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General Weight Loss Tips

Contradiction

As usual you guys never cease to amaze me. Who knew so many women would show up to yesterday’s conversation and share their experience? I’m not alone. And we can figure out a way to cope. And more importantly keep going. I found that  the act of writing about my issues with PMS helped tremendously. Coming clean, as to say- here it is, this is where I’m going to need help. Writing is the best therapy for me. It makes me lighter.

I’m doing well. Hell, I’m doing good even. Yes I am dealing with 4 pounds of water weight, but who cares? 4 pounds is not the big picture. It’s silly. It’s water. It will go away and then more will go away and I will be a better person for sticking it out. My weight does not make me a bad person. This is a daily reminder. Being obese is not a crime.

And this brings me to my next topic: contradiction. I would say 100% that my beliefs and ideas contradict each other. This may be confusing to some people that know me. “But you said yesterday…” yes, but I changed my mind. Or I’ve decided that this and that need to go together. It’s just how I am and the way I eat is no different.

Case in point: Since starting “paleo/eating better for me” I’ve taken grains and sugar out of my diet. I’ve cut down on dairy, starches and simple carbs. But. But is big here. I will eat them. And have eaten them. While traveling and dining with friends over the weekend I realized how insane we sound. “No thanks, I’ll pass on the bread. Sure, I’ll have a drink. Gnocci? yeah, sure why not?”. What?!!?

Call it justification, but here’s the deal. I’m learning that rules can be broken and personalized. I know what is and isn’t a good idea for me. I skipped on bread and chose to eat a sensible portion of gnocchi. I was hungry, it came with my meal, I ate it. Yes it’s a starch. Yes I said no to bread. Aren’t they one in the same? Technically, yes.

Here’s another example. On our way home we stopped at Cracker Barrel for dinner. We both chose the home style fried chicken. Skipped the bread and skipped the starchy sides. Drank water and didn’t have dessert. In the past, I would have had the fried chicken with mashed potatoes, a house salad drenched in ranch, two biscuits, sweet tea and bring on the apple cobbler! The difference is notable and real. Is the chicken breaded and deep fried? Yes! I ordered it with green beans and a salad. Skimped on the dressing and gave some chicken to the husband.

Want another example? In Charlottesville I had frozen yogurt from Sweet Frog. A planned treat. I can’t tell you how long I’ve wanted a big cup of frozen yogurt topped with candy. So what do I do? I eat a very light breakfast of eggs. Skip lunch (not hungry). Have a light dinner (the gnocchi one from above) and then indulge in frozen yogurt. And topped it off with a long walk. I was even under my calories for the day.

I will have the occasional iced latte. I have brown rice almost every single day for dinner. I will put feta or goat cheese on a salad. I’m okay with all of these decisions because they aren’t what brought me here. 1 cup of brown rice a day didn’t make me obese. I don’t sneak around with salads with feta and the iced latte without sugar? We have a solid friendship. If I said no to all of these things, I wouldn’t last a week. I would be sad and cry a little. They aren’t the problem.

Pints of ice cream. Large frozen pizzas. Ordering meals with the most food. Stuffing myself. Snacks. Eating without hunger. Starting over…tomorrow will be better. I will be healthier next week. This mentality brought me to obesity. Consuming so much that I can’t move is the problem.

I’m slowly getting the point. Making better decisions. Planning. And while it may all sound like one big contradiction, it’s working for me. I know where to say no and where to say yes and the biggest point? I’m okay with it all. Being okay with the decision to eat a big bowl of frozen yogurt stops me from wanting more. It keeps me present. I’m here, I’m enjoying this and when it’s gone I can go on with my life.

I have events and dinners going on all the time. If I go to a friends house and they serve me a big plate of grains or lasagna, I’m not going to turn my nose up and say “ewww carbs!” I will enjoy, stop when I’m full and move on. I may eat lighter during the day or make sure I exercise or say no to dessert.

This is why I don’t like telling people what I’m doing because it doesn’t make much sense. In total. I’m eating less. I’m being pickier. I’m avoiding triggers. And if faced with something particularly delicious. I feel like I can enjoy it and move on with a plan of action.  I can stick with the low grains/sugar thing most of the time. At home, it’s no big deal. And that’s when it matters most. What I do most of the time is more important than what I do on occasion.

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Categories
Weight Loss Exercise

Putting Definition in Your Leg Muscles



Some people are simply born with well-defined leg muscles ? and some of us have to work for them. There are a number of exercises that are specifically designed to sculpt and strengthen your leg muscles. These exercises usually combine fat-burning cardio to decrease body fat with strength training that exclusively targets the toning process of the leg muscles.

