Treadmill Status Report

I did a wopping 28.08 miles this past week on my trusty treadmill. I really want to get the incline option fixed, though, I think it'd give me a better work-out if I could play with it.

So now I'm down to 450.73 miles to go to get to my dream editor's office. Slow and steady makes the race, both in walking and writing, it would seem.

How about you guys, anyone have any physical activity to report? Something that is increasing your energy, picking your metabolism up off the ground? Would love to hear about it.



Surrendering to Him,

Eileen

Status

Well, it appears as though I've lost a pound this week. Hurray!! Though, I always feel as though I ought to have lost more with all the walking I'm doing and sweating on that treadmill and with making a huge effort to eat well, too.

I guess it's going to be slow going to get these last few pounds off and I'll just have to accept that.

Tips from Anne, for those who don't go back in and read the comments:

• Drink warm water to speed digestion.
• Even before snacks, stop and lift a prayer of thanks and asking for God to bless you with the nourishment from the snack. It's hard to chomp on a candy bar when you've just suggested to God that it's nourishing. A couple of the times I've done this this week, I've found myself switching snacks mid prayer.

Thanks, Anne for helping me (us) out with these suggestions! I'm trying the warm water now.


Surrendering to Him,

Eileen

Living the fight

There are days I wonder if I'll ever see a change in the scale in the right direction, and today is one of them. Determination wanes when this happens and I'm tempted to dip into the goodie cupboard designated for everyone but me. But I mustn't!

Instead, I'll refill my water bottle, delve into my writing work, and remind God that He's supposed to be supporting me on this journey to better the physical temple He gave me to carry out His work. Then I'll open the crisper and dig out a handful of carrots, forgo the low-fat dip, and peel off the skin of the chicken piece waiting for me as my needed protein, and if I'm still hungry after that, I'll grab a banana from that bunch that have been ripening by my kitchen sliders. And then, I'll stop. Pray some more for discipline. And drink more water to cleanse my temple for His work.


Surrendering to Him,

Eileen

Getting the miles in...

With a bad knee that likes to do tricks sometimes, I'm confined in my choice of exercise. Walking seems to be one that I can do without knocking my kneecap out, so I'm especially fond of my treadmill laptop table. I'm finding I'm really enjoying this invention and feel so much better about the amount of time I spend blogging and visiting and email catching-up because I do it all while walking my way to New York, NY right in the comfort of my own basement work-out room.

Last week I walked a total of 18.39 miles while interacting online. Now I'm only 478.81 miles from my destination. Sounds far still, I know, but it's not bad for only being at it for two weeks so far.

So, my problem isn't getting the exercise now, it's being disciplined about what I eat on this weight management journey. I'm trying really hard to drink six cups of water a day to ward off the appetite some, but still carbs find there way into my mouth and straight to my stomach when they definitely should not. I'm going to have to diligently start logging every morsel that goes into my mouth again, and pen it in before I actually eat it, to help it hit home.

How many of you are faithful loggers of your food and liquid intake? Do you think it would help if you started logging, if you haven't already?


Surrendering to Him,

Eileen

Stress and Mood--Does that effect you?

With eating, I mean?

With the ACFW writer's conference fast approaching, I'm in the thick of realizing just how much they affect me and my eating habits. I wish I were one of those people who starved themselves while under stress--who couldn't use a fast here and there in their life--but instead I'm one of those who grabs for the sugar and carbs that only add to my stress. The moment I swallow, I dig my mood deeper and deeper into the pit of despair. So why do I eat the stuff in the first place? Why can't I foresee that mood dive a milla-second before I put the stuff in my mouth?

And what's worse, the absolute worst thought crosses my mind once despair is met. For a flash, I actually consider purging. I've never done this in my life. Honest. I haven't. But with such publicity out there, I now have this as an after thought fix. How bad is that!! Thankfully I haven't succumbed to doing it, and I keep praying that I won't. Once, at the thought, I ran to my treadmill and made the wise decision to just walk off the calories I'd just intaken instead of taking the stupid road in the bathroom. Now, I'm an adult, so it terrifies me to think of teenagers who have the same reaction as I do to messing up with what they eat. Lifting prayers especially for them to choose the exercise road to correction instead.

So, I'm starting my day deep in prayer, and asking for guidance, direction, and self-control today. Maybe I'll try and get in the habit of drinking 4 to 8-ounces of water before eating anything. That should give me enough time to reach for the carrot sticks or broccoli instead of the twislers.

Praying for us all to discover peace.


Surrendering to Him,

Eileen

Family Reunions and such...

are not conducive to watching your intake at all. I blew it big time this past weekend celebrating with my family and all their delicious salads and desserts, but today is a new day and I will get back on track. I will!

