Taking Control of My Life: One Step at a Time

As I've begun to make little and not-so-little changes in my life, I began to realize what a shambles so many other things were in.

For instance: My home.  Ohmygosh!  Seriously.

Now, in my defense, I do have a special needs child who is extremely active and curious.  Therefore, he is constantly getting into things.  And when he acts out, it's by ramping up his destructive mode to "nuclear".  But there are still things I can do.  Hmm.  Sounds a little bit like my weight.

So, in an effort to not only transform my weight, but to transform my life, I decided to begin the arduous task of organizing.

Luckily, my husband started the ball rolling over mother's day weekend.  While I was out of town, he and the kids ripped out the flower bed in front of our house, which had become completely overgrown and replaced it with giant planters, decorative rock, and decorative grass.  It's really quite nice.

Then, the week after that, he (finally!!!) installed a dishwasher and new counter tops.  I nearly cried.

This started me off on a cleaning frenzy including organizing all the crap that's been cluttering our home.

One of my big pet-peeves were the brooms and mops.  I've never really had a "place" for them, so I would constantly be running around the house hollering, "Who moved the broom?" or "Has anyone seen the mop?"

So, when I had the opportunity to get a broom organizer arrived, I grabbed it!  The organizer I got was from Amazon (Click here to check out my broom organizer).  It's the five broom organizer that has hooks attached to it.  And I LOVE it!  It fits both my brooms, my mop and the dustpans, plus there is room for several of my favorite rags (yes, I have favorites - I don't like the kids touching the microfiber clothes and using them to scrub the carpet stains. I'm funny that way). Plus, the hooks are very sturdy.  They could handle much more than just some stinky ol' rags.  They're pretty hard core, actually.

It looks much nicer than the nasty old metal one that came with the house when we bought it then promptly broke.  It's sturdy, the six screws were relatively easy to install, and the extra hooks make the price of the organizer a steal (have you seen the price of hooks lately?!?).

All in all, I'm proud to say that my home is one step closer to being organized - just like my health. No longer will I be running around my house like a lost puppy looking for my cleaning supplies. They have a home now. And that home is rather easy on the eyes, if you ask me.  Yay!

Green Tea: Is It For Me?

I've heard a bajillion health benefits about green tea over the years.  For months, I purchased the

bottles of Green Tea from Costco, and I've taken green tea supplements off and on over the years,

with varied success, depending on who the maker is.

I was given an opportunity to try Midori Spring 

Ceremonial (GOLD) Matcha Green Tea  for free and I 

agreed.  I was interested in seeing if it tasted the same or

differently in actual tea form vs. the stuff I'd had at

 Costco. 


Duh.  Of course it did!  When I received the product, and 

during several correspondences with their company, they 

stressed that this is extremely high quality tea and will 

most likely taste differently than the green tea normally 

 consumed. 


Being as though I've never actually drank green tea, I had

 no idea what to expect.
  

First off, the tin it arrived in was of high quality and was sealed to maintain the freshness of the tea.  

When I opened the can, the tea was ground to a fine powder and this amazing bright green color. 

 I mixed the tea with the hot water, I whisked it to a fine froth, then sipped.

The tea smelled kind of like grass, and tasted bitter at first, then mellowed.  It had a bold flavor, and I

 could see how it would be a ceremonial tea - it's not to be chugged, but sipped.  I wound up needing 

to dilute the taste a little further as the flavor was a bit overwhelming to me.  


After this experience, I decided that I am not a tea drinker, and I will stick with the green tea 

supplements.  However, I do believe that if you are a tea connoisseur, this may be a tea worth giving 

a try for yourself.  

Story Time for the Little Ones: Terry Treetop

I downloaded another book for my kids to read on my Iphone.  I'm constantly on the look-out for quite activities. And, since last week's book endeavor was less than quite, I hoped this new book would be more subdued. 

Terry the Treetop is about a little boy who finds a bear in the woods and saves him.  It's supposed to be geared towards children ages 2-8, and has fun & interesting facts about spring time.  

However, it also has words like "harbingers", which isn't age appropriate, and there was a lot of text for a book that is geared toward such a young reading group. 

On the up-side, the pictures were cute and fun to look at and the facts about spring were kind of interesting. 

