Things I'm learning along the way. . .

So now I’m a month or so into my journey. I have LOST 5 pounds! Woohoo!!! I have to admit, I thought it would be more, but I'll take what I can get. This is all thanks to a daily food diary I keep that has to be checked by the dietician once a month. I have to learn to only drink small sips of water and sugar free drinks (no carbonated beverages EVER again!) throughout the day and no drinks with meals.

I also have to learn how to take at least 30 minutes to eat each meal. That part is really hard when you're at your in-laws house and 4 minutes into your meal, everyone else is already on seconds. By the time you get 25 minutes in, they've had third helpings and dessert! Not to mention everything in that house is a carb. That house is a whole nother story . . .

Anyways, it must be working. I have more energy now than I did a month or so ago and I'm sleeping better than I have in months. My next set of goals that my dietician gave me are:

• to be sugar free
• fried foods free
• and caffeine free

all by next month. I also need to eat more fruits. She said that will help satisfy my sweet tooth. So with each meal I need to add a fruit since I seem to be concentrating on veggies too much (can you imagine that?). My hubby's trying to figure out how I'm going to be fried food free, but he's trying. I came home the next night after this appointment and he had bake pork chops for me instead of frying. It just blew me away! This is a man who hates to cook and would eat McDonald's every day all day if he could. So maybe my good changes may trickle down more than I think.

Goal Tending

OK - so my biggest motivator is someone who sits beside me every day at work, yet I see maybe 2 minutes out of the day (gotta love cube-world). She's athletic, motivated and she knows the right things to push my buttons in this fitness push of mine. Even her blog has helped me reach a decision!

She does this great thing called "Nutritionathon" and tracks it through her blog. Updates us on 7 or 8 specific goals she has set for herself. Nothing loosey-goosey about the goals either, like "lose weight" or "exercise more" with this girl. she's got it down to a T - specifically how many sodas, sweets, etc. she's going for and how well she met said goal each day.

I like this idea. No, strike that. I LOVE this idea. I'm a planner and the more details I have, the better i can follow it. But, I can't right a blog post every day with the details either. But, I am the queen of spreadsheets, so that's what I setup!

Starting on Friday, 01 February, you can keep track of my goals through this link: http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=p-mJfOClu-kA7ktPEOswNPQ or through an RSS feed at http://spreadsheets.google.com/feeds/list/p-mJfOClu-kA7ktPEOswNPQ/od6/public/basic.

Why Feb. 1? Well, I figure start with a whole month and see from there. that gives me two "free" days, one of which includes our office holiday party (office holiday party on Jan 31 - that's a whole different story!).

Here's the details of the goals I set for myself:

1. Absolutely No Soda
2. Only 1 Cup of Coffee
3. At Least 40 oz water
4. 3 full, planned meals, rather than waiting until I'm hungry to eat and then eating what's on hand. (This is where I might change the rules, if I find I'm eating more just because I planned to eat a certain thing at a certain time)
5. Only 1 sweet, if even that much. I know I have the willpower here, I just have to stop using these as an escape.
6. At least 1 15 - 30 min. workout - yoga, hip-hop dance, even a KidStuf rehearsal - as long as it gets my heart pumping and body moving!

So, that's my starting plan. Check in starting Friday to see where I go from here! Oh - and thanks Amanda! You ROCK!

Teri - My history

Ok, here goes my accountability part. After a whole lifetime of struggle with being overweight, I have started my journey to living healthy in 2008. I made a decision in the latter part of 2007 that I didn’t want to live the next 33 years of my life like I did the first 33 years. Plus, I want to make sure I get the next 33 years!

So my husband and I attended a weight loss surgery seminar at Riverside Methodist Hospital. It was very informative and I knew in my heart that this was the place for me. This was the help I had needed all these years. Not just the surgery, but the support and information they provide long before surgery and long after. Unfortunately, my hubby didn’t feel the same way. He was very interested in it until he heard that he couldn’t eat steak anymore. Then I sadly saw the interest fade from his eyes.

I took time and thought it over weighing the good against the bad. Could I really give up doughy breads and my Mt. Dew?? Let me digress. . .my name is Teri, and I’m a Mt. Dew-oholic. I use to average a 12 pack – or more – a day. Ok, now back to the present . . . Could I really give up the food that I loved? Finding out I was type 2 diabetic only changed my habits for a short time. Did I really love all that food more than my kids? Heck no!! I have to do this -- I HAVE to learn how to “eat” again.

