Week 4 - Things Change

This week was honestly my hardest week thus far which may be because I felt more mentally prepared for the miseries of the first week and it possibly going into the second week, but for some reason this fourth week was a ***** for me. I was losing weight fairly fast overall but steadily as I had tried to set a 2 LB weekly weight-loss goal for myself, which was good but at the same time between the possible lack in calories, workouts (on average I've been working out twice a week this month), winter blues, stress, and school starting again I just went off the hinges. Which reminded me just how important it is to not just take care of the inside of your body but also to take care of the outside of your body, and your mentality. At least once a week I would definitely recommend taking time out for yourself to just chill-out.. be it an hour or two relaxing to nature sounds in a hot lavender scented Epsom salt bath like I did after my 35 minute walk (keep in mind that at least 15 minutes of exercise can help reduce stress and even panic attack type symptoms).

A warm bubble bath with some dried lavender

By now you may be wondering what type of changes I've made from the way my dietary lifestyle was like before this year. The main things that have changed is that I was eating lots of fast food and on average it was probably twice a day of combination meals (meals I'd bring from home never really felt that filling enough) with greasy salty french fries, and drinking mostly diet soda. Exercise also didn't have much part in my life and I rather loathed it (and still do at times). I even did Zumba for about the last 4 months out of the last two years now, but it was only once a week and a session of that lasts 50 minutes with brief pauses between dance songs. Don't get me wrong, Zumba is a good workout but only once a week wasn't giving anyone in the class real weight-loss results on its own. Based on that experience I honestly feel that if you took that class, chopped the time almost in half, and then did that for 2-3 times a week along with eating better, that you would definitely start seeing more results physically and in weight-loss.

The most weight I had ever lost in the past was almost 15 LB in 6 weeks, and that was several years back. It consisted of a grilled chicken salad, a lean cuisine, and only drinking water (and I think I was also using an elliptical on occasion). The problem with this diet was obviously it was a mundane repetitive daily diet which was getting tiresome, my body wasn't getting the variety of nutrients it really needed, and I basically wasn't eating enough calories for what I had weighed (it takes calories to lose calories.. as odd as that may sound at first). Anytime I'd eat something outside of that diet regime that new food item tasted like heaven on earth to me, which ultimately made me stray off that diet permanently. This is why I feel it's important to mix up the foods you eat, because not everyday has to consist of salads or eating super healthy. My diet now is a lifestyle change and to me that's about making smarter healthier choices for the most part, and not over indulging and over-eating on a daily basis.

Is Your Olive Oil Real?

I recently read a few articles online about olive oil and how more than half of the olive oil sold in the US isn't even real olive oil, and it's the real stuff that has all the healthy benefits. There were also articles showing how to tell if your olive oil is real or not, but the fridge method isn't actually legit. A few brands that are suppose to be the real deal... California Olive Ranch, Cobram Estate, Lucini Italia, Kirkland Organic (be sure you get the Organic and not the Signature in this, and some are put off by its clear container and stating that it barely passed the FDA), Lurcero (Ascolano), Corto Olive, Trader Joe's California Estate, and McEvoy Ranch Organic. As for brands that failed the olive oil test... Pompeian, Filippo Berio, Bertolli (the light version was what I had been buying), Star, Carapelli, Mazzola, Mezzetta, Safeway, Whole Foods, Colavita, Newman's Own Organic, and Rachel Ray.

Shopping for Olive Oil at Martins

$6 on sale at Martins

I have also read that real olive oil does not come in clear containers, but rather in green containers (or perhaps just non-clear varieties), and Extra Virgin is apparently better/more-beneficial than plain Virgin varieties. Generally the cheapest olive oil on the shelf is not the best choice as olive oil is actually pricey to make. The bottle should have a harvest date and the oil should be consumed within 2 years of harvest so, don't trust "bottled" or "best by" dates, and olive oil quality does deteriorate over time. California olive oils actually have tested better quality than those overseas so look on the bottle from where the oil actually came from. Real olive oil also has layers of flavor (nothing neutral or greasy), and may be bitter or peppery at the back of the throat. Also be sure to check the COOC for updates on certified olive oils as these can change overtime (and the COOC list gets updated weekly).

