Day 1 of Bikram Yoga

I know I mentioned before my love affair with Bikram Yoga (hot yoga). It is a series of 23 or 26 poses in a room similar to a sauna that lasts 90 minutes.  I was lucky enough to score on Groupon.com a month for $20. Whooo hooo. Well today was my first day.

I woke up at 5:20am with the brief thought of not going. I realize I am always the one to hold me back, so I pushed myself out of bed having only 4 hours of sleep and drove to Yoga Loka studio. Bikram Yoga is the most intense workout I have ever in my life pushed my body to do. It also leaves me feeling better than anything I ever tried. Not to mention it burns upwards of 600 calories. After the first 30 minutes I had to lay down past a few poses. Upon getting back up I went maybe 15 more minutes before needing to leave the room.  When returning I was so worn out I laid there until the last floor stretching and breathing exercise. I felt so good when the class was over but, I can still feel in my body I have a ways to go before all the tightness in my body is worked out.  My goal is to go four times a week for the month of January.

I did well with my low starch diet today. I did find myself extremely hungry towards the evening. So much so that I was light headed.  I did manage to stay under my calories.  I made gratin potatoes tonight and wanted to try some so bad that I had literally a few spoonfuls.

They really weren't as good as I imagined, plus they could have used alot more seasoning. My actual dinner was fried talapia and greens. i tried them with a small amount of Siracha which was waaay too hot for my tastebuds.

I enjoyed another drink tonight which I need to not make a daily habit. I more than likely will drink tomorrow due to it is New Years Eve.  But after that I plan to detox on the alcohol for awhile. I do plan on still keeping it low starch for the holiday and am currently working on my menu.

  

Week 3 Day One

Today was my first day semi starch free. I did have a few minor slip ups. But with my evening calorie check on My Pal showed me that I was still 200 calories under and this was with no exercise today, so I will call today a good day!!

I started off my morning with three boiled eggs, two veggie sausage patties and a cup of green tea. I then bought a Mexican corn off the guy who walks around selling them in my neighborhood. A Mexican corn is a huge corn on the cob spread with mayo, white powdery cheese and chili. Sooo good. I then ate a piece of broccoli and cheese quiche. This is when I call my day semi because it had a light crust on the bottom.

Towards the evening I was very cranky. Probably because I needed to eat!! I had a baked sweet potato (semi), two pieces of pan fried talapia and some broccoli. I then ended my night with two glasses of mascato.

 I have decided to allow myself to eat beans and sweet potatoes on my starch free days!

Week 3

OK I am back in effect. I hate looking at my weigh in number for last week. But, it is what it is and I will just move on. I haven't did too well this week, but I figure it is only Thursday....I have until Sunday to make something happen. So, I am going to just jump right in.

WEEK 3 PLAN:

1. Eat no starches three days this week
2. Go to hot yoga three days this week

That is pretty straight forward. I hope simple works. Today is my first day of no starch. I decided to proclaim no starch vs. no carb because I know alot of foods have carbs in them that are not breads. I am choosing for now to just stay away from the bread group 3-4 days a week.

Week 2 Day 1

I blew it this evening!! I started off the day quite well. I had frosted mini wheats for breakfast, then I had a corn dip I made last night. It was a little heavy on calories, but I ate it anyway. For lunch I made a shrimp recipe. This was the best shrimp I have had in a very long time. It needs to be put on my list of things to make again and again. The best part was I just put the shrimp over a bed of raw cabbage. I feel the raw cabbage made up for the fact the shrimp was fried and coated in a mayo base sauce..(I hope).

After lunch things went down hill. Time started to crunch because tonight was my first day back at my temp job. I did not get a chance to go the gym :(  I also ate broccoli and corn before I left and a twice baked potato once I got to work. Apparently that was not enough because by the time I got home around 11pm I was hungry?? I ate the rest of the corn dip and even ate a brownie. I'm not sure what all that was about. Maybe I was a bit overwhelmed, maybe I really was hungry...but it truly caught me off guard. I am claiming now tomorrow will be a better day and I for sure will be going to the gym. I need to make a schedule and more better plan out my meals.

