SUE's Get hot while its hot update !!

OK I just noticed that in my post I said I wanted to be in a size 10 comfortably by fall
well it is July and I am currently wearing a size 10
comfortably
I have also noticed that different brands fit differently
in my bigger sizes I was wearing mostly Just my Size brand
or Rider by Lee
I have to say it feels pretty darn good to be in a size 10

SO revised goal
be in a size 8 by the end of Summer

I am starting the 30 day squat challenge with a couple of friends on Monday (July 21st)
Join in if you want

Things have been rough here to get all my walking in
first off my fitbit tracker broke last week
I feel naked without it
I am working with the company to get it replaced

I also started a part time job for the first time in years I am gainfully employed
that took a bit of adjusting my time is not my own and my kids anymore I have days where I have to be places which is cool because I get paid and the job is enjoyable

I am also getting ready for our summer rummage sale
I have been sorting through clothes including all of my "fat" clothes Im getting rid of them
I have posted some of them on a local rummage sale Facebook page
and I will try putting them up on Ebay
cross fingers because selling those will help support my goodwill shopping habit !
and buy me a new winter coat!

Almost there

I can see that goal
it is so close
16 more lbs
and I will have hit
150lbs
I have lost 74lbs
OK 73.8 according to my ticker
I walked  in two 5K races
I am currently wearing a size 10/12 jeans
I even have a part time job now!

This feeling is amazing
I know I am still fat
but I am so much better than I was
I KNOW I am not as healthy as I could be
but
I am so much better than I was
not as a person that part is still the same
 I am still the me I was when I was fatter
 I just feel better physically

This did not happen over night
even if it feels like it did

Inspiration

I love it when people message me and tell me that I am an inspiration
I get it on Twitter a lot
I get it on Facebook
I have had people send me PMs on My Fitness Pal
and my favorite is when people in real life say it to my face!
You know why I love it?
I have always enjoyed making a difference in someones life
my desire has always been to be a positive influence
I love to make others days better
being an inspiration for them to do something more healthy with their lives
makes me feel

tall!

So here is my inspiration for you today

do something!
you do not have to keep up with me I have been at this for months
you do not have to train like an Olympian they have been at it for years
you just have to do a little bit more today than you did yesterday
make small choices daily to make a difference in YOUR life

go to bed a little bit earlier
make a healthier meal choice
move a bit more

choose water over any other drink

As these choices start making a difference in how you feel and in how you look AND in how much you weigh you will want to do more

Have a great day !!

Penny & Sue's Let's get hot while it's hot" challenge

HI ! you know me and if you do not know my friend Penny you should
it is her fault I blog here
ALSO
She writes some great books and such you look into them

Penny and I are challenging each other to
"get hot while it's hot"
we have to prepare for fall and all of the fabulous beards that will be around
and what better time to get healthy and get out there and move than

SUMMER

sunshine
gardening
swimming
walking
running
playing
outside
with
the kids

SO get off your duff ladies and gents
and make some goals !!

MY GOALS

by fall I want to be in a size 10 COMFORTABLY

I want to be able to squat double what I can now (I squat 55lbs which is not bad considering I use a weight bench and not a squat rack I have to lift them from waist high over my head to my shoulders then walk to where there is room then I can squat Im able to do this 20 times

I want to have a 45,000 step day (so far my most steps in a day was 35,000)

I want to lose another 5 inches on my waist (I am at 37 inches now)

I want to be at 150lbs by September I am currently at 177lbs

I will walk in at least 1 5K race

sleep 7 hours a night

Im sure more goals will come to me 

HOW WILL I DO THIS??

I will watch what I eat measure and weigh it
I will drink LOADS of water Im "infusing" it  flavoring it with fruit and stevia leaves
I will be outside as often as I can
I will lift either with my sons or hubs 3 times a week
I will wear my fitbit daily to track activity AND sleep
I will log my food at my Fitness Pal (if you want to friend me there let me know)
MOST OF ALL
I  will have fun !!

Short summary of Penny and her goals :

 I had a heart attack in 2010.

I lost almost 48 pounds in about 2 months--too fast! But I was scared of dying, so I overdid the diet and exercise. I was walking 5x/day, about 2+ hours per day, and eating a very low calorie diet.

Good part about it....my blood sugar came down, my cholesterol came down.

I slowly gained back about half the weight, and my blood sugar is creeping back up.

My goal is to get to the 50 pounds off mark which I almost made 3 years ago. But this time I need to do it more moderately. Just focus on eating a healthy diet, but watch portion size. Walk 2-3 times a day, and keep my overall activity level up.

Exercise/Activity: I'm working on garden projects outside, house cleaning/organizing/painting projects inside, and lots of walks.

Diet: Lots of veggies, fruits, whole grains, heart-healthy foods like salmon, blueberries, walnuts, orange veggies, etc.

I CAN DO THIS!

