I'll bypass the bypass. Thank you.

Today during my lunch break I participated in a brown bag "Lunch and Learn"  titled, Weight Loss and Nutrition.  It was a helpful session and scared me into thinking if I don't get my act together, I will soon be eligible for bypass surgery.

I entered the session with a huge plain bagel smothered in plain cream cheese and left with 1/4 of that same bagel the remains of which threw into the trash can.   Why did I do this, because at the session medical professionals talked about how fad diets and magical weight loss programs promise drastic results but studies show short-term dieting frequently results in weight re-gain. They presented proven strategies for long-term weight loss -- one of which included eat slower and savor your meals.

I'm used to inhaling my lunches, snacks and dinners with rapid speed, barely chewing  (whereas I eat my breakfast slower because I am barely awake enough to have the capacity to chow down before 9 a.m.).  The smart docs explained too fast eating causes us to overeat and we really should be taking 30 to 45 minutes to eat each meal because our bodies can't tell us we're full if we eat in less than 15 or 20 minutes..   Luckily they shared this advice within the first 10 minutes of the session and that way I was able to put the remainder of my bagel down.  And sure enough, 30 mins in, I was full off of my freakishly large bagel.  I stopped eating when I was "full".

These docs also went into great detail about weight loss surgery included diagrams and videos of gastric bypass surgery.   That made me lose my appetite especially since they shared that Non-Surgical obesity treatments, such as diets and medications generally suck.   Diets only yield a 6% long-term success rate whereas Medications only 12%.   

After watching a video where someone's stomach was cut down to the size of a banana, it's safe to say that I don't want to ever have to do weight loss surgery.  Sure it's effective, since most can get rid of 60 to 80% of excess weight within the first 18 months but gastric bypass is non-adjustable and requires the cutting and stapling of the stomach and the bowel.

My personal preference: I'd like to learn how to listen to my body and find it when I'm full by eating slower.  

I will reach my goals

I'm a "fan" of Bob Harper on Facebook and today in a status update he wrote, "Make it a point to be more active today.. Get a workout in! Today is the first day of the rest of your life and you are worth it!"

 I like that goal.  That's doable.   No matter how my schedule looks before or after work, I can always fit in a 15 to 30 min walk during my lunch break.  Any day.  Everyday.  That's what I'll do today.  Done!

Goals keep me focused.  In the past they've helped me accomplish great tasks.   It's time to jot down some August 2011 - December 2011 goals to keep me focused.

Wikihow says STEP ONE in reaching a goal is to Set a realistic but challenging/inspiring goal.

"Take a big dream, like "I want to be famous", and break it down into smaller, more manageable steps, like "I want to star in ascience fiction movie", "I want to go to three auditions a week", "I want to move to another city" and "I want to save $5000 so I can move." Make the goal big enough to challenge and excite you, but not so big that you hesitate to take the first steps."

Here's my break-down.  

My big dream:  "I want to be thin" which is girl talk for "My extra weight is interfering with how I feel about myself.  It needs to go!"  Specifically for me, being "thin" means losing the 50 extra pounds I have stored on my frame.

My big dream broken down into smaller, more manageable steps: 

 1.)  I want to lose 25 pounds and then take it from there.  Only a year ago, in August 2010, I weighed 20 pounds less than I do now.  Over a year's time I let stress from new life changes make me eat with reckless abandon and focus less on exercise.   Losing 25 pounds betwen August and December will get me half way to my goal of losing 50 pounds and getting thin!

2.)  I want to complete a half-marathon I've signed up for one in October!  I have a buddy and a training schedule (that's gotten off to a rocky start) but I will do it!

3.)  I want to build muscle and lose fat  I can do this through stepping up my weight training...which is actually part of my half-marathon training plan. 

4.)  I want to complete a 10-day juice cleanse I have researched juicers and watched Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead.  Unless I hear better suggestions, I plan to get an inexpensive Black and Decker juicer from Wal-Mart to stay in my $50 juicer range. I have recipes for drinks.  I scheduled my cleanse dates in my calendar for August 15th thru August 24.

