My Best Friends Birthday

Yesterday was my oldest and dearest friend's birthday. I am 11 days older than she is so I am always telling her she has to listen to me, which she doesn't! LOL We have been friends since we were 12 and I just realized that means we have been friends for 35 years!

The reason I bring this up, is that no matter what is going on in our lives we always manage to keep each other motivated and we can talk about ever little silly thing, even at 47! The part that is hard is she is still in Tucson and I am here in Pleasanton so we don't talk as much as we used to. Believe it or not we used to talk on the phone every day for at least one hour. With long distance and life happening our calls aren't as frequent, but longer when we do talk. Thank God for the Internet and Email to keep in touch!

I did manage to lose 2 of the 3 pounds I put on the week before and spoke to a friend of mine who is a personal trainer and she gave me some really good advice.

I have a really bad habit of eating when I am stressed out or even binge eating. You know, like eating an entire box of macaroni and cheese by yourself in one sitting. Yeah, that kind of bad stuff. There were 3 things that she said that really stuck with me.

First, she said I need to eat breakfast EVERY DAY. We have been told for years that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but the one thing that she said that made the world of difference is this, "if you don't eat breakfast your body goes into starvation mode." When that happens, your body start storing fat from everything you eat for the REST of the day. It doesn't know you plan on eating in 3 hours when you feel hungry. So that is the first change I have made this week. It has only been two days and it has been hard. Yesterday morning I had fried egg (cook in Pam) 1-1/2 pieces of bacon on a cinnamon & raisin bagel with a little butter. It took me about 15 minutes to eat the whole thing. Today I had a bowl Raisin Bran Crunch with 2% Milk. Last night I wasn't hungry at 11 PM when I usually get the munchies, so that was a good thing.

The second thing she said is that I need to change how much I eat at night and when I eat. Since I started trying to lose weight I have been working on our portion sizes. Also, she mentioned that since I like to eat fruit that if I eat a few nuts, like almonds or walnuts, with the fruit I won't get the sugar crash and be hungry later. With the summer season and fresh fruit available I have been eating nectarines as my snack. Now I know why I am hungry 30 minutes after eating it. The fat in the almonds actually helps to balance the sugar in the nectarine.

Lastly, she said to drink water and increase my fiber intake. She suggested taking a fiber con tablet after dinner with a full glass of water to help induce fullness and promote good movement of the intestinal track. Did you know that when you don't get enough water your heart and lungs suffer? Yeah, I didn't know that either!

On the workout front, I did buy the 3 pound hand weights from Play it Again Sports, they were only $8.50 for the set. I am looking at possibly getting a treadmill, but that will have to wait for now.

“I have the strength for everything through him who empowers me.”
~Phil 4:13

To workout or not to workout

Last week I was a bit distracted with life happenings. First, I was pretty bummed about not losing weight, then I took my measurements which further destroyed my illusion that I really am not that big and lastly a project I have been working on for 1-1/2 years was nearing completion.

1-1/2 years ago I started a cross stitching project of my bonus son Damon and his then fiancee Ashley. I started it with enough time to finish it before they were married on May 29, 2008. Unfortunately, I am a bit of a perfectionist and really wasn't liking how Damon's jacket was turning out. It just looked like this great big black blob. I was able to get a better pattern of the picture that shows some of the details in his black jacket and in doing so really made the cross stitch turn out much nicer. When I decided to make the change I was almost done with the first one I started.

Last week I was in the home stretch of finishing the picture of the two of them and was up until 2 or 3 in the morning stitching away. I finished stitching them on July 10th and started working on the background, which should only take a couple of weeks to complete. The entire project is about 120,000 (yes that is thousand) stitches, but I am really happy with the way it turned out. The background I am working on is only half stitches and closely resembles the fabric color as well as softens the edges of them. I will post that photo once it is completed and framed.

The photo that the cross stitch pattern was made from



The finished project without the background done



Since I got off track with not working out last week, I will not post any results this week unless I lost weight! LOL I will be getting back up on the horse, so to speak, tomorrow. I am making a promise to myself to do that and not get discourged. To help myself to that end I am going to Play It Again Sports to see if they have these Neoprene Hand Weights. I am not buying these because they are my favorite color, purple in case you didn't figure that out about me already, but because they have a soft outside texture that is more comfortable in my hand than the metal weights. Looking forward to adding these to my workout.


“I have the strength for everything through him who empowers me.”
~Phil 4:13

So Many Donuts, so little time...

Well, it happened, over the weekend I splurged and had donuts and cherry pie and I ended up gaining 3 pounds last week!