SO here is the idea I want people to post their goals and request a team you can be
TEAM PENNY
or
TEAM SUE
we will see how many of our individual goals we can reach by  the end of August

NOW the rules

1) DO YOUR BEST ! I was a cubscout leader for many years this is the cub scout motto DO YOUR BEST . YOUR best is not MY best It is not Joe Manganiello or The Rocks best , YOU are not Jillian!! The goals are YOUR goals we are here to help you meet those or exceed them

2) HAVE FUN It is summer the kids are out of school , it is time for baseball, picnics beach parties s'mores and fun stuff now how the heck are we gonna meet our goals and still have fun? moderate your treats , move more, eat mostly healthy. find something YOU love and do it be it gardening , walking , swimming something active . reward yourself with things OTHER than food

3) pick a team Penny and I are here we are team leaders we will taunt each other and support each other and help us meet our goals

Im sure more things will develop as we move along if you have any suggestions let us know !!

Doc check up and blood work up date

I have lost 60lbs since starting this but the biggest thing was getting the numbers under control

and here is the verdict

todays blood work

fasting BS 112
A1c 6.0

BP 138/68

I have put myself into a prediabetic state

I am still at risk for diabetes
I always will be
but this is much better

Doctors appointment in the morning

Tomorrow morning I have to have my fasting blood work done
for my 3 month check up
I am also getting felt up (checked for my lump)
and weighed
Im nervous about the blood work
Im nervous about the blood pressure
I nervous about the lump
I'll update when I know more

60lbs gone now pics included

As of today I have lost 60lbs
Spring has sprung here in the northwoods (finally)
so this means no more big heavy coats
I have had people asking me
what are you doing?
How are you doing it?
Weight watchers?  Atkins?
and the list goes on

now for some I cannot say
it is simple
I cut the crap
so I'll be polite and explain what cut the crap means and my favorite tools to do it

USE a website to log your food
I use MyFitnessPal because it has the largest already entered food database that gets confirmed by members who are also tracking their food

If you struggle with understanding it they have boards for posting questions
BE WARNED like anywhere in the world they are nice people and there are snarky people and there are jerks everyone has an opinion about what is the "best" way to lose weight and get healthy
it is overwhelming
Here is the best way
the way you can  stick to

that is it
that is the secret
find something to do that YOU can and will stick to
be that Paleo
or fasting
or atkins
or gallons of green tea
or bacon sandwiches every 10lbs lost
whatever

WHAT I DO
is I watch my sugar intake
and my sodium intake
by doing that the rest falls into place

LOG ACCURATELY
weigh and measure your food
buy a digital food scale or even a cheapo analog one
I got a digital scale for $15
I had an analog one or $5(it broke)
Get measuring cups and spoons
USE THEM every meal
KNOW what a portion size is
DO NOT LIE
the only one you are hurting when you lie in your logging is yourself
no one else gives a shit

READ FOOD LABELS
be an educated consumer
we put more thought into buying a TV than we do the food we put in our mouths
sure we would all love to eat beautiful gourmet meals with fresh organically grown ingredients
and free range grass fed meat or no meat whatever
I like crackers and no I am NOT grinding almonds into my nut thins
but read those labels make the choices that are best for YOU
for myself I need food with the lowest sodium content and lowest possible sugar content

I cannot believe Im saying this one
EAT VEGETABLES
I sneak them in I'm not a fan so I chose a few nutrient dense vegetables that I can tolerate

those are mashed cauliflower disguised as alfredo sauce
Spinach
tomatoes
avacadoes
onions
garlic
cucumbers (only diced super small and mixed with onions and Greek yogurt to top a sandwich)

yeah do not argue with me about what is a veggie those that know me are shocked Im eating those *shudder*

drink water
yes yes diet soda this diet food that tea this tea blah blah blah whatever
drink water
suck it up
drinks lots
dont like it plain?
add lemon juice

MOVE MORE
just do it
get up walk around the house
pace while on the phone
go for a walk after dinner
park far away from where you are going and walk in
take the stairs halfway up to your office or something
just get off your ass and move
you do not have to beat ANYONE just do more today than you did yesterday
and tomorrow do more than you did today

don't let some little thing derail you
by little thing I mean something outside YOU
are you physically injured or too sick to eat or move?

no?
then do it
I do not care if work is stressful
I do not care if you kid came home with a D
or if your house is messy
or you are having a bad hair day
or whatever

my mothers advice would work here
shit or get off the pot

AND
if something does derail you DO NOT let one day or two days or a week or month completely fuck you
brush yourself off and move on today is not yesterday !

YOU ARE NOT TOO BUSY to eat healthy
there are a LOT of tricks you can do to make healthy meals ahead of time
YOU are not too broke to eat better
you just have to be creative
and be a better shopper
this takes planning just like anything else you do in life

GO TO YOUR DOCTOR
know your stuff
know your numbers
you get one body
life is too short to be sick

MOST OF ALL
make it fun
find something YOU love and do it I love walking and dancing badly
I put on 80s pop music and walk on the treadmill like I am the lead singer of my own airband(if you are an 80s child you know what this is)
my goal is to be able to do this on my treadmill:

ASK QUESTIONS
keep looking for answers
do not settle

Those are todays pictures

Fitbit and why I love it

I have always loved pedometers
Dave laughs at me when I would grab the cheapo 2$ ones from the grocery store end caps but I love them
those are horribly inaccurate
but not bad for a cheapy

