Fitbit/HRM/Motivational Tools DO NOT MAKE You Lose Weight...

Saturday, February 16, 2013

YOU make you lose weight! What you eat, how you move, what YOU DO makes you lose weight! Now before you get all crazy on me, I love these gadgets and motivational tools. I think they can be very inspirational and help to motivate you to make smarter choices, but that alone does not make us lose weight.

I am so tired of seeing people say "Well I really need to make a new motivational poster, and THEN I will start seeing the scale go down again..." Are you ridiculous?! While a new motivational poster might help ignite your Spark, the only thing that is going to get the scale going down again is what you do AFTER. It might motivate you to get back on track or get you out exercising, but it is what you DO that creates the results.

Another example, months ago I told my friend I was getting a heart rate monitor so I could see how many calories I ACTUALLY burn while exercising, her immediate response was "I want one", and her very next question was "what is it?" She has a case of the "I want to have everything you have, because you have lost 60 pounds and I lost 20 only to regain it and then 5 additional pounds". The difference is NOT the gadgets I have, it is how hard I work at tracking my calories and making an effort to exercise that has done it. Getting a heart rate monitor and not using it, or using it to track your calorie burn while you sit on the couch isn't going to do you (or in this case her), any favors.

With that said, I think these gadgets and motivational tools are GREAT and I these are the ones I have, but I did not lose any more weight after getting these things.

Fitbit : I love it, I love that it tracks my steps, sometimes it gets me out walking more but not usually... I still have cases of the "I don't wannas" and it doesn't make my walks any easier.


Heart Rate Monitor: I loved this at first, I still do, but I really wanted to see how many calories I am burning while exercising. I burn a lot less than the online calculators claim. I admit I haven't been using it at much, partially because I have a decent understanding after using it about how many calories I burn doing various activities.


Motivational Marbles: I love these things, they are pretty to look at, but I hardly remember to move the marbles at this point. I do it every other month when I've lost a good amount of weight to keep it current.


Motivational Quotes: Love these, they are around my house, they are inspiring and great to look at, but sometimes I go into my fridge and over eat even when some of these are plastered ON my fridge.


Woohoo Jar: I love the jar, I love to put stuff in it, but I have to do the work to have the woohoo moments to put in the jar.


Sparky : I have an amazing dog that loves to walk, but if I don't get off my butt to do it, then it doesn't really help lol.

Planner: I put heart stickers on the day I exercise and cupcake stickers on the days I severely overeat. It is neat to see my progress and track it, but I very rarely pass up a high calorie day in fear of getting a dreaded cupcake sticker.

Sparkpeople: This is the biggest tool of all for me, and it is one that I use each and everyday. I have the most amazing Spark Friends and I am thankful for each and every one, but as much as they would love to reach through the computer and smack the cookie out of my hand, it still comes down to me. But I will say that the amount of love and support I have gotten from this site has allowed me to keep going when I might have otherwise given up.

My point is, it's all you baby! Your time might be better spent exercising or making a meal plan than pasting your head on Jennifer Anistons body for a motivational poster. However, everyone is different, and if you need that poster/quote/tool to get out and get the job done by all means go for it.

And on the flip side of that if you are losing weight and getting the job done, pat yourself on the back! You are doing this because you are awesome, not because of anything you have or any tools you have found it is because you do hard work day in and day out and you are amazing!

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Sparky Has Given Me Back My Spark...

Friday, February 08, 2013

I wish I could take credit for Sparky's awesome name, but it's the name he came with. Although I did comment on the fact it was the perfect name. I decided when I got him that I would make a deal to walk him everyday that I did not work. I have only had him a little over a week, but I have been true to my word, and today he really pushed me to get it done when I didn't want to.

