Don't worry, I'm not going to blog about every single day of this diet (unless I feel I have something to say haha). But I felt that Day 1 deserved it's own entry.
Let me start off by listing what I ate yesterday (Feel free to skip this part, it's more for my own benefit)
Breakfast:
Omelette w/ 1 egg & 2 whites, tomato, avocado, low fat mozzarella & oven roasted turkey breast
Lunch:
Salad w/ Romaine, oven roasted chicken, slivered almonds & Panera poppy seed dressing
Dinner:
6 oz. oven baked chicken breast w/ worcestershire sauce
2 cups steamed broccoli w/ lemon & light salt
Vitamin Zero Orange
Snacks:
2 String Cheese
24 raw almonds
White chocolate raspberry Quest bar
hard boiled egg
Total calories: 1258 Total Fat: 66 Total Carbs: 83 Total Protein: 125 Total Sugar: 17
On paper that looks like a pretty healthy day. And for me, it really is. I had zero problems avoiding carbs or sugar (which really surprised me for day 1). The problem, I found, was eating ENOUGH. 1200 calories is the minimum a woman should be eating to avoid having her body go into starvation mode. I barely cracked that...and I had to force myself. With as much as I work out (3 hours total yesterday between weights, zumba and volleyball) I should be eating at LEAST 1500 calories if not more. But holy crap. I just couldn't!
I felt like I was eating all day long, and I guess I kind of was. But because I cut out carbs and fruit, it made it very hard to get in enough calories. One piece of fruit usually knocks out 100 calories by itself and we all know that breads/pastas are also very caloric. Needless to say I'm feeling frustrated and may just have to accept that this is how the next 2 weeks will be. I'm grateful that the day went so smoothly, but I'm going to have a hard time with this if I feel like I'm eating to the point I want to vomit and yet still not eating enough.
Funny huh? Not often you hear someone complain that the diet they're on is making them too full ;)
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Monday, March 17, 2014
South Beach Diet - Trying Something New!
So as some of you already know, my dad is in town for a while on a business trip. He and I talk a lot about my weight loss and what things I've tried/done to get as far as I have. Recently he told me that his twin brother, my Uncle Mark..and his wife LaShel started doing the South Beach Diet. I had heard of it, but I had no idea what it was. I honestly figured it was some other trendy crash diet like HCG and blew it off. But then he told me that my Uncle and his wife have both lost significant amounts of weight in just a few months! So I became curious.
My dad lent me his copy of "The South Beach Diet: Supercharged" and I got to reading. Without reading very far, I realized that it was all stuff I already know! It's not a crash diet at all! I got excited and kept reading. It's basically teaching you how to get rid of cravings and then how to maintain a healthy, BALANCED diet...combined with exercise. It talks about good carbs vs. bad, good fats vs. bad...and even encourages splurging once in a while. This is a method I can totally get behind...because it's what I preach! But what was so different about it that my Aunt and Uncle were losing so much weight so quickly? That's where the specifics of the diet come in...and it's not easy.
My dad and I agreed to start Phase 1 (of 3) together today. It lasts two weeks. Phase 1 is the hardest, as you would expect, but also the most important (for me) because it is designed to clean out your system and get rid of cravings! AHHHH cravings. They are my biggest problem. I have a very hard time staying strong when my cravings hit. And they're not always cravings for sweets. Sometimes I crave the fried or fatty and cheesy goodness too. And when I crave something, I OBSESS about it until I get it. So I'm nervous, but excited to do Phase 1 and hopefully get rid of those cravings so that I can focus on my goals with a bit more ease.
Phase 1 is basically cutting out all refined carbs and sugar. No fruit, no bread, no cereal, no pasta, no rice, no oatmeal, no fatty cuts of meat, no starchy vegetables (like corn and carrots)....it's definitely not going to be easy. But it makes total sense. The reason we have cravings is because we let our blood sugar get all out of whack. We feel it dropping and reach for a quick fix (chips or a candy bar or some high glycemic carby snack) which shoots our blood sugar way up...but then just as quickly, we crash. And we're craving the next thing. So in phase 1, you focus on lean meats, non-starchy veggies (we're talking 2 cups with every meal here), low fat dairy, beans, nuts, eggs and healthy fats like extra virgin olive oil and avocados. The "foods to enjoy" list is actually REALLY long, whereas the "foods to avoid" list is only 1 page. So if done right (eating every 3 hours and snacking before your cravings would usually hit), I should actually never feel hungry.
From experience, however, I know that the first 3-4 days will be the hardest. Whenever I've binged or eaten things I shouldn't and I decide to get back on the wagon..those days just plain suck. They just do. It's more about will power than anything else. But once your system is cleaned out of the junk, it's amazing how great you feel!
So today was day 1 and I've started out strong with a big stinkin' omelette for breakfast. 1 egg & 2 whites, tomatoes, avocado, low fat mozzarella and a tiny bit of sriracha for flavor. It's going to be tricky though. This 2 week phase cuts out a lot of my usual go to foods like my apple bran muffins and flavored greek yogurts. Luckily I can still have my Quest bars and Stevia for sweetening.
