Let's me say, I have been feeling WAY BETTER! It is like I am getting more energy and more stamina throughout the day. Before I would get exhausted and want to take a nap about mid-day and then sometimes that didn't help me feel the energy to keep going.
Last year as our house heated up I just felt blah and didn't even try to do things. Since I have changed my eating and drinking habits I have found myself able to push more projects and do more things around the house. I even find myself just moving up and down the hall because I have energy. I have read in countless number of diets that when you are doing it right you will gain energy. It is true.
I have taken as much bread and wheat products out of my diet as I can since last week. As I said it isn't easy and one thing that makes it harder is that I have my wife who does eat them and so sometimes I get tempted. I admit I am strong willed, but when you have a good juicy burger placed perfectly between the buns and the cheese is melting around it your mouth can't help but water and bite into such a tasty treat. Well, I did do that and I have to say, I couldn't finish it. A sign that my stomach is shrinking.
I didn't get to exercise since there has been a great deal of issues personally that I have had to take care of. They have consumed the time I have to exercise and try to add that to my weight-loss plan, but I will say I have pushed myself to walk more and use the scooters a lot less. I was able to make it around the grocery store last week without the cart, but my legs did tell me about it later. They were sore but not like all the other times, this time it was less and lasted less time as well.
So what's the difference in workouts? First, if you push yourself to hurt, that is never a good thing. You can actually injure your muscles and cause maybe even worse problems down the line. Also, if you push to build muscle fast you will find a good side effect that will discourage you, weight gain. Some people strictly workout to lose the weight and if you go building muscles you end up gaining weight, because muscles weigh more than fat.
So an envigerating workout is one that you do more reps with less weight. This will help the muscles burn the fat around them and not be so painful on you down the line. Don't get me wrong you do feel a burn, but that one is a good burn. You are actually TONING your muscles instead of building them. I am 6'2" so building more muscles now would make me weigh more as well as bulk up and I really want to tone down on the fat. If after I decide to build muscle mass I can, but the biggest focus is weight loss.
With being told I am borderline diabetic, I need to make sure the right weight comes off. That is goal and key for what I am focusing on. To be honest, I can tell it is happening. Not only do I have the engery, but I also can tell in my clothing, and feel on my body. They all add up to encouragement and a reason I want to press on. That is what helps you the most. Now, it could be shattered, I could step on a scale and it tells me different and that will ruin things. See why I say DO NOT always run to the scale? Keep going, a bigger drop would make me happier than a few pounds in a few weeks. 20 to 30 in 2 or 3 months would rock!
So, what is the one bad thing? Today, I discovered I am passing a kidney stone. Why? Well, there is still a really large stone in my kidney. They attacked it once and it is jagged and capable of dropping pieces, which in turn cause the pain and other bad feelings. I will get through this, but it could put a damper on things in the next day or two. Specially since tomorrow is my wedding anniversary.
How are things going for you? I would like to know if this is helping anyone or encouraging them, please let me know.
Monday, June 18, 2012
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
New Week New Changes
I know it isn't Monday and I am past the time I should have posted, but there is a reason for that. I knew when payday was and that I would be doing a NEW shopping list compared to before. That's right, I am still working on changes to move the weight off me and to get some healthier results.
As I said before, I refuse to step on the scale until August. The main reason for that is the scale can bring your hopes of seeing your goals down. There are times of the day that we actually weigh more and there are times that we actually weigh less. Think about it, you eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner, until that food is digested where is it and what is it doing? Sitting there and causing some looks of weight gain, but is it really? No, because it is doing it's part on your body and making a difference over...wait for it...TIME! It is NEVER and over night success and if you find something like that you better be careful because the results can hurt. What do I mean?
