Let's have some Kiwi Berries...

Kiwi Berries or Baby Kiwi's or Passion Poppers as they are called here are a new treat that I have found at the Farmer's Markets and at Harris Teeter's.  They are cute, delicious and good for you.  I take off the little top, and the hard base piece on the bottom and pop the whole thing into your mouth.  It is an explosion of Kiwi taste, most times much sweeter than their adult counterparts.  Enjoy!

Just My Size

Now that I am back to work I needed some nylons/tights. I had a brand new pair of tights that I had owned for over 15 years that I wore for the first two weeks of work, but after several washings and some runs in the abdomen part - they were literally falling off of me and had to be tossed. I really wanted to get new tights at Lane Bryant but I just wasn't in the mood to head over there (way past my house). So I stopped at CVS.

Over fifteen years ago I used to by Just My Size nylons/tights at CVS. Now as I stand here in the isle and look at the package I was SO disappointed. In my head, "what do you mean the weight cut off is 300? I am 330.. I wonder if they will fit. Those ones that I bought from Target are too tight in the upper leg, but I think that they were a smaller range than these. WTH, did the Just My Size people not get the memo that we are a heavier nation now than we were 15 years ago? Why wouldn't they make these bigger instead of making them smaller..." I put the package back on the shelf.

Brow furrowed and scowling face - I was ticked off. I really didn't want to go to Lane Bryant but I was worried that they would be too tight given that I was about 30lbs over the 300 / 5'7" max size on the back of the box. As I started to walk to the front of the store feeling very defeated I realized.. omg.. I am 233lbs! Not 333lbs!

With a huge grin, and literally laughing out loud I go back to the shelf and grab a few boxes and head up to check out.

Clearly after losing these last 69lbs in a year my brain hasn't caught up with my body. =)

Let's make a wrap...

Healthy Wrap

A tortilla or Mediterranian wrap is my go-to food.  I generally eat this once or twice per day.

Nutritional Breakdown looks something like this:

Calories: 458

Carbs: 48

Fat: 11

Protein: 53

Start with a whole wheat organic tortilla wrap, or an organic Mediterrian wrap.

Place a cooked meat of choice on one half of the wrap.

Put blue cheese, feta cheese, or any cheese of your liking on top of the meat.  If you aren't going to put cheese, then add the meat when the wrap is half-way done heating or your meat will dry it out.

I generally put the wrap on a pan in the cold oven and then set the temp for 350.  Generally by the time it pre-heats the wrap is lightly toasted and ready to remove from the oven.  You want your wrap lightly toasted enough so you can still fold it in half after you have placed all of your ingredients inside.  If you toast it too long, it will crack and shatter once you start to fold or pick it up.

I top my wraps with:

- My homemade salsa goes on the meat/cheese combo

- Carrot slices go on top of the salsa

- Fage greek yogurt goes on the top half of the wrap

- Dijon mustard goes on top of the yogurt

- Alfalfa sprouts go on top of the mustard/yogurt

Fold in half and get ready for a flavor explosion.

Enjoy!

Veggie - Carrots, Tomatoes, Onions, Sprouts and Dijon Mustard on a Toasted Mediterranean Flat Bread
 

I didn't have any salsa made that day, so I just used the tomatoes in its place.

Chicken, Carrots, Tomatoes, Dijon Mustard, Greek Yogurt, Sprouts on a Mediterranean Flat Bread

Chicken, Blue Cheese, Mexi-Mix Cheese, Dijon Mustard, Tomatoes, Sprouts on a Mediterranean Flat Bread.

Turkey, Salsa, Greek Yogurt, Dijon Mustard and Sprouts on a Whole Wheat Organic Toasted Tortilla.

Let's make some chicken...

Chicken Breasts

Chicken is great to have on hand.  Add it as meat to a sandwich or wrap, add it to the top of a salad, add it to soups - it is versatile and when prepared ahead of time and frozen - you can have chicken available anytime.

I buy my chicken at the Bethesda Farmer's Market.  There is a meat guy there on Saturday's only and he sells some amazing chicken breasts.  I have to do a big of work when I get them home to remove the excess fat and trim off the tenderloins, but it is worth it.

For this simple recipe you will need:

Chicken breasts - fat removed and tenderloins removed.  I generally bake the breasts and freeze the raw tenderloins for my husband for when he makes his famous chicken curry.

Toppings of your choice can include:

- Lemon Juice

- Lime Juice

- Mrs. Dash or another herb sprinkle

- Dijon Mustard and Garlic Spread

- Plain

- or any other topping of your choice

Spray Pam or lightly smear the bottom of a pan with extra virgin olive oil.  I generally put aluminum foil on the bottom of my pan first.

Place breasts in the pan and cover, smear or sprinkle the topping of your choice.  I bake about 18 breasts in a single day, then I don't have to do it again for a month, so I will do a variety of flavors.

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.   This time/temp combination creates a chicken breast that is not overdone, is juicy on the inside and is a great addition to any meal.  

These are Lemon Pepper Breasts

Be sure to let the breasts rest at least 15 - 20 minutes before cutting into them.  I generally let mine rest at least 30 minutes, then freeze them whole without cutting.  If you cut into them too early (while they are still hot) all of the juice runs out of them and they quickly become dry.  I take them out of the freezer a day before I want to eat/consume them.  I reheat by cutting into desired thickness of slices and reheating in a pan.  Or, I will add them to an already hot dish (like soup), or just slice them cold and reheat just a little before adding to a salad.

Enjoy!

Let's make some salmon...

Garlic Dijon Smothered Salmon with Lemon Herb Essence

I purchase my salmon from the local farmer's market in Kensington, MD.  The seafood guy there has an amazing selection of fish, shrimp, scallops, etc.  I email him by Thursday of that week and tell him how big of a piece I want as most times I don't get there until later and all of the salmon is sold out.  When I make this recipe I generally get a piece of salmon as long as the tip of my middle finger, up to my elbow.  Then I slice it in smaller pieces, coat and bake them and then freeze them.  I take them out the day before I want to eat them and they reheat very nicely in a pan, or are even delicious cold. =)

Remove the skin from the bottom of the salmon and slice into single serving strips.  Here is a linked video to help you accomplish this task easily.

You will need:

Organic Garlic - I generally use 2 cloves per salmon piece

Organic Lemons - 1 lemon for every two salmon pieces

Organic Dijon Mustard (no calories, if your mustard has calories - read the label)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil or Coconut Oil (1 tsp for every two salmon pieces)

Mrs. Dash or some type of non-salt herb mixture.

