Progress so far!!!

I haven't really been writing much because I don't know if anyone is reading or not. My son and I have lost a combined total of over 150# SO FAR. I am down 85 today (11/8/13). Before are some current progress photos. If anyone is reading, comment and I will share some more.  Top left Christmas 2011, Top Right in CA with Alice (3/2012) Bottom 2 November 5 @ the Mary Kay Dream Center. I'm loving where I'm at so far and can't wait to reach my goal!!

Another day . . . . Under 1,300 calories . . . .

Hope all is going well with everyone on their weight loss journey!  For my caloric intake today it looks like this:

Breakfast: Egg white delight sandwich (McDonalds - 250 calories)
Snack - light yogurt with a scoop of protein mixed in - app. 290 calories
Lunch - green smoothie - 330 calories
Snack - pretzels - app. 80 calories
Dinner - Chili dog and mixed veggies (cauliflower, squash type mix) total calories app. 340

Just under 1,300 calories at app. 1,290. This isn't a half bad day! It's not hard to eat under 1,500 calories per day! I could have 2 chili dogs if I really wanted but likely I won't. If I did, I'd just walk or hit the fitness center and burn off the extra couple hundred calories to stay under 1,300.  I'm still hoping I make it home before the fitness center closes so I can burn as much as possible any way!

Hope all is going well with those on their weight loss journey. I'd love to hear how things are going.

Blessings,

MommaKat

All this . . . . and under 1,300 calories!

Ok so here is my day - ALL this for just under 1,300 calories! This is easy to do - it just takes a little getting used to looking at things. I'll add a KEY (Key #6 at the bottom of this):

Today's meals are:

Breakfast - Quiche (Yum!) which included eggs, a dash of milk, salt, pepper, spinach, cheese, and low cal, low fat, turkey sausage (it was really yummy I promise!) (total calories about 300)

Lunch - Tamale Pie (from last nights dinner - Low cal and yum!) and a protein shake  (Total calories around 375 for both)

Dinner - we are having Chicken quesadilla but I'll be home late so I'll eat at the event I'm going to. They always serve Dominos pizza - So, I'll have 1 slice of pizza and my 2nd protein drink! (This is just under 400 calories total :-)

Snack - I have a handful of Kashi Hummus chips left - VERY low calorie. And if I'm still hungry for any reason, I'll have a pack of cheese crackers - IF I were to eat both of these snacks thru out the day, I'd still only consume about 215 for both.

If anyone added all those up, it comes to 1,290 calories. My lose it log actually says 1,267 total (with all the above in it). So - you don't need to be hungry. Enjoy, remember to work at least 2 protein drinks in - either in a green smoothie (I prefer to have these as often as possible for the nutritional value of the greens) or just shake it, blend it with ice & water, or something.  I ALWAYS make my protein drinks with water - I don't want/need the extra calories from milk. Whey protein is already a milk derivative so I don't need more milk - it's creamy enough in water. =)

Ok - so KEY #6:

To make this work, something has go to change.  If you watch the infomercials, followed fad diets, tried South Beach, Atkins, etc. You'll find SOMETHING always has to change. You cut the carbs or you cut the fats, or you cut the sugars. Believe me, I'm 22 inches smaller in the last 46 days so believe me if you want or don't; BUT I'm telling you what I found to be true and what works. The one thing I've changed is calories by 100%.  Then I have changed carbs, sugars, and fat by lesser percentages.  Using Loseit.com will tell you how many calories you should maintain AT MAX daily in order to lose 1/2 - 2 lbs per week. Once you're at your goal weight, you'll also see how many calories you should consume daily for the rest of your life.  If you make that one change and commit to keeping that calorie count, something WILL change! For me it's OVER 70# so far and OVER 22inches!  I forgot to get a full photo and do measurements when I started this journey June 9th. I had my weight and that is it. On Aug. 8, 2013 is when I took a full photo and did my measurements. Do you want to see yourself losing 22 inches in 46 days? You can and I hope you do (If you have that many to lose).

