stress.

One of the biggest things that I think makes me hold on to my weight and also makes me not eat well is stress.  Here are a few things that I like to do when I'm feeling stressed out:

*Get up from my computer and DO SOMETHING ELSE.

*Lay on the floor reach my hands above my head and point my toes.  Reach as far as I can with my toes and fingers and then bring my hands down to my side like I'm doing a snow angel.  Do that a few times in a row.  On the last time just let your toes relax out and your hands rest at your side.  Let them fall naturally where they will.  Now just take a breath in through your nose and out through your mouth.  Lay there and think about relaxing the corners of your eyes next to your nose into your eye sockets.  Let the outer sides of your eyes relax.  Now just lay there and think about your breath.  In and out.  In and out.  If a thought comes into your mind just watch it float into the stage of your mind and across like a cloud in the sky.  Don't think it just watch your thoughts come and go.  I do this until I feel losened up.  When I get up I feel much less stressed out.  Emma loves to lay on the floor and do this with me.

*Stop doing things for myself and do something for someone else...that is living and breathing next to you...a friend or a family member or a next door neighbor.

*Take a walk.

*Turn the TV off.  Really, I think I'm less patient when I am or have been watching TV.

*Journal.  This always helps me to get some perspective.

*Take a bath.

*Exercise.

*Sex. (Probably the most fun of the group...)

*Take a break from whatever is stressing me out and do something that I enjoy.  Read a novel, go for a hike, call a friend.

Taking the time out to relieve stress totally helps weight to come off.  To read more about how stress may be keeping you from losing weight check out this great site: click here.  It's worth it in so many ways to reduce your stress.

relaxing. LIFE.

on vacation.

So...I started out my vacation to my parents' house thinking I would soooo stick to what I'd been doing.  And..I mostly did.  I tried to keep eating fairly healthy everywhere we went.  I did have a hamburger at Johnny Rockets in Philly and I ate way too many apple cider donuts (they were irresistible!). On the way home though, instead of stopping at Burger King or something like that we went to Panera Bread.  It was so delish! (Miriam, Emma, Gracie, and I have taken up saying "delish!")

When everyone else had dessert...I didn't.  Not that I didn't want to...I WANTED TO!!! Believe me.  No matter how hard I tried to have dessert it just wouldn't work out.  I tried to order chocolate cake...they were out.  I tried to get a fudge brownie...it had nuts in it (no nuts in brownies for me).  I had a piece of chocolate when i got home.

I went for a walk with my mom around the neighborhood and I went walking with the kids and Grandpa and Grammy when they walked the dog.  I also walked all over Philly and went up the 'Rocky' stairs.  I tried to keep moving as much as possible and was very aware of what I put in my mouth.

Even though I didn't lose a bunch of weight I'm happy to report that on vacation I lost 1 pound!  That seems to be a pretty good thing.  Yay for me!

How are you doing?  What do you do to keep on track while on vacation?

vacation. LIFE.

sleep.

I don't know about everyone else but sleep is the thing that I am the quickest to let go. So often I'm in the middle of a project of some kind that I don't want to quit. I'm on a roll...I always regret it in the morning when the alarm clock goes off at 6am. Yes! Six am every morning. The kids have to catch the bus at 6:50am so we're all now early risers. No matter what I've done the night before.

I'm going to bed much earlier now.

I'm convinced that when I'm getting consistent nights of sleep the pounds don't stick around quite so readily, life seems brighter and the world doesn't feel as stressful.

Look at the way you're living and see if you can give yourself the gift of consistent nights of sleep. You'll be glad you did.

Here are some tips I got from my health insurance company that may help you to sleep better:

• Use your five senses to become aware of your surroundings. Is your pillow too hard, is there an annoying buzz from the fan, or is it too hot? Little things like these can ruin your sleep, so take the time to find and fix them.

• Get rid of the clutter in your bedroom. Your sleep environment should be clean and peaceful. The last things you need to look at are bills on the desk and dirty laundry all over the floor.

• Adjust the temperature in your bedroom for optimum sleep. In the summer, it should be 74 degrees; in the winter set it at 67 degrees.

• Keep a writing pad on your nightstand so when you start to think of things you need to do, you can write them down and then forget about them. Your mind should be clear of pressing thoughts.

• Get the TV out of your bedroom. The light and sounds are stimulants and will keep you awake. Your body needs to associate the bedroom with sleep, not with watching TV.

• Exercise tires your body and prepares it for bed. Also, eating healthy foods with lots of antioxidants will rebuild your body during sleep, helping you feel refreshed when you wake up.

• Whole grains contain magnesium and typtophan, both natural sleep sedatives. Try munching on some whole grain crackers an hour before bed.

• The scent of lavender has special sedative qualities, like helping you sleep through the night. Place a lavender sachet under your pillow or burn essential lavender oil for a little aromatherapy.

