Hooray!!!

I have nothing more to say except that I hit my 30 pound mark!!!!!!!!  Onward to the next goal!

I Have A Problem...

I have a problem, but I think it's a good problem to have.....my new pants that I bought less than a week ago.....ummm, well, they are loose.   I noticed today when I put them on but thought, nah, I must be imagining it.  Then someone else noticed. 

The problem is, I'm at the in between stage where these are a bit loose but not ready for the next size. Only a few more pounds and I'll be there.  Perhaps, in the meantime, I should invest in a belt.

Wacky Weight Loss Tips part 2

The next two wacky weight loss tips are a little bit difficult, Tip # 2 was to eat in front of a mirror. Seeing as I eat out often, I'm gonna be honest and tell you that bringing a mirror to a restaurant is out of the question. 

2. Take a look in the mirror.

While you eat, sit in front of a mirror. One studyfound that when people watch themselves eat, consumption of high-calorie food (such as full-fat cream cheese) drops by nearly a third, possibly because seeing themselves eat reminds them of their diet and health goals.


Tip # 3 was to immerse yourself in blue, use blue plates, blue napkins. 

3. Immerse yourself in blue.

Use blue plates, blue napkins, a blue tablecloth, even paint your dining room walls blue or use blue lights. According to a 2006 study by Dr. Val Jones, gala attendees ate 33 percent less in a room bathed in blue light.
That’s probably because we associate blue with toxic or moldy food, so we eat less. Yellow and red had the opposite effect, which is why fast-food restaurants favor those appetite-stimulating colors.

I do have blue rimmed plates at home, so for the next five days when eating at home, I will use the blue rimmed plates, If I can find a hand mirror I will try that at home as well, but what I will focus on this Monday-Friday is tip #4.....

4. Use your sense—smell, that is.

Sniffinga banana, apple or peppermint helps the weight come off. Just ask the 3,000 people who tried this during a study at the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago.
The more often they sniffed those aromas, the more weight they lost, with an average drop of nearly 30 pounds during the 6-month study among those who inhaled the scents the most frequently. Some participants shed up to 18 pounds in a month. Apparently, by frequent smelling we trick the brain into thinking we actually ate the food.

I have a box of mints...I will carry it with me all week and report back.

Taming the Beast

Let's talk about Thursday.....I had a bad day, I worked 12 hours I got home thinking there would be some dinner waiting. There wasn't. This just sent me into a bit of a diva fit...now I'm a big girl perfectly capable of making my own dinner and there is no rule saying that there has to be a dinner waiting for me but...as I said, It was a very bad day.  Top this off by being asked at 10:00pm by your beautiful teenage daughter to please go to CVS to get something that she needs (yes it was important). As I'm driving to CVS all I'm thinking about is Chocolate and how I would love to just buy a couple of candy bars and drown my anger with it. 

I had to have a talk with myself.....I had to remind myself that first of all eating away your anger is a habit of the past. Secondly I've worked so hard to get where I'm at and third...I still have a long way to go and I don't want any set backs.  Furthermore eating away the anger isn't going to help, I would just be angry at myself for eating that candy.

The talk with myself worked.....I worked it out on my own and not by eating things I shouldn't.  I have to say that I'm very proud of myself for doing that.

Now there is not guilt to worry about and the candy did not win.

The Non Dominant Hand Experiment

As promised I'm filling you in on how the week went with using my non dominant hand to eat with. As I'm right handed I used my left hand all week to eat. It was not as hard as one might imagine. However there were definate things that I had trouble with; soup and rice being the two big ones.  I did notice I left more on my plate eating left handed.  Perhaps it was because it just became a pain to do it that way. I did lose two pounds this week, but I walked a lot so I'm not convinced it really had anything to do with the left handed eating.  I can tell you to never eat a meatball sandwich with your non dominant hand...it becomes a meatball mess. I will announce over the weekend what the next wacky weight loss tip that works will be.

