Made myself a goal

Hi everyone, I've gone and done it. Made myself a goal, to loose the excess pounds that have plagued me for years and years. Since I already have several exercise dvd's and some equipment and noone at home, to laugh at me, I thought this would be the perfect time, to dive right in! The LORD has really impressed upon me how important it is to work on making myself feel and look healthier and better. I will be giving the LORD all the GLORY as I do these workouts and try to cut fats and other things from my diet. I've already told my hubby, that it is time to get serrious about how we look and feel. Hopefully, he will see the small successes that I am making and join in!

So, I need you to cheer me on, and help me stay the course. I'll try to give updates as often as possible.

Things I have already changed:

Drinking a gallon of water a day, instead of reaching for iced tea, or soda's.

Cut the intake of caffine and sugars in half.

Using real butter, in place of oleo or margerines.

Using healthy fats, such as olive oil and canola oils.

Reading the labels on the food we have purchased, to see what needs to go, and what can stay.

Keeping myself moving, and not giving into long times relaxing. It is amazing how much you can accomplish in as little as 5 minutes time, by thinking and then doing something else!

Reading devotionals and the WORD.

Prayer walking throughout the day.

Things I will be doing:

Reading up on how much fats are needed a day, and cutting back on products with high fat content and bad fat content.

Using our juicer to get more veggies and fruits into my diet, and using the pulp for fiber rich breads.

I will slowly cut out processed flours and sugars, and begin using more glutton free flours and natural sugars to sweeten with.

Make sure that my plate has a lot of color and 3/4 of it is covered in veggies, not meats.

Use better cuts of meat, and try to stomach fish. I really don't like to eat fish, but I know it is good for me.

Eating more fresh fruits and veggies, throughout the day.

Using alternatives to salt.

Make sure I exercise throughout the day, in 5, 10 or 15 minute increments.

Use my bycicle this spring.

Watch my portions

keep a journal.

Well, I guess hubby is on board for weight loss and healthier eating. I now have a weight bench with weights in the puter room! ~LOL~ This monstrosity takes up over 6 sq feet of the room! We both have our workouts done for today, just getting the thing in here.

Set my calorie intake count at 1800, and came in today at 1680 calories, and I burned off 3249 calories accoring to the counter thingy! Gotta watch the hidden fats, sodium and cholesterol ~~Overall, I feel full and feel today was a huge success! WooHoo!

I've been doing really well with the caloric intake, so far. Which leads me to believe that the calories may not be my biggest problem. The website I am using to gage my calorie intake has a calorie tracking system, that uses the labels on foods. It tracks how much salt, sugar, fats, ect. that you are getting each day. What I am seeing is huge numbers in these categories: salt, fats and sugars. Since my hubby and I do shop together, I showed him the numbers, and how the processed and canned foods are sabotaging us, with these ingredients. I want to add more fresh veggies and fruits to our diet, and use our juicer more often. We can take the pulp and use it to make breads and muffins, and still get the necessary fiber from the fruits and veggies this way, too. It kind of gives us options to change how we are eating and what we are eating.

I am using: http://www.everydayhealth.com , for the Calorie Tracker.


My trouble with exercising seems to be getting past the inflamation and pain caused from a hip and back injury. So, I am still only doing the warm up exercises. Hopefully, I will be able to work myself past the issue of pain and inflamation, and get into some weight training andreally do the exercise portions of the dvd's that we have. One thing I do know, is just doing my normal routine around the house burns between 2000 and 3500 calories a day. So, I am working on increasing the amount of calories I am buring with housework and my normal routine. The main goal for me, is to limit my down time, and try to keep moving throughout the day. Right now, my daughter has taken over my grandson's homeschooling, which is freeing up several hours a day for me, to be mobile!

My verse to keep me focused is Phillipians 4:13.

I've got a lot of housework to catch up on today...laundy and some cleaning. We have an electrician coming by tomorrow. House needs repairs, almost as much as I do. ~LOL So far today, I have burned over 3000 calories! I laughed, when I input the information and saw how much I have done already. The house is smelling fresh and I still have some straightening to do. My desk is a mess...and that is one area, I plan on getting organized today. I have papers from the boys homeschooling, Children's Church, and then our bills and such to organize. Once the house is clean, I can relax and enjoy some quiet just reflecting on all the good things that are being accomplished. I could not do this without the LORD! I'll probably need a good hot bath, to relax my tired, pain ridden back and hip, after all this work today. Whew! Usually, I try to clean at least one room a day, and keep the kitchen and bathroom clean and tidy, plus one or two loads of laundry a day. All of this, is dependant upon the pain and inflamation I deal with each day. So, as you can imagine, there are several breaks throughout the day, where I don't have a chioce but to sit and relax. I used to be able to clean my entire house, in one day! Age does funny things to your body and stamina.

Started back on Ginseng this morning, and taking a multi-vitamin. The combination seems to be helping me reach my energy goals!

My hubby bought some of Jillian's Whey Protien to make a morning shake for us both. It isn't bad, and I am still full from breakfast! I had the shake and a banana.

My snack today is a gala apple and peanut butter. It is one of my favorite snacks.

I haven't decided on lunch, yet...

