See Mel Diet

I’m BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK

Melanie — Tue, 05 May 2009 01:24:25 +0000

I am back and better than ever. I must first apologize to my fan (only one at the moment but growing) for my absence, I fell off the wagon. I am the ultimate saboteur, I started out wonderfully – I was motivated and I had a deadline- I made great progress ( almost 10 lbs.) and then I just stopped. I don’t know why I do this but I have the ability to make a 5lb. weight loss feel like a 50lb. loss and then I start to “treat” myself. I am so full of it at times that it hurts me to even conjure up the thought of some of the excuses that I make and subsequently believe about my habits. But why am I “better than ever,” it’s because I started over. I have been going to the gym since last week as well as watching what I eat. It’s only been about 10 days, but I feel good. I feel stronger.

So if you have read any of my previous posts then you know that I was dieting for my vacation. Well I went on vacay last month and I had the time of my life. It was great! I don’t think that I would have had a better time at my goal weight.

So here’s the problem. I am about to say something that I rarely ever say or even admit to. I have a pretty face. I have been told this enough in my life to accept it. It is my Achilles heel. It is so hard to get motivated to lose weight because I can fall back on my face and still be considered attractive. I know that if you are reading this and do not know me then you are probably beside yourself right now and thinking all sorts of things about me and you are probably wrong about most of them. I am a fair, honest, caring, and loving person. I just use my face as a crutch to not work as hard or as consistently as I should, but I have had enough of being overweight. I am not healthy. It is also really hard to find clothes that look right- I own more girdles, shapewear, and spanx then one person should be allowed- and I am increasing unsatisfied with the strange girl that stares back at me when I look in the mirror.

So I just started moving. I got dressed and went to the well equipped gym that my complex provides and just did it. I watched The Biggest Loser the night before and I felt like if I did not do something to change my life then there was no reason that this problem would not balloon out of control. There is no difference between me and any of those contestants I already know what to do, but I needed some help so I did some research and came up with the plan below. I don’t know if I will follow this to the letter everyday, but I will try my hardest and if I mess up I won’t give up. I won’t be my own worst enemy.

Mel’s plan
Exercise
4 hours of resistance training per week in a circuit program
(20 min arms and upper body, 20 min abs and core, 20 min legs and lower body) 4x/wk

Nutrition
1600 calories/ day
(400 breakfast, 200 snack, 400 lunch, 200 snack, 400 dinner)

Acai’ Berry supplement/ 1/day

1/2 of my body weight in water/ day

Green tea before bed

My Top 8 Sweet Snacks

Melanie — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 00:28:42 +0000

I must admit that I am a snacker. I am sure that that is not even a word but it works for me, I love snacks! I am always on the hunt for good snacks, but I do not eat nuts and I really try to limit real sugar as well as the fake sweeteners (they give me headaches). So I have spent some time compiling an arsenal of my favorite treats. The basic criteria are that it must taste good, be relatively low in calories (150 or less), fat, and sugar. Some may look at my list and think that some of the items are too high in calories or saturated fat or sugar but these snacks are markedly better than what I really want to eat and are perfect pick-me-ups in the middle of a long day. I try to vary what I eat so that I don’t get bored. So here is my list let me know what you like!

My Top 10 Sweet Snacks

1. Minute Maid Soft Frozen Lemonade
70 calories/ 0g fat/ 0g sat. fat/ 14g sugar

2. Nonni Limone Biscotti
110 calories/ 3.5g fat/ 2g sat. fat/ 10g sugar

3. Anna’s Almond Cinnamon Thins
140 calories/ 7g fat/ 2.5g sat. fat/ 5g sugar

4. M&Ms Plain 100 calorie packs
100 calories/ 4g fat/ 2.5g sat. fat/ 13g sugar

5. Nips Caramel Hard candy
60 calories/ 1.5g fat/ 1.5g sat. fat/ 8g sugar

6. Nature Valley Strawberry Yogurt granola bars
140 calories/ 3.5g fat/ 2g sat. fat/ 13g sugar

7. Honey Nut Cheerios Milk ‘n Cereal bars
160 calories/ 4g fat/ 2g sat. fat/ 14g sugar

8. Nutter Butter Bites
130 calories/ 6g fat/ 1.5g sat. fat/ 8g sugar

Time to sweat

Melanie — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 16:50:40 +0000

Holy Batman, I exercised on Monday and it felt great. Well not at first but after I finished I felt so powerful. I recruited on of my friends and we were in the gym at my complex working out together. We went after work and of course all of the aerobic machines were occupied so we worked on our biceps, triceps, shoulders, thighs, butt, abs, and whatever else was free. I have a tendency to go hard my first day and not make it back after that so I did not overdo it so that I wouldn’t be too sore tomorrow. I was still sore. Man, I tried to pick up a few boxes the next day and I almost cried. My thighs were done. I don’t know who invented lunges but I would certainly like to have a word or two with him or her.

