Losing It in Vegas

CCDC Check In and a New Plan

noreply@blogger.com (Losing it in Vegas) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 00:58:00 +0000

Weight 204. Down a pound. Things are good.

Exercise was not so great. I really only worked out 3 days this week. But life is still happening and at least I fit that in.

Water was good...

Reading was excellent as usual...I am now reading the 21 Day Transformation (Mark Sisson) and various cookbooks for the paleo lifestyle.

I have almost completely converted to primal. No dairy, no artificial sweeteners. I drove 300 miles round trip to buy grass fed beef (and it was still cheaper than at Wild Oats). Organic chicken and wild caught fish. Organic veggies, and organic fruit for the rest of the family.

Everything is good, and I have been very busy....so support has been minimal from me. Maybe this week it will all let up.

Hope everyone is doing great!

CCDC Check in - A Fast One

noreply@blogger.com (Losing it in Vegas) — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 22:56:00 +0000

I have out of town company for a couple days. I will post more later in the week, but wanted to check in.

Weight today: 205 Down 1 pound. Nothing spectacular. Not bad. Just plugging along.

It was a bad week. Lots of drama. Lots of stress. Not enough water or sleep. Food was okay, except one day. No exercise (cold and rainy, arthritis acting up equals me sitting on my butt).

But it's okay. I know where I need to improve and I still saw results. Life is happening right now. I am along for the ride.

CCDC Week 8

noreply@blogger.com (Losing it in Vegas) — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 19:18:00 +0000

Wow, it's been a whole week since I updated my blog. I guess I thought I had nothing to note. But then again so many things happened.

Financially things are a mess right now. The IRS has decided they want some money from about a million years ago. Something is also wrong with my reaffirmation on my car with my bankruptcy. The mail and phone are just stressing me the f*ck out. But this is all wreckage from my past. Note to self: Do Not Ever Go Crazy For a Couple Years Again! The good part is, it will all be dealt with and put in the category of done and gone.

Because of the financial situation, I had to drop out of boot camp for a couple months. Not too bad, I can miss the winter and not totally freak out. I do know how to exercise, I still have my gym membership and have decided I have a new goal...to be able to keep up when I go back to boot camp in the spring. And maybe run a 1/2 marathon, but we will see on that.

The gym bores me to tears. So I have came up with a new plan. For the winter months I am going to restart c25k and put some walks in on 2 of the days I don't run. Then I am going to work on the 100 pushups challenge, the 100 sit ups and the whole host of challenges in that genre. They are free online, I can do them outdoors and for that matter I can do them in the gym if this desert heat lover gets too cold. No excuses.

So this week has been bad. I made some other changes. I noticed my blood sugars were running a bit higher so I went and saw my doctor and restarted the metformin at a lower dose. I also reduced my veggie intake to lower the carbs. I am now down to around 20 a day, back to induction levels. I also dropped the nuts and most of the dairy I was eating. My blood sugars are getting a bit lower. I did increase my water but am still not at the level I was when it was hot. I only exercised 1 day this week.

Somehow, with all that, I lost 1 pound. 206. That kind of amazes me, but I hope that the plateau I was on is over!

I have been a bad blogger this week. I will try to comment on more blogs, but please be aware that I have been reading all of you. Sometimes I just feel I don't have anything to add to the conversation. Sometimes I just need to absorb what I read. And sometimes, I am just not in the right frame of mind to make anything that runs through my head public...and that last part is where I have been this last week.

As for reading, I have been reading voraciously again. I am working my way through John Bingham's books on running, and am anxiously awaiting Dr Bernsteins rerelease of his book...so that part of my challenge is going well!

Keep rockin it girls!

CDCC Challenge Check In

noreply@blogger.com (Losing it in Vegas) — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 20:04:00 +0000

Oh boy, what a week. Weight: 207. Yes, stuck. Plateaus suck, unless we are talking a geographical formation. Then they kind of rock!

I have been researching all the ways I can find to break my plateau. My paleo friends say I am over training. My low carb friends say to reduce my protein. My low cal friends say to count calories and exercise more. My fat friends say I am skinny now, and enough is enough (WTH???) My low fat friends just look at my eating plan and say "What the hell ARE you doing?!?!?!"

So in rebuttal to all that:

Paleo: I may be over training but you know something? It feels good. It feels great to find and realize power, strength and endurance that I haven't had in a long time. I have ran 2 5ks this month. I love boot camp and if that is what is stalling me, well, then so be it. I will stay at 207 forever if I have to in order to continue. A lot of the girls at boot camp said they gained around 10 pounds the first couple of months there and then started losing. Maybe my plateau could be considered Not Gaining....