Instructions:

Chop garlic very fine - use a spoon or a knife to crush the diced garlic until it gets pasty.  I use the Slap Chop and then I crush with a spoon in a shallow bowl.

Add 2 TBSP Dijon mustard per two salmon pieces

Add 1 TBSP Extra Virgin Olive Oil per 3 salmon pieces

Mix together.  Let rest while you prepare the rest of the dish.

Roll lemons while pressing down on them on the counter to help soften the pulp/fibers inside and release some of the juice.

Slice lemons into semi thick slices. You should get 5 - 6 slices per lemon.  See bottom photo for example of thickness.  If the slices are too thin they will dry out and do not release as much lemon flavor/essence into the bottom of the salmon.

Place lemons on the bottom of a pan covering the entire bottom of the pan.  

FYI - Try not to use aluminum foil when cooking fish as it effects the taste of the fish.  Try to use a glass or pyrex pan if possible.  If you have extra lemon slices that is great.  You can place them on top of the fillets after they are in the pan and sprinkle with some more herb mixture.  If not, no biggie. =)

Sprinkle the herb mixture on top of the lemons in the pan.  Again, the ideas is that as the lemons heat, their moisture will help create the herb-lemon essence moving up through the fish as it bakes.

Smear the garlic/dijon mixture onto each piece of salmon.  Place them on top of the rows of lemon slices in the pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.  Serve immediately, or let rest/cool and then place in containers to be frozen for later use.  DO NOT over bake.

ENJOY! =)

Let's make some salsa...

Wash tomatoes and slice them in half.

Place tomatoes on the best invention ever for slicing/dicing stuff - The Magic Chopper / Chop Wizard / Vidalia Chopper

Another view point





















Get some strength training in and slam down the top to create perfectly diced tomatoes.

Add red and yellow onions also diced in the chop wizard.

 Add jalapenos as desired.

Stir all ingredients together.  Use on everything.  I use this with eggs, on all of my wraps and with salads.

Enjoy!

61 Days...

I am now 61 days into my Facebook Motivational Program and it is going just excellent.  

I took Friday off as a rest day and then wanted to make up for some of the cardio/strength I missed - so yesterday I took my bike outside in the first time that I have owned it in easily 8-ish years and I took took an hour and 50 minute bike ride and I went 9.18 miles.  Thank you Spark People tracking program for allowing me to map exactly where I went with Google Maps then calculating, based on my time and weight, how many calories I burned - which was 745.  A normal day of cardio for me is around 420 calories burned.

I am very proud of this accomplishment and especially since I can still walk the next day.  I was up at 6:30a (sleeping in an hour and a half from my weekday wake up time) and ready to rock and roll. =)

Feeling very proud of myself these days. =)

Biggest Loser 10 Week Challenge and a 5k Training Program - Week 2

Week 2 - 3/16 - 3/22 Report:

Biggest Loser 10 Week Challenge:

- Lost 2.4lbs
- Ran a 5k at a time of 51:44 down from my 60:33 last June. Very proud! =)

- Drank over six 8oz glasses of water every day

- Did standing push ups once a day when I went to the bathroom from all of the water.

- Three times during the week I drank a glass of water with my food which helps fill the stomach and reduces the amount you want to eat.

- Did the last chance workout on top of my regular workout which is 5 more minutes of cardio on my 45 minutes, and 2 core exercises, 2 lower body exercises and 2 upper body exercises.

March 15 - 22nd: 5k Your Way - Week 2 Training Sessions:

Day 1: Walk for 3 minutes, then jog for 1.5 minute. Do 5 cycles of this for a total of 27 minutes. (DONE on 3/15)

Day 2: Walk for 3 minutes, then jog for 1.5 minute. Do 5 cycles of this for a total of 27 minutes. (DONE on 3/17)

Day 3: Walk for 3 minutes, then jog for 1.5 minute. Do 6 cycles of this for a total of 31.5 minutes. (Moving to next week schedule..) 

I am finding this to be harder than I had thought.  I think that I am really bored with the treadmill/bike routine I have been doing for two months now.  The weather is starting to get better and so I might try to do one of these outside to see if that changes the way that I physically feel while/after doing it.

=)

Biggest Loser 10 Week Challenge and a 5k Training Program - Week 1

A year ago when I was on the Biggest Loser Club site I was involved in a Boot Camp group that had an 8 week challenge, mini challenges, inter-team challenges, and side team challenges.  It really became quite overwhelming.  I am still a perfectionist in a lot of ways, and having all of those demands and not being able to meet them all as I had just started from a fitness standpoint was hard for me.  I felt a little defeated each week when I didn't accomplish everything assigned for the week.  Also my motivation wasn't really to change the scale, but how I thought I appeared to the group as someone who wasn't giving 100%.  Don't get me wrong, I had some great experiences and some awesome successes (I LOVE competition!) but overall it was a bit stressful for me just getting into the food changes I was making and what I was just learning about nutrition, and I had just started being physically active.

It is now almost a year later.  I have learned so much more about my nutrition.  My fitness is at a new level.  I have been doing awesome on my "Facebook Accountability Plan" where I am working out 45 mintues of cardio / 45 minutes of strength training 6 days per week.  I am on Day 42 today (Rest Day) and I have been consistent!  The simple idea of posting to Facebook that I didn't get in my workout is terrifying to me and that is what has kept me going.  I know eventually there will probably be a day that I will probably miss for one reason or another - but I am doing everything in my power to prolong that from happening as long as possible. =)

Admittedly, I am getting a little bored in my workout routines.  Therefore the other day when I was reading the message boards on SparkPeople and I saw that a group of people had just finished their Biggest Loser Winter Challenge and they were actively recruiting for their Biggest Loser Spring Challenge - I was intrigued.  10 weeks, weigh-in's are on Wednesday.  There is also one inter-team challenge (ITC) with a bonus for extra points each week.  There are about 17 teams of 25 people each.  It starts 3/9 (first weigh in) and runs through 5/18 (final weigh in).

Hmmm.  Was I ready to take this on?  I remember the overwhelming thoughts from doing this last time.  That is part of the reason that I didn't join any teams when I first came here.  I am on a good steady pace just doing this by myself right now.  Do I want to potentially rock that boat?  