New Year’s Resolutions

Melanie — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 15:49:24 +0000

I know that many have made resolutions, some for the first time others for the 100th, and these resolutions are usually what we live by for the first few weeks of every year until we ultimately fall off the wagon and start doing what we resolved to not do, only this time its worse than before and the guilt of the situation does more damage than if you hadn’t made the resolution in the first place. That is why I specifically started dieting a few days before the new year so that I wouldn’t have the pressure of a resolution, but for all of my resolution makers out there I support you. It is hard to diet, hard to lose weight, hard to change habits that you have developed over time but it is also okay to make a mistake, okay to miss a day of working out, okay to have that ice cream as a reward for working hard. I say that to you as much as to myself. We are not perfect, we are striving toward being our best. In the world of dieting you can’t worry about tomorrow you have to stay focused on today and the task at hand. So take a moment and look at your plate – will this meal help me to be the best me? Is it nutritious? Is it full of the fuel that my body needs? and then when you really want a challenge ask yourself have i given my all to this day? did I leave it all of the court or field or wherever it is that you work out? and if not give more, do more, be more.

I read in O magazine about Oprah Winfrey gaining weight again and I feel for her. This woman is bright, intelligent, wealthy, famous, and loved by millions yet she struggles with the same thing that I do, that you do. She said that she couldn’t believe that after all these years and all these things that she knows how to do she is still talking about her weight. I cried when I read it because I understood it. I felt it. This is not something that you can do for a little while and then be done with. Weight management is just that its management. It is the management of your life, lifestyle, habits, stressors and your goals. This is why it takes a while to get it under control and its takes effort to keep it under control. And maybe it takes just a little encouragement. We can do this. We can take back control of our lives. We can be who we are on the inside on the outside. We can achieve and exceed our goals. Good luck to my fellow soldiers in the weight loss battle.

Melanie

Eating healthy is so expensive

Melanie — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 15:48:42 +0000

Day 6:
I finally made it to the grocery store and I gotta say that is was a very pricey trip. Earlier I mentioned that I had lost weight and kept it off for a significant amount of time. So I am very aware of what to buy and what to eat. It was like I went into automatic pilot. I stuck to the perimeter of the store. I spent extra time in the fresh produce section, I picked up ground turkey breast, boneless, skinless chicken tenders, 7 grain bread ( 9 grain is too much), light yogurt, and all of the other things that used to fill my cabinets. I had a full cart of healthy goodness. The only part that I had somehow managed to forget was the end when I got the total – $300. Wow! And then I remembered just how expensive it is to eat well.

The grocery store is such a rip off at this time of the year. If you are a frequent shopper like I am then you notice all of the changes made weekly to coincide with customer preferences. Last week the end caps were filled with baking supplies, cookies, marshmallows and the like and this week I actually saw an end cap of 100 calorie packs – we will talk about those later- at the front of the snack section of the store. It is so interesting to see how marketers prey on consumers. Has anyone seen all of the Bally Total Fitness commercials that have been on this past week or the “Biggest Loser” marathon?

Is it possible to find an economical way to eat healthy?

How many calories does that have?!?

Melanie — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 14:56:28 +0000

The internet is a wonderful tool. I knew going into this morning that today would be a big challenge. Eating well at work is very tough for me to do. I work in an area with lots of popular eateries and with my schedule I usually have 2 meals a day at work – either breakfast and lunch or lunch and dinner. So it can be a bit of a challenge. I am really trying to take on this healthier lifestyle with a positive outlook, so I decided to pre-plan my work meals. Eventually I will make my meals at home but that is a Valentine’s Day resolution and I can not deal with it at the moment. In the spirit of pre planning meals, I researched some of the places that are available for lunch. Luckily, most major chains have the nutritional information for their entire menu available on their websites. I have to say that I was amazed at some of the things that I found. Some of the items that I just knew were healthy were really high in calories, or sodium or even saturated fat.