Low Carb: I did increase my fat and reduce my protein. I am eating 75g of protein (not meat, protein) and 6-12-12 carbs, as suggested by Dr. Bernstein's book. I really only just started this, so we will see how that goes.

Low Cal: I am in the 1300 to 1500 calorie area every day. I exercise 25 or more hours a week. That seems to be as low cal as I can go.

Fat Friends: Yeah, I may look thinner (and I am) but I am not there yet. And there is not a number in my head. I have no set in stone goal weight. I just want to be healthy. When I get there I will let you know.

Low Fat: In order to eat low fat, you generally have to eat plenty of carbs. My body doesn't process carbs right....welcome to diabetes. Even doing low carb, when I quit eating the fat, I feel like I am starving. Starving leads to binging. Binging leads to more fat. For me, you can see the pattern....

So now for my official check in:

Exercise: 25 hours, including a 5k (42 mins)

Fluids: Yeah not so much. This may actually be the problem. I will drink more water this week...like around a gallon. Maybe that will break the plateau.

Calories: 1300 to 1500 every day
.
Support:I haven't been commenting much but I have been reading the blogs voraciously...looking for plateau hints.

Book: I am still working on decluttering, and also reading up more on the Primal/Paleo/Low Carb stuff...

Jeans: My size 16s are now getting loose. Not loose enough for a size change yet...but loose comfortably. So much for weight loss equalling a size change. Muscle will work too! I will go shopping for my size 14s for the challenge next week.

NSV:

Fasting Glucose went from 158 to 83 (65 to 99 is normal)
Liver enzymes went from 66 and 100 to 19 and 31 (10-30 and 6-40 are normal)
Total Cholesterol went from 240 to 187 (125-200 is normal)
Triglycerides went from 277 to 147 (0-150 is normal)
LDL (bad cholesterol) went from 141 to 118 (0 to 100 is normal)
HDL (good cholesterol) went from 44 to 40 (46 to 199 is normal)
Fasting insulin went from 10.2 to 6.2 (0-17.0 is normal)
A1c went from 7.6% to 5.9% (less than 5.7% is normal)

So plateaued or not, I am HAPPY.

Run the 'Hood Virtual 5k

noreply@blogger.com (Losing it in Vegas) — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 22:13:00 +0000

I have been a bit absent this week in blogland, but am still around doing what I need to do. I am rethinking a lot of what I have "known" about fitness and food and life in general. And the scale is still stuck...or I think it is. Tomorrow will tell.

My Shrinkvivor team was voted off to Exile Island. While I am sad for the other girls, this is actually a good thing for me. One less weigh in every week. And no keeping track of "I am up for this one, down for that one, yada yada". I will not ever join 2 challenges at the same time again.

Boot camp has been a blast this week. I am building strength and endurance and am now getting to the point where it shows. I am leaner and my clothes are falling off. Everyone there says not to worry about the scale being stuck...they all usually GAINED 10 pounds the first couple months they were there. After a tough work out week, I actually enjoyed playing Ultimate Frisbee yesterday. Until I tweaked a muscle in my leg....

Today when I woke up it felt better, so I decided to run the 5k that I had signed up for. My roommate was supposed to run it with me, but he has really been slacking at the gym and has started smoking again. Being the stubborn man he is, he still wanted to do it....and he made it a mile until he turned around and went back home. DNC. I wanted to beat my time of 42 mins I set at boot camp at the beginning of this month...I didn't do it. 42:10 was my time. But considering I had a sore leg and I didn't account for traffic, I will take it!

It was hard to run with no one physically there to cheer you on. I do think when I do The Great Santa Run in December it will be easier, just for that reason. I know the one at boot camp was easier. Maybe because it was 5am, cooler and we were all sleepy! Also in the dark, the "eye jiggle" thing doesn't bother me as much....

This may be a stupid question, but I am hoping that anyone out there in blogland has the answer. When you run does it make your vision jiggle (with the impact of your steps) and if it does, how do you stop it or do you just get used to it? Enquiring minds want to know.

CCDC Check In - This Week (Week 5 maybe?)

noreply@blogger.com (Losing it in Vegas) — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 18:51:00 +0000

Today I weigh in at 207. Down another pound. I will take it. If I lose a pound a week for the next year, on average, I will be where I want to be weight wise. Considering that I got hardly any exercise this week...well let's just say I will take it.

My back went out. When that happens, I get horrid migraine headaches. I had to take most of the week off work and lay in a dark room. Luckily my chiropractor was able to fix me! But that did cut into my work out time. But I am back to boot camp tomorrow and I have the Sisterhood's 5k on Saturday! Back to the exercise.

