Archives for July 2011

Kicking excess fat out of your diet!

Lately I’ve been trying to get rid of some of the excess fat from my diet.  And it’s really made a difference in my energy and weight loss. I’m being mindful of the sources of fat I take in and concentrating on trying to get most of my fat right from food sources (I.e. nuts, avocados, flax seeds, etc…).

When you get your fat from food sources you are getting many other nutrients with that healthy source of fat.  When you get your fat from oils (canola, olive, coconut, etc…) you get nothing but pure fat.  No fiber, no protein, no vitamins.  So it makes sense that your body would prefer these natural sources of fat to a processed source (nothing wrong with olives, but think about if it’s really good to extract the fat from the olive and throw away all the other healthy stuff that an olive gives you and then just eat the fat…).

Tips for taking some fat out of your diet…

  • sauté your veggies in vegetable stock instead of olive oil.  Yes this really works!!  And I have to tell you it tastes much better than sautéing them in oil.  The vegetable stock really gives them a lot of extra flavor and no extra greasiness!
  • You don’t really need butter/margarine on your toast if you’re also going to use jelly/jam/preserves as well.  I took it off and just did the preserves and I did not miss it at all!  I really truly didn’t notice a taste difference.
  • hold the (vegan) mayo!  Either leave it off or reduce the amount that you’re using.   I used a little in a potato salad I made earlier this week, but I cut the amount I put in there by half.  The potato salad tasted the same but had much less fat in it!
  • why not use salsa or pico de gallo on your baked potato instead of butter, sour cream and cheese?  Pico is one of my absolute favorite toppings on a baked potato!
  • Use my super cheesy awesome sauce instead of cheese or cheese sauce.  It has NO FAT and tastes a whole lot like queso!

 

These are just a few easy things you can do to cut some fat.  Feel free to add to my list!

Have a great day!

Weekly Weigh In: Week 6

Last week’s weight: 173.4
This week’s weight: 172.4

Change this week: -1
Total weight lost:  37.6 lbs!!!!

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YES!  Finally!

This week I raised the amount of calories I was eating and that worried me a little as I was stepping on the scale, but I think it was just what my body needed.

I also lowered my fat intake this week.  I concentrated on only eating natural fats (i.e. ones that come directly from foods- not added oils like olive and canola oil).  I did have some earth balance on some bread earlier in the week, but overall I’ve just been trying to be mindful of and limit those added fats and oils. 

I was actually a little lazy about exercise this week- its just SO HOT outside!  It got up to 106 this week. I don’t want to do anything but sit under the AC all day.  I was definitely in no mood for exercise!  This is something that I’ll work on this week.

(p.s. post tomorrow about ways to cut excess fat from your diet!)

Have a great day!!!

Workout Gear

Let’s talk.

Let’s talk about workout gear and gadgets, shall we?  I’m really really into this right now- especially since I just got a new workout gadget!

Today we’re going to talk about things that you need.  Tomorrow I’ll do things that are luxuries- you don’t really need them, but they sure are great!

What do you need?

Gear

Shoes

You need to invest in a good pair of shoes.  If you’re going to run you need to invest in a great pair of running shoes- shoes that you ONLY use for running.  There is no room for scrimping here- this is your feet we’re talking about!

For running I would suggest going into your local running shoe store.  They’ll measure your feet and have you walk or run to assess the way you walk and recommend a certain type of running shoe for you.

Right now I’m transitioning to a more minimal running shoe.  So I’m wearing the Brooks Green Silence.  I LOVE them!  They give me instant good form- no more heel strike that I got in the stability shoes!!

 

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For any other workout I do(biking, group exercise classes, elliptical, walking, etc) I have a separate pair of sneakers. They’re Adidas Fluid Trainers that I got at the Adidas Outlet.

 

You also really need some sweat wicking clothes and socks.

Sure you can just workout in a t-shirt and some shorts, but when you sweat the moisture will cling to you and it will start chafing in places you didn’t know you were able to chaf.

You can find inexpensive sweat wicking tops, shorts, and socks at places like Academy, Target, or Dick’s Sporting Goods.  They don’t have to be insanely expensive to work well.  Three of my favorite workout tops cost no more than $20 each!

Tops

I love these Champion tops from Target!  They’re extremely flattering and have a built in sports bra (though if you’re bigger than a C cup you might need a little more support).

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I also have this Underarmour tank.  It’s really really comfy and it’s a long top so it doesn’t ride up during a workout.

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Shorts and capris

I have several pairs of running capris that I got from Academy– I think they were around $12 each?

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I also have a pair of Underarmour shorts that are similar to these.

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I super heart these shorts!  They do NOT ride up when you’re running- trust me, I have thunder thighs and it is not easy for me to find an awesome pair of shorts.  I got them for my bday from my bro and sis-in-law. I love them so much that I’m going to go get a few more pairs!

A good sports bra

Do your research on this one and choose what’s best for you.  There are so many different brands.  Just make sure it’s sweat wicking and it supports the girls.  Bouncing  = bad.  I tend to gravitate to the Champion brand(Target).  They work for me.  I’m also in the IBTC, so if your girls are bigger you might want to look for a brand that caters specifically to that.

Socks

Sweat wicking socks are important.  You don’t want sweaty socks rubbing against your skin in your shoes.  That = blisters.  Ouch.