For Christmas my MIL gave me a 100$ gift card and I was thrilled
I used it to buy myself a present
I bought
my fitbit

If you do not know what they are go to google
I will give you the basics
a fitbit is a very fancy pedometer
I wear it all the time except when in the shower
and when it is charging
it is a rubber like bracelet that tracks my steps
and it tracks my sleep

The fitbit syncs with the fitbit website and I get to see how Im doing through the day and in relation to my fitbit friends

It also syncs with other sites like My fitness pal so my calories burned through walking count and I can eat a wee bit more ( my biggest problem is getting enough calories and balance sodium intake since I try to eat 1500mg or less of sodium a day)

Other sites it syncs with?
Pact
I love the Pact app I get paid money for stuff Im already doing
not much I mean last week I make something like 1.60 but HEY that is 1.60 I did not have before!

I have a fitbit flex
The neat thing about it it is so motivating
especially for a competitive person like me
I have some young dude in my friend list
he keeps topping me
I WILL NOT be topped by some kid
so I hop on my treadmill and blow his punk ass out of the water

NOW for the cost
over $100.00 (tax shipping and what if you want more than one color bracelet?)
is it worth it?

HELL YES
those that know me know I am the cheapest person around
I am cheap and often broke
BUT I attribute much of my success and motivation to this little bracelet
I check the site several times a day
I go for more walks to meet my step goal(which I set myself my current step goal is 15000 steps per day)

I walk all over town
I walk on my treadmill for 45 minutes a day
and if the treadmill is not working I pace my kitchen
there are tons of things I do to get more steps
why?
because I like to see the little lights dance on it and feel it vibrate when I have gotten all my steps
I like seeing that I am number 1 in my friends feed
I can tell you this
BEFORE my fitbit I was not getting a full 10,000 steps a day
not even with doing the Leslie Sansone videos
because those videos while great (and yes they are awesome)
are not enough steps
the video says it is going 4 miles BUT you are not stepping that much
she counts the miles based on the beats per minute of the music
you are not stepping on each beat
It is roughly half the amount of steps

I look at my fitbit like my sports bra
I need something good to give me more support
It is a tool
a fun fun tool

Moderation

If you are looking to get healthy or lose a few pounds or transform your life whatever
you will go looking for something to help
and get an overwhelming amount of information
remember I am old
OK not THAT old but I have been around diets and dieting people all my life
I remember my mother bemoaning her middle aged body
upset that she was not as thin as she was when she was young
and she would go on a diet
remember the Grapefruit diet?
my mom was a huge fan
remember Tab?
she drank TONS of that
Rice cakes were new ish when I was a kid
mom would crunch on those things like crazy
she would drop about 10lbs feel great and give up
why?
she would get hungry
she would get bored

fast forward 15 years
my mother in law and father in law went on a diet together
at this time Atkins and South Beach diets were HUGE
MIL chose South Beach for them
FIL started working out
MIL cooked
after a while
they got bored
good news on that one they did not get hungry just bored

NOW if you read stuff on diets the "fads" are Paleo eat like a caveman diet and of course all things gluten free
I see various friends eating plates full of food no grains no potatoes locally grown veggies (which where I live means no veggies because very little grows well here)

all I can think when I see this is
where is your portion size?
if you do not pay attention to portions you can indeed get fat eating ANYTHING even grass fed beef
I think it would take more spinach than anyone could ever tolerate before they got fat on it however the sodium content of spinach is pretty high for a veggie so I guess you would retain a lot of water

THIS is where moderation comes in
those that know me will be shocked to hear ANYTHING moderate coming from me
I am an all or nothing kind of gal
jump in both feet
damn the torpedoes etc etc

but moderate eating
foods YOU like
ones YOU can eat for the rest of your life
even the occasional treat
by occasional I do not meant once a week for ME occasional is once a month

So yes
I will have bread
YES I will eat some pasta
but remember 2ozs of pasta is a lot less than most people thing

THIS is where the food scale comes in
THIS is where knowing your portions comes in
THIS is where logging food comes in

if you are not keeping track of it how will you know?
will I have to track my food forever?
NO eventually I will be able to stop
eventually I will be in maintenance
I will be able to eat more than I am now that I am in weight loss mode
but for now because I am still working on this
I will be obsessive about it
I will be a slave to those numbers
is it hard?
yes
but it is becoming habit
the reinforcement I get from my results has been fantastic
55lbs gone
inches in the last month alone I have lost 8.5 from my body
wearing a size 14 for the first time in 25 years
feeling GREAT

THAT makes the work worth it it only takes a few minutes each meal
I can handle that

my addiction

yes
I am addicted
luckily this stuff is not so bad

low sodium
gluten free for those following that
low carb
almost no sugar
low fat
AND best of all
I can have 17 of them

 

the carbs on it are not great BUT most things are higher 

I eat these for lunch with cashew butter and some of this 

This is the lowest sugar fruit spread I have found it has 6grams of sugar per 1TBS serving
and it does not taste like ass!!

