Can you believe it has been four months?

I can't believe I have been on this journey for four months. I am going to do a recap tomorrow. But, I can say that I have learned a lot. I am still perfecting - oh no I shouldn't use that word - my strategy. So, more tomorrow on thoughts on the first four months.

Why are some days harder than others?

I'm not sure why some days are harder than others. Today I had a great workout this morning - more boxing. But, all day today again, I have just wanted to eat and eat. I did succumb to two See's candies, argh! I guess that could have been a lot worse, right? I think I need to go back again and heed my own advice about planning. If I have a plan with the right foods, I don't have a problem. But, if I don't have a plan like I didn't today or yesterday, then I seem to be more tempted. Duh! Just plan every single day! How hard can that be? Actually for me it is easier said than done, but I know there are plenty of people that plan all their meals everyday. I remember when I was in college I had a roommate that would plan her breakfast and lunch, and then prepare an elaborate meal each night. We all (my three other roommates) thought she was crazy! We were eating Lean Cuisines, popcorn, frozen yogurt and bagels! And, not gaining a pound. But, I do remember going to aerobics almost everyday back then – looking like the girl in Flash Dance. Well, not really, but…you know what I mean. I bet she is still planning her meals everyday. LOL! Only 24 days until I take off for the Biggest Loser Resort. Oh my gosh, I can't believe it is so close. I am a little apprehensive - since I am going by myself. Hopefully I will make some new friends. I'm sure I will. I'm also a little apprehensive about what we will be doing. The scheduled seemed pretty rigorous. Here it is again.

6:00 am - Open Gym or Class
7:00 am - Breakfast
8:00 am - Hike / Walk
11:30 am - Water Aerobics
12:45 pm - Lunch
1:15 pm - Education Series: Cooking Demo
2:30 pm - Kickboxing
3:30 pm - Circuit Training
4:30 pm - Stretch
5:30 pm - Dinner
6:15 pm - Education Series: Intuitive Eating

Looking at this schedule again it should be a piece of cake!!! Especially since I won’t have to worry about anything else like working, of taking care of the house, my husband, etc. I love you honey, but you do take some work!!! I hope I’m not being too cocky!!

Hungry

For some reason today I am really, really hungry today. I'm trying very hard not to eat something bad. Oh dear!! I might have to go take a walk around the block or something. I had a healthy breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner already, but.....oh I guess it is just one of those days. Any ideas for a tasty very healthy low-cal snack are welcome. Tomorrow is another workout bright and early. Then off to a meeting, prepping for my class while I babysit, and then teaching tomorrow night. I am tired just thinking about it. I'm going to get to bed early tonight. I am noticing on my GoWearFit monitor that many nights I only get 6.5 hours of sleep - not enough. Oh duh! Perhaps that is why I am hungry. Okay, early to bed it is.

On Saturday, I am going to give a review of the first four months of my journey. I can't believe it - four MONTHS!

All about Insulin and motivation

Don’t let anyone tell you what you can and can not do! Words to ponder for today. For me at least anyway. I think I have listened to people over the years who have told me I can't do this or I can't do this or that. But, not more. I can do anything I want, including release these pounds. And, I will. They will see. My motivational prose for the day!

Now some information on Insulin and how it can wreck havoc on your system, especially when you are trying to loose weight. After reading this, I'm going to get my blood work done. Maybe you should too! Plus, for sure I'm going to have some protein with every meal and snack now.

