Losing 100+ pounds – Weekly Update – Weeks 19-21

Well, after a  couple weeks of being ill and barely eating anything, sandwiched in between some good days, I’m finally back on track with food and exercise again. 

The weigh-ins over the last few weeks have been unreliable given how I’ve been feeling, but today I’m finally ready to give a new weigh-in.  And the number is 286.6 basically another pound down from a few weeks ago. 

As you can imagine, while I was sick I wasn’t eating much and definitely wasn’t exercising, but I’ve been back to exercising for a little over a week now, working in “functional exercise” (aka… physical labor and walking) with the Turbulance Training challenge I have for myself for March. And it’s good to know that I’m feeling good – walking faster. Even I’m now able to do walk/run intervals on the treadmills, which is pretty cool.

Even though I’ve been sick, I have been doing  a LOT of research and reading, learning more about changes I should be making to faciliate good health and weight loss.  In the last 3 weeks, I’ve read:

•  The Diet Solution by Isabel De Los Rios
• The Maker’s Diet by Jordan Rubin
• Restoring Your Digestive Health by Jordan Rubin
• Eat Fat, Lose Fat by Mary Enig and Sally Fallon
• The Metabolic Typing Diet by William Linz Wolcott and Trish Fahey
• Mastering Your Metabolism by Jillian Michels

Over the last 12 years, we’ve learned a lot of about customizing nutrition to balance each person’s biochemistry. I use nutrition to influence (control) my children’s behavior. And we’ve seen DRAMATIC differences in behavior with the kids once we found the right nutritional blend. And finally, through these materials, I’ve finally found good explanations of the why and how of using customized nutrition. very cool!

But the biggest deal right now is that my husband has finally found the food combinations/timing that makes him feel good.  

When we were doing the carb rotation meal plan from Jayson Hunter that came with the Fat Loss Quickie program, the difference in his attitude, energy levels, and ability to stay calm was dramatic and nearly immediate, even though he was not doing the exercise portion.

Within 3 days, HE was noticing the difference in how different foods made hime feel. And now, two months later, he is completely unwilling to eat things he knows will make him feel poorly.

But the odd thing was that I did not do well on the carb rotation diet, but after reading through Isabel de Los Rios’ materials, we learned why.  And because I’m interested in nutrition and the biology side of it all, I basically have been reading through the reference/resource section of Isabel’s The Diet Solution manual, learning the why behind many of her recommendations.

It’s been interesting, for those of you who know my husband, amazing – no miraculous – that he is caring about his nutrition (he’s – was – a fast food junk food addict!).

So hopefully I’ll get back here more this week and share more of what’s going on here in that department.  It might not be weight loss, but hey – I’m all for feeling good. Who wants to be exhausted for the rest of their life? Not me!

So how’s March been going for you?

Checking in & Sharing an Aromatherapy Tip for Stress Eating (video)

It’s been a few weeks since you’ve heard from me because I’ve been really sick. But Spring has come and I’m feeling better, so I thought I’d say hi in person and share a quick tip from the garden on how aromatherapy helps me combat stress – without any calories

And I’m curious…what are your favorite scents? Mine are vanilla, chocolate mint, and lavendar (can you tell?)

Losing 100+ pounds – Weekly Update – Week 18

Well Move it March is off to a good start! Both the scale and I moved this week

The scale is back down to 287.6 which is good. 

And better yet, I took my measurements on Friday, so I had beginning numbers for the 4 week Turbulance Training Beginner Total Torso Training program, and… they are also proof that while the scale hasn’t been good for me lately, the tape measure was  

Another reason to take those measurements!

If you remember from last week, I had gone in to the doctor for lab work to see if anything else, besides my hypothyroid condition is contributing to the fact that I haven’t been losing weight lately. And… guess what. My thyroid levels are out of whack again. 

Yep, despite the fact that I’ve been controlling the hypothyroid condition with medication, and in October the levels were in the normal range, last week they weren’t.

So, that would definitely contribute to my fatigue, whacky sleep schedule, and lack of weight loss.  So my thyroid meds were changed again (yes last week they changed them before the test, and this week they changed them again, to reflect the results of the test.)

Also, my vitamin D levels were really low. Go figure on that. Guess I haven’t been outside enough to off-set my aversion to milk.  So have to deal with that as well.