While I don't consider it a complete failure, I do consider it a learning experience. What did I learn you might ask? What I put in my mouth no matter how much I exercise will have consequences.

Before I start my exercising this week I am taking measurements of my body, because I do feel like even though I gained some weight I might have lost some inches. Unfortunately I didn't do measurements before I started this, so nothing to compare it to. I think I might have lost in my bust. The only place I DON'T want to lose a lot and it is always the first place I do lose! LOL

Here they are, the measurements:
Bust: 52.5"
Waist: 47.25"
Hips: 56.5"
Left Bicep: 16"
Right Bicep: 16"
Left Thigh: 30.75"
Right Thigh: 30"
Left Calf: 16.25"
Right Calf: 17"

I am shocked at the fact that I am almost as big around my hips as I am tall! Being only 5'4" we are talking about a 7.5" difference. Egads!

Several people have been talking to me about diet and how that in conjunction with exercise should help me lose more weight. Obviously, I need to be taking a good long look at my diet and what I eat until I get my body burning calories. Learning that my body hasn't gotten used to the changes that I am making is kind of funny. I have been gaining weight for over 15 years and I am sure in that time my body has gotten into its own routine of storing because of bad eating habits.

My friend Beth has sent me some information about http://www.mybodymakeover.com/. She has been doing this for several weeks and just changing her eating she has lost weight. She has a group of 11 people in her office doing this together and they have lost a combined total of 49 pounds in the first 5 weeks.

Another friend of mine who is a personal trainer has some information to share with me too about diet and I should be getting that next week. I will let you all decide what type of change to my eating I make. As for now donuts and cherry pie are off the menu! My husband is going to love that, NOT!

“I have the strength for everything through him who empowers me.”
~Phil 4:13

Happy 4th

Independence Day honors the birthday of the United States of America and the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. To read the declaration follow this link: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html. It's a day of picnics and patriotic parades, a night of concerts and fireworks, and a reason to fly the American flag.

Most people forget the true meaning of this day. Many people died so that we may live in a free and democratic society. God Bless those that over the years have given their lives in faithful service to our continued freedom and that continue to do so today.

It amazes me that in 1776 - 233 years ago - that we were just a small nation of 13 united States of America. There were approximated 2,500,000 people in our newly founded country. Today we are 50 states, the District of Columbia and 6 territories and our population is 304,059,724.

Today we have the techonology to be able to communicate like never before. Just the other day while talking to my hubby I was mentioning about a movie I had watched that was from the 80's. Not even 30 years ago and how much had changed. They had cassette tapes and the "car phone" was HUGE! It was really amazing how even in a short span of time things have changed. Can you imagine what it would have been like as they "wrote" the declaration? They took pen to paper and wrote it by hand. They didn't have the 100's of font choices and colors we have today to make our writings more unique.

Thank you to our founding fathers and those that came before us for giving us a FREE country. Take a moment today to also pray for those countries around the world that are still suffering persecution and governments that believe they are doing the right thing by using guns and opression to control people.

Happy Indepence Day!
For the land of the Free and the Brave!

“I have the strength for everything through him who empowers me.”
~Phil 4:13

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today I am officially 47, but the cool part, I don't feel it. Even though I have really just started my workouts to make a healthier me, I am already seeing the benefits.

1. More energy - About 3 or 4 in the afternoon I would just get very tired and want to take a nap or even want to nap after eating dinner.

2. Being able to breath - OK, most of you might think that is an odd thing to say, but since 2006 I was diagnosed with asthma after spending 5 days in the hospital. Since then I have been on asthma medicine 24/7/365. Over the past month I have stopped taking my daily medicine and have only had to use my fast acting inhaler 6 times over 3 days when the air quality got really bad here.

3. Sleeping better - Since I changed my workout time from the middle of the day to after dinner I have been getting a solid night of sleep without waking up several times or waking up feeling exhausted.

Last night my hubby had a Knights of Columbus meeting so we didn't do the salmon for dinner, I will make that tonight. So I had some leftover homemade pasta sauce and some capellini (like angel hair). It was very good and I didn't eat my after dinner cereal.

Today, my hubby splurged (probably not a good thing, but since we won't be eating brithday cake...) and bought donuts this morning from The Jelly Donut. I had my favorite a cake donut with maple frosting and nuts (been eating these since high school!) and a buttermilk donut. This afternoon we will go out for lunch to celebrate rather than dinner for sushi at a new restaurant called Suisha House over in Koll Center, for those of you that live in Pleasanton. We went there last month for Sara's graduation dinner and it was really good.

