Hey All!!

I have been very, very tired lately and it is my own fault.  I guess I could say that I got wrapped up in the holidays, and bummed out by all of the cold freezing weather and snow.  I also could say that having company for two weeks  put a dent in my eating/workout schedule.  I could blame SAD, the lack of vitamin D, President Obama (really, isn’t everything his fault nowadays? *eyeroll*)……..

But, truthfully, I can’t…the month of January was a total eating and exercise plan fail!  Nah, I don’t like to say “fail”  – too negative – tho the extra 5 pounds that are sending me back over the 200 lb mark don’t seem like a “win” to me.

We all know the drill, I was just surprised that I could get back into the old habits so easily after the kick ass summer that I had.  But, ladies and gents, I am paying dearly for my indulgences.  No energy, tired red eyes and overactive bladder (too much sugar) weight gain  and a penchant for just either laying around or surfing the web mean one big thing – Blood sugar is out of control again.

So I must take charge again and get back on track.  The only upside to all of this is that instead of wallowing and continuing my downward spiral, I am really hating how I look and feel.  No wig , makeup or clothes can mask an unhealthy body.  And the sluggishness – I used to be so sharp!  So, it’ll take a couple of weeks of hot fudge/vanilla icecream waffle sundae detox ( do I know how to cheat or what?!?) to get me back to my old/new self again, but I have to do it !  And I can do it!!

Today I re-measure myself and use that as a starting point….If you all don’t mind, I won’t post numbers again till I am feeling better, and I am sure that what I will be seeing won’t make me all puppies, kittens and rainbows.

Now that the weather is decent, I am also back outside running, and I am pricing treadmills this week.  No excuses!!

I don’t know what my lack of training for the month of January is going to do for my half marathon that is scheduled in March. This mornings run was pitiful…..I could feel the fat on my legs laffing and holding on ! “Ha ha, you aint gettin rid of us that easy!!”

On another upside, I saw a friend in the grocery store today (back to the veggie aisle!) that saw me at my peak in August!  She told me that since seeing me and what I accomplished, she went on her own weight loss program and lost 50 pounds!!  She couldn’t stand being the “fat one” next to me!!  LOL – well honey , if it made you make a positive change in your life , hate away!!

It will be a slow process trying to get the bod used to healthy foods and water again, but I will try to post more that once a month!

So how bout you ladies, gents and facebook friends?  How have you been holding up during the Great Arctic Blast of 10?  Let’s hear from you!!

As always, you can do it!!

Til next time…..ooh look, carrots for dinner….yum…..

Happy Holidays!!

Hello All!!

How are all of you!!?!?  I hope that you had a great, lessee, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Kwaanza, Ramadan, Hanukah, Hari Krisha, Winter Solstice, Hail Satan…..did I get them all!?

Well, this is Week 8 of our Second Chance/Do Over Challenge…..how did you guys do?  Yuh huh, oh, I see…mmmhmmm…..yeah mee too!   Christmas cookies and the fried turkey kicked my ass too and I’m about to ring in the New Year with every chicken wing imaginable plus some eggnog and bubbly…..

I did manage to keep running, so the damage is not as bad as I thought that it would be but…..I am up about twenty pounds…..the pic above is me running on Christmas day as Santa.  Got lots of folks honking their horns and smiling and waving……and I also got a few middle  fingers from some Scrooges!

Not to fret, not to worry..It ’s never too late to start over.  Even tho I have gained, I am still way ahead of where I was last year at this time.  So, ladies and gents, January 4, 2010 will be ….yes say it together now….8 WEEKS TO A BETTER BODY CHALLENGE – WE MEAN IT THIS TIME!!!  The hams, chitlins, cookies, fudge and food gifts need to be eaten – no thrown away – no eaten, who we trying to fool – by Jan 3rd.

This new 8 weeks is important to me because that is the countdown to my birthday in February.  I have managed to eat my way back into a 14, so I would like to get back down to a size 10 by February 21st.  I CAN DO IT!!

More later, I gotta finish getting ready for tonite!!  You all have a great New Year, be safe, take your DD if you are planning to paaartay, and get ready to sweat come ‘10!!

