Why...why...why?

Why in the world am I soooo hungry lately!?!?! It's sooo annoying - anyone else having this problem this week?

takin' it to the beach.

i've been meaning to post for WEEKS but, much like my dieting past (or lack thereof), just never got around to it. well, friends, the wait is over and here's the latest and greatest. i'm not brave enough to post pics like heather and her sister did awhile ago. sorry. but let it suffice to say that i weigh too much and i'm just not healthy enough. so i'm working on changing that.

i'm currently doing the south beach diet. AND...it's working! i started june 1 and i've lost 12 lbs. so far. how great is that?! for those of you that aren't familiar with the program, there are three phases. i'm still in phase one which lasts for at least 2 weeks, depending on how much weight you want to lose, etc. anyway, for the first phase, you cut out all bread, pasta and carbohydrates. ..including fruit. this is the time to rid your body of all the sugar and processed flour addictions.

it hasn't been bad. my energy levels are better and the sugar cravings have subsided! in fact, i cheated over the weekend with the most delicious hippo cookie from this bakery on balboa island but only ate half of it 'cause it was just too much. that's NEVER happened to me. usually, i'm shovin' five more of those babies right behind the initial treat. anyway, that's a big deal for me.

the best part about south beach is that i don't feel deprived at all. i'm eating at least six times a day, drinking TONS of water and even enjoying an occasional diet coke (i know, i know...it's my cross to bear). anyway, it's fab and i'll keep you posted on the progress.

what're ya'll doing to get healthy?

Is Anyone Paying Attention?

Today I was looking at this blog reading the previous entries and wondered if everyone gave up. Has everyone given up?

I am as guilty as the rest of you as as far as contributing goes. It took me forever to be brave enough to put keystroke to blog but I have.

One of my friends from church is a motivational speaker for Weight Watchers. I love her to death but just can't picture her standing in front of a crowd like that and being helpful until we talked. She was saying the reason programs like Weight Watchers work is the support. For many of the those who lose and keep the weight off it is the support of the group that helps them succeed. She said there people who go through the programs to lose just ten pounds or a hundred but those that stick around do it for the support. She says it is it the anonymous friendships that form apart and away from the day to day friends that bond the groups together. They pay a lot of money for that support.

I know very few of the contributors. Most of the few I know I only know through your blogs or through Heather. That aside I will be your strongest supporter in working toward better health. Your anonymous friendship that will cost you nothing but a few keystrokes.

At this point I wonder if anyone ever even checks in. Gives this site a glance or a thought. We can help each other by talking about what's working and what isn't as well. We can share recipes, work out tips, products we like, or we can just check in with each other. Mostly I just wanted to say I am paying attention. Are you?

Wii Fit Fans

I have loved the Wii since we got it. The idea of playing a video game on my feet while moving was novel. The idea of playing for hours and having my body ache and not my thumbs was awesome. But when we got the Wii Fit I found a new love of the game.

I try to work out every day and get bummed when time is at a minimum. Okay I'm not sure that some of the games due much to burn calories but they do make muscles I haven't felt in a while ache. A good ache.

My favorites are broad and not really shown when you go on to the favorites section. When I got the game I was doing what I could to open up more tasks which meant doing the easy ones over and over. I have found that while I can't always do the step ones they are my very favorite. Especially free step. I am able to do as little as 10 minutes and on a really good day 20 or even 30. It is nice to be able to just switch to a TV show on my Tivo while I am doing my steps. It goes so much faster in my head than if I were watching the clock.

I usually hold weights while I workout. Moving my arms with the weights as I go. I'm not even sure adding the weights does much if anything toiimprove my workout but I feel better doing it anyway. My arms hurt a little the first time which leads me to believe it is doing something.

Then I was thinking when and If I were better pain wise I could put the step higher for an even better workout. Who knows how many possibilities there are in changing things up.

If you do something different that works for you let me know.

Looking back

Looking back I see that doing a few little things can make a big difference.

About 25 years ago a couple of guys were walking in our neighborhood passing out these new long lasting light bulbs that at the time they claimed would last 7 to 10 years. Mine lasted about 8. Years later when I started seeing similar bulbs in the stores they were about 5$ a bulb but when I could afford it I changed out the bulbs in my house as the old bulbs burnt out. Now they are cheaper and I have them all over my house saving tons of energy. I see them all over now. It is nice to see other people catching on and catching up. Who would have thought changing a light bulb could save energy and help the environment?