Don't know what else we will do today other than watch the fireworks at the Alameda County Fair tonight. It will be the first time in 11 years that the fireworks are being done even close to the 4th as there was a shooting in 1998 that stopped the fireworks from being displayed here. Since then the fireworks display was done on the opening day of the fair. I haven't seen fireworks on my birthday since I had sparklers on my cake for I think my 10th birthday! LOL

I will be working out tonight, just because it is my birthday doesn't mean I get to stop working out!

“I have the strength for everything through him who empowers me.”
~Phil 4:13

Changing

Yesterday I didn't write anything because I decided to change my workout schedule. Since I have been having trouble sleeping, insomnia is not a fun thing to be dealing with, my thought was that exercising at night might make me more tired. So I tried that yesterday and boy did I sleep good last night.

I did my workout after my hubby went off to bed, then took a hot shower and dried my hair. I went to bed about the same time I usually do, but got up 2 hours earlier. For those that know me that is really huge as I am not a morning person at all. I am going to try doing that again for the next several days and see if I notice a difference.

Back before I move to California from Tucson, AZ I used to work out regularly at Naturally Women. It was great because they had a variety of ways I could workout. I was doing Step Aerobics, High Cardio Aerobics, weights, stair climbing, bicycling, walking and when my knees would start to bother me water aerobics. Unfortunately, since I moved here the only place that has most of those types of exercise costs around $1000 a year and so we never joined.

Anyway, I diverge about the reason I mentioned working out at all before. I was working for Holmes Tuttle Ford and my work day started at 7 AM. Yes, back in the day I "had" to get up early. I was out of the house by 6:15 so I could stop and get breakfast and coffee on my way to work, I would rather sleep than get up and make breakfast. I worked daily until 6 PM and after work I would work out. I did that 5 days a week and then on Saturdays I would go work out in the late morning or early afternoon. I remember when I worked out I would always get a good nights rest. Hopefully that works the same way now.

Yesterday my meals consisted of a bowl of edamame for lunch, dinner was Asian Chicken Salad again, then a small bowl of cereal 1/2 cup of Raisin Bran Crunch and 1 cup of milk. This coupled with two cups of coffee, water and a Heineken Beer.

So far today I have had a cinnamon raisin bagel with margarine and my two cups of coffee. For lunch I will have salad again and for dinner I have planned on pan seared Salmon and some veggies and maybe a glass of white wine with dinner.

“I have the strength for everything through him who empowers me.”
~Phil 4:13

Staying Motivated

Today was tough, I didn't sleep well last night, nothing like a bout of insomnia to make life fun and therefore woke up late and grouchy this morning. I did manage to eat breakfast, which consisted of a cinnamon raisin bagel with some cream cheese. Since I got up late I didn't exercise until after two in the afternoon and really was dreading it, but I did it! I persevered! Yesterday I did the low cardio and sculpting part of the DVD, today I decided since I didn't want to do that, much less work out, I did the high cardio. What a workout. It was good. Drank plenty of water while working out, but since we would be eating dinner in 3 hours decided to have a light lunch of just a nectarine.

Tonight I am making the Asian chicken salad for both my hubby and I for dinner, since I have so much and he likes it too, just not for every meal!

I can feel a change starting to happen. Earlier today my cell phone went off and of course it was downstairs in my purse and I was upstairs in my office. I actually managed to make it all the way down the stairs and answer the phone and wasn't out of breath like I usually am! Yeah! Something about being able to breath without feeling like I am going to keel over is just a great thing!

“I have the strength for everything through him who empowers me.”
~Phil 4:13

Eating Right

Today I got on the scale only to find I had lost one whole pound last week. I know that as I exercise and lose the fat that I will be building lean muscle, which weighs more than fat, so I am not too discouraged. So what do I need to change to promote my body to lose more weight? I guess it all equates to what I put in my mouth.

Yesterday I spent part of the afternoon chopping up veggies for my salads that I will eat for lunch. My salads consist of napa cabbage - which is like iceberg lettuce but with the staying power of cabbage, bok choy - a white Asian celery, green onions, shredded carrots, cucumber and cilantro. I was able to make two large glass bowls full from one head of napa cabbage and covered in plastic wrap they will keep for over a week in the fridge. I, also, made a dressing to drizzle on the salad. Next time I make this I am going to try it without the cilantro and see if it works with other dressings. If you would like this recipe, send me an email to callygirl69@gmail.com.