oh and it has fiber and all kinds of other good stuff

those are my product recs for this week
if you follow me on My Fitness Pal and look at my food diary you will see I tend to eat the same thing over and over again I am a creature of habit
I just had to change my habits to something I like that is also good for me

 

Why I weigh myself every day

Changing my attitude about everything has not been easy
and one of the biggest attitudes I had to change was my relationship with the scale
many of us have this
a love hate relationship with
a tool
that is all it is
it is a tool
it has no control
having a digital scale makes it a slightly more accurate tool than my old scale
but it is still a tool
weight fluxuates
it depends on so many things
especially for a woman
water , sodium intake, hormones, clothing , exercise causing water retention, time of day, time of month, the moon etc

so what am I doing weighing myself daily
sounds like torture
I am looking for trends
so long as my weight is trending downwards over the course of a week
then I am doing well

remember this is not about weight 
this is about health

here is an example of a trend
I weighed 185.5 last week
then it "went up" to 187.2
well the day before I had eaten a lot and had walked a lot and had a lot of salt
I KNEW it would go up
so I adjusted
cut back on sodium
watched my snacky tendencies (Almond nut thins are addicting)
today it is 185.2
I weigh myself at the same time daily
and only the downward trend gets recorded

most of all I do not beat myself up over one day
I do not kick the scale or throw it
The scale did nothing to me
this is long term
I will not be derailed by something simple

The difficulty would come if I had gone months at a plateau
I would not be as happy then
but there are other measurements to consider then
the tape measure
how do I feel
how is my blood work

30 Day Challenges

I love them
I really do I like everything about them
I can look up pictures on Pinterest
and find before and afters
I can look at the challenges and dream of getting together a big group of friends where we can support each other and taunt each other tease each other into doing them

I just completed this squat challenge with a friend of mine (HI LOONEY!)

It was fabulous and painful and not so easy but overall GREAT

I feel stronger
and leaner after doing this

of course doing this made me want to do an Ab challenge because my abs are buried under several layers of flab but I have abs and they need to be stronger

if I tighten those my stomach will look better
and my back will feel even better than it does now

and here is where we run into a problem
Like many women in my situation
I have Diastasi Recti
I know sounds like a great excuse to not exercise the abs
kinda like being big boned (which I am legit !)
is a good excuse to eat a bucket of chicken

but I digress

Diastasis Recti is serious in some cases it can lead to hernia or ruptures not pleasant at all
how did I get diastasis recti?
I'm short
I had 5 babies over 8lbs
I have been obese most of my adult life
I have had 3 cesarian sections

All of those factor lead to a split in the middle
if I try to do situps or crunches
you can see a football shaped dome in my stomach

and that is diastasis recti

doing things like sit ups and crunches and planks can make it worse and
make my tummy stick out even farther

my first response to learning this
fanfuckingtastic
so the search began to find a nice free exercise plan to fix this issue

why free?
I'm cheap
and I do not think good health should cost a stupid amount of money
I do not think I should pay to join a group
or pay for a program that comes with a belt and dvds

Been there done that
and I have piles of DVDs I do not use as it is
(hubs and I are the proud owners of some belly dancing DVDs and P90X )

So to google I went
wanna know what I found?

a lot of info
 and a lot of pay to join here and I will help you

and I searched Pinterest
LOADS of info on Diastasis Recti
but sadly
NO 30 day challanges!!
with the encouragement of some friends
and a willing partner in crime (Hello Sarah sweetie)
and hubs help

I have created

this : 
HERE you should be looking at a fabulous picture of a calender
sadly my program for that sucks so it did not work out
SO I'm looking for a volunteer to make me one AND in the meantime I will be using
as a template that ab workout calender above HERE are the substitutions for those of us with "mummy tummy"

Hip Bridge = sit ups
Squat = crunches
4 point kneeling = leg raises
Ballerina =   Planks

 

THE KEY to doing these exercises is holding in your tummy

things I have read say things like:

pull your belly button back toward your spine make sure you are breathing while holding it in.

Another direction is to stand tall and pretend to zip up your stomach imagine the whole thing just being zipped in from bottom to top

once you can do this breathe AND hold it while moving 

THEN you can do these exercises.

notice I did not chose the lunges 

I did this because they hurt my knees

The 4pt kneeling thing looks easy try it 

get on your knees and hold your stomach in tight while breathing for the amount of time that the challenge says 

Ready? lets DO IT !!

Diastsis Recti

I believe I have found my reason to not ever do burpees (up downs)

Diastsis Recti
it is caused by abdominal trauma and lets face it 5 pregnancies with babies all over 8lbs on a petite(short) torso is traumatic if you want proof I can put up pics of me pregnant with my assorted children I got as wide as refrigerator. all belly

and when I had them the balloon deflated a bit
I have always been fat
I have always carried my fat in my upper arms and my gut
now what to do about diastsis recti ??

I can't do crunches or situps or planks those only make the mummy tummy worse

shame really Im pretty good at planks

traditional ab work is out
so I have to find other exercises to do for them

I can do squats good thing I am on the last day of the squat challenge

I looked for a 30 day challenge thing for diastsis recti but there are none
I might just have to make one up myself

if I write one up anyone wanna join me?
we can test the 30 day diastasis recti challenge
OR better yet someone else want to write it or find one that we can do? 