Putting Definition in Your Leg Muscles

Putting Definition in Your Leg Muscles

Putting Definition in Your Leg Muscles

Most leg-defining programs make use of aerobic exercises several times per week. Leg-strengthening exercises such as squats, lunges and calf raises will help to sculpt the major muscles in your legs.

Any sport that utilizes the leg muscles to the fullest will also help to strengthen and define the legs and give them those sexy curves that beg to be revealed with short skirts and shorts. Sports such as tennis, water or snow skiing and swimming are excellent methods for overall toning of your leg muscles.

All you really need to exercise your legs to the fullest are a treadmill (or simply take a brisk walk outside) and a workout bench (a yoga mat on the floor will do just as well). You can also add an exercise ball to the workout equipment to get the full effect of stretching those leg muscles.

Some of the best exercises to tone leg muscles

  • Squats – Bend at your knees, back straight and count to 10. Repeat 5 times.
  • Kicks – Laying, stomach down, on the exercise ball, kick upward 3 times with each leg.
  • Outer thigh lifts – Balance yourself with a chair and lift each leg outward 5 times each.

Of course exercise is critical in sculpting your leg muscles, but if you’re overweight you’ll need to reduce the body fat to achieve the lean, toned legs you want. Adopting a good fat-burning diet can also help you get the results you desire.

The best diet to burn fat and boost your metabolism is to simply make it a balanced one. Eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, especially citrus fruits such as oranges, grapefruits, limes and lemons. These fruits are high in Vitamin C, which can dilute fat so that it can be easily flushed from your body.

Other fruits, such as apples and berries can also boost your system so that you’re burning more fat. They contain “pectin,” which helps your body place boundaries on how much fat your cells can absorb. Remember to drink plenty of water to flush out the damaging toxins in your body during your quest to improve those leg muscles.

If you really work and concentrate on improving your legs — before you know it, you’ll be showing off those toned and tanned legs in shorts and mini-dresses.

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Categories
General Weight Loss Tips

And the Cycle Starts

If talk about PMS or hormones make you squeamish, you might want to skip this post because I’m about to lay it all out.

I have really bad PMS.

And I don’t think there are many women out there that talk about it. When I talk about PMS or period woes in general other women seem to give me a look that says “yeah? what’s new?” or a look that seems to say “deal with it” or “I can’t believe you’re complaining about PMS”.  Looks aside, I want to know that I’m not alone, so I write this here because sometimes when a doctor asks me why I have trouble with eating, I want to ask them…is there anything you can do about PMS?

And while I take full responsibilty for my actions. Food doesn’t just go from hand to mouth on it’s own- I find the forces of nature to be a huge struggle for me when it comes to weight loss.

Here’s what I mean…

You know that in the past two weeks I lost 10 pounds? I’ve documented my food on myfitnesspal.com and my thoughts here. For the past two weeks I’ve been indifferent to food. I took out the triggers and was seeing real results from it. I was going about my day working away at my desk and I would think “oh! I’m hungry. Time to eat…” and that was that. And then I’d go on without any obsessive thoughts about food.

And while taking out the triggers has helped (a lot) I can’t help but think that starting this new plan  during and right after my period made it that much easier. I was not battling hormones.

Here we are two weeks before my next period and I’m dealing with a strong desire to overeat. Part of me thinks “see this is what happens when you cut out delicious simple carbs! they come back and haunt you!” but I’m not and I wasn’t deprived. I eat what I want and what is delicious to me.

But this week, I want to eat everything in site. I’m bloated. I have feelings of hopelessness. I’m struggling with focus. I’m in the part of the cycle where it wouldn’t be just a taste of anything. One donut, or one slice of pizza would not satisfy me. It would need to be all or nothing.

And this is why losing weight is a struggle. For two weeks of the month, I could care less about food. I drop weight. 10 pounds is easy. And then hormone week stomps right on in. I’m retaining water. Before I know it I’m back up four pounds. And then I eat. And I’m back up another four pounds. And then I get sad and frustrated because yet again…I’ve lost and gained the same ten pounds– so then I eat. A day later I’m back right where I started. And this my friends, is my struggle. And I’ve never shared this portion of my issues.

For fear of advice, that “well, if you just did this…” or “if you weren’t doing that” or the “you’re doing it all wrong!” .

What I’ve decided to do is share. And that is right. I’ve also decided on an action plan. A two week action plan to get me through until I’m back to feeling normal about food.

It involves exercise, protein, fresh fruit and vegetables, plenty of sleep, journaling (lots of writing!), meditation and checking in with myself daily. I won’t let these two weeks derail my process. So what if I’m dealing with a little water bloat? It will go away and I will continue losing weight.

What I won’t do is bake, sneak around, or eat trigger foods. That’s the cycle.

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