Livestrong.com

Ok, so the competition has officially started!  It appears everyone is pretty excited about doing this which is key!  So, I've already been hounding about water and fiber.........let's go onto the next topic!  Journaling.  No, not keeping track of your feelings or life events.  This is being accountable for what you are eating and how much you are moving!

The first purpose of Journaling is first and foremost - be aware of what you are eating.  You may think that you are being careful, being cautious, being healthy.  Then you take a look and calculate all those calories and boy oh boy........there where the problem may lie.  Become aware of your eating habits and there is no better way than having them written out in black and white in front of you!

There are many many different 'tracking' websites out on there on the internet....but I highly, highly recommend http://www.livestrong.com/  There are many many things you can do on this site with the 'free' program.  You don't have to download anything, you just register and get started.  There is also a 'gold' version but honestly, you can do SO much with the free version, I don't find it necessary to upgrade.

So, what can you do on livestrong.com after I am registered?  And, everytime you log on, you will go to your 'dashboard'  - this is a general overview of your account and how you are doing.   Ok, so what should you do first? 

Well, first and foremost you can calculate how many calories you should be eating to get to your weight goal.  Click on your "My Goal" portion of the dashboard to put in your goal  and also this helps you calculate your calorie goals.  I had a nutritionist once tell me, you should not be less than 1200 calories/day ever!  Your body goes into starvation mode and you may see some weight loss initially - but then your body will be storing the calories vs burning them because it's natural instinct is to think you are needing to hold onto these calories.  That is what our bodies were evolved to learn.....back in the beginning days of man - you may only have a low amt of calories to survive......not like nowadays where we over feed and have abundance of calories that we don't need!...our bodies don't know the difference - they only do what they have evolved to do.

From this dashboard, you can also 'track your weight'.......they will give you a graph of your weight trend.  This leads me to another point I want to make.  DO NOT weigh yourself everyday..........this is only going to lead to unneccessary frustration!  Water weight can fluctuate SO much at the beginning of a diet and honestly - daily weights is not very accurate.  I know how obsessive it can be to want to step on that scale and see if there has been any progress made but I don't find it helpful.....it can be more frustrating than helpful.  So.........even if you can go every few days if you are one that just needs to know :)!  Also, know at the beginning, there won't be much consistency.  You may see a quick 5 pound loss - especially if you are one that hasn't been real good about drinking water...........just the switch to water will initiate a big weight loss - but typically this is in relation to how much water we have retained based on our previous diets......which typically includes a lot of sodium!  not just in the food we eat but the drinks we drink as well (ie soda!!)  Rejoice in the numbers you see on the scale...........but do not let it make or break your determination to continue on this journey to a healthy lifestyle.  We are not just hear to lose weight - we are here to learn, develop and create healthy lifestyle changes.  For this to be successful and a permanent weight loss - you must committ that this will be something you are going to do for the rest of your life - not just the three months!!  It's going to be hard to commit to these choices or stick to them initially but soon it will be just a part of life!

So back on track here :).....next thing on livestrong.  On the Track your weight option, you also have the option to put in your body measurements.  Now THIS is where you are going to see the graph sloping down faster and will be very motivating!  I thought we would be encouraged by watching these numbers along with the weight with our monthly weigh ins.  It can be SO frustrating to not see much moving on the scale but when you can see in numbers on the tape measure, that is inspiring.  I can send you your baseline measurements if you wanted to track these on your livestrong account.......and then can send them monthly for our weigh ins as well. 

