Friday Weigh In: 3/1

This week has had its ups and down, and unfortunately the scale is one of the ups. Things have been a bit stressful with a couple of different family issues. My husband's step mom's dad died this week and my cousin may be getting a divorce. I turned to comfort eating instead of following my tips and tricks to staying on track. My husband has been helping me get my mind right though. The gain wasn't a lot and I know I can get it off in the week to come.

At times like these, it's good to remember why you are taking the journey. I want to look good in a swimsuit this summer for the first time in my life. I want to fit into my jeans again. I want to feel energetic. I want to be attractive for my husband. I want to feel fit. I want confidence. I want to get healthy so my body will be ready when we decide to have kids. I want that muffin top to go away. And I want to feel like a success and finally reach the end of this journey.

I followed my tips last night and managed to say "NO!" to my cravings. I got on the treadmill instead. It was just a walk, heavy incline though, and I still burned over 200 calories. I have a tendency to apply my "all or nothing" approach to my workouts too, but my husband is helping me with that.

Here's to a better week ahead! I think we may be seeing a few warmer days next week. I'm very excited for that. I always tend to do better when I can get outside. I'm not made for Ohio winters.

To track your weight with me, log in to Thintopia and join my challenge. The password is: GetReal.
It doesn't show your weight, just the percentage lost. First weigh in is next Friday!

Click to go to Thintopia Challenge

Join Me at Thintopia

I've decided to see if anyone wants to join me in my journey. I created a Thintopia challenge that lasts all year long so you can join at any time and come back to it at any time. The website keeps track of your weight, but doesn't show how much you weigh to other members. It only shows the percentage lost each week. The challenge is set to weigh in on Fridays, but any day will do. Consistency is the key! Hope to see you there!


The link is: HERE and the password is: GetReal

Motivation: Tools to Use

I find that I perform the best when I am surrounded by helpful tools. These can be friends that help you stay on track, websites that motivate you to keep going, online calculators that help you see your progress, or even apps on your phone to remind you when to weigh in. Whatever it is that you need, there are a ton of options out there to help you lose weight and get healthy. I'm going to share some of my favorites with you!

Numbers: 

I like to keep several options open for keeping tracking of my weight loss. With many different numbers to keep track of, it's easier for me to stay on course than if I am only watching the scale. For example, I can keep track of my weight on Thintopia, a website designed to track weight loss, but not show the actual numbers. This is great for competitions because you can join with others, but they don't have to know how much you weigh; they only know the percentage of your total body weight that you have lost. In addition, I use a target weight loss date calculator so I know of a reasonable completion date and keep it as a goal to finish by that date. I also look at a body fat % calculator, which will tell me approximately how much of my weight is fat that can be lost. And finally, I keep track of my measurements, which you can do on your own or you can log on to a FREE Beach Body account. You get signed up for a coach who can help you stay on track and there are tons of free tools to keep track of your measurements and even your workouts too!

Aside from these tools, I use a calorie counting website to help me keep track of the food that I consume each day. Most of these types of websites allow you to also keep track of your activity calories burned, so you have a net amount of calories at the end of the day. I've tried several different options, but Calorie Count at about.com is my favorite. It seems to be very user-friendly.

1. Thingopia 
2. Target Weight Loss Date Calculator
3. Body Fat % Calculator
4. Beach Body Super Gym
5. Calorie Count
6. My Fitness Pal 
7. Spark People

Food:

Here is a list of some of my favorite websites to gather recipes. Some of them are Paleo, but some, like Skinny Taste or Chocolate Covered Katie, are not. They all have a wide range of recipes to choose from and I know you will not be disappointed with the recipes!

1. Skinny Taste
2. Chocolate Covered Katie
3. Fast Paleo
4. Chow Stalker
5. Dessert Stalker
6. Nutritional Weight and Wellness
7. On Diet and Health

Fitness:

I like FREE so I found a few different free websites to watch exercise videos. And believe me, they are challenging videos. But the nice thing is that the videos are very structured and most of them are run by professionals, so their workouts not only work, but they are safe too. 

1. BodyRock 
2. DailyHIIT
3. ZWow 
4. Hang Tight with MarC

Podcasts/Information:

Anyone who knows me well knows that I love podcasts. My husband got me into them! And I am hooked! I love to listen while I work, and some of my favorites are about nutrition and fitness. Here are the main ones that I listen to that have really helped me understand food and what it does to the body. I also have recently discovered the Get-Fit Guy, who has a great podcast on fitness. 