One of the endocrine system's most important hormones is insulin, which plays a critical role in how your body uses food. When you eat, your digestive system breaks food down into glucose, and the glucose circulates in your bloodstream (where it's often referred to as blood sugar). In response to the rise in glucose after a meal, the pancreas releases surges of insulin, whose job is to clean the glucose from the blood. Insulin directs some of the glucose to the body's cells, which use it for energy. Some of the glucose is diverted to the liver, where it's converted into glycogen (stored glucose) for later use by the muscles. Insulin then helps turn any leftover glucose into fatty acids and stores them in fat cells, where they can be tapped later for fuel.
Problems arise when your body starts creating too much insulin, which can happen for several reasons. One of the most common is that you ate too many highly processed, refined carbs, such as white bread or pasta. Such carbs increase blood sugar dramatically, requiring a rush of insulin to clear the blood. If your blood sugar surge is really dramatic (as it would be if you ate those refined carbs on an empty stomach), insulin overreacts and works twice as hard to clean the sugar from the blood. This overefficient removal of sugar means that your blood sugar concentration drops, with the result that you feel hungry again and crave (and probably eat) more carbs. That's the postsugar "crash and binge" cycle, the root of sugar addiction. In addition, when your muscles are still fueled from your last snack, the insulin converts those extra calories into fat. And as long as large amounts of insulin remain in the bloodstream, your body won't have a chance to tap into your fat stores for fuel — so you won't burn any fat, either.
This cycle can eventually lead to insulin resistance, a condition in which your body produces insulin but the cells become insensitive to it — as a result, the insulin can't do its job to lower the glucose concentration in the blood. Insulin resistance is a precursor of type 2 diabetes and is common among overweight people. Elevated levels of glucose in your blood is a surefire sign of it.
There is hope for preventing the problem. The key is to maintain low levels of insulin by eating whole foods, pairing carbs with protein, and avoiding highly processed carbs. When your insulin-release mechanism works the right way, it helps keep your weight in check. When it's not working, you're in trouble. If you can take control of your insulin's ups and downs, you'll be primed to lose weight and restore your body's hormone power!

The Real Me

Just think this time next month I will be at Biggest Looser Resort. I can’t believe it is coming up so soon. Tonight was the weigh in for our family contest, and ARGHHHH I didn’t win the half way prize. I came in second. I guess that is good because it will give me incentive to keep going, keep pushing to win the whole contest, right?

Today at Prosperity Princesses we were talking about how important it is to stay in a state of joy and gratitude to be able to manifest your desires and dreams. That is my goal to be in a constant, or a least pretty close to constant, state of joy and gratitude and also focus. Yes focus. When you are a little ADD like me you tend to try to do too many things at once and not really get much accomplished. But, I sure do look busy doing this. LOL. That is going to change!! I’m also going to concentrate on doing things that bring me joy and not doing things that don’t that I think I have to do. Of course there are some things we do have to do in life – but from now on if whatever I am doing must bring me joy or it is out. Boy, that could mean some things will be changing in my life. One of my goals when I started this journey, in addition to becoming fit and fitting in to a size 8, was to find my authentic self. You know what I mean. The real me - not the person my parents, my friends, my husband, my kids, my brother and whoever else in my life thinks I should be, but the person I want to be. It might take a little effort for me to get to that person, but I feel a change is coming. I wonder what I’m going to be when I get to that authentic self. Or should I say I wonder who I’m going to be. Or should I say what will I be doing. I have so many dreams and desires from long ago that have been resurfacing seemingly asking me to take a second look at the possibilities they offer. I’m excited. This should be interesting and fun!!

WHAT?

Today I went to the UCLA Festival of books and helped my brother sell his books. He is the photographer/publisher of Past and Present books on San Diego, San Francisco, Hollywood and Los Angeles. So, it was fun selling his books to the passersby. I walked around a lot and looked at a lot of books – it was great all those books in one place! I love to read. Plus, there were quite a few authors speaking. We wandered over to see on of them speak – it was Daisy Fuentes – the international model/television host talking about her book titled Unforgettable You. While she was speaking many things dawned on me – it was really odd that she said so many things that struck me. But, I guess you never know where you will find the messages you need. After the talk was over, we walked over (more walking!) to buy a book and decided what the heck let’s get it signed. So, we waited in line to get the book signed. And, I walked up to have her sign the book and she said, “I really like your make-up.” I was thinking WHAT? - a super model is telling me she likes MY make-up! Hmmmmm… I graciously said thank you. Then she continued on to say, “You have the most gorgeous eyes.” WHAT! At that moment I knew I had to just believe in myself and what a great person I am inside and out, and I know now I will reach my goal. And, I even think I might just be up on that stage in a year or two talking about my incredible journey. You never know. Remember thoughts become things!

Lots of walking

The Spring Garden Show was really neat - tons on plants and cool things! Tonight I am trying some of the Swiss Chard from my garden. We will see if hubby likes it - and me too. I hope I do since I have grown a ton of it. LOL! Anyway, I had a nice enjoyable day today. Tomorrow I am off to the Book Festival. That should be fun too!I should be logging some major steps on my handy dandy GoWearFit monitor. I feel like I walked forever today and tomorrow will probably be more walking. It is all good. It is all calories burned. Yahoo!!