Will you join me?

On another note, despite my busy week preparing for said family reunion at our house, I did walk a total of 12.31 miles on my handy treadmill while blogging and emailing. I must get a little treadmill tracker for the side bar of this blog to keep track of my progress. Now I only have 497.20 miles to go to get to New York, NY, where my dream publishing house stands. Any one else joining me on the treadmill challenge?

May we all have a successful week of curbing our over-zealous appetites, keeping hydrated, and working off that excess weight!


Surrendering to Him,

Eileen

How Could You Not Enjoy These?

Vegetables are our friend! Just look at all the wonderful colours for our taking. I'm getting back into making medleys of vegetables for many of my meals. I'll steam a variety together, then eat them plain, or mound my 1/2 cup pasta with steamed veges and a bit of low-fat spaghetti sauce for a very filling and healthy meal.


This is my past Sunday's supper. 3/4 cup whole wheat pasta (I still had two starches left for the day, but couldn't eat a full two, so I went with 1 1/2 starches), 5 oz broiled salmon, 3 cups mixed vegetables, some steamed and others stir fried in a dash of olive oil, and 1/2 cup low-fat primavera sauce. So filling, and so good!

Experiment, you could use chicken or beef as your protein instead. I just happened to have some left-over salmon needing to be eaten. It's buried under the veges.


Try it. You just might like it as much as I do!


Surrendering to Him,

Eileen

It's Finished!!!

Here's my treadmill laptop table with the laptop all set up and ready to be used.



















And here I am using it!















On my first trial run (oops, I mean walk), I walked at 2.5 miles/hour (mostly, did a warm-up and cool-down at 2.0) for 55 minutes and burned 232 calories. And the best part, I'm 2.05 miles virtually closer to reaching my dream editor's office in New York! How cool is that? Only 507.46 miles to go!

Care to join me in the challenge? Find a great hubby like mine to build you one of these, or if you're far more capable than I am, build one yourself, and join me in the fun! I'd love to have company!

Oh, and a big thank you to Seekerville for first introducing me to this on a guest post.

Surrendering to Him,

Eileen

I'm a Loser!

Normally this would not be a good thing, but on a weight management blog, it IS!!! By diet alone I lost 2 lbs this week, but I'm sad to say that I've lacked exercise majorly.

Can't wait for hubby to complete our treadmill laptop table so that I can do all my blogging/networking while walking off some calories too. Haven't seen a treadmill laptop table? Want to? Here's a link. You'll have to scroll down to see Tina Russo's.

When mine is finished I'll post a pic of it too.

Surrendering to Him,

Eileen

Vacations aren't good...

at least not for those trying to lose excess weight! I discovered that last week, even though I tried very hard to be GOOD.

Okay, so I have a writer's conference coming up in mid September and I really can't afford to buy bigger clothes that I'll look good in and feel good in too, not to mention that I don't need to feel flabby in the chest area, so here goes some tough love on myself.

6 glasses water daily
2 starches
2 fruits
3 vegetables
2 proteins
1 dairy
& 2 fats (that's a total of 2 tables butter or olive oil a day maximum)
1 100-cal treat

That's it. That NEEDS to be my daily intake in order to feel good in my proper size clothes again. If I drink the water then this is definitely enough food to keep me full all day. I know I can do it. I know I can.

Are up to joining me?

The Key to Success is...

Commitment!

Until you wrap your whole being around a goal and add determination to it, success will be dismal if any at all.

So do some searching, discover the reasons you want to limit the sweets, curb the carbs, leave out the fat, and up the exercise. Then pray on it, make it priority, and SUCCEED!!!


Surrendering to Him,

Eileen

Summertime is Great for Healthy Living

Out with the carb-laden stews, toasty-warm breads, and hot fat-or-sugar-saturated desserts that winter brings, and in with the fresh fruits and vege's, grilled meats, and ice-cold pure water.

Where I live the temperatures are climbing and the air-conditioners are in full motion, so summer is definitely here. And what better time to reassess your health than now. Actually, everyday is a great time to take stock of where you're at, and where you want to be, but the beginning of summer just seems to offer a little extra boost. With outdoor pools open, welcoming you to swim for exercise when walking in the humidity just won't do, and with all those fresh veges and fruits available for healthy eating, summer is the perfect time to strive for optimal health.

The multitude of summer physical activities to do is mind-boggling. Consider challenging yourself to try something new this season. Perhaps set a goal to swim with your kids three times a week and build the number of laps you all can do. Or plan to play basketball and bounce on your trampoline (or the neighbors if they're generous) with a loved one or two on a regular basis.

