I Got Skinny Eating PB&J

A pretty bad pic of me taken in May

'Tis true.  It wasn't the peanut butter and jelly that made me skinny though.  Let me explain...

A couple months ago, I was just plain disgusted with myself.  I was at my heaviest ever, even though it didn't fully show.  My face still appeared thin because all that weight settled right in my middle.  Boy, was my middle ever thick!  Hubby never complained and always told me I looked beautiful.  But I was disgusted.  After all, I was running two to three times a week, several miles, and I was still fat.  That is so not fair.  I decided that, with my age and metabolism, running 10 miles a week alone was not enough to make me lose weight.  I had to quit "rewarding myself" with snacks and buckle down for a mean and nasty diet.

I've tried dieting in the past and have almost always failed.  There was only one other time in my life that I lost a descent amount of weight.  I tried that method again (and even blogged about it), but it didn't stick.  When so much time passed and I didn't see any results, I gave up and threw in the towel.  So, in my frustration, I contacted a cousin of mine who lost a significant amount of weight and looks amazing.  She recommended the app she used.

Me today.  Photo credit:
Baby Girl, the only one home.  :)

It's called My Fitness Pal (myfitnesspal.com) and I decided right then and there that I was fully on board.  I remember her talking about it a while back, but hadn't paid much attention.  This time, however, I was paying some serious attention.  I plugged in my information right away and tried to recall everything I had eaten that day so far.

The first thing about the app that works for me is accountability.  I am a rule follower and will not allow myself to cheat.  I won't put anything in my mouth that I did not enter into the app.  The second thing that makes this program work for me is realization.  I like to enter the food into the app before I actually eat it.  That way, if I realize that particular food has a ridiculous amount of calories, I can pass on it.  It blew my mind how many calories are in some things that I thought weren't that bad.  Another thing that I love is that any calories you burn while exercising are added to your total for the day!  So I can reward myself for working hard!  The combination of those three things were enough to make this work for me.

I have a friend who is a professional dieter.  She's a Weight Watchers fanatic, but has gained and lost hundreds of pounds on that program.  As soon as she quits, she puts it all back on.  I decided to invite her to try this program with me.  It's cool how you can do it with friends.  The competition and public display is another big motivator for me.  My friend is very competitive, so I thought that would be a turn-on for her too.  Right away, she snubbed her nose at it.  On WW, she could eat as many fruits and vegetables she wanted for "free."  On My Fitness Pal, calories were still registered for fruits and veggies.  She didn't like that.  I explained that it's not as scientific as WW, but it's FREE!  No hefty monthly fees to pay....not even a cost to download the program!  How much could you expect?

One thing I hate about dieting is eating disgusting food.  I refuse to do that.  I have to put something in my mouth that tastes good.  Every day for breakfast, I eat two pieces of buttered toast and hot tea with Splenda.  240 calories.  Every day.  Most days for lunch, I eat a PB&J sandwich and one serving of Pringles (as opposed to the multiple servings I ate before).  425 calories.  Almost every day.  Yeah, I'm kind of a boring eater.  It's just easier for me to eat the same thing day in and day out than to worry about what I'm going to have.  That leaves enough calories for a pretty good dinner or a descent dinner and one snack.

Snacks.  That was one major place I had issues.  I ate several snacks a day.  But on this plan, I could no longer "afford" them.  That was so hard for me at first.  At this point, I've gotten used to that.  I no longer require something before bed.  I'm perfectly content being done with food after dinner.  (I never thought I'd say that!)

Desserts.  That was another huge pitfall for me.  But when you realize that one muffin is as many calories as an entire meal, you learn to pass on desserts.  I can have a pretty good snack for the same amount of calories as a sweet tea.  Crazy!

I've changed my ways, changed my habits.  I'm living a new life now and I'm so much happier about it!  I hit the goal I originally set for myself and may possibly go just a few more pounds for safety.  Like I said, I am now accustomed to eating this way.  I just want to maintain where I am right now.  My total as of today is 18 lbs.!