Josephs Lavash Bread

While shopping for some whole wheat tortillas I found these
it was the 50 calories that caught my eye along with the size of these things
they are about ax big as a cookie sheet!
and I can eat half of one
and it is only 50 calories
and they taste good
the only "bad" thing about them is the salt content

now what can you do with these?
wraps
open face sandwiches
wraps!!

Here is one the things I do
I take 3ozs of shredded cooked boneless skinless chicken breast
1oz of goat cheese
1TBS of plain Greek yogurt
I mix that all together
then I spread it out on one half of the Lavash bread
I top it with
diced roma tomato
diced onions
and spinach
sprinkle some Mrs Dash on it
and stick in the oven for a few minutes
pull it out and melt some swiss cheese on top (the 40calorie slices 2 of them)

delicious 

Dieters dilema

One of the biggest complaints of dieters (life style changers whatever) is that logging food and counting calories is tedious
not only is it tedious but your life becomes weighing and measuring food
for many this becomes obsession and one tends to get images of an obsessed teen girl in their head

YES at first it can be like this
you will have to count and measure and weigh every bite
and as you get closer to your goal or as your body gets used to eating the smaller amount you will have to change things up to see more results
the body is a strange and adaptable thing like that

One of my favorite tools for this is
My Fitness Pal
I log everything there
while it has its flaws (I would organize some things differently)
it also has stregnths
the biggest being a database of TONS of foods already entered
all you have to do is find your food on their list say how much of it you ate and it logs it
it automatically subtracts all the things from your daily allotment of nutrients and calories

NOW I know some that are saying
I'm too busy to go searching bla blah blah

I get it I do
I have socks to fold too

the neat tools in my fitness pal means you do not have to search for EVERY meal
we are creatures of habit think about what you eat daily
do you have the same thing for breakfast everymorning?
I do
so I can use the "copy yesterday" tool for most of the week
did you make a huge pot of spaghetti and meatballs?
you can enter YOUR recipe figure out how many servings it is and then
log it
you can take something that you eat often
such a I eat tuna melts a lot
I added it all to my meals
after a while you will find that logging food is not as hard
and the obsession over portions is not as hard because you find with time you an indeed tell what one ounce of cheese really is

Sometimes you just gotta crow !

and this week is one of those weeks !

A month ago I went in for my blood work the numbers were all improving etc the weight was down the doctor was shocked
then she had me take a urine test a specific one testing for protein
protein in the urine is a bad sign it can mean several things
among them kidney failure
which can be caused by diabetes
SO if you are a diabetic it is a damn good reason to keep your sugars under control
no matter how much I like to say it
death by chocolate is not a good thing
kidney failure is a long painful drawn out horrible way to die

my urine had high levels of protein
Docs solution
cut back on the protein you are eating
she talked to the nutritionist and the nutritionist said
cut back to 60grams a day

WHAT??
Protein is one of the things I do not limit
I limit everything else
I limit sugar
I limit salt
I limit carbs
I limit fat
if I limit protein
I am an air fern
last time I checked
I am not an air fern

So aside from a day of stomping around my house and bitching to my ever patient hubby and my traumatized kids
I called my MIL
yes I did it I called her
Along with her many talents my MIL was a nurse in a dialysis unit for many years
her comments were simple
you could have any number of things wrong
ould be your posture putting pressure on your kidneys
could be your body not being used to amount of exercise you are doing
or could be you are really a brittle diabetic whose kidneys are about to fail
OR your body could still be expelling all of the bad stuff since you have been working so hard to overcome the bad habits of a lifetime
Moms advice
keep doing what you are doing
and wait to see if the next test shows a better result

I like that advice she gave me permission to stop questioning what I was doing
yes yes hubs said the same thing but MIL is more of an authority figure
I slowed down on the exercise the week before the test
that was the LONGEST MOST boring week ever!
Im actually starting to enjoy exercise (weird I know)
I took the test on Monday 3/10/14
I got a call about the results on Wednesday
The doc sounded all sad and worried
"you are still spilling protein "
I said how much
normal is 30 or below
I am spilling 33
OK not too horrible
she went on to say how I needed to go on meds to prevent any further damage use my glucometer to check my sugars ..ummm
I do not have a glucometer you never wrote a script for one
OH
SO I ask the BIG question
out of curiosity what were my numbers from the first test
yes we did a first test doc this is the second one
she looks
my number on Feb 10 2014 was 57
so in a month I made the number go from
57 to 33 that is a drop of
a lot of numbers
she then changed her tune
I will not have to have this particular test for another 6 months

YEAH!!!!

crow with me folks
my diet and exercise is fixing my bod
WOOOOOHOOOOOOO

Favorite things

Unlike Oprah my favorite things are affordable
and because this blog is about my weight loss
most of these will be food related

SO lets start with my new favorite Dessert

Dannon Light and Fit Greek Yogurt
Toasted Coconut Vanilla
and then I stir in some

Hershey's unsweetened cocoa powder

I like the dark

mix it well and pretend it is pudding

health details on this yogurt

anyone watching their sugars?
I am
check the sugar content!!!