I can do anything for 14 days, right? And maybe, just maybe...this will get me closer to breaking that damn 200lb barrier that has been taunting me for months!!!
My dad lent me his copy of "The South Beach Diet: Supercharged" and I got to reading. Without reading very far, I realized that it was all stuff I already know! It's not a crash diet at all! I got excited and kept reading. It's basically teaching you how to get rid of cravings and then how to maintain a healthy, BALANCED diet...combined with exercise. It talks about good carbs vs. bad, good fats vs. bad...and even encourages splurging once in a while. This is a method I can totally get behind...because it's what I preach! But what was so different about it that my Aunt and Uncle were losing so much weight so quickly? That's where the specifics of the diet come in...and it's not easy.
My dad and I agreed to start Phase 1 (of 3) together today. It lasts two weeks. Phase 1 is the hardest, as you would expect, but also the most important (for me) because it is designed to clean out your system and get rid of cravings! AHHHH cravings. They are my biggest problem. I have a very hard time staying strong when my cravings hit. And they're not always cravings for sweets. Sometimes I crave the fried or fatty and cheesy goodness too. And when I crave something, I OBSESS about it until I get it. So I'm nervous, but excited to do Phase 1 and hopefully get rid of those cravings so that I can focus on my goals with a bit more ease.
Phase 1 is basically cutting out all refined carbs and sugar. No fruit, no bread, no cereal, no pasta, no rice, no oatmeal, no fatty cuts of meat, no starchy vegetables (like corn and carrots)....it's definitely not going to be easy. But it makes total sense. The reason we have cravings is because we let our blood sugar get all out of whack. We feel it dropping and reach for a quick fix (chips or a candy bar or some high glycemic carby snack) which shoots our blood sugar way up...but then just as quickly, we crash. And we're craving the next thing. So in phase 1, you focus on lean meats, non-starchy veggies (we're talking 2 cups with every meal here), low fat dairy, beans, nuts, eggs and healthy fats like extra virgin olive oil and avocados. The "foods to enjoy" list is actually REALLY long, whereas the "foods to avoid" list is only 1 page. So if done right (eating every 3 hours and snacking before your cravings would usually hit), I should actually never feel hungry.
From experience, however, I know that the first 3-4 days will be the hardest. Whenever I've binged or eaten things I shouldn't and I decide to get back on the wagon..those days just plain suck. They just do. It's more about will power than anything else. But once your system is cleaned out of the junk, it's amazing how great you feel!
So today was day 1 and I've started out strong with a big stinkin' omelette for breakfast. 1 egg & 2 whites, tomatoes, avocado, low fat mozzarella and a tiny bit of sriracha for flavor. It's going to be tricky though. This 2 week phase cuts out a lot of my usual go to foods like my apple bran muffins and flavored greek yogurts. Luckily I can still have my Quest bars and Stevia for sweetening.
I can do anything for 14 days, right? And maybe, just maybe...this will get me closer to breaking that damn 200lb barrier that has been taunting me for months!!!
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
"Burn It!!!"
This weekend I finished up a 6 week program that I'd been doing at my gym called "Burn It". Run by one of our amazing Zumba instructors, Angie, and her personal trainer husband, Keith..."Burn It" promised to kick my butt hardcore. And it did. I'd seen the fliers a few months before when they did a fall season, but it was around the time I was heading to the Biggest Loser resort in Chicago, so I sat it out. When I saw the fliers go up again in January, I wasn't going to miss out.
They had a free session one Saturday morning so that we could all come get a preview of what we were in store for and I knew within the first 10 minutes, this was going to be a hard 6 weeks. I also knew it would change my life. I signed up and paid then and there (with my awesome new friend Kate, who pushed me for 6 weeks!!) and we committed to 6 weeks of the most fun kind of torture.
Burn it is essentially this...
High intensity training that gets your heart rate up quickly and burns calories just as fast. A 10 minute workout with Angie and Keith had us swimming in pools of sweat. But it proved to me and I'm sure to everyone else that you don't have to spend hours and hours at the gym (though you all know I do haha) in order to get in a good, hard workout.
Every week was different. The workouts ranged from fun Olympic style circuit training workouts to Tabata training to working with a partner. We'd spend 10-12 minutes doing an AMRAP (As many reps as possible) that had weights and squats and pushups and burpees...and feel like we'd been working out for hours. And then with only a few minutes to catch our breath, we'd launch into a fun group workout where we'd do relays in teams!
I learned and got to try out all sorts of new exercises as well as some old not-so-favorites. I learned I cannot hold a plank for 2 minutes straight, but I CAN do spiderman burpees without dying! I can't run or sprint nearly as fast as 99% of those in the class, but I was able to do box jumps on the bleachers and do squats while holding Kate's legs as she does a plank on the ground in front of me! I am stronger than I ever knew and it just keeps getting better.