Do it again in 10!!

YCDI

So I here I go again. Trying to lose the same 20/30 pounds that I can never quite get rid of…once I’m home anyway.

Sigh.

Okay so here we go.

Goal

To be 150lbs at the end of the 8 Weeks ta Better body Challenge Round 2

Plan

Exercise: Twice a day with 20 – 40 minutes worth of cardio in the morning combined with 30 – 60 minutes of weight training and abs. Add to that 60 – 90 minutes worth of cardio in the evenings.

Diet: 10 glasses of water a day and 25 – 30 grams of fiber a day. I’ve found I work best when I work on what to add to my diet and not what to take out.

Miscellaneous

Stress: Stress is a big factor with me. I’ve been in a perpetual spiral of nothing going right so I’m genuinely pretty stressed on a daily basis. I’ve learned that if I’m too stressed the weight just won’t come off, no mater how hard I try or how great I’m dieting.  So the key for me is to find a way to manage my stress so it doesn’t affect my weight loss.

Depression: I’m prone to depression. Fighting the blues is a daily battle with me. And if things are really bad I just don’t want to move. So, the key is to walk/run everyday regardless of mood.

Work/Life Balance: I’m a obsessed with my work. I’ll work ’round the clock and won’t take the time to stop and go work out. Since I’m a write it means I’m not moving much, so I definitely have to make myself back up from the computer and get to exercising AND remember to eat.

Food Diary: Like ms. Tracy said “If I bite it write it.” That’s the only way I’m going to really know what I’m eating and be able to make the necessary adjustments.

So that’s it. My weight loss plan and goal. I’m starting this challenge at 168.9lbs (don’t ask – it’s been a stressful couple of weeks) so I need to lose roughly 19lbs in 8 weeks to meet my goal. It’s definitely doable, but I will admit my will power is lacking so I’ve got an uphill battle to climb.

Let’s get it started.

Today is a new day. So what are you waiting for?

New Look for Fall!

Hello Everybody!!

It’s been much too long since I have posted last, and for that I am truly sorry!  I missed you all, but Ms.  Tracy has been quite busy!

Since my last post I have:  run a 5K, 10K and am training for a half marathon.  Then a full marathon but that is not until Spring so I have some time.  I have purchased two more pairs of running shoes, a really expensive UnderArmor cold weather running suit, a couple more wigs, finally got some man-action from the dating site that is employed, has all his teeth, not married and not a jerk, and managed to get and get over the flu.

In the course of all this, I also managed to gain, then lose, then gain again – 10 pounds!  Hopefully some of this is muscle, tho truthfully I know that some of it is Halloween candy and peanut butter (sigh) banana graham crackers. Oh and KFC.  And not following my Weight Watchers program like I should cuz dammit I run almost 12 miles every friggin day PLUS strength train every other day and after ALL THAT if I can’t have an occasional (read: every day) four piece extra crispy wing dinner then life is just not worth living…….

Um..yeah..so…I’m gonna pretty much sh*tcan the month of October for the challenge and ask for a do-over starting fresh in November.  I got it all planned out.  I got a gift subscription sent to me from Henry (I guess he got tired of answering my questions) for Runner’s Magazine.  They also sent me a Runner’s Log Book.  I hate starting at the middle or end of anything, so November 1st is my date for the first entry!   Right now, the entries will look sorta like this:

7:00 am – 7 mi run – easy pace (1 hr 45 min)

9am-4pm – Work, eat, play, run errands, buy more running stuff, get some love, fight with someone, blog, facebook, watch food network and cry…

5pm - 6:30pm – Strength training or second 5 mi run

On the upside, I have lost some inches here and there :

Waist – 35 – down one inch

hips – 38 – down one inch

bust – 39 – down two inches

upper arm – 12 – down one inch

upper thigh – 20 – down one inch

calf – 15 – down one inch

So……something is working, I would just like to get my passion for doing things in an orderly fashion back.  Too much cheating here and there, I think that I am getting bored with the routine.  But you know what, cheating is getting boring too!  Granted, I still love food and can see myself very easily falling back into the spiral of overeating, but instead of filling a void with food, I am now just eating to get it over with, almost mechanical eating.   