Speaking of my chiropractor, and my doctor and their assistants...well I swear if I hear "As we get older" prefacing ANY statement one more time, I am going to hit them. Knock them out cold. I understand my body is not that same as when I was 20 (or even 30 for that matter). I understand that it just doesn't work the same. I understand that I have metabolic damage. I understand that my joints and bones aren't what the once were....BUT DO YOU REALLY GOTTA REMIND ME?!?!?!?!?!?!

My water consumption sucked. As did my food tracking. Next week I will do better on water. Probably not on tracking. It really is just not something I find necessary, since I pretty much eat the same things every day. I always seem to be in the 1300-2000 range and average out at around 1700. I also have a different outlook on calories out/calories in after my months of research....but it is part of this challenge so I will do it from time to time.

On another side note....people are seeing that I have dropped weight. The ones closer to me know how drastically my blood tests improved (and of course my blogger buddies, since I blogged it)...and they ask me how I did it. I tell them low carb...and then they ask for details. I point them in the direction of the books and websites that I have read. Then they come and ask me for additional information...so far so good, right? Please people remember this...at this point I DO NOT become the food police. I really don't care if you follow my eating plan or not. If one more friend looks at me, full of guilt, while eating a donut/coffee frappe/sugary sweet whatever, I may scream.

All in all, it was a great week. Even with the people thinking I was the food police and that I am getting older!

The Numbers That REALLY Matter

noreply@blogger.com (Losing it in Vegas) — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 21:57:00 +0000

Okay, so my weight loss has been a bit dismal. Slow and bouncing. But today I got my blood test results back from my doctor. In three months, this is what has happened:

Fasting Glucose went from 158 to 83 (65 to 99 is normal)
Liver enzymes went from 66 and 100 to 19 and 31 (10-30 and 6-40 are normal)
Total Cholesterol went from 240 to 187 (125-200 is normal)
Triglycerides went from 277 to 147 (0-150 is normal)
LDL (bad cholesterol) went from 141 to 118 (0 to 100 is normal)
HDL (good cholesterol) went from 44 to 40 (46 to 199 is normal)
Fasting insulin went from 10.2 to 6.2 (0-17.0 is normal)
A1c went from 7.6% to 5.9% (less than 5.7% is normal)

So, according to my doctor I am a much healthier unhealthy person. But he said that he has rarely seen that much improvement over such a short period of time. While there is work still to be done, this is a huge improvement!

I have to remember, especially when the scale is stuck, that this is so much more important than looking good in a dress. These are the important numbers.

Though looking good in a dress would be good too!

Shrinkvivor Check In

noreply@blogger.com (Losing it in Vegas) — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 17:40:00 +0000

I weighed in for Shrinkvivor and ended up at 207.5. I lost 1.5 lbs for this challenge. The mini challenge was exercise minutes, which I only got 200, because my back went out...and my chiropractor won't let me (until tomorrow hopefully).

Let's do it again this week girls!

CCDC Check In - Week Whatever This Is

noreply@blogger.com (Losing it in Vegas) — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 15:48:00 +0000

Yes, I lost track of the weeks. Not necessarily bad, since I am not on a diet. I can never be on a diet again. I have to eat low carb for the rest of my life to not cause internal organ damage or go blind...So losing track is good for me. Because that means my mindset is not "When will this be over?" but more like "This is what I do, time to check in with everyone." That's a good mindset for me.

This week for this challenge, I lost one pound. I am now 208. Nothing to brag about but at least I seem to be off this stall that I was having. And there were things happening with my body. Those size 16 jeans that I couldn't fit into in the beginning of this challenge were a little too tight a week ago...and Friday they fit like a dream. I guess it is now time for me to go buy my 14s that I want for this challenge! I haven't taken more measurements, because it has only been a week, but my clothes are fitting better. And whatever was bloating me seems to be gone.

My calories this week have been all over the place. One day was 2000 (I was really hungry that day) and one day was 1000. Most days fell in that 1300 to 1500 range. Very good.

Exercise was okay. I did exercise 3 days but I had to take a couple days off after the 5k. I had shin splints. That will teach me not to stretch properly and why I should only do that once a month or so. I have been really reading up on the Primal Blueprint exercise plan. It is basically the same thing I have been doing now in boot camp, but with less running and more walking. That might be better on my old joints! I will keep you all posted if I decide to change plans.

My water consumption has not been so great. It has cooled off and I am not as thirsty. I am still doing around 80 ounces a day. But on the good side, this week I have cut out most of my diet sodas and all of my sugar free energy drinks. Back to coffee, tea and water. No artificial sweeteners.

Reading has been going good. I am rereading The Primal Blueprint and this week I read Everyday Paleo and a couple of primal/paleo cookbooks. We are trying many new recipes this week. So far most have been good, but an experiment with artichoke hearts turned out very poorly!

