9 weeks left

I was told today when I weighed in. I had bought 39 weeks of weight loss program when I signed up around Christmas time...I can not believe it has gone by so fast. I am actually ready to part with Medical Weight Loss. It was a good journey and I will work really hard my last 9 weeks to see how I finish but I am not going back. I have decided to finish up and see how I can make it through Oct, Nov and Dec on my own. I think I will buy myself a nice scale after I am done to make sure I do not find myself creeping back up..that has been known to happen but I really feel my mind set is so different this time..Please pray for me on my last 9 weeks.

I did not have to shop at the FAT store..yay!

I was in major need of a new outfit for a special even tonight..our family is rarely invited or do we really ever want to go out with 4 small boys..lol it is always interesting to say the least...

So I was at the mall in search for something..it always gives me indifferent feelings..as much as I enjoy really cute clothes but putting my body into cute clothes is always a different story..so something inside me decided to go to my "old" favorite place to shop..New York in Company, a store I used to shop at in my thinner days...I grabbed a few XL and wanted to see how they looked...it worked..I was very nervous thinking I was exposing so much of my legs that I have covered for some many years..but I did. I need to get over not liking my legs and just go for it!

Here is the outfit...I had to buy new dress sandals today...my favorite pair after 5 years of wear and tear finally broke..I loved those shoes...lol Jim painted my nails! He is such a good husband!

Getting back to the basics....

This is what I have started doing today...

I am back to writing down everything I eat. I am at a stand still with my weight loss and it is driving me nuts. I am actually very happy to be in a size 16 again and feel really good about myself but I am affraid I will get to comfortable and slowly let things slip into mouth again..and become complacent. Also, T from MWL things I need to write down my excercise because I maybe burning more calories then I am actually taking in which would cause me to gain weight..ugh! I was up a pound this morning at weigh in... So I shall see.....

I fought those urges...

I am excited I did not cave to the cookies my son wanted this morning..instead I had him pass them out at the playdate for the kids to eat..

I am also excited that I was able to overcome the urge of wanting to eat the pizza I ordered for the kids and mom's at the playdate..I never ate the pizza! It sure did look yummy but I fought it..instead I was starving..so very bad..but I ran into the CVS and bought some plain almonds and diet pop..that was my lunch..sounds odd but I still did not cave!

Just wondering...has anyone out walked a mini marathon? 13 miles? My friends said we should all sign up to walk in October in Detroit. I think it would be awesome..our goal would be to walk it in 3 hours...right now I only walked my fist 5k in May at just under an hour..that is only 3.2 miles..so I need to really train for this to make the 3 hour goal...any suggestions?

I can just imagaine...

what the newspaper would say "Big Ole Gal was crushed by weights during her workout at the YMCA" this is what happened today or almost happened today when I was lifting my 290 pounds on the leg press. I usually do this no problem but today I was wondering why do people move this part when they do this? So I moved this part..and I thought oh it makes is much easier to lift my 290 pounds on my legs..so I did my 12 reps and wanted to put the part back into place but it would not let me..I could not get it to lock into place..so I started screaming..it was going to crush me so I said "Sir can you please help me" to the old guy...luckily today there was a guy with huge arm muscles and was able to help me get out of my mess and I was able to lock the leg press back to normal....lol

I decided to leave at that point..I was done working out anyway..so I followed the big arm dude, old guy and a few other guys out of the work out room and downstairs..I heard them say " I followed that girl in working out and I could not even move her weights that she was lifting.." I laughed hard at that one..me and and the old guys who work out in the mornings...ha!

Holy Toxic!

Yes, last night was the worst that exploded out of our butts from the 4lbs of bean soup I had made for my family for the weekend..I had mentioned to the one of my weigh in ladies at Medical Weight Loss that I was stuck and could not move past the 40's in weight loss..it feels like it has been weeks since I have been stuck there...so she told me about the "Vegetarian Plateau Breaker" Great! I will try it..at this point I am willing to try anything..(well, you know I have my limits lol) So this is what my diet has consisted of for the last 2 days....