I had a headache, I wasn't feeling it, I just wanted a lazy day. I have NO idea how this dog knows it's time to walk, it MIGHT be because I change my clothes into different pants, but I don't even have shoes on yet and he knows. Two days in a row now, when I have come down the stairs to put on my shoes before I take him, instead of going to the couch, he goes to the door and he does a whine like "what's taking so long"? We do a minimum of once around the block which is like 1.1 miles, and I hope to be able to build up in the future. Although I'm a little worried about the plate in my leg, I think I stepped wrong a little while ago and now it hurts when I take certain steps. Hoping it is nothing and will go away soon... Sparky needs his walk. :)

Nothing will keep me more accountable then these sweet puppy dog eyes.

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Recommitting To My Weight Loss Journey...

Tuesday, February 05, 2013

So this may sound silly, because I have been consistent on Spark over 10 months, I have tracked everything religiously, I am participating in a BLC Challenge which I do take very seriously, but I am recommitting to give this 110% again. If you are on my BLC team, I don't want you to think I've been slacking the last couple of weeks but I know where there is room for improvement.

The biggest room for improvement for me is my food choices! I also need to eat more frequently with more snacks and more HEALTHY choices. I have always been honest about the fact that my food choices are not always the best. I can be a very lazy person, and I needed something EASY to take to work. So that meant lean pockets, easy mac, etc. As I said, I am under no illusion that the highly processed foods are healthy, and I never made that claim. But when I was 272 pounds and eating fast food all the time, ANY sort of food change that was less than 3,000 calories pretty much resulted in weight loss. It was quick and painless for me, and it made it easy for me to stick to because it took no real effort on my part.

But I think I am finally ready to take this to the next level and focus more on the nutrition aspect. When I eat healthier foods, I can eat more for the same amount of calories and feel full longer, which often prevents me from overeating. Am I saying I will never have another easy mac again in my life? Well no, not exactly, but I want to make the nutrition part of my lifestyle change my new hobby.

By that I mean I want to try healthy foods that I've never tried before. I want to start making meal plans. I want to start COOKING and trying different healthy recipes. I did that for a while and I loved it but then I got lazy again. I felt a sense of pride when I actually planned my meals and wasn't just grabbing what was quick and easy. I also thoroughly enjoyed some of the recipes and they were fun and enjoyable to eat.

So, I am done being lazy. I am done hovering in the same weight range. I know that all calories are not created equal but now I need to start applying that to my life. Out of pure boredom I will be reading The Revolutionary Shred Diet by Dr. Ian Smith, and I may take some tips from his 4-day diet book that I already have. Please don't think I am hopping on the fad diet bandwagon, that isn't my intention. I think after being over 10 months in it shows that I am committed to this as a lifestyle change and I am not looking for a "quick fix" or anything by following some of the meal plans that come with these diets. I am just using them as a guide for healthy eating, for also learning proper meal timing and getting reacquainted with what a healthy meal looks like. Because as I said, eating what I've been eating does not resemble anything of a healthy meal (most of the time).

I just really needed to type this out and put it out into the Spark-verse to just really solidify my recommitment to a healthy lifestyle and to take my journey to the next level. If I ever want to see Onederland and that ipod, I really need to step it up big time.

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Boys, Puppies, Life...

Saturday, February 02, 2013

I have basically just been posting through status updates, and then sometimes I post things, and things don't go according to plan and I feel like a DOFUS. I swear, sometimes I feel like I jinx stuff. So for my spark friends that actually "know me", this blog is for you... and if you don't know me feel free to join in, but you probably won't give a tiny rats butt about anything in this blog.

: So a few months back I thought Sheldon had a stroke. We believe he has Vestibular disease which hits older dogs. He was doing great, he was doing great with Sparky, in fact he was the spunkiest I had seen him in weeks. I wake up at 1030 am Thursday (that is like the "middle of the night" for me and my whacky schedule), to Sparky barking. My poor Sheldon was standing there with his nose to the ground, wouldn't react to me, it was like I didn't exist. We did take him to the emergency vet, there is a possibility he has a brain tumor, which they prescribe steroids for but at his age it is not worth putting him through an MRI and other tests. Plus the fact that I can't afford some wazoo medical care. He is anywhere from 10-13, so the goal at this point is to just keep him as happy and comfortable for as long as possible. When I took him in December of 2011, the shelter was going to put him down because he was a nasty little dog and no one could touch him. Of course now he hearts me, but he will still tell you when he's "not having it" and will snap at you. My family has always prided ourselves in taking the "problem children". I would never take a dog that everybody wants to adopt, I'd much rather save the one that is overlooked.