Nearly 23 years ago I was working full time and pregnant with my third child. As a matter of necessity I began doing the prep work for a weeks worth of cooking every Saturday morning. We could not afford to eat out and I had limited time and energy so cooking needed to be quick and easy. I'd check the sales and make a menu. Then I'd make a shopping list for the foods we planned to eat. After we got home I began to do as much prep-work as I could. I'd chop, peel, grate, boil, steam, brown, parboil, mix, blend, and create everything I could in advance. For instance if ground turkey was on sale we'd have three or four meals with ground turkey like tacos, turkey meatloaf and a casserole. If the sale was really great I'd buy and cook enough for even more meals and save it for a future week. The meatloaf casseroles and meat in general can be precooked, seasoned and frozen until the night before you plan to eat it. Just warm it up and serve. The whole process took about an hour or two including shopping.I later learned keeping a full and well used freezer uses less energy than and empty freezer and actively eating this way means you never look at that frozen chunk of freezer burn and wonder what it might have been as you throw all that money away. I never felt bad about not affording to eat out since we saved money. We were able to eat fresh healthy food every night in as little as 10 minutes. Who would have thought trying to save money could mean eating better and reducing energy costs?

A little over 15 years ago I became the single parent of my five awesome kids. We had a power mower that quit on me and I could only afford a push mower. I discovered I liked to be able to go out and mow in the very early hours of the morning and not wake my kids or disturb the neighbors. Soon I discovered I was not having to wait til I could afford a gallon of gas and some oil to be able to mow. On reflection today I think of not only all the fossil fuels I have saved and the pollution my mowing did not emit but the calories I burned by doing it the old fashioned way. I still use a push mower. Who would have thought mowing the lawn could have so many benefits?

If we all did just a little thing here and there to change our lives we could potentially have an impact we never even imagined.

I am choosing to be healhy

Hi everyone! I was reading our blog the last couple of days. I've been a part of this blog from the start but only a watcher and not the contributor I should be. This last nine months or so I have been taking care of my mom who is in bad health. Watching her struggles has been an eye opener for sure. I have begun taking steps to improve her health and mine. She and other members of the family are resistant but we are getting there.

I am choosing to be healthy.

I have taken on a new goal to workout hard (working up a sweat) for 30 minutes a day as many times a week as I can but no less than 4. I have made similar goals before but it was too rigid. Say I'd plan to workout 5 days a week for 30 minutes and found that it was easier to give up when a busy week or bad day made me skip a day here and there. In leaving the number of minutes, times per day and days per week open has left my mind open. In the past a few busy or lazy days would mean the end of my good intentions. I no longer think that a bad day or a busy week is a reason to give up. I know I can pick it back up when I can fit it in. So what if I can only get in a 15 one day I know I can maybe put in an hour or even more. I realized that squeezing in what I can when I can is working for me. For the last month I have been doing very well. I am averaging 3 - 6 days a week and whenever possible I put in extra time or more workouts per day. The goal is not to lose weight although that would be a nice secondary benefit the goal is to keep moving and get healthy. I was injured nearly 12 years ago and have decided to work through the pain in hopes of lessening the pain.

Over the last year I have changed the way I cook and eat. The secondary benefit to this is that I cook and everyone in the house benefits. I cut down on my use of oils and changed to good oils if I need to use oil. I moved to whole grain everything I can (bread, pasta, tortillas). I incorporate more fruits and vegetables every day. My choice of meat is always lean and generally white but has been for years. Snack foods in the last few months have been carrots, fruit, celery, nuts and an occasional piece of dark chocolate. (Nobody is perfect, lol.) I don't say never to anything but any splurge is watched, not criticized and in moderation.

I want to be stronger, have more stamina and maybe drop a few pounds along the way. So why are you choosing to be healthy?

Suggestions???

Okay ladies what can we do to make this blog better and more useful to each other?

I want to really utilize this as a good healthy blog but it's not getting much action.

What can we do to make it better?

Down 32 lbs!! So excited!

I'm not losing any weight!

I think I'm going to lose the contest...I'm working out, eating healthy, trying to do everything right, but I'm staying the same weight. Maybe I've lost inches. Hopefully. Maybe I'm just upset because I'm on my period right now and bloated. Yeah, that's probably not helping. :)

I am happier though...I feel better and have more energy. And I have discovered some awesome recipes.

