Trying to Get Back on Track is Hard Work!

It has been a while since I’ve posted. And, in my absence, I’ve noticed that when I’m off track, I also am working nearly 20 hours per day, stressed out and getting no rest.

I went on vacation back on July 25^th—to Atlantic City, New Jersey, and every since I’ve found it hard to get back on track. I’ve tried and was successful, for maybe ½ a day, and once even an entire day.

But that is all in the past. Today is a new day and I declare today “Back on Track Day.” Before I went on vacation, I was down to 177, that is a 24-pound weight loss, but this morning, I weighed in at 184. I think that’s good, considering I’ve eaten fried chicken, pizza, Taco Bell (my favorite), Bing cherries, butternut squash, Doritos, bean dip—okay let me stop right there. You get the picture.

I was shocked to find out yesterday, after nearly devouring an entire butternut squash, that those things have 16 grams of carbs for ½ cup. I was flabbergasted. So I guess the next time I have butternut squash, it will be on Thanksgiving, when I make my famous Butternut Squash Soup.

I’m not looking for a great amount of weight loss this week, but more of a cleansing. But, after that, I plan on dropping the weight like flies. My overall goal is to lose a total of 60 pounds and that will put me around 120 pounds—by my 45^th birthday. I’d like to think I’m still on track. I have to admit that I haven’t done much exercise. By the time I close the door in my office, it’s between 4am and 8am. I take little power naps during the day, but I know I need a full 8 hours sleep at night.

One positive thing I can report is that my sugar count has been under 125, usually ranging from 95 – 118. This is awesome, considering what my sugar numbers were, (400-650). As I’ve reported in posts past, I refused to take any more insulin. It was messing up my system and furthering my fatigue and sickness. There were days I couldn’t, our shouldn’t have gotten out of the bed, because I was so sick from that insulin. And I was on two types. All I have been taking is Janumet—one before bed, and watching my carbs. So, I am very excited about that.

I’m currently looking for forms of motivation to get these pounds off and get completely off meds, while implementing exercise as my regular daily routine.

Until next time, make it happen!

The Weight Chasing DIva's Weekly Update 6-18-12

So, I’m sitting here watching Shawn T on Dr. Oz. You know, the handsome instructor of The Insanity Workouts. He is giving exercise pointers from his videos and his 15-minute workout. he said something interesting about carbs. He says that the bulk of your carbs should be eaten at lunch and the least amount should be consumed during dinner.

The breakdown is as follows:

Rule #1: Taper Off Your Carbs

Eat carbs at the beginning of the day, when you really need the energy. Later in the day, your body needs less and the carbs you consume are more likely to be stored as body fat. This rule does not only apply to your meals – but also your snacks. If you want to lose weight, it is important to eat every 3 hours to keep your metabolism engaged. Be sure to choose healthy foods. Shaun T’s morning snack has more carbs than his afternoon snack, and so on.

If you were to abide by this rule, carb-loading earlier in the day and minimizing your carbohydrate consumption as the day goes on, your meals would look something like this:

Breakfast: 40% Carbs, 30% Protein and 30% Fat (600 calories)

·        Whole wheat bagel and 2 tbsp of all-natural peanut butter

·        5 egg whites with a half-cup of bell peppers

·        3 slices of lean turkey bacon

Lunch: 25% Carbs, 45% Protein and 30% Fat (450 calories)

·        Open-faced roast beef sandwich

·        ½ tbsp ranch dressing

·        whole wheat crackers

·        5 oz of low-fat Greek yogurt 

Dinner: 15% Carbs, 55% Protein and 30% Fat (350 calories)

·        Spinach salad with half-cup of fresh tofu and 1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar

·        ½ cup cooked zucchini

·        ½ cup cooked asparagus

·        Half a salmon filet

Rule #2: The Secret Ingredient for Success – Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are a powerhouse food that also fills you up. A 4-ounce serving of sweet potatoes will provide you with vitamins A, B and C, fiber, potassium and magnesium. Shaun T recommends eating two servings a day. They are versatile too – bake them or mash them. Eat them as a snack or as healthy side dish. Because of their naturally sweet taste, you don’t have to add salt or butter as you would a regular potato. Sweet potatoes have also been found to reduce cancer risk, thanks to cancer-starving properties.

Rule #3: Eat Foods That Expire Within a Week

This is a good rule to follow to help you steer clear of unhealthy and processed foods. If you only eat fresh foods that expire in a short window of time, you can avoid excess salt and preservatives. For example, eat fresh fruit and not fruit cups – these are full of added sugars and syrups.  Instead of flavored instant oatmeal, which has added sugar and salt, try Greek yogurt with fresh fruit. And don’t fall for packaged veggie chips, full of preservatives and minimal nutritional value. Instead, try kale chips, rich in vitamin K, vitamin A, vitamin C, manganese and fiber, which you can even make at home. Click here for an Oz-approved recipe.

