Weigh-In Wednesday: A confession of a "cokeaholic"

by Susan
I have a confession, I cheated. We were at our parent's homes this weekend and I drank a coke, ok maybe it was more like three or four. Oh the temptation. I haven't been keeping coke in the house which has made it easy to stay on track but I got to my mom's and there they were; shiny red cans all nice and chilled. My mom knows that is my drink of choice and she had "stalked up" for me.
Romans 7:15 (NKJ) Paul says: what I will to do, I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. That is how I have been feeling lately. it is so frustrating to know what I need to do but without any thinking I let the temptations over rule. The next month is going to be full of temptations; it is going to be my choice to continue the cycle or break out it.

I mentioned before that I have been trying to pick up my bible when I want something instead of going to the cupboard and staring at the possibilities. This has helped me when I am at home but it is difficult to do when I am at someones else's home even if it is my mom's. Today I was reading a post on my pastor's blog about memorizing God's word verbatim with references. After reading that I decided to adjust my weekly goals and start memorizing scripture to remind me that I can make good choices when I am not at home.

Here are my goals for the next week:

1. I am starting to read in Ecclesiastes and I am going to work on memorizing this scripture: ...A wise man scales the city of the mighty, and brings down the trusted stronghold. Prov. 21:22 For me the trusted strong hold is food.


2. We are spending a lot of time with our extended family the next couple of weeks and I want to make sure to have some time for just DJ and me.


3. Logging my food and working towards burning 500 more calories per day then I eat.

Next week I weight-in on the scale to see if I made the goal of 5lbs for Thanksgiving.


~Susan

Hot Tip Tuesday: GET RID OF IT! (aka Magic Fudge)

by Jenn
I know our postings have been a bit sparse, but all of your SAHMs understand...if it's not one thing it's another!

If you're looking for an update on my goal of 5lbs by Thanksgiving, there's good news and there's bad news...here it is...

This morning I decided to finally weigh myself. Unlike Susan, who is scale obsessed, I avoid the scale like a plague. Ignorance is bliss, right? Well, I was sick over the weekend and the only things that "sounded good" were nachos, fudge and Coke classic. Normally these things wouldn't even be in my house (HONEST, just ask my friends, our food selection is very boring and fairly healthy thanks to our lack of self-control) but we had just had a leaders retreat and all of the leftovers came to my house. SO...when sickness hit I was able to indulge my weaknesses, NOT GOOD. Needless to say, it was time to face the music and weigh in.

This first time I stepped on the scale I was shocked, it said I had LOST 12lbs!!! Perhaps this fudge was MAGIC FUDGE!!! How could this be? So I moved the scale to a different spot on the floor and weighed again...12lbs down, AGAIN!!! Could this be? Is fudge the next weight loss miracle drug?! Knowing the unlikeliness of this (but secretly hoping deep inside), I moved the scale one more time and all of the magic left...3lbs up. Boo. (ah well, it was nice while it lasted) That's definitely the BAD news.

Here's the GOOD news. Yesterday, while trying to regain my footing after being sick for three days, I couldn't stop thinking about that fudge just waiting for me with all of it's creamy goodness contrasted against it's crunchy nuttiness (ok, I'll stop). I found myself walking toward the freezer (I had put it there in an attempt to avoid it...and yes, I ate it frozen, don't judge) several times telling myself that I would just have "one more piece" and then be done with it. Well, friends, one more piece turned into SEVERAL more pieces. Finally I got a hold of myself and did the unthinkable...I THREW THE MAGIC FUDGE AWAY! That's right, the fudge that was delicious and comforting (and deadly) went into the garbage never to be seen again (well, at least until Christmas comes along with some new fudge).

So, here's my hot tip of the week: When you know you just can't handle yourself around a certain food item, GET RID OF IT! I knew the moment that fudge entered my house that it would be a problem. I couldn't, however, stand the thought of throwing it away. So, I put it in the freezer in the garage far away from my normal roaming patterns. Usually this would work for me, but we're talking about FUDGE, people, this is not the USUAL temptation! So (although a little too late) I finally did what my first instinct had told me to do and threw the lovely fudge away (in the OUTSIDE garbage-this was serious).

