1 Week Down and Still Going Strong!

Yay!!! I can finally share a victory with you guys! This week I lost 2.2lbs! Yahoo! Sorry, I'm really excited!

Anyway, I stayed on target all week this week. I even declined going to a party this past weekend, because I knew there would be heavy drinking going on there, and you know you can't be around sloshed people without being a little sloshed yourself! Hehe!

But the important part is that I did it. This week I'm working on scheduling my excersize. I bought a Groupon, DM me on twitter @LisaVFitness if you want to know what that is, for Jazzercise. 2 Months unlimited classes for $39! A steal! And I have a friend who is going to go with me! Support and Accountability!

So it looks like things are on the up and up on the weight loss front with me. Wishing everyone health, motivation and happiness in the next week!

Happy New Year! (Mamavation Monday)

It's a new year, and this year is going to include a new me. I'm DONE making excuses. My son will be turning 1 in March, so there is no reason why my "baby weight" should not be gone by now. The holidays are over, and there are no monumental "eating holidays" until Easter. This should give me adequate time to achive enough success to power through.

So instead of just talking about all of the good I'm going to do, I committed. I joined Weight Watchers January 1st. This means that I am PAYING HARD EARNED CASH to loose weight. Money is extremly tight in my family right now, so spending money is a BIG deal. I'm only working part-time and my husband is unemployed. Thus, my time with Weight Watchers is a BIG deal.

So far, I've been on target for the past 3 days. Eating PERFECTLY. I've been in a workout rut though. I've been trying to sneak something in, but my son has learned to throw fits. (THIS IS AN EXCUSE. I KNOW.) So, I'm going to fit something in today. Even if that means bundling up the babe and myself like little Inuit people and taking a walk. I'm getting moving!

See You Ladies Next Week! I know that you all can do whatever resolution/goal you have set your mind to!

'Twas the Week After Christmas--Mamavation Monday

'Twas the Week After Christmas, and all through my house every creature was stirring to burn off those holiday pounds.

Christmas was filled with pitfalls for me. I did well with the alcohol, which is what usually causes me to overeat. However, my major downfall this week was the food that was everywhere and my proximity to it.

My "game plan" usually involves serving myself, then putting the food away. I NEVER put food out on the table to let people serve themselves. I always leave the food in the kitchen, and then go out to the table to eat. When I don't have the food sitting in front of me, I'm less likely to keep helping myself to more.

But guess what--everywhere I went this weekend there were tables full of food. My in-laws, my dad's house, my mother's extended family. I felt like I just couldn't escape! I tried to utilize many of my other tactics like shrimp cocktail and drinking lots of water. But it just wasn't working.

All and all, I had a rough weekend. But I'm getting back on track today. I'm starting my "New Year's" workout plan early--today. I see no reason why I should wait another week to do something good for myself. And I'm making a better effort to eat healthfully. You won't find any food waiting for me on my dining room table!

Staying well, while being sick.

Being sick sucks. But inevitably, it happens. I managed to contract some sort of bug over the weekend. I had to work and go out in the massive snow we got here in Michigan--I blame that! LOL!

So I want to talk about how to stay well--or at least stay on track--while being sick. If you are anything like me, when you're sick (except when you're nauseous or throwing up) I will curl up on the couch and eat and eat in front of the tv. And comfort food is my favorite. I love a piping hot bowl of something ooey-gooey like mac and cheese. Because chicken soup is only appetizing for so long.

Some of my tips to distract myself from all of the ooey-gooeys that I love are:

Green Tea: It's hot, broth like, without being broth. And it's zero calories when sweetened with stevia. And you can get it in a ton of different flavors to liven up your taste buds.

Drink lots of water. Water fills you up and will prevent you from getting dehydrated. Particularly important if you are running a fever or having other "lovlies" like diarreha or vomiting.

Watch your portions and how you prepare things. You can still have your comfort food, just make sure you are using fiber filled noodles, and low fat styles of preparation. Instead of a block of velveeta, see if you can make mac and cheese with low fat cheese.

All told, I'm starting to feel better. I've been trying to evade creamy milk products like yogurt, milk and sour cream because they thicken mucus (I really hate that word by the way). But I don't have a problem with cheese.

