Killing Christmas Cravings

One of the hardest things about Christmas time when you are trying to lose/maintain your weight is the once a year foods, and the food you have access too.

Fake Hunger

The first thing I am going to help you avoid is “fake hungry.” 

This is when you suddenly have an intense urge to eat, especially when the craving is for a specific food, such as eggnog, chocolate, or a Big Mac. 

This is type of hunger is psychological and if you can distract yourself for about 5 minutes the craving often passes.

Try some of the following ideas to get your mind off food:

·         Email or call a friend

·         Do some window shopping

·         Take a walk

Food Hostage

You're out doing you last minute shopping, when the smell of the food court makes your tummy scream, "YES!!  I NEED FOOD NOW!!!”

Before you find yourself saving, “I’ll have a number 5 with a Diet Coke.” let’s start over before you went shopping.  (By the way, a McDonald’s Premium Grilled Chicken Sandwich has 420 calories, and medium fries are 380 - a total of 800 calories!)

1.      First, make sure to eat a healthy breakfast or lunch before going out.

2.      Take a bottle of water with you or one of those cute metal ones you can reuse!

(They are inexpensive, environmentally conscious, and make an awesome gift!)

3.      Do NOT shop until you drop! Shop just for a few hours.  Day-long shops trips always include a meal at a restaurant.  This usually nullifies all the calories you burned walking around! 

Festive Fare

The hardest part for me is the foods that come but once a year.  Like Eggnog, Aunt Linda’s broccoli and cheese casserole, Lefse, and decorated sugar cookies in Holiday shapes!  How can you avoid something you love, and only get to have once a year?!?!?!  My advice is don’t. 

Obsessing over what you should and should not eat will stress you out!!!  In the end it always triggers a binge that makes you fall off the wagon!!  :(

It is okay to indulge a bit.  Take a very small portion and savor the taste. 

Your first bite should also be your last bite!

Don't Wait until New Year's!

Wow... it’s 9 days until Christmas and 15 days until 2009 draws to a close!

Lots of people will make the resolution to get healthy in 2010.

But why wait 15 more days to start getting healthy?!

Why allow yourself to binge the next two weeks and then spend January working off the pounds you never needed to add!?

Holiday parties often have trays and trays of easy to pick up calorie dense treats.

My tip:  If you can eat it without plate, AVOID IT!!!

Every 500 extra calories is 0.25 pounds added to your belly!!!

Here are 12 Holiday foods in a 500 calorie portion, like the 12 days of Christmas!

12 oz. Eggnog

11 Shrimp Cocktail

10 Filled Chocolates

9 Stuffed Mushrooms

8 Little meatballs

7 Cordial Cherries

6 Lindt truffles

5 ounces cheese!

4 cubes of fudge

3 ounces nuts

2 gingerbread men

and a slice of pecan pie!

Awesome For Hire!

I am now kicking my Bay Area job hunt into high gear!

http://hirejessicascott.blogspot.com/

I have started pounding the virtual pavement, and hope to be working by January!




When looking for a job it is important to take care of yourself.

When unemployeed some people let themselves go, this is the opposite of what you should do!

Staying active not only fights off feelings of depression and stress, but also gives you more energy.

This makes a big difference because interviewers can tell the difference between a person truly "Ready to Rock!!!" and the one that is like... "I want a job."

Sad times might lead to poor eating habits.  Keep yourself safe!  Think about your end goal.
Put up a little sticky note on your monitor reminding yourself what you really want.

Be healthy and safe this Thanksgiving Weekend!!

I am very thankful for all of you who ready this blog and have been so patient as my husband and I transition to a new state.

Take care,

Jess  :)

Wait... How is 2009 almost over?!

I feel so bad because I have really neglected this site. :( I just have not had time to keep it up to date with all the changes taking place right now!

I hope you are doing well!

I plan to get back to blogging once we are settled in our new place.

Halloween Costume Contest!

The company where I got my leotards (www.welovecolors.com) to make my Cheetara costume is having a contest to see who made the BEST costume using their products.







Please vote for my costume!

Follow the link above, and click the little "Like" link.

Note: You need to be logged in with your google id.


There will also be voting on Facebook.

Once that page is up, I will post that link as well.

Thanks!

I LOVE HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!









I am going as the Diva from the 5th element this year!

Here is a sneak peak!









I hope to win the company-wide (3300+ Employees) costume contest with this one!!

I will post more pictures later.


REMEMBER TO VOTE!!!

I am a dork...

If you have been reading my blog, you know that I am a dork that really likes to keep tabs on things. I have a excel spreadsheet where I record my daily weight and chart it.

Well since I got braces I have been taking a picture with my phone after each adjustment to see my progress. It is kinda neat to see how my teeth have gone from:




To this:

Time Will Tell

I am still in a holding pattern waiting for the moment my future will become clear.

Once I know which path to take I can start the ball rolling, but for now, I feel more like the marble on a roulette wheel.

I am waiting for all this uncertainty to end.

It may be as soon as a few weeks, or it may drag on for months.

I feel lots of pressure, and look forward to the release.

Aaron and I united in California is the goal.

On the Cusp of Change.

Aaron came back from CA, and has moved me into an apartment with a month-to-month lease on the east side of Madison. Most of our belongs are in boxes, only the essentials are out.

We still have a lot of purging to do before the big move.

We are in a holding pattern right now. It is hard not knowing how long it will be until the proverbial ship comes in.

I am trying to stay positive but it's been a crazy ride these last few months!