So let's get onto the really important part of Livestrong.........the tracking of your calories and exercise.  Ok, so the place you find this is "My Plate"........you can get there many different ways - one way is the 'Start Tracking" tab about a third of the way down the page.  From this page, there are three different tabs, Food Fitness and Equipment.  Be sure to click on the food tab (defaults to that tab).  Then you just type in what you ate.  You will have a variety of foods come up - the great thing is there are SOOOOOO many foods on there, so type by brand name or restaurant name! you will be amazed at how much there is.  But if it's something simple like an apple.....that will show up too.  I typically look for the foods that say 'verified' next to it - then you know it's accurate nutritional information.  If your food doesn't show up - find one with similar nutritional conents.  You choose what your porition size was and what meal/when you ate this and it automatically gets deducted from your calories for the day.  I also love the fact they break it down to calories, fat, carbs, sugars, protein, fiber, etc.  this is SO informational!!!  For some of us, the higher protein and lower carbs food work better for weight loss.......others it is low fat/low calories.  But, this lays it all out for you and breaks it all down.  They also give you a pie graph at the bottom that shows you overall how your meals are composed.......do you eat more carbs than protein?  More fat than protein........use all these graphs/tools to help you learn how you eat and maybe help you learn why maybe weight loss has been difficult for you or why other diets may not have worked. 

I think just looking at how your eating is the big eye opener!  Am I taking in too many calories?  Are my portion sizes too big?  Am I eating too many carbs or sugar?  This can be very educational for you if you have never tracked before.

You can also put in your own recipes, which is another feature this site has that I love!  If there is something you make a lot and you don't want to list every single ingredient (ie - one of my homemade lattes) - I will just make it up in a recipe as a single serving.  But, if you make something at home - my tuna salad - I will make it up and they will calculate out the nutritional info per serving of that recipe!  How awesome is that?!?!?! 


Ok, so next tab is the exercise tab!  Get your butt moving and get the credit for it!  You will learn about your exercising by journaling as well.  This is great to track here - whatever calories you burn - they will add it onto your calorie goals for the day!  If you have a heart monitor, those are great ways of tracking how many calories you burn......but also, most of the equipment you have will tell you how many calories you burn.  But, livestrong can help quesstimate calories as well.  Push yourself with the exercise.........if it's something your body is used to doing - you are not going to be burning the calories as well as maybe you did at the beginning.  PUSH yourself.........get your heart rate up - break out in a sweat.......these are GOOD things........you are working - your body is burning calories.  If you are a walker - walk faster!  Walk fast enough that you are having a hard time talking while you are exercising - you are burning more calories that way!  Pump it up a notch from what you may have been doing already.  Make it worth your while.  Why do it if it's not going to be productive!!  Ok, so back to calories and exercise.........I will be having another blog entry about exercise later.  But....

If you want to go out to eat for lunch and maybe don't do very well or are going to treat yourself to some not-so-healthy food..........exercise a little more that day to help balance out the intake!  You are allowed to do that!!!  For any kind of weight loss - calories in has to be less than calories burned.....plain and simple...........so feel free to have those 'cheat' days.......but still be accountable.  And speaking of cheat days.......you do not have to do this 24/7........you can have slip ups.......treats..........nights out...........but DO NOT let that ruin your ambition to have overall weight loss and healthy lifestyle changes.  Allow yourself to do these things - it's much easier to comply to a change if you are allowed to deviate once in a while......but DO NOT let that bring yourself back to where you were.  You need to use self control and moderation.......this is all about self-discipline..........and talking yourself into the fact that YOU CAN DO THIS!  So do not fall off the wagon and lose all the momentum you had going.  Allow yourself a slip up from time to time - but few it as a minor/temporary time in the grand scheme of things.  Get back at it!!
There are also thousands of articles and info on anything you can imagine on health and wellness.  Use this site to educate yourself on food, exercise, and other healthy lifestyle choices........it truly is amazing!

Just some helpful hints
:
Track after every meal........take the time to do this.  It is SO easy to think you are keeping a good tally in your head and then it's the end of the day and you've gone over! ;(  Be accountable, do this frequently!  It will create success!!!