But getting sick has made me learn my lesson: I should have worked out more these past couple weeks. Because exercise helps your immune system, and I don't get sick when I've been working out. Nothing like a little reminder from the almighty to get back on track!

Mamvation Monday-Chaining myself back on the wagon.

Pie. Brownies. Cookies. Chips. Dip. Crackers. Mashed Potatos. Rolls. The list goes on and on. This is my confession of the things I have put in my mouth in large unhealthy amounts this week.

I now know why people have such a hard time losing weight, or at least not putting any weight on over the holiday season. There is food EVERYWHERE! And for a food addict like myself, this is a really bad situation.

I thought I had everything all planned out. I planned how I was going to excute Thanksgiving. I planned what I would and wouldn't eat for Hanukkah. I'm planning for Christmas (yes, I do celebrate both). But, the problem that I'm finding is that I can't plan just for the holidays. The holiday food, lasts the entire holiday season. Which of course leads to all of those extra calories adding up. I know I don't have to eat this stuff, but it's just so hard not to. It's been tradition for years. And it makes me happy. And then I am sad because I ate it all. And then I eat to cheer myself up again. It's a vicious cycle.

So I'm trying something different this week. Instead of just counting calories, I busted out my old points slider and am going to try doing weight watchers again. Everytime, I have done it, I have lost a good 30lbs plus. I know if I can just stick to the plan for a week and see a decent loss, I will continue in my efforts.

I am also going to get back on the workout wagon this week. Now that my husband has taken up doing odd jobs and is hardly ever home, and my son has gone from 2 naps a day to 1. I'm having difficulty finding the time to workout. So my goal this week is to be more active. It's getting colder and snowier here in Michigan, so my Sketchers toning shoes have hit the closet, but now that I know that Earth Footwear makes boots for toning, I really need to figure out how to get my hands on a pair (If you would like to gift me a pair, here's the website: http://www.earthfootwear.com/ I really like the "Invent"-size 10 please :)). Earth's boots would make bundling up the baby and trudging through the snow a whole lot more comfy!

This weeks goal synopsis:
1. Loose at least 2 lbs with Weight Watchers.
2. Recommit to at least 30 mins of excercise a day.
3. Get some hot new Earth Footwear boots to make walking in the snow super cozy.

Booze -1, Lisa-0

I had such a wonderful plan for Thanksgiving. And I stuck to it. Up until the point when I started drinking! I didn't even think about the empty calories in the glasses of wine I was drinking until I put away almost 2 bottles! Oy!

On top of all of the empty calories in the wine. Getting a little buzz on threw my inhibitions (and diet) to the wind. Which caused an avalanche of mindless munching! But I am determined to get back on the wagon. I will not let the holiday season beat me up this year!

The biggest issue that I am having right now is carbs. I love them, and they are my biggest downfall. I can't seem to lose weight if I eat too many. And let's face it, they are addicting.

Since I broke from the plan on Thanksgiving, I've been hitting the carbs hard. It might be the addicting factor of them, it might be the chilly overcast weather that is making me crave comfort food. But I made the CHOICE to eat them. So I am making the CHOICE not to eat them (or that much of them).

So here is my plan for the week. I'm going on a low carb "fast" if you will. For the next two days, I am going to be cutting my carb intake until I have the willpower to resist carb-filled sugary treats. Then I will readjust from there. Slowly adding back in whole grains etc. This technique has worked for me in the past, and I'm confident that it will work again. It's nice to see that I CAN do it, and it propels me to more forward once again.

Wish me luck!

Mamavation Moday- Cutting Thanksgiving Calories

I'm getting back into the swing of things this week, after my stress fracture debackle. My foot feels better, so I'm going to start off light to make sure it really does feel as good as I think it does. :\

But my main concern this week is Thanksgiving. In years past, I have gorged myself on cake, pie, cream puffs (you can tell I love dessert), biscuits, green bean cassarole, you name it, I ate it. And, it was good. Really good. It's what lended to me being so large all of these years. But this year is going to be different. So I thought I'd share my game plan for the holiday eating season with you! With a little planning, I think we can all make this Thanksgiving a little skinnier! Enjoy!