3 weeks....

The lease is up on our current apartment this month, and the Manager asked if we would be willing to move out early (9/24/09). They want to put in new carpet for the next tenant, paint etc...
She then said we could prorate our last months rent so we only pay for the days we are here! Sweet.

Aaron has been in San Francisco since 8/8/09 and it has been really hard living without him.

Aaron is still searching for work and a place for us to live. He has looked at a few places and he is looking at another one today.

On the job hunt: One company seemed very enthusiastic about hiring Aaron, but they never called back when they said they would, and that was about a week ago. I am beginning to doubt he will hear back from them in the affirmative... but we'll see... Plan "b" is already in full swing.


Once I get out there I will start a job hunt as well. The dream was that Aaron would get a job and I would go into "mommy-mode." But it might be the two of us living in a studio apartment again. ;)

Aaron and I lived in a TINY roach infested studio apartment when we first moved to Madison. Like when we had the full size futon in "bed" mode it FILLED the apartment. You had to crawl over it to get from a desk to the bathroom.

We might be going back to that lifestyle soon, but this time in San Francisco!

The current plan is to find a place and then Aaron will fly back here to help me load up a U-Haul and drive back across country with our slimmed down belongings and 2 cats!

We might throw a "going away" party or two... but that depends on how much time we have.

I have been super stressed but I am trying to keep cool and let life happen as it happens instead of worrying about the future. Worrying won't change what happens, but will make me feel miserable... and who wants that?

I try to focus on what I am doing at this second and not let my thoughts drift off into the "What if's...." I focus on the feeling of typing, the words as they appear on my screen. The hum of the computer's fan and the refrigerator. My own breathing, a passing car... Just keeping my mind in the present and not letting myself make me worry about the things I can't do anything about.

Living alone...

As perfect as Aaron is, there was one thing on which we disagreed...

To simplify it for a blog post: Aaron hates Wisconsin.

He wants to live in a large urban area with lots of culture and good public transit system.

He wants our kids to have opportunities to pursue their interests with a world class instructors.

These are things you can't find in small town in rural Wisconsin, and Aaron refused to start a family here. He even said that he would resent having kids here because they would "trap" him in Wisconsin.

So after years of arguing, soul searching and reaching our early 30s childless, I had an epiphany.

Just like when I realized that being fat and being me were not the same thing;
I realized that I don't have to live my life less than 25 miles from where I was born.

When I thought about it - it didn't matter to me WHERE we lived as long as we soon start our family.

My stubborness to stay in Wisconsin was preventing our own family from being born!

I shared this with Aaron, and soon he had a one-way ticket to San Francisco.

Aaron left last Saturday.

After being married for nearly nine years, I've found living alone hard. I have been keeping myself very busy so I don't have time to freak out about it. When I get stressed - it's like another person takes over my body and tries to make me eat really bad things. I stopped two "attacks" the Sunday after Aaron left.

"Crazy Jess" would start making a bowl of frosting or batter, and I would then stop "her."

I reminded myself that this is an unhealthy coping mechanism, and I should call a friend or workout. I then threw out all my trigger foods: chocolate chips, sugar, and cocoa powder. I have been okay since. :)


Aaron is staying with friends and is on the job hunt. He has some interviews, and is applying at IT temp agencies. (He is a computer programmer.) Once he has a job, he will find a place to rent.
Our lease here in Madison, WI is up at the end of September, so if he doesn't find a job and a place by then, we move to "Plan B."

Our future is really up in the air right now!


I am slimming down our belongings for a cross country move into a much smaller appartment.

Slimming Down

Aaron and I are moving to a new, much smaller, apartment soon and we need to slim down our personal belongings.

Although spending a weekend carrying boxes full of books we've never read, or DVDs viewed only once to our new place would be great exercise... there just isn't going to be room for them!!

We have been going through our collections, selecting only the "essentials."

Piles of really nice books, and like-new DVDs did not make the cut, so I thought I would take them to the local resale shop because they were too nice to just throw away!

I was only offered only $8.00 for over 20 really good books in really good condition. That was less than 30 cents each for books like this one:

I am not one to make the same mistake twice, so I started listing the remaining books and movies on Amazon.com.

In less than 24 hours, I had made 8 sales and shipped them off quickly!

Changing to Simple Layout again

Surprise! I have changed my site back to a cleaner, simple layout again.

My previous layout was pretty but not easy on the eyes.

I wanted to change to a layout that was neat and inconspicuous if you are browsing it at work!

I am still converting things, so be patient! :)

Have a happy, healthy and safe weekend!

-Jess :)

Changing Your "Spots"

I am loveable and deserve love!

It's often said "a leopard cannot change his spots" when someone believes he cannot change.

This saying goes all the way back to the bible: "Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots?"(Jeremiah 13:23)

I used to think that being a fat chick was who I was. Fat was me. My obesity was my leopard spots. I truly believed it was impossible for me to be healthy - I'm fat, I have always been fat -so why even try!!

Most people fail at weight loss because they can't change their spots. They go back to their old ways.

The truth is you can change your spots - but only after you believe you can!

Not a dream. Not a hope. Not a wish.

You really need to believe it is real... like those movies around Christmas time!!

Weight loss is more a mental process than a physical one. Your willpower and self-control, and self-esteem are key to your success.

You need to get your mind in shape before you can get your body in shape!

Are you battling depression or self-loathing? Get that taken care of first or you are setting yourself up for failure!