This leads me to another point - DO NOT save all your calories to the end of your day!  I think this is a huge reason why our society is in the mess it is in..........we focus more of our effort/attention/and calories for that matter to our last meal of the day........wrong!!  How on Earth are we supposed to digest and burn those calories when it's just a matter of hours later we are in bed laying completely dormant for 8 or so hours????  This does NOT give our bodies time to get rid of these calories.  Take the time in the morning or even lunch to have those bigger meals.  Eat meals full of protein and even more fat in these meals..........they will keep you full and satisfied longer.  I am a firm believer in a big breakfast!........eat meat, eggs, etc!  If you eat a carb ridden meal - you burn that faster and you are hungry in just a few hours.  Have you ever experienced that the mornings you imght have toast for breakfast, you are more hungry than if you didn't eat at all?   You have your metabolism going but it's been fed with carbs and we don't feel satisfied as long. 

Another good point - and you've heard it a million times.........small frequent meals.  That doesn't mean a full out meal every few hours.........but I can attest to the fact........you nourish your body every 2 hours......you will NOT be hungry!!!  It feels like you are constantly eating but you don't get hungry and you are not looking for those 'sweets' or snackies.   Bring to work with you fruit or veggies that can easily be grabbed and eaten in between your meals..........you will eat less at your meals and you will be making healthier choices!  This will also keep your cravings at bay.  You will have WAY more energy than you imagined!  This is a very different style to how we eat - three meals/day.  But this truly truly works!  Then you're also not starving at the end of the day and more apt to 'cheat'........

Portion sizes is another thing you hear so much about too.  The problem is - we want our money's worth....so when we go out to eat, they give you a lot of food!...about twice as much as you need.   Also, our plate size! (? huh? what does that have to do with anything???) - yes - even our plates have gotten bigger!  And of course the more room you have on a plate, the more you are going to 'fill' it up.  Grab a smaller plate and use that in helping you transition to smaller portion sizes.  This will make a big difference.

Here is a good link with some helpful hints:

http://www.win.niddk.nih.gov/publications/just_enough.htm

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/portion-control/NU00267



Ok, that is all the rambling I'm going to do right now!  I hope everyone is doing ok these first few days!  Any questions, suggestions or things you want to share, let me know - I can get them up here or respond to with your comments!!

One of my favorite food quotes: "Nobody gets fat off peas and carrots"

True :).  Another favorite quote - you are what you eat..... A favorite statistic....is that 60% of weight loss is about nutrition!  So hence all my ramblings about food.

We are on this journey for not just weight loss but a healthier lifestyle.  Let THAT (a healthier lifestyle) be our primary focus and the weight loss will become as a result of that!

I have read and really have discovered the reason we eat is not for the reason it was 'intended' that being out of necessity.  There are many reasons why we eat.  Become concious of that.  When you go to the fridge or cupboard, stop and think about why you are there?  When I did my detox diet of all liquid and pureed vegetables, I truly missed that chewing portion of eating..........I could not believe the intensity for which I was craving chewing something!  But, it made me really come face to face with why I was eating...........the fact that I went 21 days with just drinking and slurping my food - and didn't really get hungry was probably one of the biggest shockers for me.  And the fact that on day 21 I wasn't ready to devour anything in sight.......I honestly felt I could go longer.  This detox diet I did is not for everyone and I'm not sure I could do it again...........but it was a REAL eye opener for me.  A lot of what we do is habit.  BE STRONGER THAN THAT HABIT!  This is about overcoming the lack of willpower that has brought you to where you are now.  You have to work at this....this is not going to be easy or come quickly.   Self Discipline and control.

So back to food.....what we are putting in our bodies is going to nourish and fuel us.  You put junk in, you feel like junk.  You put nutritionally rich food - you are going to get energy and good nutrition from this.  Pretty simple....and something we all know.  But how do we incorporate this into everyday?

Here are the current recommend daily allowances

http://www.mypyramid.gov/guidelines/PolicyDoc.pdf

So make a goal of increasing those fruits and vegetables primarily...........these will fill you up and give you the nutrients first and for most you need.  Our diets are lacking this food group more than any other food group.....so make that a big goal for you.  Try new fruits and veggies you have not tried before.   The best option - fresh - bought from the produce aisle......second choice - frozen and last option - canned.  You are going to enjoy the taste of the fresh SO much more - the texture, the freshness, etc.  This will take more time to cook and prepare but this will be SO worth it!  Play with seasonings and different ways of cooking these items......you will be surprised how much more you will enjoy cooking and food!!