Week 3 - Daily Meal Ideas

Starting off my third week of dieting I was only 0.1 LB away from meeting my 2 LB goal for the week (as I'm trying to lose at least 8 LB total in 4 weeks). Three days into my 3rd week and I was down 7.7 LB so I had practically met my 1 month goal about a week early, and it met my first small personal goal on my weight-loss journey which was pretty exciting. By now you're probably wondering what type of meals and such I've been eating and a lot of these things can be made healthier which I'm going to try to work on for next month.

Often the days I work consist of meals like...

1-2 Nature Valley granola bars (these are nice to have on hand on my hour commute)
1 Can of Beef vegetable soup (with 1/4 can of water added in and some herbs).
Around 4 Cups of baby spinach salad mix with a few tablespoons of blue cheese dressing (I generally add a bit of shredded cheese, some tomato, baby carrots, etc).
1-2 Slices of bread/toast.
A cookie or piece of chocolate on occasion with a small glass of milk.
I try to drink mostly water or tea, but a few times a week I may have a glass of diet coke.

Not everyday is a super healthy day as I do have meals like...

Carnation breakfast shake (with added fruit and such).
A slice of pizza
A cheese and chicken quesadilla with salsa (and sometimes fried beans).
A tall glass of diet coke.
A few cookies and some milk.

Everyday I have an unhealthy day I try to make up for a bit by doing my 35 minute walk. By the way I do have a music playlist I like to workout to available on YouTube, it consists of mostly hip hop and Latin type music with a few other genre's thrown in (you can create your own playlist though). I know one day last week I didn't have time to pack my lunch for work so I got some late night fast food at Taco Bell...

3 supreme crunchy taco's.
A side order of cheesy nachos.
A bottle of caffeine free diet coke.
2 Nature Valley granola bars.

So while my dieting definitely needs some tweaking to make it healthier and I do have my not-so healthy days I think in some ways it's good to curb your cravings at times and keep your body guessing what the next day will bring, I think this can help with some weight plateau's as well. If you still struggle to lose weight and such I'd recommend trying out a website like LiveStrong (there's also a phone app available) it can allow you to track your calories, exercise, and weight better. Also, feel free to send me a comment or two if there's anything you'd like to know about my weight loss. Life may get busy for me after next week since I'll be starting my spring semester at college again so, my posts may start to slow down a bit on here.

Energy Bar - Recipes

As luck would have it I was in search of some granola bar recipes and came across a few in the latest redbook magazine. These claim you can make them in up to 10 minutes.

Date-almond energy bars: In a food processor, pulse 1 1/2 cups unsalted almonds until finely chopped. Add 2 cups pitted dates, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, and 1/4 tsp salt; process until combined. Form into 12 bars and refrigerate.
Baklava bars: Sub walnuts or pistachios for the almonds in the recipe above, and swap half the dates for dried figs. Add 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon.
Pina colada bars: Swap half the almonds for macadamia nuts and half the dates for dried pineapple. Add 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut.

Week 2 - Scales do Lie

At the start of my second week I found it odd to wake-up, weigh the same as I had for a week straight, go eat, do my 35 minute walk, weigh-in again, and then BAM... drop 2.4 LB. This is why it's important to keep pushing forward on your healthy lifestyle no matter how frustrated you may start feeling at weigh-in's ("hard work pays off"). As for other news in my weight loss journey I think my new Weight Watchers scale may be imperfect at times (so that probably explains my odd weigh-in miracle). At one point during the second week I had almost lost a total of 6 LB, but then I only exercised twice (in total I burned 513 calories walking 3.46 miles), and cheated on 3 different days. Regardless, I still lost weight over the entire week and I mostly aim to lose 1-2 LB a week (preferably 2 at this early stage of losing weight).