1. Primal Diet - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/beverly-meyer-san-antonio/id577470427
2. Dishing Up Nutrition - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/dishing-up-nutrition/id339853848
3. Get-Fit Guy - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/get-fit-guys-quick-dirty-tips/id371750376

Phone Apps

Phone apps are also a great way to stay connected and motivated when you don't have your computer with you. I try not to have too many, but it helps to have a calorie/activity tracker on my phone, which Calorie Count has, and then I have a fitness video app so I can workout even when I don't have anything else with me. And Pinterest is possibly one of the best apps because you can find anything on that site: recipes, workouts, motivation, friends, and tips for weight loss. 

1. Calorie Count 
2. Pinterest
3. Body Rock
4. Facebook

With all of the resources available, it's easier to stay motivated and there is always going to be something for everyone. If something doesn't work for you, then keep looking. I know you will find what you need! I hope my suggestions help, but go out and find some of your own. You never know what's out there until you look!

Friday Weigh In

It's Friday. That means it's the weekend! But it also means weigh-in day!

I have to admit that this week has not been the greatest for me. In fact, it was a bit stressful. I hate making excuses, but I just wasn't able to get motivated this week. I didn't lose much weight, but I didn't gain, so that's a plus! I lost 0.25% according to Thintopia, which puts me at about 196 instead of the 196.5 I was at last week for weigh in.

thintopia.com

Aside from just keeping any and all trigger foods out of the house so as not to tempt me, I've come up with little ways to remind myself to stay on track. It is only as strong as you allow it to be, but they are pretty helpful.

3 Tips to Stay On Track:

1.  Buy a set of window markers. You can get them at Wal-Mart and probably many other stores too. I found them in the office section with the other pens, pencils, and markers. They are markers that you can use to write on windows or mirrors and they wipe off, leaving no trace of the marker behind. I happen to know that they come out of clothing well too! I use these markers to leave myself notes around the house. I have some written on the bathroom mirror, on a dry-erase board in the kitchen, and even a little decorative mirror hanging by my front door. On the mirrors I write different quotes that inspire me, different messages to remind me why I want to lose the weight, and even little notes that my husband leaves me to keep me going. It's very handy and you can change the messages as often as you like, without having to use a ton of Post-It Notes. 
2. Get a support buddy. My husband is my buddy. As I mentioned before, he will be strong for me when I feel I'm about to cave to temptation. It doesn't always work, and I don't always listen to him, but the majority of the time, it helps so much! Even if they aren't there with you physically, you can still text/call/email to let them know that you're feeling weak and they will be there for you and remind you of all the reasons to stick to the plan. It's great!
3. Wear form fitting clothing. I have a habit of wearing dresses or pj's often. I work from home, so I don't technically have to get dressed each day. This is a problem though. If you don't wear your jeans or your pants, then you can't tell when you're outgrowing them. My mom always said that if you wear baggy clothing, you'll grow to fit them. If you wear form fitting clothing, you are more aware of what you eat because they only stretch so far.

I hope my tips can be a little helpful for you and I hope you all are doing well with your weigh-ins. Have a great weekend!

Friday Weigh In

Fridays are my weigh in days. I'm a bit out of schedule posting this on a Saturday, but I'll get back on track next week!

I've found a really cool website that allows you to join in with friends and family, or even strangers, to create weight loss challengers. The cool thing about it is that you can keep track of your weight, but nobody else can see how much you weigh. All you have to do is sign up (it's free!), create or join a challenge, and put in your info! You can set the challenges to last any number of weeks that you choose and you can also decide which day you'd like to be your weigh in day. There's even an option to have them email you to remind you about your weigh in day. At the bottom of the page is a discussion board for members who want to share motivational words or maybe brag about their weekly losses!

As I said above, nobody else can see your weight. You enter your starting weight, your goal weight, and each week you enter your current weight, but the website converts the numbers to percentages. So all everyone else will see is the % of weight that you want to lose from your total body weight and each week it will report how much weight you lost (in %). It will keep track of each week's loss (or gain) and then keep a total running and arrange the members from top to bottom in order of highest % lost. So it's nice also because you don't have to lose the challenge simply because you have less weight to lose than another person. You can win based on percentage of weight lost per your total starting body weight. It's great!

So what is this website called?

www.thintopia.com

So, I started this year off at a weight of 197.4. Since then, I lost about ten pounds, but then had a slip up and gained it all back, plus some. My weigh in today is my first weigh in back on track since that slip up. I weighed in at 196.5 so I'm slightly under what I was at the beginning of the year, but still higher than I could have been had I not gotten off course. Tomorrow I'll talk about "treating ourselves" and whether it's worth it or not. I hope everyone has a good weigh in and have a good weekend!

Escali Glass Square Digital Bathroom Scale