Another important tip to remember.........about any food that is 'convienent' or fast is probably not a good or the best option.  That is where reading the labels (next blog entry) is really important and also meal planning.  Anticipate what you are going to need to buy by having some meal ideas ahead of time.

Here is some good info:

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/fy/fy52200.pdf

There are many, many good websites for recipes, cooking and meal planning........check out the resources box and here are some more:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/healthy-eating/index.html

http://www.mealsmatter.org/

http://www.healthy-eating-made-easy.com/healthy-meal-planning.html

http://www.helpguide.org/life/healthy_eating_diet.htm

4 Simple Shopping Rules

• Shop the perimeter of the grocery store, where fresh foods like fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat, and fish are usually located. Avoid the center aisles where junk foods lurk.
• Choose "real" foods, such as 100% fruit juice or 100% whole-grain items with as little processing and as few additives as possible. If you want more salt or sugar, add it yourself.
• Stay clear of foods with cartoons on the label that are targeted to children. If you don't want your kids eating junk foods, don't have them in the house.
• Avoiding foods that contain more than five ingredients, artificial ingredients, or ingredients you can't pronounce.

Well, what comes after peeing all the time with all the water you need to drink......#2 of course!!

Ok, here comes my rant about fiber and pooping! Tish - be warned.........this won't be graphic, but I'll be typing the word poop quite a bit!  I learned a lot about digestive health and the necessity of stooling after reading my 21 pounds in 21 days.  The analogy that really got me to really get this was, your intestines are like a garbage can.......it needs to be emptied often otherwise it and what is in it will rot!  Ew, right?  So, we don't need to go into the specifics about who poops and how often......we all know how regular or irregular we are.  I am going to bet we aren't 'emptying' like we should.  But the most important thing in relation to this is, are you eating enough fiber??? 

Do you realize the typical American diet contains about 10gms of fiber a day?  Did you know your body needs 20-35gms a day!  And, no - these does not mean run right out and buy the FiberCon or Fiber Choice you see on the shelf......just like everything else, there is not a magic pill that will do this for you!  The answer is - EAT FOOD that gives you these things.....gives you the vitamins that you may or may not be taking daily, the supplements that are promised to give you the easy fix.  KEEP IT SIMPLE.  You have all the things your body needs in the food we can buy!!!

There is no better way to get the energy, vitamins and requirements your body needs by just eating the right food!  And that means FRUITS AND VEGETABLES!!! 

Make it a goal during this weight loss competition to start paying attention to how much fiber your food has.  Pick the option that has more fiber.......and typically this means foods that might not always have a label - fruits and veggies!

And, much like the water bit - your body is going to have a hard time adjusting at first.  You are probably going to feel real bloated and gassy adding that much fiber to your diet.......it is an adjustment period.  Your body has been used to not having that much 'roughage'.......give it some time.

Also eating high fiber foods give you that 'full' feeling longer and faster.......that also helps with weight loss.  I'm not saying poop yourself to lose weight but if you can 'clean' your gut the more nourishing foods you eat are going to give you better nutrition and help in your digestion - that is going to give you the energy you need and not neccessarily in the form of diet soda or coffee!  Eat these foods designed to nourish and energize you - you will see a difference!!!

Weight Loss and Changes toward a healthy lifestyle does not come over night!  But persisitence is key!  It's not easy and without pain - you have to overcome these challenges.......it is very much a mental thing and you need to talk yourself into a lot of things you are not going to want to do.  The best way to break a bad habit is to drop it.  ~Leo Aikman

EXCELLENT article on how the colon works and different types of fiber and benefits:

http://www.gicare.com/diets/high-fiber-diets.aspx

http://www.dietaryfiberfood.com/fiber-health.php

Now onto more info about high fiber foods:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/high-fiber-foods/NU00582

http://commonsensehealth.com/Diet-and-Nutrition/High_Fiber_Food_Chart.shtml


The big thing I want you to notice here...........the food listed....they are REAL food!  They aren't packaged, processed or highly advertised or a gimmick!  Keep it simple and keep it real!!!  There will be more info about that!