That was my lunch today topped with 13 (yes I counted them out from the can) mandarin orange slices and a couple of tablespoons of chowmein noodles (the crunchy ones). I probably had 3 cups of my salad mix topped with the above and a couple of tablespoons of the dressing. I had my two cups of coffee this morning sweetened with Splenda and cinnamon vanilla creamer. Now I am drinking water since I don't have enough room in the fridge to put my ice tea pitcher. Tonight I am BBQing chicken wings to make hot wings and some corn on the cob.

Since we typically eat dinner at 6:30 each night and I don't go to bed until after 1 AM the biggest problem I seem to have is wanting something to eat around 10 or 11 PM. I bought some nectarines, gotta love those California nectarines this time of the year, super juicy. But that doesn't get rid of my craving for something crunchy. And before you mention it celery just isn't my favorite vegetable unless it is in tuna salad or soup, or better yet smothered with peanut butter! I have thought of doing carrots sticks, but they always dry out when I make them ahead of time and I like a quick and easy snack. So, I have been eating pretzels and I actually count them out. I only eat 12 - 15 mini pretzels, the package says that 30 is a serving of 110 calories.

Post me some suggestions on what you think are good healthy late night snacks and I will let you all know what I tried and what works for me.

Off to do sweat off some of my lunch!

“I have the strength for everything through him who empowers me.”
~Phil 4:13

Pictures of the Unhealthy Fran

I am back from the trip to 99 Ranch Market, it is an Asian market over in Dublin (CA not Ireland). I purchased lots of good things, napa cabbage, bok choy, carrots, cucumber, green onion to make an Asian salad, yummy! I will cut all that up tonight or tomorrow and have salads for the week. It keeps really good in a large glass bowl covered with plastic wrap. I make my own dressing too so I know what is in it. Maybe I will post the recipe later. It is the mix of two different recipes that gives it this great Asian flare. I also bought some BBQ pork bun (Dim Sum) for dinner tonight, along with some hot and sour soup mix and edame.

While I was at the store I bought some vegetable chowmein. They had it on sale - buy one, get one free - two cartons (you know those small Chinese take out cartons). It was only $1.75 for one, so I ate one there and had some water and that was lunch.

Before I left I did the Power Sculpt workout. It was good, but some of the moves I just can't do yet. My balance sucks and I really need to invest in some small hand weights, but maybe in a couple of weeks. Right now just doing the motions I feel it in the muscles that I haven't used in forever. I am glad that I got the DVDs that I did, but for now I am going to do the workouts in the following order: The Workout 1, The Workout 2, Cardio Max & Power Sculpt (alternate days), Boot Camp. Here is the cover of the first DVD:

For the first 6 weeks I will be doing The Workout (Vol. 1) June 19 - July 31st. The workout has 4 different workouts that are alternated each day. I will be working out 6 days a week and taking Sunday off. I was playing around this week with the DVDs since I have to return them to the library, so I did the following workouts for this first week:

19th - Workout 1
20th - Workout 1
21st - off (it's Sunday!)
22nd - Workout 3
23rd - Workout 1
24th - off (yeah I know, I got busy looking for hand weights online and one thing led to another...)
25th - Cardio Max
26th - Power Sculpt

This coming week I will be alternating with the workout 1 & 3 on the DVD. The way it works is one day you are working more at a cardio level and the next day is toning and cardio. Both really great workouts. I am supposed to do these for the first 3 weeks, then do 2 & 4 alternating for the next three weeks. This should be great!

Now for the hardest part for me. The pictures of me.

When did I get the 3rd chin????

Ah, from the side I only have two chins. Great improvement. LOL

Yes, I am showing all sides. I never see more than the front, you know.

Now the side I never see, my fat butt and the rolls.

Ok, enough sharing for today. Have a blessed Sunday everyone and I will see you all on Monday!

“I have the strength for everything through him who empowers me.”
~Phil 4:13

Saturday and it's a Hot One!

Today it is supposed to get up over 100 here for the next couple of days. Most people think I am nuts, but I prefer it to be warm than cold. Could be from living in Arizona for so long and those hot summers that I miss so much.

I started out my day like I usually do working my sudoku puzzle, reading the comics and drinking my breakfast. Yep, liquid breakfast consists of coffee. Anyone that knows me knows I can't live without my morning coffee. I am a total grouch without it. After my morning ritual I typically come upstairs to my computer and check emails. I do this because I have a business during the week my business is constantly working, even when I am not.

Since today is Saturday, I spend a little more time reading emails from family and friends that I have received through the week and wasn't able to respond to. Now that I have started this blog, I am doing that too.