5.) I want to complete a winter time 5K  Working on getting this set-up. The last winter outdoors race I did was in 2002: The Jingle Bell Run in Champaign, IL. It was cold and it was glorious.   Perhaps it's time to do it again!  

6.)  I want to eat less refined sugar.  Ok this one's a lie.  More like I know I should eat less fined sugar.  I want to work on minimizing the consumption of donuts and candy at work.  I want to avoid Starbuck's sugary drinks.  I want to say "no" to ice cream treats on sale at Jewel and only enjoy them on special occassions -- birthdays, parties, weddings.  Revised:  I want to save refined sugar treats for special occasions.

 7.)  I want to go to the gym three times a week I have a Groupon pass for one class at Flirty Girl Fitness and a gym membership at the Y.  The Y location is literally a 4-min walk from my apartment.  It opens at 5 a.m. weekdays and doesn't close until 10 p.m.  Morning workouts may be what I need to complete this mini goal.  No excuses.

8.)  I want to eat no more than one dead cow a week.  Let me explain.  Last July, when I started this blog I made up my "One cow a week" rule.  It stuck then so it's time to bring it back.  I wrote, Cheeseburgers were doing me in so I made up a rule that I can only eat one serving of dead cow a week.  Max.  Not daily.  This means, once I have my ONE cheeseburger or Chipotle steak burrito, it's time to switch to Boca Burgers, Black Bean burgers, veggie-based meals and other non-four legged friends.  Veggies, you should be very scared.  I'm going to devour you like no other.

At this point I've made my  August 2011 - December 2011 goals big enough to challenge and excite me, but not so big that I don't hesitate to take the first steps.   8 goals.  Sweet!  

Trim the Fat

After a weekend of camping at the Warren Dunes in Michigan where I pigged out on processed snacks, hot dogs, burgers, brats, Reese's Peanut Butter Cup S'mores and donuts, I have some detoxing to do. Besides my unhealthy camping feast, the day I left camping grounds, I headed to Jewel-Osco and found boxes of Choco Tacos on sale for $2.99.  Still high on camp nostalgia, I bought a box because they reminded me of camping at Blue Lake Fine Arts camp when I 15.  It's funny how so much of my "bad" food choices are governed by emotional eating, particularly sugary and saturated fat-laden foods.  Yes, I'm speaking directly to you Cheez-Its. 

Post-camping and one Choco Taco later, the scale said I'd gained 3 pounds!  My notion that eating BIG Cheez-Its, grilled sausage and Donettes would help me maintain my weight, let alone put me closer to 50-pounds of weight loss, was false.  I'm sure the scale number would've been higher had it not been for the exhausting hike to and from the campsite to the beach.   Walking uphill in hot sand while carrying beach gear is no joke.  The first 10 minutes walking were lovely.  We walked through woodsy areas with beautiful lighting.  Then we arrived at the sandy hills and it was terrible.  I felt like I was walking to the Promised Land.
While on the beach at the Warren Dunes, I watched toned women prance around in tiny bikinis while I sat feeling like a whale in my snug one-piece.  Of course, not everyone who wore a bikini was toned and gazelle like, but most were.  As I work toward my weight loss goals, I dream of wearing a bikini and joining them. My dream bikini color: Zebra!

Four days later, I'm finally back to my pre-camping weight, and I have a loooooong ways to go to meet my 50 pound loss.  Training for the upcoming half-marathon will help but I'd also like to lose inches by beefing up my muscles.  After all, 5 pounds of fat compared to the same amount of muscle looks drastically different.  I want to focus on decreasing my body fat percentage in addition to overall weight loss.

Me (blue shirt) - Age 15 - Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp
In between flute and piano rehearsals, I remember pigging out
on Choco Tacos during camp free time.

