Exercise and Calorie Tracking App

    I use a Calorie Tracker that is online and also has apps for it looks like every phone it's called "My Fitness Pal". It has a bar code scanner on the app that makes it very convenient to use. It also has ways to add your exercise into it. You set a goal Calorie wise (I set 1590) and exercise wise (I set 500). It adds up the calories you intake and subtracts out the exercise that you do. So you earn more calories through out the day. All you so is plug what food you eat and drink and what exercise you do during the day. I add to it on my phone several times a day so I don't forget what it is that I ate. It's very nice. Try it!
   I also use an App on my phone called "My Diet Coach". You can set up reminders in it to go off, it has tips and motivational sayings. I mostly use it to remind me to drink water (have it play a tone and put an icon in my notification bar every 2 hours). I also have a reminder on it to remind me to take my pills at 8pm every night. You can tell it your awake and asleep hours and set the notifications to not go off between those hours.

Excersize

   It is extremely hard to get motivated into exercising regularly. Trust me I know. This is part of the reason I ballooned so bad. I went from having a very active job where I either stood or briskly walked for 7-8 hours a day. To sitting for 7-8 hours a day. Don't get me wrong I love my job however I wasn't burning any calories. I didn't change my diet or anything else. So I gained and gained and kept gaining. I only started exercising in January and it's honestly been pretty hard to stick to it. There are more days that I don't than I do. I am working on it though. 

   The one thing that is helping me the most is not letting myself relax after work (thank you for the tip Casey). Today for example.. I got off work, grabbed a Vitamin Water Zero, the dog walking coupler that I needed (not much fun to be dragged by 2 big dogs on separate leashes), came home, swapped laundry, changed (bundled up), got the dogs and walked out the door.  I walked 1.45 miles in forty five minutes! That may not seem like too much but it feels like it is. I have been sitting for about 25 minutes and my legs are already getting sore. (lol not much of a motivator.)

    Any extra movement is better than sitting there. Even if it's vacuuming the living room an extra day or sweeping and mopping the kitchen. It's movement it burns calories. Start small and work yourself up. When I don't have time to exercise I try my hardest to get on the Kinect on our Xbox 360. Even if you are only doing the Adventures for 15-20 minutes it's more than you would have done before. Try getting a game that you enjoy. I love to dance so I have dance central. I also like it because if I don't want to do a song that I have to jump and kick in the air I don't have to I can just move. 

   I hope this is helpful.. It's just anything I can think of to make it easier!

Slim and Sassy

I want to start off saying I probably have tried every diet pill out there. Watched friends use HCG, watched friends use every other diet fad that I have not tried. I can not take chemical based diet pills. The just sit horribly with me. I don't keep them down, I get jittery. Just BAD. I do not have any negative side effects with this supplement. Unlike other "Pills" you can take this while you are pregnant. You can take this if you are a diabetic. You can take this if you are caffeine sensitive. That's because for all purposes this blend is FOOD!

It is an Essential Oil called Slim And Sassy By doTerra.  Here is a link to a Webinar with the details and science behind the oil blend.

Slim and Sassy is an essential oil blend that contains 5 different oils. Those oils are Cinnamon, Ginger, Grapefruit, Lemon, and Peppermint. Each has their own properties of what they do in your system however here is an explanation of what they do.

Cinnamon:

Cuts sugar cravings, Metabolizes sugar, Cinnamon is an antioxidant, Reduces damage done to the liver, Balances cholesterol and blood sugar, Stops your body from producing more fat cells

 Ginger:

 Speeds up metabolism, Increases physical energy, Promotes healthy digestion

 Peppermint:

 Soothes digestive difficulties, Curb Appetite and reduce cravings, Gives sense of fullness

 Grapefruit:

 Balance and uplifting to the mind, Helps with cellulite and digestion, Controls appetite

 Lemon:

 Fights acid, Cleanses the liver, Releases toxins from the body.

I order my product from a Lady that is here in AZ. She has a website on www.etsy.com/shop/doTdo

I have the 15ml bottle of drops, (15ml bottle lasted me roughly a month), a roller that has Slim and Sassy that is cut with coconut oil for topical application, (haven't even gone through a quarter of the bottle) and I have sugar free candies with it in them (have eaten about half). All of the links lead to her website where she sells each of the products. If you order one of each of the products the total including tax and shipping is $78.42. I know that seems like a lot however once you get the candies and the oil all you will have to order the following month would be the oil. You do not have to order from the lady I do. I just really enjoy her candies and am not creative enough to make them myself. If you go through doTerra you can get a whole sale account where it costs even less.

I have lost just about 12 Pounds since I started taking it about a month ago. I take 4 drops 4 times a day on my tongue. I eat 4 or 5 candies a day, and I use the roller on my wrists 3 or 4 times a day. I love the way it smells. Not so much how it tastes. I love the way it warms you up from the inside out. I feel much happier. I have so much more energy. I do not have the cravings for carbs like I used to have. I almost don't eat potatoes, I don't go for starches like I used to. I find myself looking for fruits veggies, whole grain and protein even more than I was before. I have been going after Seafood quite frequently as well. I feel like I am much more balanced now.

