August 18, 2012

Help Is On the Way!

By Angie Bullock

NOT dieting seems to agree with me, at least for now. I don’t know if it’s all the extra water weight I may have been carrying or what, but I am down 6 lbs since starting to “not diet”. :-D

I got in my two Zumba sessions this week and a little mild swimming. Yay!

However, I still feel like I am not active enough on a regular basis, and I’m not talking about scheduled exercise. I’m talking about just moving, in general. I feel like I’m either sitting on my butt on my computer (a bit unavoidable since I work from home on the computer…) or exercising. Sedentary, or regimented exercise.

So, I want to approach this the same way I do food: be more aware of my general activity level, just like I’m now more aware of the food I’m putting into my mouth via Lose It! (which I’m loving, by the way)! Being as I’m a huge tech geek and I love to compete with myself, I think I might have found the perfect solution for me, and it’s on the way right now!

I ordered the Fitbit Ultra! I’m so excited! 

One of the neat features is that it will wireless sync my activity/steps to Lose It!

It’s very small and can be (should be!) worn all day and all night (it tracks sleep patterns!). Additionally, not only does it track steps, but it also has an altimeter so it can track stairs/floors climbed.

Just like a lot of popular social apps (that have nothing to do with exercise), it also taps into our competitive nature and has badges and such that you can earn when you hit different levels. Fun!

My first day wearing it, I am going to try and just go about my normal day as I would now, so I can get a good baseline of how active (or, as I suspect, not active) I am right now. Then, I can challenge myself to increase that activity daily, even if it’s just getting up from my desk every once in awhile and taking a walk up the stairs, around my house, and back to my desk again.

Maybe I’ll start walking to get the mail (which is actually a good distance) and parking farther away from entrances (especially as our cooler Texas temps start to arrive in the next month or so).

It’s scheduled to be delivered next Tuesday (happy birthday to me!), so I’m planning on next Wednesday being my first “Fitbit” day. Oh, and a special thanks to Julie/Towards Healthy Life for my discovery of the Fitbit. :-)

4 comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Dieting, Exercise, Weight Loss, Zumba

August 8, 2012

Diets Don’t Work!!

By Angie Bullock

At least not for me.

I mean, they work temporarily, but clearly they don’t work long-term. Even if the “diet plan” is called something else (“this isn’t a diet, it’s a lifestyle change”), I’m still changing my eating habits in a way that isn’t going to be permanent, so let’s just call it what it is = diet!! ;-)

So, I’m not going to diet, because it doesn’t work for me!!!

Of course, it’s not like I have any better ideas right now, other than what I blogged about last: logging my food so I’m just more aware of what I’m putting into my mouth. I’ve used MyFitnessPal.com in the past, and it’s a fine site, but after using Lose It! for a couple days, I like it better. It syncs well with my phone (and I like the mobile app better than the MyFitnessPal mobile app) and it also syncs with the gadget I’m really wanting to buy to help me be more active, in general: a Fitbit Ultra*.

*Quick sidenote: If you know me at all in the real world, y’all know I’m a technology junkie. I’m also very competitive and I am the most competitive with myself. So, a wireless activity tracker that has Wifi seems likes the perfect motivator to be more active!

Ok, back to the food issue. I had considered signing up with Weight Watchers again, but in the end, I’m just no longer willing to spend money on a diet, because it’s literally cost me thousands of dollars over 10 years to realize that diets don’t work, and I’m just throwing money away to temporarily lose weight and eventually just gain it back again.

I would love to hear from those of you who have had long-term success with this gluttonous battle. I am just basically at a loss as to where to go next, although I’m excited to start the 12-week Made to Crave study, since the book was awesome, but the study has a 6-week Action Plan study to go along with it!

Success stories anyone? I could use a little encouragement that this demon is possible to overcome!! :-)

5 comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Dieting, Gluttony, Prayer, Weight Loss

August 6, 2012

Sad and Powerless

By Angie Bullock

Well, the fact that I haven’t posted a blog post in a really long time has got to clue everyone in at how maintaining my weight loss is going. :-(

It’s truly alarming to me the rate at which I can gain back weight when not paying attention at all. Clothes now don’t fit. Confidence is gone. I give it to God; but I keep taking it back. It is not well with my soul.

How many times have I written that I believe the key for my personal success in this journey is moving? God knows I will give him the diet, but He wants me to stop sitting around and get in shape. I feel like since I haven’t truly been willing to do that yet, I haven’t been able to maintain success with food either.

So, today I started using a new website (Lose It!) and mobile app to track my food. Honestly, it’s not so much about how many calories I eat, exactly, but about being aware of what I’m putting in my mouth. I so have a tendency to take it to either extreme – dieting like a mad woman and losing weight like a fiend, or simply not caring and eating whatever I want in any quantity I want (read: fully succumbing to gluttony).