now you see why it is one of my favorite things
most low cal foods have high salt or high sugars
this is fabulous stuff

know what is frustrating?

stalling out
that is frustrating
be it numbers going up on the scale because of salty food or that time of the month
or
being sick and not being able to move
the urge to just chuck it all and drown sorrows in cake and a bucket of chicken are very strong at those times

I will not do this

however death by a bucket of broasted chicken breasts a large mashed potatoes and a couple of pepperidge farm chocolate cakes does not sound too horrible

Weight loss incentives

ASIDE from being healthier living longer and looking fabulous
there are TONS of ways to earn things while you lose weight

I'll name the ones I'm using and if you know of anymore let me know

Earndit

 http://earnd.it/1h1NU2e (that is my referral link if you do not want to use that just google Earndit.com
at earndit I simply link my fitbit tracker to the site and I earn points
that give me discounts on various things mostly to do with healthy living .
I'm eyeing up a very supportive sports bra

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Everymove.org

another connect your device and earn points toward stuff site
however this one you can also add in things you have done like
shoveling snow
cleaning the house
calisthenics
I use Everymove.org points and donate them to charity
last time I checked they had 2 charity options for points donation
the one I chose is the Make a Wish Foundation
for every 2000 points I earn $5 gets donated

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Walgreens
also has a way to earn points for things you already do and you can connect several of the high tech pedometers to the site the points can be used toward purchases