Awesome Week

So far it's been a really awesome week, I've walked 9 miles since Sunday.  Been drinking tons of water, sticking with the left hand experiment and just in general HAPPY!   Happy because I went out tonight and bought a new outfit....and bought everything a size smaller than normal.  A pair of faded jean capris, a hot pink cami and a hot pink sweater to go over the cami.  Yes, you read that correctly I did say hot pink.....not black like I always buy...but hot pink.  I bought a color.  So, I've walked 9 miles and bought a colored top....I'd say that's two pretty big accomplishments right there.  All day long today all I did was adjust my jeans.  They were getting a bit big, so I figured it was time to be brave and go to the store.  I was very nervous as I took the smaller size off the rack. I said to myself "If I try these on and they don't fit I will be so discouraged"  I actually had 3 pairs that I tried on.....they all fit but I didn't like the way some looked.  So 3 different pants, 3 different styles and they all fit, I could button them, zip them and it was awesome!  I only bought one pair because I don't want to invest a ton of money into clothes right now as I still have much more to lose.  But I took those pants and that top to the register with a big smile on my face.  I was so happy that I just had to go next door and buy a pair of shoes!  I decided to live dangerously and get a wedged heel.  Ya'll know how clumsy I can be so we shall see what tomorrow brings when I walk around in them.  Though I best be careful because I don't want to twist an ankle or break a leg...I have much more walking to do.

The three mile walk

I went to my niece's birthday party this afternoon which was at my brothers house.  I don't to that side of the state often. So I decided to bring home dinner from Luigi's which is one of my favorite places that I just don't get to much.  Driving through the town of Johnston, I was reminded of how much walking I did as a teenager. Every Saturday morning I would get my allowance and meet my friend and we would walk miles to the record store and back home again.

It was such a beautiful day out today, I decided I'd go for a walk when I got home.  I had a goal in mind but didn't know if I would actually do it.  My goal was to walk from my house to Del's Lemonade.  Thinking of my teenage years, walking all around town, I wanted to do it again.

I hit the road with my Ipod. Thinking, maybe I'll walk there and then call someone for a ride home. I walked and walked, got to Tom's Market and said "maybe I'll stop here and turn back"  but then I thought well, that's silly, I can see Del's from here.  I made it to Del's and told myself that I would make it back, the same way I came. 

I had no idea how far I walked, I just know that I walked pretty far. When I got home I looked up the miles.  Round trip it was three miles.  Yay for me.....now the only thing that is telling me is I can totally do it and can push myself harder with the exercise. 

I wish I had time every day for a three mile walk. 

I got home in time for dinner and the funny thing is, after all that walking, I didn't even want to eat! 

Weird Weight Loss Tips

Yesterday I came across an internet article....Weird Weight Loss Tips That Really Work.  So I said....WHY NOT?...  So it begins a series about these weird tips to see if they really do work.  It will be fun!  I will spend the next five days (Mon-Fri) trying the first one.

Here is the decription of the first one (lifted from the web)

Eat with your non-dominant hand.
One intriguing new study offers a simple antidote to the mindless munching that often accompanies watching movies or TV: Just switch hands—and you’ll eat less.
The researchers randomly handed moviegoers a bucket of fresh popcorn or “cold, wet, spongy week-old” popcorn. Those who said they usually ate popcorn at the movies shoveled down just as much whether the popcorn was fresh or stale. But in a separate experiment, the scientists found that when people were asked to eat with their non-dominant hand, they consumed 30 percent less.

Beginning tomorrow morning everything I eat will be with my left hand.  I have my doubts that this method work. If you are hungry you'll find a way to eat what's on your plate no matter which hand.  However, perhaps it will cause you to think about what you're eating since I think there will be somethings that will be uncomfortable to eat with your non-dominant hand.  We shall see. Stay tuned for the updates.

Ice Cream

A friend of mine took notice today of my weight loss.   He said "you're melting away like an ice cream cone" which I thought was a funny thing because I wanted to talk about ice cream tonight.

Ice Cream has got to be my most favorite treat in the whole entire world.  I could eat it every day, morning, noon and night. In fact I have been known in the past to have ice cream for breakfast. As a kid it was a big treat to have ice cream for dinner. I remember Dad taking us out to the movies and stopping at friendlys beforehand and saying we could have ice cream for dinner.  I've done this with my own children. 

