Monday, September 10, 2007

Week two - I will survive!


Hi All!

Sorry about the gap between postings, been a busy week for Ms. Tracy. Here is my "before" pic of me at 244!

Well, second week has gone by. Didn't lose any pounds this week. :( But..... I have gone from a size 26 to a 22! I know this because when I weighed in Sunday morning and didn't see the loss on the scale, I immediately went to the "Archives". Now, ladies, everyone has an archive closet. This is the closet full of clothes that don't fit you anymore, but you don't get rid of them because:

A: You paid too much for them - "This suit cost $400.00! I'll be DAMNED if I get rid of this!"

- or -

B: You paid too little for them -"Get rid of the Anne Klein Plus dress that I got on the clearance rack for $3?!?! Oh hell naw....."

So....I spent a better part of the morning trying on clothes that I had long since forgotten about...and all of the 22's fit!! YAY! And you know what the best part is? Most of the stuff was the wide legged pants with wide waistband and the short cropped jackets! THE STUFF THAT IS IN STYLE FOR THIS FALL!! I'm set !!

.....Of course, I have to have some new shoes and a new look to go with all the clothes that I can get into now, so to soothe my battered ego over the scale (evil! evil scale!) I went out and bought me some eff-me black four inch pumps. And I colored my hair red, well copper. My mom says I look like a hooker, but I feel like a million.

(Speaking of my mother, who is as big of a stitch than I am, she capped on me the other day. Showed me an article on Krispi Kreme going into bankruptcy and said "See what happens when you go on a diet?" Ah hahaha Mom! You're so funny. Looking for your nursing home is going to be a riot!!)

I have been in this weight loss game long enough to know about the body changes, plateaus, muscle weight gain, bla bla. But I have to get at least 8 more pounds off by weigh in on the 21st to reach my goal. ITS CRUNCH TIME! I will admit, last week wasn't a great week for exercise for me....It rained a few nights and I could not do my 7 mile walk and I did skip a few lunchtime walks. Oh yeah and Friday I kinda went overboard on the smoked almonds and the low carb pizza....but that is behind me! Gotta MOOOVE ON!

So, today I joined the local weight training club. This has the basic weights and a couple of treadmills. I also invested in a mini stair stepper to keep at home. I call it my mini heart attack waiting to happen- this thing is so haarrd! I can barely do 10 minutes on it without collapsing in a pool of sweat - but I will persevere! I will admit, this is a lot harder than it used to be...I'm starting to believe all that crap about what happens to you after 40!

So while I am struggling with my goal for the month, I thought I would go into detail about the diet that my doctor and I have chosen. I am following the Atkins low carb diet for two reasons:

1. I am a type 2 diabetic with normal cholesterol and blood pressure- I can control my blood sugar with diet and exercise. Under my doctor's supervision, I have not taken my medicine since I started the diet and tracked my blood sugar levels daily. My blood sugar levels have been normal.

2. Cannot do the leaf and twig thing. Sorry, no butter, no meat, no Tracy. Yes, I have to give up my precious Mountain Dew (I was up to six a day) and Snickers bars (ditto) and my mocha carmel whipped cream infused extra tall coffee (I am crying right now) , but I can have fish, steak, chicken, pork and a great assortment of veggies and salads to go with them. I have even altered a chocolate soy milk to taste as good (well, not as good) as my coffee.

See, this is a life style change, not just a diet and I have chosen the change that I can live with. I want to expound on two things before I go on. You must, must, before starting any diet, see your doctor! Get a checkup, get some tests done, find out what is right for your body type. And ask questions - it's your body, it's your life! And please don't let not having insurance stop you from getting health care for yourself - surf the Internet, call around locally, there are places that charge by your income or not at all! In my time of need, I found a few!

The second thing is this: Get your pens and paper out- ALL DIETS WORK! Yep all of em! Low fat? Sure! Low Carb? Uh Huh! Veggies only? Go for it! Pick the one that you can live with, stick with it and moooove on!

So anyhoo, I chose Atkins because it makes me cut way down on sugars, starches and carbs while letting me enjoy - in moderation - protein rich foods. Contrary to popular belief, you do not just eat fatty meat all day, you have to eat your veggies , you have to eat dairy and salad greens to balance it all out.

But the main reason that I chose Atkins is the Scientific part.....by getting rid of the carbs, your body has to turn to its own fat stores for energy. So, when you move, breathe, exercise, you are burning fat! That is how I went down two sizes! There is also this test that you do with ketone strips to see if your body is in fat burning mode! You pee on the strips and if the strip is purple, you are burning fat for energy! These, plus the scale, have a down side for us obsessive, compulsives tho... more on that another time.

If you would like more info on the Atkin's diet - go get the book! Read it from cover to cover because there is alot more to this than what I have written here!

Well, tonite was the first night of my workouts with the weights and my muscles are rebelling, so till next time!

You can do it!! So can I! Just not right now.....