I haven't offered much support this week. It was a really busy week, and I needed to withdraw into myself a bit to figure out what was going on with my body. Let's hope I got it tweaked right now.

A Night with Friends and Step Out

noreply@blogger.com (Losing it in Vegas) — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 16:13:00 +0000

Today will be the first time I venture out to a friends house for dinner on this eating plan. These people are long time friends and know that my eating limitations are not just a diet, but something that keeps me healthy. After kicking around a million different restaurants, we decided to do a pot luck. I offered to bring the main dish and several bottles of wine. I bought a bunch on my last cruise and now can only drink the occasional glass...so this will be a good way to get rid of it all! Okay well some of it :D

I am going to make Bacon Wrapped Chicken Cordon Bleu . I mean what's not to like? Bacon, chicken, ham and cheese? Yum. And one of the girls is making a green salad with the dressings on the side, so I can use vinegar and oil....so with that and one glass of wine, I am on a roll!

Tomorrow I am doing the Step Out Walk for Diabetes. There is a 3 mile walk and a 1 mile walk. Of course I am doing the 3...I mean really, I ran a 5k on Tuesday, I can walk 3 miles. I will be wearing the Red Strider hat, for those with diabetes. It is gonna be a blast!

Seems like I have kind of beat my plateau...but not a lot. Let's hope the downward trend continues until Sunday when I check in for CCDC. And Wednesday for Shrinkvivor...

Speaking of which, I am going to finish these 2 challenges, but after that I think that I am going to stay out of them for a while. It seems that every time I join one, I stop losing weight. Not the challenge's fault by the way...just a pattern I have noticed....but we will see. Definitely never more than one at a time again though...it's just too many weigh ins. After these challenges are over (after the holidays), I plan on tossing my scale out for a couple months.

With all that, everyone have a great weekend!

Shrinkvivor

noreply@blogger.com (Losing it in Vegas) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 19:36:00 +0000

Today is the Shrinkvivor check in. This weeks challenge was to track our exercise (360 mins for me, including my 5k) and a mini challenge of no fast food (done, that was easy for me...only about 3 I can eat easily in anyways, and honestly I am tired of them).

My weight came in at 209. Down 1/2 a pound. Not much, but since I was up 6 at one point, I will take it.

And on to the 2nd week!

I Did a 5k! And Other Accomplishments

noreply@blogger.com (Losing it in Vegas) — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 19:39:00 +0000

On 8/17 the Sisterhood posted a virtual 5k. I thought long and hard for about 15 seconds and signed right up! Of course then I thought "What the Hell Are you Thinking?!?!?!" I started the C25K plan and petered out in the third week when I joined Boot Camp. Well at Boot Camp we do a 5k the first Tuesday of every month. I was conveniently unable to go last month. Fast forward to today...my finish time was 42 minutes! Now that might sound incredibly slow to all of you, but to me it is a miracle. And I still had enough steam left after to play tag and run a couple of relay races after. That's tough. Doing all that after 8 hours on your feet at work is even tougher! My new goal for the Run the 'Hood 5k is under 40 minutes. Just a little more running. And I am off work that day, so maybe I will be able to do it!

While my scale seems to be stuck, I took some measurements. I have lost 1 inch around my neck, 2 inches around my waist and 3 inches around my hips (and apron).

My blood sugars are even better than they were...85 fasting and around 110 after meals. I haven't tried to eat a carb heavy meal yet to see what happens...I think maybe in December when I go on vacation...that sounds like a great time to eat something carby. Plenty of walking at Disneyland to burn off the excess glucose.

So even though my scale is stuck, my body is doing things. What things we may never know. But things are happening.

CDCC Check In

noreply@blogger.com (Losing it in Vegas) — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 20:04:00 +0000

So let's see what's going on this week. I gained 3 pounds. I was actually up 6 pounds at one point, but my doctor put me on a pee pill. My blood pressure is fine, but for some reason I am swollen. Filled with water. My weight is 209 this week. Okay I guess it's only 2.5 pounds I gained. But it's frustrating.

Now on to the good stuff. I am doing the diabetes walk this weekend and since I raised over $100 they entered me in a drawing and I won! The prize was a 22" HDTV, but since we have all the TVs my house can hold, I am going to get something else. I am waiting for the email that has the codes that I can enter to see what is available at that prize level. She did mention an Ipod Touch...oh well, we will see what I get!

My average blood sugar every day was in the 95 range. Excellent!

