It’s Sunday, stats day, and I’m behind on the blog. Before I begin, I just want to say thank you to each and every person reading this blog! I know we’re all busy, and I appreciate the time you take to read, comment, Tweet, post, and otherwise engage with me online.

That being said, I could use a little encouragement! Some of you may recall my post in November where I talked about the measuring tape being the most effective way of demonstrating my progress.

Well, today, I barely squeezed my tush into a size 12 bathing suit and went off to a birthday party. Later in the evening, I tried on some size 14 “designer” pants, and was mortified. My hips don’t lie. I’ve fallen of the wagon.

A while back, I was talking to a personal trainer who had lost a huge amount of weight. He mentioned sometimes still feeling and acting like that person carrying all those extra pounds.

It’s hard to imagine myself looking like this:

When right now, I feel that I look like this:

I don’t want to give you the impression that I think there’s anything bad about being my size, and ladies, if you got it, work it!

I’m just struggling with consistency, and that’s likely fueled by my inability to imagine myself anything but where I’m at right now.

To help me visualize a new me, I took a minute to reflect on the old me! In 2003, I left a well-paying job and began a venture in independent sales. Concurrently, I changed my eating habits and made the decision to never again work in a career where I had to sacrifice my personal health and well-being. In 3 months, I lost 30 pounds.

Although the business didn’t work out, I did stay on the renegade track for 2 years. I quit drinking alcohol, and for a while, even stopped drinking coffee! I switched to soy instead of cow’s milk, and began a vegetarian lifestyle.

At the time, I infrequently would take hikes, long walks and the occasional aerobics class. When my car finally gave out, I started walking everywhere, and taking the bus.

The picture on the right is of me, three years into this change (Spring 2006). A little while after this photo was taken, I became pregnant!

As a single working mom of a child with a major developmental delay, my lifestyle since then has completely changed. And I know I’ve resorted to the older habits that got me into trouble in the first place.

I started eating meat again when I was in my 1st term of pregnancy. I started drinking alcohol again when I moved to Honolulu. I’ve been using sugar and caffeine as “uppers” ever since I had a newborn!

But the bigger threat to my health and well-being is comfort food.  My vices can be salty or sweet, creamy or crunchy, dark chocolate or milk chocolate. It’s just too easy to ignore the consequences and choose something that feels good in the short term.

I’m filling the void with food!

I suppose I’m jumping on the blog today to reach out, and ask for some encouragement. I didn’t even want to weigh in or take my measurements today.  I know I’m back in the 190′s, and I know that my measurements last week were 39, 39, 43. And I’ve had only one workout with kettlebells in the last 9 days.

The first practice that I believe will make a difference is starting my day with an attitude of gratitude. One of my friends exchanges e-mails with me every day. We share one or two sentences answering the question:  “What are you grateful for?” This helps me frame my day with positive expectation.

I asked another friend to do the water challenge with me. We’re going to shoot for 64 ounces of water a day (although another friend of mine suggests 1/2 my weight in water, which would be a whopping 95 ounces!)

As for accountability, I may need to ask Dwayne Perkins to do another blog-a-thon with me. I found that when I had to check in here daily, I wanted to report progress!!!

Maintaining a positive attitude is where you come in. Sometimes I’ll just spend a minute looking at Facebook or reading other people’s tweets to see what good news they might bring.

I’m looking forward to hearing from you, and I promise, there will be blogs with more “action” to come! Please take a moment and give me a shout out! I appreciate it in advance!

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Okay, according to a friend of mine, there’s no such thing as the “stomach flu.” Whatever it was, late Monday night / Tuesday morning, there I was hunched over the bathroom sink.

You know how I’ve been counting calories, both taken in and burned? Well, on Monday, I probably expended about 3,000 calories. I worked about 8 hours moving some pretty heavy stuff.

Before I got sick, I ingested about 2,600 calories, mostly carbs. So, all in all, not a bad day.  Until around 12:30am. When I got rid of probably about 900 calories.

Let me just say, I’ve developed a food aversion to caesar salad now. Throwing up romaine lettuce is not fun. (That may have been a little bit too much information.)

Just want to keep you posted on what is definitely an adventure — thanks for joining me! Please comment below. I look forward to hearing your horror stories, too!

* kettletell.com does not promote getting the stomach flu, or regurgitating food, as a means of losing weight.

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My trainer is taking a different approach — a financial consequence.

Liz and I have agreed. If we don’t come in weighing one pound less consistently every week, our hourly rate will increase by a dollar… permanently!

A pound is a comfortable goal. I’m confident I won’t go into the poor house, and can maintain weight loss of a pound a week. Two pounds a week, however, is my actual goal.

My exercise plan can certainly be improved since I have not been consistent in that regard. Some weeks I’ve had 5 workouts, and most weeks, just three. So, that can be easily fixed.

Healthy eating has not been a priority for me in weeks. Now, this is a touchy area for me. In my word, I say I want to eat healthy, but in deed, I’m not. My healthy integrity has gone out the door!