One of my rules: Get and stay out of my comfort zone.  Nothing exciting ever happens in my comfort zone.

Well, I figured I am already doing 90 min/day, the scale is consistently going down each week, I don't have to really change my routine at all and the ITC's are a reasonable addition to my routine.  So why not get some extra support in a team environment again, earn some extra "points" in a group challenge aside from my regular SparkPeople points and just see how it goes.  I signed up on the thread and a few days later I was placed on the Kiwi team.

Then yesterday I logged in to track my nutrition and I see there is a SparkPeople Virtual 5k Your Way Training Program.  You choose if you want to walk, walk/jog, rookie running, running plan, 10k, 1 mile beginner's walk, or 1 mile beginner's run.  I thought - I can do this.  I had been trying the Couch to 5k program to switch up my routine, I already do about 25 minutes on the treadmill each day as it is, I am already interval training in speed or increasing incline every 1/16 of a mile - why not train for a 5k.  At least it will switch up my routine 3 times per week.

Then later in the day I see that my Kiwi team has issued a start-up challenge.  It says, "Let's have a 5k run walk crawl. Starting Monday you need to keep track on how long it take you to do it in minutes. Then you weigh in on Wednesday. Then in Week 10 We can do the same thing. You can see if you got faster or easier on the 5 k. We look forward to setting new records for ourselves!!!!  Post your start times here and your end times here or explain how it is easier at the end."

Well that makes sense.  5k at the start and 5k at the end as a measurement of the difference of a 10 week challenge.  It also corresponds with this 5k training program and it probably would be good to get a new gauge on how long it takes me to do a 5k.  I have only done it once intentionally on my treadmill last July and my time was 60:33 at a 3 incline.

So here is what I have now committed to for this week:

Biggest Loser Challenge:

March 7 - 8th:  Run a timed 5k and post to the thread (plan on doing this Monday 3/7)

March 9th:  First Official Weigh In

March 9th - 15th:  ITC Week 1 - Try something new - Challenge yourself to choose something in your fitness routine that you have never done before.  IE: Workout with Kettlebells, a stability ball, weights, or if you already use them try a new exercise with them.  Just do something of your choice that you have never done for 5 out of the 7 days.  Do 2 sets of 20 reps each of those days.  Or if it is something you time, like a stationary bike, do it for 10 minutes.  Bonus ITC - 4 sets of 20 reps or 20 minutes

For this challenge I am going to choose a chest exercise (or a couple of them) for the BowFlex and do that for the 4 sets of 20 reps to try to get the Bonus points.  My current strength training is 6 core and 9 legs/arms alternating days.  Therefore there aren't many chest exercises going on.  I also printed out all of the possible exercises of the BowFlex in July of last year and have barely done any as I do most of my strength training through SparkPeople so that will be a great way to start to get to know the BowFlex a little better.

March 15th:  Last Chance Workout - add 5 more minutes of cardio to my 45 minutes or 100 Jumping Jacks.  Strength training choose two from each category:

Core:
25 crunches
25 side bends (with or without weights)
25 hip flexors

Lower Body:
25 squats
25 leg lifts
25 bridges

Upper Body:
25 bicep curls
25 boxers
25 pushups (your choice of type)

Other: Drink an extra 8 oz. of water.



SparkPeople 5k Your Way:

March 6 - 12th:  Run a timed 5k and post results to tracker (can be same 5k as above on 3/7)  I figured that since I had to do it for the above, I may as well join this week's 5k race too. =)

March 6 - 12th:  Complete 2 more 5k Your Way Training Sessions (I can do Day 2 during my 5k above)

Day 1: Walk for 4 minutes, then jog for 1 minute. Do 5 cycles of this for a total of 20 minutes.  (DONE on 3/5)
Day 2: Walk for 4 minutes, then jog for 1 minute. Do 5 cycles of this for a total of 20 minutes.
Day 3: Walk for 4 minutes, then jog for 1 minute. Do 6 cycles of this for a total of 30 minutes. 

So that works out quite well.  That one 5k will knock out three commitments on two challenges all in one day and time wise it will probably be just a bit over what I am already doing for cardio for the day anyway. =)

WOOT!  No one can ever say I'm not efficient. =)

40-Renovation -- Part 2 -- Not Alone

I really think that the 40th birthday of someone's life is really a significant moment.  My weight is only part of the 40-renovation.  Mentally I am a different person.  It has changed the way I think about some things, react to other things, care about some things, and discard and not even pay attention to most things that just simply don't matter to me directly.  Now that I have started to pay attention to it (as with most things) I am finding that there are many others out there who go through this same experience.

http://takimag.com/article/10_things_about_turning_40
Hilarious!  Geared more towards men, but applicable to really anyone.  Very funny video in the middle of the page. =)

http://blog.thesource4ym.com/archive/2010/03/19/top-10-signs-youre-turning-40.aspx
Also very funny blog about turning 40.  Again a little more geared towards the men, but men sometimes have a way of just really laying it all out there that in its comedic simplicity just makes me laugh. =)


http://womenatforty.com/about-this-site/
An entire site dedicated to Women at 40.  Life. Love. Reality. In our fortieth year.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1077/is_n10_v52/ai_19653902/
Excerpt:  Camille Cosby told it to Oprah and Oprah told it to me and, a few weeks ago, I told it to a Sister-friend who was feeling down, distressed and depressed because her life was about to take a dreaded turn. She was turning 40.  What Oprah told me Camille told her and I told my friend is this: "You should be out on your veranda dancing because you are about to experience one of the most magnificent, marvelous events in a woman's life."

http://turning40.net/
Another site dedicated to turning 40.

http://www.theboot.com/2010/06/29/court-yard-hounds-cher/
Cher recounts to Martie from the Dixie Chicks how her 40th year was her best year.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1705115/ - Kevin Smith:  Too Fat for 40!