I went to boot camp 5 times this week. 5 1/2 hours of exercise. My water intake has been fabulous, around 120 ounces a day. My calories have been below my 1800 goal every day. I did track my food all week... I am re-reading Dr Bernstein's Diabetes Solution to see where I maybe I can tweak my diet to stop this awful water gain.

It has been a frustrating week, but I know if I stay on track, keep exercising and think positive, this will all work out.

Shrinkvivor - Week 1

noreply@blogger.com (Losing it in Vegas) — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 20:14:00 +0000

So today starts the Shrinkvivor Challenge over at the Sisterhood. I am on team Silver! Let's do this girls!

My starting weight for this challenge is 209.5. Yes that is up 3 lbs from just Sunday. I ate a lot of salt and nuts yesterday. Emotional eating. And today is the anniversary of my dad's death. There may be more emotional eating today too...but not so far. I just got out of bed! (I do work nights...)

Our challenge this week is to track our actual exercise time, starting today. I missed boot camp this morning, due to wearing a pair of shoes that killed my bad foot...but now it feels better, so I am definitely going to go for a long walk this evening. With 4-5 days of boot camp, and some extra walks and gym time thrown in, I plan on getting 7=9 hours of some sort of exercise.

I was going to post a pic of the scale, but they said we only need it if we are in the finals. That will save me about an hour or so of trying to figure it out! That hour can be used exercising....

So here is to a great challenge everyone! Let's do this!

Tomorrow

noreply@blogger.com (Losing it in Vegas) — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 00:47:00 +0000

Tomorrow starts Shrinkvivor. I must take a photo of my scale and then figure out how to upload it to my computer. For someone who used to design websites, I am technologically backwards! Because tomorrow will be taken up with that, I am posting this today.

Tomorrow is also the one year anniversary of my father's death. It was a really tough time. While my dad's death made me incredibly sad, it was not nearly as devastating as my mom's death. Probably because he lived a very full life and followed most of his dreams. There seems to be a lesson in there for me.

He rode his bicycle through Death Valley for his 70th birthday. He rode his bicycle across the North Cascade Highway. He rode it across Lolo Pass in Montana. He fought in the Korean War. He was a lumberjack in his younger years and just worked menial jobs his whole life. But to him the jobs were just a means to an end. The dream. Making enough money to live the dream.

Up until Labor Day weekend of last year, I only saw or heard my father cry once. That was when I called him to tell him that I had to remove my mother from life support. Even though they were divorced, they were still friends. On Labor Day weekend, he told me when you get old and sick you learn to cry. He cried when he said good bye to his friends. He knew it was the last time.

He cried when I brought him to my house. He cried when he thought of leaving me and my son alone in the world. He was not a weak man, but a very strong one. Emotionally and physically.

I found out he was sick (with lung cancer, stage 4) on September 1, 2010. He died peacefully on September 28, 2010. He told me that he never wanted me to worry about him, that's why he didn't tell me he was sick before. He only knew for a couple weeks before that anyway.

This whole post could go one for pages renumerating his fascinating life, interesting thoughts and the stories he told me growing up. He was my stepfather, but the only dad I knew.

William Benjamin Feige
April 11, 1936 - September 28, 2011
You are loved and missed
Any man can be a father. It takes a real man to be a dad.

RIP

CCDC Check in - Week 2

noreply@blogger.com (Losing it in Vegas) — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 19:12:00 +0000

Weight: 206.5 Down 3 pounds. I guess the whole "more veggies, less nuts" is working much better for me. And no macadamia nuts this week!

I have not bought my smaller size jeans OR a dress yet, but I have started wearing my size 14 suit pants...but they stretch and therefore do not count toward this goal. But still I am happy to be in them!

I have finished reading The Joy of Less and have been busy decluttering. I have not started The Clutter Diet yet, and may not. The Joy of Less seems to have motivated me to get some of this stuff out of the house...in fact a whole bunch of it. I have also read The Ghost in the Wire by Kevin Mitnick (about his hacking career, it's actually kind like a catch me if you can book...really better than I expected!) and am now reading Why We Get Fat by Gary Taubes. Yes, I am a bookophile...

I have not been tracking my calories. It is something I really hate to do, and so I usually do it about once a week....That is something I definitely need to improve on.

I did not reach my exercise goal. I only exercised 4 times this week. But I did do 3.1 miles on the treadmill yestereday and ran most of it! For me that is really good....

I have averaged around 80-100 oz of water a day this week. Not quite as much as I need or want, but not too bad.

Hope everyone else is having a great week!

No More Meds!

noreply@blogger.com (Losing it in Vegas) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 21:01:00 +0000

I got some exciting news from my doctor yesterday. I am now off of metformin. My blood sugars have returned to normalish and I can now control with diet and exercise. That makes me very happy, because the metformin gives me the trots. Yes, I have had the trots for 3 months. Not fun.

