Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Eat Clean, Train Dirty

I have finally decided to make a little change to my blog…for now.  I started a fat loss plan 3 weeks ago.  I wasn’t going to blog about it because, as you’ll read below, I’m a yo-yo dieter.  I’m sick of telling people about my new diet to just stop doing it a few weeks later.  However, I have finally found a plan that works for me and that I’m succeeding at.  (I know I just ended that sentence with ‘at,’ but the proper way to say it sounds so formal for a blog.)  J  Anyway, in 3 weeks, I have lost 5-6 pounds (depending on the day I weigh), at least 6” total in 6 areas (so an average of 1” in each area), and almost 2.5 pounds of fat.  Therefore, I’m going to take you on my fat loss journey for the next 6 weeks.  I wrote two blog entries at the beginning of this craze.  I’ll add more tomorrow about why I’ve chosen to blog this experience now.

As an added note, we are going to do our next IVF cycle sometime between October and January.  This new meal and work out plan is filling my project void until then, so I may as well let it fill the blog void, too.


Friday, July 19 – The Calm Fear Before the Storm
For years, I have struggled with my weight.  I’m a yo-yo dieter!  I can remember my mother telling me in my twenties that if I continued eating like I was without exercising, I would regret it someday.  I hate admitting when she’s right, but she was right.  J  Todd and I have talked about losing weight a million times in the 8.5 years we have been together…literally, a million.  I can’t think of another conversation we have ever had with each other.

I can remember the first time Todd and I went to 24 Hour Fitness when we lived in Dallas and joined.  We paid for 3 years up front because that would give us a lifetime membership for just $29/year for all of the years after.  Well, we did a great job working out for about 7 weeks and never went back.  Now, we live in Oklahoma where they don’t even have a 24 Hour Fitness.  Money down the tubes.

My next weight loss attempt was for our wedding in March 2010.  I did drop a few pounds by going to the gym and cutting back on my calories.  However, I was living with my cousin, so cutting back on my calories meant eating Lean Pockets, Smart Ones, and carrots.  Not the worst diet in the world, but definitely no way to lose weight the healthy way or keep it off.

The next attempt I vividly remember was hCG in June, 2011.  This was a terrible idea.  Let me repeat:  THIS WAS A TERRIBLE IDEA!!  hCG is a supplement that pregnant women produce to keep you from having to double your calories and still not starve the baby.  Natural = healthy, right?  WRONG!  Basically, you take the supplement and eat 500 calories each day for 3 weeks.  We were flawless on it.  We didn’t cheat one time.  It was awesome.  I lost 15 pounds in 3 weeks, and Todd lost 20 pounds.  We looked so much better!  We even kept it off for quite a while.  Then, we gained it back…two-fold (at least for me).

We did another attempt at hCG in April, 2012, and I still lost another 13.5 pounds; however, keep in mind that my weight at the end of this second round was still more than my starting weight at the beginning of the first round.  Yeah, I know.  We started a third round of hCG just a few weeks later and failed miserably.  We were over dieting!

I’ve managed to keep half of that 13.5 pounds off, but that’s only because of my workouts.

In October 2012, I started at Tulsa Fit Body Boot Camp.  I started going to workouts 5 days a week for 35 minutes of intense workouts.  I loved it.  I still do.  However, I was having no success at changing my diet.  I knew I needed a lifestyle change.  I’ve been up and down on the scales the last few years, and I’m tired of it.

Monday is a new day.  I’m terrified.  TERRIFIED!!!  I have no idea how to get myself to believe that I can do this.  I’m starting a 9-week program conducted by the owner of my boot camp gym, Stephanie Flynn.  Basically, I will follow these rules:
1.       Eat the meal plan provided by Stephanie
2.       Go to boot camp 5 days a week, plus perform 2-3 at-home workouts a week
3.       Walk 10,000 steps each day (which I think is approximately 4 miles)
4.       Drink 100 ounces of water each day
5.       Get 8 hours of sleep each night
6.       Take fish oil and a multi-vitamin, which I’ve been doing for over a year, so check!

Stephanie corresponds with us daily on our workouts and meals.  Each week, we submit pictures and our weight.  Every other week, we submit our measurements and body fat percentage.

In 9 weeks, I’m hoping to lose 2 dress sizes (not my complete end goal but a goal I can strive for in 9 weeks).  I read an article that said BMI calculators are wrong.  You shouldn’t judge yourself by weight.  You should judge by body fat percentage because that’s the best way to tell if you’re fit.  Skinny doesn’t always mean fit.  I think I agree with this, and I hope it is right.