While you're building your physical activity, try aligning your meals in the same healthy way. Grill lean meats, substitute fresh salads for the winter breads. Not every hamburger needs to become a sandwich. Try a patty nude. You might discover it has more taste without the covering. For dessert, a chilled bowl of fresh fruit and berries, no need to add sugar, will finish the meal off right, and with a healthy twist that won't get you down.

I hope you'll take this new season as an opportunity to begin afresh and really consider what would be good for your health. Get your family involved so that you can all benefit, both relationship wise and health wise.


Surrendering to Him,

Eileen

Getting into that needed mindset

For me to diligently stick to eating healthy food and in healthy portions, I really need to meditate some first.

I literally have to run through all the reasons that this is the time to behave, and why I so need to. It helps if a special date is coming up in the near future, like a niece's wedding. I do this for stopping nail biting, too. So I have two things to meditate on now since the wedding is in less than four weeks away.

Once the meditating has sufficiently altered my mindset and boosted my self-control, the next thing is to pull my food log back out. Every single thing that enters my mouth is logged. Water, a single cheerio, a single hershey's Kiss, a slice of bread, ounces of meat, cup of lettuce, 2 tbsp oil and vinegar dressing. EVERYTHING!

And as I turn to prayer when the cravings begin to test my resolve, I'm reminded that this body I'm housed in is not really mine, it is His, my Heavenly Fathers. The least I can do is take care of it for Him, so that He may use it and it's strength to His glory. I'm an instrument through which I hope He works, and I want to be healthy enough to do as He commands.

Let the challenge begin once more!


Surrendering to Him,

Eileen

First Day of Lent = Amazing Opportunity

Are you giving up something for the next forty days of Lent?

I put serious thought into this, and with each idea that I came up with I realized that anything I give up that would challenge me that I would also seem to benefit from giving it up in the end. That doesn't seem to be as sacrificial as it ought to be, right?

But, then it dawned me that anything I do for God has got to a benefit for me by the very nature of God. He is our Great Caregiver. Anything He asks of us is ultimately in our best interest for our present state of life, or into the eternal. So I decided that as long whatever I gave up challenged me, and tested me, was worth offering to God during this Lent season.

Actually, I've chosen two things to sacrifice this Lent season, one of which relates to food. For the next 40-days of Lent (remember, Sunday's aren't included, as they are for celebrating) I will refrain from eating any morsels whatsoever of "goodies". This includes: chips, cookies, chocolates, cakes, munchy snacks, etc.

So, what about you. Will you be giving up a certain food during Lent in honour of God holding our lives in His hands. In anticipation of Easter, the greatest Love sacrifice of all time.

Lent offers that extra support we weight-challenged people could use. It is an amazing opportunity to get back on track eating wise. I encourage you all to consider that your body is a temple (1 Cor 6:19) and that we are to take care of our individual temples for God's glory and work to be delivered through us.

Blessings,

Eileen

Back at It.

Okay, the holidays got to me. Too many peanut butter balls and butter cookies, I guess.

So here goes my eating to plan again. I did it yesterday, stuck with it so far today, here's hoping I can do it for the next couple of weeks to get back to my goal weight again.

This is my plan. Try it if you like.

First, just so we're clear, I do measure and weigh my portions to be sure that a portion is truly a single portion. I consistently lost 2 lbs a week following this plan last year, so hopefully it'll do the same for me over the next couple weeks and you, too, if you try it.

6 to 8 glasses water spread out throughout the day (Yes, it's best to have easy access to the porcelain buddy!!)
2 servings protein (ie. a 5 oz serving of fish or chicken or 4 oz's of beef is one serving, 1 cup cottage cheese = 1 serving)
2 servings starch (ie. 2 slices weight watchers bread = one serving, 1/2 cup cereal = one serving)
2 servings fruit (ie. 1 large banana = 2 servings, 1 average apple = 1 serving)
3 servings vegetables (ie. 1 cup broccoli = 1 serving, 1/2 cup carrots = 1 serving, the starchier the vege, the less needed for a serving)
1 serving dairy (ie. 1 cup milk = 1 serving, 3/4 no-fat yogurt = 1 serving, 1/2 cup 1% cottage cheese = 1 serving)
2 servings fat (8 raw almonds = 1 fat, 1 tbsp oil = 1 fat)
1 Free exchange (that's any treat or pasta sauce or anything, really, that amounts to around 100 calories)

May we all succeed!!

Blessings,

Eileen

Doing Better

Not counting the small bag of chips I've consumed the last two days, I've been doing relatively well with the water and food consumption.

I'm back on the L-glutamine, and hopefully that will soon recharge me. I still have cravings for the bad stuff, but self-discipline (other than with the chips) has saved me so far. Hopefully soon the cravings will stop all together.