Anyways, he looked horrible, but today he is feeling a lot better and was gently playing with Sparky again today. As for Sparky, he sleeps in my bed and sits with me on the couch, he does have some minor behavioral issues which just reaffirms he belongs at my house. The only thing that could be an issue is if he decides to bark when I am at work. Worst case scenario he will need a bark collar while I'm working, I am dreading that and I hope we don't have to go that route, but if the alternative was being put to sleep at the shelter, I can still find comfort in knowing this is a much better route for Sparky.

Sparky and I also went for our first walk today and it went great, and now he is pooped. I am going to make it a goal to walk him on all my days off. Around my block is exactly 1 mile and tomorrow we will go for 2. Walking with a high energy dog really allows me to pick up the pace and he almost pushes me to walk faster which is pretty cool.

One thing I will say is having this new dog has kept me on my toes and kept me more focused on him and how he is getting along with Sheldon that I am not fighting the urge to mindlessly eat or eat out of boredom, so that's another perk.

: The boy. So this emoticon isn't ideal because these people are clearly 's and 's in their relationship and that isn't the case. So for the handful of my ladies that really want to know what is up with the boy I thought I'd update. I still am weary of getting super personal on here... but I feel like a dummy because I posted that the boy and I had plans for Thursday. We have only hung out at his house, and this was kind of a big deal because we planned ahead, and he was coming to my house for the first time.

Here is the issue, and if you are going to lecture me or question my choices or morals, save us both the trouble and keep it to yourself...

I am about to be 27 and have not been "around the block" many times, and well, you are just going to have to take my word of it.

The short version of the boy story is we went on a date once, a little over 4 years ago. We never really hung out again, but we continued to talk. We talked through text/instant messenger mostly... but we have been friends ever since. He wanted to see me a few times through the years but I avoided it like the plague because I had gained a significant amount of weight from the last time he saw me.

As an example, I was about 205ish when we went on our date, and at any given time was between 240-272 and had no desire to allow him to see me that way. He was once very overweight, lost 80 pounds, and then has gained back a few. He still deals with self image and feeling fat even though he is definitely not fat. So he has never been anything but nice about my weight, but it was a personal issue.

Anyways, we started "hanging out" in September. It was nothing serious and we have seen each other very sporadically since then. Our schedules are totally opposite, he works 4am to 4pm, I work 5pm to 5am, and we typically don't share many of the same days off. He also works A LOT of overtime. So obviously that didn't make for much time together.

(Apparently my fingers have taken over, and it's all just flooding out, LOL)... He does this thing, THAT I HATE where he will go days without texting me. IT MAKES ME CRAZY. I like to think I'm pretty sane by nature, but I have never had a guy do that. He feels like if he's working he doesn't have to talk to me and I hate that. I have told him repeatedly how much that hurts me, and he works on it for a little bit but then it's back to his old ways. When I first met him, I would tease him that he was "too nice" and "like a girl" because, well he really was. I believe his current job has kind of changed him, and some of the changes aren't good.

Since I gave the disclaimer above, I will say we basically were "hooking up" and not really "dating". I have never really skipped the dating part, so this was uncharted territory for me and let me just say it is not for me. I can't deal with that, and I've learned that for the future. I was very open and honest with him that I couldn't handle the situation... communicating with him in general is like pulling teeth, and talking about something REAL makes it even harder, but basically he agreed with me that he didn't want it to just be hooking up, but then made no effort to change it. And for the record, I don't even know how much I really like the guy, I wasn't trying to make him my boyfriend, I just wanted to spend some time together, go on a proper date and see if we even TRULY enjoyed each others company. Again, would agree he didn't want it to be hooking up and in the SAME sentence say he didn't know what he wanted. So that is what I've been dealing with since December.