Losing weight isn't a magic bullet that will fix your life. You are loveable and deserve love right now - you don't need to lose weight for that! Do it for your health, that is the only reason that works.

Caught up in Summer!

First off, let me apologise for the long span between posts. I got so caught up in enjoying the Summer - I never found the time to make a new post!

I kept thinking, "Nothing to report! Life's great!"

I hope you are preparing for a happy, healthy, and safe 4th of July weekend!

Here is a funny video about getting healthy. I lost my weight just as they say by eating less (I made healthier choices, not really less) and moving more.

I would like to thank Starr for giving me the link to this video. It really made me giggle, and feel happy that I am losing weight the best way!

Letting food go to waste or to waist

Have you ever had to “finish off” something?

“It’s just a few more bites! I don’t want it to go to waste.”

As a child I was trained to eat everything. I had to sit at the dinner table until my plate was clean. I was also denied dessert until I ate everything. When I’d complain - I was reminded about “the starving children of the world.”

I learned that wasting food was bad and over-eating was good.
I was even rewarded for over-eating with more food!!! (Dessert)

I still have moments when my inner voice screams “I need to eat this or it will be wasted!!!”

Throwing away food was like throwing away money.

But honestly how much are those last bites worth?
Do you ever really benefit from over-eating?


Learning to “Waste” Food

When your brain is screaming “EAT THIS OR IT WILL GO TO WASTE” think of your waist!

You need to learn that it is okay to throw out food and let the last few bites go.

It’s okay, seriously. It’s better in a landfill or compost-pile than jiggling on your belly.

Learning to listen to your body and turn your senses back on when it comes to food, will help you notice when your body is satisfied sooner. (Before you’re stuffed.)

When was the last time you really paid attention to what you were eating?

Learning how to enjoy your food and eat only what you need is how a healthy person lives.

For example: breakfast today I had 1 whole egg plus an egg white - scrambled, with two links of vegetarian breakfast sausage on the side. (About 250 calories) While eating I really paid attention to the scent, texture and taste of my eggs and sausage. I concentrated on my senses and really focused on what I was doing and what my body was seeing, smelling, tasting, and feeling.

Honestly, it was magical. I felt just like a kid again. The eggs were full of flavor and wonderfully fluffy and spongy! The sausage was spicy and had a fantastic texture too. I even commented to Aaron (who must have thought I was crazy), “Wow! I really like scrambled eggs!” I wasn’t just woofing down my breakfast. I was actively participating in it.

Actively experiencing your feelings makes life fuller. You can feel satisfied eating less food and enjoy it more. Soon you will learn proper portions, and you will not have to worry about the excess going to waste.

About this blog

This "blog" originally started as a one-page tripod site that I would manually update. I would then send a link to my family and friends so I could share my weight loss achievements with them.

While updating the page to read: "-75 pounds lost!" I complained to a friend that I wished I kept a record of all my previous updates.

She suggested that I should use a "blog." I had never even heard of the word, but I soon had one up and going!

I also added pages for "before" and "current" pictures.

I never liked the term "after" for my pictures because the word after implies things have finished.

Truth be told, there isn't a "finish." You will always need to eating right and exercise in order to maintain a healthier body. You will need to find the level of fitness, that you can live with and be happy.

I was very unhappy with tripod(lycos) pages because they put banner ads for products I never would endorse or use all over my site, so I moved everything to blogger and turned the ads off.

Ahh! Finally peace... but that was not the case. :(


Over the years my site got really high ranks on search engines which resulted in lots of people trying to put their ads on my page.

This is why I turned the comments off for a while.

I also get lots of emails asking to purchase "ad space" as if I am a business! It really upsets me that they want to use my site to target your wallet! I fend them off daily, but it is really becoming a burden! I spend far too much time dealing with all of this! I am so tired of it all.

My number one goal has been to help others see that it is possible to lose over 100 pounds on your own - without any surgery, fad diets, "magic pills", or even a gym membership!

My compassion for you reading this page for inspiration or support is strong and clear, but it has become such a herculean task fending-off predatory advertisers!

I think I need to create my own "banner ad" to make this clear...


Comments with links targeting the overweight will be rejected.

Two weeks vacation!

Right now I am in the middle of a two week vacation, and it feels wonderful. :)

I used to get so paranoid about travel because restaurant meals are so caloric.

But this time we booked a hotel with a mini fridge and a microwave in room, so I have been able to eat healthy most meals of the day. :)

We plan to go to little Tokyo today. We'll most likely have sushi for lunch.

I really hope to visit Japan itself someday.

Sudden Intense Craving

Today I was struck by a craving for a McDonald’s Cheeseburger. Instantly my mind vividly imagined the smooth warm bun, the minced onions, pickles, and ketchup in the warm melty plastic cheese. I could smell it, and feel it, and taste it...

This really shocked me because I haven’t had a Mc Donald’s cheeseburger in over 10 years!

This only lasted a few seconds and now I feel really uncomfortable about the experience.

I don’t know what triggered such a lurid memory but its intensity was disturbing....

I'll have to look into that!



I woke up early this morning and did my Yoga DVD!

For breakfast I had and egg white cooked with olive oil on a piece of toast.

I had a mid-morning snack of some light vanilla yogurt.

Lunch was a Lean Cuisine Flatbread sandwich.

Late Afternoon I had another Lean Cuisine Flatbread sandwich (different flavor).

890 calories so far today.

I also took a walk around "the block" after lunch (about a mile).

