Getting smart about it! :)

I haven’t got on the scale the last few day. I got my period on Easter, and thought it would be better to wait until it was over. I know my weight spikes around this time of the month. Then you add in Easter Candy + PMS, and that can’t be a good result!

I get so tired and worn-out and sore and crampy and down right horrible to be around this time of the month. Aaron is truly an Angel who deserves a reward for his comforting and supportive nature!

In my last post I said how my mom said that I don’t have to worry about food anymore now that I’m “thin.”

That is SO untrue, and an article from the BBC News confirmed that. The article was called "Many dieters 'finish up heavier."

To sum it up - most “diets” are not as successful as they claim because there isn’t a follow up to the weight loss study to see how they are doing afterwards.

Lead researcher Traci Mann said: "We found that the majority of people regained all the weight, plus more. In one study, 50% of dieters weighed more than 11 pounds (4.99kg) over their starting weight five years after the diet.

"Diets do not lead to sustained weight loss or health benefits for the majority of people. We concluded most of them would have been better off not going on the diet at all. Their weight would have been pretty much the same, and their bodies would not suffer the wear and tear of losing weight and gaining it all back."

Professor Mann said in her opinion eating in moderation was a good idea for everybody as was regular exercise. (This is what I did, and I am still doing. It’s a lifestyle change, not a “diet.”)

Dr Ian Campbell, medical director of Weight Concern, said too many people approached dieting as a short-term measure. (Like I need to lose 25 pounds by June.)

"Keeping weight off is a life-long challenge. It is just like heart disease or mental health problems, if you stop taking your medicine you can get worse. People who are overweight often don't have a balanced lifestyle and after losing weight too many stop keeping active or eating healthily."

It *really* is about being healthy and sticking with it. Living on lettuce for a few weeks, then switching back to McDonald's, then back again isn't balanced. You gotta find a middle ground you can stick with for life that is healthy as can be! :)

Sometimes I feel like she is out to get me...

Thursday night Aaron and I went over to my Mom's place to dye eggs with my little sister, Sammy. Becky and Lydel were there too! It was a "family thing."

Some of you may remember me blogging about Sam in the past. She is only 8 years old yet she weighs nearly the same weight as me!

Me, Becky, and Sammy - Jan 14, 2006

While "the kids" dyed the eggs, Mom left to get a Papa Murphy's take & bake pizza. (She was also secretly picking up Sammy's Easter Bunny Swag!) Before she left I mentioned how much I liked getting malted milk balls in my basket as a kid.

Mom then returned with a big bag of Hershey's Whoppers Robin Eggs, opened up the bag and set them next to me! Sometimes I feel like she is out to get me. *sigh*

"You're thin enough! You shouldn't have to worry about food anymore! You can relax for just one day! Enjoy! I got them for you!"

AHHHHH!!!!!!! Calling Easter Candy "food" is a stretch in my mind. It's just a lot of sugar with no redeeming nutritional value. But Mom did not rest until we had eaten all the candy. I must have had a dozen of them.

On the plus side though, Mom got Sammy toys and games to help fill up her Easter Basket instead of just candy. :)

I hope you have a Happy and Safe Easter!

Jess

Updated My Virtual Model Picture & Belly Shot.

The picture of me in the pose of a "My Virtual Model" was taken over a year ago. (March 24th, 2006 to be exact.)

Time for an update!

I also said that I wanted to add a more current picture of what my belly looks like, so I killed two birds with one stone! Tah-dah!



You can really see the difference in my thighs! :-D
Note the lack of "loose skin," and what's that below my boobs? Is that the start of some KILLER ABS? Woo hoo!

The funny thing is that even though I am more slim and trim in the new picture, I weigh about 7 pounds more now than I did in the old picture!

Wild! Looks like I gained lots of nice and lean muscles in 2006!

I'm going to go bike now. I gotta keep working to keep this body looking like the picture I just posted, or better!! ;)

Cheers!

Jess

"I Wish Someone Would Do Something About How Fat I Am"

The title of this post is from a t-shirt I saw in “The Onion.”

This shirt pokes fun at the idea that people don’t take responsibility for their own health.

Even though it is supposed to be "funny," it really hit home with me. For so many years I just WISHED I weighed less, but I never did anything more than that.

“God! I wish I was thinner! SIGH! (Mope, mope, eat more junk food…)”

I even hoped I’d be in a horrible accident, and get sent into a coma, so I could just “wake up thin” months later. But for all my wishes… I just stayed fat, waiting for a miracle to happen -
while feeling sorry for myself and eating Little Debbie Snack Cakes™. :-6

Ultimately, you are the only one who can do something about how fat you are. Suing the food industry or banning “Trans Fats” in restaurants will not automatically make you become healthier. You still need to LIVE a healthy life.

Accepting that responsibility and taking care of your body is really hard work! It takes time and practice to "rewire your brain" to live a healthy life, but it is so worth it.

I give lots of advice on how to "trick" yourself into being healthier. ;) I hope it helps!

In a previous post, I said I was working on the mental aspect of weight loss. Locating my "triggers." Boy! Did I find a doozy!

