What does 2013 Hold?

I can hardly believe this year is over.  2012 was a trying year for me and my family.  We went through a lot of hard times, but a lot of good times too.  I think I've probably grown into myself more this year than any other year since college.  Losing my hair was a huge wake up call for me for some reason (some people might say that's post traumatic stress syndrome).  I've discovered what it takes for me to motivate myself though and to live my dreams, every day.  I don't feel lost the way I did at the beginning of last year. I feel happier, more well rounded, and healthier.  I feel like I'm a better person, a better mother, and maybe a better wife (on a good day). 

This year has been hard for some of my family members too, but all of us have had some pretty major accomplishments. 

Hubby pretty much started out the year by tearing is Achilles tendon.  He was recovering from this the rest of the year, until about September.  After a second surgery to treat Staph, he quit smoking.  QUIT SMOKING!!!  What a major accomplishment for him!  I am beyond proud of him, as this was something he's been struggling with since his teenage years.  He took my lead and began exercising and losing weight too.  We both looked at our demons, and we both started dealing with them...apart and now together. 

Son Number One finished up first grade and started second.  His grades continue to be in the all A range, and we were super proud that he made an A in conduct the first nine weeks!  How thrilling for him.  He also joined the gymnastics's team and attended his first meet, coming in third all around.  He has found his passion, and there is nothing better for a parent than seeing your child do something they love. 

Son Number Two started preschool, and I realized he has a brain...and he's smart!  He has always been my quiet child (except he has a very loud voice--I know so funny!), and I really did not know he knew as much as he did.  He can add!  He has made great friends in preschool, and he fits in well, as usual causing me no problems on that front.  I'm so proud of my little guy.  In other news, he finally moved on from Lightning McQueen to Ninjago.  He still likes Lightning, but he's not as obsessed with him as he used to be.

And Darling Daughter, my one and only girl.  She has grown from a one year old to a terrific two year old.  She is demanding, funny, sweet, and my little shadow. She follows me everywhere.  She loves to give kisses.  I love how when she wants my attention, she'll take her still-pudgy baby hands and move my face towards her and then make her eyes round orbits as she talks to me.  She is adorable and she's a handful!

What about me?  This year has been so up and down for me.  At times, I just wanted it to be over.  I wanted everything to change.  2012 has been about change for me and growing.  I think I finally discovered what it takes to make myself happy. I cried a lot this year, laughed a lot, wrote a lot, exercised a lot, and I began to accept myself for who I am.

I really came to terms with my hair loss this year.  I began experimenting with going out without wigs and hats. I do think I need a tee-shirt that says: I don't have Cancer, It's Alopecia, overall people have been really nice and just ask questions about why I'm bald.  I like the way I look bald, and besides being cold in the winter and having to wear more suntan lotion on my head it doesn't really bother me.  At some point, I'd love to give up my wigs all together, but I'm not sure if my work environment is ready for that quite yet!

I lost almost 60 pounds!!!  I turned my life around, completely changing my lifestyle and began setting a good example for my kids.  I exercise almost every day, and we eat a lot healthier and a lot less than we used to.  This was definitely one of my biggest accomplishments this year!

I really began to write again, and I realized that writing is a huge part of my life.  I hadn't been writing, almost since college, and something was missing.  As a writer, I have this need to put my ideas and stories on paper.  Since I've been writing every day, I feel like I have accomplished so much.  My goal next year is to finish my novel (over halfway done now) and to produce some short stories and try to get them published. 

I'm excited to see what next year holds!!! 

 Bring on 2013!!!!

Weight Loss Tips #8: Losing Weight After the Holidays

Losing Weight After the Holidays

Christmas is Over.  Photos and videos will be posted in the next couple of days, but needless to say everyone in my family had a great Christmas.  The kids received pretty much every thing their little hearts desired.  My Hubby spoiled me with jewelry, which was so nice. 

So did you overindulge like I did over the Holidays?  I partook of too much of my sister-in-law's pumpkin caramel cheesecake.  I swear that is the best stuff in the entire world.  If you did, then it's time to start thinking about what you need to do to scale back.  Don't use the holidays as an excuse to fall off the wagon completely.  After all, you have made a lifestyle change, a commitment that should last you a lifetime. 

• First and foremost: Get moving again.  Go for a walk, go for a run, incorporate your exercise back into your life.  If your gym or dojang is closed, then find some other way to start moving again.  Get your whole family involved.  Exercising with your children shows them that it's a way of life, no matter what time of year it is.

• Amend your Eating Habits: Scale back.  Begin to eat three meals a day again.  Try not to snack so much, and try to cut back on the high calorie and high fat foods you've been eating through the holidays. 

• Throw out or Hide the Candy: If you received candy for Christmas, then indulge in it on Christmas day...and maybe the day afer.   Throw out the rest, hide it, or give it to the candy monsters in your life: your children!