Most quick weight losses are temporary. You still eat the same, you still do the same routine, and your body says, OK, I don't need to worry and puts those quick pounds loss, right back where they came from. So, sure you can do it for a day at the beach or to look good for that event, but your best hope is to NOT go back to what your normal routine was or you put all that weight back on. According to some studies that I have read, most who get that weight back, get it even more. So you could end up putting on MORE pounds than you lost. Thus the warning of being careful.
For my grocery list, I focused on meats and veggies. Notice something missing there? Bread! I didn't even buy a single loaf this time. As I was saying you really can't just cut everything out cold turkey...Mmmm, Turkey. Oh, sorry, but really you can't just cut it out. Do things in moderation. I figure it has been a few weeks and it is time to see if I can actually get past all that. I have moved it down to a point that I can't actually recall the last bread I ate. Thinking like that made me realize, maybe it is that time to take it out.
You may wonder how am I feeling with this diet or eating change? To be honest, I have been feeling more energized and happier. Missing quite a few days of my medicine was a bad thing, especially since I don't have a thyroid anymore. Even after that, I still felt good. Some clothes that were snug are looser and I don't hurt as much in my legs as I had been. Both signs of changes that could be ruined if I stood on a scale, the main reason I won't do it. A great deal of our feelings, such as the energy levels, and aches and pains actually help us with the eating changes we make. When we feel positive results, we realize that this has to be good for us and we continue to press forward. Would you want to do a diet that causes severe headaches, bodily aches, or even make you ill due to the fact that you cut something out of your body because it is bad for you? Is that actually a positive sign of change? In my opinion? NO! It is not encouraging at all. You fed yourself these items for a great deal of time and so you have to step down and ease off of it. Just like a smoker, the patch or the gum helps cut the cravings, but they still smoke only not as much as they did before and they feel better as the heavy amount of toxins exit their body over time.
I know there is some doctor reading this saying I am wrong, but then again, am I? I am seeing results physically and feeling better. A great amount of our food binging comes from emotions and if we feel better we tend to stick with that. So, if the actions cause a positive reaction, is it wrong? Also, remember this, not everyone is exactly the same. What might work for one person, might not work for another, what might be helpful to another, might not be helpful to you, it is all in learning. Learning what works for YOU is what matters the most. If you are feeling better and you notice changes that are positive, keep going with them. Keep regular appointments with your doctor to make sure you health is up to par and that you are not hurting yourself. I stress that, because people who remove RED MEAT from their diets actually lose an important vitamin in their body and sometimes pills DO NOT replace it. Iron! That is why it is important to keep regular check ups and make sure you are doing just fine.
What's next? Let's see how a week without bread entirely affects me. Would it be positive or negative? Will it help with the weight loss or will there be no change at all? And will I keep getting energy and be able to make the next step and start something I have not been able to do for a while? Exercise! That's right, I have been without it due to my illness, so the positive changes I have been getting are encouraging me to make an attempt at another change. When I was healthy and could exercise, I felt great and had more energy than you can believe. Sure, I know that it was before the tumors and all the health scares, but it tells me that if it worked then and all the people I know that do get some form of exercise in feel better, then there has to be something hidden in it.
Tell you what! I will discuss exercise some next time and what the difference is between a painful work out and an invigorating workout. Is there a difference?
As I said before, I refuse to step on the scale until August. The main reason for that is the scale can bring your hopes of seeing your goals down. There are times of the day that we actually weigh more and there are times that we actually weigh less. Think about it, you eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner, until that food is digested where is it and what is it doing? Sitting there and causing some looks of weight gain, but is it really? No, because it is doing it's part on your body and making a difference over...wait for it...TIME! It is NEVER and over night success and if you find something like that you better be careful because the results can hurt. What do I mean?
Most quick weight losses are temporary. You still eat the same, you still do the same routine, and your body says, OK, I don't need to worry and puts those quick pounds loss, right back where they came from. So, sure you can do it for a day at the beach or to look good for that event, but your best hope is to NOT go back to what your normal routine was or you put all that weight back on. According to some studies that I have read, most who get that weight back, get it even more. So you could end up putting on MORE pounds than you lost. Thus the warning of being careful.