There are so many varieties and brands, it's never ending.  The only flavor I won't touch is vanilla, though French vanilla is good.  We have Ben & Jerry's, Godiva, Haagen Das, Friendly's. You can have it plain or with candy. You can have it in a bowl, in a cone or with toppings like peanut butter, whip cream and cherries.

One of my favorite things to do when the kids have a sleepover is to have a midnight make your own sundae bar. 

I can sit here and rate the varieties and brands and tell you that Gray's Ice Cream in Tiverton is raved about by many locals but I hated it. Somerset Creamery is the best for homemade hard serve. I can tell you you that Handels Ice Cream in Virginia totally rocked.  I will vote Friendly's the winner over Newport Creamery. When on vacation I'm always on the search for a Dairy Queen Blizzard.  Peppermint Stick ice cream is the traditional treat when all Christmas Shopping is done, I've been doing that for more years than I can remember.  Pistachio and Mint chocolate chip need to be green. I've had "natural" flavors and when they are white and not green well it's just not the same.  I could write for hours about ice cream.

That all being said, I haven't had the wonderful creamy delicious concoction of my dreams since well before the holidays.  I haven't been tempted either.  However....driving down Rt 6 the other day I saw it...the sign in front of Somerset Creamery (only the best ice cream on the planet) telling me that opening day was March 23rd.  This is sure to be followed by Eskimo King (who has delicious soft serve ice cream in over 250 flavors).  It's the thing to do in the summer...get in the car and take the kids for ice cream.

In the past I've always gone to Somerset Creamery for lunch on the first day that they opened for the season.  This year I won't. I must break tradition.  I'm not saying that I will go the whole summer without ice cream. I will have a bit.  But I realize that it just takes too long to burn off those extra calories and I have to weigh it out...indulge in the sweet treat or spend more time exercising?

I will plan my ice cream eating very carefully. Perhaps I'll try a frozen yogurt instead. Perhaps I'll order a kids size.  I definately will not be indulging in any sundaes or bannana splits like my grandma used to take me out for.  I remember when I was a kid eating two bananna splits in one sitting. 

There are also plenty of other treats in the frozen section of the grocery store that should be able to keep me happy.  There are popsicles and fudgicles that are low in calories. 

Bring it on, I won the girl scout cookie challenge, I will conquer the ice cream as well.

Now, I want to know how many of you will be having ice cream after reading this. :)

Old me vs. New me

I was away in Boston for three days for a dance competition.  Had a fun, wild and crazy weekend.  My cousin made an interesting statement....she said to me "If this was a  year ago we would have eaten our way through Boston".  She's right except that in reality it really would have been only a few short months ago. 

The temptations were all around....Godiva Chocolate, Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, Cheesecake Factory.  The girls danced  until 10pm at night and didn't get to have their dinner until then. The old Lisa would have eaten dinner at 5 and again at 10 with the girls.

The new Lisa at 3 meals a day, when I needed a snack, got good for you snacks like cheese and fruit and crackers and nuts.  I shared meals with my cousin. We did go to Godiva to get our montlhy free piece of chocolate but that's all we had.  Prior to this journey I would have gotten my free piece and then some.  We went to Cheesecake factory for lunch, ate as healthy as possible and we shared a piece of cheesecake. 

I exercised, in the pool, in the gym, outside walking....that would have never happened before either. 

I went shopping, and I went up and down stairs, the old Lisa would have skipped certain stores because she was too lazy to have to walk up and down the stairs.

These are all huge accomplishements and I have to say I like this new girl.  I'm very proud of her.  So many changes in such a short time. 