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Diet Bet
now this is a neat idea ! it is a website where you and a group of friends can bet each other if you meet your goal(there are different ones) you get part of the pot of money. What if you do not have a group of friends that want to diet? they have groups that you can join with larger pots of money and other prizes. I joined a group of twitter friends and was able to split the pot with the winners it was loads of fun and good kick in the tush to get moving more.

~~~~~~~~
Pact 

  I love this one I connected my fitbit to the site so long as I have 30 active minutes per day and reach a minimum of 10,000 steps a day  THEN I have made one of my Pacts
I can hear you "SO WHAT?"
Let me back up a wee bit because I got excited and got ahead of myself

Pact is a site that pays you for doing things you are already doing
WHAT?
yes
I made a Pact saying that I would log my food for for 5 days out of 7
I made another Pact that I would exercise for 5 days out of 7
I said IF I do not make my daily Pact I will pay $5 per day I miss
Because I made 2 Pacts that would be $10 a day
NOW guess what happens if I MAKE my pact?
I get paid for it
Since I already log daily at My Fitness Pal
I already walk over 10,000 steps on my fitbit daily
guess what?
I make money this is so cool
LOVE that site

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm sure there are more sites out there these are the ones I use
make sure you check them out if you need another incentive for this trip

Open Face tuna melt

 I love fish good thing it is good for me
This is my open face tuna melt
one thing I have found with "diet" food is it tends to be dry
I have to remove fat so I replaced it with some good fats and
veggies and a small amount of cheese
To make this I use
1 packet of Albacore tuna

1TBS plain Greek Yogurt
1oz (yes I weighed it) Colby or Cheddar cheese
1 Roma Tomato diced
roughly 10 leaves of spinach (or more I started out with less)
1/2 a mashed avocado
diced onion
1 whole wheat tortilla (I use chichis multi grain)

open your tuna packet and rinse it with water (this decreases the salt a bit)
in a bowl combine the yogurt and avocado and tuna
spread the green goo(yes it looks gross) on your tortilla
stick it in the oven (350 degrees) for a few minutes while you dice things
add the vegetables stick it back in the oven till it warms up
then add the cheese
and melt it

I use the My Fitness Pal websites nutrition calculator to enter the ingredients to figure out nutrition facts for the various things I eat here is what My Fitness Pal says the nutrition facts are:
Calories 394
Carbs       31
Fat           19
Protein     28
Sodium  515
Sugar         3

These facts are for this meal with Cheddar cheese with colby it is a wee bit less in calories

Healthy Fettuchini Alfredo made with Cauliflower

This recipe has been making the rounds of Pinterest for a while , I am not a fan of vegetables unless they are deep fried and even then I prefer cheese , however Garlic hides a multitude of sins and in my veggie hater opinion this was not too bad. I did not add salt like the recipe calls for I think a pinch of salt would have made it better and taken away that sweet flavor that cauliflower has.

Healthy Fettucini Alfredo

Along with this I made diced chicken and regular alfredo noodles,

I altered the recipe a wee bit because I did not have vegetable broth so I used unsalted Chicken Stock  and I am out of real butter so I used Smart Balance with Flax
The verdict
QT ate 2 bowls full of it
I ate my plate it was not horrific the sauce is a bit sweet but as a vegetable hater it was not awful
Dave really liked it
Zach said it was OK
Alex said MMMMMM (mouth full of food)
Tim said it does not taste like cheese
"There is no cheese in it buddy"
"but but mom... Cheese ...this is weird it is flavorless"
"boy go put Parmesan on it" and there was a dust cloud of Tim going into the kitchen to get cheese
Nik said "it tastes like Nana's clam chowder"

I asked should I make it again?
majority vote says yes

OK the health stuff
we figure this makes about 12, 1 cup servings of sauce
Calories 68g
Carbs 9g
Fat  3g
Protein 5g
Sodium 174mg
Sugar 3g

THAT is just for the sauce that does not count the chicken or the noodles
remember a serving of chicken is 3 oz and a serving of noodles is 1 cup
and yes that picture is my plate and that is a serving I just spread it out on my plate to make it pretty
I also added one TBS of Parmesan cheese to the top of my food

Yes I will make this again for a large family this was a VERY inexpensive dinner we found chicken breasts on sale at a local store and  cauliflower was 99 cents a head on sale at another store
besides you cannot beat 68 calories for a creamy sauce

Recipe :Tuscan Bread

I love bread
I know everyone says that but I REALLY love bread
I love store bought
I love homemade
I love to make my own
being diagnosed with diabetes / high blood pressure killed that
and I was all

THEN I remembered something I have the power of google at my fingertips
so I did a search
I found out several things
first bread kinda requires salt it is a big sciency baking thing where he salt reacts with the yeast and the glutens in the flour to do the rising thingie

and I found Tuscan Bread
ahhh Tuscany I love you
Here is the link where I found it :
Tuscan Bread

Later this week I plan on making this bread so when I do I will do a video of the process
it is not difficult to make homemade bread if I can do it you can too
no bread machine needed
I do this one by hand
this recipe makes 30 pieces of bread(I did not make round loaves I made french bread like loaves)
here are the health details of the recipe

This is according to the My Fitness Pal recipe maker thing

Calories 67
Carbs 15
Fat 0
Protein 2
Sodium 0
Sugar 0

that is for one piece of homemade deliciousness
I need to double and triple check that however all that goes into this recipe is
white flour
water
and
yeast

This kind of bread is a crusty rustic thing that is used for soaking up rich sauces
I use it when I make soup
and I butter it
with Smart Balance "butter" or a little bit of real butter
I also add herbs to it like Mrs Dash garlic and herb blend
This would also make a great bread for those fancy olive oil herb dips
this bread would make great bread sticks
Stay tuned later in the week for the video
OK here is the worlds worst cooking videos the first one is the steps in making the sponge

I will upload the next step later
It is later!

and yes there are lots of videos on this because I am not a production company
This next one is me kneading the bread do I do it strange? yes ! do I care? no

 

and I have no idea what this next one is

I think it is me spraying the bowl with oil you really want one of those oil sprayers 

they are great!

 

An hour has past and the bread has risen and QT has also attacked the dough ball

 

This is getting the dough ball ready for the oven  

Spraying water on the bread while in the oven it does something good to the crust read the more specific directions on the recipe link I just do what that tells me

 

My last very articulate description of the bread "so um yeah"

Background

HI again
This is my why post
It gives you some background on me and my journey so far
Lets get the nitty gritty done with first
I'm 43 female Caucasian American of Irish/random European descent 
I'm 5 foot 2inches tall
I have never in my adult life been at an ideal weight for my height
the last time I was at an ideal weight I was 16 and I was 132lbs at the high end of ideal for my height
I am the mother of 5 boys
Alex age 20
Tim Age18
Zach age 14
Nik age 9
and
QT age 6
I have been married to my hubs Dave (age 40) forever (together 21 years married 18)
I have had 3 cesarian sections
2 VBACS
My family history is full of Cancers smokers emphysema diabetes and vascular disorders
My mother died when she was 47 of an Aneurysm
My Dad died when he was 64 from pancreatic cancer after being type 2 diabetic for over 5 years