For my grocery list, I focused on meats and veggies. Notice something missing there? Bread! I didn't even buy a single loaf this time. As I was saying you really can't just cut everything out cold turkey...Mmmm, Turkey. Oh, sorry, but really you can't just cut it out. Do things in moderation. I figure it has been a few weeks and it is time to see if I can actually get past all that. I have moved it down to a point that I can't actually recall the last bread I ate. Thinking like that made me realize, maybe it is that time to take it out.
You may wonder how am I feeling with this diet or eating change? To be honest, I have been feeling more energized and happier. Missing quite a few days of my medicine was a bad thing, especially since I don't have a thyroid anymore. Even after that, I still felt good. Some clothes that were snug are looser and I don't hurt as much in my legs as I had been. Both signs of changes that could be ruined if I stood on a scale, the main reason I won't do it. A great deal of our feelings, such as the energy levels, and aches and pains actually help us with the eating changes we make. When we feel positive results, we realize that this has to be good for us and we continue to press forward. Would you want to do a diet that causes severe headaches, bodily aches, or even make you ill due to the fact that you cut something out of your body because it is bad for you? Is that actually a positive sign of change? In my opinion? NO! It is not encouraging at all. You fed yourself these items for a great deal of time and so you have to step down and ease off of it. Just like a smoker, the patch or the gum helps cut the cravings, but they still smoke only not as much as they did before and they feel better as the heavy amount of toxins exit their body over time.
I know there is some doctor reading this saying I am wrong, but then again, am I? I am seeing results physically and feeling better. A great amount of our food binging comes from emotions and if we feel better we tend to stick with that. So, if the actions cause a positive reaction, is it wrong? Also, remember this, not everyone is exactly the same. What might work for one person, might not work for another, what might be helpful to another, might not be helpful to you, it is all in learning. Learning what works for YOU is what matters the most. If you are feeling better and you notice changes that are positive, keep going with them. Keep regular appointments with your doctor to make sure you health is up to par and that you are not hurting yourself. I stress that, because people who remove RED MEAT from their diets actually lose an important vitamin in their body and sometimes pills DO NOT replace it. Iron! That is why it is important to keep regular check ups and make sure you are doing just fine.
What's next? Let's see how a week without bread entirely affects me. Would it be positive or negative? Will it help with the weight loss or will there be no change at all? And will I keep getting energy and be able to make the next step and start something I have not been able to do for a while? Exercise! That's right, I have been without it due to my illness, so the positive changes I have been getting are encouraging me to make an attempt at another change. When I was healthy and could exercise, I felt great and had more energy than you can believe. Sure, I know that it was before the tumors and all the health scares, but it tells me that if it worked then and all the people I know that do get some form of exercise in feel better, then there has to be something hidden in it.
Tell you what! I will discuss exercise some next time and what the difference is between a painful work out and an invigorating workout. Is there a difference?
Monday, June 4, 2012
New Changes Second Step!
So here we go, a week has passed and what things are happening with the changes I have had to implement?
First, eating without white bread, flour tortillas (and may I know that is hard in Texas), cut back on potatoes, and no sugars, like donuts oh the agony! You would think this is pure torture, you would think this is purely impossible, but the truth be told it is really a mind over matter thing. I know you thought is "Yeah right." However, it really is. We get so used to thinking these things are important to us and we crave them so much it kills us with cravings, but when you realize these things actually could be killing you later you stop and rethink.
Flour, sugar, and starches actually build up in your system as sugar and stay there, they can't be worked off like you think unless you have an exceptionally high metabolism, I on that case don't. So, it sits there. According to doctors when we think of the calories and decide we are going to work out to burn them off the math doesn't work like we think. In fact, if you really do the math and try to match the amount of time you would have to work out for removing the ONE meal of calories you are actually hurting your body by working out too much.