Week two has definitely had its 'blah' moments and dieting can have its negative side effects which can be different for everyone and sometimes consist of multiple symptoms. To name a few negative side effects... migraines, irritability, moody, gassy, hunger pains, stool changes, cravings, dizziness, and even illness. However, these things should hopefully start to pass overtime and in some cases you may want to get medical attention. It's hard to diet when you aren't feeling that great but try to stay focused on your nutritional goals and don't dive back into eating tons of fattening comfort foods (I did over indulge at movies with buttery popcorn and nachos.. and again while eating Chinese.. and once more when I didn't have time to pack my dinner for work thus eating fast food this week). Your body is probably just detoxing itself from being malnourished for so long, and now adjusting to eating healthier and getting the nutrients it needs.

If you've been eating less food than normal than you may want to try to eat around every 3-4 hours, this can help keep your body from feeling like it's 'starving', and also help give you continuous energy throughout the day. The stomach is capable of stretching to eat mass amounts of food, by eating smaller portions your stomach starts to retract and in some negative ways it can basically eat itself (or so I've heard). So when you start cutting your proportions your stomach starts to adjust, and then you may start to feel fuller a lot sooner than you would back when you were eating mass amounts of food (although the stomach is capable of expanding back again). Eating every couple hours is also good for those like myself who suffer from acid-reflux (or even diabetes) as from my experience it helps keep the acid occupied basically as it gives it something to breakdown instead of the acid irritating you at the surface, and it helps keep sugar levels from plummeting.

People that have undergone weight-loss surgery to get their stomachs shrank down to size can still find ways to cheat and not lose weight. In my opinion weight-loss surgery should always be the very last resort anyone should take. I know it may seem like a dream come true to some but realize you will generally be taking lots of vitamin supplements, only being able to eat around a cup of food at a time, possibly get sick a lot, and your bowel movements will probably get pretty disgusting. Also, you're generally losing weight so rapidly that you end up with a lot of extra skin overtime, which means you'll possibly want to go through more surgeries down the road to get it removed. All that excess skin in some cases can cause bacterial growth, fungus, etc to form if you aren't cleaning properly. Take that advice from someone who has gone to enough NAAFA related meetings to know.

Snake Oil?

My family recently posted about this chart and I found it kind of interesting and decided to share it. Do you agree or disagree with the items that do or don't really work on this chart?

I can definitely say that 2000IU of Vitamin D3 made a difference when I found I was low at my doctors (periods don't lie, heh). I feel Iron pills also help a bit if you perhaps have anxiety and/or facial twitches. Vitamin C is questionable to me, I like it on my skin but I have an allergic reaction in my throat from consuming sour citrus fruits or C tablets which can in turn make me sick. My mom and I both feel that Aloe Vera doesn't do much for us and we grew up with an extremely large aloe vera plant in our backyard, although I don't find I've consumed much of the stuff. Royal Jelly tastes disgusting and I'm glad it made the bottom of this list to be honest. I had wondered about the power of Noni awhile back, but when I asked a knowledgeable lady at a vitamin store about it she basically told me it didn't really do anything (guess she was right!). I don't really buy into the Green Tea bandwagon personally, I feel like there are so many different variables to the quality of green tea you buy and then how you prepare it, and I don't care for the taste personally. Coconut Oil is something I've been trying every now and then, and even recently on my hair. I do like cooking with it but I do question if its really better than some other types of cooking oils, and sometimes coconut products tend to breakout my skin. I didn't notice any changes in terms of hair growth from Biotin, Zinc or Folic Acid pills which was why I gave them a go. Some people swear by Vitamin B12 and I never really noticed any changes from taking it, maybe a tiny bit more energy but not enough for me to continue taking them (one of my friends who worked at a pharmacy says they give her heavier periods). Honey, Cinnamon, and Ginger are typical things I add to my breakfast shakes when I make them and I think the ginger is the most effective of the 3, but you should only consume small amounts of ginger as too much is said to not be good for you. As for honey and cinnamon be sure you get the raw organic variety of honey so that its not stripped of nutrients as with regular honey, and with cinnamon be sure its not mixed with sugar or other additives. Lavender is a scent I do enjoy relaxing to in the tub, but I find it's usually the artificial lavender scent I like better than the real lavender scent, and to eat lavender well... it tastes like soap to me.