Angie and Keith are amazing. I already knew Angie was great. She used to teach my girls' dance class when they were little and her Zumba workouts are just plain FUN. Pairing her up with her hubby made for some really fun and inspiring workouts. On top of our weekly sessions, they put together videos and daily ab challenges for us to do at home during the week. I had a hard time remembering to do those every day on top of my usual workouts, but when I did do them...I felt them for days! I really can't thank them enough for their motivating personalities and their willingness to push us through things we never thought we could do.
Here is a picture of our amazing group of people. Taken POST workout so you can see our sweaty and red (in my case) faces!!
But the best part was seeing the results. They used a body composition scale to see the changes in our bodies over the 6 week period. In 6 weeks I:
-Lost 8lbs
-Lost 1 point in my BMI
-Lost 2.2% of my body fat
-Gained 1% of skeletal muscle!!!
In 6 weeks!!! (And I was only eating cleanly for about 4 of those weeks or I could have seen even better #'s I'm sure) The results speak for themselves and I will most definitely be doing this class again when they start up at the end of March. This class is what helped me to FINALLY break through a stubborn plateau and push me closer to that milestone of breaking 200lbs that seems to be just out of reach!
To all my friends in the area, I HIGHLY recommend you do it with me!!! I know I sound like a commercial, but I wouldn't write it if I didn't mean it. This class will change your life. I can't wait to Burn It again!
They had a free session one Saturday morning so that we could all come get a preview of what we were in store for and I knew within the first 10 minutes, this was going to be a hard 6 weeks. I also knew it would change my life. I signed up and paid then and there (with my awesome new friend Kate, who pushed me for 6 weeks!!) and we committed to 6 weeks of the most fun kind of torture.
Burn it is essentially this...
High intensity training that gets your heart rate up quickly and burns calories just as fast. A 10 minute workout with Angie and Keith had us swimming in pools of sweat. But it proved to me and I'm sure to everyone else that you don't have to spend hours and hours at the gym (though you all know I do haha) in order to get in a good, hard workout.
Every week was different. The workouts ranged from fun Olympic style circuit training workouts to Tabata training to working with a partner. We'd spend 10-12 minutes doing an AMRAP (As many reps as possible) that had weights and squats and pushups and burpees...and feel like we'd been working out for hours. And then with only a few minutes to catch our breath, we'd launch into a fun group workout where we'd do relays in teams!
I learned and got to try out all sorts of new exercises as well as some old not-so-favorites. I learned I cannot hold a plank for 2 minutes straight, but I CAN do spiderman burpees without dying! I can't run or sprint nearly as fast as 99% of those in the class, but I was able to do box jumps on the bleachers and do squats while holding Kate's legs as she does a plank on the ground in front of me! I am stronger than I ever knew and it just keeps getting better.
Angie and Keith are amazing. I already knew Angie was great. She used to teach my girls' dance class when they were little and her Zumba workouts are just plain FUN. Pairing her up with her hubby made for some really fun and inspiring workouts. On top of our weekly sessions, they put together videos and daily ab challenges for us to do at home during the week. I had a hard time remembering to do those every day on top of my usual workouts, but when I did do them...I felt them for days! I really can't thank them enough for their motivating personalities and their willingness to push us through things we never thought we could do.
Here is a picture of our amazing group of people. Taken POST workout so you can see our sweaty and red (in my case) faces!!
But the best part was seeing the results. They used a body composition scale to see the changes in our bodies over the 6 week period. In 6 weeks I:
-Lost 8lbs
-Lost 1 point in my BMI
-Lost 2.2% of my body fat
-Gained 1% of skeletal muscle!!!
In 6 weeks!!! (And I was only eating cleanly for about 4 of those weeks or I could have seen even better #'s I'm sure) The results speak for themselves and I will most definitely be doing this class again when they start up at the end of March. This class is what helped me to FINALLY break through a stubborn plateau and push me closer to that milestone of breaking 200lbs that seems to be just out of reach!
To all my friends in the area, I HIGHLY recommend you do it with me!!! I know I sound like a commercial, but I wouldn't write it if I didn't mean it. This class will change your life. I can't wait to Burn It again!
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
How Jilly's Losers Works...
Anyone who has ever read my blog knows about my weight loss group, Jilly's Losers. It's a competition that I run on Facebook for friends and family where they can become healthy and lose weight and have fun all at the same time.
Yesterday we finished up season 10. I can't believe I've done that many! Time just flies. This group has literally saved my life. Since I began the group in 2011, I myself have lost 119.4lbs. It has been such a blessing to have so many people that have come and gone...influencing my life and motivating me to keep going. They are such an inspiration and I love that I am able to help others in such a wonderful way. My life is completely different now than it was before Jilly's Losers and I hope there are other people who can say that same. Since it's inception, Jilly's Losers has lost 1238lbs and I love watching that number grow more and more every time a season ends!!