For all of you food-savers who can't stand the thought of "wasting" food, don't panic. There are other options to throwing food away. You can give it away to a skinny friend (sabotage?), you could share it the moment you received it (which is what I should have done at the retreat), or you could send it to work with your spouse. The method doesn't matter, but the principle does. If you know you can't handle a certain food item in your house GET RID OF IT! One moment of food waste is ok for the sake of the health of your waist.

Wednesday Weigh In ... on Thursday

by Susan

Man, I am exhausted. You would think being a stay at home mom I would have so much time on my hands. I wish. I was so disappointed that I didn't get my "Wednesday Weigh In" posted on Wednesday. I know it sounds a little lame but i have huge problem with constancy in my weigh loss and I really wanted to break that. I am really good about logging my meals, exercising and being healthy for maybe two or three days and then everything flies out the door. So I am a day late but I'm posting.
I read an article this week 10ways to cut 100 calories on the Everyday Health website. It states that if you can cut 100 calories per day it can result in a 10 pound weight loss. Guess what one of the tips was? go on a beverage alert! "Obvious drinks to avoid sodas"! The article goes on to attack my coffee creamer. Two of my most favorite things. I have to say that I have been told to cut out "my coke" and i will loose weight. I have done it before while trying to conceive and remained "caffeine free" for 9 months with my first baby. When i was pregnant with our second I found a loop hole. I could have 300mg of caffeine a day. So I went searching. I found out that 20 ounces of Coke only has 51mg of caffeine. As I am writing this I am embarrassed at how pathetic and addicted I sound. It is time; I'm going cold turkey.

Here are my goals for this week:

1. I am still working on finishing the Song of Songs series. I tried to finish it last week but it was longer than expected. I have also been reading in the book of Hosea.
2. Take Ryleigh on a date.
3. Log my food and NO COKE. I am also going to work toward Jenn's goal of 5lbs for Thanksgiving and 5lbs. for Christmas.
   

Here are the other tips for cutting 100 calories:

1. Make oil substitution


2. Go on a beverage alert


3. Change up the coffee


4. Modify the recipe


5. Portion control counts


6. Learn to say "no thanks"


7. Beware of condiments


8. Watch out for toppings, dressings, and dips


9. Make smart food substitution


10. Drink responsibly

Here's to a good week. ~ Susan

I'm Back and ready to jump!

by Jenn
I took an unintentional hiatus from blogging both here and there, but I'm back and ready to get this weight loss party started! I know what you're thinking, "She sounds too ridiculously peppy to be talking about dieting." Perhaps I do sound a little silly, but I can't help but get excited because I finally have a goal that is measurable, challenging and yet (with some serious hard work) still attainable. Are you ready to hear it? (drum roll please...)

My goal is to lose 5lbs BEFORE Thanksgiving and 5lbs more BEFORE Christmas!!! I know, I know, it's the holiday season and it's crazy to try to lose weight in November or December, but I have great logic behind why I chose this goal.

I have been overweight going on over 10 (yikes) years and there have always been "great" reasons to wait on losing weight. I was dealing with work, then I was dealing with infertility, then miscarriage, then infertility drugs, then work stress, then friendship stress, then IUI procedures then (finally) pregnancy, then a new baby, then a busy summer, then-oh wait-then is NOW. I've come to the conclusion that there is never a "good time" to lose weight. There is, however, always time to hate having a fat bottom, low energy and zero confidence. (Funny how that works, isn't it?)

So, here I am, jumping back in to weight loss with a head full of excuses on why this is bad timing, but a heart just as full of reasons why I must be who God wants me to be. (Besides, maybe working so hard to lose 5lbs will keep me from gaining during the holidays???)

Here's my game plan for this week: Exercise at least 4 times and write down what I eat.

Here's to 5lbs by Turkey Day...Geronimo!!!