Day 81

These are some tips for dealing with PMS through diet and exercise.

For the men on this list, you can choose to ignore this part (or just stay out of our way - grrr, just kidding.) I'm going to try the more calcium thing to see if that works.

An interesting article on online weight loss services (and how to choose one if it's right for you.)

I use http://www.calorieking.com/ just to see how many calories are in the food I'm eating when I'm writing in my food diary. You'll never eat anything fried again. It also has list of fast food chains and ethnic foods that help me pre-plan my meals before I go out. I give props to Cosi for listing all their foods.

Jogging - ha ha

I actually tried In home jogging (I know this sounds weird but go with me on this one.) Leslie Sansome has an indoor jogging workout (available on demand or here .)
Yes I felt like an idiot but it did work. This is weigh in week so I'm trying to keep off the weight as much as possible. I don't get my 10,000 steps in very often on the weekend so I do the walking videos sometimes. I have many embarrassing workout dvds so feel free to borrow some or email me for recommendations.

Day 78

Upping my game

Elle Fitness Glam Total Toning - yes it's a dumb name but it kicked my rear literally. It's available on demand under "stress relievers" in Exercise TV. Also try some of the Gaiam workouts. They are great for stretching out after doing 30 lunges.

Eating out while losing weight

The eternal struggle - you want to be part of the in crowd but you don't want to get super http://health.discovery.com/tools/calculators/activity/activity.html http://www.caloriesperhour.com/index_burn.html

Reviewing the basics How many steps in a mile? about 2640 -3000 depending on your strideHow many calories do you need to burn to lose a pound? 3500 baby

An article on basic weight loss:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/weight-loss/WT00001

Have a good weekend and stay dry.

Day 76

Hello all:

I'm back. Thanks for all your emails of concern. I just wanted a week when I wasn't a slave to my diet journal and I could eat french fries and pizza. It's out of my system now. Although, I didn't go overboard really and I kept exercising every day.

Ab work:

Lady S let me borrow her stability ball. It's been very interesting. One - I'm not very stable at all (but you all already knew that.) Two - my cats are terrified of the ball. Three - it's great for ab work but I had a hard time trying to do all the fancy pants plank work etc. There's an excellent on demand yoga stability ball workout that was more my speed. I may buy a stability work out dvd and then my own stability ball when Ms. S wants it back.Also, I've started to place a weight on my abs to hold my spine down to the ground. Also, I put a weight in my hand when I twist for oblique workouts. That seems to be working. I learned that from my Kathy Smith dvd which whooping my butt. However, she does show proper form and I appreciate that.

Lunges are the devil:

I don't know why every trainer and dvd demands lunges. I will tell you that doing lunges from front to back (rear lunge) rather than back to front (front lunge) is better for the knees. I kind of like the curtsy lunge. They do work but I still hate them Here's a general Honey Kalaria's workout is sold out on overstock but check amazon.

Day 64

Hello all:

Two inches to go . .

I'm down to 32 inches which is pretty darn good from 35 ½. But man, is it going slowly. I guess it's time to step up the exercise again (sigh) and lower the food intake. I tell you that working full-time, tutoring and taking a class really does save you money but makes you more stressed. Let me know how you are doing and if you need me to measure you.

Speaking of stress

Stress can make you fat. I've been trying to, depending on what time I get home, do some form of yoga or exercise. Like tonight I won't get home until 10 but I'll at least do 10 minutes of stretching and I usually walk home. Also, I try to take at least a 10 minute walk at lunch every day. I've been walking a lot and very briskly (the 15 degree weather at night is a great motivator.)
Also, I'm on Ambien for the week. What a difference an entire week of 7 hours+ sleep makes. Although the dreams, I'm having, are wicked weird. I'm taking myself off on Friday. I've never done a prescribed sleeping med before and it does seem to really help my mood and concentration.

Exercise TV is back!

My favorite exercise program with Violet Zaki is back on my on demand. In the meantime, I'm going through my old DVDS. CardioSculpt (which markets for about $10) is well worth it as well as the Biggest Loser which I actually customized to suit my workout routine. BL is good for both men and women. I don't know why the exercise industry doesn't really make DVDs for men's needs. I still have my Bollywood dance workout DVD to try. I'll let you know if it sucks.

You Day 62

Correctly measuring your waist

Women, your goal is to have your waist under 30 inches while men, your goal is under 35 inches. These are the steps we follow for measuring waist circumference from a nutritionist acquaintance of mine:
Stand with feet shoulder width apart and weight evenly distributed.
Relax your abdomen
Mark the point at the top of the right pelvic bone and the bottom of the right rib cage, directly over the pelvic bone, measure and mark the mid-point between the two marks.
Place the measuring tape in a horizontal plane around the abdomen at the level of the mid-point mark.
Record measurement at the end of a normal expiration.
The tape measure should be pulled to the proper tension without pinching the skin.


Weight loss compliments and insults

I don’t tell anyone unless they ask, that I’ve lost weight. I think this is a good article on how to handle the compliments and the insults.

60 day + Depression

This is usually around the time I get depressed. I’m 1/3 towards my goal and I’m tired of exercising and eating right. I hope that in the next few weeks, I’ll finally not be sore from doing a 1000 lunges and squats. When that is, I don’t know. Also, I don’t know when I’m allowed French fries again. I just had my first hard-boiled egg in two months today. I feel trapped in a diet box but I just have to keep pushing through. It’s still freakin’ hard. Hope you guys are doing well. I'm here for you:)

Day 61

Sneaking in Veggies

When I was in Weight Watchers, many moons ago, I discovered that I didn’t like vegetables (I’m a little better now.) I started putting them in pasta or having a salad at lunch and dinner (it’s supposed to cut down on what you eat during dinner.) Also, if you want, I can share with you the a really good garlic braised broccoli recipe from my favorite Vegan cookbook, The Voluptuous Vegan. Speaking of vegan cookbooks, they help make vegetables a lot more interesting than the boiled madness of our past. I have used this particular one hundreds of time to spice up a meal. The Rachel Ray vegetarian one is pretty good. I made an excellent eggplant curry from there.

Too much fiber?

Make sure to drink lots of water, especially at your high fiber meal. I had nearly 28 grams of fiber by lunch time between my high fiber Trader Joe’s cereal and my Amy’s soup with 9 grams of fiber per serving!

This article by the NIH is pretty interesting. Peeling decreases your fiber while cooking increases it (which makes sense for food like Spinach.)