Jumping and Boxing

Today I jumped on a rebounder trampoline and boxed. Yes, boxed. Hitting my trainer. Well, not really hitting him - hitting the hand pads. LOL! Boy, what a workout! Who would think jumping up and down on this little round trampoline would be so tiring. It is supposed to be good for your lymph system too - releasing toxins. So, I am thinking I released a lot of toxins today with my rebounding and the massage I had this afternoon. I know I'm spoiled. Well not really. I am working tomorrow and Sunday. Well,not really working - helping out my friends and family. I am helping my friend Karen (gro-Organic), at the Earth Day at The South Coast Plaza's 21st Annual Southern California Spring Garden Show tomorrow and then on Sunday I am helping my brother at the LA Times Book Festival. So, it should be a fun weekend filled with two of my favorite things - gardening and books. Oh, I mean three - I'll be at South Coast Plaza so I will probably have to shop too!!! Anyway, I think I'm going to get a rebounder for home use. Sounds like a plan.

I must remember my motto - Just do it with Integrity!

Cranking up the Tunes

Music seems to be the key to me exercising harder. Today I cranked up the tunes while I did cardio at the gym. I think I may have been singing out loud. LOL! Boy, was that a workout. And, I stuck to my eating plan. Woo Hoo!!! It looks like I will be pretty close to my 4000 calorie burn, but I won’t know until the morning. This journey seems so long - and like I have had no progress for awhile. But, I KNOW it is going to happen. I feel that my weight release is going to kick into high gear in the next five weeks. And, then in five weeks I go to the Biggest Loser Resort. Oh boy!!! That should be interesting. I am excited to go and release some major pounds that week. Until then I will FOCUS on my goal – FOCUS on the prize – a fit healthy me!

Planning and Super Foods

I think I am eating too many calories a day. This is what my big ah ha has been wearing the GoWearFit monitor. I realize that most days I burn enough calories – an average of about 2500 a day. But, I am not having enough of a calorie deficit on a weekly basis. So, my new plan is to eat 1500 calories a day, and burn 4000 calories. This will mean really measuring what I eat and staying away from too many carbs, plus upping my exercise. The most calories I burned in one day was 3892 - so burning 4000 is doable. I’ve got to kick this up a notch to beat my competition in the challenge. Also, I realize that …..I sound like I am repeating myself….but it is true. Planning is vital to my success in my journey. I keep getting away from planning. I guess it is just laziness. It only takes a few minutes to plan meals. I think it is part of my resistance to the process. So, here we go with planning. And, this time it won’t just be for one day! And, I will be adding in more of the superfoods that I wrote about in an earlier Blog.

Weigh In....Aargh!!!!

I don't know what to say...except darn, darn, %$#@&^#$*()_&%^$f+=!!!! Basically, I weigh the same as last week. I guess my big bad binge really messed me up. Of course one of the guys in the contest lost another 7 pounds. I can't believe that one day of being off can result in not one single pound lost. According to my GoWearFit monitor I should have lost one pound including my binge. Well, hopefully that will show up next week.

On a better note....at least I didn't gain!

Tomorrow is another day, and then another week, month to progress in my journey, right?

Big Bad Binge

Yesterday I had a big bad binge in many ways. Not good! Not good at all - very damaging to my goal of being a fit and healthy. Ever wake up knowing you did something bad, very bad and know you need to change some things in your life? Well, that is what happened to me this morning. A couple of people witnessed my big bad binge and bad behavior. I hope they will forgive me. I realized something about myself this morning. I have a recurring pattern that is detrimental to my health and my relationships. And, it is going to change. It has to change. And, today is the day that I change!!! That is it – that is enough – I am done loosing control. No more!!