Oh wait! I almost forgot!! So far, my team has lost of total of 27 lbs! Go Team!

And I would like to give a shout out to Dia at Runchilde - her blog should be called RunLiftWeightsandSweatchilde, cuz sista is doin it all!! And managing to blog everyday! Girl ya making me look bad! Anyhoo, congrats on your weight loss too!

Til next time! YOU CAN ZZZZZZzzzzzz....

8 comments:

Vakker Kvinne said...

First of all congrats on your weight loss! Losing weight is a hard thing to do and it seems like you are doing what you need to do in order to make your goals happen. I’m on the weight loss wagon again too-this time trying to lose 40 lbs. before next July. I’ve lost 5 lbs in about 5 weeks, but of course I want more more more! I keep skipping gym workouts and eating junk (sweets-my weakness), so at least I know that I can choose to make other choices and still lose. That hasn’t happened in a while, before it seemed like no matter what I did-it didn’t work-I just couldn’t lose weight!

I agree with you-the scale is horrible. I’ve just started using one again after a 10-year hiatus. Too much baggage comes with that little number but if I want to track my progress honestly, I guess I gotta get up there. I weight in ever Wednesday morning as soon as I get up…tomorrow is the big day.

I tried the Atkins diet a few years ago and did well the first two weeks, then after induction I couldn’t “give the weight away”. I also tried Weight Watchers and it worked for a while-but progress was slow. I just gave up after week 7 when I had “only” lost 6 lbs. Now I’m not really following a plan, it’s more like I eat as many fruits and veggies as I can, lean cuts of mean, avoid anything fried (fried foods actually give me major heartburn now), avoid gravy, and choose non-alcoholic beer 90% of the time. When we were kids, we were never allowed to have soda in the house except on special occasions, so I never developed a taste for it. I drink a low calorie fruit soda every now and again, but carbonated water usually hits the spot. I also don’t drink juice-it’s way too sweet for me (oddly enough).

Love your blog and wish you the best. Please check out mine with you get a chance. –Whitney
vakkerkvinne.blogspot.com

Healthy Living 101 said...

LOVE the Krispi Kreme comment. Sounds like something my mom would say.

Congrats on getting into those 22s. I know ALL about the archives. When the scale wasn't moving that was the only thing keeping me motivated.

I live an Atkinish life as well. But I been cheating recently so....

;-(

Question: if u get the chance could u break your post up for me? I'm 27 but I got the eyes of an 80 year old..lol. So that would help.

Tracy said...

Hey Whitney!

Girl, don't give up, we can win this weight loss game!

I personally think that Atkins is a big girls diet...If you do it correctly, which means following it to the letter, you can lose a substantial amount of weight. And you have to eat! Several times a day! I think that we have been so used to starving ourselves that we cannot comprehend eating as a catalyst to losing weight!

Again, these are my thoughts from experience, but if you have more than 50 lbs to lose, you should stay on Induction for the majority of your diet. I plan on staying under 20grms of carbs till the contest ends. You can add different foods, just balance them in your daily intake. For more info, get the book, or check out Jimmy Moore's La Vida Low Carb blog.

Right now, the scale is like a good looking no good man - you know you shouldn't but ya just cant help it!! ;)

One more thing - whatever diet you choose to go with remember this:

without exercise, it is all for naught! You cant eat 3 eggs, bacon, then a hamburger, salad with dressing and 3 snacks a day and not exercise. What will happen is, again with any diet, you will be adding all these calories and not burning them off. Work it girl! Sweat is good for your skin and is a great stress reliever!

So good luck to you, I know that you can do it! Just remember, at the end of every hard road traveled is a good looking rich man that will let you quit your job and live in his castle....

I mean...nah screw it, that's what I meant!

Tracy said...

hey ts!!

I tried to edit the post so it wouldn't look like one run on sentence, but it wouldn't take.

Could the photo be the problem?

Where is Dee?

Healthy Living 101 said...

Hey,

It's the HTML sounds like. Don't wory about it if u don't know how to play around with the HTML.

Good question on Dee. I was gonna hit her up and see what's up.

Yeah I'm a big fan of Atkins myself. But I'm not good at following anything to the "T" LOL.

Vakker Kvinne said...

Hei Tracy!

Sorry for the mix up again…my brain seems to be on auto-irritable/forgetful this week ;P

I’m still deciding how much I want to lose-but I think 40 is enough for me. I could (of course) try to lose more but I like having some extra padding-just not so much. That’s been a big excuse for me over the years is that I never wanted to get too skinny. Just bangin’.

The only thing keeping me motivated this time around is the FREE access I have to a gym. Well, that and the fact the being unemployed and not needing a job for the money anymore has me trippin’. Working out reminds me and rewards me with hard work. I like that.

mekare said...

Congrats on the weight loss!

Miriam said...

honors to ya re:on the weight loss!

So positive and upbeat (and funny). I enjoy reading your posts!