So, something has got to change - change your caloric intake to match what your loseit diagnostic is. Then, minimize your carbs (especially bad carbs) and sugars (keep this one the lowest - make this your 2nd highest percentage of change and make carbs and fat your 3rd and 4th highest percentage of change). For example, if you commit to changing your calories by 100% (give or take the OCCASIONAL overage days) - you make sure you keep it at or under (under is how I roll!) what your allotted for the day, then you make sure you avoid as much sugar as possible - use SINGLE digits as your guide - does this food have single digits of sugars? If so, OK! If not - slow down - is it 10g or 11g of sugar - well ok does it have 30g - Run away from this!
Ok for carbs - try to keep it as low as you can but calories first worry, sugar 2^nd - are these higher carbs from veggies? Green light go if so. If not, is this the only real carb you're having for the day? If so - ok, go. BUT remember almost everything you eat has carbs.
Then for fats - just try to avoid bad fats as much as possible. Remember the balance rule. If you have a bad fat every now and then - you'll be doing fine just don't make it often.

Ok - I wish all well and thank you for your interest in how we're doing. I hope and pray you'll be successful yourself!

I'm here if you have questions, thoughts, inputs, etc. I'll post a video on how I make my smoothies ASAP.

Blessings, MommaKat <3

What I'm eating today . . . .

I will post my days from time to time to present an idea of what this looks like. Some days will be straight to the book. Some will have slight curves and some will be way off track. I want to show that while I have some curves and occasional way of track days, that my weight will continue to go down. Again - balance, balance, balance. If you will follow the balance trail, you'll find this works. My son and I are down app. 110# in total combined weight SO FAR and more to go!

Breakfast - Green Smoothie
Snack - about 12-15 peanut butter filled pretzel nuggets (app. 175 calories)
Lunch - Green Smoothie
Dinner - Tamale Pie & mixed veggies

Total GROSS calorie in take is app. 1,380 calories.  If I have time to exercise this evening, whatever calories I burn will make my NET calories the gross minus whatever amount I burn off. So if I burn 400 calories, my NET calories will be 980 calories for the day. Still, 1,380 calories isn't a bad day! 

I could've had oatmeal or quiche or scrambled eggs or a veggie omelet or something for breakfast, and then a protein shake (not smoothy) for snack. My gross calories would've been closer to 1,500 for the day. Still not a bad day's worth of calories!  2 proteins per day at least is my goal. 3 is best if I'm working out.

Hope you have a productive day!

Ideas . . . .

Ok sorry I didn't get to this sooner - some of you asked for an idea of how I eat. I will give you a list of various things. Of course, find what works best for you. You want to enjoy your weight loss journey.  Remember, if you are feeling hungry, don't worry, build yourself a nice fluffy salad - just avoid the extra calories. Use a light salad dressing, low fat or no cheese, minimal meat, all the greens you want and veggies, tomatoes, try some kidney beans or garbanzo beans for added protein, etc.

I tend to have breakfast, a snack, lunch, and dinner.

Ok ideas of things I have for breakfast:

Green smoothie, or a piece of veggie quiche, veggie omelet (little amount of cheese), protein drink and a boiled egg or a banana or apple, oatmeal (instant packet i.e. quaker) or I get one from McDonalds or Starbucks. All of these breakfasts are around 300 calories or under.  On occasion I might get grab something if I'm running short on time but I watch calories #1, good protein if possible, veggie if possible, then low sugar #2 and lowest carb possible #3.

Snacks: Celery and a small amount of peanut butter, boiled egg and a small chunk of cheese, beef jerky or steak sticks, banana, apple with a small amount of peanut butter, pretzels or peanut butter pretzels, fiber one bar, raw veggies (with a little bit of light ranch), if I didn't have a protein or smoothie at breakfast, then I'll make a protein drink for snack. On occasion I might have other things, but this is the main list of my snacks. I usually try to maintain under 200 calories for snack - I prefer less but 200 max.

Lunch - I usually have a green smoothy. If not, I'll have a light frozen meal such as a Lean Cuisine or any variety of low calorie frozen meals, or a salad, a homemade wrap, if I want to go somewhere, I'll get something like a chicken fajita pita from Jack in the box, a grilled chicken flatbread from Wendy's (limited time), salad from McDonalds or a grilled chicken wrap. So you get the gist - look for grilled chicken or grilled meat, lean, low calorie first, low carb and low sugar to follow. A safe rule for sugar is single digit. If you get into double digits, keep it as low as possible.

