I was a super target for bullies, especially other girls, who could be amazingly cruel at that age.  I had never been popular and had been picked on by many a girl (there was even a 24-hour period in grammar school that I was teased for being too tall and too short by different girls...quite the conflict) but this time was tougher than most.  My tin grin and chubby cheeks all added up to a horrible outward show to others and an insecure mindset inside me.

I signed up for "Modified P.E." and was pleasantly surprised to know there was no need to feel alone.  I was in a class of about 8 people with the same struggles and a caring teacher.  Weekly, we would weigh in and support one another.  Our workouts would alternate between weight room days, running through the halls of the school, & aerobics tapes (they were big in the '80s and we did the biggest: Jane Fonda & Lyle Alzado are the tapes I still remember).  I didn't lose much weight when all was said and done, but I felt better anyhow.  I was about to go through my best weight loss ever: PUBERTY!

By the end of high school, I had grown taller (a skyscraping 5'5") and thinned out.  My diet had actually become the worse it would ever be.  I would pocket much of my lunch money for the latest records by Cyndi Lauper or Huey Lewis & The News from J.R.'s Music Shop at Yorktown Mall, so I would settle for a chocolate shake and a soft pretzel.  Yes, I lost weight with even that diet!  It was all a matter of my metabolism and my age.  I still wasn't active, but I was hanging with friends, going to dances, and not sitting all hours in front of the TV playing ColecoVision.  I had ColecoVision and I played it and I loved it.  I just didn't spend too much time with it.  Not in high school, anyhow.  Having friends & going boy crazy were my favorite past-times.

I went to my community college after graduation.  I was curvy and weighed the least I ever have in my adult life, but wasn't toned.  That didn't matter to me, as long as I fit in m clothes.   As time went on, though, and I transferred to my dorm living at Northern in '93, I put on the pounds.  I still had curves and gained a size or two, but it was manageable.  I also injured my back with two slipped discs in my lumbar spine, so my mobility...and my time on campus trying to live independently...were cut short.  I stayed at Northern 1 year before I had to come home instead of limping to and from classes.  My grades were low because the sciatica caused by my discs kept my attendance low.  Getting out of bed was a chore.  I would be on campus for the week & return home almost every weekend for help.  It was far from what I needed to live on my own.  Luckily at the time, I was dating someone who had gone through his own ordeal with slipped discs.  He was quite understanding & helpful.  He even gave me a referral to his doctor, which wound up being a Godsend.  Still, I suffered through low points of self-esteem, knowing this was my shot to be on my own & I had blown it.  I felt like I would never be truly flying solo because of this injury and that hurt.  For me, someone who felt like she had been overprotected her entire life, the idea of living on my own was invigorating.  It was hanging in front of me so very close, yet out of reach.


I returned home after that first year feeling defeated in many ways.  I took the opportunity to get my associate degree, attend physical therapy, get steroid injections, and be relatively pampered for about a year and a half before my doctor "fired" me and I was feeling well enough to return to Northern.  I was mobile and able to live by myself on campus again.  I was 23 and starting up all over again.

My weight had fluctuated with physical therapy keeping me active, but not active enough.  I gained my "freshman 15" and then some after my return to campus, attempting to adjust to dorm food & beer nuggets again.  I really didn't mind, though.  I was thrilled to be back and thought that I'd have the rest of my life to get active and fit.  This was my time to learn more about how to be me. 

I signed on for P.E. classes like Weight Training 1 and Physical Fitness just to push myself a bit and learn about the tools needed for the future.  I was even complimented in Weight Training on my form, which I had learned about through physical therapy.  I liked the adrenaline rush, but knew I couldn't push it with my injury.  I would just be glad to maintain my weight instead of gaining.

 When I finished school & went directly into my internship & job at the health department, I worked for the department infamous for having food days & celebrations.  There were few Fridays when there wasn't a coffee cake or donuts.  We did it up big with a few tables and desks filled with homemade goodies on a regular basis.  Employees from other programs in the building would come to visit up if they had the munchies, knowing we probably had a few bites of fuel for them.  It was easy to overeat, though it wasn't the entire problem with me.

