Long Term Sucess/Life Time Maintenance and Rewarding Yourself!

This topic came up in my reply to Melody who's lost 45 lbs in her first 5 weeks on Low Carb and I decided it might be helpful to others as well so I'm going to share it. Congrats Melody! You're off to a great start!!!

As we all know this is a long process and a life time change to improve your health and way of life. To change the way you think about food and not to comfort or reward yourself with food. But it's also important to make sure to reward yourself along the way when you can.

Try get a new pair of workout pants, or a new flattering wrap top that helps you start to see your progress more. Maybe a new yoga mat for doing Palates if you need something low impact and you aren't up for the gym yet. Even go see a movie, but skip the snack counter... eat lunch or dinner before the movie. Get a mani/pedi, have a spa day at home with a friend. Maybe get some new pj's or new undies. Make sure that you at least have one properly fitting outfit so you feel good going places.

I went from a size 56 dress, 8x/9x men's shirt with a 91" waist to a size 18/20 dress, 1x/2x tops so I've had to replace my entire wardrobe several times along the way. It sucked spending the money on clothes, but it felt so good to wear an outfit that fit me correctly. It's also important to get rid of your clothes when they become way too big, or get out the sewing machine and alter them. Because if you keep the bigger baggy clothes around and you start gaining weight you won't realize it in your clothes if everything you have is baggy or stretchy.

I've been wearing nothing but dresses with leggings and boots to work all winter (stretchy clothes). My office was passing around germs and I was busy, never home, not sleeping enough, not drinking enough water and I got a sinus infection that was upsetting my tummy for 3 weeks and then I had the flu that lingered for 4 weeks and lots of extra stress from work. I've still been doing low carb, but not as low as I normally do and I started drinking more Sprite Zero and Fresca trying to settle my tummy and I think it made me feel worse and upset my tummy more from the added sweeteners in the long run.

The scale gradually went up a bit... but I wasn't too worried because I still looked the same and my clothes still fit me.  Then Friday night I went to go put on my "Skinny" jeans that used to fit comfortably and they wouldn't button out of the dryer. I realized that I had not worn them in two months. I sighed and put on my relaxed fit jeans and they fit me snugly... That's my sign that I have to go back to induction level carbs (20 or less per day) instead of having off days of 30-40 carbs per day like I have been doing a lot the past couple of months.

The gradual increases can sure add up in time if you gain 10 lbs one month and 10 lbs another month, you have to catch it before it gets out of hand. I know it's not added muscle weight because I haven't been training hard lately, it's from eating too many carbs for my system. With my PCOS I have to stay at 20 or less per day to maintain my weight and to feel my best. I haven't been working out because the numbness has gotten worse due to excess skin cutting off circulation and pinching my nerve. I'll post more about that later though.

I had increased portions because I was working over time and I would often be at work until 6:30 or 7pm so I started getting bigger salads for lunch to compensate for a later dinner. My salads had a lot of turkey, ham or chicken on them from the work salad bar so I know there was hidden carbs there even though I brought my own dressing. I'd eat half the salad at 1pm, the other half at 4/5pm and then dinner around 8/9pm. But it ended up adding an extra meal to my day instead of it just being a snack. Then some days I'd say screw it, my tummy was already upset so I'd grab a piece of pizza with my salad too. I normally avoided the carbs because they upset my tummy, but it was easier to give in to them when my tummy was already upset.

I'm sharing this with you guys to let you know that even someone like me who's maintained the loss for over 2 years still has to watch it and that we can all have little setbacks, we all have to be careful. We just have to get back on it and watch the carbs and portion sizes to keep yourself in check. Also make sure to drink enough water too and try to get enough sleep... I struggle with the sleep part because I'm always busy with something or my mind is wanting to go go go instead of resting.

Remember the important part is to never give up on yourself, ever! You can do it, because you are worth it!