Week 2 Weigh In: 4 Things I Can Do To Make This Next Week's Weigh-In Phenominal

Week 2 weigh in:

I'm getting mixed signals this week.  Admittedly, this was NOT my best week, though it often takes me a week or two to acclimate myself.  I'm not good at cold turkey.

But this weigh in, even for me, is pretty bad.

Instead of losing weight, I ultimately gained it.    My fat content went up .5%,but my water went down .8%

I lost inches in my bust, upper abs, and hips. But I stayed the same for every other body part.

I think what frustrates me the most is that most of the time, my first week is rewarded with a 5 lb weight loss.  But this time around I gained .8 lbs.

This can be attributed to many things.  It could be that I'm actually gaining muscle, or possibly water weight (though my water weight and muscle percentages tell me otherwise).  Or, it could mean something as simple as the fact that I need to take a good ol' fashioned dump.  .8 lbs could mean a myriad of things.  And I don't have the time to obsess over bad results.

All I can do is concentrate on what I am going to do to ensure I have a FANTASTIC week this next time around.

So this is what I plan to do:

1) Do NOT skip a single work out day.  I skipped a couple this week due to illness or pain.  But, you know what?  There are enough work-out programs out there that even if I'm sick or in pain, there is SOMETHING I can do to burn some calories and ramp up my metabolism.  It's time to be more flexible and rely less on walking and more on moving.

2) NO PIZZA. (Note: I didn't say eat less.  I said eat different) Pizza is the bane of my existence.  It's the go-to food for my family.  When I'm not up for cooking, that's usually what the hubby or kids request.  But every stinking time I eat pizza, my pounds are up the next day.  Goal for this week:  NO PIZZA - at ALL. Period. End of discussion. In order for me to meet my health & fitness goals, I must learn to control my cravings.

3) Drink More Water.  I was trying to drink 8 glasses per day.  Nope.  We're going for 12.  Maybe I need to flush my system out to start the ball rolling.  Heaven knows, extra water certainly won't hurt!

4) Add a little more exercise to the program.  Yes, walking is good.  But apparently it's not good enough, when you're not losing weight.  I do have a secret weapon I'm implementing this week. If all goes well, I'll explain exactly what I did so you can do the same if you want.

My sisters often tease me about it, and my husband notices within a day or two that I've started it.  But well...you'll understand when I tell you about it.  IN A WEEK!  So check back often!!!  You'll be amazed at the changes in me in just a WEEK.  Seriously.

First Day on the Trails. I Think I Almost Died.

Me after the work out. Beet Red!

My sweet husband woke up this fine Saturday morning and asked me what my plans were.  I told him I had a bit of work to do, and then I wanted to take a walk.  He then told me he'd been planning on going on a walk to and asked if we could go now.

I dropped what I was doing and put on some shoes (I was already in work-out clothes to help motivate me to get my butt out of the house...eventually).

We headed over to the trails that follow the Spokane River for our walk. He asked how far I wanted to go, and I told him my hope was to go 3 miles.  Yeah, I know it's not far, but it is when I stop at a mile on the treadmill.

Walking always seems to take three times longer on a treadmill. Blech!

I was able to get about a mile into my walk before my back was screaming, my hands were so swollen I couldn't make a fist, and my calves were beginning to cramp up, and my hips hurt.  Oh, how I love the beginning weeks of losing weight.  NOT!!

The start of a massive blister. Isn't it pretty? I shall name it Henry

KC asked me if we needed to turn back and I promptly told him NO!  I will finish this walk even if I have to stop 30 times and I'm crawling to the car! Little did he know how close to the truth that may be.

The nice thing, as he pointed out, about walking the trails vs. a treadmill, is that on the trails you must turn around and walk back.  You HAVE to walk back.  You don't have a choice, unless you want to die there on the trails. With a treadmill, you can get tired and step off and be done.

When we got to our half-way point, I had to stop and rest my back for about 5 minutes.  My boobs and stomach are too big!  It was hurting my back too much - if felt very much akin to labor pains.

So I sat down, relieved the pressure on my back, the stood up.  KC asked if I needed more time and I told him, "This is as good as I'm ever gonna feel, so we might as well get started."

My fingers are so swollen they look like stuffed sausages!