1. Eat your veggies.
Load your plate with salad and a non creamy dressing. If you can, skip the cheese and the crutons.

2. What bread basket?
Pretend that the bread basket, or rolls, just don't exsist. EVEN if they are whole wheat. Just because they are whole wheat doesn't mean they aren't packing extra calories.

3. Lean Meat
When you are eating turkey, eat turkey breast. It contains fewer "bad fats" than the dark meat. And we all want to keep those arteries clean for a long healthy life!

4. Don't get stuffed on stuffing.
Stuffing is bread. Often times with lots of butter and fat to make it nice and squishy and fluffy. So if Thanksgiving just isn't Thanksgiving without stuffing, be very careful about how much you indulge in.

5. Eat your veggies, AGAIN!
You don't NEED to have green bean cassarole. Try steaming veggies like green beans or broccoli as a low cal alternative.

6. You say potato, I say califlower.
Try steaming califlower, pureeing it, and preparing it like mashed potatos instead of serving them. I just tryed this for the first time the other day, and I could barely tell a difference! You'll save a bunch of calories and carbs!

7. Delicious Dessert
Thanksgiving desserts are yummy. I myself love some pumpkin pie. But if you can't prepare a light version of your dessert, your dessert indulgence is all about portion control. Try having just a "sliver" of pie or cake. You'll satisfy your sweet tooth, without killing all of your hard work!

I hope you can use these tips! This is what I intend to do, I let you know how it works out for me.

However, if you end up indulging, make sure you make up for it. Get in a good workout with some Turbo or some TaeBo. And resume eating healthy asap, maybe with a lil' subway! Yum Yum!

Have a Happy and Healthy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Gycemic Index and Dieting

The importance of the Glycemic Index (GI) has been on the rise in the last few years. The GI of a particular food is calculated by the rate it causes your blood sugar to rise. The slower the rise in blood sugar, the lower the GI, the faster your blood sugar spikes the higher the GI. It is the foundation of the Glycemic index diet as well as at home delivery diets like Nutrisystem. But what many people do not know is that the GI is the foundation of many more diets and of easier weight loss in general.

All low carb-diets are based on the GI, even if it is not advertised. Low carb diets keep your blood sugar steady by consuming low GI foods. Protein and veggies are low GI naturally.

Eating a low GI diet and keeping blood sugar steady is also VERY important for diabetics. Keeping your blood sugar steady when you have diabetes is a matter of life or death. Therefore many diabetic diets are based around the GI as well.

As a connoisseur of convenience and a former diabetic, I wanted to share with you a fast and easy way to have a Low GI meal. It's also an excellent food for the weekends when you don't have your "weekends" on Nutrisystem! Best of all it acts like a salad (LOW GI) but tastes like dessert (HIGH GI)! Check it out!

Save Money On Baby Formula

I just thought I would share this with all of the new moms or soon to be moms out there. One of the things that has totally saved my life during this first year of baby care is "the formula check". I've been getting $5.00 off cans, bottles, whatever format you prefer of baby formula. Which is really nice, because if you don't know already, having a child is extremely expensive. And even more so if you don't qualify for government aid.

How to get the magical formula check-

Depending on what formula you decide to use, Similac has more offers than others. But you can get checks from multiple manufacturers.

Similac- Go to Similac.com and sign up for a Similac Strong Moms account. Fill out the info and soon you'll receive formula samples, and checks for formula.

Enfamil- Go to Enfamil.com and sign up for Enfamil Family Beginnings. You'll also receive samples of formula and checks. But you receive fewer than Similac.

Gerber (Formerly Nestle Good Start)- Go to Gerber.com and sign up to be a part of the Gerber Generation. You don't receive many formula checks, but they do send A TON of coupons for baby food, juice, etc. So this is still an excellent source of savings, particularly as your baby grows.

I personally think that it is worthwhile to sign up for all three. All babies are different and it's helpful to be able to save on different kinds of formula if you have to make many switches due to formula intolerance. That is what happened with my son, and it was very nice to continue saving.

My son needed to be formula fed, as my milk did not come in for several days and he lost a dramatic amount of weight. And once my milk did come in, it was inadequate. So for those of you that have difficulty breastfeeding, or just choose not to, I hope this information can be as big of a lifesaver for you as it is to me!

Mamavation Monday! Down for the count?

