Not a New Year's Resolution!

As I said on my SparkPeople Vlog last night: Me being back is not a product of some kind of New Year’s Resolution. Not that losing weight is Resolution or that Resolutions are bad – it is just not my reason. If it was the 3^rd week of February I would be back due to the past two weeks I have had.

I have felt like poo! Sluggish, unhealthy, too old feeling – poo. Could it be because I have not posted here since September? Could it be that since then I have been on a free for all in the food department? If it was fried and smothered it was on my plate. It finally caught up to me and I have felt awful the past two weeks.

On Thursday, December 30^th I made the decision that is enough is enough – as soon as I got home it was back to work on myself. I have no excuse – I can’t blame stress, hormones or even JAG – I have tried, but he just laughs. I stepped on my friend the scale yesterday and it said…

189

Yeap…that is three pounds less then my start weight – no wonder I feel like poo!

I just dug through pictures from vacation and I could post so many where I believe I look like poo, but I don’t think that is not productive. 2011 is the year of productive StrawberryTart!

So, I am here and I am back on SparkPeople full time – that means I track my food and I VLOG. I hope to keep you updated here with my daily achievements and struggles – we will see what evolves.

Food Fridays will start this Friday. Similar to What I Wore Wednesday, Food Fridays  is where I will document everything I have eaten during the past week (Fri thru Thurs night). I will be accountable to report not only a picture for everything, but also the nutritional standing.

Also, this week I am back on Couch to 5k! yeah ---- that should be YAY YAY YAY! I have 5k in my sights for April and I so so want to do it – we will see.

So, there you have it – am I back and the next time you see me I hope there will be less of me! We will see.

SW = 192

Restart Weight: 189

LW = 135 (long time ago)

GW = 150

UGW = 142

I weigh in every Monday – so if you just want to see if I am actually walking the walking then Monday’s are the day to check back.

I am getting no sponsorship from SparkPeople, I just believe that it is the most wonderful free support I have ever had. I welcome you to join me or even just go watch Vlogs if you want  - that is fine.

Click Here to Visit My Sparkpeople Page.

Click Here to go to SparkPeople Main Page.

Confessions of a Carb-a-holic

Urgh! This is a HUGE problem for me! Since I have been back in the swing of monitoring and logged everything I eat I have noticed I get most of my calories from carbs and I am lacking big time in the protein department.

Let’s look at carbs first. Here are my pie (hmmm pie) charts for the last two days.

Tuesday

Wednesday

See all those carbs? It’s crazy…last night (or almost every night) I craved bread. I allowed myself one slice of whole-wheat bread, but I could have eaten an entire cake (more about that tomorrow).

Sparkpeople recommends that I have between 60 to 136 grams of protein a day. Tuesday I hit 41 grams and yesterday I only got up to 31 grams. It’s not that I don’t know how to fix this; it’s that I really really really love carbs. I love carbs almost as much as I love sleep-ask JAG…he will tell you how many time I say “I love sleep.”

I guess this is my way of saying I am aware of it and I need to work on it and by tell you it means I have to come back later and tell you that my carbs and proteins are all in line.

As I was typing this post I got an email from sparkpeople entitled The Truth about Carbohydrates – I know it’s like they were reading my mind. Here is there simple advice.

How do you include carbohydrates in you diet in a safe, effective, and controlled way? The “Please KISS Me” (Please Keep It So Simple for Me) plan for carbohydrate control is a wonderful tool that only contains 3 simple rules:

RULE 1: Include the following in your diet:

• Fruits: 2-4 servings daily
• Vegetables: 3-5 servings daily
• Whole grain breads, muffins, bagels, rolls, pasta, noodles, crackers, cereal, and brown rice: 6-11 servings daily
• Legumes, beans and peas: 1-2 servings daily
• Low-fat and non-fat dairy products: 3 servings daily

RULE 2: Limit the following to less than 2 servings daily:

• Fruit Juice
• Refined and processed white flour products (bread, muffins, bagels, rolls, pasta, noodles, crackers, cereal)
• White rice
• French fries
• Fried vegetables

RULE 3: Eliminate the following from your diet or eat only on occasion:

• Sugary desserts, cookies, cakes, pies, candies
• Doughnuts and pastries
• Chips, cola and carbonated beverages
• Sugar, honey, syrup, jam, jelly, molasses

Here is a cute cartoon I found while searching for carb pics.