Okay. Now that I have made that declaration on to something productive. Here is a delicious recipe for Healthy Coconut Macadamia Chicken. It sounds nummy. I am going to try it tomorrow. I have made a similar dish without the coconut milk, which I think will make this dish supper tasty.
Healthy Coconut Macadamia Chicken
1-2 cups unsweetened, organic, shredded coconut; 1-2 cups raw, unsalted macadamia nuts, crushed; 1 cup coconut cream/milk; pinch unprocessed sea salt; 1-1/2 to 2 pounds organic chicken breast tenders; 1 teaspoon organic coconut oil.
Marinate chicken breast in coconut cream or milk for 3-8 hours. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat glass baking dish with coconut oil. Mix crushed macadamia nuts and shredded coconut in bowl. Roll chicken breast in coconut/macadamia mixture and place in baking dish. Cook 35-45 minutes (baking time varies according to different ovens). Place under broiler for 1-2 minutes. Serve with jasmine rice, quinoa and asparagus or veggie of your choice.

Dancing and more dancing

Tonight Steve and I went dancing. It was lots of fun - but really made us realize how much more we need to practice to get on to Dancing with the Stars. Really? Fooled you, huh? No really we had a good time, but we wont' be any any contests soon. LOL. It did burn some calories though. I'm still on the positive vibe quest - tomorrow I'm going to have an extraordinary, gratifying day full of love and peace. How's that sound? I'm going to be in that state - for sure!! Perhaps a walk up Euclid or maybe the Wilderness Trail and then lunch with my friend Kimiko. Night all!

Boxing and Blissful

Today I did boxing in my workout. Oh boy was that hard!! I was dripping with sweat. But, it sure did get out my aggressions. Poor Marc!! Anyway, it was a great workout. And, I felt GREAT when I was done!

Today I decided I want to be feeling good all the time. So, I am going to do things that make me feel good. I'm going make ME feel good all the time – or as much as possible. I know that gardening makes me feel good. I know that working out makes me feel good. And, of course getting a massage or any other relaxing treatment makes me feel good. What else makes me feel good? Actually, after I am done teaching my class I always feel totally invigorated. I love it. Petting Cleo makes me feel good. Spending quality together time with Steve makes me feel good. Reading a good book makes me feel good. Seeing my friends makes me feel good...and, and, and, you get the idea. I've been listening to a CD that talks about how when we feel good we are most likely moving closer to our dreams, goals and desires. So, that is my mission now....feeling good. You know the difference between feeling good and feeling bad. That is pretty obvious. But, I want to have that joyous, blissful, peaceful, euphoric good feeling instead of that so-so, mediocre, average, mundane, routine feeling. So, here’s to working on feeling exhilarated all the time!!! Hmmmm... How about you? What makes you feel good?

Definitely addicted to this monitor thing

I am definitely addicted to this monitor thing. Okay - 483 calories burned this morning when I went to the gym and did cardio - WOW!!! I think the new music on my iPod helped too. I’m going to try to get a good nights sleep tonight – please please please! Anyway, I need to start to get more creative in my posts. I’m sure you are getting tired of hearing about my new addiction. LOL. It really is eye opening. The key will be what the scale says on Monday and how well I track the food I eat. I’m going to go read a little before I go to sleep tonight. Night all! I know it is early, but I think burning those 483 calories wore me out. LOL! I’m sort of not kidding.

Gofitwear Addiction...LOL

Here is the update on the monitoring system. First of all it is totally cool and worth the investment so far. It is so motivating to see how many calories I am burning. It looks like my workout this morning burned about 320 calories and my dancing lesson burned about 185 calories. I’m going to have to get those numbers up to win this darn contest. My daily total of calories burned so far is 2768, and my food intake is 1698 for the day. So, that is a calorie deficit so far today. I feel like I am addicted to looking at these numbers, just alike a CrackBerry addict. LOL. You all know who your are! You know the people who have to keep looking at their Blackberry every two seconds to see who called, or emailed or texted them. Well, now I am a Gofitwear addict. Hahahahahah! I’m pretty funny! Anyway, tomorrow I am going to run on the treadmill and see how many calories I burn doing that. Obsession!!! I always knew I was easily obsessed, and I am certainly preoccupied with my new toy. OH I mean tool!

Monitor update

Using the Gofitwear monitor is opening my eyes as to just how little I move around when I am not officially exercising. Plus, the most I sleep at one time is about two hours and then I am awake for about a minute or so. Weird, huh? That probably is affecting my weight loss. I wrote about the importance of sleep in an earlier blog when I got my new bed. So, I guess I used to wake up even more times a night. I need to get this sleep thing under control. Oh how I would love to just sleep for eight hours in a row. I'd even take four hours at this point.

