Michelle's Diary

I used to drink a lot. A LOT. Slowing down is tough. There's a lot of pressure to keep up with the boys and other shit. A couple of things that worked for me:

Put the beer down. Set it on the table/bar just slightly out of reach, if possible. You drink much slower when you aren't holding onto the bottle, or at least I did.

Water. If you can 'get away with it' mix in a glass of water now and then. That will help stave off a hangover by keeping you hydrated and, obviously, reduce the amount of alcohol you down in the night. Anymore I usually alternate a glass of water per bottle o' beer. But I don't really go to bars much anymore... this is at friends' places and during poker.

Anymore I just grab a 6-pack and head out. That lasts me just fine between drinking it slower and alternating between that and water.

I can't give up beer entirely. I enjoy it and I don't believe in depriving myself of things I enjoy. But nor can I any longer justify regularly consuming a days worth of calories of beer in a night.
 
or can I any longer justify regularly consuming a days worth of calories of beer in a night.
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Amen, I enjoy wine. So Ive had to cut down on that since my weight lose started. The body converts alcohol into sugar, which in turn is converted to fat. So I recommend drinking shots, less calories.;) J/K
 
Yeah. Alcohol is nasty. I too lose track of how many I've had. Sometimes I'll pull the tabs off and put them in my pocket for every one I've had...to keep track, but the more you have, the less you care to pull the tabs off! Water is a great idea. If I decide to have beer. I think it's best just to keep the stuff out of the house (and out of the beer fridge in the garage too!). I don't want to sabotage all my exercise efforts. I really enjoy having a beer at a restaurant though because I can have one or two and then my meal comes and I stop...I can't do hard liquor. It doesn't seem to hit me for a long time, then wammo! wasted. I don't like the taste either so that's good. Thanks for taking a look Uyis. We can help support each other with our beer fetish!

I didn't work out yesterday. My muscles were too sore. Walking was really painful. Volunteering at my daughters school library was torture. I figure its okay to take a day off due to muscle pain. I counted 10 muscles that were screaming yesterday so I'm happy with that. I'm starting to feel leaner and stronger on the inside, so I'm excited to see some changes on the outside from it. Elliptical today and maybe a firm ab dvd...

Summers coming and we ordered a tent. We go jeeping summer weekends and I'm really worried about the campfire food and beer that will be available. We don't have a stove yet, so I'll be cooking with foil packets on the fire. Hopefully I'll be able to come up with some healthy meals. Foil is sort of like steaming, so I suppose I can marinate some chicken and do that...and some frozen veggies too. We'll have to see. The beer will be a problem though...I'll have to give it some thought and see if I can come up with a plan...

Had some ground turkey, salsa, fat free refried beans, and low fat sour cream dip for breakfast today. 200 calories. And a few sips of orange juice. I'm feeling good, but will be needing a snack in a few hours. I hit the store yesterday and bought all kinds of good food. Three bags of spinach so I can mound it on my turkey/swiss sandwiches...I'm making Biggest Loser stew in the crockpot today for supper. I've been exploring some of the unfamiliar recipes in the book. Trying to diet and enjoy cooking has been an interesting experience...

Make good choices today! Hugs to all my readers...hee hee.
 
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Actually learning to cook has been one of the most rewarding fringe parts of this for me.
I always could throw things together and make them edible but now I experiment with ways to make things taste good.
Plus there is little or no waste in the house. We cook what we buy and eat what we cook- eating/ordering out is not an option anymore.
I highly recommend finding a low fat cookbook. I have found 2 that are really worth it. 30 min to prepare and 7 or fewer ingredients. All ingredients are things you can actually find in a regular store....

Remember to stretch after you work out- it will ease the soreness.:)
 
Thanks BG. I stretch a little from the elliptical, but I don't get as sore with that as I do the Firm dvds, but they each have a long slow wonderful cool down/stretch segment at the end so I'm covered. I know, stretching is so important!

Curious minds want to know, what are the names of the two cookbooks you're using. I LOVE small ingredient lists!:bigear:
 
littlekeylime said:
Curious minds want to know, what are the names of the two cookbooks you're using. I LOVE small ingredient lists!:bigear:
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Soon as I posted that I knew this question would be coming.:)

I am at work right now and will look whenever it is I get home. What makes the one great, like I said, is the ingrediants are found easily. I shop at Wal-mart and have only had an issue finding one thing.
 
Available ingredients are really important. I get so frustrated when recipes call for strange and expensive items...even if I like the meal, I won't use it often for that reason. I'll look forward to hearing what the books are...A friend of mine gave me an old weight watchers book and it looks pretty good, but I haven't tried any of the meals yet...
 
Just noticed you are from Minny.
where you at? I spent a lot of time up there for my job and love it.
Looking to move up there in 15 years or so if all works out.
 
Really? Sweet! I'm in Minneapolis. O ADORE Minnesota in the summers...ten thousand lakes and all...but the winters stink! We need to buy some snowmobiles or something. Maybe if I win the lottery! I dated a cop from Joliet once. He loved IL...Nice to see you're in my neck of the woods so-to-speak!

:seeya:
ps. We throw a mean board game night every month, if you make it up, you're invited.;)
 
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Exactly. It is the summers that really make it up there.
It is so beautiful and tranquil around there. I would be looking at the Eagan/Apple Valley area if I could get up there.
 
Nice! Both great cities. I love how clean it is around here. My family lives in Florida so we make the drive across the country often. After seeing the rest of the country, coming into the Cities is fun because it looks so clean. And the people here are nice (mostly). I'm constantly talking with strangers when out shopping, etc. I totally believe in Minnesota Nice. If you have any questions or need any info (you can't find on the internet), feel free to ask me. I'll do the best I can to help. I don't see us leaving in the near future...
 