The down side to this is he said my weight loss might slow down, because the metformin helps the whatchamacallit do its thing. Really I did listen but all I heard was "Your weight loss may slow down"...that kind of sucks but I am not too worried. If I continue to do the right things, I will continue to lose weight...maybe slower, but I can live with that. It's not a race. It's a journey. And it really doesn't matter when I get to the finish line, as long as I get there.

I am done reading "The Joy of Less". I have decluttered my living room and most of my kitchen. I have several boxes of pots and pans and plates and silverware that are going to charity. I also have boxes of unopened food that I can no longer eat that are going to the food bank. One more sweep through and I will be done with the kitchen. Then onto the bedroom where the scary things are.

I say scary because there are many things that I think I am supposed to have an emotional attachment to there. Things like paintings my uncle did that I don't care for...bronzed baby shoes from my uncle and mom...high school yearbooks...That really is covered in the book. About how the possessions aren't your accomplishments. How things you have inherited are not the person you miss. Reading this book was very cathartic for me when it came to my mom and dad's stuff that I ended up with. I was pretty much to that place already, but the book really drove it home.

But here is the REALLY scary part. While my mom and dad's possessions are NOT them....they are still in my closet. Their ashes anyways. And I have to face that and spread them where they wanted to be spread. It is time for me to let go of the past and live for the present and the future. My mom died 2 years and 2 months ago (you can read about it on this blog actually..go to June and July of 2009 if you wish), and my dad will be gone one year in exactly 5 days. It is time for me to make these two trips and clean out that part of my closet. Not doing it only makes me want to put it off longer and longer...

So anyways, definitely read the book. Especially if you have closets and garages full of memorabilia. It will be life changing.

Lack of Motivation

noreply@blogger.com (Losing it in Vegas) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 20:56:00 +0000

Today I am struggling with a lack of motivation. I know why too....I didn't get enough sleep.

Yesterday I went to boot camp. Upper body day. A good work out. Things were all good. I went to bed (remember I sleep during the day...) and woke up 3 hours later. I tried to sleep some more and got up 2 hours after that. And that was it for sleep.

I did eat more veggies than nuts (my new mantra...) and went to work. At 5am I couldn't keep my eyes open long enough to go to boot camp.

No big deal, it's cardio day...so I can go for a run or go to the gym and make it up.

Yeah, that works in my head....until I get a total of 5 hours of sleep today! GRRRrrrrrr.

Now I am sitting here drinking a sugar free energy drink, trying to artificially make me feel like doing something....anything.

Maybe I will try to just take a long walk. At least on a walk or run outdoors I have to find my way back home...on the treadmill I can just say "Enough" and leave.

I will find the energy somewhere!

CDCC Week 1 Update

noreply@blogger.com (Losing it in Vegas) — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 20:30:00 +0000

It was an okay week. My weight stayed the same 209.5 pounds. Nothing to brag about, but nothing to be upset about.

I have learned a couple things this week:

1. My low carb achilles heel seems to be macadamia nuts. I cannot stop eating them until they are gone. At 220 calories a serving, and 7 servings per a small jar, that is almost my whole days worth of calories right there. Not going to buy them unless they are in a small package with 1 or 2 servings from now on!

2. Sugar free fudgesicles are the bomb, but they do have more carbs than you would think. Eat sparingly, not 2 at a time!

3. Walking MY dogs is more of an upper body exercise than an aerobic one ( I have a pit bull and a black lab). Just a note, to the lady that let her 2 year old son run up to the dogs alone and THEN ask if they are friendly...ummm not too smart. My lab is afraid of kids and my pit isn't used to them, but loves them. I guess she figured if they weren't nice I wouldn't have them at the park....

4. I still really really hate the gym. I tried it again today. Yeah, I just can't do that anymore. I guess I am stuck with boot camp (so far, I love it anyways)...

5. My living room is decluttered. I am now working on the dining area. The Joy of Less is a great book and I will be doing a book review, hopefully tomorrow. I am getting some feedback from my roommate...not sure if it is just the change or what, but he is taking some time to err...get used to the new look of the house :D

5 days of exercise, though 2 were kind of half exercise days...I spent 1/2 hour on the elliptical today and took the dogs for a 1.5 mile walk yesterday. The other 3 days were boot camp. So I am good on that...now I just have to get my eating back under control. A couple of 2000 calorie days ended up with a stalemate on the scale.

But, that being said, all is good here. Lessons learned.

Injuries and a Quick Update

noreply@blogger.com (Losing it in Vegas) — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 05:47:00 +0000

Yes, injuries. I took 2 spills at boot camp. One leg has a little road rash and the other has no skin on the knee. There are pictures but they are way too gruesome to show! But I am okay, just having a hard time bending my knee!

