Snacking Well

During this past year of learning to eat healthy I have given up the following:

BREAD

BUTTER

SUGAR - (yes, this does include chocolate)

FAST FOOD - This was a big one....I was totally addicted!

JUNK FOOD

FATS

I have not given up the following:

An occasional ROUTE 44 DIET COKE during HAPPY HOUR

SNACKS - I have found a treasure trove of healthier alternatives

FLAVORFUL HEALTHY FOODS

EATING OUT

One of my greatest finds lately has been the DAIRY QUEEN SUGAR-FREE FUDGE BAR

This baby is sugar and fat-free with only 50 calories!!!!!!  Its so delicious you'd never know it was a healthy snack choice.

Using sugar-free pudding, skim milk, and lowfat vanilla wafers, I have come up with a low-cal bananna pudding just in time for summer.  YUM!!  I portion it out in the cups my non-fat yogurt comes in. They come out to about 140 calories and using the little cups you can't sneak a little extra!

RICE CAKES.....specifically the VANILLA CREME BRULEE ones are DIVINE!  Only 130 calories for 13 of those little gems of crispy sweetness. 

Dealing With The Dreaded Plateau

I've been afraid of it. I knew it would happen - it was just a matter of time.

The dreaded PLATEAU!!

I reached the 80 pound mark and have seem to have been stuck there for a couple weeks. I haven't been sure what to do. Maybe a change in exercise or diet.

Finally, I did some research and found I've have the answer the whole time.

Upon reading several articles on the internet, they all pretty much said the same thing.....Alternate day fasting. And in the diet I have been following, its cycle 2. The problem? I got away from it.

I have several tools I have to use DAILY or I seem to so easily slip into behaviors that stunt my weight loss.

1 - Prayer. Yep, I pray about this - daily

2 - Exercise. I've got to do it 5-6 days per week at least and hour a day. Over the last several weeks I have bumped out the cardio.

3 - Food Journal. It takes minutes and forces me to be honest and accountable.

4 - A plan. I need it. There is no confusion here. I usually plan my food out each day and it helps so much to know what to shop for.

I've been at this for 8 months now and I've broken the 80 pound barrier (I'm at 81!)

I've got a ways to go and I figure regrouping from time to time is part of it.

The scale is moving again and I'm hopefully on my way to the 100 pound mark!

Slowly But Surely

Yes, I am still dieting. Yes, I am still loosing weight.....one slow pound at a time!!

I have been spoiled. I took of 70 pounds fast. I don't quite know how it happened but those first 70 pounds just seemed to melt off. Not now, though. I hit a plateau and now its slow, slow, slow.

I confess, I get frustrated. I want this extra weight off and I want it off NOW!! I'm not frustrated to the point, however, where I want to throw in the towel. That isn't going to happen because I WILL NOT go back! No Way!!!! I've worked way too hard!!

I just keep at it....exercising and eating right. And if I have to lose it one pound a time then so be it.

Encouraging Words

When I first started this journey (exaclty 6 months ago today) I did not tell anyone other than Cliff and my mom. I was afraid of failure and I was afraid that maybe this diet wouldn't work as well as they said it would. It wasn't until I hit the 30-pound mark that I let it be know that I was dieting and attempting to lose weight.

Once people found out, the response has been far more encouraging than I could have ever imagined. And those words of encouragement are one of the most important tools in my toolbox.

Now I do have to say, however, that first and foremost you have to find it within yourself. At the end of the day, I'm the one who make conscious decisions about what I eat and whether or not to exercise or how much to exercise.

But, the words from others help propel me to make good decisions.

So as I celebrate my 6 month anniversary with a 76 pound weight loss,

I want to say thank you to everyone who has passed a kind word my way. It means far, far more than any of you will ever know!!

Times of Frustration

There are days on this journey when I step on the scale and feel like Rocky Balboa in that iconic part of the film where he's standing on the steps in Philadelphia with his hands raised in the air poised for victory. Then there are days I want to curse the scale and throw it out the window.

I know that the scale is NOT the only measurement. The way my clothes fit, the way I feel, my food choices and the way I now live my life are all very important indicators of weigh-loss as well. The scale, however, for me, is the bottom line and I want to see it move in a downward direction...always!!

I hit a period of a couple weeks in the beginning of December where it just didn't move....I had reached 69 1/2 pounds and just kind of stayed there. Can I tell you how FRUSTRATING that is?? I wanted so badly to shout to the world that I had lost 70 pounds but would not allow myself to do so until the scale reflected that number.

In the past, I would deal with these frustrations in negative ways...usually ending up with me saying, "what does it matter?" and giving up. This time, I used it to take a look and see if there where any changes I needed to make....and there were. I realized that too much snacking even of good things is not necessarily a good thing. I still get a periodic case of the "munchies" just like anyone else and dealing with that is sometimes very hard.

Mentally I enter into times of rebellion. I don't act out on them but I have found myself a bit angry at the fact that I can't eat what I want when I want....almost like a spoiled child! Why me? Why do I have to deal with this? Why will I always have to watch what I eat?

If you have alot of weight to lose, chances are your weight-loss isn't just going to be about a physical healing. In fact, I think more of it has been in my mind than in my stomach. Just knowing that helps...a bit.

Since losing these 70 pounds I've realized that I've lost more than pound of fat. I've lost 70 pounds of other kinds of "weight" as well. Pockets of time like this show me that I'm not at the finish-line yet. I've got a ways to go. So stop your whining, Rebecca. Get up and go for a walk!!!!!

Pictures

I'm not calling this a "before and after" picture because I have not reached the "after" yet. It's more like a "before" and "middle" picture. So here I am.....this is Cliff and I with the Great Jeff Gordon on June 12,2011 exactly one month before I started my diet.

And here we are on December 18, 2011 a little over 5 months after I started...70 pound lighter.

The Christmas celebrating and I'm back at it. Taking this week to do a little detoxing and back on the treadmill and I feel GREAT!

I've heard so many people say they are going to get serious about their weight after the first of the year. Best Wishes to you. I'm cheering for you!!

Tackling The Holidays

I would never advise anyone to start a diet this time of year. Its HARD!!! You are inundated EVERYWHERE with sights and smells of treats that only appear during the holiday season. Since Halloween, it seems that everywhere I go I see signs for Pumpkin this or that....oh how I have craved IHOP'S Pumpkin pancakes!!

Thankfully, I have 5 months of momentum behind me. I have worked so hard to lose each and every ounce that the thought of undoing all that hard work helps me keep moving past all those sugary delicacies.

So, how am I tackling the holidays? I'm going to eat...with moderation. I decided that part of the tradition of the holidays is the foods, tastes, and smells that bring back memories and bring us together. Smelling sugar cookies baking in the oven screams Christmas to me!

So on Thanksgiving I ate, without guilt. But keeping in mind that I didn't need 1/4 of the pie to enjoy the taste of Pecan Pie! And also remembering that Thanksgiving is Thursday ONLY...NOT all weekend!

I will treat Christmas the same way. I will enjoy our Christmas Eve treats and Christmas Day dinner.

I think the main thing is that this year I have a plan. And I think thats a large part of the battle.