Mean and Shallow

Sorry I have not posted in a while, but I have been crazy busy trying to get my costumes ready for the Anime Central (ACen) 2009 convention in Rosemont, IL.

I debuted my cosplay of The Diva Plavalaguna from the movie The Fifth Element on Friday, May 8^th 2009 to rave reviews!

Jess as The Diva Plavalaguna - "The stones are in me."

I put about 5 months of work into the costume. (Click here for more details and pictures.)

It took about 2 hours to get into it, with all the blending and painting to get myself the correct shade of blue. I’d like to give a big thanks to Aaron for all his zipping and tucking skills!

I think most people who saw my costume were very impressed by it... but sadly there was tiny group who were unimpressed by the person wearing it.

Behind my back I heard a young guy comment to his friends:

“Wow. That’s a great costume. Too bad she’s fat.”

Then later on the internet I read a comment saying: “she needed Jenny Craig.”

I got hundred of complements on my costume, but these two personal criticisms stick out the most.

I am not sure if I can express what it is like to have lost - and KEPT off - over 100 pounds and still be called fat by strangers....

Seriously, when did people become so rude? Why do they think it is okay to say/post those kinds of things?

I worked so hard for the body I have now, but I guess I didn't meet their "air-brushed playboy model ideal."

Not to be all "we-walked-up-hill-both-ways-to-school-in-the-snow" but there used to be these things called "manners." Where you would open doors for others, and if you didn't have anything nice to say, you wouldn't say anything at all.

It doesn’t “make you cool” to make fun of someone’s appearance -you look shallow, superficial, chauvinistic, ignorant, and petty.

Clean Bill of Health

My doctor could not find any lumps or asymmetry to match the results of the mammogram, so I was given a clean bill of heath. What a relief that was!

This month has been so hard for my weight loss - my breast cancer scare, stress at work, and the one year anniversary of my brother in-law's death have been wearing on my willpower.

Even through all this stress, I have been able to keep my weight stable pretty stable!

I am working hard to keep my weight loss trend going!

A new thing that I am doing is offering rewards to Aaron too. I am basically bribing him to make sure he encourages me to be active.

At the end of the week, we go to the book store and each get something if I am successful!


Today for lunch I went to Einstein Brothers' Bagels.

They have this new "under 400 calorie" menu and I tried their "Ancho Chicken Wedge."

It was really yummy and spicy! A toasted folded whole wheat tortilla, filled with ancho chili marinated chicken breast and grilled peppers and onions with some jalapeño cream cheese.

I really liked it. It was nice and hot and full of flavor!

When I was looking it up on the internet after lunch I came across a blog comment which went like this: "The Ancho Chicken Wedge was tiny!!! I had to eat two of them and I was still hungry. So not worth the money!"

That comment really surprised me.

First off - it wasn't "tiny." How big did she expect 350 calories of chicken and veggies with cream cheese wrapped in a tortilla to be?! It's like those 64 calorie beer commercials. Most people are eating way more calories than they realize.

I thought it was a very satisfying lunch-sized portion. It was about the size 3 stacked CD cases. That should be plenty to fill a human stomach.

Which leads to the next thing that stuck in my craw. That she HAD to eat two of them. As if the Einstein Brothers held a gun to her head and made her get that second Ancho Chicken Wedge!!!

She did not HAVE to eat two. It is not the fault of the Einstein Brothers that she chose their store for her gluttony.

I was satisfied hours later on my lunch... I couldn't imaging scarfing down two and STILL being hungry?!! Wow, and ick... that is one over-stuffed stomach.

Lastly - Cost
I paid $4.95 for lunch and I didn't think I was being "ripped off" but I guess if you drop $10 to eat it twice and still feel hungry -- I can see where a person would feel ripped off! But just because you want to eat more than enough for two people does not mean the food was over priced.

I guess the moral of today's post is:
Learning to be satisfied with proper sized portions saves you 50% on lunch!

"Suspicious Mass"

I am waiting to find out if a mass in my breast is cancerous.

I am hoping for a "false positive." I just wish I knew if I had it or not! Not knowing is nightmarish.

I see my doctor again on Friday, but that doesn't mean I will find out anything. She might order more tests, and I will just continue to not know...

Anyway!

I got up early today and ran for 32 minutes on the elliptical trainer.

Breakfast was a serving of cream of wheat with a packet of cocoa powder. I thought about just using sugar from the shaker... but that would have been a disaster. I know how many calories are in the packet. I wasn't sure how many calories would be in the sugar I would "sprinkle" on.
270 total calories for breakfast.

Lunch will be a Amy's Kitchen Frozen meal - cheese tamale (360) or palak paneer (270).
I also have some vanilla Activia yogurt in my mini fridge for later this afternoon. (110)

Happy news, my car is done at the shop and we can pick it up!! Some jerk hit/scratched it up really bad in the parking lot. I never realized how much I love my car until I had to use the loaner....

I also got my braces adjusted today. I felt like she was trying to defuse a bomb attached to my teeth - with all the wire snipping and twisting. My next adjustment isn't until June.

It was snowing/raining when I woke up today. The weather is very wet cold and depressing, but the grass is getting green again and some flowers are already up!

Springtime in Wisconsin is always like this: Snow on Tuesday, in the 80's by Friday.


I am going to be tweaking the code again slightly, and putting up version 2.0 of the calorie calculator application.

Same Site, New Name

"Jessica's Weight Loss Blog" will now be known as "Less Jess - Over 100 lbs lost!"