Now it's time to start planning for season 11 and I would LOVE to have some new people join us for what will hopefully be the biggest season yet. So I thought I would post the rules for season 11 here on my blog for those who are curious how it works. Let me know if you want in and always feel free to ask questions!
1.
Season 11 will begin on Tuesday, March 18, 2014. It will last 8 weeks
and our final weigh in will be on Tuesday, May 13.
2.
The buy-in fee this season will be $25. This is a singles
season. Fees should be sent via Paypal to Jillyslosers@gmail.com with the note
“buyin fee”. All fees must be paid by March 25th.
This season will
be a combination of the "biggest loser" format and the "diet
bet" format. Here's how it will work! Everyone will have 8
weeks to lose 6% of their body weight. Anyone who reaches this goal will
win part of the prize pot. However, this time around...the person who
loses the highest % of their body weight will win the most! The person
with the highest % of weight loss at the end of 8 weeks will win 50% of the
prize pot. Everyone else who reaches 6% will split the remaining 50% of
the pot evenly. So there is motivation to beat yourself but to also let others
push you even harder!!
NOTE: For
those of us who are current group members returning for season 11...your
starting weight will be handled a bit differently. There will be a 3lb
gain cap between seasons 10 and 11. (Example: If your season 10 final weight
was 200lbs and your season 11 starting weight is 207, you will have an official
start weight of 203.) This is to discourage anyone from gaining weight in
the two weeks between the end of season 10 and the start of season 11.
Both to try and keep us all on track as well as to discourage any binge
eating that will make it easier to lose the 6%.
3. Regarding
weigh-ins: We will still have mandatory weekly weigh-ins every Tuesday.
As for strikes...since this is a longer season I will be changing the
rule.. I will allow 2 missed weigh-ins per person. That's 1 per month (or 2 in
a row). On the 3rd missed weigh-in, you will be disqualified and you will not
get your $ refunded. (You may continue to stay in the group and weigh-in but
you will not be eligible to win any $) Remember that weigh-ins must be a picture of the # on your scale. Not just a
post of your weight.
4. Before and
After pictures are MANDATORY. The pictures may be with or without a shirt
(you'll notice more of a change if you do it without), but they must be full
body pictures. If your before picture is not submitted within the first week of
competition, you will be disqualified. (If you submitted an "after"
picture for season 10, that will count as your "before" picture for
season 11) Those who win prizes at the end of the season will not receive their
prize money until their after pictures have been submitted. Winners have 48
hours to claim their prize.
NOTE: Newcomers to
this group always worry that their pictures posted in the group will show up
for the public to see. This group is
secret. As long as you are on the group
wall BEFORE posting your pictures, no one will see them but those in the
group. Your pictures will show up on
your own feed when you view it, but I promise you no one else can see it!)
5. Since this
season we are competing against ourselves as well as each other, I will only be
posting weekly results instead of overall results. It's more fun if we
don't know who is winning until the end! I will, however, remind everyone
throughout the season...what their goal weight is to reach 6%. Keep in mind
you have to be at or above 6% on the final weigh-in day. So if you lose
it all in the first few weeks, you have to maintain it or keep going!
NOTE: Just like on dietbet...starting and final weights will be
confirmed with a KEY WORD. This is to ensure that starting and ending
pictures are truly taken on the day of the weigh-in and not before. I
will post the KEY WORD in this group the night before the first and last
weigh-ins. It should be written on a piece of paper or notecard and
placed at your feet in the front of your scale before taking your picture.
6. We will continue
doing weekly challenges. After 10 seasons, I'm sure some of you are getting
tired of my ideas. There is a Season 11
Challenges & Ideas doc where anyone is welcome to post any ideas they might
have for a challenge! However, I will be
the only one posting official challenges so as not to confuse everyone.
7. Remember that
this group is about gaining health and losing weight through eating right and
exercising. Extreme/fad diets are not allowed. Weight Watchers and things like
that are fine, but no pills/drops/etc.
8. This group is
only for those who will be actively participating in the competition this
season, so while I hope everyone will stick around, please know that if you
choose not to join us this season, you will be removed from the group. You are
always welcome to join us in later seasons :)
Monday, February 17, 2014
The search for the perfect protein bar...
Anyone who has ever tried a healthier approach to eating knows that one of the key things is getting enough protein in your diet. This is probably the one I struggle with the most. Not because I don't like meat or anything like that...it's just A LOT! It's hard to really know how much protein a person should get in their diet. It can depend on various things like your current weight and the amount of exercise you get. The more you workout, the more important protein becomes. A few great ways to get protein are lean meats such as chicken (yum, but gets boring) and fish (which I'm not a huge fan of). Red meats count too but take your body longer to process and should be eaten in moderation. Nuts/seeds and a bit of dairy can be great too. But if you're aiming for 75-100g of protein a day it can start to feel like a daunting task.
