I"m Still Here...I was on vacation!

Hi Country Momma...I"m still here of course. :o)

I've been on vacation and it's the first time I've taken a vacation from blogging for the first time ever since I started in November. I was so nervous to do it to!. Even then I published a couple of posts that I just couldn't keep to myself.

How am I doing..well? I discovered two weeks ago, that I had been accidentally eating sugar in my protein powder. Guess what, after two weeks of that, I started having cravings again. I had sent dear hubby to pick up the whey free powder and this was the result. It never occurred to me to read the label--like a dummy! It had half the protein and tons of carbs. Oops!

Anyway, I have the right stuff now and am doing fine. I lost a pound or so over the last two weeks, but not like I had been.  I'm back on track but am now going to take off dieting for a month (since I've been hard at it for three months. My nutritionist said to take a break so my body doesn't think I'm starving it.  Debra told me to focus on healthy eating for one month. I may lose weight anyway, but the point is to give my body a break.

Today, the day you posted, was our 23rd anniversary and I was determined not to post anything or even look at the computer when dear hubby was wanting my attention.  I know that blogging has to be secondary to life and it's been a hard lesson learned. Yipes!

As it is, I've had nine teenagers at the house all day yesterday and today-(18th birthday bash). The boys all spent the night so I spent the morning cooking a huge breakfast. They are now all at the movies but will be back for 18 hamburgers (grilled by me) at 4pm. Then we are ALL getting dressed up and headed out to go square dancing. Tuesdays are our dance and this is the last chance we have to get new students to sign up. If it doesn't work, we have to cancel our club for the summer and no one wants to do that.  I did post a couple of times on my home blog because that is what was going on in my life at the moment.

I had my first ever piece of pizza and cup of icecream since this blog started. I guess I needed the break -Ha!

But I do hope all is well. I've got an awful lot of clothes to alter--I can say that much. :o) It's a great problem! I've officially lost a total of 20 pounds as of the start of this blog and I am so grateful to all of you for helping us get started.

Love,
Donna @ Comin' Home

Anyone here? Hello?

Okay, maybe I'm just not looking in the right place but it seems like no one is ever here. I don't see any updates, chatting...nothing. So, where is everyone? How's the progress going? Even if all you've done is camp out on the couch and enjoy junk food we'd still like to hear from you all.

Yes dear Donna, this includes you and your busy schedule.

We can't help support each other if we don't touch base.

Positive progress, even in pain

I've had a sinus migraine today and yesterday so I haven't been doing anything that isn't needed. Feeling like I really need a workout but until this passes, I'm useless. My new way of eating is working though, lost another inch..two in the last two week! I'm getting better at reaching my calorie goal too. Even without exercising I still burned more than I ate and met my goal!

I take my pedometer with me whenever I leave the house now. I want every bit of exercise to count. From the looks of things 5,000 steps is my average. (not bad seeing as I'm not going out of my way to get in more steps) I figure if I want to learn why I'm stuck at this weight I need to see what I'm naturally burning, traveling ect. so that I know what needs changing. I've started a Sparkpeople blog for myself, just to keep notes and so I don't overload this blog.

Go Go Green Monster!

For those that haven't heard of it..it's a smoothie packed with tons of vitamins and healthy, yummy stuff. I made my first one today (took the idea from my cousin who's a runner) and I'm in love! It cost about a dollar per smoothie for the ingredients.

My Green Monster
2 bananas
1 cup yogurt
1 (10oz) container of frozen sliced strawberries
1 cup fresh Spinach leaves (I'm not a huge spinach fan, you could add more if you are)

Throw it all in the blender til smooth, it's thick! Enjoy! It makes about 3-4 (8oz) servings

A little about me, Countrymama

Hi ya'll!
Donna was sweet enough to let me join this lovely group so I thought I should do a little intro.

I never used to have a weight issue, as a matter of fact when hubby and I met I as lean and in peak physical health thanks to training and diet but these past few years between medications (off them now) and pregnancy my body has completely changed.

I have no idea how to really  lose weight. After having Aiden I just went back to my training roots and it worked, kinda. I lost 75 lbs. the first year but for the last two I've been stuck at the same weight no matter what I do! I know I need to burn off more than I eat and I love working out..just have to force it in the days..the problem is I always end up spending most of the day hungry or bored with my choices of foods thanks to allergy restrictions. I love to run but my body doesn't, yet. I'm using Wii active/fit to ease myself into working out again and walking/jogging outside when I can. Last serious thing I did was a 5K 6 months preggo..he's almost 3 now! I work best with a coach of sorts but a trainer was a waste of time and money as was the gym membership. See, told you I was a mess! Thanks for listening.

Stats:
starting weight: 147.5
goal weight: 120
long term goal: finishing a 5K
short term goal: better self image
plan: using Wii/outside for exercise to work my way up to using P90X. I'm upping my water intake and tracking my calories/diet through Fitday.com just to see what I eat vs. what I burn.