Starting Week two

I had a three pound loss this past week. Not exactly what I was going for pound wise but I will take it. Especially with my slip ups during the weekend.

 I am just going to push forward this week. Still going to do the gym four times and this week I am going to challenge myself with a class, even if it is yoga. It probably will be yoga because my body is yelling at me to stretch in the ways only yoga can do for me. By the way, i have a love affair going on with Bikram style (hot yoga)...but we had to separate due to my finances.  I am hoping to get back to that this coming year. I also think it would help if I dropped about 20-25 pounds before doing so.

I started off my day with Frosted Shredded Wheats and will probably snack on this dip I made. It is a corn dip with a mayo and cheese base so you can imagine it is not the lowest in calories, but I will make up for it with a light lunch. 

I start back to my temp job tonight...yeeeeaaahh!!  I plan on eating dinner before I go, but I am very aware that I get a huge urge to snack all night sitting at the computer so I plan to go armed with a big thing of water and several small snacks like fruit, veggies and crackers with cheese for that carb fix I need that will bring me to the vending machine. Pays to know yourself.

Looking forward to a great week and making some extra money.  Time to make a schedule and include the gym, activities for my three year old who's off school the next three weeks and some overdue Christmas activities!! See ya lata!  

Summary of Yesterday

I got myself back into the gym yesterday to make my 4th day for the week. The only thing I haven't been doing is my weight training. I did it maybe twice during the week. I know its important to tone, so that needs to be higher on my list of priorities at the gym. 

I finally recovered from my drinking. That will not be happening again. I will be lightly drinking from now on and only on the weekend.  I ate OK.  I had alot of errands to run and was not prepared with any snacks. I stopped at Jack n the Box and had a 7pc jalapeno poppers with ranch and then when getting gas I bought two bananas.  I ate one and then after the grocery store and gym I ate the other one.  I went to another grocery store and then on my way to the laundry mat I was starving. Next door was a convenience store and I went inside. Not too many healthy options to satisfy you there.  I did remember pork skins having no carbs from my no carbs days so I looked at the calories on the bag. It is a pretty good size bag and you can eat the whole bag for 240 calories. Not too bad, so I settled for that and a bottle of water.

When finally getting home I made fried talapia in very shallow oil, broccoli and twice baked potatoes but, I picked the smallest half of potato and only ate one. I did go back for seconds on my fish. It was sooo good and I made my portion of broccoli rather large.

Back On Track

OK, I lost my way for the last few days. Friday I did good until I decided to have a drink. I don't think alcohol and dieting go together. Anyway I drank too much and woke up Saturday feeling TERRIBLE!! So all day I tried to compensate for the groggy feeling I lived all day with. I did this by eating! I had chow mien(not too bad). But then I ate my all time fave sandwich...a shrimp po'boy from Popeyes. Those sandwiches are soooo good with hot sauce. I don't know, there is something about the pickles, sauce and shrimp that set it off. They are calorie filled of course and meant to be eaten in moderation. I drank tons of soda because I thought it was satisfying my thirst but then as the day went on ended up drinking tons of water to counteract the soda damage.

Moving on to a brighter day...today!! I woke up and had a slice of pizza. Not too bad because there is none left. But let me show you guys what my weakness is:

So, I plan on spending the rest of this day eating fresh and trying to detox. Getting ready to make a smoothie with green lettuce in it. Then will be going to the grocery store and stocking up on good things. I will go to the gym after the grocery store, but before the laundry mat. See, you have to have a solid plan so the gym does not slip threw your fingers as the day unfolds into something else.

Daily Life Inside Of Weight Loss

I did well today. I did not feel the need to do a calorie check. Tomato soup for breakfast (lol). Then I made baked chips out of corn tortillas and ate them with one of my faves from Trader Joe's; Peach Salsa:

It filled me up quite a bit along with some raw baby carrots. Of course I went back for seconds but hey, how bad could it have been? 