-CJ

Homemade Broccoli, Bacon and Cheese Soup with a BLT Wrap

It's cold and rainy and nothing sounded good the other night except for Broccoli Cheese Soup and I decided to add some Bacon!

I just used my standard go to combination for a sauce base.
1 stick of butter
16 ounces of Heavy Whipping Cream
2 cups of shredded cheese (I used Cheddar here)

For an Alfredo I use an Italian Blend of whatever I have on hand.
Just melt the butter, melt the cheese, add the cream and stir while bringing it to a boil. Keep stirring and let it simmer until it thickens.
Once the sauce is done cooking then I added the steamed broccoli and crumbled the bacon.

You could also pair this with a BLT made on a low carb tortilla or a lettuce wrap or a BLT salad. 
I decided that it was too much food for me for one meal so I just went with the soup and then ate the wrap later.

 I don't eat soy because of my PCOS so I will only use one brand of low carb Tortilla. All of the other ones that I have found are made with soy flour. I use the Mission Carb Balance tortillas, they do have a small amount of soybean oil but that doesn't bother me like the soy flour, soy lecithin or soy protein does.

Soy basically mimics estrogen and was causing problems for me so I stopped eating it altogether last summer. Most ladies with PCOS already have high estrogen levels and should not eat soy and should try to eat more broccoli because broccoli naturally helps to rid your body of excess estrogen.

PodCast with Jimmy Moore and Friends

Hi Peoples,
Here's the the link to the PodCast that I participated in with Jimmy Moore.
There's links at the bottom to listen to it on itunes or download it.
(It's 30 mins long, so go pee first! LOL)

Dehydration, Cranberry, Exercise, PCOS and my Parents.

This is probably about the most random post ever, but I am finding it hard to pick just one topic today. So here it goes. I learn something new all the time..... and guess what, I never knew that Cranberry was a diuretic... meaning it helps you to SHED water. So I was dehydrated and drinking Cran-Grape and only Cran-Grape and wondering why I was not feeling better..... (go ahead and laugh at me, it's ok.....)

I <3 my Cran-Grape, I just like the taste of it and it seemed to be good for me and has vitamin C in it so I was drinking it all the time. As much as I like my Cran-Grape I think I better stop drinking it 99% of the time and mix in something else when I go to the gym or when I haven't had very many liquids that day. I am still going to drink it a lot, I just need to find something else too.

Anyway on Thursday night it took me 6 hours to be able to drink just one 32 ounce bottle of the Powerade Zero, then the next one took me a long time as well and I didn't finish it until about 4pm on Friday. I was feeling better then I was, wasn't sick to my tummy anymore and headache wasn't as bad, but still felt bad, but I wanted to go to the gym really bad. I was talking to a friend and whining about wanting to go to the gym and they told me to just drink more now, take more liquids with me to the gym then normal and then drink more when I got home. So I went with two bottles of Powerade Zero and I drank them both while on the treadmill. I took this picture when there was about 18 out of the 90 minutes left that I normally spend on the treadmill.

I thought it looked kinda funny at first, but then I thought... well... they do have two spots for drinks on the treadmill for a reason..... It is important to stay hydrated while exercising and I have finished my one 32 ounce bottle before and wished I had more, so I think this may have to become the norm for me to bring two bottles with me. Anyway, I am soooooooo glad that I went to the gym last night!!! It made me feel so much better! I didn't check my pedometer until I got home, but I ended up doing 8.3k on the treadmill in 90 minutes, while not feeling good.... what??? really??? me????? If you had of told me I would be doing that this time last year I would have laughed at you and said you were crazy! That was the girl who could barely make it through the grocery store without wanting a nap..... now I just want to go go go and don't want to sleep.