The first step to a healthier you - water

Here is a good place to start......commit to drinking water. You know the drill 8-10 glasses.  I know we've heard it a thousand times......and believe me, I know how hard it can be.  I have always found, when you first start this healthy choice it seems like SUCH a chore....It doesn't taste like anything and it doesn't caffeinate me.......so what's the point? :)  But I have found that the more you drink...the more you pee (DUH!?!...at the beginning that is) but this will all equalize out after a short period of time and you will begin to quench this water and you will not be peeing quite so much.  Our bodies have been retaining so much water due to the food we eat, including the large amounts of sodium in a typical diet......we need to flush it out and balance.  So, it will be terrible to begin with......but then your body adjusts and you really will only be wanting to drink water. 

http://www.inch-aweigh.com/water.html

http://www.caloriesperhour.com/tutorial_water.php

But I've also included this article that explains why it needs to be water, not anything but.......especially not these sugary drinks..this include sports drinks, vitamin waters, seltzer waters, energy drinks,etc.

http://www.guppyweightloss.com/the-importance-of-water-replacing-those-sugary-sodas-with-water#

All these sugary drinks have things in them you do not need! This also leads me to bring up 'sugar free' drinks......most contain aspartame, splenda or other artificial sweeteners that make your sense of taste satisfied but your body is not always fooled by the sugar substitute.  These sugar free beverages are NOT a better choice or an alternative to water, no matter what the label says!

There are many many articles on the web that talk about this......and it is such a struggle because you want the reduced calories so you can enjoy these things.......but if the alternative isn't actually helping you, then why do it?

Here are just some of the links I've found....but do your own search and see what you can find and learn about this!  Do not let the ads, labels and food industry fool you.......they are out to make money and will make you think that you are doing the right thing.......educate yourself!

http://www.womentowomen.com/healthyweight/splenda.aspx

http://www.thedietsolutionprogram.com/content/2010/05/how-artificial-sweeteners-are-making-you-fat/

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/health/why-you-may-want-to-ditch-artificial-sweeteners-and-3-smart-ways-to-stop-sweet-cravings-2048619

First Posting for the Competition

Sounds like we have a fair number of folks interested in the Biggest Loser competition.  So far these are the people I hear that will be actually competing: Tish and Steve Krause, Mandy & Dennis Reckward, Bobbie Broadwater, Travis Scanlan, Tasa, Scott and Megan Deden.
We would love to get more involved so be sure to pass it on to anyone I may have missed originally or if anyone is considering - please talk them into it.  We are going to offer so much great information and encouragement to each other - I'm looking forward to it.

It sounds like many people would like to start the competion April 1st.  Just checking to see if Friday April 1st would be a day that everyone could swing by my house to do the first 'weigh in'.  Anytime during that day that you are avilable, stop by my house and we will do all the weigh ins on my Wii Fit and all the information will be confidential and I will be the only one to keep track of weights.

To go over rules again - for those competing - we charge $50 and put it in a 'pot'.  At the end of the 3 month competition, we will give the Top 3 Biggest Losers the pot.  The person losing the highest percentage of body weight will get 50% of the pot, the 2nd highest 30% and third will get 20%. 

Below I have listed a number or websites that I have personally found helpful in finding out information on exercise, nutrition, calorie counting and cooking.  Please start browsing through those if you haven't seen them already.  Also, if you have some that you would like to share, let me know, I will get them posted!

I plan on writing a blog entry time to time of some of the great inspirational and motivating info that I have discovered along the way.  I personally learned some extremely important information about our food industry, the way we digest food, and have found the balancing of carbs and counting of calories have been keys to success in the journey I have taken so far.  I have really lost my motivation and am very excited to start this competition to get serious about this again!

So, comment to this blog to let me know if and when you might be able to weigh in on April 1st!