Needless to say I took today off of boot camp and am going to the gym tomorrow instead. Just a nice slow walk on a treadmill sounds good to me right now!

But for the good part. The day I took the spills was leg day. We did wall sits, squats, duck walks up and down the ampitheater hill...yeah it was a bit tough! My legs were so sore from it that I could hardly walk anyway. It's nice ot feel that my legs are finally getting a workout! I hate to do them at the gym and never do....but then that's what boot camp is for!

My eating and my water has been good. I have been within 100 calories either way on food and within 20 ounces of my water intake every day, so I am happy with that!

I am almost done with The Joy of Less. I know I have been saying that but I paused yesterday to declutter and clean my living room. Dining room and kitchen are next! I was going to do it today, but moving is too painful!

I hope everyone is doing great and I am going to go catch up on some reading and commenting now.

ETA: The kid at the grocery store asked me what I did to my knee. I told him it was rug burn. Was that bad??? (He was about 25...) :D

CCDC Day 2

noreply@blogger.com (Losing it in Vegas) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:57:00 +0000

　

Boot Camp 5am. Cardio day. There is an outdoor theater with a huge grassy incline...more than a hill in my opinion. We ran a relay up and down it. 10 times. Each. I was proud to accomplish this. Plus there was more running. Oh did I mention, we RAN?

Food: Normal foods...seeds, nuts, salads, meat...came in at 1537 calories.

Reading. Still working on The Joy of Less. I should finish it tonight so I can start decluttering tomorrow. I am starting in my living room first because it is easiest!

Water. I drank 100 ounces of water.

Average blood sugar: 93

Amazingly good day for me!

CCDC Day 1

noreply@blogger.com (Losing it in Vegas) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 00:07:00 +0000

Boot Camp at 5am. Running. Bicep curls with 50 lb logs (and a partner). Pull ups on the swing set. Sit ups. Crab crawls. More running. Beat a tire with a sledgehammer. Yank the tire side to side while running backwards. Sit ups with your feet on a picnic table. Catch with medicine balls. Sprints. I am the slowest. I am the fattest. But I am better this week than I was last week. And that's all that matters.

Food. Food was baked cornish game hen, raw almonds, a couple of salads, several cups of vegetables. I also ate a couple ounces of cheese. I came in at 1732 calories. Not bad. Now that I look at it, it is ALOT of vegetables!

Reading. I am almost done with the Joy of Less. I will review it when I am done. Very enlightening and decluttering starts on my day off on Wednesday. I honestly can't wait!

Water. I drank 136 ounces of water. I peed a lot. I think I was dehydrated because I just could NOT get enough to drink.

Average blood sugar: 91

It was a good day.

And So It Begins - The Christmas Dress Countdown Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Losing it in Vegas) — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 20:20:00 +0000

Before I do my full Christmas Dress Countdown Challenge post, I just want to say my thoughts and prayers are with all the people who were affected and still are being affected by the events on 9/11. We remember.

Christmas Dress Countdown Challenge

1. My starting weight for this challenge is 209.5. Another 1 1/2 pounds gone! In 6 1/2 more pounds I will be back to the weight I was when I veered from this journey 2 years ago. That will make me very happy. I don't really want to put a end weight, because I am really just letting nature take it's course, but let hope that at the end of 14 weeks, I weigh in at around 180. That is 29.5 pounds and completely do-able!

2. My goal size for this challenge is a size 14. I usually have a problem with dresses, because even at lower weights I still have a large bust size. I also wear my holiday dress to work on New Years, so it has to be pretty specific to cover my tattoos and floor length so I can wear flats. I haven't found one yet that I like. So for this challenge I am going for jeans. I do reserve the right to change to a size 14 dress if I find one I love.

3. The books I am going to be working from is The Joy of Less by Francine Hay AND The Clutter Diet by Lorrie Morrero. Yes, that is probably my biggest pet peeve with myself. I am unorganized and cannot figure out how NOT to be! Here is to learning new things.

4. My caloric limit is 1800 calories. This seems to be a number that keeps me losing and keeps me from being hungry. I do give myself permission to fall below that number on days that I do not work out.

5. My exercise will be boot camp. This includes full body workouts, running 5ks, dragging tires 3 miles...yeah it is a little extreme. I go 5 days a week. And I try to get to the gym 1 day a week. I will be shooting for 6 days a week of workouts during this challenge.