I know I mention it a lot, but it really truly is a HUGE difference in energy level. Before I just felt awful all the time and I was always sick which made me feel even worse. Now I always feel good and I am rarely sick (knock on wood!) so I think I get even more whiny when I don't feel good because I seriously miss how good I normally feel. I have an old personal blog that I don't use much anymore and I was looking at it the other day. I even had a "Labels" category called "Tired/Achy/Sick" I saw that section and I was just kind of like... wow....... I made a whole section for being tired, achy or sick? I got to thinking about how much I really was tired, achy and sick all the time back then. What a difference!


On a bit of a personal note with the PCOS  (Any male readers can stop reading this paragraph and skip to the next one!) When it was that "ToM", I would seriously just be even more drained and doubled over with cramps and just want to stay in bed all day and not do anything and be dizzy, light headed and feel horrible. Now I can still feel bad, have cramps and be more tired but I still go to the gym and do my normal workouts and it doesn't even phase me. I have found that it actually makes me feel better and made the cramps go away when I went to the gym on a bad day that normally I would have stayed home for. I had an appointment with my trainer, so I went anyway, on 3 hours of sleep no less. But I was so surprised, I felt wonderful after going and after the training session was over I went and got on the treadmill and stayed another hour and a half! I surprise myself all the time these days. :)  If any of you ladies also have PCOS I would strongly recommend low carb, it truly is the only thing that has reversed the effects of the PCOS and there is no "cure" for it, but you can treat it and not have to deal with the symptoms.


Oh on a funny note..... That 64 ounces of Powerade Zero woke my bladder up half way home..... I made it, but just barely. I thought my workout for the night was done, but it ended up including a brisk walk to the bathroom. Reminded me of being a child and my Mother telling me, "Even if you don't have to go, let's go try anyway before we get in the car".

Speaking of my Mother..... She has now lost 20 lbs and I am soooooooo proud of her!!!! She doesn't have that much to lose, just about 50 lbs total but she has adjusted to a low carb lifestyle as well, not near as low carb as what I do, but she cut her carbs and is losing weight and it is so nice to see her enthusiasm, she is so cute when she loses another pound. My Father has also decided to eat healthier and exercise, he is doing semi-low carb but he has whole grains as well. He has lost 7 lbs now and wants to lose about 40 or 45 lbs. It is such a good feeling when friends, family and even strangers have told me that I inspired them to change their life style and get healthier, but it is even more touching when it is my own parents telling me that I inspired and motivated them. They are both amazing people and I am so proud of them! Now if I could just get both of them to relocate to my area then I could drag both of them to the gym with me. I love my Mommy and my Daddy and I don't care if the whole world knows it!  :)

Pictures of the three of us together are rare as they live in separate states now but just compare these pictures.
I started my senior year of High School at 205 lbs in a size 16/18, my PCOS was acting up and the weight gain was starting. I was 260 lbs and barely fitting into a size 26 in this picture on my graduation night at 17 years old.

Compared to this one at 26 years old, when I was 525 lbs....... The dress was a very roomy 6x (56 or 60 woman's size) and I had a 90 inch belly.....

I am going to have to get them together and take a new picture when all 3 of us finish losing the weight we want to lose.:)

Here is a picture of my Mother and I when I was 23 years old and somewhere between 460/480, I don't know exactly, but that dress was a roomy 5x. My Mom isn't huge, but she isn't a teeny tiny woman either. I think she was about a 2x in this picture, but I made her look tiny standing next to her.

Compared to a picture from last Christmas when I was 326 lbs. in a size 26 and ummmm... I would rather not say my age! lol.

OK, before this post gets any more random I am gonna hit the submit button. :)

The day that changed my life forever.

I will never forget that day in December of 2003..... my wonderful sister-inlaw, who I will always be grateful to, decided to open up and share her experiences with me about being low carb. She didn't know I had PCOS until my Mom mentioned it, but come to find out doing low carb was seriously helping ladies with PCOS when the medicine wasn't helping. I had been on the medicine for 2 years and it only made me feel even more sick then I did before the medicine. They had given me Metformin a mild diabetic medicine but I am not diabetic. It resulted in morning sickness every morning for 2 years..... I tried different doses, different times of day and nothing helped. I was told by my doctor that I have a severe case of PCOS and not everyone has the symptoms as bad as what I did. I won't go into the gross details but let's just say it was pretty bad and I was anemic because of it.