Breakfast: 2 eggs and 1 cup of bean soup.
Lunch: 1 cup of bean soup, 3/4 cup of brown rice, and 2 cups of lettuce
Dinner: 1 cup of bean soup, 3/4 cup of brown rice and 2 cups of raw greens
I could only drink water, tea and coffee (thank you this small pleasure was not taken away from me..) of course my usual 64 ounces of water and my 3 Nutrients..(I will explain that at another time)

There you have it..as exciting I mean boring as that is..I am praying for a 5 pound weight loss in the morning.. ha!

I traveled to my cousin's baby shower in Clare today. I picked up my mother along the way...it was nice to see her. I had let her borrow my copy of "The Amazing Adventure of Diet Girl" She really enjoyed it. Then she asked "so did you relate to Shauna in that book?" I said "Yes" She said "when did it start for you" and I am thinking...are you kidding me with that? What about all those times you told me I was fat and ugly growing up?????? I was screaming this inside my head...but yet I could not say one word to her? I am not sure why. Does she not ever remember saying those things to me? Has she blocked it out? I have completly forgiven her for her past actions..but I could not bring myself to tell her what was my main reason for my life long weight struggle. I do not want her to feel bad for some odd reason..maybe because I have forgiven and moved on? I can not figure this..yet, if I ever do decide to write a book about this and many other things in my life she is going to find out right? So when do I talk to her about this? She then goes on to tell me that she has never really had a food issue before and would just always skip a few meals and get back down to her weight she wanted to be at but now that she is nearing 60 it is much harder to do this....

What to do? Tell the mother? When? UGH!

Week 4 of Titus Farm's food schedule

Here is what we received this week. I bought our family the big share so we actually get to pick 12 items on this list!! I love the fresh greens since I eat salad every day! Bok Choy is new to me and I am loving it!

The Menu
Choose 6
-Snow Peas
-also known as edible pod peas, in which case you eat the entire pod and peas inside. BUT- it is not considered a "sugar snap" pea, in which case the pod expands, these pods are meant to stay relatively flat, and can be harvested very young for stir-frying. We may also having shelling peas, depending on the availability of both.
-Kale
-Collard Greens
-Swiss Chard
-Lettuce
-either the mix, or some heads of bibb and perhaps iceberg
-Bok Choy
-some will be the white stemmed large variety and others the green stemmed baby
-Herbs
-Radishes
- red or pink round radishes, maybe some "french breakfast"
-Kohlrabi
-probably just a few though...
-Garlic Scapes
-The flowering part of the garlic, eat it all the way up to the flowering tip, raw or cooked


Recipes
Sesame Snow Peas
Swiss Chard Pie
Kale Chips
Garlic Scape Soup


Sesame Snow Peas
1 pound snow peas
1/4 red bell pepper, cut into thin matchsticks
1 1/2 teaspoons sesame seeds
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
Steam peas over simmering water until bright and crisp tender, 1-2 minutes. Cool under running cold water. Drain well and let stand to dry. Toss with remaining ingredients. Makes 4 servings.
"From Asparagus to Zucchini" Madison Area Community Supported Agriculture Coalition
Swiss Chard Pie
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 Tbl oil
1 bunch Swiss Chard
6 Eggs
1 cup shredded cheese (any kind will probably do, I prefer parmesan)
1 tsp salt
2 pie crusts (home-made or otherwise)
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Brown onion and garlic in oil. Trim and chop chard, add to pan, and cook down until wilted. Beat eggs in a bowl; mix in cheese, salt and chard mixture. Pour into pie crusts, bake until knife inserted into center comes out clean, 30-40 minutes. Makes 2 pies.
"From Asparagus to Zucchini" Madison Area Community Supported Agriculture Coalition
Kale Chips
Ingredients:
Kale
Olive Oil (preferably in a spray bottle)
Salt and Pepper


Place olive oil in a spray bottle and spray kale with olive oil; season with salt and pepper. Place kale on a baking sheet and transfer to oven. Bake until kale is crispy, about 8 minutes. Serve as a side-dish, a bed for meat or eat as a snack!
MSU Student Organic Farm Newsletter
Garlic Scape Soup
(This soup enhances the delicate garlic-asparagus flavor of the scapes. You may use the flower as well.)
3 cups garlic spears, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp thyme leaves or 1/2 tsp dried thyme
3 cups chicken broth
1 cup cream
Salt and pepper to taste

Sauté the garlic spears and the onion in the olive oil over medium heat until vegetables are soft. Add the thyme at the end. In food processor, pureé the vegetables and add chicken stock as needed to make a smooth paste. In saucepan, heat the vegetable mixture and add the remaining chicken broth. Bring to a simmer and add the cream. Adjust the seasoning. Serves 4.

