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 :)
Friday, July 31, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
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.
Friday, July 3, 2009
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!
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!
Thursday, June 11, 2009
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.
“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.
Monday, June 8, 2009
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.
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.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
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.
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.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
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 only lasted a few seconds and now I feel really uncomfortable about the experience.
I'll have to look into that!
I woke up early this morning and did my Yoga DVD!
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).
Monday, May 11, 2009
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
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 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....
I worked so hard for the body I have now, but I guess I didn't meet their "air-brushed playboy model ideal."
It doesn’t “make you cool” to make fun of someone’s appearance -you look shallow, superficial, chauvinistic, ignorant, and petty.
Monday, April 27, 2009
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!
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!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
"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.
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.
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