So in a way, I am getting over food – I am even starting to dread the holidays!  The thought of wasting a perfect day off preparing all that food when I c0uld be running or visiting w/friends or anything but attending an all out eat fest annoys me.  You know, I could make it fun and have a “Chopped” challenge with my sis-in-law – 30 minutes to whip up a Holiday meal with dates, chicken thighs, soy sauce and oatmeal cookies!  Yess!!!!…….Nah, those wet blankets would never go for it…..

Anyhoo, I also gave myself a wig makeover.  I found that folks couldn’t see my cheekbones and chin with the longer wigs, so I got a lighter, shorter low mainenence look for fall!   Oh, I almost forgot the new “spacesuit”!  This literally stops traffic – I am either that hot or I need to get a sports bra…..

Great to be back – Next post, some new friends, Why Mr. Casper is in trouble, and why Food Network is straight up Porn for Dieters!

You Can Do it!!

Well Casper is back with an eye opening look at the American way life – from someone who is American, but no loner calls the US home:

Well after a much needed vacation (been three years already) I have had some thoughts. My wife finally convinced me to go “home” whatever that is. I was opting for taking a trip to Thailand or India or Dublin or Greece or Argentina or Cape Town or some other great place I have not yet seen… but the winning argument was that my folks have never seen the baby and hadn’t seen the oldest since she was a baby.

So while I was back home I could not believe how overweight people are. Consistently I was counting 8 out of 10 people were over weight, 2 of which were grossly obese. My wife didn’t even believe my decleration until I said check it out for yourself. then she really started to look and was like ” Wow your right ”

I understand that typically asian people tend to be ectomorphs but this isn’t always the case just look at sumo wrestlers and the people who frequent McDonalds (not kidding… if you want to see a fat Japanese person go to McD’s) The one difference I have to say though is that the diet we eat here in Japan is drastically different. Lots of veggies, lots of raw fish, a little beef, a little chicken, a little tofu and a small bowl of rice with every meal. The food here has not been mass produced by agribusinesses using NPK and GMO. While “Certified Organic” is not as big of a deal here, a lot of the food here is organic anyways, there just isn’t a great need to get certified.

Now for the hard truth. I kinda did crude experiment. I am a pretty lean person, after a fight Iwill take a week or two off of training. Not totally off but I give my body some time to recoup. So I will put on two or three pounds. Not really a big deal. So while home on vacation I pretty much said I am just gonna relax. I am not gonna hesitate on moms good ole apple pie, baklava, brownies, and pecan pie. Or my sisters cheesecake ( she also makes a mean bowl of mashed potatoes), or my dads grillin two full cows. I decided I am gonna actually have a real vacation and just let the discipline slide. I’m not going to mention the Mead and Beer my family makes.

The hard truth is that American food has caused me to gain 17 lbs in 6 WEEKS!!!!!!!

Now this doesn’t matter to me because already back into training for the last week I have lost 5 lbs. Now that jet lag is over I can actually train unhindered. The fact is the American way of life will KILL you. I can’t see it any other way. Pay attention to what your putting into your body. You can do it!

Cnn.com had an excellent article discussing Why We Eat Too Much an How to Gain Control. The three reasons they gave are all reasons I cna relate too and are the main reasons why I’ve had such a hard time droping the weight this go around:

1. You’re not getting enough sleep

Missing out on your zzz’s not only puts you in a mental fog, it also triggers a constellation of actual metabolic changes that may lead to weight gain. A lack of shut-eye harms your waistline because it affects two important hormones that control appetite and satiety–leptin and ghrelin…According to a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, people who slept only four hours a night for two nights had an 18 percent decrease in leptin (a hormone that signals the brain that the body has had enough to eat) and a 28 percent increase in ghrelin (a hormone that triggers hunger), compared with those who got more res

How to get control:

When we’re exhausted, we hunger for just about everything in sight, especially if it’s sugary or high in carbs. That may be because these foods give us both an energy boost and comfort (since lack of sleep is a stressor), Knutson says. To quell the urge for fattening foods and still get the energy kick you need, reach for a combination of complex carbs and protein.