In the past auto-links to my site couldn't cope with the apostrophe and it looked like this:


"Jessica's Weight Loss Blog"

How ugly!


"Less Jess" matches my site's address, and the "Over 100 lbs lost!" should draw in new readers.


This morning I got up early and did some circuit training.

I went through my MP3s and created a playlist of "pumping tunes." I picked peppy songs that were between 2-3 minute. When the song changed, I changed to a new exercise. I either ran on my elliptical trainer, lifted free weights, or did some type of sit-up for my circuits.

(I used the same song for my warm-up and cool-down.)

Warm-up
Run, Arms, Abs
Run, Arms, Abs
Run, Arms, Abs
Run, Arms, Abs
Run, Arms, Abs
Run, Arms, Abs
Cool down
Stretch out

It took about an hour and felt great!

Breakfast today was a mashed avocado, with a tablespoon of tomatillo salsa verde, and 2 oz of shredded Wisconsin cheddar cheese.

This is not my normal breakfast, but my avocado was prefectly ripe today! Yum!

The “Out-to-Get-Me’s”

I used to think Cadbury mini eggs must have crack-cocaine in their shells because they were so addicting, but now I know the drug in them that had me hooked was sugar.

Sugar really is a drug. What it does to the body is just as extreme as any other drug (rots teeth, diabetes, obesity and all of it’s complications... ) but sugar is in nearly everything we eat! From the cereals that starts our day to our pasta sauce at dinner, there is sugar in nearly everything.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) 1999 data the average American ate 158 pounds of sugar each year.

Sometimes it’s hiding under a pseudonym: beet sugar, brown sugar, cane-juice, cane sugar, corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, fruit juice or fruit juice concentrate, glucose, high-fructose corn syrup, refiner’s syrup, sucrose.... Just waiting to wreak havoc on your insulin levels.

I have fought a sugar addiction for years. Dessert wasn’t a once and a while treat for me - it was a daily requirement. I still struggle with my weakness for sugar to this day.

So far this week I have successfully avoid a big basket of Easter candy, the entire 50% off Easter Candy aisle, and homemade chocolate chip cookies someone brought into work. It was really tough. I don’t think people who have never struggled with sweets can understand what an achievement that is.

I used to feel like “The whole world’s out to get me!” but no one ever forced food into my mouth and made me chew at gunpoint. I was the one who ultimately put it in my mouth and ate it. I take responsibility for that now.

I used to use the “Out-to-Get-Me’s” to hide my own failure by placing the blame on someone else. We all know that nobody is perfect, it is just so hard to admit when you are the one that isn’t perfect!!!

When trying to lose weight you will have days when you will just plain fail. It is not cool, but is a hard truth some dieters can never recover from.

They see that one mistake as a complete failure, and since they have “failed” at weight loss, might as well keep eating.

This is not the mind-set that will lead to success!!

What if we applied this logic to learning how to walk? Would you just give up on a little baby who tries to take her first steps and falls down? (Bah! She’ll never walk!)

Of course not!!!

Learning to be healthy is like learning to walk, and there will be stumbles along the way, but eventually you will learn how to live a healthy life and stick with it!

My motto is: If at first you don’t succeed - do something easier.

And as long as you continue to live healthy, eventually you will be healthy!

Cheers,

Jess

March Recap.

I lost a total 3.50 pounds in March! (6.50 down so far in 2009.)

I've really got back in the groove. I hope to keep this trend going this April.

My husband wrote me version of the Calorie Calculator for my Blackberry Curve!


The following is an extra geeky paragraph you can skip:
He used Java Platform, Micro Edition (Java ME) which provides a robust, flexible environment for applications running on mobile and other embedded devices—mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), TV set-top boxes, and printers. Java ME includes flexible user interfaces, robust security, built-in network protocols, and support for networked and offline applications that can be downloaded dynamically. Applications based on Java ME are portable across many devices, yet leverage each device's native capabilities. Very cool!



Soon as it is ready I'll post a link. :)


My new goal is to workout a minimum of 30 minutes, 3 times a week and if I can do it I will get the next volume of the manga Loveless!

Yea!!! I love this kind of manga/anime! *droolz* The chance to read the next volume is very motivating!! I can't wait to read what happens next!

A "Game Day" That Was Not a Calorie Train Wreck!

I have updated the code on all of my pages now.

Things are still a bit buggy in IE, Opera, and Safari. I apologize for that and will be working hard to get my code to play nice with those browsers. Resizing the browser fixes the bug in IE... or having a wheel on your mouse to scroll.

I do want to note: Everything seems to work fine in Firefox!

Firefox rocks!


So besides driving myself crazy tweaking the code here, we had some friends over to play games today! Most game days turn into a calorie train wreck!

We always order a pizza, subs or Chinese. I try to order healthy items, but by the time the food actually arrives I end up eating way too much.

This doesn't count the "snack" foods we often have out for guests!!!


Gaming days never go smoothly for weight loss but today was different!


Here is my calorie breakdown for today:

Breakfast
I had an egg white "Toad in the Hole."


"Toad in the Hole"
1 tbsp butter (100 Calories)
1 egg white (70 Calories)
1 slice of bread (100 Calories - pre-cut)

In a small frying pan, melt the butter.
Use a glass or cookie cutter to remove a round hole from the center from a slice of bread. (I did not eat my center.)

Place the bread into the frying pan, and crack an egg into the hole. (I did not eat the egg yolk either.)
Cook over a low heat so the egg gets white and firm. Once the egg white is firm enough, carefully flip the bread to toast the other side and finish cooking the egg.