It's not a miracle supplement! Don't think you can go on it and loose 40 pounds. I lost 30 before I started taking. It but lost 12 in about a month. But I am eating healthy and walking at least half a mile a day. 

Look into it. Watch the Webinar. Read all of the info. Essential Oils are really amazing things!

My Progress in Pictures

  This is The Largest I have been The one on the left is from April 2010, and the right is December 2010. I have no idea what I weighed but I can see from pictures that it must have been bad...

This is from January 2011. This is when I realized that I had a problem but didn't do anything about it. Still wouldn't get on a scale..

This is July 2011. This was taken shortly after my Doctor told me that if I didn't start loosing now I would be in trouble... 

305 pounds.             

 This is from November 2011. You can start to see my double chin slim down. 

285 pounds.

.

This is From December 2011. Almost No Double Chin :o) 

275 pounds.

This is from TODAY!! February 13, 2012 

269.8 pounds

When you compare the One From January 2011 with the one from February 2012

 You can most definitely see the difference!

How I Started

My Weight Loss Plan

I plan to get down to my ideal weight 150 to 170 pounds by the time I am 30 years old (June 2015). That gives me about 3 and an half years. The heaviest I have been was in June of 2011. That was 305 pounds (I know you are thinking "There's NO way you've weighed that much!" well I DID!!) I got rid of about 40 pounds from June 2011 to January 2012. It wasn't easy. I had to learn to listen to my body and pay attention to what I was putting into it. Learn to make better choices with your health and life. How I did it is by doing these simple things.

1. Don't Cut Anything Out!!

         I didn't "cut out" anything.  If I wanted potato chips. I ate a SERVING of potato chips. If I wanted a candy bar I ate 2 or 3 mini's (Snickers are only 45 calories a mini). If I HAD to have a soda I Drank half a can. I either dumped the rest or gave it to Kiya. Make the decision that you don't NEED IT and stick to your decision! You have to STOP!

2. Stop taking in Empty Calories

         You wouldn't believe how many calories there is in a 12 oz soda (Pepsi- 150 Calories). I know that most people don't like the way that Diet Soda tastes. Well don't drink Soda! There is sparkling water.. Crystal Light... WATER!!! Plain Iced Tea has NO calories. Find something that you can drink instead..  One candy Bar has about 400 Calories in it! You know how many calories you are supposed to take in 1500-2000 that's almost 1/5 of your daily calories! If you can't give up the empty calories you aren't committed to losing weight.You probably shouldn't read any further.

3. Portion Control

         Eat just enough to satisfy. Portion control is a BIG thing. Don't go back for seconds!!! Chances are you are NOT still hungry!  You either ate too fast or your body is telling you that you need something other than what you ate. Drink a glass of water, Wait 10-15 minutes, and re-evaluate how you feel. If you are still hungry eat what your body tells you you want. Most of us buy a 20 oz steak and eat the whole thing. To buy a good quality steak is roughly $10 you sit and eat that (plus sides) for one meal. Try taking that steak and cutting it in half. You can cook it at once but cut half off and stick it in the fridge (make a yummy breakfast burrito the next morning). This not only will cut your food cost but your stomach will gradually shrink down to the size it was meant to be. By no means am I saying stave your self. You know Who I'm married to. He'd NEVER let that happen! However if you cut your portions gradually it will leave your stomach shrinking and you wont even know the difference. How I figured out my stomach had shrunk is by letting Rob serve my plate and I ate about half, and could not eat any more. 

Example of what I was eating a day... My typical day begins at 3:30 am

Wake up- Protein or granola bar and a 24 oz glass of hot tea with 1/3 cup 2% milk

Lunch(9 am)- Usually left overs from some time in the week.. PORTIONED PROPERLY!!

Snack (2 pm)- Something small be it 4 or 5 pieces of General Tso's, a sand which. 

Dinner (6pm)- Pretty much anything that We cooked for the family. No seconds and PORTION CONTROL. My typical dinner- protein should be about the size of your fist. Be it Chicken, Steak or Fish. WHAT doesn't matter but HOW MUCH! About 1/2 cup of starch be it rice, potatoes, pasta and 3/4 cup of vegetables.

4. Move More

          Park 2 spaces further than you normally do, take 3 trips to bring in groceries instead of 2, vacuum the living room or sweep the kitchen even if it doesn't need it. Little changes burn calories. If you make little changes again you wont see the difference. 

5. Cheating IS Important!!

         Allow yourself to "cheat" you didn't gain it overnight you surly aren't gonna loose it over night! Even if you cheat twice in one day. Don't say "oh well I will start over tomorrow". Tomorrow normally doesn't happen. Start again right then! Eat the brownie with lunch then do good with snack. Eat too many potato chips on snack but do better with dinner. It's your constant decisions to better yourself. Even it your aren't loosing a pound a day or even a week! Any loss is still Loss and it's good.

I don't think that is too much change. Like I said it's about learning to make better decisions. Your body will tell you what it needs and want's. Cravings don't happen for no reason. Most of the time you are lacking something in that food. A craving is your body's way of telling you to eat something because it's the fastest and easiest way to get what you need. I was horrible with Pickles in June/July 2011. Come to find out I wasn't getting enough salt in my diet. We have started using more salt in out cooking and no more craving.