6. Non stretch, old fashioned blue jeans. I have a "comfort fit" pair now in a size 16 that I can just barely squeeze into, and baby that ain't a muffin top...it's more like a wedding cake top! So that's the goal. Size 14, no stretch, denim jeans. And not mom jeans. Rise below the belly button. I have no picture because I haven't bought them yet...right now I will wait a few weeks until I totally fit the 16s I have and then go shopping.

7. I already drink around 100 oz of water a day (Dry Desert Heat....or We Live In An Oven Here). I will try to maintain this when it cools off. I also drink coffee and green tea....but they don't count. Yep 100 oz of water...EVEN WHEN IT COOLS OFF.

And so, to all the other challengers...I usually say "Good Luck" but we don't need luck. We just need to DO it.

Irritations from the Uninformed

noreply@blogger.com (Losing it in Vegas) — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 18:30:00 +0000

6, count them 6....SIX calls from the American Diabetes Association about fundraising for the walk. Why I haven't changed my donation page. Why I haven't contacted all my friends and family. Why I haven't begged, borrowed and stole for donations. I called them back, hoping to stop the flood of calls. They asked the above questions and when I explained that I will be donating the money myself on payday, they said...well thats all good and such but if you got donations we could make more! Grrrrrrr....I just kinda said Yep..and hung up. Guess what? 10:54am AND I have 2 missed calls from these people again. And I think it may be the last walk I sign up for with them...just because of this.

4 calls from my insurance's chronic care team. Or whatever they call it. They are very concerned that as a newly diagnosed diabetic..I haven't set up my "diabetes education" program with them. I called back. They put me through first to a diabetes educator. She was relatively nice, but was basically spouting back information I already have...and since I don't use insulin, this part of the program was not really intended for me. I told her that I had taken care of my mom and uncle while they DIED from this disease and I am probably more well versed than most people she talked to. I don't think she liked that much...but it's the truth.

So she passed me on to a dietician, and then the fun began. The dietician starting spouting off about eating a healthy diet and losing weight. I told him that I was on my way. He asked what I was eating and I told him...vegetables, meat and seafood, nuts, some dairy and berries in that order. And the conversation went like this:

Him: "You are missing a large part of your nutrients. You need to eat Healthy Whole Grains!"

Me: "Ummm, no I don't. They jack up my blood sugars and make me feel like crap."

Him: "But they have vitamins and minerals and yada yada yada" (okay he didn't say yada yada yada, but I tuned out about here)

Me: "I can get all of those nutrients from the food I am eating. I also take a multi vitamin, chromium, selenium, fish oil, vitamin C, D, and a few others. I am eating healthy."

Him: "But without the carbs from the Healthy Whole Grains, you will not be able to lose weight."

Me: "That's funny because I have lost 29 lbs in 5 weeks through this food and exercise."

Him: "You won't be able to have any energy without the Healthy Whole Grains TO exercise."

Me: "Wow, I go to an extreme bootcamp 5 days a week and walk 3-5 miles on the days I don't go. I have plenty of energy...in fact more now than I ever did before."

At this point he got frustrated. Really frustrated. He started breathing heavily and practically shouting.

Him: "Well I can see that you will NEVER be able to control your blood sugars on this diet! You need to get on an exchange diet."

Me: "I haven't had a blood sugar over 121 even 20 minutes AFTER a meal. I would call that control. Unlike my mother who DIED on your exchange diet because she could never bring her sugars down."

Him (shouting): OBVIOUSLY YOU WILL NEVER LEARN AND I CAN'T HELP YOU! THIS CONCLUDES OUR CALL AND I HOPE YOU LEARN TO EAT PROPERLY BEFORE YOU DIE!!!!!!

And he hung up. I let out the giggles I had been holding back for this whole phone call. A**hole. Too tied up in his own dogma.

I need to change my phone number.

Stuffed Chilis

noreply@blogger.com (Losing it in Vegas) — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 01:34:00 +0000

I just had to share tonight's dinner. I didn't take any pics but man was it good!

Serves 6

2 lbs ground meat (I have used hamburger, turkey and/or chicken)
6 poblano chilis (largest ones you can find. I have also used anaheim chilis and bell peppers)
Shredded cheese (I use cheddar or pepper jack)
Salsa
Chili Powder
Garlic Powder
Ground Cumin
Crushed red peppers
Salt
Pepper
Sour Cream
3 Avocado

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Brown meat, adding chili powder, garlic, cumin, red peppers and salt to taste. Drain.

While the meat is browning, slit each of the peppers and remove seeds and ribs.

Fill each pepper with meat and put in a baking pan.

Top each pepper with salsa and put in a 350 degree oven for 1/2 hour.

At the 1/2 hour mark, cover with cheese and bake another 1/2 hour.

Top with sour cream and sliced avocados.

Yep, gotta love low carb!