I went to my Pilates session today - that didn't show up as much activity. I wonder if the band wasn't working right. Hmmmm.....Tomorrow I have my training session at 7 a.m. We will see how many calories that actually burns too. This is like a recipe that has to be perfected in order to work - the right amount of calories, plus the right about of exercise EQUALS the right amount of calorie deficit to loose weight. Once I get this down there is no stopping me. Watch out family Biggest Looser Contestants!!! I didn't loose a pound this week though. But, I just started using my monitor on Saturday. So.....

Day Off

Today I took the day off from working out. I sort of feel guilty, but I know I need to rest. I had a massage this morning that was wonderful and then went to dinner and a movie. So, all in all a very relaxing day. Now I am fighting with iTunes to download some workout music for my iPod because I want that added push. Okay. I finally downloaded all the music. What a task!! Anyway, I am set to workout hard now.

Digging in the Dirt

I didn’t walk the Wilderness Trail today because my walking buddy wasn’t feeling well. I know I could have gone on my own, but since it was going to be my first time and I didn’t know what to expect – I went to the gym instead. Much more boring, I’m sure. I was really looking forward to taking in the great view from the top of the hill. I will get there soon!! So, today I did cardio at the gym after I unpacked my Gowearfit monitor and installed it. It wasn’t that difficult to do. It is so cool. I wore the armband all day and even downloaded the data twice. I know, crazy, but I was anxious to see how it worked. I inputted my food intake. The program does the calorie calculating for you and it calculates how many steps you are taking and how many calories you are burning. So, far today, as of this very moment I have burned – DRUM ROLL - 3358 calories and taken 9117 steps. By midnight tonight I should have reached my goal of burning 3800 calories and taking 10000 steps. This is so motivating to me. This is going to be the tool to put my fitness journey into overdrive.

And, after the gym I took a delightful trip to Armstrong Nursery to get some more plants. I really enjoy going there and looking at all the beautiful plants and pots and fun stuff. Today I bought a bunch of seedlings - artichoke, cantaloupe (something ate my other plant), jalapeno pepper, Anahiem chili, basil, cilantro, spinach, eggplant, cauliflower and cucumber. Then I spent the rest of the afternoon planting, weeding, digging and basically playing in my garden. I really love the feeling I get when I am out there digging in the dirt. There were humming birds, doves, lots of bees, even a giant back bumble bee – they were all fabulous. I really feel like I accomplished something today – digging in the dirt. I believe what I accomplished was grounding myself and actually living in the moment. I feel great now!! And, I think it helped in burning so many calories today!!! Woo Hoo!!

Stumbling in the parking lot....Oh no...

This morning while I was doing sprints - that's right sprints - my knee locked up. I stumbled and almost went down!! But, I caught myself. I thought, "Oh great here we go I'm going to be injured." Then I said to myself,"Oh NO I’m not. I am going to be fine. It will be fine in a few minutes." I hobbled back into the gym and did some other exercises. And, low and behold it was back to normal in about 10 minutes. Marc, my trainer says I need to work on strengthening my hamstring on that leg - the one on which I had knee surgery – torn ACL - about 20 years ago. So, that I will do because I do not want to get injured. I will not get injured.

My Gowearfit calorie and heart rate monitor came in today. It looks pretty cool. It is charging now, but I did set up all my stats online and put in my food for the day - pretty cool how it calculates everything. It is going to be so awesome to see how many calories I am burning a day. I can’t wait. Tomorrow will be the test when I do the Wilderness Trail – which is a five mile nature trail - with my friend Laurie. 8:30 a.m. Can’t wait!!!

Just checking in....more tomorrow....

Double workout today

Okay! I am going to kick some butt. Today I did a double workout - I guess I was so inspired by the Biggest Looser last night. They were getting up at 3 a.m. to workout and staying up until midnight to get more workout time in. And, it paid off for them. So, I thought - I'm busy but not that busy. I can work out twice in a day. So today I went to the gym and did an hour of cardio - bike and treadmill. Then I worked on the computer all day and went on my Euclid walk at about 5 p.m. So, it can be done. No excuses!! Tomorrow I will get in a walk early in the morning and that will probably be it, since I teach class tomorrow night. But, the plan for Friday is workout with my trainer and then do the Euclid hill right after that. I'll probably need a nap after that. LOL.