This is where things like protein shakes and bars come in. Shakes are a whole other topic to tackle, so today I'm just going to talk about protein bars...because I FINALLY FOUND THE PERFECT ONES!!!
I have tried pretty much every kind of "protein bar" that's out there. I put it in quotes because some of them are just glorified candy bars and you may as well eat a snickers. The trick to finding a good protein bar is finding one that has a good amount of protein (20+ grams) but doesn't also have a bazillion grams of sugar. Fiber one and Special K protein bars do okay on the protein front but one look at the sugar content and you'll see them as more of a chocolatey granola bar. But hey, they're cheaper than most.
When I first started trying to lose weight, my nutritionist suggested "Think Thin" bars. They have 20g of protein and only 1 or 2g of sugar...but one bite and I wanted to hurl. I had to force myself to finish them. My dad then introduced me to Pure Protein bars. After having the Think Thin bars, they were a welcome change. But after a couple weeks of the chocolate peanut butter bars (the only ones I liked even a little), I was tired of them.
The Biggest Loser talks a lot about larabars because they're all natural, etc...but their texture was so nasty to me that I was done after eating a half of one. No thanks.
After my trip to the BL resort last fall, I was introduced to Kind bars. Now these really tasted like a treat. They are made with just nuts and honey...with a bit of dark chocolate. Health wise, if you want a candy bar they are great. However, their protein to sugar content still wasn't what I knew I needed. *sigh* I was seriously becoming frustrated. I can get pretty lazy when it comes to eating and I just want something that I can grab quickly that is healthy and filling and doesn't taste like crap! Is that so much to ask?
Enter...the Quest Nutrition bars.
I follow a few of the Biggest Loser alumni from past seasons and more and more I began to notice that they were all raving about Quest protein bars. I was curious about them, but from what I could tell they're really freaking expensive and only available online or at stores like GNC. I put off trying them, telling myself that they couldn't possibly be as good as everyone was saying. They're probably paid to say those amazing things, right?
And then I decided to just suck it up and spend the dough. HOLY FREAKING COW!!!!!!!!!! Where have you been all my life, Quest bars? Seriously. I tried probably 8-9 different flavors and not one of them was "ew gross get it out of my mouth" nasty. But my 3 favorites...are truly like a dessert. The best part? They are everything you need in a good protein bar. Most of them are around 160-190 calories, 20-21g of protein, 1g of sugar and LOTS of fiber!
These are my 3 favorites. Cookie Dough, White Chocolate Raspberry...and my newly ordered (they're sold out EVERYWHERE) Cookies n' Cream.
And I am not even slightly exaggerating when I tell you that they taste like their names. The cookie dough tastes like you are unwrapping a roll of raw dough and if you know me...I could eat raw cookie dough all day. The white chocolate raspberry has chunks of white chocolate and you can even get the raspberry seeds stuck in your teeth! And wow...the cookies n' cream was so worth the hassle of ordering online and paying shipping. (A box of 12 bars (including shipping) was $30.) I made the mistake of letting my kids try a bite when the box came today and had to hide the rest.
My search is finally over. I love love love these bars and have zero problem forking over a little more $ to get them. I have met one person who hates them (Yes you, Amy...you crazy person!) but every other person I know who has tried them has raved about them. So there you have it. If you are looking for a good protein bar and don't want to torture your taste buds for 3 years like I did...you're welcome. Enjoy!!!
This is where things like protein shakes and bars come in. Shakes are a whole other topic to tackle, so today I'm just going to talk about protein bars...because I FINALLY FOUND THE PERFECT ONES!!!
I have tried pretty much every kind of "protein bar" that's out there. I put it in quotes because some of them are just glorified candy bars and you may as well eat a snickers. The trick to finding a good protein bar is finding one that has a good amount of protein (20+ grams) but doesn't also have a bazillion grams of sugar. Fiber one and Special K protein bars do okay on the protein front but one look at the sugar content and you'll see them as more of a chocolatey granola bar. But hey, they're cheaper than most.
When I first started trying to lose weight, my nutritionist suggested "Think Thin" bars. They have 20g of protein and only 1 or 2g of sugar...but one bite and I wanted to hurl. I had to force myself to finish them. My dad then introduced me to Pure Protein bars. After having the Think Thin bars, they were a welcome change. But after a couple weeks of the chocolate peanut butter bars (the only ones I liked even a little), I was tired of them.
The Biggest Loser talks a lot about larabars because they're all natural, etc...but their texture was so nasty to me that I was done after eating a half of one. No thanks.
After my trip to the BL resort last fall, I was introduced to Kind bars. Now these really tasted like a treat. They are made with just nuts and honey...with a bit of dark chocolate. Health wise, if you want a candy bar they are great. However, their protein to sugar content still wasn't what I knew I needed. *sigh* I was seriously becoming frustrated. I can get pretty lazy when it comes to eating and I just want something that I can grab quickly that is healthy and filling and doesn't taste like crap! Is that so much to ask?
