Staying On The Wagon: JK's Weight Loss Story

We all know how hard it is to hang on sometimes…feel ourselves slipping off the proverbial edge.  Some days are harder than others…and sometimes, desperate times call for desperate measures.  So, here are a few of my personal tips and tricks for staying on track:

• My #1 go-to is DRINK LOTS OF WATER…and when you think you’ve drank enough, drink some more.  I try; try being the key word, to drink 3 liters a day.  It helps me keep that full feeling, curbs cravings and is just overall good for you.  Bonus is that it helps your skin look nice and healthy too.
• I like to keep gum handy.  It’s on my desk, in my purse, and on my kitchen counter.  An Altoids helps too…they’re curiously strong.  Just anything to keep my mouth busy when I feel like eating.  I remember my old WW leader telling us that BLTs add calories to your day that you don’t count…not bacon lettuce and tomato sandwiches (although that sounds really yummy minus the T)…but Bites, Licks, and Tastes.  When you’re cooking and you taste a little sauce or soup…nibble a bite of the pasta…lick the spoon from the cupcakes…those all add up.  So, keeping something in your mouth will help cut down on the BLTs.
• Distraction.  Sometimes when I’m sitting at my desk working, I get this overwhelming urge to head to the break room for a snack.  I’m pretty sure it’s just out of habit (and those little voices in my head).  So, instead of eating, I distract myself with something else…like open up a book on my Kindle, or hop on Twitter, browse Blogger…15 minutes of one of those activities and I’m back to work without caving into the snack monster.  I know it might sound delusional, but it works for me.  Plus, I feel like I’m rewarding myself for not caving by doing something I enjoy.
• Fill up on veggies.  I try to eat at least 2-3 servings of vegetables at lunch.  It helps me get in my goal of 5 servings (optimal would be 7-8) and fills me up on something low-calorie.
• I read somewhere that you’re supposed to eat like a king for breakfast, a queen for lunch and a pauper for dinner.  I don’t do this on weekdays, but I do try to apply that analogy to my weekend meals…make a big breakfast, have a medium sized lunch, and a small dinner.
• Add as many steps to my day as possible…take the stairs, park at the back of the parking lot, make an extra lap around Hell-Mart pushing my basket full of groceries…etc.

What are some of your tips and tricks for staying on the wagon?

  

*weight loss update: I’m no longer in the 200s and it feels good.  As of yesterday morning, I weighed 199 even.  WOOHOO.  Officially the least I’ve weighed in 8 years.

Some Thoughts On Dieting And Getting Skinny

I've been thinking about assigning a food to my exercises...

This Zumba session is for those fries I'm having later.

These two miles are for that Venti Iced Mocha I'm drinking tomorrow.

These set-ups are for the three slices of pizza I had last Friday.

Maybe if I use that strategy the exercising will seem worth it...like I'm actually getting something for my efforts?!  Well, you know besides the normal benefits of exercising.

Have you watched Zombieland?  It's hilarious.   I also learned a valuable tip.  Cardio is rule #1 in surviving a Zombie attack. 

They eat the fatties first.  Just one more reason to get skinny.

I wish I was "naturally skinny". I want to be one of those girls who HAS to eat a cheeseburger to put on a few pounds.

One last little thought bubble that's in my head - I think if they're going to mess around with genes...altering them and such, they need to focus their efforts in that direction...how to clone the "skinny gene"...and transfer it into a fat girl's body.

Now, that is something that I could support.  I'd even make t-shirts.

picture courtesy of cosmicbeaver.com

Love and Rockets,

jennykate♥

Metromint and Popchips

You might be thinking what the heck...metro-what and pop-who?
Just bare with me, if you don't know what I'm talking about.
Are you a stress eater?  Emotional Eater?
I am.
I confess.

When I'm stressed, 

I want to eat EVERYTHING.  

I know some people are just the opposite.  

I wish I was that person, perhaps I would be 3 pounds lighter, instead of 3 pounds heavier today.  