I would add:

• No computer in the bedroom!
• Make a schedule for your evenings that will help you get into bed
• I've been taking a walk in the evenings and I consistenly weigh less on the following morning than I do mornings after no evening walk. My evening walk is just a nice, casual walk with the girls or as a family.

healthy. LIFE.

great week.  not so good weekend.

Move it Monday.  So...all week I ate small meals, five a day, exercised each morning, walked in the evening, went up the stairs with my squishy booty instead of asking my kids to for me, and it was working!  By Thursday I was down another 4 pounds!  yay, right?

Well, then Thursday night I found Noodles and Co. on the internet.  If you haven't eaten there find one and go now...just get a small!  Mike and I then and there knew where we were going for our Friday night date.  I was so excited.  We had put Noodles and Co. in our GPS a number of times hoping to find it only to discover that the closest one was about 90 miles away.  Bummer.  Now!  We are so happy to find out there is one just 20 miles away. 

So all day Friday i was looking forward to Noodles and Co. ...so much so that my day got all out of order and I didn't eat my 4 small meals through out the day (okay, maybe it wasn't just me dreaming out my dinner at Noodles and Co...maybe I just had a hectic day...) so by the time we arrive at Noodles and Co. you would think I haven't eaten in a week.  I order the regular Japanese Pan Noodles and some potstickers (both of these dishes are way too good).  For a little bit of exercise (I did say LITTLE) we went miniature golfing and the batting cages (very fun!).  Since we'd worked up quite the appetite from that we went to Krispy Kreme for 2 donuts.  Well...the weekend just went downhill from there.

And now, all of my discipline and hard won weight loss from all week has been brought down to 2 pounds of loss.  I know, I should be grateful I didn't put back on all of my weight with that food this weekend.  But really, I'm just bummed that it was so easy to fall back into old habits.  i'm really wanting to make some permanent and lasting changes here.

So...I've realized that I need to stop getting to the end of the week and thinking, Hey, I've done such a good job a little of this and a little of that is well deserved.  Because really, what I deserve is to feel great.  And I felt a lot better when I wasn't eating a bunch of crappy food.  Seriously, I drank some sprite, a hot dog, and a few chips on Saturday night (I am not a pop person but couldn't find any water around) and the next morning I woke up with completely swollen hands from all of the sodium in what I'd had the night before.  I could barely bend my fingers.  Crazy.

So really, when the weekend arrives I'll feel better if I just stick to what is making me feel good.  It also makes exercising on Monday a lot easier.  It was much harder to run today than it's been so far...I think it has to do with what I ate!  Eating junkn is not a gift or a well deserved whatever...it makes you feel miserable at some point...and it makes those two steps forward that you took during the week end up being one step back.  That's no fun.

So here's to a great week...and an even better weekend.

How did you do?

good. LIFE.

just a little.

I'm hoping I've finally found the secret to the way my body loses weight!

I must say I've been highly tempted to buy some Alli and lose 50% more weight by taking it.  I heard that you shouldn't wear white pants because of the oily discharge that is a side effect.  That kind of grossed me out and so I've changed my mind.  I'm going to try to just be more disciplined.  (Did I already post about Alli?)  Anyway, I also started to wonder if it gives you bowel issues....hmmm....that does not sound appealing!!!

This week I lost almost 5 pounds!  I think that's the most I've ever lost in one week.  I think it's because I'm finally giving my body what it needs....5 small meals a day.  I've been given the gift of inheriting hypoglycemia and so you would think I would have started eating 5 small meals ages ago....but no...I have to wait until I'm 40 pounds beyond what I would like to be to get a clue.

I eat my normal 3 meals a day, just a very small portion, of what's on the table.  (A friend of mine also recommended using a smaller plate so it feels like you're eating more.)  Mid-morning I have elevensies...usually 3 triscuits and a very thin slice of cheese for each cracker or a small handful of fruit.  I've also had vanilla yogurt and strawberries...that's so stinkin' good it should be considered a dessert (or maybe it is!).  Around the time the kids get home from school I have another little snack.  I love nuts (I know they have a lot of fat but protein is what you need when you have hypoglycemia) so I'll have a small handful with some water, a string cheese, or some veggies.  I'm also going to try having a small smoothie occassionally.

Speaking of dessert, I didn't have ANY dessert AT ALL last week...and anyone who knows me knows that is extremely impressive.  I LOVE dessert.  (At least in my estimation of dessert I didn't have dessert.)  I did have on small piece of dove chocolate (1g of fat and 40 calories)  after almost every dinner and a few lunches but that's it in the dessert department.  Pretty impressive, I think.

One very unfortunate thing I've noticed though is that I get an almost immediate headache after I have one of those sweet and wonderful little pieces of chocolate.  I know that means I should probably not eat them... but really?????

So...I'm happy to report that I'm down 4.5 pounds.

How are you doing?

healthy. LIFE.