Time to plan some rewards!

In the past, I've prepped for these diets by setting weight loss goals and making sure I had all these built in rewards, as if losing the weight wasn't reward enough.  Needless to say, I can't remember when the last time was that I actually hit a goal.  This time, everything is different.

To begin with, I'm not looking at this as a diet.  These changes I'm making aren't going to be temporary.  Assuming I hit my ideal weight, I'm not going to suddenly return to my former habits.  Those days are over.  Instead, I need to accept this is my new life, my new relationship with food.  I'm making lifestyle changes.

Watching my food diary closely, I have accepted the current changes are all about convenience, but won't be long term meals.  As I grow more comfortable with eating, I'll be integrating new recipes, new foods.  It's exciting.  It will come in time as I heal from the surgery, which is when I'll be incorporating exercise too.

Still, there is one thing I'd like to do now.  I need to make my list of rewards.  Sure, the weight loss itself is good, but I need to work on building better habits, being proud of my appearance once more.  That's what my little prizes are about.

My Rewards

• For losing 10lbs…a haircut.  I desperately need one.  Maybe I'll post before and afters.  
• For losing 20lbs…a pedicure.  I deserve one.  And the husband deserves to have summer feet rubbing up against his legs.
• For losing 30lbs…makeup!  I never wear it, but I should
• For losing 40lbs…a massage.  I love them and my body will probably need one after all that exercise.
• For losing 50lbs…Victoria's Secret.  I'll be ready for a new bra and panties or…lots.  
• For hitting my goal of losing 65lbs…a new wardrobe.  Let's face it.  I'll need it.  Even the yoga pants will be falling off me.

Have any other ideas?  I'm open.

Already breaking the rules...

When I started this journey just a few days ago, I promised myself I wasn't going to weigh in every day.  Experience has taught me that my water can fluctuate greatly.  It's also shown I need to be able to change my eating habits and increase my exercise.  Really, it pained me to discover there was no way around that.

Still, this morning, I felt better than I have in weeks.  So, I tinkled…and stripped down, prepared to face my nemesis.  After poking it with my toe, the scale blinked to life, the screen turning a deceptively soothing blue.  Finally, I stepped on, both feet, and waited.  When I found the courage to look down, I realized that I was six pounds lighter than I was on Friday, which was technically 2.6 lbs lighter than I'd been the day before.

Part of me doesn't want to get too excited.  I know it's partially water weight.  At the same time, the scale doesn't care if it's fat or water, so I'm going to take it.  I'm going to celebrate that I've managed to stick to the new eating plan and it's paying off.

While I celebrate, I'm going to make bacon.  Who doesn't love bacon?  Best of all, I've learned to make bacon in the OVEN!  It's so much easier, neater, and crisper than my pan frying method.

Oven Bacon

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Line your baking sheet with foil.  Lay out the bacon.  Cook for 10 minutes.  Flip it.  Cook for another five to ten minutes.  Enjoy!

Yeah, it's that easy.  Awesome, right?

I need to decide what day of the week to weigh in.  If not, I'm going to get in the habit of weighing in too often.  Soon that will only lead to disappointment.  I'll run out of water and the pounds will drop more slowly.  I'll hit the dreaded plateau.  

Ps.  Like my ticker?  Grab yours on My Fitness Pal.  Set up a profile and be my friend: thenicknick.

There's an App for That...

My daughter, the twenty year old, has been nagging me to try the diet app she swears by.  It's called My Fitness Pal.  They have it for iPhones and online.  I'm going to give it a shot, but quite frankly I'm not sure it's going to work for me.

My concerns:

• I can't handle another time suck.
• I'm using a high protein, low carb diet and this lays out a diet plan based predominantly on calories.

Why Rachel likes it:

• The food diary.  (Even I can see the benefits.  It even encourages a water count.)
• Exercise record.  (She loves seeing how many calories she burned.)
• It records her weigh ins and calculates when she'll achieve her goal weight.

Why JB McGee likes it:

• She can keep track of recipes.
• She can link up with friends.  (But I couldn't find her.)

So, if you are looking for an app that might just help you stay on track, try this.  I'm thenicknick.  We can be friends and root each other on.  Gawd, I hope you can't see my weight.  Let me know what you think.  

Dieting Truths, And Some Tips

I'd love to be able to give you the numbers on my weight loss efforts.  These are the ones I know for sure…

Through the years, I've gained and lost hundreds of pounds.  I was that hated girl who always managed to eat whatever she wanted and stayed healthy…until I had children.  If I gained a few pounds in college, I did a week of Slimfast, and I was fine once more.  Unfortunately, I've been a mother for almost twenty-one years.  What this means is I've pretty much tried every pill, potion, patch, and lotion that promised a quick and easy solution.