This isn't a link to an article but a movie.  In typical Kevin Smith style of his Q&A sessions, one audience member asks a question which then turns into a two hour answer session filled the realities of this time period in our lives, lived through a man with way more money and resources than most of us - so in other words not different - but amplified. =)

and of course, Louis CK above. =)

40-Renovation -- Part 1 -- My Journey To Date and My Big Goal

When asked my age, the first thing I think of is - what year is this?  Since I was born in 1970, if the year is 2009 - that means I am turning 39 on 11/2 of that year.  So on January 1, 2010, I knew from the moment the clock turned 12:00:00 AM that I would be turning 40 that year in November.  At the stroke of midnight I was laying in bed, watching a marathon of The Biggest Loser and crying over being fat, unhealthy, not where I thought I should be in my 40th year of life.  My mind was focused on how I had lost a friend to ovarian cancer (she was in her early 40's), and another (in her late 30's) had just been diagnosed with uterine cancer.  This isn't supposed to happen right?  This is abnormal?  Nope.  Two other friends would be diagnosed during the year. One for her second battle with breast cancer, and cancer would take another ones life.  I could only wonder what was my fate with cancer going to be.  I had stopped smoking earlier that year, but I knew I wasn't as healthy as I could be - and what could I do to change that?

It was at that moment that I decided to start on the journey that I am still on, and really feel as though I am only in the first 1/10th of this journey almost 14 months later.

I had to start somewhere with making a change and the most extremely unmaintained part about my life was my health and my weight - so that was where I started.  On this journey I have been exposed and learned about new (to me) ideas about food, fuel, nutrition, health, additives, preservatives, manufactured foods, etc.  It made me turn my focus to movies and programming that would help me learn more about others going through the same things I was going through - Biggest Loser, Heavy, I Used To Be Fat, Thintervention, Cooking Shows, Superfat vs Superskinny, Food Inc, Food Matters, King Corn, Fast Food Nation, PBS' FAT, etc.  It made me rethink everything I was doing about my health and wellness - today and in the future.

Now, 40 is my reality.

In my early 20s I left college, literally ran away from home, moved to another state far away and didn't tell anyone where I was going (friends or family).  I went from Nanny to Corporate Assistant and by my late 20's Project Manager and Web Producer.  I would have my first real relationship that would become a roller coaster of my mid to late 20's and finally end when I was 28-29.

In my 30s I was laid off (literally 16 days after my 30th birthday), and within just a few months I would meet the man that would care for me in a way I thought was never possible both physically and mentally and emotionally.  We would both become beacons for each other in our lives and would grow up and grow together. =)  Shortly after meeting him, and at 380lbs I would have 80% of my stomach removed, lose over 80lbs and that still wouldn't be my wake up call.  I would spend the next decade pretty much living the life that Kevin describes in his 30's. =)  Owning my own business, working from home every day, watching movies, playing online games and video games, and eating my way through every food I had never tried, and if it tasted good, eating most of it again and again.  I would stay between 300 - 320 lbs.  In my late 30's I would finally wise up and marry that amazing man who had been there for me through more than you can even begin to imagine and somehow, still not only really liked me, but loved me like no other.  I would quit smoking after 17 years to prepare to have 20lbs surgically removed from my abdomen that was getting in the way of lots of things in my life - physical fitness, intimacy, general mobility and effecting my body imagine and self esteem.  I would have complications from this surgery and spend 8 months recovering with a huge hole in the front of my body b/c I was so unhealthy, had horrible blood flow and add to that I didn't quit smoking early enough before my surgery.  I would finally be fully healed in August 2009, right before I turned 39.


Then in January 2010 that takes us back to the first paragraph of this blog where I would finally wake up and realize my role in all of this, the responsibility I would need to take for myself, and here I am today.


It has been an amazing 14 months of information discovery and personal growth.  I am very proud of my accomplishments listed here and the many more that I have had each and every day. =)


I make new strides every day but when it comes to the big goals, I like to keep it simple.  The big goal I have set for the year is to be under 200 by the time I turn 41 in November.  So far I am on track to attain that goal in a healthy manner.  That is assuming just a very little bit over 1lb per week between today and 11/02/11. =)

To date here are the efforts, changes and victories I have made so far that put me in a better position of achieving that goal:

- Lost 58lbs since 1/1/10, and I am 135lbs lighter than my heaviest weight ever. =)  I have lost 6lbs of that in just the last 35 days of my new workout routine.
- Lost 6 inches on my waist, 6 inches on my hips, 4 inches on my thigh, 2 inches on my calf, 1.5 inches on my upper arm for a total so far of 19.5 inches lost.  I have lost 2.5 inches of that just in the last 35 days of my new workout program.
- Given up microwaving anything but my kitchen sponge
- Given up all soda or processed drinks other than coffee, water and tea- I now strive for 51% raw foods at each of my meals
- Started minimally cooking my foods to get the most nutrients and live organisms into my system for my fuel and overall health at each meal
- I have evened out my moods and energy levels where I feel fantastic each and every day
- Choose foods and nutrition combinations that keep me feeling satisfied and I am almost never hungry yet I stay within my calorie range almost every day
- Started eating as much local and organically grown foods as possible
- I am learning how to use food and vitamins as medicine to cure minor ailments and keep me healthy 
- Went to more farmer's markets in 2010 than I had been to in my entire life before that year
- Gave up obtaining any new plastic and paper bags.  I have resued what I already have, and have reusable grocery and produce bags
- Gave up all make up until I can find some that do not contain cancer producing ingredients
- Started using all natural and vegan shampoos, conditioners and body and face lotions that do not contain cancer causing ingredients

- I am currently working out 45 minutes of cardio and 45 minutes of strength training 6 days per week and I am on my 34th consecutive day today.
- I have increased my hand weights from 10lbs, to 12.5lbs to 15lbs in just one month of strength training.
- I am open to the fact that I don't know everything about anything and there is always new information that I can learn to make me a better and healthier person for me.
- I love myself and my body more than I ever have and I treat this vehicle with the respect it deserves each and every day
- When in doubt, I turn to my Rules to Happiness and I find one that can help that moment and I apply liberally:   http://onestrongsiren.blogspot.com/p/rules-to-happiness.html

It is amazing what kind of changes I have made in just one year when I put my heart, my open mind, my moving feet, my yearning soul and my love of self all in high power mode and let it guide me to a better place.   I am excited to see what the rest of this year will bring. =)

Adjustments

I have found that I need to make some adjustments to my program - to help achieve my weekly goals and cut some empty calories from my plan. Specifically I want to:

- Workouts first thing in the morning are much more effective on my weight loss goals. I did a week of workouts first thing in the morning and lost 4lbs. I did a week of workouts in the evening and only lost 1.6lbs. All of the science shows the benefits of working out earlier in the day not only from a metabolic standpoint, but also a mental standpoint - I get it out of the way and don't have to stress later in the day about getting it done.