Titus Farms

I love learning about new ways to be healthy. This past winter, while I was detoxing several women at a spa party, I was told about Titus Farms. You can pay one fee and receive fresh fruits and veggies for 19 weeks straight..every week..Our pick up day is Wednesdays from 4 til 6pm. I am always so excited to do this because I love everything I get from them. It feels like such a great value and it is fresh and organic! So much better then the produce from the store..it is a little highlight to my week...they even e-mail me weekly with new receipes for the food they are giving us for the week..it is great.

So I guess..I should run to Mason to pick up my weekly goods!! www.titusfarms.com

Down 45 pounds today!

YAY! I almost did not go and weigh in..the boys actually slept in late which was nice and I needed to get to the gym to get my butt back to my regular work out routine.. but something inside "no, you need to weigh in as well and see if you did were good this weekend or bad...lol" so I did and I was down 2 more pounds..(plus the other 2 I had been up on my afternoon weigh in)...It is nice to actually see myself creeping to the 50 pound mark...that just seems like such an accomplishement...you know?

Vegatarian

When I signed up for Medical Weight Loss they showed me the meat plan..I had to do a "cleanse" but according to their cleanse..it looked to me like a heart attack waiting to happen..I said yuck, that is way to much meat for a cleanse so what does the vegartarian program look like? P showed me..and I said..beans, I like beans and rice..ok I will be a vegatarian..lol so I have been one since January! I really still like it. I feel so much better and I never have the sick feeling in my stomach I used to get when I ate meat.. So when I officially lose all my weight I will become a flexatarian..it is a new term that you are mainly a vegatarian but when you do want a little meat here and there you can do it..like at a cook out or a family party...it is ok not to totally cut it out but I prefer plant based food over meat base foods. How about you? What do you feel your best with? meat or veggies?

Happy 4th of July!

I weighed in today..I was up 2 pounds but I weighed in this afternoon while I usually weigh in the mornings before consuming much..so I was not upset about the gain considering my husband had the week off for vacation. We even were able to leave our 4 boys for the night and spend a night at Grand Haven with our friends. Our friends' parents own a boat...it was my first time sleeping on a boat besides a cruise ship. We had a lot of fun. We mored as they called it up to a resturant..they had amazing vegatarian mushroom sandwich..yum! Of course the Long Island was to die for..I realized it had been a long time since enjoying a special treat of a long island..so it hit me fast and hard..lol but it was GOOD. We then took the boat to watch the Musical Fountain...I loved it. Thanks Ken and Mary for a wonderful time away! Mary and I drove to Wal-mart to buy our husbands some beer. I did not bring my purse as Jim had given me cash for the beer. I was just telling her that for some reason I seem to get carded and she was just saying she never does..so what happens? Of course I get carded by a very much younger gal than me....I said I do not have my purse but Mary will buy it..the cashier says "you are together right" I said yes, we just laugh and roll our eyes... So Mary goes into Meijer to buy our beer for our husbands..and guess the poor thing never got carded..lol Poor Mary. I told Mary it must be because I have lost 40 pounds and I do not have as many rolls in my face like I did before..when they never asked for my id..come on now..i am 34! ha

I was able to get a nice walk in with the boys tonight. I have not worked out at the gym much since Jim has been home on vacation..bad I know..but I have been enjoying drinking our coffee in the mornings on our back deck..I tend to not work out unless I go first thing in the mornings.

WOW, Michigan should be so proud...Those poor obese children out there..:(

Received this from yahoo buzz news..sad uh?!



WASHINGTON – Mississippi's still king of cellulite, but an ominous tide is rolling toward the Medicare doctors in neighboring Alabama: obese baby boomers.