Enter...the Quest Nutrition bars.
I follow a few of the Biggest Loser alumni from past seasons and more and more I began to notice that they were all raving about Quest protein bars. I was curious about them, but from what I could tell they're really freaking expensive and only available online or at stores like GNC. I put off trying them, telling myself that they couldn't possibly be as good as everyone was saying. They're probably paid to say those amazing things, right?
And then I decided to just suck it up and spend the dough. HOLY FREAKING COW!!!!!!!!!! Where have you been all my life, Quest bars? Seriously. I tried probably 8-9 different flavors and not one of them was "ew gross get it out of my mouth" nasty. But my 3 favorites...are truly like a dessert. The best part? They are everything you need in a good protein bar. Most of them are around 160-190 calories, 20-21g of protein, 1g of sugar and LOTS of fiber!
These are my 3 favorites. Cookie Dough, White Chocolate Raspberry...and my newly ordered (they're sold out EVERYWHERE) Cookies n' Cream.
My search is finally over. I love love love these bars and have zero problem forking over a little more $ to get them. I have met one person who hates them (Yes you, Amy...you crazy person!) but every other person I know who has tried them has raved about them. So there you have it. If you are looking for a good protein bar and don't want to torture your taste buds for 3 years like I did...you're welcome. Enjoy!!!
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
On the move again...
Man I hate plateaus. I'm sure that in the 3+ years I've been writing this blog...that I've mentioned this before. But it bears repeating. A lot. I HATE plateaus. And this one finally seems to be OVERRRRR! Woohoo! *happy dance*. Today I weighed in at 214.8, which is 115.8lbs total lost! It was not my worst plateau by far. I remember being stuck in the 260's for about 6-8 months and that had me ready to give up completely...but I didn't. This one had me stuck in the 217-224 range for about 3 months and it felt just as long. But when I realize that between the 260's plateau and the 220 plateau, I lost more than 40lbs...I guess it's not so bad huh?
I was feeling very frustrated a few weeks ago and I was ready to just accept 220 as my final weight and just maintain from there. I didn't want to give up my treats or eating out. I didn't want to have to "eat clean" for more than a day at a time. I was tired and I wanted to just do what I wanted when I wanted. But I was miserable. I knew I wasn't done. My awesome sister Heidi told me, "Jill just look at it this way. If you had buckled down and done those things you say you don't want to do...you could have been done by now. But you can do it NOW. Work really hard, eat really well for the next 6 months and THEN you can maintain! You can eat out once in a while and enjoy your favorite things and just focus on your workouts. You won't have to lose weight anymore." When I looked at it that way, it made perfect sense. I could keep beating myself up and eating horribly more days than not and maybe lose 1 pound every 3 months or I could be a little more strict and get it out of the way NOW instead of in another 2-3 years!
So that's what I've been trying to do. Instead of allowing myself an indulgence day, like I used to...I've reigned it in. I would always let 1 day become 3-4 and then I was scrambling to get it all out of my system by weigh in time. Now I'm trying it a little differently. I'm allowing myself a little treat here and a little treat there instead of having a 24 hour period where all rules go out the window. Take today for example. It's my baby Ari's 10th birthday! (Man I feel old) Tonight we're going out to Pizza Pie Cafe for dinner to celebrate. Normally I would see that coming and just make the whole day a free for all, but not today! Today I had my apple bran muffin breakfast and am eating a healthy lunch and snacks and will WAIT until dinner to have that treat. And even then I'm not going to see it as a free for all. I am publicly announcing this NOW so that I'm held accountable to myself. But tonight, I am going to have a giant salad FIRST. And then I will allow myself 2 pieces of pizza, a breadstick (or 2...they're amazing) and then a slice of her birthday cake. It will be a fun indulgence and it won't spill over into tomorrow. Tomorrow night, however, I know I'll be having dinner with my dad in the city so I will plan accordingly! No more day long binges. I'm done!
So yes, it's nice to see the scale moving again, but it's more than that. In my Burn It class that I take on Saturdays, we've begun using a body composition scale to track our body fat and muscle mass. After 2 weeks of that class (and 2 weeks of clean eating), I've lost 6lbs, over 1% of my body fat and gained some muscle! That is so much sweeter to me than just the number on my stupid scale. My clothes are finally loosening up again, my wedding ring (which I have to wear on my middle finger now) is starting to fall off...and I feel GREAT!
I know that eventually I will have another plateau. I know that this amazing will power I'm feeling now won't last forever and that I'll have another bout of feeling miserable and stuck. But blog entries like this one will remind me that it won't last forever. I'll always come out the other side. And when the will power and drive hits me like it has these last 2 weeks...I'm going to RUN LIKE HELL with it!!!