The fear is that I’ve always failed.  Even when I’ve lost it, I’ve gained it back.  However, if I don’t lose it this time, I may never be fit, again.  I’m so terrified, though, that I’m refusing to put this on my blog right now.  Instead, I’m just keeping it to myself.  I don’t want my family and friends saying, “Oh, Laura’s on another diet again.  Surprise, surprise.”  I need a little faith in myself, huh?

 
Thursday, July 25 – My Hubby is a Supporter!
Well, I’m about 3 ½ days into my Game Changer program.  So far, things are going pretty well.  I’ve really stuck to the meal plan, and I’ve been doing all of my workouts.  I have Todd doing the home workouts with me.  He told me he was impressed with my ability, now.  It’s been a few years since we worked out together, so I’m in better shape than I was then.  That made me happy.

On Tuesday, I had a lot of cravings.  I’ve had some others at different times, but Tuesday evening was the worst.  I got on Facebook and asked for support from the Game Changer group.  It worked.  They gave me lots of great ideas of things to do to keep my mind off it.  Basically, I’ve decided that this is going to be just like quitting smoking, but maybe harder.  I don’t think my addiction is as strong, but there is easier access to the food I shouldn’t have than cigarettes that were only at the store.  I’m constantly surrounded by junk food, people talking about junk food, and commercials about junk food.  It sucks, but I have to tune it all out and remember my goals:  getting fit and getting pregnant!

My cousin, Bradette, gave me a new motto to live by:  Eat to live, don’t live to eat.  I love that!  Now, I just have to start believing it.  I’m working on it, though…one day at a time.

Oh, and I’ve learned to like 3 new things this week:  balsamic vinegar & EVOO salad dressing, “healthy” bread – Ezekiel brand, and oatmeal.  I’m still working on the oatmeal a little, but it wasn’t too terribly bad for breakfast this morning.

10 comments:

  1. You sound just like me. I'm such a yo-yo dieter! I'm currently on weight watchers for like the fifth time. I have only been doing it for two weeks and already want to quit! I know being healthier before pregnancy is better but I am just so unmotivated. Good luck to you!

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    1. Oh, Allison! I know exactly how you feel!! At some point, you'll find what works for you, and it will just click. If you're interested in my meal plan, I can send it to you. Maybe it would be better for your lifestyle than Weight Watchers? Who knows. I do know how you struggle, though. Good luck with that, and feel free to message me if you want to talk anytime!

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  2. Oh girl, I'm SO proud of you for posting about this and taking us on this journey with you! My struggle has been different. I weighed 115 lbs in 5th grade. And I was NOT a tall person, quite the opposite. I was always chunky as a kid, and in 5th grade it got worse. (My teacher, who was otherwise a good teacher, gave CANDY as rewards for good scores...so being a smarty-pants kid, I was getting a TON of candy every day. I hope that he has now realized how terrible of a plan that was. I got stretch marks on my thighs in that year. I still resent him every time I look at them. My very first pair of jeans was that year...a size 12.) That was the year I started to get super self-conscious about it, and in 6th grade I started counting fat grams. I didn't get smaller, but I got taller throughout junior high and high school. I've never ever been skinny in my entire life, but I suppose high school and OSU were when I was at my smallest. I was always SOOO jealous of you, you skinny little thing then! However, because what I did was focus on fat grams, I tended to eat a TON of the low-fat options - mostly breads and pastas and such. Not exactly low cal or good for blood sugar levels! I didn't learn about the "evils" (haha) of carbs until my parents did the Atkins diet and both lost a ton. Since then I really try to limit my carbs, and now we're mostly avoiding gluten and eating better carbs like farro and rice. It helps that Allan used to live with chefs and is a great cook and taught me a ton, so we don't rely much on processed stuff. But even with not eating much carbs and generally eating a very veggie-centered diet, it's STILL a struggle for me. Allan has recently educated me on the value of doing strength training for weight loss, whereas for years I've mostly (and by that I mean occasionally) focused on doing cardio in the gym at the Fat Burn level. Yeah, that never did much. So now I'm doing strength stuff and hoping it will help. And I never knew until the last couple of weeks how much doing strength can get your heart rate up...sheesh! Gooooooood lucky honey, and you know support from me is always only a text away. :D -Ash