I lived on carbs, I craved carbs, I was a carboholic and craved the carbs like an alcoholic craves alcohol. I was afraid of trying low carb, but I was more afraid of dieing. I cringed because my favorite foods were potatoes, pasta and bread..... but I told myself I had to try it, because I wasn't ready to die. I was 525 lbs and luckily no high blood pressure or heart trouble, but it was only a matter of time at the rate I was going. Earlier in the month I had watched my Mother bury my Grandfather and I didn't want to be next. I am very close with my Mother and I could see the pain in her eyes when she looked at me, she would smile and try to be happy, but I could tell what she was thinking whenever the subject of health came up. My Grandfather lived to be 92 (3 days shy of his 93rd birthday) and I didn't want to die in my 20's. I was pretty active for my size and I wouldn't admit it then but I would wear out easily and have shortness of breath and basically push myself beyond exhaustion just to keep up with all of the things I did.

I had tried just about every diet out there and nothing had worked for me. I was skeptical but I went and bought both the Atkins New Diet Revolution book and the South Beach book. I HATE reading books but I read them both cover to cover. The first two weeks were hardest and within 4 months time I had lost 108 lbs. There was no question at that point, I felt so much better and my doctors were shocked! The more weight I lost the easier it was to avoid the carbs and turn down the things that were not good for me. This isn't just a diet, it is a lifestyle. I stopped taking my medicine when I went low carb too, because I didn't want my blood sugar to go too low being on a diabetic medicine when I was NOT diabetic. If you are on any medicines, make sure to talk to your doctor first!

PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome)

As I mentioned before, I have a medical condition(PCOS) that my body just can't process carbs correctly so it stores them instead of burning them. It makes me crave carbs and feel light headed, dizzy, sick to my tummy, no energy and feel awful and be even more hungry. I was gaining weight like crazy and no one knew why. I was given Metformin/Glucaphage, it wasn't the XR it was the normal stuff. This was back in 2001-2003. I took it for 2 years and it made me horribly sick, I had morning sickness every morning yet, I wasn't pregnant. It wasn't helping my cycles, it wasn't helping me to lose weight, it just made me sick. That was when I found out that going low carb could help ladies with PCOS, so I stopped taking the Metformin and started low carb. I had been over 500 lbs, gaining weight like crazy and the doctors didn't know why...  It wasn't until a few years later when I was reading an article in Woman's Day on PCOS and I had every symptom they listed except for high blood pressure and heart trouble. I took the article to my doctor and she said, "Oh yeah I have heard this mentioned at a conference before, let's test you for it." Sure enough, that was what I had. Too bad I was already 525 lbs before they figured it out.

A side note on the Metformin/Glucaphage, it does work for some ladies so don't totally rule it out. One thing about PCOS is the symptoms can vary a lot from person to person and some have it mild or some have it worse like I do. A few of the lucky ones can have it and don't gain much weight at all but most ladies who have it gain weight from it and a lot of us gain massive amounts of weight. Anyway if you have PCOS and doing low carb and currently taking Metformin I would make sure that your doctor knows. I was advised not to take the Metformin once I went low carb, but everyone is different.

When I was taking it my doctor kept telling me just give it time and you will adjust, I never adjusted to it and felt sooo much better once I stopped taking it and after a few weeks of being low carb. Just make sure to talk with your doctor so the medicine doesn't make your blood sugar levels go too low. I am not diabetic at all and my levels were always on the low end and leaning more towards hypoglycemic so they didn't want to take a chance with it and I simply didn't need the medicine, so why take it? But if it helps you and works for you then by all means take it. You gotta do what works for you. :)