Apply these rules to your lifestyle – and try not to look at them as part of a strict diet. There’s plenty of room here to customize the plan to fit your tastes and way of life – the key is using these 3 rules as your foundation, and taking advantage of Shaun T’s workout to maximize your results.

Of course, I copied this from Dr. Oz’s website. After watching this, you can best believe I’ll be working out before the day ends. I had stated in my last post that I would work out 3 times this past week—uh, didn’t happen. But this is a new day and a new week.

Just a few updates: My sugar is still not where I want it to be, but it’s now at 210 fast, down from 215-245. Although my doctor wants me on the insulin and the oral medication, I am going to just take the oral meds and see how I fare with that. I know the damage to my liver and kidneys the insulin can and probably already has caused. Besides, I do not like needles. That’s why if anyone ever tells you that I died of crack, you can debunk that lie quickly, because I don’t like needles.

My weight on the scale has not moved much. I’m up a pound from my 184 to 185, but I’m chocking that up to water retention, which I cannot seem to control, but I’m working on it.

My doctor has given me her latest opinion, when I asked her about diets like Isagenix, Arbonne, Slim Fast and other diet programs. She has voted against them at this current time because of my uncontrolled sugars. On one spectrum, I can shoot up to 600 (hyperglycemia) and on the other hand drop to 40 (hypoglycemia). Both are very dangerous and she is afraid that many of the diets will cause me to go into dangerous hypoglycemia.

So, I’m going to continue with the low-carb diet and start and continue a work-out plan. I know that’s probably 75% of my problem. About six months ago, I was able to lose 20 pounds in a month by going to a 900 calorie a day diet and extensive exercise 5 days a week.

Now, when I go to the store, I look at labels religiously. And, I cannot believe my eyes. Currently I eat sugar-free Jell-O, which has 0 carbs, but regular Jell-O has 8 carbs! And, don’t even get me to talking about Jell-O pudding. DIET JELL-O is 8 grams of carb! Why?????? 

I challenge you to go into your pantry now and look at some of the food labels. I bet, like me, you’ll be amazed at how many carbs you are consuming. A lot!

My goal this week: Work-out 3 times, (I have to start small), get that scale to say 180 and to get my sugar to 200, with the help of the Janumet oral supplement.

Stay tuned!

43 In 5, 4, 3, 2 . . .

Tomorrow I turn the big 4-3 an today my hubby took me to Red Lobster for dinner. Why Red Lobster? Well because I love seafood, and on my low carb diet I can eat all the lobster, crab legs and shrimp that I want. And I did. However, my “coach”, (that’s what I call her) is going to be disappointed to learn that Red Lobster brings you these awesome buttery biscuits with your diet coke. And since they brought four to the table, I didn’t think it was fair to let my husband eat all 4 of them so I had 2. But besides that, I was on my best behavior. I had a garden salad with blueberry vinaigrette and broccoli.

Tomorrow I start my 3x3 workout regimen. I’m starting with 3 days of cardio for an hour. I love to dance so I sprawl out in my master bathroom (it’s THAT big) and in front of the Hollywood Mirror and dance until my heart’s content. THEN . . . I will add 30 minutes of weight lifting three days a week, all, until I can work up to 5-6 days a week without killing myself.

So, the real reason, I wrote this blog post today, in addition to the one I will write tomorrow with my update stats, I wanted to show these photos my husband took of me today. They are a little blurry, because it was raining and they were taken with my cell phone. The photos don’t do the dress OR my figure any justice. But that’s okay, because I have no intention of stopping here. I have sixty more pounds to lose. Funny thing is, I don’t see the pounds disappearing much on the scale, or not like I’d wish them to, but I can tell I’ve lost inches. The dress shown in this photo on this post is a size 9.  I have not worn , or have been able to wear, this dress since 2005. A few months ago, I couldn’t even get it over my hips, let along zipped.

The photo (headshot) with the red background shows the last time I wore this dress and the others are from today. All I can say is Thank you Jesus,  and, size 7 here I come.

Stay tuned for my status report tomorrow. Until then, have a wonderful evening. 

Check in for 6-5-12

Howdy folks! I wanted to check in and give you an update on my transformation process. I have been struggling and struggling hard. Although I’ve never done “crack” or any other kind of drug, I think I have an inkling of a feeling as to what they go through when they go through withdrawals or when they are being weaned off the drug. 

I’m on a low carb diet and if you could be a fly on the wall, you’d swear that I was feigning for some type of drug. I had no idea how dependent my body was on sugar. I didn’t realize how I would be without it. My attitude has been altered, I find myself a little more moody and snapping at my husband. (Poor guy . . . so glad he’s understanding and loves me.)