Dessert. In my mind I still had the childhood link that "Dessert is a reward." You know, like "Eat all your vegetables and you'll get a COOKIE!"

"YEA! COOKIE!!"

But I also link eating dessert to the "Desserts make you fat!"

Why did I eat those COOKIES?!?! :-(

Lots of people have this. Eating sweets gives you that instantly gratifying rush of sugar! Then you crash and hate yourself for "blowing your diet." Next thing you know you're heading back to the comforting arms of chocolate- again. ARGH!!!

When you try limiting your sweets - then feels like a "punishment" because you still have that "Good Girl gets COOKIE!" mentality!!! It's like you can't WIN!

So I have been working very hard the last month or so to break the "Sweets are a Reward" link. New mantra: Food is just the fuel my body needs to run. It does not make me good or bad.

I think it is starting to sink in! ;-)

Take Care!

Jess

Greif and Stress

ACK! It’s been a while since I had a new entry here. Things have been so sad and stressful recently.

On March 12th my cousin’s wife gave birth to a son who only lived for 90 minutes. The Funeral was last Friday. It was so touching and heartbreaking.

My work has also been really stressful the last few weeks. I don’t seem to have any free time! (This is apparent by the lack of updates.) ;)

Keeping healthy these past few weeks has been difficult.
I’m back to 150.50 since I am a “stress eater.”

But things are going to get better soon! I always try to keep positive, even when things really suck. I’m not going to get stuck in a depressed rut! I can get past this, and back on track. :)

I think I can. I think I can. I think I can!!!

Cheers!

Jess

My Bootie is Better!

My tailbone has been given a clean bill of health! It will always be twisted to the right, but it no longer hurts. :-) I have a follow-up appointment on March 26th, but if I am still doing well by then, I can cancel it. :-) Woo!

The weight I gained in February is being really stubborn! I was 149.25 this morning. It has taken me 12 days to lose a pound. If I keep at this rate it will take about 4 months to get back to 140. 140 by the 4th of July? Sounds like a fun goal to work towards!

I hope to go a bit faster, but I know this is not a RACE. I’m just trying to be a healthy as I can be! :-)

I should update my FAQ with a new picture of my belly. The “Rib-Roll” image is from the 14th of September 2006. I weighed about 145 when it was taken. It is strange to weight 4 pounds more now, but be more toned and slender. Must be all those sexy muscles I’ve been building! :-D

My "Skinny Jeans" are now my "Fat Pants"

The tight sexy jeans I used to squeeze myself into for a hot night out on the town are now the pants I wear when my period puff strikes. It is exciting! I am trying to focus on HOW COOL it is that the jeans I nearly had to lay down to zip up are now my "fat pants..." But it is so hard to do when my weight has spiked up so high...

With my busted bootie, I have not been working out as much this month, and with Valentine's Day, my birthday and my period all in a row... My weight was up to 150.25 this morning!!!

Aaron was such and angel when he reminded me that it is nothing to freak out over. It is just temporary from the recent restaurant trips, my monthly period puff, and lots of chocolate. ;) Soon I will be back into the mid to lower 140's again.

Since most of my workouts are on hold until my butt is better, I have been working on the mental aspects of my weight loss. Lately I have been trying to find my "triggers."

Triggers are something that makes you start doing bad things. A great example of this is smoking.

When a person quits smoking, she'll do fine or a week or so, then she goes out to a bar. At the bar it seems to be EVERYONE is smoking, and it doesn't "feel right" to drink without a cigarette. Next thing you know she's bumming a cigarette from the guy next to her... then buying her own pack...

So I am looking for what triggers me to eat poorly. Unlike smoking, you can't quit EATING cold turkey. (Mmm Turkey) Right now I am teaching myself to eat at a table with a plate and utensils. This sounds silly, but all too often I eat while checking my e-mail, playing online, or watching TV. I know that these are distractions and effect my ability to detect when I am full or not, but I still do it! So I am retraining myself to take time to nourish myself in a quite proper setting. :)

In fact, I think I am going to have supper now! :-D

Cheers!

Jess

Happy Birthday to ME! :-D

Today is my 29th Birthday! :-D

People keep asking me if this is my "Last Birthday." God I hope not!

I am not going to do any "29 and holding stuff."

I'm looking forward to what I can accomplish before I reach 30. :)

We'll just have to wait and see what this year brings. :-)

Cheers,

Jess

I can't sit on that, I'll break it!!

It is so hard to get my head wrapped around the idea that I am a healthy size now.

The other day a co-worker offered me a folding chair to sit on. It was one of those tiny ones that in the past would have flattened if I had tried to sit on it.

I thought, "Oh GOD! I can’t sit on that, I’ll break it!!!"

And I said just that. "I'm sorry, I think I'll break it."

Then he gave me this look like… what they heck have you been smoking?! I then had to explain my bizarre mental situation. He congratulated me on getting healthy… but I am not all the way healthy yet. I still have all this MENTAL baggage to work through.

I think my physical weight loss is pretty much done. Now it is time to get my mind healthy too!

Cheers!

Jess

FAQ ASAP!

I finished the FAQ! You can navigate to it via the "Jess Link!" on the
left, or by clicking here!