• Spread the Love: Take your leftover pies to a neighbor who is feeling lonely.  You will be performing an act of kindness here and making sure your pants will still fit in the New Year.

• Don't get Discouraged:   If you gained a few pounds over the Holidays, remember that it could take a few months to take it off.  But, that's OK. Losing weight is not a race.  If you make amends to your eating habits and exercise then it should come off and stay off.

• Don't do a Crash Diet: Low carb diets, starvation diets, the Cabbage Soup diets...don't do them.  They simply do not work.  Once you start eating regularly again (and you will), you will gain every single pound back. 

• Remind Yourself Why You Wanted to Lose Weight in the First Place: I like to visually look back of a photo I took in Boston the summer of 2011 that made me want to lose weight in the first place. This visual reminder clues my brain into the fact that by losing weight I'm extending my life: guaranteeing more holidays to come, more joyful birthdays with my children, and maybe one day with their children.  Change your lifestyle to improve your quality of life and extend your lifespan. 

In order to lose weight, you must commit to making a lifestyle change.  Once you do it, other people around you will start doing it too, including your family members.  Don't use the Holidays as an opportunity to slip into your bad habits again.  Indulge a little bit, let yourself enjoy a piece of pie, or too many mashed potatoes, and wake up the next day prepared to work hard to maintain the weight loss that you have worked so hard to achieve!

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See Weight Loss Tips: Edition 7

Weight Loss Tips #5: Snacking

Snacking

Oh snacking.  The downfall of many people.  Grabbing a cookie off a co-worker's desk mid-day and shoving it in you mouth, not even thinking about the way it taste.  Eating just to eat. 

I love snacking.  I am a huge snacker.  I crave chocolate and salty things just like everyone else.  The fat and preservatives and other junk in potato chips and candy bars and other not-so-good for you foods seems to make you crave them even more. 

In general, I allow myself to snack a little bit, but I try to give myself healthy alternatives.  Here are a few tips on how to snack healthily, so not to ruin your weight loss plan/lifestyle change.

• Prepare For Your Day: This is so important.  You may think you can get through the day without a snack, but if you go off to work and there are other goodies laying around you may be tempted to eat them.  I pre-portion snacks before I leave for work.  I put homemade trail mix in a baggie, and I bring fruit to snack on. The trail mix has a few chocolate chips, to curb my sweet-tooth craving for the day, and hopefully to help me not buy that candy bar at the machine!

• Snack When You're Hungry: Seems like a no-brainer right?  But as Americans, we stick a lot of food into our mouths mindlessly.  Don't bored eat.  Don't eat while doing something else.  If you really need a snack, stop what you're doing, SIT DOWN and concentrate on eating the healthy snack you have on hand.  This will help you to feel satisfied after you've eaten your snack and make you less likely to feel unsatisfied or in need of more.

• Don't Snack All Day: When I was first starting out, I realized I had a major problem with late-night snacking.  Sitting in front of the TV in a daze and stuffing my face.  Most of the time when people snack this way, they aren't even hungry.  They just need something to do while they're being lazy, so they put food in their mouth.  So when you first start making your lifestyle change, cut out one snack that you know you don't need.  For me, I cut out late night snacking, and then I allowed myself to have a 10 AM snack and a 3 PM snack.

• Let Yourself Splurge Sometimes: It is okay to let yourself splurge sometimes, and honestly if you don't then you won't stick with it for a lifetime. I generally let myself have a Coke or Diet Coke once a month, something that I have completely cut out.  I also let myself have a candy bar or a bag of chips or some no-no on my list about once a week.  I know that by eating it I'm not going to sabotage myself, because in general I'm going to stick with the other changes that I've made to get as far as I have.

• Snack After You Exercise: After I exercise I always want three things: water, a shower, and protein or dairy.  I almost always allow myself to have a small healthy snack after I exercise.  I generally crave a cheese stick or yogurt or pepperoni, something that sticks to my sides.  If you feel hungry after you exercise, allow yourself to have a small healthy snack.  After all, everything in moderation is really okay.  Just don't overdo it and sabotage the calories you just worked off.  For example, don't go for a double cheeseburger.  Choose a better alternative!

• Stay Away from Vending Machines: Nothing good comes out of that little hole on the bottom.  Seriously.  Almost everything in a vending machine is bad for you.  Plus, you can save your money by buying healthy alternatives at the grocery store and portioning them out to yourself during the week!

Here are a few ideas for healthy snacks for yourself and your family:

• Cheese Sticks
• Fruit
• Veggies (Raw broccoli, carrots, etc)
• Nuts, any type
• Homemade Trail Mix
• Yogurt
• Edamame
• All Natural Granola Bars
• Popcorn (without butter)
• Protein (lean meats)

Check Out Last Week's Edition: Portion Size

Weight Loss Tips #3: Adding Exercise

Adding Exercise

I wasn't going to blog about exercise quite yet, but thanks to one of my avid readers, Mike, I've decided to jump the gun! 