So, how do you win against that? Well, I, not being an expert, am learning one step at a time. Last post I told you the first step is to accept yourself the way you are. This step is putting your foot down and taking action. Reading about certain foods, diets, and so forth helps a great deal but it really isn't enough. There are diets that are bad for you, there are foods that are bad for you, and there are exercises that are bad for you, but there is always hope. Sure you ask how is there hope with you saying that? Well, truth be told we have to realize that we are not all the same. For example, did you know I am allergic to red dye? That's right, who would have known? Are you? Probably not, but some people are allergic to other things and thus it hurts them. So you have to know you first and then know what you are capable of doing.
Let's start with foods. This is my first week with 6 days of NO flour products, like white bread, flour tortillas, sweet breads, and I also cut out as much as I could potatoes and pastas. I actually had people telling me what can you eat after that? Well, there is a great deal of foods out there that I could still eat and I began to learn some things as the week progressed.
Have you ever read in a diet that you have to eat until you are full and then you won't be hungry until the next meal? When we pig out on fast food like that we do get full but hours later we are hungry again. It is that flour in the meal that stuffs us and then has us craving food again later, something I call the Chinese Buffet syndrome. Now, if you eat a proper meal until you are full, you don't crave or get hungry until the next meal time, I actually found myself not being hungry then either, but I did eat even if it was a small amount. That tied me over as it should.
Here's how that works. One day I had a Grilled Chicken Salad, it included the following: lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, flame grilled chicken, bell pepper, avocado, and a small amount of cheese. I did not add dressing, but I did add a home-made salsa, careful with salsas. If you get a store bought salsa it is filled with sugar, but if you go to your local Mexican restaurant you can get a natural salsa that contains nothing but veggies. That was the meal I ate for lunch. I felt stuffed and kinda felt guilty at first, but then I remembered there are good foods to stuff yourself with and when dinner came around 6 hours later I was still feeling full. Good foods and good fats help do that.
I had someone ask me what is your breakfast like? Well, breakfast actually was the easiest meal to figure out. I took a combination of 2 diets to figure out what was right and seem to have nailed it right on the money. I have eggs, bacon, re-fried beans, coffee, and corn tortilla. Did you just freak on one of the items or two? Well, let's start with Bacon. Do you recall in the last paragraph I mentioned good fats? That's right our bodies need those things. I said I mixed two diets together to figure this out. Doctors have heart patients do a special diet to drop so much weight before they do an open heart surgery, did you know that diet consists of BACON? It is true. The bacon fat actually tells our bodies what fat needs to be burnt off and thus that is a good fat. Now the eggs are actually good for us as is the beans. Since I cut out the flour tortillas I was able to switch to corn tortillas. Some might say that is still bad, but honestly it is impossible to just cut everything COLD TURKEY and it can be bad for you to do so, also.
What has the results been for this week so far? Well, I won't stand on a scale until August and that is because the scale can discourage you so put it away don't look at it and don't think of it. I will say though I have felt better, I feel like I can see some weight loss, but for me the most important is that I feel better.
Oh, just in case you missed it in the beginning or did see it and wondered, yes I said 6 days. I took one day and in a moderation ate a burger and fries. Not good for me, but as I said, it is impossible to just cut things out cold turkey. To be honest, I didn't feel guilty either, in fact I didn't feel any physical changes as I did before all this. This means my body is accepting the food changes and liking it. So at this point I will continue to push, eat right, and see what happens.
Do you have questions on things? Let's work it out together, ask away and I will answer you.
First, eating without white bread, flour tortillas (and may I know that is hard in Texas), cut back on potatoes, and no sugars, like donuts oh the agony! You would think this is pure torture, you would think this is purely impossible, but the truth be told it is really a mind over matter thing. I know you thought is "Yeah right." However, it really is. We get so used to thinking these things are important to us and we crave them so much it kills us with cravings, but when you realize these things actually could be killing you later you stop and rethink.