Very Yummy.


For lunch I had a Amy's Kitchen Bean and Cheese Burrito for 300 and a tablespoon of Salsa for 20 more.


So I was around 550 to 600 calories.


After lunch is when I nearly lost control....

It started with 32 chocolate chips.

There are sixteen Ghirardelli Chocolate Chocolate Chips in a 70 calorie serving. So I counted out two servings for 140 calories.

Then I think, "You know what goes great with chocolate? PEANUT BUTTER!"

So I get out a bowl and put a lump of organic creamy peanut butter into it. The peanut butter is really hard because it has to be kept in the fridge, so I put it all in the microwave. This melted the chocolate all together.

I then think - "Natural peanut butter needs some sweetening."

So now I pour way too much powdered sugar to the bowl. It takes on a crumbly consistency, so I figure it need some butter to smooth things out.

I add about a tablespoon of butter to the bowl and start mixing... then I start adding things up in my head.

32 chips, 140
Butter, 100
Peanut Butter, 210
Powdered Sugar... 300+?

I easily defeated the voice in my head that said, "You have to eat this or it will be wasted!!!" and dumped the whole thing in to the garbage!

I then counted 16 chips into a mini cupcake wrapper and enjoyed them slowly!!

Those 70 calories were all the sweeter knowing I had saved myself from such a calorie disaster!!!

Calorie total: 670

Then the Gamers came over....


Whenever we game we also order food... and you know how delivery food is. (Pizza, Chinese, Subs...)

They ordered Pizza, well this pizza to be specific:

Chicken Cordon Bleu

We start with our Honey Mustard sauce and House Blend Cheese,
then we add Boar's Head Sweet Slice Ham, sliced fried Chicken Tenders
and slices of melted Wisconsin Swiss Cheese. A unique treat!

http://glassnickelpizza.com/

But two of the guys didn't like Honey Mustard, so they substituted Alfredo sauce, and got the honey mustard on the side.

I decided to skip the pizza and ordered 3 ricotta and spinach stuffed jumbo shells. I esimated the calories in my pasta, with garlic bread to be about 900 calories.

Even with all this temptation, I was able to keep my calorie total to around 1600.

I stop a binge before it happened, and also avoided the pizza from the pizza place. :) Yea!

New Style Wins

The new look took 71% of the vote, so looks like I will be busy converting my pages! Please bare with me as I tweak the code to work in all browsers.

I apologies in advance if your browsing is disrupted while I am making updates!
Everything should be updated before April.

Now on to the weight loss front!

I am down a pound so far this month.

I had lost almost 3, but but then my "Diva Days" puffed me up again! The Puffies should go away soon and everything should be back to normal by Monday! :)

New Style for Before Pictures

I have updated the code on Before Pictures.

Do you like the new look?

Do you like it enough that I should change the rest of my pages to match?

Or should I change it back to the way it was?


I put a poll up over to the left so you can let me know what you think.

Thanks,

Jess :)




UPDATE:

The poll closed on 3-27-09 and was removed. The new style won!
Here is what my pages used to look like:

Embrace that healthy feeling!

Last Friday, after a LONG stressful week at work, I felt totally drained. Aaron (my husband) suggested that I walk on the elliptical trainer to restore my vigor.

I was crabby and whined that it was the last thing I wanted to do!!! I wanted to just lay on the couch and veg!

But he was persistent and sweet-talked me to "just try it" for 10 minutes... and within a few minutes I felt my brain come back to life!

I really felt all those nasty stress hormones burning away!! Soon I was bursting with energy and went on to do a full cardio workout.

It is so strange that working out is the last thing you want to do when you lack energy, but it is the best way to gain energy in a healthy, non-stimulative way!

Once you get going it only takes a few minutes for the "DO WE HAVE TO DO THIS?!?!" inner-whiner to shut-up. Soon you will notice how happy your body is to move!

Of course if you feel pain, you should stop immediately!! Make sure you are using proper form, and equipment (this includes shoes).


Update on where I am at:

I'm down 6 pounds from a month ago. I really am back on track! It is such a great feeling!!! I don't really look any different on the outside yet, but I feel GREAT inside! :) I hope you are embracing that healthy feeling too and taking good care of yourself! :)

Cheers,

Jess

Finite Willpower

I have switched back to working out in the morning. I found that when I put it off until later... I tend to put it off entirely!

I just didn’t have any willpower to workout at the end of the day.

Do you ever struggle with your willpower?

Have you ever been "really good" all day, just to get home and eat everything you see?

Over the years I have learned that weight loss is not about having tons of self-control; it’s about having it at the right times!

I don't have more willpower than anyone else. I just know how to use it more effectively!
You see, willpower is a finite resource. You only have so much. You really need to budget it in order to be successful.

Let's say you spend most of your day resisting the urge to scream at an idiot at work.

Whenever you suppress an urge - you "burn off" your willpower.

As the day progresses your ability to resist temptation diminishes. Next thing you know, you were able to keep your cool, but the snack machine is now a Snicker's bar lighter.

So how do you reserve your willpower for your weight loss without snapping at the wrong moment?

First - Figure out what are you using your willpower on.

Did you spent all day avoiding the box of donuts in the breakroom?
Did you give up something for Lent and now find yourself thinking about it all the time?

Once you know where your "weak spots" are you can take steps to save your willpower.