I am off to do my workout. Today I am going to try out The Biggest Loser: Power Sculpt DVD. The thing I really like about these DVDs is that they have 3 levels of workouts. Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced. I am still at the beginner level on all of them and will be for a while. Nothing like doing jumping jacks and having your boobs hit you in the face to really get you motivated!

Later today I will post some pictures of what I really look like. My hubby thought I was nuts, but I told him I have to do this so I keep myself accountable. On the DVDs they have testimonials from the contestants. At the end of the season (I am guessing) they show the contestants a FULL size cardboard cut out of themselves when they started and have them stand next to them to see where they were and where they are now. Very profound. I won't be doing a full-size cardboard cut out, it wouldn't fit here on the computer screen, but I will show pictures of my progress once a month.

Off to workout, then lunch and some grocery shopping.

Bob Harper: "Is it easy? No! ... It has to be a conscious decision."

Why am I doing this & what are my goals?

Three weeks ago I decided enough was enough. I kept waiting for us to make enough money to buy a bigger house so I could have a room that I could workout in and maybe even hire a personal trainer. Of course, if I continue to wait I could die before that happens. Why? Well, because I am considered OBESE! ARGH!!! I even hate saying the word. How did I get this way??? Oh, yeah, I blamed it on the hysterectomy I had back in 1991, or blamed it on turning 30 in 1992. Or the best one, because I quit smoking! But until I took a good long look in the mirror, front, back, and sides, I didn't realize how huge I had gotten. Seeing pictures of me at my bonus daughter Sara's graduation party didn't help. I am fat, plain and simple.

The funny part, when I dream I am this thin petite woman of my youth, trim 125 pounds with so much energy and drive. Thanks to my brain when I sleep I never think of myself as fat.

What changed? One day I was thinking, gosh, if I could only afford to go to the gym again. Then I realized, I just might be able to do that from the comforts of my own den. I have satellite TV, there has got to be some workout programs on there I can record and try, right?

For the first two weeks of June I tried several of them. Most involved equipment I didn't have: bands, weights, yoga mats, step bench, discs to do the twist on and the list goes on. I, also, found an old video tape, you know the things that go into a VCR, of Susan Powters from 1993! I did that about 4 times, but honestly, her tiny body and voice started to get on my nerves, sorry Susan.

Early last week I started searching for workout videos for overweight, that is the politically correct word to use, or what I call FAT people. Most of the ones I found were for people who were already in a workout program and wanted to maintain or lose a little weight, like 5 to 10 pounds. Um, I am not even in the realm of that arena, yet! I wanted something that was geared especially towards people like me.

Now, I will be the first to admit, I have NEVER watched a whole episode of The Biggest Loser. Because I never thought I was fat...remember the dreams?? But when I got to doing a little research on the DVDs I was amazed that I found exactly what I was looking for. A personal trainer. OK, maybe not 100% personal, but close enough for government work, right? Now, back to the first problem. Money.

Since I was really motivated to keep moving I had to find a way to get the DVDs at little or no cost to me. First place I tried, our local library! Yes, folks it is true! Libraries have more than just books! I checked out the first DVD: The Biggest Loser: The Workout. Been working out to that for a week and was also able to check out The Biggest Loser: Cardio Max and Power Sculpt. As I use each workout I will give you my impressions and honest opinions about them. So far my only personal trainer has been Bob Harper and gosh is he cute!

Because the library only has a limited number of the DVDs I decided since I liked the first one so much I would get the others too. I have checked out the ones I mentioned above and did the Cardio Max today, more on that later. They were so great, I decided I didn't want to have to keep running back and forth to the library and I bought them. They are supposed to arrive on July 1st, two days before my 47th birthday. I looked for them at our used bookstores and even at Play It Again Sports, in a feeble attempt to spend money in the local economy, before finally deciding to buy them from Amazon.com.

As with starting out all things you think you are invincible in the beginning. I have set myself some goals that I think are realistic, but I need the help of all of you to make sure I stay on track. In order to help me do that, please sign up to my blog and become one of my Weight Loss Groupies. These are people that will be watching my progress and commenting on my successes, I hope! ;-)

Here are my goals:

• Lose 130 pounds, I haven't given myself a time range since I don't know how long it will take


• Start eating better and smaller portions and post EVERYTHING I eat


• Post on my online journal (this blog) daily my successes and my failures


• Go on pilgrimages to Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Rome, Italy in 2010

I pray that as I go through this journey that those of you who go with me will be supportive, those of you who are struggling with weight issues might find what you are searching for, and those that just came to see what this blog is all about end up staying.

Bob Harper: "Is it easy? No! ... It has to be a conscious decision."