I’ve recommitted to eating well, one day at a time. I like my food journal on my phone, even if I don’t like its name. I’m always going to be a nerd, so I like seeing the calculations.

Here’s the part that takes real commitment, though– measuring everything– and I mean EVERYTHING I put in my mouth!

Here’s a few examples:

Coffee with 1 tbsp creamer

Examining the Nutrition Facts on Every Single Item

Note to self: a cup of spaghetti is not enough for a cup of sauce

Once I have everything entered in my journal, I’ll be able to recall it without trouble. This week, I find myself spending a lot of time looking up and then entering stats for things like “Organic Veggie Straws” and “BBQ Chicken.”

I’m also keeping track of my workouts on the exercise journal. Does anyone out there know how many kcals are burned in a 30 minute kettlebell workout? I don’t want to use the “weight lifting” stats, because that just doesn’t seem to capture the entire workout.

That just about sums it up. (Get it? SUMS it up? Aw, forget it.) Of course, I’d love to hear from you… it keeps me motivated! Please leave a comment below in the “reply” box. I look forward to reading it!

Mahalo!

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For the past week, I’ve been in various coffee houses around Honolulu, working to a deadline. One of the joys of working for yourself is that you get to work anywhere! (Conversely, you don’t have an office or regular workspace.)

Lately, I’ve been looking at this:                                                    And this has been looking at me:

What’s that in your hand, Angela?

I’m glad you asked!

It’s an Ice blended mocha, no sugar added, extreme.

What does extreme mean?

More coffee.

I’m running on less sleep than usual, my eyes are tired and bloodshot, and I just want to complete this project so that I can move on to the next. (Not that I’m complaining– I do love working in the field of education– albeit, independently!)

In the past few days, I had not worked out, had not eaten healthy and nutritious meals, and for a second I thought I was back in finals week during my undergraduate college career.

As I’m sitting here sipping this bittersweet drink, I started to review the other things I’ve been putting into my system. Everything that I’ve had a craving for falls into one of four categories:  salty or sweet, crunchy or creamy. Sometimes, it’s two of the four, like crunchy and salty — popcorn, or those veggie tubes we got at COSTCO. But usually, I have a very clear idea of what I want, and I when I’m working up to the last minute, like now, I’ll go and get it.

I think this is stressful snacking; an insidious form of emotional eating. It’s insidious because I almost don’t realize I’m doing it.

For example, the graham cracker I was snacking on with my son. (Sweet and crunchy.) I didn’t have a whole cracker… or wait, did I? I can’t remember, because I wasn’t paying attention.  What about the salty barbecue chicken I had for lunch? I usually can’t finish the mini-plate. Today, I ate the whole thing.

About the only thing saving me so far this week is the fact that I did get into the FitPro Hawaii gym today. After swings and suitcase squats with the 16kg kettlebells, Bill busted out the benches. Liz and I did presses and various weight bearing activities with two 12kgs. I’ve been typing all week– my shoulders are taut and my wrists are thrashed! I’m so glad I got in there!

We also got homework for the next four days– complete a total of 200 clean and presses (the long cycle) with two 8 kgs. I can do 100 over two days (yeah, right) or 50 each day. We also have to continue our cardio on our own.

I’ll keep in touch! In the meantime, can you please let me know what kind of healthy snacks you eat that are satisfying?

kettaloha!

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I don’t want y’all to think that all I eat is chocolate cake. I mean, I do get some great stuff in between, so I thought I’d dedicate this blog entirely to my current eating plan.

Although I’m still getting it together, for the most part, I’m following the old Points system created by Weight Watchers. Simply put, I eat according to a specific amount of points daily and a few “extra” points weekly.

Points vary based on gender, age, height, weight and activity level, and using point system is only appropriate for adults. Any change in your diet should be cleared with your doctor. I’m not a physician, physical trainer, pharmacist, Ph.D., or anything else starting with a “ph,” so please double check everything I say with your health professional.

The formula to determine your points is copyrighted by WW, but regardless, span 18 – 44 points per day. The person with the most points potential is a nurrsing mom! Second to that, it would be a tall, younger, heavyset, physcially active male. Since I’m neither nursing nor LeBron James, my starting points target was 29.

Beyond the daily points target, I also allow  myself an extra 35 points a week. This can be broken down to 5 extra points a day or, used once for a humongous slice of chocolate layered cake and vanilla bean ice cream.

So, how are these points for food calculated? Thank you for asking, inquisitive reader! I’m sure you’re already familiar with low fat diets. This isn’t a low fat diet, per se. Three pieces of information about the foods you eat are key: calories, fat grams and dietary fiber grams. The higher in calories and fat a food is, the higher in points it will be. The higher in fiber it is, the lower in points it will be.