  

So, I can't really control the stress/emotional eating, but I can control what I eat.
Recently, I went and stocked up 

on two snacking live savers...

a couple of my go-to healthy alternatives...

Metromint water.

The flavor in the picture above is cholatemint. 

pure. simple. mintwater.

No calories, sweetners, or preservatives.

Normally that would mean NO FLAVOR, 

but not in this instance.

When I want something sweet, 

I can just drink a bottle of this

and it totally helps.

When I want something salty or crunch, I go for these...

POPCHIPS.

They're amazing.

They remind me of Munchos.

Heavenly.

Not fried.  Not baked.  Popped.

I find my Popchips at Target or Whole Foods 

and I buy my Metromint water at Akin's.  

If you have a Sprout's, they sell these products as well.  

(Both brands have store locators on their websites.)

What's your favorite healthy snack?

I swear I was not paid to write this blog post, but if anyone *achem* like important Popchip people or the makers of Metromint *achem* would like to give me free samples, I would NOT turn them down.

☺

Extreme Makeover: Me Edition

Amber at {aefilkins} hosts Extreme Makeover: Me Edition each week on Wednesdays. It is a fabulous time to read other people's journey to healthy living and weight loss, gain encouragement, give encouragement...and make friends! We all want friends, right?! :)

This week's topic is simple:

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Share with us how you're feeling about your progress.

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To be completely honest, this week has been a struggle for me. I haven't worked out with Maksim since last Friday! *hang head in shame* My in-laws came for a visit over the weekend and with visitors always comes FOOD! We grilled out and I was good...I made myself a turkey burger and it was YUMM-O!

Let's pause for a recipe break...

Jenny's YUMM-O Turkey Burgers

1 pound of ground Turkey (all white meat...lean)

2 slices of Pepper Jack Cheese

seasoning salt

Directions: divide ground turkey into 4 equal parts. Roll turkey into a ball and press out. Take cheese slices and divide them into fourths. Press 2 cheese squares in the middle of each turkey patty and cover with the ground turkey and press back into a patty. Season w/ seasoning salt (or any kind of seasoning) and grill...and Enjoy! They're delish!

You know how it is when family is around...you just sit and visit and eat...and drink mojitos. Oh, you don't drink mojitos? Hmmm. Maybe that's just us. Well, for anyone wanting to know a mojito made w/ 2 oz light rum and 4 oz of mojito mix is 4 points on WW.

On Sunday, Isaiah went home with his Grammy and Papaw for a few days. *insert pouty lip and major sad face* He's NEVER been out-of-town without us and NEVER stayed that many days without us. It was so hard to let him go...he's my baby and I want to keep him that way...BUT it was good for him and he LOVED it!

Going to Grammy and Papaw's!

He really had a great time and did terrific! However, while he was gone, in the evening I felt myself wanting to eat and snack due to nervousness/boredom. It was all I could do to just go to bed and not eat something...popcorn, chips and guacamole, crackers and cream cheese...something! I'm just relieved to make it to Wednesday. Isaiah is back home and it's weigh-in day at WW! WOOHOO! As of last week, I had lost 16.2 pounds LOST 18 POUNDS (an additional 1.8 at WW this week!). *fingers crossed* for another good weight loss. (I'll come back on and update this post after weigh-in.) I had a small goal set for this weekend. When I started trying to lose weight back in March, I had said I wanted to lose 20 pounds by my family reunion, which is this weekend. I don't think I'll hit 20, but I feel good knowing that I'm close. My next goal was to have lost 25 pounds by the NKOTB concert in Dallas on the 17th of July. I'm really hoping to meet that one! I need to look smokin' hott for Joey! (Right, Xazmin?! :)

My goals for this week are: to keep eating as many fruits and veggies as I can squeeze into a day..."portable fruits" (aka bananas, grapes, berries...things that don't need peeled, cut, or sliced) ROCK! I also have been trying to drink at least 8-10 glasses of water every day...thanks to my stainless steel water bottle, it's been pretty easy! I love that thing! I MUST exercise! I'm hoping my nose unclogs so I can get back to exercising with Maksim asap ...acceptable levels of oxygen are essential while exercising with Maksim!