Another week has gone by. However, I had to stop TurboFire in the middle of last week. I have a stress fracture in my left foot! Ouchie! I'm hoping it starts to feel better soon, because I've heard that it can takes months of rest to heal. Ahhh!

So far, I haven't gained any weight. But I haven't lost any either since this occurred. Which is discouraging. And since I'm at home being a couch potato because I am in pain, It's getting really hard not to binge eat. I swear when I'm not working out, I could eat the whole house. I guess this is further proof of the appetite suppressing quality of exercise.

I'm having a hard time coming up with ways to work out that don't involve me being up on my feet. The only things I can think of ab work and arm work. Any ideas?

I know the key to losing over this rest period is going to be watching my calories. Stay tuned to see how I do over the next couple weeks!

My New Addiction

Hi, my name is Lisa and I am a Twitter addict. But there's more to that. Not only am I a Twitter addict, I'm a Twitter Party addict.

I've recently been spending my nights tweeting away with other Tweeps and @ResourcefulMom. In the past 2-3 weeks that I've been involved in the Twitter party phenomenon I've won 3 prizes! And there is nothing I love more than FREE STUFF!

My first prize was Anne Geddes new book Beginnings. I has never won anything EVER before in my life. Needless to say, winning created a monster. Since my first win, I have won custom Christmas cards and stationary. I now know how people become gambling addicts, so thank god there is no money involved in this!

If you want to follow me on Twitter my user name is @LisaVFitness See ya around!

Mamavation Monday!

Happy Monday! Though some of you don't find Monday so happy...I was having one of those days today. I got a migraine from the blistering sunlight pouring in through the window of my "office" this afternoon. I wanted to VOMIT. I had my workout scheduled for when I got home, but the entire drive back home I was dreading it.

As soon as I got home, I knew that if I didn't suck it up, I would wallow in how crappy I felt and would never get my workout in today. So I did. And I was victorious. I worked out WITH a migraine. I'm not going to lie, the first 10 minutes were hell. But I persevered. I just kept thinking about my successes. I weighed and measured this morning.

Let me first start by saying that I finished the first 30 days of the TurboFire program yesterday. I lost 10lbs and 5.25 inches, 2.5 of those inches were from my hips/mama pooch alone! So that was what I thought about until the workout endorphins took over the migraine pain.

This further proves to me that if you focus on the positive, you can beat the negative!

Now That's What I Call Progress!

I'm making progress. LOTS of progress. Today I started week 3 of TurboFire. So two down, ten to go (It's a 12 week program). And I've lost 9.4lbs! I can't believe how fast and easy this weight is melting off. It's unlike any other weight loss experience I've ever had. I'm used to 2 lbs a week, if I'm lucky, let alone 4! Amazing! I've got energy to burn and I'm starting to get my pre-baby body back. I can see hips coming through where my muffin top used to be. My lower abs are going back to where they should be after my c-section. I don't like to work out, but holy moly, as Chalene Johnson says in the DVDs "I've found my soulmate workout"! I can't wait to see what kind of transformation the next few weeks hold. I've even got my hunny in on the action. He's doing P90X and counting his calories now. It's definately a family affair. I'll keep ya posted!

Getting my burn on--with the FIRE!

Last Monday, I committed. I am going to put all of my energy into getting back down to a healthy pre-baby weight (before I was lucky if I was putting in 50%). I gained almost 60 lbs while I was pregnant with my son. 40 of that sixty I had JUST lost before getting pregnant! Ugh! But like I said, I committed to a new and improved healthier lifestyle.

Since then, I have followed the TurboFire workout schedule to a T. And I have been doing my best to eat clean while keeping my calories in check. I've been using myfitnesspal.com to log all of my food, for me it is easier than writing it down and having to calculate everything out. AND thier database is HUGE!

And I must say all of my work has paid off! I am down 4.6 pounds this week! Ow Ow! But more importantly I feel phenomenal!

My little commital to my cause of loosing weight also inspired my husband to jump on the bandwagon with me. He has re-started P90X. Sometimes he gripes about how challenging it is and the pain he is in the next day. I also can be known the gripe about the burn I feel from TF. But he and I both know that that kind of "pain" is the best kind of pain.

Though losing weight and feeling better about ourselves is awesome, I think the best part is that we're in it together!