Costco sells a huge skinless, boneless salmon fillet that could feed our whole family twice. It's wonderful to cook up with a little lemon juice and a sprinkle of non-salt seasoning, and it's healthy for us, too. I've been feasting on it a lot lately. Along with fresh organic carrots, cucumbers, and clementines. Non-fat yogurt has been a joy to eat as well. The key for me is to limit the carbs, and these past two days I've done not too badly with that challenge. Hopefully I can keep it up.

Keep reaching for the healthy options, everyone, and you'll reach your goal!!

Blessings,

Eileen

Where has my self-discipline gone?

Oh, I'm getting so frustrated with myself lately. Snacking, snacking, snacking, and not on anything good, either. That's me lately.

Has the chill of the winter sent me into no-no land?

I hope not, because the cold has only just begun.

I've had salmon with veges two times in the last three days to try and keep my meals low calorie at least. But that isn't enough. I really need to curb my cravings for the bad stuff. Tomorrow I'm getting back on the L-glutamine to help me with the willpower, and tomorrow I'm starting to log e v e r y s i n g l e thing that I put in my mouth. No more dilly-dallying. It's time for action, and that means it's time to get serious about making wise choices for my food consumption.

I pray all of you are meeting your goals, and that you're not struggling like I've been lately.

Blessings,

Eileen

The Ill bug caught me.

I have a stuffy nose, painful ears, scratchy throat, and feel warm, too. I'm not doing too well lately.

The older I get the longer these bugs seem to stay with me. It's very annoying. To top this woe off tomorrow I head over to diagnostic imaging for a thyroid biopsy that I've not been looking forward to. So, needless to say, I'm sorry I haven't posted for a couple weeks, but life has been a little difficult on me as of late.

Okay, what does all this have to do with weight control? Well, when I'm sick, and anxious, as the case may be, I tend to want comfort foods, and that includes gravies, pastas, buns, etc. Not good for the diet, trust me. My parents visited this weekend and what do I make them, gravy saturated pork and chicken on a bun. At least I included a tossed salad as something healthy in the meal. This kind of meal has been the norm as of late, so I really need to get back on track. More fish, and less drippings!

Okay, I'm going to promise to down eight servings of vegetables/fruit each day to help me get back on track regardless of this silly cold and anxiety woes. I'll try and report in here often. My hope is that intaking that much "Excellent" sources of food will help me shrink the intake of all the "comfort" foods I've been craving.

Till next time, I pray you all are succeeding with your own weight management.

Blessings,

Eileen

Thanksgiving Weekend -- The Aftermath

Oh, boy, I'm still dealing with an upset tummy, and it's not from the two bushels of concord grapes I juiced with my Dad, either, or the Turkey dinner we attempted to enjoy on Monday.

I was extremely stupid and ordered a Big Mac Meal from McDonalds on the way home on Sunday afternoon from my parent's place. We had stopped at a Tack Shop in Beamsville on route home, and then ducked into the nearby McDonalds for lunch. BIG MISTAKE!

Usually, when we make use of a fast food joint, I order the salad. Salads are good, and good for you! But this time, since I hadn't had my turkey dinner yet I decided I'd splurge. I should have taken my husband's disbelieving glance as a serious warning when I ordered. He knew it wasn't a good idea, bless his heart.

But I didn't listen, and so four days later I'm still suffering the consequences. Bloated and my tummy aches as though it is always overstuffed. I'll not be ordering anything but salads from fast food joints for a good long time from now, I promise.

I'm going to sound like a broken record, I know. But water does seems to be helping. Today, the ache isn't quite as bad, though the bloating is still present. What do you do to rid yourself of tummy aches brought on by stupid choices? Any suggestions?

Blessings,

Eileen

A Year of Success--I'm celebrating!

This is my first anniversary of serious weight management. YAHOO, I made it! So I know you can too!! Get serious, and join me in celebrating, please!

It was one year ago today that I made the very serious decision to take control of my expanding body and reign it in. I sought out a support group, and for the next 20weeks I consistently lost 2 lbs per week, achieving my goal weight on target. And I am so happy to be able to say that I've maintained that goal weight for the remaining seven months of this year. I've bounced a pound or two here and there, as I've divulged in this blog, but I've come to realize that's a part of life, and as long as I take steps to bring it back down before it gets out of control, then I feel confident that I can maintain my goal weight for the rest of my life.

What about you? Have you made the conscious decision to take control of the temple God gave you? Are you worth the energy to discover confidence and optimal health? If you don't believe it, I do. And I pray that you'll find the support, courage, dedication, and will-power to achieve your goals!

Here's to a second year for me of eating for Him, and here's to all of you seeking to do the same! Praise God for His Amazing Grace!

Blessings,

Eileen