Has anyone else tried this app?  Did you have any success with it or did it not work for you?  I'd love to hear your experiences!

I Have Bad News

Ya'll are gonna kill me but I'm giving up on this diet thing.  I know, I know.  That's what everyone does after a couple weeks on a diet.  But I have some very convincing reasons why:

1.  It's hard.  I was working my tail off, only eating enough to keep a bird alive.  I still wasn't receiving good results.  I'm not willing to work that hard to lose a couple pounds.
2.  I am a bit overwhelmed with life right now.  I know dieting doesn't take a whole lot of time, but it's adding to my stress load.  I have to let go of something and this is what I've chosen to drop.
3.  The Holidays.  Hello!  Thanksgiving is a mere couple weeks away and Christmas is right after that.  I've already pretty much missed out on Halloween because I barely touched the Halloween candy.  I am not willing to be miserable through the holidays.
4.  I would rather work hard on the elliptical to stay at my current weight than to suffer through all this bad eating.  Sweets, chips, and descent-sized portions are way too important to me.

So, shun me if you want.  Leave rude comments telling me you're disappointed in me.  I can handle it.  In fact, I deserve it.  I'm not proud but at least my belly is full right now. 

I still would like to hear your results!  Don't do as I do.  Do not follow my bad influence.  Keep up the good work!  Every one of you was doing so much better than I was!

Weigh-In Saturday

I did so good this week.  And then I did so bad.

I weighed myself about halfway into the week and was pleased to see that I had lost another pound!  So I rewarded myself.  Dumb.  That's the bad habit I have to break.  I ate a miniature Hershey's bar leftover from Halloween.  Wednesday night, right before bed, I ate one of those Granola Thins that are so good but not low in fat.  Thursday night before bed, I ate a sugar cookie someone gave me.  What is wrong with me?  Those are the things that are keeping me from losing weight.  I work so hard all day long just to blow it right before bedtime.  Shame on me!

I'm pleased I had good results but I hope you guys had more willpower than I did!

Starting Weight- "112"
Week 3 Weight- "110 1/2"

Weigh-In Saturday

I worked hard this week and hoped to have better results today.  Yet, I am still pleased to report that I officially lost one pound! 

Yesterday, I had a bowl of cereal with skim milk for breakfast, a turkey sandwich for lunch, and an apple for an afternoon snack. By dinnertime, I was starving and really enjoyed my meal!  I still have two pumpkin cupcakes in the fridge that I absolutely refuse to touch!  Yay for me!

Starting Weight: "112"
Week 2 Weight:  "111"

How did you do this week?  I want to hear results, whether good or bad.

Remember, I don't actually weigh 111.  That is an adjusted weight because I want to lose 11 more lbs.

Weigh-In Saturday

OK, Skinnies...it's time to weigh in.  I'm not happy about doing this because I totally cheated this week.  In one day, I took a friend out for her birthday breakfast (Panera), my out-of-town family took me out for fried chicken for lunch, and Hubby treated me to Chipotle for dinner.  I'll allow each of you to slap me once with a ruler (or like item) for my misbehavior.  I really hope you all have better results than me! 

I want to say how tickled I was at how many of you are trying to make a "better you" by joining me in this effort!  Misery really does love company, doesn't it?  And please don't get frustrated if the weight is coming off slowly.  That probably means you're doing it right.  Just keep at it!

My results:
Starting Weight - "112"
1-Week Weight - Unfortunately, still "112."

You may all throw rotten tomatoes at me beginning NOW!  I vow to do much better next week!  Let's hear how all of you did!

Fatty Update

I am so thankful for those of you who are willing to jump on the Fat Wagon with me!  (Or maybe we're supposed to be jumping off the Fat Wagon???)  It makes it less horrible if someone is doing it with you.  I'm holding you guys accountable so you'd better not back out on me!