I am starting slow. I am not diving in to any grand diet plan. I’m taking this first week to just be aware of what I put in my mouth and track it (which, by nature, makes me eat better). I’ve alrady been putting my Zumba DVDs to better use and have been having some friends over for “class” twice a week (which is actually fun!!). I’ve been using the community pool and swimming more and yesterday morning I started exploring some of the beautiful neighborhood trails in our new neighborhood (oh, and did I mention that we started eating out constantly because we were packing/moving/unpacking and just never stopped?). But none of that is doing me any good when it’s not consistent and I’m eating fast food regularly.

But this time, probably the most important component for me, is that I’m not doing this alone this time. I have friends who are sharing this struggle and we’re going to do it together. I bought Lysa TerKeurst’s Made to Crave Ministry Kit awhile back and today I finally opened it. It’s a 12-week DVD study that really unpacks the things, and goes even further, than the book I’ve already read and talked about, Made to Crave.

Included is the Made to Crave Devotional, which I have not yet read. The very intro itself is what prompted this blog post and really all I wanted to share right now, but of course that would have been cryptic on its own. ;-)

I also know what it’s like to feel sad and powerless in this battle to get healthy.

I want to lead Jesus girls on a journey that will help them find a stick-to-itiveness and a lasting want-to that taps into something much more powerful than the surface desires of wanting to weigh less and wear a smaller size. We need to tap into this power because the battle we face isn’t just with sugary, fatty or salty foods. There is a spiritual battle going on. It’s real. And it’s amazing how perfectly the Bible gives us specific ways to find victory with our food struggles.

Even for girls like us who don’t crave carrot sticks.

Can I get an Amen? Can I also get some prayer for this journey? I really want to see it through to the end, for once in my life, and I can’t do it alone.

5 comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Dieting, Exercise, Gluttony, Prayer, Weight Loss

June 4, 2012

Who Doesn’t Love a Little Sunshine?

By Angie Bullock

A big shout out and THANKS to Real Women’s Health for nominating my blog for a Sunshine Award!

Here is my list of 10 things and 10 bloggers who I believe deserve the Sunshine Award too!

  • Favorite Color: Purple
  • Favorite Animal: Cat
  • Favorite Number: 13
  • Favorite Non-Alcoholic Drink: Pepsi One
  • Facebook or Twitter: Twitter
  • My Passion: Jesus and my family
  • Prefer Getting or Giving Presents: GIVING!!
  • Favorite Pattern: N/A, I like things clean and solid!
  • Favorite Day of the Week: Saturday
  • Favorite Flower: Roses, I guess. Not really a flower kinda girl. ;-)

Here are 10 blogs that I follow and read on a regular basis – they always challenge me and teach me something new! Check them out!!

Lysa TerKeurst

Chocolate Covered Katie

Size 16 to 6?

Morsels of Musing

He Has Eyes

Happy Healthy Mel

Can You Stay For Dinner?

Snack Girl

Changes Next Exit

Towards Healthy Life

5 comments   |  tags: | posted in Dieting

May 12, 2012

A Month of No Carbs

By Angie Bullock

Well, I’m a little over a month into The Metabolism Miracle plan, which includes almost no carbohydrates for the first 8 weeks.

That being said, I don’t necessarily feel like I’ve been as successful in eliminating them as I have tried to be. The reason is restaurants. We’ve eaten out quite a bit (and we took a 3-day mini vacation to Galveston Island last weekend (I don’t recommend it, by the way) that had us eating almost every meal in a restaurant) and even though I made choices that appeared to be carb-free when ordering, I don’t believe they really were. I think these restaurants are not only packing in salt to epic proportions, they are also hiding sugar in items that wouldn’t have it if you were to make them at home.

No wonder they taste so good…

Why do I feel this way? Two reasons.

#1. When I’m eating strictly at home and have my carb intake solidly under control, I have virtually no cravings for carbs and sweets. Often, shortly after eating a meal at a restaurant, I start to crave sweets/dessert items. That can only mean that I’ve ingested enough carbs to cause an over-production of insulin, thus giving me cravings.

#2. I weighed myself before leaving for vacation last weekend, because I wouldn’t be home the morning of my completion of 4 weeks. I was down 10.6 lbs. I weighed myself a day and a half after we got back, and my total loss was now only 9.4 lbs. Now, I’m sure I put on water weight from eating a month’s worth of salt/sodium in 3 days, but I did wait until I was home a full day and I drank a lot of water, hopefully to shed it.