I'm still buzzing from watching Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead on Netflix.   The weight loss results in that movie were insane and after watching the doc I've watched my fair share juicing before and afters on YouTube.  Bottom line:  Juicing makes you lose weight --- but if you don't change your lifestyle you'll end up gaining all the weight back.

5 pounds of fat vs. 5 pounds of MUSCLE.  Huge difference!


My plan: In August I will try a 10-day juicing detox.  I'll monitor my progress and share the results.   For me it'll be a way to jumpstart progress.   Feel free to share any tips.  As for developing more muscle mass, I'm staying motivated with the above photo.

Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead - It's on Netflix!

Right now most Netflix subscribers are buzzing with rage over Netflix's recent price hike.   My personal solution-- swap your Stream + 1 DVD package for Streaming Only and you'll actually save yourself $2/month.

If you move to streaming only, your viewing options will decrease especially when it comes to newer content.  But as an avid streamer, who's streaming past includes the entire seasons of Skins (UK Version), Teen Mom, Roseanne, The Cosby Show, Weeds and other random British tv, I say live with it.  Streaming is the future of television.

I've explored my fair share of indi docs through streaming -- most recently, one about juicing to boost health and weight loss.  If you subscribe to Netflix go home right now and check it out --- Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead.  It will make you want to juice, lose weight...or at least think, "Wow, another non-American telling Americans how we can fight obesity".  

P.S. My main question after watching this was "What recipes are being used".  Google to the rescue.  Find juicing recipes here.  If you're a novice to streaming via your tv, Wii or whatever, click here.

Starting over. Again.

I've been bad.  After gaining way too much weight over the winter months, I rededicated my weight loss aspirations in March.  Since then I haven't been consistent.  My wake-up call came this week when my doctor told me my lab results show high glucose levels and high cholestorol.  She says I need to incorporate 30-mins of exercise five days a week, and that is what I will do.

I've put my weight loss tracker back to zero and started from scratch yesterday by resuming lunch-time yoga (40 mins) and a post-work elliptical session (30 mins).

My updated plan (via MyFitnessPal):  

Net Calories Consumed* / Day	1,350 calories/day
Carbs / Day	186 g
Fat / Day	45 g
Protein / Day	51 g

FITNESS GOALS	GOALS
Calories Burned / Week	1,120 calories/week
Workouts / Week	5 Workouts
Minutes / Workout	30 mins

YOUR DIET PROFILE	TARGET
Calories Burned
From Normal Daily Activity	2,100 calories/day
Net Calories Consumed*
Your Daily Goal	1,350 calories/ day
Daily Calorie Deficit	750 calories
Projected Weight Loss	1.5 lbs/ week

Black Women Can Be Healthy At Higher Weights

For years, I've questioned whether BMI measurements are a true measurement of my healthy weight.   In the past I've stood next to women who weighed 20 pounds more than me, but have the same measurements and sometimes even look skinnier than me!  Additionally I've hopped on many a scale where the scale operator grossly underestimated my weight and stared at me in disbelief as they nudged the 10+ lb notch upwards .  Maybe it's because I'm black.

Photo:  Copyright BeautyCentral.com

 According to my current BMI of 32, I am very overweight for my height.   I realize that I've packed on some pounds, but when I look in the mirror I don't see very overweight, just slightly overweight.   Yet my BMI insists I'm stepping closer to morbidly obese.

In a recent article, Study Shows Black Women Can Be Healthy At Higher Weights , many readers expressed their frustration and distrust of BMI.

One reader wrote,
"Ok, you all DO realise that BMI was invented in the late 1800s, right? The issue here isn't about black vs white vs asian, it's about the fact that we're still seriously considering a piece of psuedo-medical quakery from the period of time when people thought tapeworms were a valid diet and children should be fed heroin to shut them up!  BMI, at its simplest, divides your weight by your height. We ALL know that health is measured in many complex ways, and that with which we should all be concerned is becoming healthy, not skinny!"