Well, 30 minutes on the elliptical. My target heart rate is from 110 to 155 according to the Mayo clinic. When using the elliptical I range between 165 and 172. Is that bad? Currently, I'm stopping for a ten second water break about every five minutes so my heart takes a mini break then...can't wait to do 30 minutes without stopping. That'd be awesome. My legs are still sore, but getting the blood pumping and warming up the muscles actually helped with the pain...

I set up a fan in my office/home gym and was listening to soft music for the cool down on the bike, maintained a heart rate in the 130's, closed my eyes, sipped my water, leaned my head against the wall and almost fell asleep! Is that bad or good?! Doing the 130's is so much easier than it used to be. Nice. I'm liking it. I feel so good after a workout...I just wish the scale would enlighten me with some good news...
 
It's friday and I'm still at 213.8...four days all good diet days and plenty of exercise, I hope it starts to show. I'm not sure if I should move my ticker back up when my numbers go up or not. I know I shouldn't weigh in every day, but I can't help it, I'm just so dang curious. I understand fluctuations are normal and am not stressing about the number, but I'd really like to see my work paying off...

Had a wasa with some chicken salad on it and a cup of cantelope for breakfast. Have a ton of stuff to do today so it'll be good to keep me busy. Not sure what I'll do for exercise. Recovering from muscle pain has changed around my schedule a bit. Maybe I'll tackle the blue dvd again now that my bod's not hurting so much. I know it's probably stupid, but I'm going to really cut calories today and see if I can get things back on track.

I had a glass of wine last night with my biggest loser stew (turned out awesome, by the way), but that was only 150 calories, so I'm happy with that...I'll check in later after my workout and record what I ended up doing...

Make awesome choices today, lots of nice cold ice water to clean out the system...Hope everyone else has a great day.

213.8
 
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littlekeylime said:
Well, 30 minutes on the elliptical. My target heart rate is from 110 to 155 according to the Mayo clinic. When using the elliptical I range between 165 and 172. Is that bad? Currently, I'm stopping for a ten second water break about every five minutes so my heart takes a mini break then...can't wait to do 30 minutes without stopping. That'd be awesome. My legs are still sore, but getting the blood pumping and warming up the muscles actually helped with the pain...

I set up a fan in my office/home gym and was listening to soft music for the cool down on the bike, maintained a heart rate in the 130's, closed my eyes, sipped my water, leaned my head against the wall and almost fell asleep! Is that bad or good?! Doing the 130's is so much easier than it used to be. Nice. I'm liking it. I feel so good after a workout...I just wish the scale would enlighten me with some good news...
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Being able to fall asleep during a workout is something I never want to do. For me it is usually too intense overall make me sleepy. My guess is you need to up the intensity a bit. I usually hold at around 155-160 HR which is 80% of my max.
I would not worry about the weight- I know that sounds stupid- for this week. You made a lot of changes and I would definitely give it 2 weeks before you get concerned about seeing anything on the scale. How do you feel? How are clothes fatting? Those are more important overall.

hope you are having a good day.
 
I think I was just exhausted yesterday. My elliptical work was in the 170's for heart rate, which is pretty intense for me, but after that, the cool down felt pretty nice and easy, which it should be...

Does ten pounds actually feel different in your clothes? I suppose it's just too early for me to expect to notice a change. It's ishy out today, threatening thunderstorms and cold with a chance of snow tonight. Maybe that's getting to me. And other things are bothering me as well. Is 38 too early to have a midlife crisis? (half-joking). I'm confident what I'm doing is working, I guess I'm just a bit down today...

Thanks for checking in BG. Hope you're having a good healthy day today.

213.8
 
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I honestly did not notice anything until I had dropped 20lbs. But all my excess weight was in my midsection.
Looking back it was little things prior to that- pants zipping easier, shirts just looking better- that were happening.
Do something i never did- take measurements as soon as you can.
I kick myself every time I think of it for not taking any. For some reason early on my wife would not lose a lb but would lose inches all over her body- no idea where they went??- and that help her confidence.

Apocalyptic rain here now....
tragic fun.
 
I should measure myself. I have a difficult time measuring accurately, though. It's good advice, especially since I'm exercising as well as dieting. Sometimes I think my clothes fit better but it could just be my wishful thinking. Getting to twenty pounds lost will be really fun. Seems to take quite a while though. *sigh* I'll just keep chugging along. I can't WAIT to change my ticker. I'm sick of looking at 211.

Oh, yeah, I'm sorry to hear about your pregnancy problems. We have a third grader and have been trying for another for nine years. Three years ago we succeeded and then I miscarried. That was heartbreaking. I feel for you guys...

213.8
 
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Saturday and the rain has stopped, temporarily. We've got loads of projects around the house. We're building a deck in the corner of our lot so we can enjoy the Mpls skyline at night, so that's a fun project, but it's forty degrees out today. Would be more fun if it were in the high sixties.

Also, in two weeks my parents are coming up from Key West for the summer at our family cabin and I really wanted to lose 20lbs before they made it up. Don't think it'll happen, but I'm going to try my best. I got up early today, put on a tight fitting tee (can't wait until my tee's fit again) to remind me of why I'm doing this. I HATE feeling tight in my clothes. I've got some really cute clothes I've saved for when I lose weight, but they're all out of style now. Boo Hoo. It will be really fun to go get some trendy new stuff. I believe the sizes have changed since I wore them so it will be fun to see what sizes I can get into...

My Crew team jacket is a bit tight too. It'll be fun to get that on and using it again...

I digress. Off to the ellip. Happy Saturday everyone.

212.6
 
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