- Cutting out cheese from my diet entirely will help save those critical calories for other more nutritious foods. I will miss you cheese. =)

- Cutting back on my sugar intake needs to be a focus for me moving forward. I got some Agave Nectar and I generally only use Turbinado sugar (raw sugar), the two tablespoons I am adding to my huge iced tea in the morning ends up being a huge percentage of my calories at the end of the day compared to the other foods that I am eating. The Agave Nectar is 60 calories per teaspoon, so it is right in line with the Turbinado, so it will really have to be a reduction of my sugar intake that will help.

Those are the adjustments I am going to work on. =)

Day 23 of My Facebook Motivational Workout Program

While watching The Biggest Loser weeks ago Dr. H recommended to one of

the contestants that she needed to commit to 90 minutes of activity, 6 days a week for the rest of her life to combat her obesity - or she may as well pack her bags and go home. I watched that clip about a dozen times. Many times on the Biggest Loser they don't mention weights, speeds, calories, etc. and this time it really hit home.

Her starting weight is about 13lbs heavier than where I am right now - AND - I used to be 133lbs heavier than where I am right now. He was talking to ME.

It was at that moment I decided that's what I needed to do. I needed to make that commitment to myself right then and I needed to see it through. I needed something to motivate me to keep going every day while I was starting this new habit. I needed something so motivational that no matter what I would make sure I got in those 90 minutes a day.

So I started the Facebook Motivational Workout Program. I started out posting my intention - 45 min cardio / 45 min strength training 6x a week, then each day I post to Facebook when I complete my 45 minutes of cardio and 45 minutes of strength training in a post like:

Day 22 Complete! 45 min cardio / 45 min strength training - WOOT!

I am now on Day 23 and I haven't missed a workout day!

I went to NYC Thursday - Saturday of this past week and I wasn't even going to let that deter me from getting in my workouts. I worked out every day of the trip.

The simple idea of having to post to Facebook that I couldn't find 90 minutes in a full day to devote to me, my health and my well being is a mortifying thought - so I have done it every single day even Sunday's which are my day off - but I still post that it is my rest day and all that I am grateful for in the week that my body and mind have given me the strength to do this and continue doing this.

This has helped keep me on track and motivate me on days that without that component of accountability I would have easily talked myself out of going down there.

The "Likes" and comments have really helped too. When people you know and love but don't see on a day to day basis can give you that feedback in such an easy way - it is so helpful every day to have that boost of support and encouragement.

If you find that you are having a hard time sticking to your workout, or want a place to track your progress with great feedback try the Facebook program - it works great for me. =)

Do Your Thing

Soul Men (2008) - with Bernie Mac and Samuel L Jackson performing Isaac Hayes - Do Your Thing



Whatever you wanna do, you've got to do your thing.

Love On!

About Water

I spent a day watching BBC health/weight programming on YouTube.

I saw some interesting information about water.

In the past I have learned:

- A person trying to lose weight should drink half of their body weight in ounces of water per day

- Not having enough water in your systems - digestive, muscular, lymphatic, endocrine, cardiovascular, urinary, etc. means that your body will pull moisture from your waste to aid these systems if it does not have enough.

In the videos I was watching I learned two new things:

1.  Water that is consumed alone, on an empty stomach, literally leaves your stomach almost immediately.  The pyloric valve at the end of your stomach doesn't recognize it as food, so it lets it pass immediately.  To illustrate this in one of the episodes they gave two men a meal of broccoli, mushrooms and chicken.  They had them drink a glass of water before consuming the meal.  Then they gave another two guys the same meal (including the water), but all mixed up in a blender, heated and served as soup.

The men who consumed the soup reported being hungry AN HOUR AFTER the men who consumed the water first, then the meal.

So eating soups can help you lose weight and feel full longer.

The pyloric valve at the end of your stomach that closes shut when it senses food in your stomach.  The men who drank the water expanded their stomach, then the water immediately left.  The food came in to the already expanded stomach, the valve closed sensing the food.  The volume of the food didn't even even fill half of the space where the water had expanded the stomach.

For the men who ate the soup, the valve closed immediately on sensing the soup, and the stomach expanded and kept all of the contents in the stomach.

2.  In another episode, they had two twins.  One consumed 2 liters of water per day, the other took in no water for  a week.  Their skin levels were tested for elasticity, dryness, etc. before and after the week.  The results showed no difference between the girls.  It appears that 80% of the water that our body uses comes from the foods we eat - further supporting the soup theory above, and further supporting the idea that soups could really help someone lose weight and feel full while they are losing weight.

Good stuff! =)

What after-effect do you leave in your wake?

When people encounter you, what impression are they left from their interactions? 

I was a little cranky about two weeks ago because my workout was starting later than I had intended, I hadn't had breakfast yet or any caffeine.  I am trying to make sure that I work out before eating breakfast so I am drawing from the fat on my thighs for energy and not from the meal I just ate.  To top it off I had a really hard time falling asleep the night before thoughts just keep coming in and out of my brain on things I hadn't thought about in over a decade, and things that definitely didn't need my mental attention at 3am. 

Just before my workout my awesome niece had texted me asking for some help with something and I spent the time texting how I was cranky b/c I hadn't had breakfast, was late to work out, etc. but that I would text her when I was done so I could help her.

Now what have I transferred to her in that exchange?  What impression have I left her of me at that moment?  Was it really necessary for me to tell her all of those things and transfer that mood to her when she could be having a totally awesome day?

I saw this on Twitter:   You know when someone means a lot to you when their mood can easily affect yours.

That made me think about a time when I wasn't as happy as I am in my life right now - much more extreme than that exchange on text message.  There was a time when I would take any opportunity to pull someone/anyone into a bad mood that I was having.  If I were tired and frustrated, I would take out that aggression and frustration on anyone around me.  I would talk to them with angst and annoyance.  I would give them quick, quip answers to their questions and treat them with a level of disrespect.  I would do this mostly to the people closest to me, ultimately the ones that I subconsciously knew would put up with it.

I know I am much better than I used to be, because I am more happy and respectful of those closest to me.  I have apologized about a thousand times for my past behavior, and I try every time to make up for what I have done to those closes to me, but it can be easy to slip back into that behavior or cause a chain reaction with an interaction we have even had with a stranger and pass that on to a loved one.

Today, give a stranger one of your smiles.  It might be the only sunshine he sees all day.  ~Quoted in P.S. I Love You, compiled by H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Want some more kindness quotes?  Click here.