NOW when I say I have never been my ideal weight I'm not kidding
I have been considered morbidly obese for years
The highest I have ever weighed was around 270 ish
I usually can bounce between 240 -250 and 200
depends on pregnancy stress and how carefully I'm watching things
is this healthy
HELL NO
I'm not stupid I know it is not healthy
did that change things?
HELL NO
why?
I love food
I love chocolate
I love food that is bad for me
I hate sweating
moving is annoying because I want to read, play on the internet, watch TV , play on pinterest, crochet, sew , research things Im interested in, fold socks, do the dishes that pile up from 7 people constantly wanting to eat,
you get the idea

SO WHY did I change?
In November I found a lump
I showed hubs because I wanted to make sure I was not nuts and that it was indeed there
he felt it too
He made me a doc appointment
They said since it had been a while since I had a check up it was time for blood work
I did the fasting blood work
I got weighed when I went in
241lbs
I joked with the nurse that is could be worse
She took my blood pressure the cuff never fits my arm well so they have to make sure to have the large cuff
200/99
OK you have my attention
then the blood work
A1c was 9.7 that is a test to see the average blood sugar over a three month period normal is 6.0 and lower is considered normal over 6.5 is diabetic
Fasting blood sugar level was 219 normal is under 100
Cholesterol 211 HDL 29 LDL 121 Triglicerides 305

OK you REALLY have my attention
My doctor checked the lump it was there she set up the usual mamogram/ultrasound testing for later that week(the quickest they could get me in)
and then she looked at me with very sad eyes (if you know my doc she is a sweetheart very nice lady a nurse practitioner yes I call her my doc)
she suggested medications
to lower blood pressure
and to deal with my now diagnosis of diabetes
I started to cry
I told her I can't go on meds She knows of my forgetful nature and said something about support and reminders etc
that was not my reason I can't go on meds
because of QT
he is severely autistic and can get into everything

This is a QT selfie he took it with NabiJr he loves taking pics of himself

I'm not kidding locks, no problem
combinations easy, bolts, pill bottles please he knows how to turn off alarms we know we have one on the cabinet where we keep meds.
So that face right there HE is my inspiration. I'm working my ass off literally so that he is not exposed to the meds that could save my life but would end his in a moment of carelessness



The lengths we have gone to keep dangerous deadly household things away from him are no more than others have done including making our own edible cleaners (super easy too)

but that is another post

I begged for 3 months to get my shit together and use diet and exercise to control it. She looked at me and with reservations (because she had probably heard it all before) gave me 2 months 
I had till February 10, 2014 to impress her and save myself.

After my doctor appointment I went home
and I cut the crap
no more eating deli broasted chicken
no more fast food
no more soda
no more ice cream(almost daily)
no more candy (more than once a day)
no more eggs (daily)
no more white bread
no more white rice
no more 2nds 3rds and fourths
no more huge "American" servings

and time to move

I started out with my exercise bike I have a stationary recumbent bike I started out riding it in the morning every morning for 30 minutes
I ate real servings of food
I started out slow with realistic stuff I could do
I drank water I have a one liter bottle I fill it 3 times a day
I cut down to one cup of coffee a day no sugar no milk(I always liked it black anyways)
I drink green tea
I take my vitamins and supplements (when I remember which is mostly everyday)
I monitor my blood pressure at home within a week I started to notice it going down
I started to notice more energy
The scale started to go down
I started to not need a nap in the afternoon just to make it through the day
I started to not have headaches
The swelling in my hands and feet that I did not notice started to go down
I'm still crabby that is just my nature I'm a grump no matter what people think to the contrary

My dear friend Autumn suggested I use Leslie Sansone walk at home videos and I added those instead of the bike to my routine in December early (those are fun)

By the end of December I had dropped 16lbs and my blood pressure was while on the high side much closer to normal than it had been at the beginning of the month
I used my Christmas money I got from MIL and instead of buying my usual stack of Colin Firth or Channing Tatum movies and a couple of books (sorry my writer friends) I bought a fitbit flex (awesome thing well worth the money and THAT is again another post)

December 31 I took a picture of myself

I have another one of me from September taken with QTs Nabijr

and a pic of me and the family take in November

Family pic taken November 2013 back row Zach , Dave, Alex, Tim ,

 

Front Row Nik Sue QT

OH and here is a picture of me taken last week because I started doing that December 31 I now take weekly pics front and side

This morning I weighed in at 203.8
You are probably wondering what happened with my blood work on February 10th
my Blood pressure is on the high end of normal my normal is 130/70 it was 140/88 so I am still working on it but it is a hellova lot better than 200/99

my A1c
is a 7.1 considering it includes November when I was still eating like crap and having a daily huge dose of sugar and fat
my cholesterol levels are now normal she said they do not need to be tested again till my appointment next year
The lump in my breast is still there hubs and I have named it Blinky
the doc said there is a minor change in it she will be checking on it again at my next appointment unless I notice more changes , the next step is biopsy and another mamogram and ultrasound the first one did not pick up anything out of the ordinary at all.
and my weight is down 37lbs as of today(February 16, 2014)

My doctor was shocked and had a huge smile on her face and said ONLY you would have that determination to do it how did you do it?

I cut the crap and got moving


THAT is my background story
I still have a LONG way to go
I have another appointment in 3 months for more blood work with my doc my goal is to drop 30lbs by then (I'll be thrilled with 20lbs happy with 15lbs)
OH clothing sizes you might want to note
pants in December were a size 24 womens
now a size 16 womans


IF you have any specific requests or questions give me a comment
If you want punctuation you have come to the wrong place

Hello

Hi this is an introduction post to my new blog that hopefully will not get ignored like my other blogs
my goal with this blog is
nothing
this one is all for me folks
I will be talking here are things I want to talk about
mostly my getting healthy journey
the whys the how tos etc
I wanted to name this blog cut the crap
because that is what I did
I cut the crap
This is my no bullshit blog
I will not give you any and I will not take any
if you have negative things to say go for it
I will probably laugh that you got upset at something you read on the internet
but hey if it works for you that is cool with me
I'm hoping to get some tabs up at the top so you can easily navigate the blog
things like
recipes
gardening
exercise
diet
progress pictures (I started taking weekly pictures December 31)
and my research into some of this stuff
and I will have links and my reviews of what I think of things I have tried

I have always said if you want to know how to lose weight ask the fat chicks we know how to do it does not mean we will but we know how

NOW here is your disclaimer
I am doing this for me
I am not a doctor
I made these choices because I feel they are what is the best option for ME
since I am not YOU I cannot nor will I make choices for you
If you want to see how I cut the crap
give this little mess without punctuation a follow
and I'll update when I get around to it

SO