So on December 6, 2007, I started the process. I reported to the doctor’s office to submit my urine and give blood for all those tests. Throughout that day, I met with a dietician, a counselor – who gave more tests than in school - and, finally, a doctor. Come to find out all is good except one thing with my blood tests. I have to take antibiotics for 14 days to get rid of some bacteria in my tummy – no biggie. (No one told me they were horse pills!) Then the counselor thinks I’m ADD, but that has yet to be proven! Since I’m too big of a scaredy-cat, I am choosing the lap-band over the gastric bypass. The doctor did think my choice in the lap-band surgery was appropriate and he feels that I will loose 100% of my weight loss goal considering my age and mobility. It’s all up to me now. All 120 pounds of it!

I’m hoping that keeping this accountability log will help me with this process and maybe encourage others that they can do it too! I’ll try to post as often as I can.

Still unmotivated

So, not 100% yet and just feeling lazy. I really want to clean my house though and get motivated to get back on track. Any idea, thoughts, help in that area would be appreciated. (And, no "just do it" doesn't really help, so please don't say that!)

Being Sick = Eating Bad?

Well, for me, being sick definitely means eating bad! I'm lonely, off-work, tired, sad, and sick of being sick. So, I compensate with food. But, it has to be food easily eaten, which takes out things like apples (too crunchy) or oranges (too hard to peel with shaky hands) or even full meals. So, over the past three days while being off-work two afternoons and a whole day, I ate REALLY bad.

Lots of soda - the bubbles are better on my stomach than regular water for some reason I've never understood. It didn't matter what type of soda it was, I just couldn't handle drinking regular water and milk was definitely out. I really wanted some orange juice, but a singing teacher once told me that orange juice increases mucus production (which is why you don't drink it before singing BTW!) so I lay off when I've got a head full of mucusy crap!

Lots of pasta. Very easily to make and easier to eat - especially when slathered with melted butter. I must have had at least 4 big bowls each day. :(

Lots of cookies. I know that sounds weird. But all I could fathom eating was pasta and my recently acquired Girl Scout cookies. I personally have polished off two boxes of the darn things! And no, not the new 100 calorie packs (that are REALLY good) or the low-fat lemonades. I had to eat a box of peanut butter patties and a box of caramel delights.

So, on top of feeling sick - still - I now feel really bad about the "binging".

But, I do have to say that I had the chicken and potatoes that my husband made tonight (since he made it and cleaned up, it was much easier!) and I did drink lots of decaf tea when I was at work this week instead of lots of coffee. And I did have to drink more water -whether my stomach liked it or not! - as the decongestants were making me really dehydrated without. I also found some Yoga sites and other weight loss/workout information online today while the house was quiet. So, it wasn't all bad. Let's see what I do to turn it around when I feel better!

Losing Steam

So - I have ZERO motivation, ZERO success to describe and ZERO joy in mudville.

But, my pants are looser although the scale keeps going up and down with the same 3-lb. range. And, I woke up 30 minutes early this morning and enjoy a quiet read. So, maybe those are positives - just not the ones I was looking for at this time.

The treadmill still hasn't made it in the house, but it will this weekend by golly - if i have to wrangle it in myself, it will come back in! That in and of itself will be a 2 hours workout!

I am playing more with my kids though and running around with them. I also checked out the local Y and I just need to get the membership costs from them. There's 3 within a 15-minute radius of me - all with weights, cardio classes and pools - my three requirements. I should have a decision made by this weekend...

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Still looking for other authors on this blog. Trust me - it will be fun! And if it's not - if you don't get the support and help you want here, you just stop writing. Easy as that! So c'mon - give it a try!

T'was The Diet After Christmas

T'was the day after Christmas, and all through the house
Not a darn thing would fit me, not even a blouse.
The cookies I'd nibbled, the eggnog I'd taste
At the holiday parties had gone to my waist.

When I got on the scales there arose such a number!
When I walked to the store (less a walk than a lumber),
I'd remember the marvellous meals I'd prepared;
The gravies, and sauces, and beef nicely rared,
The wine and the rum-balls, the bread and the cheese,
And the way that I'd never said, 'No thank you, please.'

As I dressed myself up, in my husband's old shirt,
And prepared once again to do battle with dirt
I said to myself, (as only I can),
'You can't spend the winter disguised as a man!'

So, away with the last of the sour cream dip,
Get rid of the fruit cake, each cracker, and chip,
Every last bit of food that I like must be banished
'til all the unwanted ounces have vanished!