When those didn't work, I tried every diet known to man.  Some worked better than others.  Kudos to those who have had success with Weight Watchers, I just wasn't one of them.  Instead, the diet designed by the diet doctor really did work best for me.  I can break it down.  It's super simple.  Ready?

Eat 27 grams of protein and less than 10 grams of carbs three times a day.

Sure, there's a little more to it.  There are snacks, also of the higher protein, lower carb variety.  The first meal of the day should happen by 10am to get the body into burn mode.  And by incorporating exercise, the body will get back into shape faster.  By following this method, there are many who lost 20lbs a month.  I wasn't among them.  I think my best month was 17lbs.  Still, that is awesome progress for a month.  

I can do this.  Little changes.  

My change for this morning?  I'm starting to prep food.  I know me.  If I'm going to eat right, it needs to be simple.  I boiled eggs.  I'm baking bacon in the oven.  I'll even precut some cheese.  This morning, I'll be having eggs, bacon, and cheese.  Nice diet, right?

1 Egg: 6g protein, 0 carbs

1 piece of Bacon: 5g protein, 0 carbs

1" cube of cheese: 7g protein, 0 carbs

So…2 eggs, 2 slices of bacon, 1 cube of cheese: 29g of protein, 0 carbs

I'm only going to weigh myself once a week.  Female body weight fluctuates too much.  As I finish healing from the surgery, I'll be incorporating exercise.  Little changes.  If I do too much at once, I'll quit.  I'll feel overwhelmed.  I'll give up.  I know me.  

The End of Excuses is The Beginning of Change

So, it's Friday and I've survived one helluva week.

It all began on Tuesday, with the surgery.  We haven't really talked about it, not with others, and not with each other much, but it's time.  See, this marks a turning point in my life.  There will be no more babies.  At 42, after four challenging pregnancies that resulted in three premature babies and one still birth, in addition to two heart breaking miscarriages, it was time to accept it.  Still, letting go is difficult.

I remember when we walked out of the doctor's office last Thursday.  Sam looked at me and I looked at him.  He was the first to break the silence.

Sam: So, now that we aren't having anymore babies, what do you want to do with the rest of our life?

My response just sort of bubbled forth, but I still meant it.

me: Well, I'm out of excuses.  No more babies.  Guess it's time to get back into fighting shape.

After all, I still have a two and half year old to chase around.  It's not easy at any age.  It's especially challenging since I'm older and overweight.  I was tired of hiding behind the camera.  Even though my husband clearly loves me and is attracted to me, I wanted to feel really confident and sexy.  It was time.

Thus, we showed up at the hospital on Tuesday at oh dark thirty and I weighed in.  Sam tried to peek and I warned him it was grounds for divorce.  Even I didn't really know what I weighed, but I knew what my breaking point was, that number I never wanted to see on a scale, the one that would spur me to action.  And I was there.  Crap.

I tried comforting myself with the same lies I had been telling myself for some time.  It's just the baby weight.  My hope was I'd drop some serious pounds post op and feel better about things.  Only that didn't happen.  Instead, over the next two days, I gained water weight.  My legs felt like tree limbs.  I was stiff and uncomfortable on top of the surgical pain.  Finally, I was desperate to do something.

We met friends for lunch, Lonnie and Lindsay with their son Isaiah.  We showed the Ru Sans buffet who was boss.  Then, later in the afternoon, Lindsay and I talked on Facebook and decided to get serious.  Weight has been a struggle for both of us for entirely too long.  It was time to do something about it.

Going the route of Scared Straight, I stepped on the scale fully clothed, post buffet.  That did it.  We made a pact, an agreement.  We're going to work on this…together.  I have to succeed.  Know why?  I deserve better.  I deserve to be healthy and comfortable in my skin.  I want to chase my daughter around and have to pry my husband off of me.

So, I did what I do.  I started a blog.  I created a Pinterest Board: Lifestyle Changes.  I'm doing this.  See, I'm convinced the secret to success isn't about going crazy and making a ton of big changes all at once.  I know me well enough to know I will never maintain that way.  Instead, it's about making little changes for a big win.  What precipitates all change is the end of excuses.  Every ending is also a beginning.

No more babies for me.  Now the big adventure begins.  Time to get my body back.  Time to model a healthy relationship with food for my incredibly impressionable daughter.  Maybe by helping me, I'll help others too.