{weight update}

I cannot believe it ladies. I am getting ready for work this morning and I actually got back into one my skirts that is a size "5". I never thought I would get back into that skirt again it probably has been since 2005 since I had it on. Also, I wanted to tell you I tried the Jillian detox/body cleanse last month and I feel so much better. I had a kidney infection in January-February I thought I would never get over. I think I was still carrying around a lot of extra weight from that. I have tried other detox in the past years that were very harsh on your body while taking it, but this by Jillian was not harsh at all. I picked it up at Wal-Mart for $29.95. My clothes do feel a lot loser around the waist right now.

Great Article from Spark People-- Stop Dieting and Start Living!

 Hi friends,  I recently got this in my email box and am so glad I read it! What a great source of encouragement!  It's so easy for me to get into the 'diet' mentality..and then slip right back out of it again when I've 'lost the weight'.  

I really don't want to go through that this time around!  I've been so wanting to eat stuff that I haven't eaten in two months! Yipes! I'm afraid it's partly because I've been going through a certain time of the month and when I get the 'blahs' I want to eat.   

Rather than get off the band wagon completely--I just ate one bite of what ever it was.  It worked! I got to 'taste' the forbidden food but I didn't eat a bunch...just one bite. 

How about you guys? Anyone having trouble with getting tired of eating 'healthy food'? How do you handle it?  

 Here's the article that encouraged me this week with a link below to read the rest of it. Thanks, Spark People!!

Blessings,

Donna

 

 

Stop Dieting and Start Living!

Have You Made the Change?

-- By Dean Anderson, Behavioral Psychology Expert

You’ve heard it so many times that you probably say it in your sleep. "Diets don’t work; if you want to lose weight and keep it off, you have to make a lifestyle change."

But what does a lifestyle change look or feel like, and how do you know when you’ve made one? The way some people talk about it, you’d think there’s some sort of mystical wisdom you get when you “make the change” that tells you when and what to eat, and how to stop worrying about the number on the scale. Does this mean you’ll finally stop craving chocolate and start liking tofu?

You’ve heard it so many times that you probably say it in your sleep. "Diets don’t work; if you want to lose weight and keep it off, you have to make a lifestyle change."

But what does a lifestyle change look or feel like, and how do you know when you’ve made one? The way some people talk about it, you’d think there’s some sort of mystical wisdom you get when you “make the change” that tells you when and what to eat, and how to stop worrying about the number on the scale. Does this mean you’ll finally stop craving chocolate and start liking tofu?

The basic difference between a diet mentality and a lifestyle mentality is simply a matter of perspective. Having the right perspective may not make tofu taste better than chocolate, but it can make all the difference in the world when it comes to achieving your goals, avoiding unnecessary suffering along the way, and hanging onto your achievements over the long haul.

Trust me on this. I’ve lost well over 350 pounds in my life—I know how to do that. But I also put 200 of those back on again, getting bigger each time. The 150 pounds I lost a few years ago is staying off, because I’ve changed my perspective.

The basic difference between a diet mentality and a lifestyle mentality is simply a matter of perspective. Having the right perspective may not make tofu taste better than chocolate, but it can make all the difference in the world when it comes to achieving your goals, avoiding unnecessary suffering along the way, and hanging onto your achievements over the long haul.

Trust me on this. I’ve lost well over 350 pounds in my life—I know how to do that. But I also put 200 of those back on again, getting bigger each time. The 150 pounds I lost a few years ago is staying off, because I’ve changed my perspective.

Here are the main ways a diet differs from a lifestyle:

1. A diet is all about numbers—the number on the scale and the number of calories you eat and burn. Success is defined in terms of how well you stick to your numbers.
   
   A lifestyle change is all about you. It’s about lining up your eating and physical activity with your real goals and desires. Success is defined in terms of how these changes make you feel about yourself.
    
2. The diet mentality assumes that reaching a certain weight is the key to finding happiness and solving other problems. That’s why messing up the numbers on any given day can be so upsetting—it means you’ve messed up on just about everything that really matters.
   
   The lifestyle approach assumes that being overweight is usually the result of other problems, not the cause. Addressing these problems directly is the best way to solve both the problems themselves and your weight issues. This means focusing on many things, not just the numbers on the scale or the Nutrition Tracker. Numbers only tell a small part of the story, and “bad” numbers often provide good clues into areas that need attention.
    
3. Going on a diet involves an external and temporary change in eating technique. You start counting and measuring, and you stop eating some foods and substitute others, based on the rules of whatever diet plan you are using. Maybe you throw in some exercise to burn a few extra calories. You assume that it’s the technique that produces the results, not you. The results of a diet are external; if you’re lucky, you may change on the outside—but not on the inside. Once you reach your goal weight, you don’t need the technique anymore, and things gradually go back to “normal.” So does your weight—and then some. And, of course, all the problems you hoped the weight loss would solve are still there. 

Read the Rest of the Article at Spark People--a great website for people trying to lose weight!