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    1. Oh, man, Ashleigh! I always assumed you were the size you were at OSU. I thought you had a great body, and I never realized you struggled with your weight…then or now. Yes, I was small in college and ate whatever I wanted. That has all come back to haunt me, now…hence the reason I should have listened to my mother earlier. [Soak it up, Mom. I don’t often give you this much credit for being right. ;-)] Anyway, you are right about the evils of carbs. I just recently learned that due to my PCOS, I probably have some level of insulin resistance, which causes carbs to be my enemy if not eaten properly. I just learned about Quinoa…IN LOVE! Also, I too just learned that cardio isn’t enough. I’ve been doing a lot of research recently, and I think that’s why I’m finally getting on the right track. God bless Al Gore and his world wide web! Thanks for your support! Now, we have another depth of conversation we can discuss in our private emails. :-) Love you!!

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    2. I just LOL'ed and chuckled myself all the way down the hall at the Al Gore part. Haha!

      The funny thing is that I AM still the same size I was in 5th grade - still about a 12 or so. I've never gone higher than that, but have never fit anything smaller than an 8, and that's only been a few times when the sizing seemed really off. :)

      I really do love quinoa, but I agree with Allan that it does have a bit of a "vegetal" taste to it, almost like peas. He's not as big of a fan. But I was really happy to find that he LOVES farro, which is considered an "ancient grain" with very little genetic manipulation (compared to wheat whis is nothing like it was hundreds of years ago...Wheatbelly is supposed to be a good book on this subject). And he LOVES baking, and now has learned some great gluten-free recipes. You just have to watch out with some of the gluten-free stuff - they often sub out potato starch, which is also bad for your blood sugar. The Ezekiel sprouted tortillas are really good too!

      Have you tried spaghetti squash? I love love love it. To me, pasta has mostly always been just a conveyer of sauce, and so 99% of the time I really prefer the squash since I can pretty much eat that guilt-free! Allan sometimes wants "real" pasta but then we use the rice or quinoa-based ones.

      Oh and there are some really good nut and rice-baked crackers too! You just have to look at the ingredients - just because it has nuts in it doesn't always mean there aren't grains in it too!

      Also, have you seen the lentil and hummus chips? These are an AWESOME sub and are pretty much the only snack food we keep in the house, other than almonds! http://www.simply7snacks.com/# Our favorites are the red chili and Allan really loves the cool dill! If you're using to snacking on chips, try these! I hope you can find them!

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    3. I haven’t tried farro. I’m limited on what I can eat right now, but I will definitely try that in 6 weeks. :)

      I’ve been told gluten-free can be high in carbs or sugar. I haven’t really tried any of it, so I wouldn’t know much about those, yet.

      I have tried spaghetti squash. I felt like it was really crunchy. However, Todd and the kids were eating normal spaghetti at the table with me, so I’m not sure I was 100% committed to the test. I just kept thinking how I wanted what they were having. Maybe I’ll try it again when I’m alone. :)

      I would love to find some healthy chips. I love chips!! And I mean love them! I don’t care for hummus, though, so this may or may not work for me. Thanks for the site.

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    4. Reasor's AND Whole Foods sell the chips. Woot woot!!

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    5. Your spaghetti squash was crunchy? How did you make it? I've never had that problem - maybe it wasn't cooked long enough? I know there are multiple ways to cook it, but we've always just cut it in half, put it cut-side down in a baking dish with a half inch of water or so, and baked at 350 for 30-45 mins.

      Yes, you have to be really careful with gluten-free, which is why in general it's better to just eat good grains than the pre-packaged gluten-free stuff.

      And the chips don't taste anything like hummus. They're just made from chickpeas which is the main ingredient in hummus. But you can try the lentil ones first! BTW, I tried the chocolate pometranite ones...they were weird and seemed greasy.
      Ash

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    6. I’m pretty sure that’s the same way I cooked my spaghetti squash, but maybe it wasn’t that long. I can’t remember, but I will try it again someday after this meal plan comes to an end. :)

      I’ve been eating all of the Ezekiel breads and tortillas. I may have already told you that. I like the bread, but I’m not sold on the tortilla.

      I’m going to have to try these chips after the meal plan. I love chips!!

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  3. eagerly awaiting tomorrow's blog to see why you decided to share now. You know I love you, am proud of you, and will support you to the nth!!!

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