So, now that we’re back, I am going to do my best to minimize how much we eat out over the next 4 weeks. I really feel like I should add at least 1 week onto my 8 weeks, but we’ll see. I haven’t yet taken my measurements again (which I am supposed to do after the first month), so I’ll do that this weekend.

Anyway, just wanted to check in and let you all know that even though I haven’t been posting much lately (it’s been mostly because we were on vacation, getting ready to go on vacation, and I was sick for more than a week leading up to that. Blah.), I have been sticking with it and plugging along. And, 10 lbs the first month is nothing to sneeze at, so onward we go!!

Have a great weekend and Happy Mother’s Day to all you moms out there! :-)

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Dieting, Metabolism Miracle, Weight Loss

April 28, 2012

Needing Some Encouragement…

By Angie Bullock

Well, I’m in the middle of Week 3 of The Metabolism Miracle, and I’m actually feeling very pessimistic. I’ve had a persistent thought running through my mind this week that I’ve really been trying to fight, because I know it’s the evil one putting it there: “I’ll always be fat”.

I feel like no matter what I do, no matter what diet I attempt, I am just stuck right where I am and my body isn’t going to budge. :-(

I did have a moment earlier this week where I felt thinner; my clothes were fitting a bit better and I thought I might be making progress. Unfortunately, that moment is gone and I no longer feel that way…

I am almost done with 3 full weeks. I’ve lost nothing since the end of Week 1. Now, I know I’m not supposed to be getting on the scale, but I just can’t resist. How else am I supposed to gauge how I’m doing, if I’m making any mistakes, if the food choices I’m making are working?

Summer is coming. Well, here in Texas, it’s pretty much already here, with temps holding steady in the 80s and even 90s everyday. I’m still not comfortable enough to wear shorts and I’m still not comfortable enough to wear sleeves that are shorter than down to my elbows.

I’m eating according to plan, I’m more active and I’m exercising.

Will I ever be comfortable in my own body again? Even after hitting my goal weight with Slimgenics, I still wasn’t comfortable enough to do those two things, so I’m really starting to question if it’s even possible for me to ever feel “in shape” again…

Part of me feels like I need to just accept that this is the weight I’m going to be and try to enjoy life anyway. Buy some clothes that comfortably fit me at this weight and move on. Then I think, NO!! That’s not good enough. Other people have succeeded, I can too! Or… can I?

I’m sure my internal struggle is plain for all to see. If I feel like I need to keep pressing on, then I know I won’t be content until I get there. This keeps me from enjoying life on a daily basis. That’s not good. God did not design me to feel this way and I know it.

But on the other hand, I feel like if I accept being content where I am now, I’ll certainly never get where I want to be, because I’m struggling to do it while fighting for it!

I know there’s a biblical answer somewhere… I just haven’t found it yet. I will continue to be in prayer and continue to give this over to God, because that’s all I can do…

5 comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Dieting, Exercise, Metabolism Miracle, Prayer, Slimgenics, Weight Loss

April 21, 2012

My Body Failed Me…

By Angie Bullock

Following The Metabolism Miracle plan, I should be exercising a minimum of 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. This week, Monday – Friday, I only managed to get in 3 days. But, they were all Zumba, which is far more intense than just walking or something, so I didn’t feel all that terrible about missing one day, especially considering that today I was planning on doing the 45-minute intermediate Zumba routine.

Alas, my body had other plans…

As I walked up the stairs with Zach to pray with him before his nap, I noticed that my ankles were really sore. I kinda chuckled to myself, thinking that it was an odd part of my body to be sore from Zumba! Then, I came back down, turned it on, put on my tennis shoes and started the warm-up routine.

I think I realized by 2 minutes in that this was NOT happening today. My ankles are NOT the only sore part of my body! Within 1 minute of starting the routine, my legs turned to pure jelly and I just knew there was virtually no chance that I was going to make it through 45 more minutes… :-(

Of course, I still needed to get in some sort of exercise, so I decided to flip on the Wii and do the “Free Step” routine on Wii Fit Plus (if you’re not familiar with it, it’s kinda cool – it just counts off a beat on the remote, so you can turn the channel and watch TV while stepping on and off the Wii Balance Board), which I did for 1 full hour. I logged just over 6,100 steps.

While an hour of that didn’t even have me as sweaty as 20 minutes of Zumba, I was warm when I was done and it felt good to move my body in a way that didn’t make me want to die! ;-)

As for the low carb/no-carb diet, it’s actually going really well and is much easier than I anticipated. Being such a meat and cheese lover has made it much easier!! :-D

Have a great weekend! :-)

2 comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Dieting, Exercise, Metabolism Miracle, Weight Loss, Zumba

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