Dr Oz Tips - Detox to Break Your Sugar & Fat Addiction

Excess Sugar and Fat in our system can affect your body just like cocaine. Effects can include mood swings and binge eating.

If you eat too much, it will block the formation of leptin in your system which tells you that you are satisfied. Without leptin, no matter how much you eat you will continue to feel hungry.

How do you detox your body off of fat and sugar?

Three steps =

1. Restore your liver with antioxidants. Use broccoli, cauliflower, radishes and cabbage - cruciferous vegetables. Also add Allium vegetables - onion, garlic, leeks.

2. Add Supplements - Chromium picolinate can help withdrawls from sugar. Vitamin B Complex can help you with cravings for fats and sugars. It can boost serotonin levels in your brain which will make you happier, and more satisfied. Vitamin B should be in your weight loss plan every day.

3. Four to One ratio of white meat to red meat in your diet. So red meat at maximum of every fourth meal. Add 3 servings of fruits per day - deeply colored fruits are great antioxidants and give lots of vitamins into your daily diet.

Dr Oz Tips - What's the best time?

Best time to workout?
5 minutes after you wake up. If you eat first, you have to burn through what you have eaten before you can get to the stored fat. Therefore working out before you eat will draw from your stored fat, rather than the fat you have recently ate.

Best time to eat breakfast?
Just after your workout.

Ideal time for dinner?
6:30pm

Best time to boost your metabolism?
Just after you eat your breakfast. Have a glass of cold water to increase your metabolism.

Best time to go grocery shopping?
After breakfast and water. Blood sugar levels are at a stable point. If your blood sugar is low, you will make irrational decisions.

Best time to take fiber supplements?
6p - take before dinner. That will help fill you up before dinner, and take the place of extra food that you may eat at dinner as you will feel more full and it generally has no calories.

Movie Notes: PBS - FAT: What No One Is Telling You

PBS - FAT: What No One Is Telling You

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/takeonestep/fat/index.html

As humans we only have two desires - to find food, and to procreate.  You cannot override the urges of those two basic human/animal needs.

There are 20 - 30k functions in the body - about 400 so far have been found to handle simply eating and burning energy.

We make about 100 - 200 decisions about food every single day.

Just 75 years ago we faced famine in this country.  Our entire food situation has changed and we as a species has not yet learned to adapt to this new found commercialization of food sources available any time of the day.

Michael Gershen is a doctor of the gut.  He believes there is neurochemical systems that involve just the gut and it is technically our second brain. 

It can literally cause depression and similar emotional reactions just like our brain on the top of our body.

Lee Kaplan, MD, PHD at Harvard

(Not from movie) “We’re learning an enormous amount from surgery, even though surgery itself is used infrequently,” Kaplan said. Doctors used to think weight-loss surgery worked by making the stomach smaller, but they have found

evidence that the surgery actually changes physiological mechanisms in the body that eventually determine whether or not a person gains weight, he said.

Movie Notes: Killer at Large

KILLER AT LARGE

http://www.killeratlarge.com/

60 Million People are Obese (2008)

People have been around for 4 million years but only in the last 75 years has agriculture taken over to the point that we now have a surplus of food.

We make 200 food decisions each day - what to eat, what size, portion, flavors, refill, how far to the kitchen, etc.

There was a time when gas stations only sold gas, or bookstores only sold books.  There is now food around us all the time, everywhere, that we are constantly getting the message that it is time to eat.

Factors to Obesity:

Portion Size

Low Physical Activity

High Fructose Corn Syrup

Quitting Smoking

Eating Disorders

Lack of Sleep

Calorie Dense Foods

School Lunches

Technology

Genetic Factors

Fast Food

Metabolic Syndrome

Hyperthyroidism

Hypothyroidism

Vending Machine

Unregulated Marketing

Sendentary Lifestyle

Food Addatives

Lack of Open Spaces

Depression

Stress

When we are stressed our bodies take that it is a time of famine.  So we crave food/nutrition. 

When you have social factors such as the economy or the "war on terror"  these are low stressors that are always in the back of our mind.  We are constantly stressed in a low way of our environment.  Then add on work, family, bills, repairs, transporation, debt, etc. and our bodies think that food is insanely scarce due to the stress levels and it wants you to eat all the time, any time to you see food to store up for the time when there really won't be any food - the thing is, there never isn't food in our current culture.  Things are open 24 hours - grocery, gas station,fast food, convenience stores, drive thru, etc.

The same receptor in the brain that handles alcohol, coke, herone is the same that handles sugar.

Being obese is technically a sin.  It is going against God's wishes for the body (no matter your religion).

In all other areas of life we purchase and desire things on a quality over quantity - except in the area of food where we definitely desire quantity over quality.

Oil is used to make fertilizer.

Fertilizer is used on the food and to process and ship the food.

20% of our fuel consumption as a nation goes to food - the same amount as transportation.

If every person in the US lost 1lb this year, we would save 39 Million gallons of fuel.

If you take $1 into the grocery store you can get:

1200 calories in candy

75 calories in carrots

875 calories in soda

150 calories in orange juice

The food system is set up that the least good for you foods, the ones that cost the most to process are the least expensive.  Whereas foods taken straight out of the ground, washed and sent to your grocery store cost A LOT more.

In the No Child Left Behind program schools have cut their PE classes (some have even turned the gym into classrooms) to double up on Math and other testable classes to show the test results of No Child Left Behind.

USDA has a minimum mandate of calories for our school lunch system, they do not mandate a maximum.

USDA subsidizes the costs of chicken nuggets, tater tots, chocolate milk and fruit cocktail with high fructose corn syrup.  They do not subsidize any fresh foods.

We spend more on just the CA prison system in a year than we do feeing every child in school all across america for lunch in a year.

There are 15 TSP of sugar in a 20 ounce soda that are sold in vending machines in almost every school across this country.  There are 12 TSP in a 1/4 cup.  On average children are drinking TWO of these sodas per day.  Imagine putting about 3/4 cup of sugar in a baggy and sending a kid off to school with that telling them they have to finish it before they come home from school.

Children under 8 years of age cannot distinguish between a tv show and a commercial.

The head positions of the USDA are people who have been lobbyists for or worked in the major food industry - beef, monsanto, general mills, etc.

Dr. Richard Carmona who was the 17th Surgeon General of the US testified before a hearing committee that he was muzzled by the White House, FDA and USDA on his speeches and topics and wasn't allowed to talk about the obesity problem in our country due to the pressure on politicians and the white house from big food business.

http://www.stopobesityalliance.org/about/about-carmona/

61% of our active military are obese.  VA amputations are mostly due to complications from diabetes.