This evening I had an orientation at school. I am trying to get back in. I finished Medical Billing in May with a 4.0 earning academic excellence and have been hard on the job search since and have not lucked up on anything. Truthfully I took that program as a last resort with the hopes it would lead to a quick steady career. But, my heart lies with Social Work and children. After much praying, waiting, planning and praying again I decided to go back to school for Human Services and Early Childhood Education.  My last time attending community college was in 2007. I had no discipline and did terrible! Because I had a history of that I was dismissed and that's what my orientation tonight was for.  I am walking threw the steps of getting back in school and securing myself with financial aid, finishing and praying to God this is where he wants me to be and I will get a JOB!! 

I have also been working on getting my hair to its natural state and thought I was cute when I took this close up picture. Then I decided to take a full length picture in the mirror...

I rarely get to look at a full body pic of myself...not too impressed. I do think I am beautiful. I have that much accomplished which is huge. You have to find the things you do like about yourself. I love my skin complexion. I am beginning a love relationship with my hair. I love my face. The rest needs to be sucked in and carved off at the gym..lol.

I know I have some real work ahead of me in lots of areas. I just want to stay true to the goals. I want to always remember what I am doing and why. I am going to sleep on why. Tomorrow I shall write a sort of love letter to myself that I can refer back to on this journey.  

Battle Of The Buffet

Cheers to a better start today. I am relieved that today is my day off from the gym. I think you need a break once and awhile. I also am feeling funny about taking off the whole weekend as planned. So, I decided to break into an every other day routine starting with tomorrow.  That will still give me my four days this week. 

I was doing well yesterday but, grocery shopping is in need.  I was hungry most of the morning after eating my smoothie and two boiled eggs. The smoothie was a good fresh choice!

First taste I felt it needed sugar...I just went on drinking it and it tasted great. I think first taste was thrown off because I am a huge sweet fanatic! Did I say HUGE?? 

For lunch my grandfather treated myself, my daughter and my grandma to eat. We could have chose anywhere but went to Hometown Buffet. My mind told me to go to Panda Express because I could control the portions there. At the buffet I started off really well with a salad. Then they have these wonderful grilled cheese sandwiches. I don't even know what makes them so good..lol. But they are a sandwich of buttery crispy, cheesy wonderfulness.  Anyways, I had one. I also had a small plate of nachos....and so on. I definitely did eat much less than a usual trip there and filled my plate with mostly vegetables. I also had a very small plate of dessert when I am known for trying a limitless amount of dessert choices!  Fact of the matter is I felt I needed to do a calorie check for the day on My pal fitness. Even with the exercise I only had 200 calories left in the middle of the day.  I know I went over even though I only had a granola bar and a bowl of cereal. No more buffets right now. I don't have the will power at this point to only eat a little when all those food choices are within my reach.  We are a family that loves to eat out so, I will be sticking to places that offer single plate servings.

This morning I am already thinking of what to eat for breakfast. Again, need to go grocery shopping. It is so important to be well stocked with healthy food while on this journey. Your body has to eat and if there is no good choices available a choice will be made either way.

Starting Line

Work out went well today. That 30 minutes on the elliptical kicked my butt. I was able to hang though. Went quickly into weights for my upper body, transitioned into stretching and left!! Mission accomplished. I did use the gym scale and seen that huge number of 307 lbs. So, that means that is my starting point. I would love to get under the 300 mark this week. At least to 299. OK, its settled by the end of this first week I want to weigh 299lbs. Then I never want to see that damn evil 300lbs again!!

Eating went OK today. I feel I could have done better. I did not eat any fruits or vegetables which is never good. I did go on My Fitness Pal to track calories just to see where I was for the day including exercise. I still tonight have around 400 calories to take in according to their calculations. But, of course it is past 11pm and I am done eating for the night. Again, this website offers a wealth of knowledge. I do plan on using it as a tool to assist me in whichever way needed!