 

Gadgets

You don’t really need many gadgets when you’re working out.  One gadget that I would recommend is a heart rate monitor.  You can easily get an inexpensive one that just tells you your heart rate. Or you can go a little nicer and get one that also tells you how many calories you’ve burned.  I love love love my heart rate monitor.  I couldn’t imagine working out without it!

I have the Polar F6 heart rate monitor.  (I don’t think they make this one any more?  I’m sure there are other models that are similar to the F6 though)

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Well that wraps up my list of needs.  If you have any more that you want to add to this list let me know and I’ll add it!!

Up tomorrow is luxury gear and gadgets- stuff you don’t really need but is super fun and cool!

See you tomorrow!

New toys!!

Howdy!  I have been so very lazy this week.  Apparently when there’s a holiday on a Monday you don’t have to do anything the rest of the week. Winking smile

We’ve been having an appliance crisis over here.  We bought a new refrigerator!

The refrigerator that we had.  Oy.  It was something that my parents bought for me a long long time ago when I was in a rent house(it didn’t come with a fridge).  It ended up making the move with me.  It worked just fine even though it was tiny. I wasn’t really into food or cooking or being healthy a whole lot then, so I really just used it for my leftover pizza, frozen dinners, and sodas.  But as I started cooking and buying tons of produce it wasn’t very functional for me.  I’ve been begging the hubby for a new one, but since that one technically worked we couldn’t really justify the purchase.  Then it started falling apart.  Literally- the whole bottom shelf fell off!  It’s been perched on top of the two bottom drawers for a couple of years now.  It had finally gotten so bad that the shelf would almost fall out every time I opened the fridge.  I would literally scream “I hate this stupid thing!” every time I opened the fridge! 

Look at this tiny thing!  I think it’s like 15 cubic feet?

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Crammed full of stuff.  I can never find anything and I lose track of things so fast that things go bad.  See that bottom shelf?  LOL!

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And this is the new one!!

 

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It’s beautiful!!!  It gets delivered on Monday.  I am so freaking excited!  Food is in short supply around here right now because I’m trying to hold off on grocery shopping until the new one comes in.

 

Another new purchase I made (today in fact) is a new computer!!!

My old laptop has been dying a slow death for about 2 years now.  When I started back to school I bought a netbook to haul around with me in my backpack at school.  For the past year I’ve pretty much just been using that exclusively.  That poor old laptop was falling apart and I was too afraid to use it!  Can you imagine doing all of your work on a 10 inch netbook screen?  I have an eye disease(not something I talk about much) and I have a very very hard time seeing words.  I’m also legally blind in my left eye.  I needed a bigger screen like whoa!  So I’ve been saving and saving and saving and I finally got my new computer today!

I’m so in love with this machine!!!

I got a Gateway all-in-one desktop.  (nerd alert!)  It’s got a 23 inch monitor for my old lady eyes.  It’s also touch screen, has 1 TB hard drive, and a pretty damn fast processor (this one has a desktop processor, most other all-in-one’s have mobile processors like what a laptop would have).

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It’s so badass!  It’s thin and sleek.  There is only ONE cord to plug in (seriously).  Wireless keyboard and mouse.  It was love at first sight.

 

So that’s what I’ve been up to this week.  Obsessing about major purchases.  And now my savings account hates me, LOL!

I’ll be back tomorrow with more fun stuff! 

Adios!!

Weekly Weigh-In: Week 5

Last week’s weight: 173.4
This week’s weight: 173.4

Change this week: 0
Total weight lost:  36.6 lbs!

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Well.  Let’s be honest.  We all know that this is frustrating.  We’ve all been here right?

This is the point where I would normally throw up my hands and say “forget it”.  And then I’d go bake cupcakes and they’d all be gone by then end of the day. 

Let’s try a different approach this time.  Let’s list some of the celebrations (good things) from this week as well as those things that could use some work…

Celebrations:

  • I got all of my workouts in this week.  I’ve really been on a roll with my running and I’m improving my speed by leaps and bounds.  Running really makes me happy.  I’ll get into this more later in the week.
  • Even though I’m at a bit of a plateau right now, I feel stronger and more confident about where I’m going with my weight loss.  I can picture the way I will feel and look when I hit my weight goal, and I’m really excited about that!

Things to work on:

  • Staying within my calorie budget.  I eat too much junk that masquerades as snacks.  And I know that.  And I know I need to fix that.
  • I eat way too much fat!  Looking back at my food log I was astounded by the amount of fat I consume.  Let’s just say it’s way too much(see above with the junk food as snacks).  I have a sensitive stomach and I always feel really sick and get pains in my stomach when I eat too much fat, and I know this yet I continue to not really pay attention to how much I’m taking in.
  • I neeeeed to start doing some kind of strength training, but I hate it!  (Everything’s SO heavy! Winking smile ).  I know my bones will thank me when I’m old and don’t have Osteoporosis though.

So let’s fix it…

I’ve been reading a lot of Dr. Neal Barnard’s work lately (his research and the results of his studies are really fascinating- I really recommend checking out his work!).  So I’m going to implement his suggestions- which by the way fit what I need to do because he recommends avoiding added fats and getting your fats naturally from your food.  More on this later though (I’m planning a whole post on it in the near future).

I’m also going to try to be more conscious of my snacking habits.  And I’m going to try to avoid junky snacks and replace them with whole fruits and veggies, green smoothies, fresh fruit/veggie juice, etc…

Add some weights to my workouts.  Period. 

 

So let’s get this week started!!! 

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