After post edit or thought: I really need to watch that fat too. I am in range, but dang!

What I'm Eating...I actually know..

What is this you ask?

This is what I ate yesterday. Why am I am showing it to you?

Because I stayed in my calorie range! Yay! Oh, I hear you judgy judgers (heehee) making comments about my fast food junk. All I have to say is one step at a time. Let me get back into tracking everyday, and then I will change another habit. Yesterday was busy, but today is a lot better. I also am aware about my protein...I am a carb junky. 

Last night I planned out my “menu” for today, packed it all up and have some great with it today!

haha...gold star for the first person to point out all the words I misspelled!

I got on the scale this morning I was down to 182.5, but that is not official until next Tuesday.

Wedding Day Ready!

Invitations are out

Cake is ordered

Dress is tailored

Everything is ready of October 30^th

Everything, but…

My Body

This picture was actually taken last week. When I got on the scale this morning I was at 184 pounds, so that a half a pound weight loss. It came to my attention yesterday-or pretty much slapped me right in the face-that I have 60 days until my wedding. I have goofed off enough! Time to get busy!

I would say I have to lose 20 pounds before then (2.5 pounds a week), but I cannot lose that much weight and still have my dress fit correctly. As I have told my fellow sparkpeople yesterday, I really just want to be comfortable in my body that day. I do not want to stand there thinking that people are figuring my BMI in their head-I know that won’t happen, but you know.

So I spent some time this morning making a list of what I need to do every week for the next 8 weeks to be Wedding Day Ready. I expect this list to grow as I find new things, but I really do not want to obsess over it.

1. I need to VLOG daily. This is video blogging on sparkpeople.com
2. Track every bite of food I eat.
3. Drink eight 8 oz glasses of water a day or more.
4. Get on the scale. Normally I would be against weighing myself daily, but I think I need to be aware everyday.
5. Plan what I am going to eat and eat it. This means get to the grocery store so I will have snacks and decent food.
6. Complete Bridal Bootcamp at least five days a week.
7. Complete some kind of cardio at least once a day.
8. Do things that help with stress – like not procrastinating so much!
9. Use sparkpeople friends and videos to stay motivated!
10. Measure once a week. Oh…measuring tape how I dislike you.

Oh and I need to blog here at least daily. I need to tell you all what is happening so that I can have some accountability. The posts maybe as small as this is what I ate today, this is how I worked out and this is how I feel about myself, but at least I will be here, right?

I Told Them They Were Not Invited to The Wedding.

Yeap! I did it. I looked right into the mirror and told these flabby, flapping arms they were to not come within a hundred mile radius of my big day.

I mean they have already made an embarrassing appearance at Kim’s wedding.

Yikes. What kind of funky dance move was that? I think that maybe that was a too many glasses of wine move.

Seriously, though this is the picture that I untagged of myself on facebook. It was just too much. I couldn’t stand thinking people would see this.

So, how am I going to do it? I gotta set some major goals. I don’t want to set a weight goal. I don’t want to say “I have to lose 25 pounds before the wedding.” Nope I want to set some weekly nutriotion and fitness goals.

Ok! Stop LAUGHING! Yes this is me the girl who dropped Tennis last year because I really didn’t want to run to chase a ball. And this is the girl that could knock back two big macs in one setting because McDonald’s had a 2 for offer. That is why I am sitting here today typing this…obese and unhealthy.

Here is my plan!

Food!

1. I plan to eat between 1200 and 1500 calories a day. And track every morsel that gets put into my mouth through Spark People.
2. I plan to eat out (fast food and restaurants) no more then twice a week. This is huge for us…if there is one thing JAG and I have in common it is our love for food.
3. It’s not just the calories it is the type of foods. I need to keep fats at a range of 27-60, Carbs at a range of 135-252, and protein 60-136. I didn’t come up with this on my own, Spark People helps with this.
4. WATER!!! I drink diet soda A LOT. Diet soda, wine, and coffee. Water needs to be up to eight 8-oz glasses a day. I have known this since I was 18 and teaching other people to do it. It can be done and will also do wonders for my face.

Fitness!

1. Cardio everyday! I know it is extreme, but for right now I need it. I need to do atleast 45 minutes everyday. I will alternate between the treadmill and allowing Jillian Michaels to kick my butt.
2. Oh I am going to dread this, but resistance training (muscle building and toning) especially in those flabby arms everyday! I plan to do bridal bootcamp everyday.