Here are three of my favorites, with our modifications for how we like it -

Taco Salad
(called "Skinny Dip" on Hungry Girl's site)

4 cups shredded lettuce
4 oz. fat-free sour cream
1 cup canned black beans; drained and heated
10 oz (about 2.5 cups) butternut squash cubes
2 cups cherry tomato, chopped
1 cup diced onion
4 oz. roasted red peppers (not packed in oil); chopped
1 pouch (4 oz.) ground meat substitute (Boca or Morningstar)
1 oz. shredded veggie shreds, or soy cheese shreds (aka fake cheese)
3 and 1/2 tsp. taco seasoning
Optional - lime juice, salt, pepper, cilantro

Combine half of the tomatoes with all of the onion. If desired, season to taste with lime juice, salt, pepper & cilantro. Microwave squash until tender. Mash squash to a pulp and mix in 1 and 1/2 tsp taco seasoning. In a skillet combine "meat, remaining tomatoes, remaining 2 tsp. taco seasoning, and red peppers, until thoroughly heated. In a dish layer all items in this order - lettuce, butternut squash mixture, tomato/onion mix, sour cream, black beans, "meat mixture, and "cheese". Serve hot or cold.

Serving size - 1 cup (approx 1/8th recipe)
Calories - 100
Fat - 1g
Sodium - 400 mg
Carbs - 18 g
Fiber - 4g
Sugars - 3.5 g
Protein - 7 g

Only 1 WW point!

We crumble up low-fat, baked corn chips and have a taco salad or put it in a low-fat tortilla...very yummy, excellent flavor, and it tastes just like the real stuff!
Crispy Black Bean Tacos with Feta & Cabbage Slaw
(Thanks to my friend Deanna's blog & epicurious for this one!)

1 15 oz. can black beans, drained
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
6 teaspoons olive oil, divided
1 tbl. fresh lime juice
2 cups coleslaw mix (we just use shredded cabbage)
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
4 low fat corn tortillas, white or yellow
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
hot sauce

In a teaspoon of olive oil, saute onions until clear. Meanwhile, place beans & cumin in a small bowl and mash. Add them to the onions and mix together. Leave on low heat to warm. Mix 2 tsp. olive oil and lime juice in a medium bowl. Add coleslaw and cilantro and toss to coat. Season with salt & pepper. G=Heat remaining 3 tsp olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add tortillas in a single layer. Spoon 1/4 of bean mixture onto half of each tortilla; cook 1 minute. Fold tacos in half. Cook until golden brown, about 1 minute per side. Fill tacos with feta and slaw and hot sauce to taste.

Per serving: 232.6 (kcal) calories, 40.0 % calories from fat, 10.3 g fat, 2.7 g saturated fat, 11.1 mg cholesterol, 28.7 g carbohydrates, 5.0 g dietary fiber, 1.5 g total sugars, 23.7 g net carbohydrates, 7.5 protein

We make mexican rice and a steamed vegetable to go with this and we LOVE them! So tasty and healthy!!!

And for dessert, this gem from my friend Rachel -

Healthy Peanut Butter Balls

1 cup oats
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 scoop protein powder (or powdered milk)

You can play with the ingredients until you get a good consistency, and even add flaxseed powder for more benefits. When you've got it right, roll into small balls and place on a cookie sheet. Pop it in the fridge or freezer for a bit to harden a bit and you have a guilt-free sweet snack!

My "Mii" and my Wii Fit calendar...a stamp every day that you do it. I'm doing pretty good!

I have been doing Wii Fit...I love it! It weighs you and lets you track your progress...I've gone up and down a lot but stay around 199-200 pounds. I always "gain" weight when I do it in the evening and "lose" weight when I do it in the mornings. I try to just do it in the mornings, but when I don't have time, I feel it's better to do it in the evening rather than not at all.

I'm thinking about doing The Master Cleanse...Cody says he'll do it with me if I do. Has anyone done it before? Any advice or tips or warnings? I wonder if I can even do it...I have very little discipline! :)

It's on like Donkey Kong!

My SIL's stats are in! The battle has started. I'm on day two of my diet and not doing as well as I wanted to, but I will be better. I didn't do my video workout today (no time), but I tried to compensate by being as active as possible. Naomi is doing better...she's good at dieting and she took this picture right after working out at the gym. Plus, she's breastfeeding...she's a total cheater! :) I've got to step up my game!