Second - Eat Something!
Willpower is an effort, and like any other effort of the body it is fueled by your blood sugar. Be sure to eat balanced meals at regular intervals and have small healthy snacks handy to maintain your blood sugar level.

Third - Think of the BIG picture.
Your brain only focuses on the instant satisfaction of now. It wants to eat that 800 calorie slice of turtle cheesecake right in front of you.

It doesn't think about wearing a bathing suit in 4 months.

Whenever temptation rears it's ugly head - remind yourself of your long term goals. If your desire to succeed is powerful enough, you can crush a craving.

Strongly envision yourself as the healthy person you know you can be! Does that cheesecake help you reach that goal? You can do this!!!

Fourth - Take Baby Steps.
Change is hard. You have to use a lot of willpower to start a new healthy life. Even if what you are doing is better for yourself, your stubborn brain only knows the old unhealthy way. That's the way it's always been and that is the way it will try to keep things.

It is best to slowly do new things. If you jump in and try to quit smoking, start exercising, and eating healthy all at once... you might make it a few days before your brain goes, "THIS IS WRONG!!!" and you end up chain smoking while ordering at the McDonald's drive-thru.

You need to unlearn your bad old ways a sneak in some new good ways little by little.

You need to create a healthier routine you can stick with that makes your brain feel like things are the same as before. You might need to break things into smaller tasks in order to make them a habit.


I wish you the best as you make healthy choices and bolster your willpower! Think of the healthy person you will be in the future, and let that person lead the way!

Remember, as long as you continue to live healthy, eventually you will be healthy!!

Jess

Disabling Comments

About 80% of the comments submitted to me were just sugar-coated spam.

I used to review and reject them, but I can’t take this anymore. :(

I get all these seemingly wonderful posts...


Comment:

“You are soooooo amazing!!! I was going to go bulimic, but your site gives me hope!”



But then it links to: “SUPER-DUPER WEIGHT LOSS PILLS! BUY NOW!”


ARGH!!!!!!! I am so disgusted!!


I find it despicable that they would pose as a person struggling with her weight or an eating disorder just to sell bogus products!!!

I am offended that they tried to use my site to link to that CRAP with such a LIE!

I worked so HARD, over the course of YEARS to lose my weight by just eating better and moving more.

The only thing those weight loss products make lighter is your wallet!!!


So, I apologize that I had to remove comments, but you can still reach me via email. :)


So besides removing the comments, a lot has happened since my last post: Valentine's Day, My 31st Birthday and I got braces.

I wish I could claim I lost weight since my last post too, but I am actually up a pound.

It's the puffy time of the month... which might explain why I got so insanely upset by those comments!

I have adjusted my daily calories down to around 1700 and have been upping the intensity of my workouts.

Soon this week will be past, and I'll be moving in the right direction again. :)


Take good care of yourself!

Love,

Jess :)

Why did I do that?

As a treat today I had a 180 calorie 1/2 c. scoop of vanilla ice cream. (I measured it and everything!)

I then planned to sprinkle it with some Godiva hot chocolate powder... (about a tablespoon) but the sprinkle turned into about 1/2 c. as it fell out in a lump from the canister into my bowl!

A serving of the cocoa is 130 calories per 3 tablespoons. So one tablespoon would have been about 45 calories. But I ended up with about 9 tablespoons, so 390 calories!

So did I dump out my bowl and start over? Nope. I ate it all. Counted all the calories. But now I think, "Why did I do that?"

Because I did not want to "waste" the food I ended up with 345 more calories.

So my treat turned into a guilt-trip, then into a blog post.

On a happy note, I did return from Texas the same weight as when I left, and since I am counting my calories, I can tweak the rest of the day to deal with this snack debacle.

But I’m Sick!

I am just getting over a cold. I was really sick over the weekend and spent all day in bed Sunday.
“But I’m sick!” was always a great excuse to avoid exercise. Now my motto is if I am well enough to go to work - I am well enough to work out!

So what if my nose is stuffy? My legs still work!

This Friday I fly down to Texas for work and “Aunt Flo” is due to join me. :-6

Even though it will be “that time of the month” and I will be stuck eating out for every meal for a week, I am not worried about my weight spiking.

Everything is bigger in Texas, but I am not going to be one of them.

I can do this!!!

Tweaked My Code and January Check-In

As you may have noticed, I tweaked the layout of my blog over the weekend!

I really like the horizontal navigation bar I added to the top of the page.
It should make it much easier to get around my site!!!!


Health Update!

I have been consistently working out, 5 times a week on my elliptical trainer. (Mondays and Fridays are my rest days.) I also have been keeping tight track on my calories.

So far this January I have lost 3 pounds! :) Yea!!!

How is your January going?

Knowing is Never Enough

I used to use food as my panacea.

Anger, stress, grief, boredom, loneliness… I filled up the holes in my soul with food. I lived in a world where chocolate “cured” everything.

Eating gave me the sensation of satisfaction that I was lacking elsewhere in my life - even though it was temporary…

It took me years to realize that my troubles can’t be fixed with food, and even longer to stop rushing to the fridge when ever life got tough.

There are many “non-food” alternatives to cure moods, it is just so hard to get yourself to do them when you have been “programmed” to eat! You see, our brains are “WIRED” to act in certain ways. This is your gut reaction. It is what you have always done before. We are creatures of habit.

We all KNOW we should eat better and exercise. You can KNOW every weight loss tip in the world, but they are all useless until you actually DO them! Knowing you need to change is not enough by itself!