I won't have a cookie, not even a lick...
I'll just have to chew on a celery stick.
I won't have hot biscuits, or corn bread, or pie;
I'll munch on a carrot, and quietly cry.

I'm hungry, I'm lonesome, and life is a bore
But isn't that what January is for?
Unable to giggle, no longer a riot...
Happy New Year to all, and to all a good diet!

(I got this in an email from one of my best friends. It made me laugh at myself a little and prepare for the real battle ahead! Thanks Teri!)

Call to Authors!

This accountability blog will only REALLY work when there's someone other th me writing as well! We need to know YOUR areas of accountability. I need to give support as well as get it - it's a two way street that makes EVERYONE feel better about themselves. So - just write me and tell me you'd like to add your authorship and you'll be added. Thanks!

The stars are aligned...

Sometimes, even your horoscope can give you the support you need. Mine from today, accord to the eDiets "The Daily Skinny" newsletter...

Pisces - You may feel like you've fallen on your face recently, but a new door will open soon. Get up off the dirt!

So - the cookies were bad, but not THAT bad. It was a setback (although the scale still reads 167.2...) I can overcome them.

It today's daily skinny was also a quick article about setting SHORT -TERM goals in addition to the long term ones I stated my long term goals, but I need some intermediary ones to help me see progress and fell better about myself.

Short-term goals for 1 week out (by next Friday): I will get the treadmill back into the house and use it at least 2 times to do 2 miles each time. (We do a lot of things in our house by twos - I think it's the twin effect taking over!). I will also drink at least two large bottles of water a day - 40 oz with a bonus pat on the head if I get up to three! I will not surpass more than two cookies on ANY day.

These are all DOABLE. Question is, will I do them? Stay tuned...

There's no place like home...

...to screw up your diet! So - I was feeling really good this morning - 4 lbs down, lots of hydrating goodness going on, a meeting got cancelled that I didn't really think needed to happen - it was looking to be a good day. Around lunchtime - BEFORE i ate my lunch! - I got a call that one of my boys had gotten sick and he needed to go home. Get said kid and brother, they are FINE. Bouncing off the freaking WALLS fine. Which drives me to distraction while I TRY to keep working. Can't.Work.With.All.The.NOISE.

So - to bribe my little ones and to get 5 minutes of quiet, I open my FAVORITE cookies that I got at Christmas and was saving. BIG MISTAKE. Notice I said I hadn't eaten my lunch yet? It was a nice grilled chicken salad - lots of lettuce and relatively little else. It's sitting in the fridge at work still...

The boys each got three of these delicious cookies. Holiday Nutty Nougats from archway. I LOVE these darn things. There are 27ish in the box. There are now two left....

Now - do the math with me - 27 cookies minus 6 for the boys then minus 2 left = 19. Yes, 19 for mom. That's just over SIX servings of the darn things! At 12g fat and 120 calories per serving. Lord have mercy on my hips!

So - why am I telling you this? Accountability. This is what it's all about people. Not just getting the kudos and support when you're doing good, but the "what were you thinking" and "try again tomorrow" thoughts. Oh, and the "you need healthier snacks at home" thought wouldn't hurt either.

I KNEW I should have brought the salad home with me and saved the cookies to take to a party or bring out during the Super Bowl or something. But, dealing with 2 almost six-year-olds who should be at school running around with their friends who won't listen to a word I say when I had a good day going was just a downer for me. When I'm down I EAT.

*sigh*

Thanks for the help and support. I'll do better tomorrow, I swear. =)

Say it with me...

WHOO HOO!!

Stepped on the scale this morning. It read, in a very bright red LED, "167.4"! That's nearly 4 pounds down. Probably all those bathroom breaks yesterday... but, it's a start. I know it's only water weight, but hey, 4 lbs is 4 lbs! So, say it with me...

WHOO HOO!!

Floating...

...and I don't mean in a happy, "7th heaven" in-the-clouds kind of floating!

All this water today is making me feel like I'm drowning! Maybe I should have eased into the whole "lots of water every day" thing, but that's just not me. So far, I've had THREE 20oz bottles of water (and a 20oz cup of coffee) today. That's 80 freaking ounces of liquid - and it's only 3 o'clock!! But, once I started drinking water today, I just couldn't stop. I think my body was trying to tell me I am pretty dehydrated on a daily basis and I need to catch up and stay up.

So, here's a personal "pat-on-the-back" to getting on the right track - and three cheers for a bathroom located just outside our office door!! :)

More Sleep = More Energy? Who Knew?!