Don’t worry…you will keep my accountable. I will come and tell you how it goes. Especially will Jillian. That broad kicks my booty and I usually quit mid-way through, so my ultimate goal is to make it through an entire 45 minutes with the same intensity she puts out.

What is Spark People?  It is awesome and I will definitely share with you my experience tomorrow. Or you could be proactive, click the link or click the icon on my side bar and get directly to my page. I post daily (well almost daily) video blogs for my spark friends. Just fyi I am not being paid my Spark People and I just think it is cooler then cool!

Here We Go!

You have no idea how long it has taken me to make myself type this blog entry. I have had my blog header made for some time now.

So Introduction Time!

You came here one of 3 ways (I think).

1. You know me from StrawberryTart! If so, welcome. This means that you are a friend, family or a random reader (who I love just as much as the other two).
2. You know me from Spark People! YAY! That is soooo Awesome!
3. You randomly came across me in a search or by hitting “next blog!”

No matter how you got here I welcome you! I know that you are here for one of three things.

1. You are NOSEY! Nosey Nosey…no worries I am the queen of nosey. Be nosey all you want. I am so going to tell you how much a weigh too! Ooohh! And post nasty before pics…aren’t you excited! Yoohoo!
2. You are here to support me in my journey! Ahhh I love you for that!
3. You have no clue, but you love my header! I know…me too!

Again, no matter what reason you are here, Welcome! Big Cyber Hug to you!

Now, about me in case you need a re-fresher course.

My name is Dana, otherwise known as StrawberryTart! In the blogging world. I have been blogging for two years now and I love it! It is the best, free therapy there is, at least for me. I plan on continuing with two blogs. In StrawberryTart! I will continue to give you my life and here at SkinnyTart! I will give you my weight loss journey.

Ah yes…the reason you are here…I am fat. Actually if you look at the charts and that dang Wii fit I am obese. Don’t you just love that word? Obese.

How did I get here?

I wish I could write out paragraphs about how this isn’t my fault, but it would all be a lie. I got myself to this point.

I am going to be lazy and share with you what I told the wonderful people at Spark People.

In 1977 I was born a healthy 10lb baby…I say that is the start of it all (I seriously know it’s not). I was never a small petite child like my sister. I would say it was elementary school when I caught up to my sister in clothing size even though she was three older then me. I was never considered to be the “fat kid” at school, but I was one of the tallest girls. I believe I got to my current height of 5 foot 4 inches (6 inches in good heals) when I was in junior high.

Looking back on pictures of Junior High and High School I could kick myself for thinking I was overweight. I spent many many years comparing myself to girls who did not have the same body structure as me and in turn began what I thought was “dieting” my freshman year in high school. If someone said it would make me thin I would do it: diet pills, diuretics or not eating at all.

When I was 18, I went to work for a major weight loss company. At the time I was 135 pounds and felt still that I needed to lose more weight. That didn’t happen. Actually, after going up and down I landed at 160 when I was 23. Then my world changed. After years and years of being obsessed with my weight I found my self pregnant. I took this as an excuse for an all out free for all and gained an unhealthy amount of weight during my pregnancy with my daughter. When I gave birth on September 13, 2001 I weighed 224 pounds. I thought for sure those 60 pounds would leave my body the moment I checked out of the hospital (stupid young girl).


During the past 8, almost nine years, my weight has fluctuated. When I was married I was about 170. Normally when people get divorced they lose weight, not me. My weight and calorie intake was such a priority for my x-husband that as soon as we split and had another free-for all and gained 20 pounds.

So here I am today, two years after my divorce weighing 192 pounds. During the past two years I have stopped smoking, but that is no excuse…I was this weight before I stopped smoking. I pretty much have just been maintaining.


My daily obstacles are all me! Me! Me! Me! I normally do not put my health first. Fast Food is easy when you have a schedule packed full. I even had a moment where I thought…I am happy with myself I am good at this size (trying to fool myself). Then last week my knees started hurting…I realized I hadn’t taken the stairs at work for the past month because it was so embarrassing to be that out of breath in front of my co-workers. I even un-tag pictures of myself on facebook because I can stand to look at myself, head shots only at this point.

So, there you have it. That is my story and my first post on this blog! Woohoo!


Again, Welcome! Come back tomorrow for the embarrassing before pics, measurements, and my weight as of today (intro was a few weeks ago).

Don’t worry…I am not embarrassed. I want this. I want you to read…I need your help!