Let me first address one comment I received advising me to be careful.  I really appreciate the concern!  Nope, I'm nowhere close to an even hundred, I just thought that number would make an easy target weight without actually sharing my true weight (I won't even admit it to my husband).  If I hit my target weight, I would still be 7 lbs. heavier than I was at my wedding, and I wasn't even very skinny then.  I was truly skinny one time in life and I weighed 7 lbs. less then than I did at my wedding.  So, I'm far from being too skinny.  I just want to be thin.

Also, I understand what you mean about seeing a doctor.  Thin people develop tumors and whatnot that give them these huge bulges.  Mine is due to overeating.  It's as simple as that.  Why do Cheetos have to taste so good when they're so bad for you???

So here's what we're going to do.  Go ahead and set your target weight at 100.  If you want to lose 20 lbs., say that you weigh 120 now.  If you only need to lose 5, you weigh 105 right now.  Does that make sense?  If that's too confusing and you want to share your actual weight, more power to ya!  Or if you just want to record pounds lost, that's fine too (-6, etc.).

You can lose weight in whatever way works for you.  I think Weight Watchers has a great plan.  I am so against cabbage soup diets, applesauce diets, Adkins, and other crazy fads.  I believe in eating low fat, healthy foods.  I'm not against artificial sweeteners, but I don't use them in excess.  What works best for me is to eat a low fat breakfast, a low fat lunch, a reasonable dinner (my family won't eat diet food and I'm not cooking two separate dinners), and very limited snacks.  Also, I only drink tea in moderation.  If you want to see the rules I set up for myself, you can read this old post.

Weekly (or so), I'm going to ask you to report your weight change for that week.  I'm not setting a time goal but you're welcome to.  I would just like to get this weight off before Christmas.  (I will not be dieting Thanksgiving Day or Christmas Day!)

Please comment with your starting "weights" here.  I'm 112.  See you soon, skinny ladies!

Fatty McButter Pants

This is how I feel right now.  A while back, I lost a total of 13 pounds and I was so proud of myself.  I looked great; I felt great.  I started running and felt even better.  Since I was working so hard training for my marathon leg, I justified that eating junk food was OK.  I'm working it off anyway, I thought.  Well, the marathon came and went.  I haven't run since.  But I've kept up my eating habits.  Let's do the Math:

Inactive Lifestyle + Junk Food = Spare Tire Belly

No, hat's not the way I want to live.

At our Boutique Night this week, I scored a few items.  What depressed me was the size I had to "shop" for.  And then, someone took a picture of me and my three helpers.  First of all, I looked like a giant since they're all 5'2" or under.  And secondly, I had this huge belly on me I wasn't aware existed.  People probably think I'm 4 months pregnant.  I'm happy with every other part of myself...it's just that GUT!  I'm tired of blaming it on the four kids I've given birth to along with the four C-Sections.

This would be the easy way out:

But unless I want to hold a telethon to raise the funds, this method is out.  So I'll have to resort to the old-fashioned weight loss plan.  It involves this:



And no snacks.  That's how I did it before and that's how I'll have to do it again.  Boo!

I've put back on 8 pounds (yikes).  Right now, my weight ends in the number 2.  (You must be crazy if you think I'll share the rest!)  Let's assume the first two numbers are 1 and 1 (which they are not).  I think I'd like to get down to an even hundred then.  Wondering if I can really lose 12 pounds????  It will take a lot of work and dedication.  I really wish I had one of these to help me along my way:

But again, I would need a telethon.

So, fellow fat complainers (you know who I'm talking to)...jump on the wagon with me!  I will try my best to encourage you if you suffer through this with me!  I'm starting today.  Who's in???

Still Going Strong...