So - it finally occurred to me. If I want to have more energy, I've got to get more sleep! OK - this isn't a NEW concept per se, but I do need to be held accountable for not just what I eat and the exercise needs, but also the sleep.

I'm a night owl by design - all those years working the late shift at Mac, topless car rides through downtown Columbus at midnight (the car was topless, not me!) and going to the grocery store at 3am REALLY messed me up when I was younger!

I love the quiet of the world at this time of night - especially since having my boys. Knowing I can have 3 to 5 hours of perfect silence if I so desire - to read, to write, to THINK - makes it too good to pass up for something as silly and "useless" as sleep.

So - if you see me online or posting past 10 PM CST, PLEASE call me on it and make me feel guilty. Remind me of all the great things I could do early in the morning - work-out, play with the boys, EAT a good breakfast. And remind me that quiet time really doesn't compare to spending time with my kids and hearing their wonderful laughs when we play ball, take a walk or just sit and talk! Thanks!

Accountability Area: Weight Loss & Energy

Here is my accountability areas: weight loss and energy level.

I'm looking to decrease my weight and increase my energy level. I need to keep up with my twin boys a lot better as they are getting older and more active in sports, school, LIFE.

Now for the hard part. The weight...

Height: 5' 7"
Current Weight: $%^
Goal Weight: 140
Goal Pant Size: 6
Goal Date: June 6, 2008 (150 days from today)

OK. There you go. Oh....that's not fair is it. Guess if I'm really going to be held accountable, i have to give ALL the information. Awwww-riiiiiiiiiight....

Current Weight: 171

Happy now? Good. So, that's about 30 lbs in 150 days. Attainable? Too much too fast? It's about 1-2 lbs per week, right? I think that's possible. We'll see.

Now the accountability part..

I started the end of last year with my own "diet" plan. It seems to be working (so far). There's nothing concrete about it yet, just better food, less sweets, smaller portions, and more water. I'm a huge soda fan and if I'm not drinking soda it's coffee with LOTS of cream and sugar. So far, I'm down to just one cup of coffee with half my usual amount of sugar and only one soda per day. I'm working on filling the rest of my day with water, but I just don't LIKE water!

Also, I'm getting back on the treadmill (once it comes back in the house - it does a timeshare with the Christmas tree which JUST went back to the garage). Also, I'm getting back in the swing with my Hip Hop workouts no matter how much my kids and husband laugh at me. I have fun doing it and I can definitely feel it when I do it! yoga might make a comeback as well, for flexibility, but not yet.

That's it for now. Can't wait to see what others are going to post about!

Accountability

I've read a lot of blogs at the start of this new year where people are making resolutions, commitments, promises, and other "terms of commitment" for the upcoming year. within their blogs, they are adding mini-posts of their success or failure, steps taken, pitfalls, etc. Although I have my own mommy-blog as well, I really didn't want to add this other information on there and detract from the point of THAT blog. Therefore, 2008 Accountability was born....

This site is open to darn near anyone who wants to be held accountable for something. all you have to do is ask. There's always a few rules in something like this, so bear with me a moment while I list those out.

1. Have a real need to be held accountable for something. Weight loss, health, sports improvement, family/marriage improvement, education, career, etc. Anything goes, but you have to be serious about want to change it and keeping us updated on it!
   
   
2. Be willing to hear SUPPORT as well as CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. Someone may believe in "tough love" and sometimes that's the best thing for us to hear.
   
   
3. Be willing to GIVE SUPPORT. Nasty, mean or otherwise demeaning comments will not be allowed on the site. But, we all need support in times of trouble and this is a good a place to get it as anywhere.
   
   
4. Be willing to write at least once per week. People who are reading this are wanting to HELP you be accountable - so you have to fulfill this step. Otherwise, you can't be held accountable if we don't know where you are in the process!
   
   
5. Be willing to comment for others. Anonymous posting will be allowed, but part of being accountable is also helping other people with their accountability. Even if it's just saying "GREAT JOB" or "HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THAT?" please be willing to put in your 2 cents now and then.
   
   
6. This is NOT a site for random posts, other issues (unless it's somehting like a freak snowstorm in April that affected your running schedule, etc.), random youtube videos, etc. This is a site with a serious purpose, with a fun twist to keep it interesting.

So, if you're interested in being a "accountable author", just add a comment to THIS post and tell us WHO you are and WHAT your need is. Then, email me your contact information so I can add you as an author. Thanks and Good Luck in 2008!!