I agree.  To  me being healthy is feeling healthy and full of energy.   Such things include being able to walk without running out of breath, feeling comfortable in my clothes, not feeling "sloppy" and walking without knee aches. Ideal weight is about feeling comfortable in your own skin and not overburdening your body with excess weight.  Maybe it's time to re-evaulate BMI structure.

Now onward to food:   Things I ate this weekend, some bad, some good.  My good meal of the week- Yesterday's dinner:  TJ's Southwest Salmon with Spinach.  Omega-3s and Vitamin E!

The future freaks me out

"Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape your future.”

~ Author, Robert H. Schuller



Singer Jennifer Hudson lost weight with Weight Watchers. 
Photo from TheHealthyTeacher.com



Anyone who's ever tried to lose weight knows it can involve a lot of getting on board, falling overboard, climbing back on and starting over again.  It's no wonder the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than 100,000 people die annually as a result of obesity, and it is estimated that 65 percent of American adults older than 20 are overweight or obese. 

I've tried it all - Jenny Craig, Slim Fast, Diet Pills, Skipping Meals, Calorie Counting.  With temporary fixes, I saw weight loss but none of it lasted.  I only lost to gain back the pounds I lost plus 10 more.  Personally, I know that the only way to lose and keep it off is to be consistent in whatever method you try.  Always staying active, always eating sensibly, always climbing back on board when falling off said wagon. 

Of course knowing what to do and actually doing are two different things, especially since most folks my age grew up in the age of "Eat Crap and You'll Feel Better" mass marketing.  Bad day?  Indulge in ice cream.  Money tight?  Eat like a king with this affordable fried chicken dinner.  Want to make everyday a Friday?  Head to the nearest Thank God It's Tasty joint and get a full day and half worth of calories in burgers and fries.  Hungry?  Why wait.  Follow your impulse and eat a chocolate covered calorie buster.

Since the decade I was born, the number of overweight children has doubled.  Since the '90s the rate of obesity among adults has grown by more than 75 percent.  A weight gain of 11 to 18 pounds doubles a person's risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. 

Even with all the warnings, it's so easy to put health on the backburner.  So easy to backslide to McDonald's.  Eat a burger.  Side of fries.  Dip the fries in ranch.  Swallow it down with a Shamrock Shake. However, no matter how many times I backslide, seeing body transformations always inspire me to get it back into gear.  Whether I'm watching everyday obese folks on A&E's Heavy transform from pitiful sedentary blobs who can barely walk to 5K-running athletes, or celebrities like Valerie Burtinelli or Jennifer Hudson stick to a lifestyle change, I'm inspired.


Back in 2009, Cyn snapped this photo of J. Hud performing
 on the streets of Chicago at Oprah's 24th Season Kickoff party.

Before Weight Watchers, 5'9" Jennifer Hudson wore a Size 16.  It's now reported that she wears a Size 6.  AMAZING.  Valerie Burtinelli, also transformed with Jenny Craig.  Regardless of how anyone loses weight, the main takeaway is a tidbit of hope that I too will be able to have my "before" and "after" to show people and say, "Look at me.  Can you believe I used to look like this?  No really.  That was me."

TV star Valerie Bertinelli's amazing weight loss
Photo from DietsInReview.com


Weight loss is no overnight success, but as I used to remind myself when I struggled to complete a five-year college program in four years, es mejor viajar con esperanza que llegar -   it's better to travel with hope than to arrive.

1.5 pounds a week

My favorite online calorie counting tool is Calorie Count.  I stumbled across the website while interning with the Illinois government summer of 2006.  I had one of those coupons for a free any size coffee drink at Caribiou Coffee and googled "Turtle Mocha" to see if it was acceptable to my calorie-counting-self.

Holy 90 grams of sugar!  16 oz of that mid-day snack had 587 cals, 15 gs of fat, 98 carbs, and did I mention - 90 gs of sugar.  The sugar alone lead me to abandon that free ride to a diabetes.  I don't remember what I got that day, but I do know it didn't have the words Turtle or Mocha in it.