Dinner - whatever we are having. We try to pick anything and check the calories. If I'm out at a function - I look for things that are low in carbs and sugar - your calories will probably be low with that.  Sometimes we'll do a grilled chicken and it's all super healthy. Sometimes we'll have hanburger helper or chicken helper b/c we're in a hurry or whatever. 1 1/2 cups is still only around 500 calories and you can have veggies or salad with it.

*****I try to have at least 2 protein drinks per day (remember, I put protein into my smoothies). Adding protein drinks in, helps a lot with weight loss. It also helps with repairing muscles after work outs. If you begin any kind of working out, you'll want to have a protein drink post work out - you can have 3 or even 4 per day if you want. Just don't go all liquid - balance liquid and foods. If you don't eat foods, you're sure to throw your body into a yo-yo of weight loss, weight gain. Use protein powder/drinks to add into your daily routine without cutting out all your food. 

A couple of closing thoughts, you can switch this to whatever works best for you - some people have time to make their breakfast their big meal of the day. Some people prefer it that way. Dinner is my biggest meal b/c that's what I prefer and where I have the most time. So I do about 300 calories for breakfast and 500-800 for dinner. You can switch things around according to your preference. There is no right or wrong, just watch the calories #1, watch the carbs (bad) #2, and watch the sugar #3.  DON'T permanently avoid everything - remember balance!

Sometimes I am in a place where I WANT to eat what everyone is that day so I do. That day I may not lose anything but every other day even if I'm losing ounces, I'm losing. One day sometimes doesn't hurt. Keep a balance of those days so you don't put on weight if you eat pizza or a burger, etc.

Alright, for those starting, today, tomorrow, whenever, best wishes and let me know how it goes! I'm rooting for you. I'll post my total weight loss on 10/4 - my next weigh in. Oh and don't weigh in daily! It can be discouraging! Water weight comes and goes, muscle growth, etc, there are so many factors that make it fluctuate.   AND always weigh in around the same time - for example if your first weigh in is in the morning, ALWAYS go with your morning weight. If your first one is in the evening, ALWAYS go with evenings. The reason being is your weight also fluctuates from morning to evening any where from (ready for this) 2-7 pounds!

Blessings my friends!

Key 5

Key 5 - Gross vs. Net Calories:

On loseit.com (or other plans such as myfitnesspal.com or anything that works for you) You will enter your current weight, your goal weight, etc. It will give you a target date and total # of calories per day to consume. If you eat that many OR LESS you will lose the targeted amount of calories it allots for per week (2# as I previously mentioned is the most it will let you target for).

It takes burning 3,500 calories to lose ONE pound. WOW that's a lot of work. BUT to speed up greater than 2# per week, there are ways to do it. Again, this will be with balance! To do it, you'll work your gross calories into net calories.  The formula to losing more than 2# per week would be something like this:

If your daily caloric intake were say 2,200 calories per day x 7 days = 15,400 calories per week (if this were your allotment - if it's less than do what loseit.com says and multiply times 7 days). Now for every 3,500 calories UNDER this 15,400 I consume, I will lose an additional pound. HOWEVER, don't forget - balance! You don't want to go to low on your calories and food intake b/c when you ever change and eat more, you're going to put your weight back on (usually and then some).  If consuming 15,400 calories/week means you should be able to lose 2# that week, if you go under by 3,500 calories, you should be able to lose 3. What can cause this to not be true? We'll get to that shortly.

So, how do we make this work without going too low on our caloric intake? One thing to do is go under the goal (safely) some and then burn off some.  #1 you want to remember to eat today the way you'll eat when you're at your target goal weight. So first thing, play with the weight tool in your loseit.com app. Record the weight as your goal weight. It will give you what it thinks your app. caloric intake will be - now remember to put your current weight back in! =)  Ok so if your goal weight says you'll eat 500 calories less per day then what you're allotted for at your current weight, try to eat around that many calories. If you're over some but still within what you're currently allotted for, that's ok. Remember, every 3,500 calories you're under, it's a pound lost. If you eat at the goal minus half of the 3,500 (1,750) you'll lose 2.5# for the week (make sense?).