In 2006 Scotty Pippin (basketball player) received $850,000 in farm subsidies from land he owned in Arkansas.  Local farmer's market farmers don't receive any subsidies and they actually plant, grow, harvest and sell their crops.

Why Organic?

Nutritionally organic food in some cases isn't more nutritionally sound than their non-organic counterparts.  However, the way in which the food is grown, the processes used to encourage water conservation and reduce pollution. Considering my goal is to reduce chemicals in my food, this was particularly interesting to me.  Here is what the Mayo Clinic has to say on Organic vs Non-Organic foods.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/organic-food/NU00255

Tim Ferris - 4 Hour Body

Tim Ferris the author of the 4-Hour Work Week and now the 4-Hour Body was on Dr. Oz and he shared these three tips that Dr. Oz tested with his medical team.

Tips for losing weight:

#1 - Ice therapy

a. cold pack for 30 minutes on the upper back and work your way up to an ice bath for 10 minutes from the waist down.

b. drink ice water throughout the day

The first one works because when you are cold, your brown fat (the fat around your organs) works very hard to keep your organs warm and pump your blood through your tissue and they consume a ton of energy to do this.

The second one works as your body needs to heat up the water to be able to let it pass into your intestines.  This takes energy by your body (calories) and is an easy way to burn extra calories.

#2 - Consume 30g of protein within 30 minutes of waking up.

This will give you the amount of healthy fats to fuel you throughout the entire day.

#3 - Pig out once a week

By spiking your calories once a week - improves thyroid output. It makes a diet sustainable. That allows you to be restrictive the other 6 days a week. However, before your one meal binge drink a shot or two of grapefruit juice before you pig out. It opens up these receptors in your muscles. Then you binge. Within ONE hour of eating, you should do squats for 60 to 120 seconds. This will further open up the muscles receptors to burn the calories you have consumed rather than them being placed on your ass and thighs.

Another one that I read about on the same day in Dr. Oz's book YOU: On a Diet was fidgeting.  People who fidget burn more calories in a day than non-fidgeting people.  Any type of movement burns energy (calories) and so the more general movement during the day - the more calories burned.

I plan on definitely trying #1.  #2 I am going to work up to.  #3 has no appeal to me whatsoever at this point in my journey.  I get physically ill when I over do it on healthy foods, I can't even imagine pigging out intentionally on junk and unhealthy for me foods.

Multitasking - How effective is it?

I was recently watching a live entrepreneur virtual conference on the web that featured a different entrepreneur each hour - all of them men.  This hour's particular speaker was in Costa Rica with some entrepreneur friends where they were having a conference talking about their next big ideas.  They were at a restaurant and watching this speaker have his hour via the camera on his laptop.  Within the span of about 15 seconds he:

- talked to us (the audience) about a particular topic then,

- in mid sentence interrupts himself and talks to the waitress and introduces her via the camera then,

- solicits feedback from his friends around him on whether or not he is funny then,

- eats a few chips from the bowl in front of him and then,

- lifts his beer, looks straight into the camera, takes a swig of beer and says, "I'm multitasking"

Ok Dork. =)

From Dr. Oz episode called "Battle of the Sexes" and specifically on Multitasking:

In the womb the developing brain is exposed to hormones that affect how it forms; boys get more testosterone, which favors development of the left side of the brain and girls get more estrogen, which sparks more connections throughout the brain. This, in part, explains the difference in communication and perception between the two sexes. Imaging studies have shed light on these differences as researchers examine brain parts that "light up" during verbal exchanges. Essentially,

 

Women: Always processing information, multitasking.  Talk things out, review things over and over and take a non-direct route to get to the point.  Language and speech are highly developed and we have more to say, and use more words to say it.  Ability to zoom in on problems.  Remember all details and we have a greater biological need to have order and solve problems.

Men:  Low attention span (channel changing).  Get to the point directly, quickly, using as few words as possible - overwhelmed by lots of words.  Act first, talk later.  They generally don't remember the details.  Focus more on spatial and mechanical things (things that don't require words).

Multitasking is a trait that hormonally is just stronger in women.  There are many times when I am watching a movie, a load of laundry in the washer and dryer, dinner in the oven, PVPing with the hubby, thinking about a blog post, and talking to my husband about my random thoughts on all of these subjects and more - all at the same time.  Meanwhile, when the PVP battle has ended his response to my random stream of thoughts that I have just verbalized is often, "huh?". =)

I always thought that multitasking is a good thing.  The ability to complete many things at the same time should mean that I have more time to do the things I enjoy - right?  Instead what I found is that I didn't really enjoy much of anything.  I found that I would only delve far enough into a topic to find the solution, find the reason, find the cause, speculate the solutions, play out each of their scenarios, apply the solution, fix the problem, complete the task - and then I move on - meanwhile dealing with many other "issues" at the same time.  I was just.. getting things done.  Do this job, done.  Finish this task, done.  Watch this movie, done.  Watch this series, done.  Do this task, done.  Have this meal with friends, done.  All the while I was also working/doing/completing and thinking about other topics, other tasks - you know, multitasking.

About a year ago, though a series of events and conversations with my loved ones I realized I had been doing this for.. ever.  When a particular thing was done I didn't sit to enjoy something to a richer or deeper experience, I went on to DO more things, to check off more things on my never ending (and multiple copies) to do list.  I would eventually even rope my husband in this.  He would take on some of my tasks with the hope that it would free me up to spend more time with him, and instead, I would find more things/tasks/responsibilities to fill the free time he had created for me.

Since this realization I have been working on simplifying my life.  Responsibilities that I had taken on that no longer applied to my personal goals and objectives - eliminated.  Responsibilities of a complicated life disassembled and taken apart to create a more simple existence.  So far it has been great!  This has done a few things for me:

- Reduced Stress

When you aren't constantly moving, worrying, thinking, doing - you have time to actually relax.  When you relax you give yourself the ability to let your mind wander, to enjoy one thing at a time - the company of another, a song, a movie, the stars in the sky.  This is really what our life is about - experiencing life.  I literally got rid of my to do lists.  I no longer have an ongoing to do list of items.  I know what needs to be done, and if I find that I do need a list, I just make a short list each day of what I intend to accomplish that day to keep me on track at the end of the day the list is trashed.