A lot of times foods are so misleading, especially when it comes to eating out.  Yesterday I spent time comparing the calories in different tortillas at Jewel-Osco (or is it just Jewel now?).   A corn tortilla the size of my palm somehow managed to squeeze in 250 cals whilst a multigrain tortilla as big as my head was only 100 cals.

What about a Bagel vs. donut?

Test your calorie-counting skills here

I'm still working towards my weight loss goals so I can someday say, "I used to weigh 30 pounds more".  Ok, so that's not as dramatic as MTV's "I used to be fat", where kids lose 80-100+ lbs and then parade around saying "I used to be fat"...but I watched an episode yesterday and wanted my own mantra to picture saying.

Motivated by the desire to slim down and MTV's show, I created some personalized calorie-burning analysis to meet my weight loss goals:

My general calorie analysis (from Calorie Count )
You should consume about 1,209 calories a day to reach your goal weight. This is at a reasonable weight loss average of 1.5 lbs per week, which should be reached by July 19, 2011.

My Daily Caloric Expenditure
You burn 1960 calories during a typical day.  (Remember that this estimate is based on your body weight, height, age, gender, and your average level of activity.)

*These analysises was based on my age, height and activity lifestyle. I characterize myself as having a "sedentary" activity lifestyle since I met the following: At work - you work in an office; At home - you're usually sitting, reading, typing or working at a computer; Exercise - you don't exercise regularly (As of last week, I do exercise regularly...sometimes turning until always)

So here's what I did today.  I counted out all my calories, which involved some planning ahead of meals, i.e. no brainless snacking today.   Then I subtracted the calories I ate from my daily caloric expenditure.  Re: Calorie Expenditure, normally I'd add the estimated calories burned during exercise to the caloric expenditure, but today I did a light balance/flexibility class so I left it out.  I took this number and divided it by 3,500 (the amount of calories a body needs to burn to lose 1 lb).

MY STATS for 1/18/2011
Today's workout: light 30 min. Balance and Flexibility Class
Today's food:  Breakfast - Slim Fast (190 cals), Lunch -Tortilla and mozzerella (275), tomato soup (320), Snack - Dannon's light and fit strawberry yogurt (80), 100-cal kettlekorn (100) dinner:  mashed potatoes (100), green beans with olive oil (100), boneless pork loin (122); Zero calorie items:  Water, Berry La Croix, Diet Coke = Total cals: 1287 

Deficit: 673 calories = 0.19 lbs

Today I lost (will lose) 0.19 pounds.  I like the sound of that more than, "Today I burned xyz calories."
1.5 lbs per week. 30 pounds lighter by July 19, 2011. Do it to it.

Oh you fancy huh.

Nail done, hair done, every thing done.  Well, not quite.  I haven't gotten my nails done since summer 2010 and my hair has seen better days, but I did get myself a job with a prestigious not-for-profit, and I also moved to a new place to be closer to said job.   

Sadly, here's the skinny: between a new job, moving, general lack of sleep and the holidays, complete focus on diet and exercise were not the best, aka came to a complete halt .   I knew I had to refocus when on a recent trip to Palm Springs my daily food log read:  1.) 1/4 bag of Funyuns 2.) 1/2 bag of Cheeto Puffs, off-brand 3.) bottomless bucket of Poolside Punch. It didn't help that on the plane ride to Palm Springs Eat, Pray, Love feat. Julia Roberts was playing and I watched the whole thing inspired, interpreting the message as, "Eat whatever you want, however much you want, all the time and you'll be happy."  I'm reading the book now, and it doesn't seem to have that message so I'm not quite sure how I created that life lesson.


  Anywho, a week or so after those Californian travels I returned home and attended a Cookie Party where I sampled a dozen different types of cookies, and left with a tupperware filled with 30ish cookies.   And all the candies and cookies at work.   And more cookies.   And then there was Christmas dinner, aka stuff my face non-stop from 2 p.m. until 9 p.m..  But don't get too excited Overeaters Anonymous, the BRAKES are a coming!   