Weigh In Tracker

                                    Mondays 12/12/11:      307lbs ugh!!.....starting

             (wk 1) 12/19/2011:   304.2lbs   (lost 3lbs)

            (wk 2)  12/26/2011:    308lbs (WTF is what i'm thinking as I hang my head)

            (wk 3)   1/2/2012:      303lbs   (started biggest loser challenge)

            (wk 4)  1/9/2012:     300lbs

            (wk 5)    1/16/2012:   301 lbs (damn 1 pound gain)

             (wk 6)   1/23/2012:

             (wk 7)   1/30/2012:

          (wk 8)        2/6/2012:  

          (wk 9)        2/13/2012:

         (wk 10)      2/20/2012:       304.2 ( gained 3lbs in 4wks)
       
          (wk 11)  2/27/2012:     301.4

           (wk 15)  303

            (wk 16) 297

Plan for Week 1

I took the first big step into securing a workout regimen by going to sign up for a free pass to 24hr fitness. I don't have any money at this time but, they were willing to give me a free pass until the 21st which is my payday. Then at that time I can secretly decide if that gym works out for me. So, where there is a will, there is a way. It can be done. I'm sure other gyms also would offer a free trial period. Things that make me say hmmm.....

Any who this week I plan on easing into this weight loss journey. I want to primarily focus on getting in my exercise and eating actual meals vs. grazing all day. This will be my plan for my first week.

WEEK ONE

1. Work out 4 days...Monday and Thursday: elliptical 30 minutes, upper body strength training                                Tuesday and Friday: elliptical 30 minutes. lower body strength train
2. Eat breakfast, lunch, dinner and two snacks
3. Only liquids will be water or a diet soda for treat

I have been logging food on www.myfitnesspal.com. I think this is a GREAT site and would recommend it to anyone. It mimics the Weight Watchers site. It is free and you can track calories, exercise and it has a very supportive online community.  For this first week I am not going to put too much pressure on myself as for logging my food. It can get tedious and does take a great deal of attention. But, it great when you can see at a glance when you are eating too much. I know I will eventually go back to it. For now I will focus on exercise and not over eating and when my weight loss halts or I am not happy with the results, I will then go back to logging my food.

Well, good night. Gym in the morning. Good luck to me. Official starting weight will be posted tomorrow!!

Introduction

I almost started my first entry of this blog with how I have tried and failed a numerous amount of times. But, I WILL NOT. I am starting fresh with a huge desire to loose at least 80 pounds to start. I have always been overweight and have always tried to loose it. I wish I had stories of "when I was thin", or "I want my body back". I have never been able to witness myself in a fit state.

I weigh about 300 pounds at this point. This is the heaviest I have ever been. I usually teeter tot around 280. Somehow those additional 20 pounds threw themselves on me. Probably somewhere between my times filled with pizza and chocolate all in the same day. Carbs and sweets are my weaknesses! They are comfort for me. I indulge when I am happy and sad, excited or bored. There never seems to be a wrong time.

Right now I feel stuffed. My legs feel like tree trunks, my blood pressure is high and I have no energy to do anything. That is not good because I also have two children. A 16yr old who deserves to have a beautiful mom she can look up to and aspire to be like and a 3yr old who deserves to have a mom who can run around with her and do something besides lay around and watch t.v or sit on the sidelines at the park and watch her play. 

I have tried Weight Watchers, calorie restriction, no carbs....eat every two hours and so on. Maybe if I could stick to something long enough i'm sure it all works to some extent. I have a history of lasting about two weeks then all is lost. But, here I am trucking along. 

I feel I am an attractive person covered by pounds of excess weight.  I don't dress like I would and should because I am not comfortable in my own skin let alone clothes. My self esteem lacks in a big way and probably screams that in my appearance on most days.  Here are a few pictures of me now:

 This was a night out with one of my closest friends Yasica. My weight stops me from being as sexy as I'd like when I go out. Even with my boyfriend I would looove to take it to another level.

 This was my graduation from Anthem College Medical Billing and Coding program. ( side note:I've yet to find a job. My resume has brought me plenty of interviews. I began to wonder if it had something to do with my weight)

I took this in the mirror at my moms house. I used it when I created my profile at www.myfitnesspal.com

I had my daughter take these profile pictures for my records as I loose weight. This was from my attempt a few months ago. But I can still use them because I am still on step one. Sad but true.

Back view. I had no idea I looked this bloated.