It’s pretty intuitive, which is why I like it. The other reason I like this program (besides the fact that I’m a big nerd and like collecting random information) is that there are a TON of “zero points” foods and condiments. Here’s a brief list (vegetables servings are 1 cup):

* asparagus    * bean sprouts    * broccoli    * cabbage    * uncooked carrots    * cauliflower    * celery    *cucumber    *daikon    * eggplant    * garlic    * green beans    * greens    * kim chee    * lettuce    * mushrooms    * okra    * uncooked onion    * peppers    * pumpkin    * spinach    * squash    * taro leaves    *watercress    * all herbs    * lemon juice    *lime juice    * mustard    * nonstick cooking spray    * relish    * salsa    * shoyu (soy sauce)    * steak sauce    * sugar substitute    *taco sauce    * teriyaki sauce    * vinegar    * worcestershire sauce

The other tenets of the Weight Watchers program are simple:

1. Eat at least 5 servings of vegetables and fruits a day (and 9 servings if you weigh more than 350 pounds)
   

   Avocado. Fruit serving + Healthy Fat = Happiness

2. Choose whole-grain foods, such as brown rice, multigrain bread, and whole wheat pasta
3. Include at least 2 servings of calcium-rich foods a day (8 oz of milk = 1 serving)
4. Drink at least 6 glasses of water a day
5. Eat lean, protein-rich foods
6. Ensure that you are getting healthy oils, such as olive, canola, safflower, sunflower or flaxseed, as well as mono- and poly-unsaturated fats from fish, nuts and seeds
7. Limit refined sugar and alcohol intake
8. Take a daily vitamin-mineral supplement

So, let’s do some math on some of the meals I’ve eaten recently. (I’m NOT suggesting this is excellent eating, I’m just showing you how I honestly calculate my points!)

Breakfast: 24 oz Iced Latte with No Sugar Added Vanilla Powder and nonfat milk = 5 points Wrap with Flat Out Multigrain Bread, 1 egg, 2 oz avocado, salsa = 5 points

Snack:
Baby Carrots = o points
100 calories Hummus Dippers = 1 point

Dinner: Entree size salad (mixed baby lettuce) with cucumber, mandarin oranges (no syrup) and miso dressing = 3 points
1 grilled skinless chicken breast with teriyaki sauce = 3 points Broccoli spears and asparagus (cooked without butter) = 0 points

If you added everything together, it equals 29 points! Yay, me!

Here’s another cool thing about the point system–  you can EARN points back!  The formula is based on intensity of activity, minutes of activity and body weight.

Guess what’s even COOLER?  The workouts that we do with kettlebells are considered HIGH intensity. Woo hoo! So for me, even 15 minutes of a good workout give me back 3 points for the day.

I decided not to add these extra points, but as I lose weight, it’s nice to know that they’re there. I actually can’t wait for my points to decrease!

Oooh, my trainer’s calling! We’re going to discuss my eating plan! Have a great week, and please, share with me how you’re eating!

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Now, I’ve been eating fairly well for the last 6 weeks. I’ve cut down carbs, focused on drinking water, have taken my vitamins and supplements, increased the amount of raw vegetables I’m eating, decreased the amount of red meat I’m eating. You know the drill.

To satisfy my hunger and chocolate cravings, I experimented with an organic food bar recommended by my trainer. I thought I’d like it since it’s made with organic dark chocolate. Yum! I think it tastes good because one of the ingredients is “lots of love!“

But last night… my chocolate bar just wasn’t going to cut it. In fact, I went into the restaurant planning to eat chocolate cake.

When happy birthday was sung, and the presents unwrapped, I dove into my 1/4 of this decadent cake. I know, I shouldn’t glorify something that can be detrimental to my healthy lifestyle. Especially since I had a glass of white wine at dinner. My child seemed to be a little too interested in the white wine, as well. Uh oh.

It’s no surprise, then, that I felt a little lethargic heading into today’s morning workout.

It turns out that when Bill asks me, “How are  you doing?” and I respond, “Tired,” it’s not a request to stop, but rather, an invitation for him to try something new with me. I’m learning.

So, instead of warming up with a jump rope or even punching, Bill had Liz and I sweatin’ to the oldies. Seriously. For some reason, the eighties music was playing, and I found myself doing the “white boy’s dance.” My apologies to the white boys- I’m sure you don’t dance like this:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=stbfTIric0g

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Okay, it was nothing like that, but the laughter helped ease me into the workout.

The hardest thing I learned today was the modified burpee. This isn’t the kind of thing that I do after feeding my child. No. This is like a military or football drill: jump up, bend down with your hands in front of you, get down in the plank position (my old friend), get back into your squat, and jump up. Repeat.

Our set was five modified burpees, 20 swings (8kg). I did THREE. In 6 minutes and 12 seconds. I think I’d rather sweat to the oldies.

The last thing I learned today was the kettlebell hang clean. Mine looked dirty. I mean, it wasn’t both fluid and crisp, and I kept wanting to use my arms to lift the kettlebell into the rack position, which fatigued my biceps quickly. Note to self: “Put your mind in your hips.”

I can’t wait until I have something solid to show y’all. I appreciate you following my progress and leaving me comments. It’s already been a whole month since I started this blog, and I’m overwhelmed by the twitter, facebook and youtube folks tracking me!

So, be sure to sign up on the e-mail list (in the upper right corner), so we can keep in touch. Who knows? Maybe we’ll become BFFs!

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