In the very late 90s, I went through a bout of depression, during which, I turned to food for help and it gave me none.  I gained another size, but was able to maintain this one a long time.  I felt okay with this, thinking I had to work on the mental issues more than anything else.  As a Christmas gift from my folks, I got my first membership to a gym.  A friend belonged to it & I swore I would meet up with him for working out often.  That never happened, but I did go there a handful of times & felt better because of it.  I used equipment I never had thought of using before.  I pushed myself to a point of sweating, which I hadn't done before.  I just didn't do it often enough.  I never liked working out by myself, but pushed myself to do it now & then.  I was living at home and Mom, being the great cook she is, kept the homemade meals coming.  Being the Greek Mom she is, though, she offered food as a way to comfort me.  I accepted it.  (Please note that I don't blame her.  To see me hurting the way I did through the depression, she felt she could offer so little to help and offer it in abundance, she did).

After a particularly rough break-up, I worked out more & lost 2 sizes, but not in the traditional way.  I was hitting Ladies Night a the local watering hole with friends.  I would dance away the evening with friends and drink water for the most part.  On rare occasion, I would be doing my favorite Jaeger shots, but the vast majority of the time, the dancing gave me the high I searched for.  I was sweating with all of the other bodies and hot lights on the dancefloor (it was no wonder no one found me attractive) and I was burning calories effortlessly.  I loved the music and the youthful feeling I got out there.  Then, I met Hubby and my single days came to a quick end, with Ladies Night becoming a distant memory.  I was settling down at 28.

Once we married, those sizes were back.  The stress of adjusting to married life & learning how to cook helped pack the pounds on again.  I got a new gym membership & was rather faithful to it, even working out at 4:30 a.m.!  What inspired me this time was that I had been diagnosed with workout-induced asthma and was on an inhaler.  I was so thrilled that I could finally breathe when doing cardio that I wanted to test it out often.  The other inspiration was that Hubby got a gym membership, too.  We could be fitness partners!  I loved this idea!  It was something I truly responded to better than most plans to workout but it didn't last long.  I would start hitting the snooze button or Hubby didn't feel like going.  It just wasn't meant to be.

Along came puppies!  Getting Butterscotch & Chewbacca was a blessing beyond all others!  No need for a gym membership, I thought.  I would be able to walk them and all would be right with the world.  Unfortunately, even to this day, Chewbacca pulls and on more than one occasion, my back has responded with pain that made me miss work.  We couldn't afford to have that continue.  I had to stop walking the pups.  Now, I as inactive, depressed, and feeding my face.  Putting on the pounds came so easy that I needed to think of something to try.

I began the Richard Simmons FoodMover diet with Hubby early in the year.  We would eat very healthy meals during the week & Saturday, but Sunday, we were free to eat anything (that is not part of the official Ricky diet, but that was the house rule for it).  Dieting with Hubby helped so very much!  We were really shedding pounds with little working out.  It was wonderful, but became a bit expensive to us and we quit the program after a few months.  We felt we could maintain our weight, but that didn't last long.  We were back to bad habits and higher weights.  We joined the local gym again, but without having a partner to go with, since Hubby wasn't a fan of the working out like I was, it was wasted.  When I bought my "Meet & Greet" package with Barry Manilow, I had a limited time to shed some pounds, so I invested (yes, a BIG investment, but well worth it) in a personal trainer package at the gym.  Finally, I would have someone to workout with, someone to push me, and I could get results.  It worked like a charm & I lost enough pounds and inches to get into a size I hadn't seen in many years!  The pride I had within myself was huge!  I loved the sense of accomplishment...and the clothes shopping I had to do!  I even had people at work helping.  When it was my birthday, instead of everyone bringing sweets and snacks, they made a huge salad bar for us!  It meant so much to me!

It wasn't long after I returned from meeting Barry and came home from Las Vegas that old habits kicked in again.  Plus, I found out I was being laid off soon  My budget could no longer support a personal trainer.  I used up the sessions I had, but there weren't too many remaining after wanting to be thin for Barry.

That brings us to this last year.  Being home and jobless, it's very easy to allow the only treat to be inexpensive fast food.  It's very easy to go downstairs when I get the munchies at the computer as I fill out job application after job application.  It's very easy to stay in instead of spending money at some store just to get out.  There are only so many trips to the library one can make and still be amused.  Needless to say, I'm far from the shape I was in when I met Barry in April of '09 and I really struggle with that.

I am now starting to use the Wii workout discs regularly and, though I haven't seen results yet, I'm feeling good about this.  I am planning a budget that includes doing the FoodMover again, too.  I had great success with it before and know that my doctor recommends it highly. 

I'd like to use this blog for issues related to the above roller-coaster & invite you along for the ride.  If you have any advice or comments, I encourage you to share!  So, welcome aboard!