I just got an email from my sister, Doreen. She is coming home to visit on March 15th. I have to pick her up at O’Hare airport. (I hate driving in Chicago) I havent seen her since my dad’s death which was 4 years ago today. She is rather a drama queen so I’m hoping I can withstand it all for 6 days.

I’m excited to see her but also embarrassed. She has always been a size 6. Although I think she got down to a 4 when she was having trouble with her teeth. Here I am…..bigger than a cow. She is going to be shocked to see how much weight I’ve gained. (And I’ve even lost over 20 lbs since she’s seen me last) There’s no hope in losing all this weight in 15 days. (I’m feeling stressed and want to head for the candy.)

Last night I was up late again. My husband had left the TV on when he went to bed. I was on my computer so wasn’t really paying attention to what was on. Low and behold, a half hour program came on, getting in shape by someone named Gunnar (I think). Guaranteed even.

It showed a bunch of people doing exercised on and with one of those balls. All the women looked to be about a size 3. None of the men were over weight either. Only thing I saw were people holding up various large pants during the show…(the old me)

To make these programs more realistic, they should be putting heavy people in them. It sure would make it more believeable. Perhaps they sell enough without including people like me. I can’t believe that many people could be convinced with a program like that.

I said to myself….oh pleaseeeeeeee….after I saw the second pair of huge pants displayed. The good thing that come of that program, it made me tired. I turned it off and went to bed…just shaking my head in disbelief.

I bought a new scale yesterday to weight food. I’ve never seen one quite like this one before. It is made by Taylor…..model #3803. It has a lot of unique features. It’s called a Commercial Healthy weigh nutritional scale. It has a weight capacity of 6.6 lbs. I bought it at Blain’s Farm and Fleet store.

With this scale you can get specific nutrient values based on the weeight of the actual food. It provides dietary information for 500 foods. It displays quantities specific to the food for:

1. fat 2. calorie 3. fiber 4. sodium 5. cholesterol 6. protein 7. carbohydrate 8. glucose

It also has a memory function to set target values. It only takes a nine volt battery. It also shuts off by itself after 2 minutes. With my memory, I love that function. It also has a 3 year warranty.

This thing is going to make dieting more fun. I just have to figure out how to use it. That’s what husbands are for…isn’t it? (grinning) I find the older I get, the more I like gadgets. When I was younger and raising kids, I couldn’t afford the luxury of such items. I’m making up for that now.

I was reading an interesting article in an older issue I saved from Woman’s World. According to Dr. Gillespie, the real key to losing weight and keeping it off is to keep your metabolism operating at a high speed. In fact, scientific studies have shown that a few simple strategies can boost your fat-burning potential by 40% or more. They’re practically sweat-free.
Metabolism booster #1:
Remember your mulitivitamin. People who take a simple multivitamin/mineral supplement daily burn 4% more than those who don’t and they tend to weight 15 pounds less.

Metabolism booster #2:
Take off your sweater. Research suggests that when your body has to work a little to warm you up, it automatically burns 12% more calories than when you are warmer. If you normally keep your house at 70 degrees F, dropping it down to 68 could help you burn an extra 100 calories daily.

Metabolism booster #3:
Drizzle on a little MCT oil. European doctors have proved that taking 3.4 grams of conjungated linoleic acid (CLA)–a batgyrak fatty acid found in beef, lamb and dairy products–daily could help women shed 8 solid pounds of body fat without dieting. CLA is a liver enzyme that helps countrol how quickly you burn calories, especially fat calories, for fuel. MCT oil, can do the same thing. Two table spoons daily could pump up your calorie-burning power as effictively as a 30-minute run. (Wow…that seems unbelievable to me.)

Metabolism booster #4:
Switch from coffee to tea. Experts say green tea is the beverage of choice for super-fast fat loss. Swiss research has revealed that besides caffeine, it is also rich in catechins, unique plant compounds that boost your metabolic rate up to 4% better than coffee and increasebrain levels of noradrenaline, a hormone that helps our body burn fat for fuel. Experts say, four cups could help you burn 80 extra calories daily. But take the concentrated, catechin-rich capsule form, and Swiss doctors say you could up our metabolic rate as much as 40%.

Metaboism booster #5:
Pig out—then nibble all day long. Doctors at the University of Texas-Houston School of Public Health reported that just eating a big morning meal is so effective at kick-starting a sluggish metabolism, it helps women lose up to four pounds without dieting or exercising. Experts now recommend splitting up your lunch and dinner into four mini-meals. Everytime you eat, your metabolic rate surges 10% higher for up to 3 hours. So if you eat every two to three hours, your metaboic rate will stay 10% higher all day long.

I’ve never been one that likes taking pills. I know I have vitamins sitting around here somewhere. I’m going to start taking them making sure I document them in my journal. I’ll see if I notice a difference. I do drink green tea although I’ve been rather lax recently. I’m going to up my intake from 2 to 4 cups a day. We’ll just see. As they say, the proof is in the pudding.

Here I am sleepy but awake. I hate these kind of nights. I laid in bed for about an hour….couldn’t take looking at the clock anymore and got up. Sitting here munching on Jalapeno Pringles and drinking a diet coke. What a combination~~

I bought a couple of new cd’s that are suppose to help u sleep. The one with the ocean waves just makes me want to go on vacation. I love the water. I’m going to take my mom to see her sister out east in the spring. I should get some ocean time in then. I still haven’t been deep sea fishing in my life.