Not that anyone really cares, but I'm still doing well on my diet.  I've officially taken off 11 lbs. in less than 5 weeks!  I'm thrilled with that result!  I went back and read my first post about dieting and it was actually encouraging.  In that post, I talked about how hungry I was all the time.  That is the biggest change I've noticed so far.  I can easily get from breakfast to lunch with no snack.  Before, that was incredibly difficult.  I am still having a small snack around 3:30 every day.  Lately, it's been a low-fat oatmeal raisin granola bar.  Here are the rules I originally set...let's see how many I'm sticking to:

1.  Stop eating like a crazy woman! Check!

2.  Breakfast will consist of cereal with skim milk. Check!

3.  No snacks between breakfast and lunch. Check!

4.  Lunch will consist of something low fat. (Last time, I did turkey sandwiches with no cheese or condiments. This time I might go for low-fat vegetable soup. I like it and it sounds good to me right now. When I get sick of that, I might give the turkey sandwiches a try again.) No chips with lunch, no dessert after lunch. Check!  The veggie soup lasted a while but I'm on turkey right now.  I usually have a piece of fruit with the sandwich, still no chips.  Although, this past week I've had a tiny piece of chocolate a couple times for dessert.  Hey, I was proud of myself and needed a little reward!

5.  One reasonable snack between lunch and dinner. (Snacks are my worst problem. I'm home all day so I tend to munch throughout the day. I get a serious tummy rumbly when I don't snack between meals. But this needs to stop!) Check!  I'm really proud of myself for sticking to this one!  I have also resisted the before-bedtime snack too!

6.  Dinner will be normal. I just need to have portion control. Check!  Although I did go a little crazy with the garlic bread last night.  It was so yummy!

7.  I have to cut out fattening things like mayonnaise, cheese, pepperoni, chocolate...all the good stuff. Check!

8.  Desserts are a no-no. (I'm starting to cry now.) Um, kinda Check.  I've only started allowing tiny desserts the past week.  So far it hasn't seemed to affect me negatively.

9.  Water gets hit big time. Only one glass of tea at meals is allowed. Check!  I've started drinking my tea with Splenda only.  And not very much of it.

10.  Start running again as soon as the weather breaks. (I think that was a big contributing factor. All summer and into the fall, I ran a lot. Then winter arrived and I became sedentary. I'm training for another marathon so I will have to start running again. That will definitely help!) Negative.  I haven't started yet.  The weather was beautiful last week but winter has come back.  Also, it's still too dark to run after dinner.  I have to make my schedule according to when Hubby can watch the kids.  He has been getting home around 7:00 lately so running after dinner has been out of the question.  Hopefully soon though!

Needless to say, I'm pretty darn proud of myself!  Does anyone else have a success story to share?

Elephant Update

I have been a starving woman for a full week now.  And I must say, I've done better than I thought!

Accomplishments:

At a birthday party last Sunday, I passed on chips, dip, baklava, and even birthday cake!  That was extremely difficult.  I enjoyed carrots (with dip) and a deli sandwich minus cheese instead.

I still have a small container of delicious homemade chocolates left in the refrigerator.  Actually, those chocolates are partly to blame for this whole problem anyway!  But I resisted their "call!"

Son #1 brought home a beautiful box of bakery doughnuts from his aunt's house on Tuesday.  And don't you know it, there was a lovely chocolate cake glazed doughnut in the box.  That's my favorite.  I actually had to put the box inside a cupboard because it was calling my name from the countertop.

I resisted between-meal snacking and ate wonderfully for each breakfast and lunch.

I maintained portion control for each dinner.

I painfully passed on evening snacks.  I think that's been the most difficult so far.  There's nothing like a salty or sweet snack at night when the house is quiet and I'm chillin' in front of the TV.

I've taken to chewing gum during the day when I get the munchies.  The chewing helps control my urge to eat and it provides more flavor than drinking water.  I feel like I'm trying to quit smoking or something!

I've also nixed my sweet tea habit.  That's good in so many ways.