Embarrassingly gained some pounds in my work's Maintain Not Gain Post-Holiday Contest Weigh-In - CHECK
Signed up for a spring race to get my running back on schedule - CHECK
Gym membership - where I plan to do quick lunch workouts Tu/Ths - CHECK
Dusted off my Yoga Mat and Julian Michael's Yoga Meltdown DVD - CHECK
A new weight loss ticker design -- I'm now a goldfish swimming toward my goal instead of an apple just moving along as the pounds drop (see above)  - CHECK
Skim milk instead of cream in my coffee - CHECK
Slowing down on cookies - CHECK


Oh, and most importantly, my 2011 New Year's resolution.  I will not eat Funyuns. - CHECK  


Fair.


On another note - via a friend's Facebook post, I read of a website called spokeo.com - it's a new online phone book w/personal information and "it's not your grandma's phonebook": everything from pics you've posted on FB or web, your approx credit score, home value, income, age, etc. -- but THANK GOD, NOT your weight.  (Remove yourself by searching your name, find & copy the URL of your page, then go to the bottom right corner of the page and click on the Privacy button to remove yourself....)


I visited old Spokeo.com and found myself, after I sifted through 60-something persons in Chicagoland with my same name.  Spokeo painted me as a pretty successful gal.   According to them I'm in my late 30s, I'm married and I have a house.  They must've done a special profile for me and predicted my Sallie-Mae-paid-off-student-loans future.  Usually, I try to keep such personal info. between me and my closest 916 Facebook friends...or not.  I'm not mad at Spokeo.  I just want to know why they didn't mention that I like Funyuns. Now run and tell that. Those sillies.

Changing Directions - Operation Lose 30 pounds

 * * * * *

"If you do not change direction, 

you may end up where you are heading".  

- Lao-Tzu,
Chinese Philosopher

  * * * * *

I've always been a happy person, but after I graduated from law school, I was frustrated.

Yes, I was elated I earned a law degree, but I was not happy that in three years, I also gained 30 pounds.

Stress + inactivity + free pizza lunches + late nights + open bars will do that to you. Or at least it did it for me. I was so not happy with such an intense weight gain in such a short period of time, and I knew that if I didn't take action, that 30 pounds would either stay with me or creep up (i.e. "If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading").

The goal:  On May 14, 2010 I started a weight loss plan to lose all 30 pounds I gained while in law school.
I had a head start on my goal, because since graduating, I'd already lost 5 pounds. But to reach my goal of 30, I knew I needed to step it up. So I joined a gym and for two months I've been working out 3-5 times/week, taking almost daily walks sorta, and I've gained muscle/gotten stronger. I'm also eating better food/smaller portions, counting calories on occasion and as a result I've lost another 5 pounds over the last 2 months.

• Weight loss to date:  10 pounds
• Dress Sizes down to date:  One 
• Double Chins lost to date:  One
• New eating rules I made up:  ONE:  ONE COW A WEEK.  Cheeseburgers were doing me in so I made up a rule that I can only eat one serving of dead cow a week.  Max.  Not daily.  This means, once I have my ONE cheeseburger or Chipotle steak burrito, it's time to switch to Boca Burgers, Black Bean burgers, veggie-based meals and other non-four legged friends.  TWO:  WHEN IN DOUBT, EAT WHAT'S AT HOME...not what's at McDonald's, Taco Bell or Burger King.
• Weaknesses:  Cheese, 99 cents Dunkin' Donuts Happy Hour

Take a look at me now: Cyn on  July 3, 2010

So I've got 10 pounds down (plus toned my legs and arms and slimmed my belly).  That leaves me with 20 pounds left to lose.  I plan to lose that extra 20 by October 2010.  Over the next few months, I'll be documenting my weight loss accomplishments, struggles, desires, inspiration, progress, etc. in this blog and via videos.

Stay tuned....It's time for Cyn to Get Thin! and to put this journalism undergraduate degree to use.