I ordered GoWear fit Lifestyle and Calorie Management System yesteray. The GoWearfit has an armband that measures how many calories you burn, how many steps you take, how physically active you are, and how much sleep you're getting. You wear it during the course of your regular day, then plug it into your computer and upload your data to your personal GoWear fit Online Activity Manager. The Manager helps you establish your goals, tracks your progress, and gives you tools to help you know how many calories you're eating, on average, per day. I'm hoping this will help me know exactly how many calories I am burning and eating, so I know where I stand and what I need to do to get to my goal. I'm supposed to get this on Friday. I'll let you know how well it works.

Wewwww.....

I am so glad that I am done with that golf tournament. Now I can focus more on me and winning this contest and getting to my goal. I'm thinking I need to add another fitness goal or two to my list besides the Mud Run. I am going to look to see if I can find a couple to do in the summer and one do do maybe on my birthday. Maybe on my birthday in some other fun city. Hmmmmm....that sounds like a plan. Back on track after a hard couple of days.

Made it through

I made it through Easter without eating everything in sight. It probably helped that all the competitors were here, and we weighed in for our 2 week weigh in. So far I am in second place - I lost 5 pounds so far in the challenge. I better step up my game if I want to win this. I can't let someone else win. It is a matter of my competitive nature. I will do it.

Golf, Golf, Golf

I wish I could say I played golf today, but I didn't. I worked all day helping with the Community Hospital of San Bernardino Foundation Centennial Golf Classic. I didn't have time to work out today. But, carrying boxes and lifting things is a workout, right? Well, I guess I could have made time to workout, but I chose to get a massage instead. And, it was great!!! Sometimes a girl just needs a little R & R. Tomorrow is Easter – that may be a little challenging on the food intake side of things. Also, tomorrow we weigh in for our family challenge – before we eat, of course!!! Tonight I’m going to have some salmon, brown rice, asparagus, beets and broccoli (both from my garden) – should be yummy.

Just making it to check in....very tired...more tomorrow

"Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you are right."

Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you are right. Oh boy! Those are some words to heed. We have to keep our thoughts positive in order to create the life we desire. I am learning this more and more with all of the experiences that I have been having lately in my life – the Atlantean Healing Workshop that I attended last weekend, the books we read in Prosperity Princesses, the CD’s I have been listening to about how to manifest your desires. This one particular phrase is coming up in everything I have encountered lately. Interesting – how the Universe is speaking to ME!

In this case, I don’t think I can win the Biggest Looser family challenge, I know I can. I am thinking about it everyday. I am obsessed with it. It will happen and I will be 40 pounds lighter on May 31st.

Today I met with my trainer Marc for my quarterly review. We talked about my triggers, which I have quite a few. LOL. I came to the conclusion one of the biggest ones is being influenced by others and what they are doing - like when I come home from teaching tonight and my husband is eating a big batch of Kentucky Fried Chicken complete with mashed potatoes and coleslaw. It smells pretty good - probably because I am hungry. At first I thought, "I'll just have one little drumstick piece." Then I decided that would be dumb because that is not in line with my goal - with my obsession. And, I don't even like Kentucky Fried Chicken!!!! What was I thinking? I am seeing patterns like this in my life.

Why would I want to eat something that I don't even like when I am in a challenge to release weight? Good question, right? Until recently I would have said I have no idea why I would want to do that or say I just don't have any willpower. But, I know now that it is one of my thought patterns - years and years of the same pattern - completely ingrained in my brain like deeply embedded tire tracks on a dirt road. But, I am changing those thought patterns that hinder me and creating new ones. Or should I say going back to the healthy patterns/habits that I used to have. I am no stranger to a healthy fit lifestyle – it’s just been a few years. I'm going to find those patterns and get back into the healthy fit lifestyle groove again. Well, actually I am already well on my way. I just need to be consistent with my eating habits - even on weekends. Oh those dreaded weekends. Oh great and this weekend is Easter!!!

Don't worry. I will be fine. I'm obsessed. Remember. And, I think I can!

As I finish this post the song "Eye of the Tiger" from the Rocky movie is playing on the television in the other room. Interesting!!