But I was glad to see that it wasn’t just a matter of move more (which I’m doing anyway for Move It March), that there have been health issues causing some of my challenge.

Also, the other big change around here is that I finally broke down and bought coconut oil and Udo’s Oil (Omega 3/Omega 6 blend). And I’ve started using them.  I’ve used olive oil for years. A couple months ago, purged the margarine and went back to real butter. So now, I’m made that leap to add the healthy coconut and omega 3 oils to my diet as well.  So, another step forward…

How’s your week been? Is there anyway I can support you in your goals? Please let me know!

….Shannon

March’s Goal – Exercise with Turbulance Training

So, each month I try to pick a new goal to work on. January was the 30 Day Fat Loss Quickie program. February was all about re-vamping our nutrition and cutting out the diet soda. And March is back to excercise. Think of it as “Move It March!”

Specifically, my goal for March is to do the 4 week Turbulance Training Beginner Total Torso Training program.  This is a beginner bodyweight program from fitness trainer Craig Ballantyne that really works on strengthing your abs and core muscles.  Which for me, with my back issues, is essential to keeping my back pain at bay.

I’ve followed Craig for a couple years now, and really like his approach, so I’m going to commit to this 4 week program.  The program is supposed to be followed three days a week, in this pattern:

Day 1 – Workout A

Day 2 – light exercise day

Day 3 – Workout B

Day 4 – Light exercise day

Day 5 – Workout C plus interval cardio

Day 6 – light exercise

Day 7 – light exercise plus Grocery planning, shopping, and prep.

Each workout is supposed to be about 45 minutes, so not too bad time wise.

Equipment wise, the TT Beginner Total Torso Training program only needs a exercise/stability ball, some dumbells, and a bench, or something to use as a bench. So I’ve got all that covered, and all ready to go.

For my light exercise days, I just plan on doing fun activities with the kids, taking walks, playing tennis, gardening, and if I can get my bike fixed or replaced, heading out on some neighborhood bike rides.  One of my big motivators is to just get out and have fun with the kids, so I’m working that in.

Also, baseball season started for my 10 yo son, which means I’m spending 2 hours at a time at a baseball practice waiting. So I like to use that time to walk  around the fields and listen to audio books or podcasts on my iPod. So more built-in opportunities to Move It!

So, I’m starting the Turbulance Training program on Friday, March 5th, just because schedule wise that makes it work for me. So, so my workout days will be Fridays, Sundays, and Tuesdays. And my plan and prepare days are Thursday, which is a day I’m usually home all day and the day before pay day and my grocery shopping time. So that should work out. It’s already on the schedule

Thank you as always for your support!  Please let me know how I can support your weight loss or fitness goals for March.

…Shannon

Losing 100+ pounds – Weekly Update – Week 17

Well another week has gone by, and it’s a new month. It’s been rather frustrating the last few months with the same 3 pounds being lost and gained. But I’m determined to break through this barrier and get the job done.

Scale wise…I was back to 288.4 again.

I headed to the doctor this week, to investigate if there’s other issues that are affecting my metabolism and ability to lose this weight.  It may just be that the changes are still internal and not reflecting in weight loss yet, but just in case, I wanted to get some medical testing done.

So I’ve given a few vials of blood and we’ll see how that comes back. The doctor also suggested we change my thyroid medication to brand specific, instead of generic, and a slightly higher dosage. Apparently generic thyroid meds are only 80% effective over brand. So we’ll give that a try also.

If the med tests come back normal, then it’ll just be looking more at implementing more of the changes Isabel De Los Rios recommends, keep watching how and when I’m eating, and of course exercising more.

The weather has turned warmer here (about 60 degrees during the day) and the kids are out with their bikes. Makes me wish my bike was fixed. I have  trouble with it staying rideable because the tires and chain can’t seem to sustain the pressure of my weight.  Really need to get a new bike that is built to sustain a higher weight limit.  Would be nice to go riding with the kids.

Now that my February goal to be free of all types of soda is met, I am now ready to start in on my March goal, which is back to exercise again.

Thanks for staying with me and keeping me motivated to get this done! Please let me know how I can support you in your goals too.

….Shannon