Check out this mass mailing...

If you commented on a Comment for a Cause, you have a package headed your way! :)

**I'm still having MAJOR blogging issues, so please know that I'm trying to get around to everyone's blog and comment...it just takes me FOREVER!!!...if I see one more "error" message I think I'll SCREAM and simultaneously throw my computer out of this 4th story window...hopefully, things will be back to normal soon!**

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Extreme Makeover {Me Edition}

I'm participating in {aefilkins} Extreme Makeover {Me edition}. This is my first time to play along. I'm usually just hopping around reading everyone else's inspiring posts. A few months ago, I really started trying to lose weight and get in better shape. I've currently lost 14 pounds 16.2 pounds (I just got back from my WW meeting and lost 2.2 pounds...YAY)! I'm super excited about that. I really do want to experience an EXTREME Makeover...ME edition! To be healthy, in every aspect of the word, is my main goal right now.

Each week, Amber or one of her followers, will offer up a question in regards to weight loss or healthy living. To participate, you just have to check out Amber's blog on Wednesdays and write a post about the topic...then go back and link up, of course!

This week's question is brought to us by Shortmama from Family of Shorts. Her question is:

Who is your biggest supporter/motivator in your weight loss?

I think my biggest supporter(s) right now are my co-workers. We are all attending a lunchtime Weight Watchers meeting each Wednesday. This has been so helpful! Number one, it keeps me accountable! I think accountability is HUGE in weight loss success. Without it, it is sooooo easy to fall off the wagon. It's easy to be bad when no one is looking. So, I have to credit them with keeping me on track. They also help me eat healthy. We all decided as a group that we would only eat out once a week during lunch. We have been bringing healthy lunches and eating in everyday except one. Even on the day we go out, we count our points and keep it all in check. We also exchange good recipes and ideas for staying full. They really are my biggest supporters. We even started an office weight loss chart that tracks how many pounds we have lost all together!

Do you have anyone around you that tries to sabotage you by "talking" you in to eating the not so good stuff?

There are a few people who are my "sabotagers" and they may not even know who they are, but they are people who enable me to eat the things that I would rather not. The nice thing about WW is that NOTHING is "off limits". It is a lifestyle, not a "diet". So, it's not that I can't have things, it's that I choose not to. So, I guess my sabotagers are anyone (mainly family) who eat things that I would like to eat, but choose not to eat. This is getting easier though. It's getting easier for me to look at food in a whole new light. I see the fat, the calories...and I can even see past that to the way I would feel if I would eat that. It's getting easier to put things into perspective.

In addition to this, I would like to share with you my two BIGGEST weight loss helps...

My fav workout DVD...Hellooooo, Maksim! Can you say 'motivation'?! ☺ This 100+ Oklahoma heat is making it BRUTAL to get outside and exercise, so I've been resorting to indoor workouts. It's not the easiest workout dvd, but it is fun, it makes me break a sweat, and bust a move...and did I mention Maksim?

And this...my reusable stainless steel water bottle. I LOVE IT! I put filtered water in it and it tastes so clean. I know that sounds weird, but the water doesn't pick up any yuckiness like it does sometimes in plastic bottles. It's green. It's good. I got this one at Old Navy for less than $10. Starbucks has some REALLY cute ones too.

One last thing...

I am in the process of gathering up some CUTE things to send out to all of you who commented on my Commenting for a Cause post. So, PLEASE...if you commented on that post...PLEASE e-mail me your address (jaltman@goldenfieldservices.com). I promise that I'm not going to send you anything besides my token of appreciation for commenting on my blog and commenting for a cause. I'm not an axe murderer. I won't turn it into a telemarketer. I won't send hate mail. I've been trying to go to each of your blogs and send an e-mail directly to you, but some of you don't have an e-mail attached to your blog. So, please please please send me an e-mail with your name and address. I can't let this super cute stuff go to waste!

Hope everyone has a WONDERFUL Wednesday!