2.  You’re sabotaged by stress

Constant stress causes your body to pump out high doses of hormones, like cortisol, that over time can boost your appetite and lead you to overeat. “Cortisol and insulin shift our preferences toward comfort foods–high-fat, high-sugar, or high-salt foods,” says Elissa Epel, Ph.D.

How to get control:

When we’re exhausted, we hunger for just about everything in sight, especially if it’s sugary or high in carbs. That may be because these foods give us both an energy boost and comfort (since lack of sleep is a stressor), Knutson says. To quell the urge for fattening foods and still get the energy kick you need, reach for a combination of complex carbs and protein.

3. You’ve got fatty foods (literally) on the brain

We’re hardwired to hunger for fatty, sugary, salty foods because, back when our ancestors were foraging for every meal, palatable eats meant extra energy and a leg-up on survival, says Dr. David A. Kessler, former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and author of “The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite.”

How to get control:

Avoid eating your favorite treat if you’re in a particular mood, if it’s a certain time of day, or if you’re in a specific place; this will prevent you from creating a triggering link between those feelings or locations and that treat, Kessler says. And since the smell and sight of fatty, sugary foods is pure temptation, try to keep yourself from passing the bakery or ice cream shop you can’t resist.

Read the rest of the article. I can definitely relate to the first two reasons. The lack of sleep combined with high levels of stress had me craving  every fatty, salty, sweet thing I could get my hand on. I learned that eating protein helped quell my hunger and drinking lots of water helped kill the cravings for salty/sweet things. It’s been helping, especially as I get my stress levels down an have ben geting more sleep.

Can you relate to this article?

What are your strategies for dealing with sleep and stressed induced hunger?

Yes…

I know I was supposed to post an update at the two week mark last Friday, but with all the craziness going n in my offline life I didnt’ get around to it. I was going to post a pic today but mother nature made an unexpectedly early visit, so my bloated butt will not be getting into a swimsuit today.

So you probably won’t get another picture update form me until sometime near the middle or the end of next week. However I can give you the basic updates:

Starting Weight: 172
Current Weight: 165
Goal Weight: 140

That’s a loss of 7lbs – Yea!

As of now all of my measurements are all of the same:

Measurements: 36 – 29.5 – 42
Thigh: 23.5in.
Calf: 17in.
Bicep: 12.75in

That’s it for now. There will be a new pic next week and I will start doing video diaries next week as well.

‘Till next time.

While I may be able to eat myself thin I doubt very seriously I can think myself thin. The folk over at Blackdoctor.org seem to disagree however:

Exercise is only half of the equation; what you eat is the other half. Your attitude towards food can either make or break your weight loss regime. Follow these simple rules to slim down.

The Way to Eat

Eat MUFA. Monounsaturated fats (MUFAs for short, pronounced MOO-fahs) come from the healthy oils found in plant foods such as olives, nuts, and avocado. Include a MUFA at every meal. Incorporate a serving of one MUFA-rich food every time you eat.

Have a clear calorie goal. Consume four 400-calorie meals a day. Significant weight loss requires calorie control. For the average woman, 1,600 calories per day is ideal because it’s low enough to create weight loss while maintaining energy and preserving calorie-burning muscle.

Eat often. Have a meal every 4 to 5 hours to help control your blood sugar and hunger and keep your metabolism in high gear.

The Way to Think

Manage stress. This emotion causes a spike in the hunger-stimulating hormone cortisol, sending you straight for the sweets. And when cortisol is high, extra calories are deposited directly as belly fat.

Ask for help. Among people who have permanent weight loss, 70% reported having strong social support, compared with only 38% of those who lost and regained weight. Recruit others to join you (or encourage you), or sign up for an online support group…Keep reading.

The “mangae stress’ tip I can relate too. Not only will you eat yourself fat if you’re reeally stressed, but no matter how much exercising or eating right you’re doing the weight willnot come off.

Talk about frustrating.

As far as asking for help, studies have shown that black women in particular lose weight in groups, but not so well solo, so if you have some freinds you can join up with so so. Hell, make a game/competition of it. Loser has to by everyone dinner…or something.