Redirecting

This journey has come just in time....had a little teen drama tonight and the old Lisa would have started snacking.  This new girl....well she just went downstairs and got on the eliptical machine (I really should give that thing a name...hmm will have to think about that) did my workout, focused all my anger into the workout.  Ahhhh, now I feel better!~

Experiment

Decided to have a little fun today. Went to Stop & Shop with Lauren and Sasha.  Wanted to actually feel how much weight I've lost, so I was loaded up with 5 bags of sugar (5lbs each)  and 2  one pound boxes of lard - this made up the weight of 27 pounds.  The girls made me do a lap around Stop & Shop and let me tell you carrying around 27 pounds was heavy.  Now 27 pounds ago the weight on myself was distributed differently but it was amazing to feel how much weight that really is.  As I walking through the store, my breathing was heavy, and it was very hard to carry around that weight. So there will be no more whining from myself about how I can't see what I've lost.....because....I've actually felt what it feels like to carry around that weight.   Click on the link below to see  our crazy, funny video from today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bm48rbW5Xbk

Small Goals

Setting small goals seems to be working for me.  Makes it all seem so much more bearable.  The thing I've been doing is rewarding myself with some movie time.  I've got 7 pounds to go to make it to the 35 pound mark. So, when I reach that point it will be movie time.

I don't believe that I have told anyone how much weight I want to lose....it's a pretty big number...it's kind of scary to write it...but here goes....my ultimate goal is 100 pounds.  That's about a whole person.  Once I reach the 100 pounds I'll re-evaluate to see if I want to lose anymore.  I will have to see. It will depend on what I see in the dreaded mirror.  If I like what I see or not.  If I don't like what I see, I will determine what the next goal will be.

But getting back to small goals....being down 27 pounds means i'm 1/4 of the way there.

It's hard not to get caught up in the numbers.  For now that is the most tangible thing I have. 

It's harder for me to see the results than the rest of you.  But I see the numbers going down so that's a great thing.

Though I can no longer say that I don't see any results because I no longer need to unbutton my jeans to take them on and off.  I can just slide them up and down and that's a result I can see. 

However, I need to keep an eye on that jean situation....don't want to be walking down the street one day and have them just fall off. Well, that would be awesome but not in public. 

So 35 pounds here I come................

Wow!

Wow! That's about all I can say....This blog entry is for my friends that I've seen this weekend.  Just a great big THANK YOU!  Let me explain......

Friday night our friends Ken and Janice came over and we hadn't seen them since Christmas time. It was the first time they've seen the "new" Lisa.  The love and support they gave me were priceless.

Tonight I had a party and saw a few people that I hadn't seen in awhile and being told that I looked "fabulous" well, what can I say, that just put me over the moon.  Thanks Crystal!  When Crystal left the party she told me to keep blogging that I was inspiring her.

I don't even know what to say.  The very thought that I can inspire someone, well, there is just no words for that. It's not often that I'm speechless.  I've been told a few times this week by various people that I was inspiring them and that is just way more than I ever hoped for.  It's the icing on the cake.

I still have a very long way to go and a lot of hard work to do but I want you ALL to know that every kind word that is said to me INSPIRES ME to keep going. 

Thank you for reading my blog, thank you for being my cheerleaders.

As I told my friends tonight....I was watching the Fat Chef show last night and at the end of the show the chefs lost about 50 pounds (still had more to go) but there was a party, they were surrounded by their family and friends. I thought that was pretty cool.  So I think that when I get to my goal, we shall have a big ol party!  After all, I may be doing all the dieting and exercising but i'm not in this alone.  Each and every one of you that are a part of my life (whether I see you daily, weekly, monthly, yearly or only online) are a big part of what I'm doing. You may not know it but the little things you do and say mean so much.

You guys all have a special place in my heart and I hope you know how much your support means to me.

I am lucky and blessed to have you in my life.

Excited

It was not my intention to blog about every pound lost (I was going to check in every 5-10 or so once I reached the first goal) but how can I not post about my excitement. 

I went out last night after work, went to dinner, had a salad and some coconut shrimp.  Got up this morning to get on the scale (keep in mind I always get nervous getting on the scale after going out to eat, even when I know I didn't eat that much or that bad)  I totally expected to have the same number I had yesterday. 

Imagine my surprise when the scale told me I lost ANOTHER pound!   I was absolutely thrilled.  That makes 27 total.   I'm so close to 30 (remember how I like even numbers). 

The more the numbers go down, the more I believe in myself.  I am so glad I started this journey, it's already been an adventure.  I can't wait to see where it goes from here.