Ok #2 Net calories - to get your net calories, you'll want to incorporate exercise. Again, balance. You'll also want to do a regimen that you can maintain after you reach your goal weight. If you haven't been exercising, you'll need to start with stretches and conditioning your muscles. Then start walking. Then you can add going to the gym or stair climbing or something that works for you. Another tool I love to use is a tool that helps you to more accurately figure your calories burned. It is:  http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc

So to get net calories, if you consumed 1,810 calories today and you did 10 minutes of stretching and burned say 110 calories, then walked for 20 minutes and burned say 160 calories, then did an elliptical for 15 minutes and burned say 370 calories, you will have burned 640 calories. Your gross calories consumed was 1,810, subtract calories burned: 1,810-640 = 1,170 NET calories for the day. =) 

It is important to have those gross calories and to have them in balance (I'm going to "Preach" balance all the time!) Balance gives you the fuel you need when you exercise. Balance gives you the tools to maintain a practical sense of weight loss; if you're at a party, just want say a burger & fries, a milk shake, mom's homemade cookies or pie, etc. that balance will mean when you do have something from time to time, you won't put on 20# for one days indulgence!  I can say this with experience.  You might not lose for that day, but you will maintain. Now if you start eating burgers, fries, shakes and mom's apple pie every day, you'll be sure to put the weight back on. This balance means eating good most of the time and enjoying some times. 

When you balance your exercise, your body realizes what becomes norm. Don't try to over do to lose weight quickly. If you can't maintain that (again, experience speaking here!) you'll be sure to put that weight back on, and likely then some.  Do what you feel you can maintain when you are at your goal weight! If you have a week here and there when you can do more, great - do it! Just don't do, do, do, now, then get to your goal weight, and no longer do, do, do, and expect it to stay of. BALANCE my friend and you'll win in the end! =)

Ok so real quickly - how my day is looking so far for food/calories: Breakfast - Oatmeal (McDonalds) 290 calories, Coffee with cream (no sugar) 44 calories. Snack, LIGHT yogurt 90 calories & I put a scoop of protein in it, mixed it real good and ate it that way (yum) 200 calories (there are protein powders with less calories but this is the only one *I* like), green smoothie for lunch - 334 calories, and a beef steak stick - 60 calories. Not sure what we're doing for dinner right now lol - my loseit app says I'm at 958 calories. My dinner will be around 500 calories - 600 would be max and not likely. But even so, I'm still under my allotment for the day in gross calories. At 600 I'd be at 1,558 calories. I'll be taking a walk tonight and will burn likely 400 calories. My NET calories for the day will be 1,158 calories (give or take) when all is said and done. =)

I have more keys and important information to avoid being a yo-yo'er and I will post more as I go. I'll also share more of my intake as we go so I can help you to see my habbits and food ideas in case you need more ideas.

Blessings my dear friends. Please share any thoughts, questions, etc. We're in this together and we're here for you!

<3 MommaKat

Getting started . . . . .

Ok who's ready to get started on their new journey? Raise your hand high . . . . . I can't see them! I'm going to get this started BUT I want you to keep looking for key's I'm going to post along the way. Also, please, if you're struggling or have questions, share. We'll see what we can do to help. Or maybe others can help as well. Also, share your progress! There might be a lot to read to this but please do! I really wanted to break this up over a few more days but I'll put a big chunk out there if you'll do your work and read it. :-)

So first and foremost, I was beyond ready! I told God one day, I just can't do this anymore. I also said I can't do any more for Him unless He helps me lose this weight. I already had all the knowledge from work, life, yo-yo fails, etc. and so on.  The very next morning after saying that, my heart was at peace with what to do and so I began:

Protein - remember balance is important, but protein is key in weight loss, weight gain, muscle building, and everyday life. Isn't that amazing? It does it all!

I drink protein at least 2x per day. I prefer to have my protein in a green smoothy. The reason for this is the nutrition is amazing from having green smoothies. PLUS you can fill up on a smoothy if you do it right.  Before you go jumping into just green smoothies though, DO NOT rely on just green smoothies or just protein!

Balance - if you drink your food to lose weight, then when you eat your food again, you'll be sure to put it back on. So remember eat today like you will eat when you are at your goal weight. (I’ll say that for a bit, but we’ll make more light of it as we go).

So a day for me might look something like this:

Breakfast - green smoothy (I'll get into what I put in them in a moment).

snack - boiled egg and a small chunk of cheese

Lunch - green smoothy or protein drink and a salad or small amount of left overs, etc.