Dinner tonight is spaghetti with meatballs. My hubby wants that for dinner. I will add some frozen zuchinni from our garden to the mix, just to make it a little more healthy. We bought a jar sauce, so I won't be making my homemade version of spaghetti sauce tonight. I had a time finding one with lower sodium! Most have between 680 and 880mg! I found one with just 380mg...not great, but it is a lot less than the other ones! And, it only has 50 calories and 1G fat per serving! That was a double bonus. Even after adding some shreaded mozerella cheese, we will come in under our calorie intake for today. I will see how the fats, sugar and salt intake are after I input all the ingredients in the Calorie Tracker.

Today, I am extra busy! My grandson who is 3 years old, stayed the night. We've had breakfast, play time with Nanny and I am getting ready to fix some lunch. Three year olds are very busy and I have to keep up! (Wondering how many calories are burned chasing 3 year olds all day?)


I've done really well, with this so far, and I couldn't do this without knowing that the LORD wants me to be as healthy as possible.

Ok, back to the diet...went to O'Charley's for lunch with hubby, we had gift cards. I had the Grilled Baja Chicken. Who would have guessed that had 1010 calories, 36 Grms fat, and a whopping 3670 Sodium! Can't do that again...Doing Jiliam's Whey Protein shake for dinner and later on for late snack...there went the calories for today.

On a good note, this is day 15. My average calorie intake is 1689! A good start and a lot less than I had my target set at, 1800 calories. It is a dif. of 111 calories.

My hubby seems to be trying hard to sabotage my dieting, this weekend. We had to go and pick up a washer and dryer, from a friends home, that she was giving to my daughter. (The daughter who recently moved out.) So, we went after church. Our friend lives about 30 minutes away, and then we had to travel backroads, for another 30 or so minutes to get to my daughter's house. By the time we finished, it was almost 3 pm, and neither of us had lunch. So, where does hubby decide to eat?! Burger King! I was going to order one of the salads, but he wanted me to order a Tendergrill Chicken Sandwich, and then proceeded to order the value meal combo! (I didn't drink anything but water, mainly because I gave up drinking carbonated sodas a long time ago. I found out that caffine sent my BP up. As long as I avoid caffinated drinks, my BP is normal or a little lower than normal.) My lunch was about 860 calories, the fat content and salt content through the roof! I went over my calories for today by 151! I told him, we really needed to eat all of our meals at home, from here on out. Well, at least until I start to see the weight loss.

I still weigh the same, but I did do the body measurements, and I have lost 2.5 inches in my hips, and 1 inch everywhere else. And, I dropped the body fat 2%! So, not all is bad. The hardest part for me, is inputting all the nutritional information. Trying to find resturant nutritional info, is hard, to say the least! At least Burger King, did have it posted on the wall of the restuarant, and on the internet. O'Charley's had theirs posted on the internet, but it was hard to locate.

What I am getting used to, is portion size control. Guess, I wasn't too far off on that before. My energy level is improving. Taking ginseng ( For energy. It boosts metabolism), a multi-vitamin, acai berry (antioxidant support), folic acid (Heart and reproductive health), lecithin (Improves brain function and nervous system health) and Calcium (Bone health). The dr. recommended the folic acid, lecithin and calcium, be added to a multi-vitamin, a while back. I have added the ginseng and acai berry, to help get my body back on track. The combination seems to be working.

I am up doing more, even though I did do something to my back, that caused my toe (and near my tailbone) to bruise. So, I have been taking it easy the last few days. As much as possible.

Please be praying, for my helper at Children's Church. Her name is Sharon. She is the Music Minister's wife. The dr's think she has H1N1. Also, please pray that her hubby, Joe, doesn't get it, or anyone else. I sent him to the drug store for Elderberry Tinture (Sambucol), which is supposed to be good for fighting the flu.

Anyone that knows me, knows I have battled with the weight issue for years. As of today, I have lost a total of 7 lbs and 6% body fat! Woohoo! I'm sticking to it.

I am watching my fats, sugars, and salt intake. Counting calories on everydayhealth.com's calorie counter. It's a great tool. I've actually dropped the amount of calories I am intaking, and still feel full! I am doing the EAS Whey Protien Vanilla Shake Mix (you can get this at Sam's Club for about $30...it makes 76 drinks, and is much more cost effective, than the alternatives. Only 120 calories per serving!) I mix the drink mix, with 1 c. 2% milk, and 1 cup of Doles Nutricious signature fruit blends, or a fresh apple and bannana, for breakfast. This actually keeps me full for a long while. Then for lunch I am increasing my fiber, by adding 1 TBSP flax seed every other day, to my lunch, and alternating with some granola, on the opposite days. We found a really healthy and tasty salad, too. I use fresh baby spinach leaves, a hard boiled egg, 1/4 c tuna fish, sprinkled with a little grated cheese, and my favorite dressing. Just enough dressing to coat the salad. My daughter, April and I are eating this 2 times a week. Other days, we alternate with cottage cheese, or yogurt, fresh veggies, or salads. Dinner is pretty much the normal meal, but instead of cooking with butter or fats in my veggies, I put it on, when serving it. This has limited my fat intake, quite a bit. Speaking of fats, I use canola oil, olive oil, or coconut oil, only. Believe it or not, coconut oil does help you loose belly fat! For exercise, I am using 5 exercise videos, and a pilates ball. I use the pilates ball and sit (bounce and move on it) while watching my favorite tv shows. I also get up and do somthing around the house during the commercials. Usually, it's folding clothes from the dryer, or putting a new washed load into the dryer...you know laundry, it grows when your not looking!~ LOL~ The best thing is, I bought a size smaller pants last night!

Thank you LORD! For YOU have MADE a WAY for me, to get into shape.