Flour, sugar, and starches actually build up in your system as sugar and stay there, they can't be worked off like you think unless you have an exceptionally high metabolism, I on that case don't. So, it sits there. According to doctors when we think of the calories and decide we are going to work out to burn them off the math doesn't work like we think. In fact, if you really do the math and try to match the amount of time you would have to work out for removing the ONE meal of calories you are actually hurting your body by working out too much.
So, how do you win against that? Well, I, not being an expert, am learning one step at a time. Last post I told you the first step is to accept yourself the way you are. This step is putting your foot down and taking action. Reading about certain foods, diets, and so forth helps a great deal but it really isn't enough. There are diets that are bad for you, there are foods that are bad for you, and there are exercises that are bad for you, but there is always hope. Sure you ask how is there hope with you saying that? Well, truth be told we have to realize that we are not all the same. For example, did you know I am allergic to red dye? That's right, who would have known? Are you? Probably not, but some people are allergic to other things and thus it hurts them. So you have to know you first and then know what you are capable of doing.
Let's start with foods. This is my first week with 6 days of NO flour products, like white bread, flour tortillas, sweet breads, and I also cut out as much as I could potatoes and pastas. I actually had people telling me what can you eat after that? Well, there is a great deal of foods out there that I could still eat and I began to learn some things as the week progressed.
Have you ever read in a diet that you have to eat until you are full and then you won't be hungry until the next meal? When we pig out on fast food like that we do get full but hours later we are hungry again. It is that flour in the meal that stuffs us and then has us craving food again later, something I call the Chinese Buffet syndrome. Now, if you eat a proper meal until you are full, you don't crave or get hungry until the next meal time, I actually found myself not being hungry then either, but I did eat even if it was a small amount. That tied me over as it should.
Here's how that works. One day I had a Grilled Chicken Salad, it included the following: lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, flame grilled chicken, bell pepper, avocado, and a small amount of cheese. I did not add dressing, but I did add a home-made salsa, careful with salsas. If you get a store bought salsa it is filled with sugar, but if you go to your local Mexican restaurant you can get a natural salsa that contains nothing but veggies. That was the meal I ate for lunch. I felt stuffed and kinda felt guilty at first, but then I remembered there are good foods to stuff yourself with and when dinner came around 6 hours later I was still feeling full. Good foods and good fats help do that.
I had someone ask me what is your breakfast like? Well, breakfast actually was the easiest meal to figure out. I took a combination of 2 diets to figure out what was right and seem to have nailed it right on the money. I have eggs, bacon, re-fried beans, coffee, and corn tortilla. Did you just freak on one of the items or two? Well, let's start with Bacon. Do you recall in the last paragraph I mentioned good fats? That's right our bodies need those things. I said I mixed two diets together to figure this out. Doctors have heart patients do a special diet to drop so much weight before they do an open heart surgery, did you know that diet consists of BACON? It is true. The bacon fat actually tells our bodies what fat needs to be burnt off and thus that is a good fat. Now the eggs are actually good for us as is the beans. Since I cut out the flour tortillas I was able to switch to corn tortillas. Some might say that is still bad, but honestly it is impossible to just cut everything COLD TURKEY and it can be bad for you to do so, also.
What has the results been for this week so far? Well, I won't stand on a scale until August and that is because the scale can discourage you so put it away don't look at it and don't think of it. I will say though I have felt better, I feel like I can see some weight loss, but for me the most important is that I feel better.
Oh, just in case you missed it in the beginning or did see it and wondered, yes I said 6 days. I took one day and in a moderation ate a burger and fries. Not good for me, but as I said, it is impossible to just cut things out cold turkey. To be honest, I didn't feel guilty either, in fact I didn't feel any physical changes as I did before all this. This means my body is accepting the food changes and liking it. So at this point I will continue to push, eat right, and see what happens.
Do you have questions on things? Let's work it out together, ask away and I will answer you.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)