Now I don’t mean to call anyone out for having unhealthy food but PANERA Bread’s bagels have an average of 340 calories without cream cheese. For Bread? You have got to be kidding me. Perhaps I am making too big of a deal about this, but its just a bit much. A whole grain bagel with reduced fat plain cream cheese is 480 calories. I think that is far more than most people bargain for when ordering this seemingly healthy substitution. Every one of the regular sized panini’s at Panera is over 700 calories. Not that there aren’t any healthy solutions, you just have to dig to find them. To be on the safe side, I’ll stick with their broth based soup and half smoked turkey sandwich.

And oh my goodness, has anyone seen the nutrition guide for Starbucks. If you read my earlier post, then you know that I love Starbucks. I am one of those pathetic people who will wait in a line no matter how long for my daily dose of caffeine and confection and shell out an estimated $150 a month for my particular habit . I have actually gone into withdrawal over the last 2 days from not having my coffee. I would kill for a venti caramel macchiato, well maybe not kill but definitely hurt someone and at 300 calories a cup, I consumed roughly 62,400 calories this year. Yikes.

All in all there is some good news out there:
McDonald’s: Premium Caesar Salad with Grilled Chicken – 220 c/ 6g fat/ 30g protein
Taco Bell: Fresco Style Ranchero Chicken Soft Taco – 170 c/ 4g fat/ 12g protein
Arbys: Ham and Swiss Melt Sandwich – 268 c/ 5g fat/ 16g protein
Subway: Pretty much anything!!!

Like I said the internet is a wonderful tool in conquering the battle of the bulge. Just pay attention -the presence of grilled chicken does not make an item healthy or the best choice for you.

Gotta go,
see you tomorrow.

Melanie

Day 1

Melanie — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 00:41:40 +0000

Okay so here goes. I don’t know if anyone else does this but before I go on a diet – which has happened more times than I care for – I try to eat every possible thing that I know I won’t be able to have for the duration of the diet. Well I attempted this and for some reason I really was not able to do it. Which may be a good thing. It seems like self-sabotage. I need to get over the mentality of diet = deprivation.

So anyway, Day 1 – Today went pretty well. Sunday is usually the day that I take off and just lounge around with my boyfriend watching football and movies and today was no different. I have not exercised yet, but I did eat pretty well. I have not gone to the grocery store yet so I ate the food that we had in the house. I read somewhere that each meal should be about 400 calories. So that is what I tried to stick with today and it worked. I had whole grain cereal for breakfast, a sandwich and chips for lunch, and leftover spaghetti for dinner. No sodas, just a little cranberry juice mixed with water. Not textbook healthy but I definitely cut some calories.

In the past the diet that worked best for me included whole grains, lean meats and fresh fruits and vegetables while limiting saturated fat and sugar. I try really, really hard not to eat anything with the dreaded ingredients “HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP” and “PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED OIL.” Speaking of which, what is with that BS commercial that tries to say that HFCS is good for you. I am not an expert but you can not sell me on that stuff being even remotely healthy. I think that as a population we consume too much corn and corn byproducts . Anyway–

Today was fine. The real challenge will come tomorrow at work.

Melanie

Intro to me

Melanie — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 05:09:56 +0000

So here is the deal I am not a blogger. This is my first attempt at blogging – so please bear with me. I I had a health scare a few years ago and I went on a serious, by-the-book diet and I lost 45 lbs. I kept it off for a couple of years and then my life just spiraled out of control. I was really busy with school, I hated my job and I was having issues with my best friend and I would just eat to gain some control. It’s so weird to me that I can say that and completely understand what it means and how it affects my body but in the midst of that kind of situation you just want to find something that you can be in charge of that is just easy. And although I do not like to consider myself an emotional eater – because I don’t eat when I am sad or lonely – I am. I eat because I love food, I overeat because my life is out of control.

I have this vacation coming up with my boyfriend and his best friend and his best friend’s girlfriend. We are going on this tropical cruise in March and I absolutely REFUSE to be miserable on my trip because I can’t find something to wear that fits or that I am embarrassed about how I look in a bathing suit. So I am going to spend the next 90-something days getting into shape. So I am going to eat right, stop my daily trips to Starbucks (the hardest part), and get up and exercise (second hardest). Sounds easy enough but I need an incentive plan. My boyfriend writes a video game blog and uses it as an excuse to buy every damn video game that comes out and to play them for hours on end. So I figured that this would be a good way to stay on track. If I had to commit to writing about my progress and setbacks, I would be more likely to stay on track.

I am in no way pushing any diet or exercise plan, I am just keeping a web journal and if it helps at least one person stay the course and achieve their goal then I’m happy. I promise to be honest and open about my daily challenges, not to BS you or to waist your time.

See you on the 28th!

Melanie