It's time for the nation's annual obesity rankings and, outside of fairly lean Colorado, there's little good news. Obesity rates among adults rose in 23 states over the past year and didn't decline anywhere, says a new report from the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

And while the nation has long been bracing for a surge in Medicare as the boomers start turning 65, the new report makes clear that fat, not just age, will fuel much of those bills. In every state, the rate of obesity is higher among 55- to 64-year-olds — the oldest boomers — than among today's 65-and-beyond.

That translates into a coming jump of obese Medicare patients that ranges from 5.2 percent in New York to a high of 16.3 percent in Alabama, the report concluded. In Alabama, nearly 39 percent of the oldest boomers are obese.

Health economists once made the harsh financial calculation that the obese would save money by dying sooner, notes Jeff Levi, executive director of the Trust, a nonprofit public health group. But more recent research instead suggests they live nearly as long but are much sicker for longer, requiring such costly interventions as knee replacements and diabetes care and dialysis. Studies show Medicare spends anywhere from $1,400 to $6,000 more annually on health care for an obese senior than for the non-obese.

"There isn't a magic bullet. We don't have a pill for it," said Levi, whose group is pushing for health reform legislation to include community-level programs that help people make healthier choices — like building sidewalks so people can walk their neighborhoods instead of drive, and providing healthier school lunches.

"It's not going to be solved in the doctor's office but in the community, where we change norms," Levi said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has long said that nearly a third of Americans are obese. The Trust report uses somewhat more conservative CDC surveys for a closer state-by-state look. Among the findings:

_Mississippi had the highest rate of adult obesity, 32.5 percent, for the fifth year in a row.

_Three additional states now have adult obesity rates above 30 percent, including Alabama, 31.2 percent; West Virginia, 31.1 percent; and Tennessee, 30.2 percent.

_Colorado had the lowest rate of obese adults, at 18.9 percent, followed by Massachusetts, 21.2 percent; and Connecticut, 21.3 percent.

_Mississippi also had the highest rate of overweight and obese children, at 44.4 percent. It's followed by Arkansas, 37.5 percent; and Georgia, 37.3 percent.

_Following Alabama, Michigan ranks No. 2 with the most obese 55- to 64-year-olds, 36 percent. Colorado has the lowest rate, 21.8 percent.

Getting Started...

This is what I posted on my family blog back in February...I officially signed up for the Medical Weight Loss program in mid December but did not get started until January 5, 2009. I am currently down 43 pounds as of yesterday. I can not wait to hit the 50 pound mark..i will be showing pictures of myself soon...


QZ3204

A few of you know I have been working on getting healthy. The old saying that you eat what you want in your 20's and work on being healthy to live longer in your 30's is for sure true with me. I declared 2009 is the year of me.....while in my head that sounds selfish "all about me" I really am focusing on lossing this weight I have put on over the last 10 years or so....I have always had a weight issues since a teenager. Being told you are fat and ugly probably did not help the matter when I was a teen. I have put those behind me and I am moving on. One of my favorite things to do is serve others...so while I said I was focusing on me this year..I have also purchased (thanks to my wonderful supporting husband) an Ionic Foot Detox Machine! I not only get to detox my family but I get to detox others and make them feel good. I love it and I love serving them! It is a win win for me and them!

I am doing Medical Weight Loss for my weight program. I have tried several over the years including: giving myself shots, weight watchers (3 times), some expensive program I do not even remember the name in East Lansing (I think it was called MPS?). I started getting very serious after Christmas break, even though I had joined the program early December. I am currently down 16 pounds and have a lot more to lose but they said if I stick to their program I will be down my 100 pounds I want to loss in 39 weeks!!! So I will have a new me by late summer early fall..I am so excited. I have been trying to work out every day and I rarely want to ever cheat on my food plan. I love the accountabilty of going to Medical Weight Loss 3 times a week. It is good to talk with someone and for them to weigh me. Thank you to my wonderful husband who has been such a suport and an encourager to me through all of this. I know he does not care how I look but just wants me to be healthy and happy all around..I am happy 90% of the time just having to deal with my weight issues...has been the other 10% of not being happy....Know what I mean?