- Increased Creativity

Without being burdened all the time with the "omg what if I don't get this done, and this, and this.." I now have time to think, explore, try and do things that I just simply never felt I had time to do before.

- More Space

By cleaning out the things that no longer applied to my current life objectives and hobby priorities I created more simple space. This also allowed me to rethink our space and dedicate space to new areas of our life - like fitness.

- More Life Enjoyment

When your life isn't complicated with things that just simply don't need to be there - there is more time to really enjoy life and all that is around you. =)

- Better Overall Health

Now that I am committed to healthy eating and exercise, and when done right they both take time and focus.  Thought, planning and execution are important for both tasks and they are now at the top of my priority list rather than being almost to the bottom or non-existent.

OK Dork, Noah Kagan, maybe you really do have something here.  Maybe your kind of multitasking is really what I should be focused on - Costa Rica, beer and chips, surrounded by friends and taking just over an hour to share my knowledge with hundreds of other people who want to be in my shoes.  That sounds like some pretty enjoyable and yet life effective multitasking. 

Good job and thank you. =)

How to become legendary? Just do it.

This is an article written by Jason Baptiste and it was posted on a site that I follow called OnStartups. 

The video alone is powerful enough, but Jason's overview of the 23 things that Michael Jordan taught him about entrepreneurship drives it home.

There is a posting for a conference that happened on December 7th underneath the post that I attended online.  The one common theme among all of the speakers was..

Get out there - and just do it.

Athletes have to look at their "game" all the time to find what works, what doesn't, what needs improvement, etc.  To be the best, you have to train to be the best.  If you think you know better, if you think that you got it all in the bag - not only will you be surprised to find that you don't, but you will be held back by arrogance and a know-it-all syndrome that will plague every life experience you have.

Rethinking how you think can be a very hard task.  It means taking a candid look at yourself, your life, your choices, your habits, your present situation, your knowledge, your experience and laying it all out on the table to find the areas of weakness.  The mentalities that are holding you back from achieving your goals - whatever they may be.

Or does it?

Maybe, you just do it.

=)

What is in your food?

Reading ingredient lists is now mandatory for me.

The other day hubby went to Giant.  I haven't purchased any food from major grocery stores for many months now as their organics departments aren't frequented enough for a good turnover of produce, but hubby doesn't like to drive out to Roots, so he still goes to Giant and Safeway from time to time.

I asked him to buy some Pacific Butternut Squash Organic soup if they had it.  In an effort not to disappoint me he bought Campbell's and V8 have partnered to make a Butternut Squash Soup.  On the front of the container they state:

- A full serving of vegetables
- No artificial flavors
- No preservatives


However, let's look at the ingredients list (we have to look at the container b/c they don't list their ingredients on their website:

Butternut Squash
Water
Potatoes
Carrots
Cream (Milk)

Contains less than 2% of:
Modified Food Starch - starch derivative prepared physically, enzymatically or chemically treating native starch.
Dehydrated Potatoes -not really sure why it has to be dehydrated.
Yeast Extract (can sometimes hide MSG)
Sugar
Salt
Butter (Cream (Milk), Salt)
Flavoring (No artificial flavorings.. but then.. what kind of flavoring is this?)
Dehydrated Onions -not really sure why it has to be dehydrated.
Maltodextrin - used in soda and candy
Celery
Onions
Corn Oil - Can cause cancer, we already know the risks of corn products right?
Dehydrated Parsley
Cornstarch
Lower Sodium Natural Sea Salt
Natural Flavoring (Soy)

First - none of the ingredients are organic.  Second do we really need butter and oil?  Last - why Maltrodextrin?  I am always floored by the amount of foods that I find contain this ingredient.

I have the receipt on the soup and it will be returned this week.

When you do something well and it works - rinse / repeat until it doesn't.

In this last season of The Ultimate Fighter 12 there was a fighter named Cody McKenzie.  Cody had an unbelievable ability to pull of a Guillotine Choke - on anyone.   From 2008 to 2010 Cody won 10 matches in a row using this technique.  Not only that, he did them all in under four minutes of the first round.  Four minutes - choke - done - win.  You would think by the third or the fourth guy - someone might catch on, but over and over again this worked for Cody.

Eventually Cody would be eliminated from TUF 12 by Nam Phan who used elbows to daze and exhaust Cody and in the end of the round was able to avoid the choke taking them into the second round of fights. 
Cody hadn't been to the second round in a fight since 2007. He became gassed and ultimately Nam Phan was able to get him by TKO (punches) in round 2.

Will the Guillotine Choke work for Cody again in his career?  Yup, it did on 12/04/10 against Aaron Wilkinson.  Sure, he will have to change up his game plan to train on avoiding being hit, increasing his cardio to make it to the second, third, and maybe someday for him - fifth round, but he isn't going to totally abandon what works for him.  Many called him a one-trick pony.  Well that pony did some awesome tricks that earned him a position in the house and advanced him all the way through Episode 9 of TUF 12.

There have been many times in my journey when I implement something into my routine that works great.  Then for some reason or another it falls by the wayside.  Later I find myself trying to reinvent the wheel over and over again to find something that works - when I had something in my arsenal of tools that worked before and only wasn't working - b/c I wasn't doing it anymore.

Obviously in life we don't generally have another guy trying to break our streak as viciously as a UFC fight. Usually the biggest opponent we have is ourselves.  So when you find something that works for you - do it again, and again and again until it doesn't.  If it works, and you stray away from it - find it again and do it again and again until it doesn't work.  When it doesn't analyze why, what happened, what can be changed to make it work again - and then try until it works. =)

How other people live

I want to go to there. =)

http://www.youtube.com/user/SuperchargeMe#p/u/15/jRurlbRCBe8

Figuring it out

Monday's are my weigh-in day.  I was sick with the flu earlier this month and weighed in at my lowest ever of 247.  I didn't want to celebrate too early as I knew that some of that was from water weight loss due to having the flu.  

I had been sitting between 255 - 250 for awhile now.  I realized at the beginning of January this was partly due to the fact that I had set Sparkpeople.com to have a goal of getting to 250 by 11/2 - my 40th birthday - which I accomplished.  But then the system kept me at 250 as my goal and so I was maintaining the caloric intake for a 250lb person.  Ooops! =)

After switching the goal earlier this month I got the flu a few days later.

While watching The Biggest Loser two weeks ago Dr. H recommended to one of