You learn by doing, not by knowing. You need to preform a new habit over and over again before you really “get it.” I have heard that it takes 21 days to form a new habit, but it can take even longer if you are trying to correct (unlearn) a bad habit you have had for the last 20+ years.

Along the way you might slip-up and "regress" to your old ways, but this does not mean you are a failure. You are still learning. Would you be mad at a baby trying to take her first steps but then falls? Of course not!

Be forgiving to yourself like you would to a little baby doing her best. Nurture your new lifestyle and soon you won't have to "suffer through it." It will become your everyday routine!

You must really commit to the change, and do it consistently if you truly want to change! You need to DO it, not just KNOW it. Knowing is never enough.

Getting over your "X"

I hear from so many people who are desperate to lose weight - but "just can't" because of "X."

"X" can be many things - bad back, bad knees (been there, done that) or "fat genes."

"X" could also be lack of support.

It is hard enough to live a healthy life, but to have everyone around saying, "You are fine the way you are, why bother?" makes getting healthy seem even more impossible!


"X" is that seemingly immovable boulder that blocks you from getting where you want to go.

Do you have an "X"? Maybe you have a few "X's" that hold you back from your weight loss success.

So how do you get over your "X"?

Here are the steps that really help you really think about your weight loss goals and how you will achieve them. :)


First - Make a list of the things that are "holding you back."

Get out a piece of paper and a pen or pencil and write down your "X's". You really need to write them with your own hand in order for this to work best.

Your "X's" should come to mind instantly, like:

• I can't say 'no' to mom's cooking


• I have fat genes


• I have bad knees


• I can't afford a gym membership


• I can't give up my junk food


• I don't have the support I need


• I can't stick with a diet

etc.....

Second - Sort your X's

Are there any "X's" that you truly just can't deal with? Go ahead and cross them out, leaving only the ones are you are willing to work at to make your life healthier! If you are unable to deal with an "X" because of your current living or financial situation - do not cross it off. If you will be able to deal with your "X"at any point in the future - leave it on your list!



Third - Making goals out of your "X's"

I am not sure what your list looks like at this point, but by now you know the things that are holding you back from a healthier life. You also know what you are willing to change in order to reach that ultimate goal of a healthy you! Think about how you can overcome these "X's" and turn those plans into goals!

Example:

• When at my mom's I will focus on my family and not the food. I can still eat her cooking, but I will not overeat or take seconds. (No matter how hard she tries.)


• Even though I have a genetic predisposition to store fat, I can still be the healthiest I can be with this body. I will not let my "fat genes" keep me in fat jeans!


• I can learn activities that do not aggravate my knees or back. I will use the Internet to find exercises I can try, and bookmark or print out the ones that work for me.


• I do not need to be in a gym in order to exercise. I can be active at home, or walking around my neighborhood. I will make an effort to find time when I can be active at home.


• I will limit my junk food and count the calories so I do not gain weight.


• I will find support on the Internet, at my church or workplace. I will find someone who will support and encourage me to be successful!


• I do not need to "diet." I just need to eat better. I will use a food journal to track my meals.

etc.....



Fourth - Plan your milestones and rewards

In order to stick with your new goals you need to have a "dangling carrot" to help lure yourself around that boulder!

Just like the story of "The Little Engine That Could" you must believe that you can do it in order to accomplish your goals!

"I-think-I-can! I-think-I-can!"

Keep track of your progress and reward yourself at set intervals. You need to reward yourself enough to stick with your healthy lifestyle, even though you will not notice the physical results until much later! You can do it!

Now that the Novocain has worn off...

Over lunch today I had some oral surgery. Now that the Novocain is wearing off I am cursing myself for not reading the post-op paper that said "Take your pain med before it wears off."

Drat!

To make it even more fun my body suprised me with a "Diva Day" 2 days early! (Are you kidding me?!?! )

My calories so far today:

350	Ensure Plus - Creamy Chocolate
160	Quaker Simple Harvest Multigrain Hot Cereal - Maple brown sugar and pecans.
50	Hummus
220	Cottage Cheese
100	Cinnamon Apple Sauce

880 total calories before my "soft supper. "


I've done yoga or walked 7 of the last 8 days.

If I can be active 4 more times before Sunday (1/11) my reward will be:

Ouran High School Host Club Season 1, Part 2

SQUEEEEEEEEEL!!!!!!!!!!!!

I LOVE this series! I own part 01, season one, and all the manga released in English (1 through 11).

It's a romantic comedy set in a uber-posh high school.

Haruhi breaks a vase worth 8 million yen and becomes indebted to the Host Club.
The Host Club then does a "make-over" to turn Haruhi into a posh host as well.
What most of them don't realize is Haruhi is actually a girl! Members of the club figure it out her secret along the way, and some fall for her. But she must keep up the act in order to pay back the debt she owes! It is very cute! Love it!

The Drink of Success

There are lots of diet shakes, diet teas, and diet juices on the market, but if you really want to drink something that will really help your body get healthier... drink water. Pure and simple.

Water helps you feel full.
Have you ever felt hungry even though you just ate? Many times when you think you are hungry, you are actually thirsty. The signal for thirst is often mistaken for hunger, which leads to eating unnecessary calories! By the time your body sends out a signal that you are "thirsty" you have already starting to dehydrate!!

Water makes your body work.

Water is needed by the body to metabolise fat and flush toxins. To make sure your body is running at it's best, keep your tank "topped off." If you do not have enough water your body cannot lose weight as fast.
So grab a glass and shrink your ass!