Failures:

I got sick on Friday (hence, no post) and didn't eat well all day.  Breakfast was a small bowl of cereal, no lunch, and a couple bites of a burrito for dinner.  But after dinner, the only thing that sounded good was a chocolate iced doughnut.  (See, it had been on my mind for several days!)  Since I had consumed so little food that day, I reluctantly gave in and allowed the cheat.

Results:
As of Saturday morning, I am down 6 lbs.!  I didn't expect to see results so quickly, but I'm sure getting sick helped with that.  Now, on to week 2...wish me luck!

Do any of my supporters have accomplishments to share or confessions to make???

Big Loser?

I am the fattest I've ever been.  No, really!  I knew I had put on some weight through the holidays (have you SEEN that food I've been cooking lately???) but I wasn't prepared for how much.  Against my will, I stepped on the scale to see how much damage had been done.  Mouth gaping open, I discovered that I was 11 lbs. heavier than my official heaviest!  Woe is me!  I didn't even want Hubby to know...I was so embarrassed by it.  But I know exactly how it happened...I've been eating like a complete crazy lady!

Since I've gotten older (and had 4 kids), my weight distribution has shifted.  In my younger days, I used to carry it all in my face and chest.  Now my face is still thin, which is why I think I got so heavy before I noticed it.  My arms, legs and hips are in descent shape.  All my weight is in my stomach and chest.  I'm actually worried that someone is going to ask my when I'm due.  That's how bad I look. 

Then the other day, I put on a shirt I've worn many times.  It was fine standing up.  But when I sat down, this ocean of fat exploded upward making huge waves and rolls and busting through my buttons.  That's the moment I decided I had to do something about it.  But I left the shirt on all day.  My uncomfortableness was a constant reminder that I had to get serious and get something done.  Also, who wants to eat when their clothes are entirely too tight to sit down?

So I'm ready for a plan.  I would like to lose 20 lbs.  I lost a good amount of weight one other time in my life so I'm going to try the same technique.  Here are my rules:

1. Stop eating like a crazy woman!
2. Breakfast will consist of cereal with skim milk (Which is what I was doing anyway.  So no change there.)
3. No snacks between breakfast and lunch.
4. Lunch will consist of something low fat.  (Last time, I did turkey sandwiches with no cheese or condiments.  This time I might go for low-fat vegetable soup.  I like it and it sounds good to me right now.  When I get sick of that, I might give the turkey sandwiches a try again.)  No chips with lunch, no dessert after lunch.
5. One reasonable snack between lunch and dinner.  (Snacks are my worst problem.  I'm home all day so I tend to munch throughout the day.  I get a serious tummy rumbly when I don't snack between meals.  But this needs to stop!)
6. Dinner will be normal.  I just need to have portion control. 
7. I have to cut out fattening things like mayonnaise, cheese, pepperoni, chocolate...all the good stuff.
8. Desserts are a no-no.  (I'm starting to cry now.)
9. Water gets hit big time.  Only one glass of tea at meals is allowed.  (Also, I've changed how I'm drinking my tea.  I fill my glass almost to the top with unsweetened blackberry tea.  Then I just put a splash of sweet tea at the top so I don't spew out the bitter, unsweet tea.  I'm trying to gradually get myself drinking it without any sugar.)
10. Start running again as soon as the weather breaks.  (I think that was a big contributing factor.  All summer and into the fall, I ran a lot.  Then winter arrived and I became sedentary.  I'm training for another marathon so I will have to start running again.  That will definitely help!)

If I can stick to this hard core, I think I can reach my halfway goal in a couple months.  I'm not the kind of person to try crazy cabbage soup diets to try to lose 10 lbs. in a week.  I have a close friend who has tried every fad diet there is.  She does tend to lose weight quickly but puts it all right back on again.  I can't be that kind of person.  I just have to be realistic.  If I change how I eat and change how much I move, I will see a difference.

I will share my results with all of you, hoping it will make me stick to the plan.  Anyone else want to suffer in misery with me?  We could share updates once a week...?