Show UsYour Life: Diets, Exercise Programs, Weight Loss Ideas

This Friday, Kelly's "Show Us Your Life" is about diets and weight loss.  Yuck.  If there is one thing that I hate to talk about, it is losing weight. 

I had to stop and think about why this is.  I think maybe because I've been overweight most of my life.  (ok, maybe from 4th grade on). And never really had a good "relationship" with food! :)

 I grew up in Florida, and even at a healthy weight, I was twice the size of the other girls in my class. Well, considering they were all mostly size 0's, maybe I should say that I was more than twice their size! Ha!

AND- I grew up in a family where weight just wasn't discussed (or at least I can't remember it being talked about).  My parents were both overweight, but they didn't really talk about it.  They never said anything to me about my weight at any point that I can remember. And we were happy as a family.

So, maybe it's not really talking about diets or losing weight that bothers me..... maybe it's talking NEGATIVELY about our bodies that I don't like.  I mean, if someone says, "oh, I really want to eat a whole gallon of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, but I'm trying to lose some weight", that really doesn't bother me.  What bothers me is when someone says "I really want to eat some ice cream but I won't because I'm such a fat cow and my thighs have cellulite and my butt is so big it needs it's own zip code."  OR "I hate myself, I'm such a pig, my stomach is gross." 

I know that these are all honest thougths that people probably have about their bodies sometimes (even if they are extrememly exaggerated!)  I have had negative thoughts about parts of my body that I don't like.  But I know that God designed us in His image.  We are to reflect His love to others. 

Yes, we should eat healthy and take care of our bodies.  But even when we don't, I think that sitting around and saying negative things about your body all the time is not good for your mental status! :)  I really think that we should spend more time on things that matter...because when people talk about themselves and their bodies, other people think that is all they care about.  And that is pretty shallow.

Whew! Didn't mean to get on a soap box there, sorry!  I have not been making healthy choices for my body since having Lauren, so I should not be one to set an example.  BUT- I try not to think/talk about myself in a negative way, because it is depressing!!

Yes, I want to be healthier this year.  I do want to lose weight and feel better about myself.  I have a whole rubbermaid tub of smaller-sized clothes that I really want to wear again.  But, this is not all I think about.  And it is certainly not all I talk about!

Sooooo...for the sake of Kelly's blog,  I will share a few ideas that have worked for me in the past.

I have done 2 "diets" that are fairly healthy in my opinion.  That means that they don't "restrict" certain foods completely...such as low carb or the heart surgery diet or the pea soup diet. :)  I mean, seriuosly, everything in moderation!

Anyway, the 2 diets that I have done (successfully) in the past are....

I have done weight watchers 3 times.  Twice, I have joined the meetings, 1 time from home on my own.  Having to count the points got kinda old.  But, it worked.

I lost the most weight on LA, but it is expensive, and you are supposed to drive there and weigh in 3 TIMES A WEEK!  However, this diet never left me feeling really hungry- because you had to eat lots of fruits and veggies. (which we need anyways).

(Jason and I in Vegas..after we had been on LA Weightloss for 7 months)

Soooo...when I got to thinking about why these 2 diets have worked the best for me, I realized that they had a few KEY things in common...

1) You wrote down everything that you ate

2) You could eat things that you wanted, just in moderation....like a small bowl of frozen yogurt, instead of a whole gallon of ice cream!

3)You were supposed to eat often throughout the day, so you didn't get really hungry and "binge" on whatever was easiest to grab (junk food, fast food, etc)

However, since I don't want to pay $40-$50 a month or more to join either one of these programs, I will share what I am doing right now.  And it is essentially the same as both of these programs...but I can do it from home.

I am just counting calories. I am using www.calorieking.com to enter in everything that I eat...easy, peasy- you just type it and the site does the math for you. 

For $44 a year, I have unlimited access to their site, and they customize my calorie intake based on weight.  You can also enter in exercise and the site calculates the amount of calories that you burn. 

I figured that less than $1 a week was affordable for me, and this is working pretty well so far.  I go online a couple of times a day and enter what I have eaten and they do all the math for you.

The site offers tips, recipes, excercises, and there is also a community that you can join for support. They help you set goals and pick "motivators" to work towards your goals. 

I have only been doing this for a week, now, but I think it is easy to use and we'll see how it goes.  I am only going to weigh myself once a week and enter it on the site.  I'm not really aiming for a certain number on the scale, (although they set goals for you on the site) I am just going by how I feel and how my clothes fit.

For the exercise part (because everyone knows that healthy eating won't do it alone, you have to have some exercise!) I will be getting out my DVD's because it is TOO COLD to walk or run here right now. (although there are really nice sidewalks all around us!)

Here is what is in the lineup.....

I LOVE Leslie Sansom's "Walk Away The Pounds DVD's"  I have 2 or 3.  The teacher I student-taught with introduced these to me and they are really good!  You will be sweating in no time!  Just clear the floor in front of the tv, because you need room to move around.

And, I ordered The Firm DVD's with the "transfirmer" (step) a couple of years ago because I like step aerobics.  I have yet to give them a try, but this is the time! :)

And, last, I ordered this from Amazon after Lauren was born and haven't even taken the plastic off, yet.  I have heard great things about this DVD, but I have to say that Jillian scares me a little on TBL ...so, I'll let you know how this one is when I get up the guts to try it!

Next week, I'm going to try to do one DVD every other day to start with...so, maybe I will alternate these 3 for variety.

Ok. Whew.  That was a long post.  Anyone who read it- thanks for sticking with me to the end! :)  Now, go on over to Kelly's blog and read some more tips from other bloggers!