When I can’t sleep like this…I’m always so groggy the next day and can’t seem to make myself go to the gym. It’s like I’m on a self destuct path. At least I’ve put the top back on the pringles. It made me feel bad, typing about weight loss …and eating junk food.

I just talked to a friend that is coming up this way on June 2nd…..that should be an incentive to get some weight off. Knowing me though, I’ll make an excuse and won’t go. I’m so good at doing that.

I’m going to go lay on the couch and watch tv…that should put me to sleep. That way I can wake up with a crink in my neck in the morning. I’ll have to weigh which is worst…sleeplessness …or a sore neck.

Good night all!!

I have read it takes 21 days to break a habit. hummmm….I must be a darn exception to that rule. I was doing to good documenting everything I ate and the time I ate it. I did that for over a month. Here I am again….off the track.

It’s been a week since I tracked my food intake. I have been keeping track of my water and soda I drink and also my time at the gym. I can’t for the life of me, understand why I haven’t been writing down what I’ve been eating. I have been gone quite a bit the last 4 days but I know that’s just an excuse. (Sighs)

I did get on the scale and I haven’t gained any weight this past week. Today’s a new day and I’m starting again writing down what I’m eating. So far, nothing. I don’t like going to the gym after I’ve eaten. I plan on a bowl of oatmeal when I get back.

I’ve been reading a blog by M. She writes so well and is so upbeat. Check it out…I know you will leave it with a smile on your face.

I didn’t make it to the gym yesterday. I decided to call the tanning place to see if I could change the time on my tanning. Good thing I called, the girl had wrote me in on the wrong line. I was scheduled for 11:30. I figured that would just cut short my workout by a half hour.

I noticed my mom getting her shoes on and ready to go. Ahhh, I had forgotten, we were suppose to go shopping. I knew then, I should have went to the gym EARLY in the morning. My plans for the day were totally changed. I ran up to the tanning place and got in a little early and then came home and picked up mom.

It was one of those marathon shopping days. We shopped in town then had to drive to the next town to hit the mall and their surrounding stores. I was really proud of myself, didn’t buy myself anything. My mom pooped out in the mall so I had to leave her on a bench and kept going. I was looking for a peach colored size 6x little girl’s shirt to go with these pants I bought. I never thought that would be such a hard task. I wondered to myself, why is it, things you think should be so simple, never are. Needless to say, I never found one that matched.

We knew we weren’t going to want to cook a thing when we got back home. We stopped at Wendy’s. I had a baked potato and a small chili. That was all I had eaten up to that point in the day. (When I’m shopping, I never am hungry)

We had a good time. At this point in mom’s life, that is my priority…making her happy. Missing the gym was worth it for sure. Yesterday was just another adjustment in my weight loss journey. A good one.

Yesterday I worked out for a total of an hour and 50 minutes. I burned off 820 calories. I only walked a mile on the treadmill because of that dumb leg of mine. The darn thing still hurt in the afternoon. I also went swimming for a half hour. I’m sounding like a broken record though..it seems that is all I do…gym…swimming….swimming…gym. (sighs)

The hospital gym I attend is only open until noon on Saturday. I have to go out of town this morning so I can’t go. I hope I can talk myself into working out on some of my own machines when I get home. Knowing me though…I probably won’t.

I’m going to finish my green tea and get going. I sometimes wonder how I ever had time to work. It seems like the time goes by even faster now that I’m retired. It’s just too bad the weight doesn’t come off as fast.

I went to the gym today…and as I figured…my friend didn’t show up. That was ok. I had my Ipod and just listened to Cher for my entire workout. (100 minutes on the treadmill). I only made 5 and three quarter miles. Since I hadn’t done the treadmill since last Friday, I was happy with my effort. The only thing, my right leg has been bothering me again all day. I think tomorrow, I’ll just go 5 miles. That is the magic 10,000 steps a lot of weight loss programs say you need to burn off a day. (I read so much I get myself confused)

My husband actually showed up to workout today. His ankle started bothering him so he cut his time on the treadmill short. We all need to listen to our bodies. I should have quit the treadmill at probably 4 and half miles today. I was just starting to feel an ache in my right leg at that distance. Let’s see if I remember that tomorrow.

I haven’t decided whether to go swimming before I go to the gym tomorrow. I felt pretty good the other day when I did it that way. I guess I’ll just see what the morning brings…..I’m off to drink some more water.

I went swimming and feel much better. I can tell I’m getting stronger. I’m able to swim 4 laps before I have to take a break. I remember when I first started, I use to have to take a break after each lap. I’m still have no idea how many calories are used in swimming a lap. I’m going to have to try and find that on here.

After swimming, I went to the gym. I decided not to use the treadmill. I spent over an hour in the rowing machine and burnt off 511 calories. I moved to this arm machine and burnt off another 100 calories. I called it a day after that. It totalled about an hour and half at the gym. I ran into the girl I use to workout with there. We had a nice visit. She said she is going to meet me in the morning at the gym. I’m going…we’ll have to see if she shows up. I remember the past…unreliable. I feel sorry for her though..due to health issues, she has gained back all the weight she had lost the past 7 months. I tried to encourage her…but it made me remember how I felt this morning.

I’ve got to get drinking more water today. It’s time for me to fold another load of laundry. I’m glad that blah feeling has left me.I’m back on track with my weight loss journey…..YEAAAAAA