I truly believe that losing weight and maintaining your weight is attributed to two things, a) health eating and b) incorporating exercise in your life.  I think a lot of people hate the idea of exercise.  In the back of their mind, it's almost like going to another dreadful job.  They feel it is something they have to do, not something they want to do.  Exercise can change your life though, once you get into a routine.

Here are a few exercise tips:

• Pick an Exercise you Enjoy: When I was starting out Number One had just started taking Taekwondo.  Miranda Grace asked me to take with her.  I didn't want to.  It was out of my comfort zone, something I thought I'd never do, but I let her pull me into a class with her.  Now, I love it and I've stuck with it for almost two years now!  Doing something you enjoy will make it easier to actually go and do it!

• Stick to It: It takes 3 weeks to make a habit.  In the meantime, stick to the exercise because if you don't it won't become a habit.  I had weeks of dragging myself out of the house, complaining about going to exercise, not wanting to do it. Then one day, I woke up and it just clicked, I went. I never complained again.  Automaticity has a way of taking over, as humans are creatures of habit.

• Start Out Slow: Start out slow and easy, so you don't get hurt.  If you start out slow, then you can increase your endurance, add different types of exercise, and add more hours later as your body gets more fit. 

• Stretch: Stretching is so important, both before and after exercise.  Lack of stretching leads to injury.  I had one injury when I started out.  I tore my calf muscle, attributed to lack of stretching and stop and go exercises. I was out for almost two weeks because of this little injury.  Stretch well beforehand and you limit the possibility of injury.

• Have an Accountability Partner: If you have someone who is encouraging you to exercise, then you are more likely to stick with it.  When I started out Miranda Grace was my accountability partner.  She would hound me if I didn't come to TKD.  She doesn't take anymore, but we still tell each other about what type of exercise we've done during the week.  Also, with TKD, I chose a sport with built in accountability. If I don't show, someone's bound to text me or call me and ask where I am.  Accountability is essential for incorporating exercise into your life...one step at a time.

Exercising allows you to consume more calories during the day.  After all, the key to weight loss is expending more calories than you've consumed.  As I mentioned in last week's post, don't eat all your extra exercise calories.  If you eat the extra calories, then you're sabotaging yourself and your new lifestyle change.  People often exercise so they can reward themselves with food, and this is the wrong mentality.  (I'm guilty of it too).  If exercise affords you 900 extra calories a day, then simply eat 300 or 400 of those calories, preferably with healthy foods: lean meats, complex carbs, fruits and veggies.  By doing this, you'll lose the weight more quickly and your body will become toned more quickly.  Also, you won't start craving those bad-for-you foods if you stay away from them or only treat yourself occasionally.  Plus, recent research shows exercise actually suppresses your appetite, but humans have made a habit out of rewarding themselves with food, even if they're not hungry.  Food for thought (pun intended). 

Check Out Last Week's Weight Loss Tips: Gaining Momentum

The Goal Post

The Goal Post

 

And the cold continues to plague my workout schedule this week.  I just started a sentence with "and," which my 8 year old says is a huge no-no.  I think he earned my talents for looking at grammar as the only set of rigid rules in the world!  My workouts suffered this week, because of Halloween, an 8 year old birthday party, and the fact that I cannot get over this cold.  Plus, I'm hating this time change.  I keep waking up at 4:30, and then I feel ready for bed by 8:30.  I need my body to get used to it.  So here goes, my goals from last week:

 

• Run 1.25 miles: I did not.  I did buy new running shoes.  They are Brooks' Ravennas, and they are awesome, and I'm excited to get some mileage on them.  I ran 1 mile on Sunday in 8 minutes 45 seconds, and then I promptly petered out.  My Taekwondo instructor told me to try to run that pace for half a mile, slow up for another half a mile, then try to run fast for another half a mile to get to 1.5 miles.  We'll see if that works. 
 
• Perfect my Yul Guuk Form: Eh--so so.  I think I did pretty well working on it Tuesday night, but once again we have a few changes.  I just don't feel like it flows as well as some of my other forms, but maybe it's mental on my part.  I haven't been at Taekwondo as much lately, because there is just so much going on in my life, and again this cold is wrecking my lungs.  I must really work on this.  I am a slight perfectionist!
 
• Work on My Novel: I did.  I hate one of my characters.  How do you keep going if you begin to hate your main character?  I mean, she is okay, but I do feel like she's making all the wrong choices.  Maybe that's where she's supposed to lead me.  Plus, I came up with another great idea, and I need to outline and do character sketches for that story.  My creative juices runneth over.

