So Far, So Good

Well it has been two weeks now since we started this weight loss journey and lifestyle change. Luckily our hard work seems to be paying off. Here are our losses so far:

Kristin - 5 pounds

Tristy - 6 pounds

Rachael - 8 pounds

Seeing the results really increases my motivation to keep going. Here's to another good week, and hopefully we'll have more good news to report next Saturday.

I need therapy

I am so glad we did this blog. I need to vent for a while so I don't go up to the kitchen. This 4 day anti-bloat is crazy. It says it is a 1200 calorie day, but it feels like a 700 calorie day. I hate that one of my meals is a little chicken, tomatoes and a cheese stick. The next meal was a smoothie of frozen blueberries and water with some added flax seed oil. Are you kidding? The book said the first day would be the hardest, and it better be because I can't feel sorry for myself for too many days in a row, I will brake. Nothing sounds fun or good to do when all you can do is think of food.
I love that we can all share this together. It is nice to not feel like there is something wrong with me when I fall and have to climb back up. Rachael, you have done much better than I have with the eating over the last week or so. I hope you can get over the feeling guilty part quickly. You are doing great. Satan uses quilt to have us turn away from Christ because we feel not worthy. The thing Christ wants us to do is admit the mistake and use it to learn from. Does that mean we never fall again? Probably not, but have a battle plan to pick yourself up as quick as possible. I am not sure where that came from, but I do that sometimes.
In the end I hope this is fun for everyone. Here is to learning new habits over the next few months.

Stress Eating

I think we all are stress eaters, we go for the junk when we are overwhelmed or sad. It is our drug that helps us feel better - temporarily anyway. I always read things that say when you are stressed and feel like eating sweets to eat some fruit or drink some water, but that is a bunch of crap! It never works, I just end up eating an apple and then give into the sweets. At these moments my body is not looking for nutrition, my mind is looking for relief and doesn't know where else to get it. I think like Kristin said that it is important to have a plan before you are in the stressful situation. We can't just remove bad habits, we need to replace them with something good. We need to find something else that can bring us relief other than food. Things like exercising, reading a book, taking a bath, going for a drive, etc. So when something comes up we turn to that thing instead of food. I know it is easier said than done, but it is the only thing that has helped me. I am praying that after some practice it won't seem so hard any more and my insticts won't go that direction automatically. So Rachael I feel your pain, but I think you are doing great! Don't let one slip bring you down, we all willl have those moments. I am so glad we are doing this together, it has been a great motivation for me.

Starting new on Friday

I guess we can start new anytime we want. I had a little brake down this last Saturday when Rachael and Tristy lost around 5 pounds each, I was down nothing, and I had been doing it almost a week longer. I gave in on Saturday and Sunday. I have been taking a little brake from the calorie counting, but watching what I ate by eating good foods and stopping when I am full. This is a brake that I needed for a few days.
But today I start a new diet section from the FlatBellyDiet from Prevention magazine, the Anti-bloat Jumpstart. It is four days long. I think I get bloated from over eating or just eating before the previous meal wasn't digested yet. I haven't really done well this week, but I vow to see through this 4 day diet. It just might jump start me again. I have a feeling a jump start might be needed from time to time. I hope I get the hang of it all soon.
As for Rachael's comments. I remember when our ward did the health program with Cindy Brown last year. The one thing I was so surprised by, was how emotional the whole experience was. There were so many ups and down points, the parts I can remember at the downs. But I am learning from the downs this time a lot better. Yesterday I had a few excuses to each some sweets, and the old me would have kept on eating. But last night, I stopped. I wanted them so bad, but I realized I wasn't hungry. The urge was coming from my head, not my stomach. I fought it off for several hours, and was amazed at the end of the day that I did it. I have been using a lot of prayers to help keep my stress undercontrol and I think it has made a big difference. I really don't know what else to tell Rachael, other than, you are not alone and the only one that does that. Just remember how you felt the next day, then think about how you could have handled it differently for next time. You need to find a way to deal with the stress before it happens. It is like telling our kids they have to decide to say no to drugs before they are in the situation, or else they probably won't make the correct choice in the moment. I am not saying "no sweets", just decide how to deal with stress when you are not in the middle of it. Allow yourself to cry and freak out and feel the emotions. That is what your spirit probably needs is a good cry or whatever. That is what the book said that I just read, and I liked it. It gets easier if you stick to it, I think.

Withdrawls...HELP!

Ok. I've always known that food, in the form of sweets, is my drug. It's the first thing I turn to for comfort, which is probably the reason I am 75 pound over weight! : P Anyway, these past few weeks we have been doing this have, coincidentally, been very stressful ones for me for other reasons and I haven't had my drug to turn to. Well, let me ammend that a bit. I have had sweets, but on a MUCH smaller scale. Despite that, I have actually been doing very well. I have been eating much healthier and feel so much better. Unfortunately, last night due to all the stress I've been under, and my natural forgetfulness, I forgot something VERY important. I felt so horrible that I just lost it. After I cried it all out, I had a bigger dinner than I should have and topped it off with a big piece of lemon raspberry cake from Nothing Bundt Cakes that my sister had brought over earlier. That combined with my wonderful husband helping me catch up on some housework restored my sanity. So my question is this... How can I break free of my sugary drug habit? I know I cannot give up sweets entirely. And I am able to eat them in moderation when I am not emotional or stressed, but I need an alternative so when I freak out, like I did last night, I don't turn to sugar and inhale 2,000 calories in one stressful sitting. Any suggestions?

It has started

Well, we welcome you all to join us in our adventure of losing weight and toning up. The TV show the Biggest Loser works well because there are TV cameras around them all the time, and so we use this blog and the team members to keep us accountable for our actions. We created this team of women that are working together to reach individual goals. We check in with our partner each day to report how well we did with our eating and our exercise. We challenge each other to conquer our week spots the next day. We make commitments to each other and we do our best to stick to it. Some of us live close enough to have a weigh together each Saturday morning. That also helps with the accountability. No one wants to gain weight at the weigh in with the others around to see it.
We started February 14th, Valentines day, after all there really is no good time to start. We are women, so thus we do love our chocolate and sweets. That was our biggest challenge of the weekend of Valentines, but that is past us now and we are moving forward.
We have a total of 5 women. My self, Kristin. My mother, Joan. My friends Tristy, Rachael, and Shantel.