I was a little disturbed and disappointed that I had not been dropping the pounds as I had hoped that it sent me into a mental funk. Thanks to one of my biggest supporters (B.C.) she triggered a thought during one of our daily talks. My “Aunt Flow” was in town and that very well could be the reason, compiled with the low carb diet, that I was so cranky, so tired and felt like hell. And, the fact that I hadn’t lost much weight didn’t help the situation. 

Well, “Aunt Flow” cleared out this morning and since she’s left, I’ve felt a tad bit better and I lost another pound. So right here, right now, I feel much better than I have in the last week, and I’ll take it!

Hubby and I would walk occasionally, but I had not done any strenuous exercise in the last week because my body was not happy about the low carb diet I had put it on, without its permission, so I didn’t want to do anything strenuous. However, this week, I will add light weight lifting and aerobics three times a week to my plan. I feel that a light workout can only add to the weight loss and get me back into the groove of working out on a regular basis. As for the weights, as I lose weight, that last thing I want to see is sagging skin, so I will add them three times a week as well until I can work up to six days a week. 

I am not past this phase by any means, because if I see anything that looks like chocolate, I’m ready to attack. So, pray for me. LOL. 

My sugars have come down, although, they are not where I want them. I stopped taking my insulin as it puts me into hypoglycemia on the low carb diet. My daily readings have been between 204-215. That’s still too high, however, it’s much lower than the 300-400 it is on a normal basis. And, I have not seen any 500 or 600 spikes. That’s always a good thing. 

One thing I have noticed is that my vision has become a bit blurry. I got new glasses and they are a bit worthless. So, at this point, I cannot tell if the blurriness is due to the new glasses, the high diabetes numbers or the low carb diet. 


Stay tuned. 

Progress Report May 30, 2012

It’s a beautiful day outside, but I won’t be able to get out and enjoy it. I hope everyone is having a great week so far. I’ve had a headache since late yesterday, and I had a big drop (82) in my blood sugar and now it is back to its normal high levels. Can you say yo-yo?

My first day of my progressive transformation went pretty good—until after 11:00pm. This is normally one of my issues with eating. I am a night owl and a work-a-holic, so I may work 12-24 hours a day, but I work most nights through the wee hours of the morning. I’m usually laying down for a nap, when most are getting up to get their day started.

If you lost the link, you can find it here (http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ymjauthor). I will also post it on the side bar. Here you’ll be able to see what I eat on a daily basis. As you can see that for the past two days, with the exception of the lifesaver and peach I ate yesterday to get my blood sugar back up, I’m doing pretty well. You should also be able to tell that I am on a high protein, low carb diet.

Monday night, I did about fifteen (15) minutes of weight training. I was to start going to the gym last night, but realize that this diet so far has left me overly tired and with low blood sugars—running on a treadmill or lifting heavy weights at a gym is not the idea thing for me right now. Once my body gets used to this way of eating, I will get back into working out vigorously.

I will say, though, I’ve lost 3 pounds since Monday. That’s good news to my ears. I’ll keep you all updated on my progress. 

Welcome to My New Journey

Taken 5/27/12

Hello Folk I’m back and I’m on a mission. I’m on a journey to improve my life In various aspects to include physically. And here is where I will document my journey of weight loss. In a matter of two weeks, I will be forty-three (43) years old.  More than half my life is behind me and I intend on making however many years I have in front of me the best that I can. My health history has been no secret, heart disease, strokes, diabetes, breast tumors, ovarian tumors and a host of other health issues have certainly  posed challenges for me since 2000. I’ve gone from a size six (six) to a size eighteen (18) and yo-yo’d in between. At current, I am teetering between a size nine (9) and a size twelve (12).

I’m sure you’ve heard the term, “sick and tired of being sick and tired.” Well folk, this Weight Chasing Diva is sick and tired of being sick and tired of being sick and tired! I’ve tried diet after diet, after diet.  I did try Weight Watchers and did lose weight on it, at first. After a while, either it stopped working, or I did. Well, as the song goes, It’s a new day! And I want to feel gooooooooooood!

To you, I say, welcome to my journey. Encouragement, enlightenment, affirmation and tips. This is a no negativity zone,

Taken 5/27/12

I will be keeping a good and exercise log at my favorite place, My Fitness Pal http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ymjauthor.  I will be posting progress photos here on the blog as time progresses.

In addition to obtaining the obvious health benefits that come with being healthy, I have set a goal to lose seventy (70) pound by my forty-fifth (45) birthday. That means I have two years to achieve and sustain this goal. This afternoon, I weighed in at a whopping one hundred eighty-eight (188).  So, as you can see, I have a ways to go.

So without further ado, welcome to my journey!