Suggested Serving Size

There will be so many New Year's resolutions made and broken for a lot of us.  I am going to focus on two: exercise  and serving size of my food. 

1) Exercise: I need to just do it.  No more excuses about being too busy or blaming the holiday rush for not finding the time.  Starting tomorrow I will exercise at least five days a week.  During the winter I struggle with exercise. 

As my blog title states, I've been walking off the weight.  My absolute favorite form of exercise is speed walking with a bit of jogging tossed in for good measure.  I do have a treadmill but just abhor it.  I want to be outdoors when I get my exercise.  I get to do something great for my body and enjoying nature is good for my mind.  I do have a wii fit system and several workout DVDs in my arsenal for burning fat.  Again, I just don't get excited and look forward to those forms of exercise like I do my daily walk.  When I'm working it is dark by the time I get home and right now we have a foot and a half of snow on the ground.   So no walking right now for me.  That means it is time to step up to the plate and get in some other form of exercise. 

2) Serving sizes of food: I do "cheat" on serving sizes from time to time.  I think this "looks" like a 1/4 cup or whatever the suggested serving size is for the nutrition information.  I need to be mindful of the serving size and limit myself to that amount.  I hate taking the time to measure out a serving of food, but I need to start doing it now.

I may just measure the food I know is tempting for me.  There are certain foods that I will "eyeball" the amount because I don't really want to be limited in how much I eat.  For example, I really love Special K chocolate delight cereal.  I mean really love it.  I say I don't have time to measure it in the morning but really I want to pour in as much as I want that day.  Time to buckle down on serving sizes.

I think if I focus on exercising and measuring my food this year, I will be able to reach my weight loss goal. 

Another Day of Snow Fun

Today, it was just me and the kids at home.  I got busy early this morning to finish cleaning up the holiday mess and catching up on laundry.  I knew they would want to go back outside today to play in the snow.  As predicted, the first thing my daughter asked was if we were going to play in the snow today.  At this point, I have to say that I'm not a big fan of winter precipitation.  I think fresh, fallen snow is beautiful.  However, I can admire the beauty from my window while I sip on some coffee.  Just not a fan of snow or for that fact winter in general.  So... I said yes of course we will go play in the snow later today.

I do know this: when I was extremely obese I probably would have told her it was too cold to go outside.  I might have even said to wait for daddy to come home, and he can take you out.  It wasn't just because of my dislike of the cold and snow but really a lack of energy.  It is a chore:  button up, layer on the clothes,  find all the winter gear, trudge around in the snow and play, and then clean up the wet mess once we got inside.  I just didn't have the energy. 

My daughter rolling around in the snow.

 

Today I had the energy to get everyone ready to go outside, play for almost an hour, and clean up the mess without feeling exhausted.  I love how my weight loss has positively impacted my role as  a mom.  We rolled in the snow, played with the dogs, and built a snowman.  No pictures of the snowman because  he didn't turn out as expected.  And that is okay because we had a lot of fun making him. 

 

It is so important to keep moving!  



 

Blizzard workout

Today, I got a blizzard workout!  I was thinking that an exercise DVD was in my future for this evening; however, my workout ended up being two hours of shoveling snow.  It is the first time in my life I can recall getting an official blizzard where we live. 

My husband had to call off work today because it was impossible to get out of our driveway.  We waited until the  winds died down in the afternoon to get busy on our chore of digging out of our drive.  I'm off work until after the new year, so I was content with a foot plus of snow.  That was until I realized he would be needing to go back to work today.

I must say the shoveling, sweeping, and pushing of snow was quite the workout.  I had been slacking in the workout department due to so many activities surrounding the holidays.  When we were finished getting both our vehicles out from the snow drift, my entire body was tired.  It felt great at the same time: a good workout and an accomplished chore. 



I also played outside with our kids.  My daughter only lasted outside about ten minutes before she needed to go inside and have some hot cocoa.  My son stayed out about 30 minutes and that was because of our dogs.  It was such a fun afternoon outside with family. 

Holiday Temptations

There are so many holiday temptations.  There have been work and friend parties, family parties to come, and if that weren't enough my husband's birthday party.  I have been trying to convince him for the last 16 years to please move his birthday away from Christmas celebrations, but he just won't do it.  That equals countless extra calories. Ok, so they could be counted but I have decided not to this week.  I am using self-control to just have a small helping or single treat from all the extra food.

Image found on pinterest

I have several friends that have brought me "treats" for Christmas.  One even said,"I know you won't eat these but take them home to your family."  Umm...I live with my family and it is just another temptation.  So far here is my total for Christmas treats: two pieces of peanut butter fudge, a homemade tag-along cookie, and half of a snicker doodle cookie.  I'm hanging strong at this point.  I have passed on several other offers, and my own baking and candy making. 

However, I feel like I have hit my limit on indulgences and I still have five more days to go!  It is time to get tough and buckle down on extra calories.  I'm thinking since I'm off work until Jan. 02, I could start working out twice a day.  I've been a slacker in that department too. 

Hibernation

I'm wondering if there is any science behind human hibernation?  :)  Really. I am feeling like my body wants to go into hibernation.  We are going through a cold snap in our area and ever since I have been wanting to overeat.  I've noticed times when I'm not hungry  my mind is telling me to eat something.  Yes, that is how I became obese in the first place but this feeling is different.  On days and nights it has been really cold, I feel the urge to put on a layer of fat.  Absurd.

So here is a picture of how I feel:


Not only do I want to eat but sleep too!  Oh please, I don't have time for any of this nonsense.  I have workouts to do and weight goals to meet.  Anyone else know what I mean or am I the only person with bear instincts?

Slow and Steady

Slow and steady wins the race, right?  I am down another pound this week.  As I mentioned in the last post, the month of October was not kind to me.  I had a lot of stress and wasn't making the best food choices.  However, in the last few weeks I've been back on the eating right bandwagon. 



I was hoping for more than a pound this week because I was strict with my eating.  But...I won't complain a pound is a pound in the right direction.  I've really buckled down with evening snacks.  If I feel I really need something in the evening, it has to be a fresh fruit or veggie.  My uncle gave me a sack of turnips and I've been munching on them all week. I just peel them like an apple and eat them raw.  They are fantastic for a snack - very filling.   

Scale is finally moving

The scale is finally moving in the right direction.  My weight had been at a plateau for such a long time.  I would sometimes go up or down a bit but nothing consistent.

It is so aggravating to get stuck at a weight that is NOT the goal weight.  I consistently exercise and watch my calorie intake.  I was feeling cheated  on weigh-in day because I was working out and saying no to food indulgences.

In fact I had a bad couple of days at the beginning of the month when it came to food choices.  I suppose it was a pity party because I wasn't losing weight.  I took a couple of days to feel sorry for myself and then decided it was time to dig in my heels.  I went back to good food choices and watching my nighttime snacking. 

If I need/want a snack in the evening, I pick a vegetable or fruit.  I'm working on keeping apples, turnips, and other fresh food on hand for a snack.  During my pity party, I was turning to carbs for comfort and just making myself feel worse.  It is interesting how I thought I  was eating to comfort myself but only caused more damage through the guilt.  In one week I ate an enormous amount of caramel popcorn.  That was the turning point for getting back on the bandwagon.  Onwards to the goal!