 

Goals for This Week

• Run 1 mile: I'm backing down to 1 mile once this cold actually leaves my body.  I think I'm going to need to build back up again a little bit, plus I really need to break in my running shoes (not to mention my bones and joints) before I run to far.
 
• Work on My Novel: Write 5-10 pages on my novel this week.  Take the time to put some thought into it.  Really get into my characters' heads.  Character sketch the other idea I have, but don't stop working on the novel that I'm already 50 pages into.
 
• Stop Eating Candy: I love almond joys.  And when they're sitting on the corner of my desk for everyone else to eat them, I begin to unwrap and pop them in my mouth.  Stop sabotaging yourself, Lauren, and get back on the wagon.  An occasional treat is okay, but I need to stop overdoing it.  

Weight Loss Tips #2: Gaining Momentum

Gaining Momentum

 

So many times in life, I have started something and given up before I've accomplished it or, sometimes, even before I've made any progress at all.  The important thing about losing weight is sticking with your goals and making the decision to make a lifestyle change.  Losing weight should NEVER be a result of a temporary diet.  It should only be the result of a lifestyle change.  That way, once the weight is gone, if you keep up the habits you began when you lost the weight it will never return.  Half the battle is starting out though.

 

The one thing that helped me the most when I started out was tracking my calories.  There are various ways to do this.  Some people like to join a paid program, and indeed there are some great weight loss programs, like Weight Watchers out there that help you track your food and lose weight.  If you're going to pay for a program, then I definitely recommend Weight Watchers, because it works.  I lost fifty pounds on it, previously, then forgot all the techniques I learned when I had kids and started eating my life away.  However, if you stick with it, it could work for you to help you change your lifestyle and maintain that change.

 

I, personally, use a free app that can accessed on your phone or your computer called MyFitnessPal.  I love it for several different reasons, but NUMBER ONE: It's free!  You can input different foods, and it basically calculates the calories for you.  You input how much weight you want to lose per week, and it tells you how many calories to eat.  It also allows you to enter your exercise, and gives you the extra calories for the exercise (I'll get back to that point in a bit). 

 

A few other good free programs are: Livestrong, SparkPeople, and Calorie Count. 

 

Here are a few pointers for tracking your food:

• Input all the food you eat during the day.  Even if your calories are not exact, seeing what you're eating will help you reduce the amount of calories you're eating.  I basically went from unknowingly eating 5000 calories a day to eating 1300 calories a day.

• MyFitnessPal allows you to put notes on your page.  If you had a particularly bad day eating, then you can describe what happened, e.g., sat in front of the television and ate a whole bag of chips.  This helps you identify how you're feeling when you are overeating. In that example, obviously it was boredom or mindlessness that led to overeating. 

• When you're starting out track your water intake too.  A lot of people overeat, because they are thirsty.  They have forgotten how thirst feels, because they never drink enough water.  When you begin drinking more water it often eliminates the hungry feeling and helps you stick to your calories. 

• Adding exercise to your day will allot you more calories to consume.  DO NOT EAT ALL YOUR EXERCISE CALORIES.  MyFitnessPal says you can, but honestly, if you don't eat all of the exercise calories you'll lose weight and get in shape more quickly.

• Don't get discouraged if you can't make your calorie goal right away.  This is a lifestyle change, so it will take time!

<---Last Week's Edition: Weight Loss Tips#1: Starting Out



 



Weight Loss Tips #1: Starting Out

Weight Loss Tips #1

 

Sometimes the hardest part of losing weight is starting out.  We, as humans, have ways to justify everything.  If I eat three candy bars at midnight, there's no way I'll gain weight.  Or, I have been the same weight for years, even if in reality you've been gaining fifteen pounds every year for the last ten years! 

 

So, here are some tips to get yourself motivated to lose weight. I am not a weight loss expert, but this is what I did, and I've lost over fifty pounds now, so it may work for you, as well.

• Start telling yourself you CAN lose the weight.  Believing you can do something is half the battle.  I think we tend to be our worse critic, and sometimes as women (and men), we look in the mirror and say to ourselves, "I've gained too much weight. There's no way I can lose this."  But, that's the wrong mentality.  If you tell yourself you CAN, then you'll start doing something about it, and you'll be surprised at how a simple change in mentality can help you motivate yourself.
• Start with one diet change.  If you're drinking 5 sodas a day, then start by cutting it down to 3 sodas a day (or even better, no sodas per day).  If you start making one change at a time, then the whole process is less overwhelming.  I started by cutting my portion sizes down to a salad plate, and then allowing myself to have limited seconds if I wanted.  This helped me cut my portion size drastically, and it also made me realize how much I was really overeating.
• Have a long term goal, but enact it with short term goals.  My long term goal is to be a size 8 and to lose 65 pounds.  A short term goal would be something that helps you achieve your long term goal, i.e, lose one pound this week or exercise two days this week.

Check out my before and after post, so you can see the results!