I did pretty good for the first 1/2 mile, then the pain in my back commenced again, followed by my hands (from the swelling), then my shins, calves, quads, and hips.  KC very nicely slowed his pace as I adjusted my stride, and quietly endured the experience through gasps of air.

It wasn't pretty, but I finished without having to stop, and I have the start of only one major blister on my left heel to show for the experience.

I came home with my face beet red, my shirt covered in sweat marks, and my fingers tingling from lack of sensation. There were moments I felt like I was going to die of a heart attack, or pass out from hyperventilation.  But I also came home with a sense of accomplishment.  The fist step is often the hardest, and today was no exception.  Working out at 295 lbs is no easy task, but as long as I persist - remembering that at this point it is merely a war of the wills - I will succeed and it will get better until working out is eventually fun.  It will EVENTUALLY become something I look forward to and crave.

Organic Coconut Oil Capsules

I have read several articles lately about how great coconut oil is for weight loss.

It's been linked to several health benefits including:

Diabetes, heart disease, chronic fatigue, Chrones Disease, Irritable Bowl Syndrome, Alzheimer's, thyroid conditions, energy issues, boosting the immune system, weight loss, lowering cholesterol, and psoriasis.  ( Resource used: http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-1092-coconut%20oil.aspx?activeingredientid=1092&activeingredientname=coconut%20oil )

I've experimented with coconut oil a few times. I've done things like oil pulling (swishing the oil in your mouth for 20 minutes) to help strengthen the teeth and help with cavities, and I've cooked with it on several occasions.  However, I haven't been able to use it consistently because I, as a habit, don't usually cook with any type of oils unless the recipe specifically asks for oil.  Plus, the coconut oil I have in my kitchen is more of the consistency of grainy shortening.


However, the concept of using coconut oil as a way to enhance your weight loss, has interested me and I've wanted to try out that theory.  So, when I was given an opportunity to get a free bottle of coconut oil capsules, I jumped at the opportunity to give them a try.

The capsules are look about the same as a fish-oil capsule.  They don't have any funky after taste, and I never had any problems taking them. 

Is it helping to aid in my weight loss?  I'm still up in the air about that because I've made so many recent changes to my lifestyle that I can't pinpoint any one thing.  What I can say is that I haven't GAINED weight.  I can also tell you that my skin is looking pretty darned good lately.  I have a pretty large spot on my right hand that has psoriasis.  It has always cracked and flaked and been pretty nasty.  It's a spot I've been consistently self-conscious about over the years.

I have noticed that the spot is gradually getting less flaky as my use continues.  There is no more cracking.  For that reason alone, I would take these capsules.  Never mind the fact that I may also lose weight, lower my cholesterol, increase my energy, or avoid getting diabetes.  Those are all bonuses to a product I would say is definitely worth giving a try.

Is It Hot In Here? Or Is It Just Me?

Ok, I'm just gonna throw this out there.  I don't know if I'm crazy, menopausal, or if this is normal, and I'm just not getting the memo.  But, for me, when I'm losing large amounts of weight (i.e. a pound or more per day) I notice that I have a tendency to sweat.  Like all day long.  As in, feeling like it's 110 degrees outside, but I'm actually in an air conditioned house, kind of sweat.

Do any of you feel that way, or felt that way when your body was in 'the zone' and burning off a bunch of weight?

I noticed it for the 3 whole days I tried the Hcg diet - then stopped because it was outrageous.  I think I lost 5 lbs in those 3 days, but I also almost passed out and had migraines.  I noticed it this week when I had the 2 lb weight loss in 24 hours.

So, am I crazy?   Just tell me I'm not crazy.  I think I could even handle menopausal.

Maybe it's one of the supplements I'm taking?  I dunno.  What I do know, though, is that sweating like an Banshee is a double-edged sword.  Yes, I know that a killer weigh-in is eminent.  But it also means I feel like I'm living in a fish bowl 24/7.

And, before you start telling me it's just water-loss, I'm gonna stop you right there and say, "Nuh-uh."

This sweating thing is a normal occurrence for me.  It happens all the time.  Not just twice.  And a girl can only lose so much water before she starts losing fat - especially if she's doing everything right.

Oh well, it's hard to get a response from your own personal blog post.  So I'll post this to the World Wide Web and hope that someone responds.

Thank you, and good night :)