Dinner - regular food, but I watch the calories. Try to make your plate protein, some carb, veggies.  Try to avoid as much complex carbs as possible (breads etc. Your body burns pasta but too much weighs in!! Remember I'm' eating today like I will at my goal weight. If I avoid all carbs now the weight will come back if I ever bring them back in) so balance them.

Today I had: Breakfast - Protein shake & a Greek lowfat, light yogurt. Snack - Beef steak stick (only 60 calories!) and a small amount of peanut butter pretzels. Lunch - green smoothy. Dinner - 1 1/2 cups of hamburger helper (no veggies waaa).  My GROSS total of calories for today was 1,431.

Now #1 why did I say GROSS and how do I know my exact calories? I'm so glad you want to know! Another important tool is a free app called Lose It (www.loseit.com) . It is amazing and vital for you. You can have it on your phone, computer, tablet, whatever or all of the above (I do).  You’ll begin lose it by entering basic information including your weight and your goal weight. It will ask you how many pounds you want to lose per week (2# is the most it will give). No worries though we can do more than 2# per week and I do (sometimes I don’t – we’ll get into that more later). Also important to know – doctors don’t recommend losing more than about 2# per week b/c it can go into a yo-yo phase. It can be hard on the body. It can lead to nourishment issues, etc. I am going to go thru nourishment issues, etc. and how to lose more than 2# per week (by what I call safe – remember, I’m no doctor, but I get my labs checked. . . more later).  

Ok – smoothy making. This is important b/c you’ll want to be able to enjoy the smoothy and you’ll want to feel full. The smoothy will give you so much nutrition, your body will thank you! For a smoothy I use: Kale & spinach (1 or the other if I’m out of 1) about 2/3 packed cup each, half a small banana, 1/3 of a large one, 4-5 medium sized strawberries, 1 heaping scoop of protein powder, 1-2 tablespoons of Chia Seeds, water & ice (don’t use milk – the milk has extra calories, sugar, etc.)   Chia seeds help you to feel full. They also have calcium, fiber, and other great nutritional value! So get them Chia seeds – I get mine at Costco – best price by far! If you don’t have a Costco membership, you can get them next best price on line at Amazon. Protein powder – I recommend shopping around! (If you want to buy samples – www.vitalady.com – where I work has full sized samples you can buy to try different flavors.)  Vanilla works out ok (in my book) but I like banana.

How to pick what fruit for your smoothy and how to mix it. . . . pick what fruit works best for you. I have made many a smoothy with various fruits. Though there were flavors I liked, I found the strawberry & banana mix was the best for me, for time, convenience and day to day flavor. So experiment until you say yes, I can do this daily!  You can cut and freeze the bananas and strawberries or whatever fruit you like so they are super cold and you don’t have to worry about it later.

I personally use the Nutri Bullet (DO NOT use or attempt to use the Magic Bullet) it won’t grind your food. The Nutri Bullet is it’s much bigger, stronger brother lol.  IMPORTANT – there is a max line on the cups – don’t go past it. I haven’t and I haven’t had a problem but I read it will leak if you do. You can use a juicer then put it into a blender and mix it all – but that’s a lot of discouraging work and a hot mess. The nutri bullet is 1 cup and that’s it! It does it all. J

What I do – I mash the kale & spinach all the way down as tight as I can. I put the protein powder, chia seeds, then fruit. I put at least a cup of water (some days more if I want it thinner).  Put ice in there also if you want. Now if the water and ice go a tad past the fill its ok I have and that’s never been a problem but don’t fill it to the top with anything.

You’ll need to buy some things to get started, but it’s life. While you start getting things ready, start with lose it! Start logging what you’re eating. See how much it tells you that you can have and see what your day to day is now. DON’T let that discourage you! Be encouraged knowing that you are starting a new life long journey and you’re going to succeed!  I have more to share but this is a big chunk for now.  I didn’t get to GROSS calories and NET calories – I will in the next day or 2. That will tie in with how to lose more than 2# per week.

Post your questions or comments. Dream big . . . and then make it happen! I’m here to share more, to help encourage, and to win this race with you.  God bless and God prepare you for your new life and help you to find peace, joy, and happiness for your journey!