Week 1 - Beginning Tips and Advice

The first week of any new diet or lifestyle change can often be the hardest, but knowing this helps motivate me to keep pushing forward. The first day of the new year marked me finally trying to stick to the ever famous resolution of "losing weight". Mind you I had to spend a week or two prior to New Years just preparing myself mentally and gutting out all the junk food around the house for the possible struggles that would be ahead of me with this resolution. As it generally turns out my fellow housemates who were the ones who initially wanted to do this resolution ended up stocking up on more junk and not attempting to lose weight with me. I suppose that means I'm just going to be stocking up on plenty of salad and putting away any snacks lingering in front of me on the counter tops ("outta sight outta mind", right?).

I've been trying to eat salads almost everyday.

My first day of dieting basically consisted of Progresso beef vegetable soup with some added canned green beans and thyme, drinking water, eating salad with some blue cheese dressing, a slice of toast, and some Nature Valley granola bars as a snack. It allowed me to lose 2.2LB by the next day and after a week of dieting my weight didn't budge from there, which is fine it just means I'll be more tone later. You'll probably want to aim to lose 1-2LB a week, anymore and you may risk starving your body to an extreme and/or losing too much water weight, losing more than just fat, and often I find your biggest weight loss usually happens within the first week or two of dieting so, don't get discouraged if you don't lose as much weight or any in the week/s to follow (your body is adjusting to change so just remain calm and keep working toward your goal). Keep in mind that soups may be low in calories but can be full of sodium; fresh vegetables are always going to be more nutritious than canned, frozen, dried, etc; creamy dressings aren't going to be as healthy as vinaigrette's generally; granola bars can often be full of sugar. That being said there are almost always ways to try and improve your diet, but take baby steps to reach your goals. Don't overwhelm yourself with too drastic of changes and a ton of things you don't even like to eat (find healthy foods that you actually enjoy), or you're probably going to feel pretty miserable, irritable, and deprived really quick.

There will be days where you're probably going to want some of that chocolate candy on your kitchen counter, or a nice burger and some fries. This is where you have to be mindful of what you're consuming, don't overdue it, ask yourself if it's worth your weight-loss success, and watch your proportions if you do cheat a little. Maybe just eat 1 piece of that chocolate candy and then walk away, maybe opt for a nice healthy veggie burger and eat only a few french fries. Don't make your new healthy lifestyle a miserable experience for yourself, and keep in mind how great you're going to feel and possibly look down the road. If you do fall off the healthy bandwagon (and you possibly will here and there) then just pick yourself up, dust your booty off, and get back on-board.

Sport Train setting done at 3.2 MPH

When it comes to exercise I'd rather not tell myself that I have to workout everyday; or even several times a week; or that I have to do a ton of different and complex exercises to achieve weight-loss success, especially when working out was not a real ritual for me before. For myself just accomplishing 35 minutes at least once a week was a start, but often when you're cutting back on food and working out you can often start feeling extremely hungry or feel like you deserve that glazed doughnut (ditch that doughnut mindset!). A healthy diet is about 80% of losing weight, while exercise is about 20% (or so I've read), and honestly it's the eating that helps me lose weight the most while the exercising helps gain muscle to burn more calories down the road, feel more physically fit, and get toned up. This first week I actually managed to do my 35 minute walk 3 times, which added up to me burning 777 calories and walking a total of 5.9 miles, and lets not forget that muscle weighs more than fat so don't fret about the scale too much.

You will probably have aches and pains with exercise so be sure to stretch (you don't want to hurt yourself or feel really sore and stiff), go easy on yourself, and know that some muscle pain is normal especially when you haven't been working out. Pain generally starts to become a bit less overtime if you workout regularly, although harder or new exercises may cause new pains, but some pain is good pain ("no pain no gain"). If you question if you're getting all the nutrition you need seek medical advice, and try taking some multivitamins or possibly get a blood test (it helps identify the vitamins your body may require, which changes all the time). Be sure to drink plenty of water (it helps hydrate you and flush your body out) and try to get a full 8 hours of beauty sleep (which is often hard on new diets from my experience).

Don't be discouraged if no one around you is on your healthy lifestyle bandwagon, this is your life, your dream, and only you can make it happen.