I was feeling very frustrated a few weeks ago and I was ready to just accept 220 as my final weight and just maintain from there. I didn't want to give up my treats or eating out. I didn't want to have to "eat clean" for more than a day at a time. I was tired and I wanted to just do what I wanted when I wanted. But I was miserable. I knew I wasn't done. My awesome sister Heidi told me, "Jill just look at it this way. If you had buckled down and done those things you say you don't want to do...you could have been done by now. But you can do it NOW. Work really hard, eat really well for the next 6 months and THEN you can maintain! You can eat out once in a while and enjoy your favorite things and just focus on your workouts. You won't have to lose weight anymore." When I looked at it that way, it made perfect sense. I could keep beating myself up and eating horribly more days than not and maybe lose 1 pound every 3 months or I could be a little more strict and get it out of the way NOW instead of in another 2-3 years!
So that's what I've been trying to do. Instead of allowing myself an indulgence day, like I used to...I've reigned it in. I would always let 1 day become 3-4 and then I was scrambling to get it all out of my system by weigh in time. Now I'm trying it a little differently. I'm allowing myself a little treat here and a little treat there instead of having a 24 hour period where all rules go out the window. Take today for example. It's my baby Ari's 10th birthday! (Man I feel old) Tonight we're going out to Pizza Pie Cafe for dinner to celebrate. Normally I would see that coming and just make the whole day a free for all, but not today! Today I had my apple bran muffin breakfast and am eating a healthy lunch and snacks and will WAIT until dinner to have that treat. And even then I'm not going to see it as a free for all. I am publicly announcing this NOW so that I'm held accountable to myself. But tonight, I am going to have a giant salad FIRST. And then I will allow myself 2 pieces of pizza, a breadstick (or 2...they're amazing) and then a slice of her birthday cake. It will be a fun indulgence and it won't spill over into tomorrow. Tomorrow night, however, I know I'll be having dinner with my dad in the city so I will plan accordingly! No more day long binges. I'm done!
So yes, it's nice to see the scale moving again, but it's more than that. In my Burn It class that I take on Saturdays, we've begun using a body composition scale to track our body fat and muscle mass. After 2 weeks of that class (and 2 weeks of clean eating), I've lost 6lbs, over 1% of my body fat and gained some muscle! That is so much sweeter to me than just the number on my stupid scale. My clothes are finally loosening up again, my wedding ring (which I have to wear on my middle finger now) is starting to fall off...and I feel GREAT!
I know that eventually I will have another plateau. I know that this amazing will power I'm feeling now won't last forever and that I'll have another bout of feeling miserable and stuck. But blog entries like this one will remind me that it won't last forever. I'll always come out the other side. And when the will power and drive hits me like it has these last 2 weeks...I'm going to RUN LIKE HELL with it!!!
Saturday, February 8, 2014
Healthy vs. skinny
(This past Wednesday I wrote this post to my weight loss group , Jilly's Losers, and thought I'd share it here. NOTE: BIGGEST LOSER FINALE SPOILER ALERT!!!)
Seeing as how I run a weight loss group based off of the show "Biggest Loser", I felt I should address what happened on last night's finale. It honestly upset me to the point that I was having dreams about it last night.
If you watched, you saw Rachel come out on stage and your mouth dropped open in shock/horror/concern as mine did. The poor girl looked like a skeleton with skin. My heart broke instantly. I had been cheering for Rachel since day one. I loved that she was a competitive swimmer as I was when I was a kid. I loved that she was genuinely kind and honest and she worked VERY hard on the ranch. She was a tough competitor, but she was humble. It was impossible not to like her. During her last week on the ranch, she was already at a pretty healthy weight...and at 19% body fat...which for a woman is close to professional athlete status. She was strong and confident and determined to win. But I don't think ANYONE realized how far she was willing to take it.
Now to be fair, none of us knows whether she just went 150% extreme to win the money and plans to regain some weight now that she's won....or whether she has developed some type of eating disorder and genuinely needs help. When she first walked out on stage, I turned to Nathan and said "Holy crap, she looks anorexic." He stopped me in my tracks and pointed out that me saying that wasn't any different than someone saying I look fat. And he was right. We don't know if she is anorexic. We don't know what her body fat percentage is and we can only go on how she looked on that stage. But I don't comment on it to judge her. I genuinely love and support that girl and it concerns me beyond belief that she would go that far to win money.
At 5'4" tall, 105 lbs is still considered "underweight". And it wasn't just about her looks. Rachel seemed frail. She fell walking up the stairs to the scale...and after David weighed in and she had won by a landslide, she didn't even realize it until Ali said "Hey, you won!". She seemed disoriented and dehydrated and weak and it scares me to see that Biggest Loser has come to that.
Or have they? The looks on Bob and Jillian's faces told the world that they had NO idea she was in such shape. (In the days following, both of them posted on their social media pages that they were not going to comment on Rachel as they were not her trainers.) They were as worried as the rest of us. But why was it allowed to come to this? Doesn't the show keep tabs on their contestants while they're at home? We've had winners weigh in very thin before, but never quite like this.
