Pumped Up!

Believe it or not, according to my scale, I've lost 3 lbs already! It's a good chance it's wrong, but I weighed myself every hour and still the same! Perhaps my starting weight was wrong, either way, I'm soooo pumped up and movitated. There is something to this exercise and watching what you eat afterall ... figure that!

I'd like to share in brief a few things that seem to be working for me. Water, water, water! Purchased myself one of those 32oz jugs and set myself a goal to drink at least 640z. Also, I've been working out in the gym with weights, elliptical machine, and water exercise in the pool. I love YMCA! They have awesome programs and excellent gym equipments. Moving on, the diet part I mentioned before is the hard part for me. Sure enough it continues to be. I'm not following any specific diet meal. I don't think I can eat "healthy" food. I'd miss a lot of the Filipino food if I did that. Basically, I just eat less and trim the fat. I eat sweets, just very little and just so my stomach thinks I'm not depriving myself. So hard because I've got a closet pantry full of sweets!! Also, I've set up a diet blog (private for now). And of course my favorite (promoting this to married couples only!), making love ... hee hee :D. Well, that's it so far and of course your support ... namely my husband who has committed to babysit the kids so I can work out. I love you Honey!

I must add, I'm also going to work on my spiritual progression. My biggest fan is Heavenly Father and I don't want to let Him down. He's doing His part and I need to do mine.

It's a happy day for me. A turning point. :)

**Sidebar music: "I'm So Excited" by Pointer Sisters

Embarrassment Factor

I came across the following article today and found it interesting. From #4 below and taking inspiration from my friend Marque, I want to make public my quest to shed some weight and use the embarrassment factor. I don't have specific plans yet. I just have a goal date ... May 26th of this year, my wedding anniversary. I want to look hot for my Honey! I don't think I can do what Marque is doing ... pictures, detailed nutritional count, etc. So, what am I going to do? Well, I've been going to the Y for their water exercise, took a peek at dance exercise dvd, and failed miserably at the Healthy Habits program. With the first two and making use of the exercise equipments at the Y's gym will suffice for the exercise portion of this weight loss dream program. The hard part for me is the diet. I love food! I thought I was a food addict but I've been told that if I really were, I'd be 800lbs and since I'm not, there's hope. Well, I need your help ... support, encouragements, suggestions, specifics, etc. I'd like to lose 20lbs. Please, I need help quickly ... I've got 9 weeks!! Two pounds a week is doable. --That's it! I have to come up with a detailed commitment plan. I'll take your suggestions and let you know soon what I come up with. Wish me success and thanks in advance for your support.

I've chosen the Rocky theme song, "Gonna Fly Now" for the sidebar music because it has that motivating-underdog-win feel to it. My favorite parts in the movies were Rocky's physically gruelling training sessions so this song seemed appropriate there too. I need to work my a-- off!! Oops, I actually have a flat butt so that's going to be a problem ... hahaha.

Eat Right Without Thinking
Women’s Health
By Tamar Haspel, Women's Health
1. Always eat dessert. Yes, always. "A small amount can signal that the meal is over," says Barbara Rolls, Ph.D., author of The Volumetrics Eating Plan. She ends her meals with a piece of quality chocolate and she's a doctor.

2. Get help from a paper napkin. You can use it to blot a teaspoon of fat off a pizza slice. That may not sound like a lot, but multiply it by a slice a week, and that's more than a whole cup of fat you won't eat or wear this year.

3. Take the beltway. When junk food beckons, tighten your belt a notch. Not so you can't breathe, but so you have a gentle reminder of the size you'd like to be. "The scale isn't the only measure of weight," says Roberta Anding, R.D., a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.

4. Go public. Enlist the help of friends, family, and coworkers and know they're watching. "The power of embarrassment is greater than willpower," says Stephen Gullo, Ph.D., author of The Thin Commandments.

5. Milk it for all it's worth. Consuming 1,800 milligrams of calcium a day could block the absorption of about 80 calories, according to a recent University of Tennessee study. Jump-start your calcium intake by filling your coffee mug with skim or 1 percent milk, drinking it down to the level you want in your coffee, then pouring in your caffeine fix. That's 300 mg down, 1,500 to go.

6. Scrape by. Always order your bagel or burger with a plastic knife. Use it to scrape off the excess cream cheese and mayo. You could shave off as many as half the calories.

7. Spice things up. Capsaicin, the substance that puts the hot in hot pepper, temporarily boosts your metabolism. Just make sure you're drinking a yogurt lassi with that searing-hot chicken vindaloo. Dairy blocks capsaicin's sweat-inducing signals better than water.

8. Case the organic section. That's where you're likely to find bread and cereal with fiber counts that put the conventional choices to shame. Thought you were doing well with your 3-grams-per-serving Cheerios? Nature's Path Slim blows it away with 10 g. (And it really doesn't taste like a shredded shoebox.)

9. Increase your a-peel. Speaking of fiber, a lot of it's in the peel, whether it's potatoes, apples, or pears. Even oranges don't eat the whole peel, but keep the pith, that white stringy stuff; it's packed with flavonoids. More nutrients, more fiber, less labor. It's a win-win-win.

10. Spend lavishly on precut vegetables at the supermarket. Sure, they cost more, but you're more likely to eat them. "Make low-energy snacks as easy as possible," Dr. Rolls says. "Keep vegetables as near to hand as you can. Make it so you have no excuse."

11. Upgrade your restaurant selection. Pick a place where you'll actually want to linger. "When the meals are not hurried, the presentation is beautiful and the portions are reasonable so you can regulate your attitude," Anding says. That means your body not the empty plate will tell you when to stop.

12. Eat a snack at 3 p.m., no matter what. "Have a 150-calorie snack [now], and it can save you 400 calories later," Anding says. An ounce of nuts or two sticks of string cheese weigh in at about 170 calories.

13. Drink with your dominant hand. If you're circulating at a party, Dr. Rolls suggests keeping your glass in the hand you eat with. If you're drinking with it, you can't eat with it, can you?

14. Plate it. Whatever it is, don't eat it out of the container and don't bring the container to the couch. "Part of satiety is visual," Anding says. "Your brain actually has to see the food on the plate, and when you reach into the jar, or the box, or the bag, you don't see it." If it's worth eating, put it on a plate. Eat what's there, then stop.

15. Send back the bread. All it takes is a wave of the hand, a smile, and a "No, thank you."

16. Start with salad. It's the holy grail of dieting eat less by eating more. Dr. Rolls's research has found that eating a salad as a first course decreased total lunch calories by 12 percent. Avoid the croutons and creamy dressings, which have the opposite effect.

17. Go out for ice cream. Or an eclair. Or even guacamole and chips. Just go out. Don't keep your danger foods in the house. You can't eat half of a carton of ice cream that's not there in the first place.

18. Give yourself a hand. Find a way other than food to work off your nervous energy. "It's behavior modification," Anding says. "Instead of grabbing a bag of chips, you pick up your knitting. Art works, woodworking works anything that occupies your hands."

19. Wait a minute. Well, 10 minutes. When your mind strays from your desk to the vending machine, it could be hunger or it could be boredom or irritation with your boss. If you're still thinking about snacking 10 minutes later, then you're probably hungry. Think of it as a chance to have one of the nine servings of fruits and vegetables you need each day.

20. Go wild once in a while. Deprivation won't make you thin or happy. Designate a meal or two a week when you can eat absolutely anything you want.