Once Rachel took the stage, all the live feeds on FB and Twitter went silent. Even the Biggest Loser twitter account didn't mention her name or congratulate her. (And they still haven't mentioned her by name on Twitter several days later) It makes me wonder how they are going to address this, if at all. Millions of people...families...children watch this show. And last night they watched a girl risk her health and her life for $250,000.
So now let me come to my point. I've said this before and I will never stop saying it. This group is not about losing weight. It is about learning to live a healthy lifestyle. Yes, we weigh in. Yes, our weight counts towards winning a prize...but I truly hope that that is not why any of you are here. If you are here for the money then perhaps you should find another group to try. Our prize pot is no $250K, but I understand that sometimes money can make people do things they might otherwise never do. I don't want that. I don't ever ever want that.
I love this group and I love what it has done for me and for so many others. But it terrifies me to think that it could be the cause of something like what happened on the Biggest Loser last night. When I finally get to my goal weight, will I be able to stop or will I be so obsessed with losing and so scared to gain it all back...that I starve myself? I hope not. I hope that I have learned enough to know where my line is. And I hope the same goes for all of you. Change your lives. Eat healthier. Move more. But know that you are loved and supported AT ANY WEIGHT!!! What is important is how you see yourself and how you feel about yourself...not how the world sees you. Find that sweet spot where you are happy and healthy and living your life....and then stay in it.
Sorry for the novel, but I had to say something. I love you all and I am grateful to have you all in my group and in my life Stay strong!
Seeing as how I run a weight loss group based off of the show "Biggest Loser", I felt I should address what happened on last night's finale. It honestly upset me to the point that I was having dreams about it last night.
If you watched, you saw Rachel come out on stage and your mouth dropped open in shock/horror/concern as mine did. The poor girl looked like a skeleton with skin. My heart broke instantly. I had been cheering for Rachel since day one. I loved that she was a competitive swimmer as I was when I was a kid. I loved that she was genuinely kind and honest and she worked VERY hard on the ranch. She was a tough competitor, but she was humble. It was impossible not to like her. During her last week on the ranch, she was already at a pretty healthy weight...and at 19% body fat...which for a woman is close to professional athlete status. She was strong and confident and determined to win. But I don't think ANYONE realized how far she was willing to take it.
Now to be fair, none of us knows whether she just went 150% extreme to win the money and plans to regain some weight now that she's won....or whether she has developed some type of eating disorder and genuinely needs help. When she first walked out on stage, I turned to Nathan and said "Holy crap, she looks anorexic." He stopped me in my tracks and pointed out that me saying that wasn't any different than someone saying I look fat. And he was right. We don't know if she is anorexic. We don't know what her body fat percentage is and we can only go on how she looked on that stage. But I don't comment on it to judge her. I genuinely love and support that girl and it concerns me beyond belief that she would go that far to win money.
At 5'4" tall, 105 lbs is still considered "underweight". And it wasn't just about her looks. Rachel seemed frail. She fell walking up the stairs to the scale...and after David weighed in and she had won by a landslide, she didn't even realize it until Ali said "Hey, you won!". She seemed disoriented and dehydrated and weak and it scares me to see that Biggest Loser has come to that.
Or have they? The looks on Bob and Jillian's faces told the world that they had NO idea she was in such shape. (In the days following, both of them posted on their social media pages that they were not going to comment on Rachel as they were not her trainers.) They were as worried as the rest of us. But why was it allowed to come to this? Doesn't the show keep tabs on their contestants while they're at home? We've had winners weigh in very thin before, but never quite like this.
Once Rachel took the stage, all the live feeds on FB and Twitter went silent. Even the Biggest Loser twitter account didn't mention her name or congratulate her. (And they still haven't mentioned her by name on Twitter several days later) It makes me wonder how they are going to address this, if at all. Millions of people...families...children watch this show. And last night they watched a girl risk her health and her life for $250,000.
So now let me come to my point. I've said this before and I will never stop saying it. This group is not about losing weight. It is about learning to live a healthy lifestyle. Yes, we weigh in. Yes, our weight counts towards winning a prize...but I truly hope that that is not why any of you are here. If you are here for the money then perhaps you should find another group to try. Our prize pot is no $250K, but I understand that sometimes money can make people do things they might otherwise never do. I don't want that. I don't ever ever want that.
I love this group and I love what it has done for me and for so many others. But it terrifies me to think that it could be the cause of something like what happened on the Biggest Loser last night. When I finally get to my goal weight, will I be able to stop or will I be so obsessed with losing and so scared to gain it all back...that I starve myself? I hope not. I hope that I have learned enough to know where my line is. And I hope the same goes for all of you. Change your lives. Eat healthier. Move more. But know that you are loved and supported AT ANY WEIGHT!!! What is important is how you see yourself and how you feel about yourself...not how the world sees you. Find that sweet spot where you are happy and healthy and living your life....and then stay in it.
Sorry for the novel, but I had to say something. I love you all and I am grateful to have you all in my group and in my life Stay strong!
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