The last time I saw him was the end of December, he was supposed to come over Thursday. The thing is, he did not have my address so we obviously needed to talk before hand even if he said on Monday he was going to come over. I text him Tuesday to see if he is still coming over. My #1 reason for wanting to know was so I could make sure everything was super clean. He didn't say anything. Then Wednesday I asked again and nothing. When he finally did respond I was just done. He said he wanted to come on Thursday but he wasn't sure if it was a good idea because he still wasn't sure what he wanted, but he just didn't want it to be about that (hooking up). What I can't understand is, you don't know what you want but you don't want it to be hooking up, but you have not once tried to have an actual date. I was really hoping we would have a great day on Thursday and that it would help and now that is totally crushed.

It didn't end well, that was the only text I got from him, but being an emotional girl I kind of just told him that I felt like he knows what he wants, but he just doesn't want it with me and that I was done. He always weasels his way back in and he always does the "come over now" stuff and I hate that but I have given into it. I am just kinda hurt by the whole situation. He doesn't owe me anything as we aren't even dating, so it just makes me feel like the worlds biggest idiot. I have never been shy about saying I have severe self esteem issues, and I feel like any girl with a good sense of self worth wouldn't have let it gone on this long without putting her foot down.

Mind you, my comment to him about knowing what he wants comes from the fact that for the last 4 years he has whined to me that he doesn't like being alone and wants a girlfriend. Now you have someone (me) that wants to spend time with you and you "don't know what you want". He is 29 and has never had a girlfriend, and I'm not mocking that at all, but I can't understand why he has told me for years he wished he had a girlfriend and then has acted this way with me. I think that is why it's a bigger slap in the face to me, I feel like he wants a girlfriend, but just not me. And even right now when he has no other options, I feel like I'm still not good enough. Like he'd rather chose being alone over being with me. Time will tell, but I don' t know if I will be hearing from him again. The hardest part is that I'm losing a friend. *SIGHS*

Wow, so this turned into a huge venting blog instead of a simple update. I will probably regret putting "so much" out there, but it is what it is. So this is what I've been struggling with, a lot of emotional stuff over here and it's just been really hard. I am feeling better today but the whole thing still plagues me.

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New Fur-Baby & Final January Check In...

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

So as my 7 million status updates have said, I got to bring home my new fur-baby Sparky today. The shelter kind of picked on him for his initial behavior upon getting dumped at the shelter, and he has some issues regarding fences (as in barking and growling to "protect you" from the person outside the fence). I have no fence, so problem solved. I work 12 hour shifts and would never wish that on a young, active dog, but when the alternative is that the shelter may very well put him to sleep, it makes it so my house isn't "as bad". On the flip side I am off 3-4 days a week and he will get plenty of love and attention. And him and Sheldon's "Mee-maw" live 5 minutes away and I know she'd be happy to sit with her grandkids on some of the nights I work. I don't want to jinx it, but so far so good with him and Sheldon. He is just learning that Sheldon is older and more fragile and can't play like he may want him to. But they have been fine. :)





If you are an animal lover like me, please keep your paws crossed that things continue to be 's and 's between the pooches!


My final January check in... I've decided not to do this for February because, it's a little tedious, and I really doubt that anyone cares if I drank my 8 glasses of water or not... and trust me, I don't take that personally. It helped me to be accountable and it helped me to see the areas that needed work. I wanted to prove to myself I could stay accountable for 4 weeks and do this, and I have. I will still continue to kind of recap with myself to see the areas that need work, without going through the formalities of a blog. If I find myself slipping in any way though I may come back to it.

Oh and the other good news is, it looks like I'm going to have a 2 pound loss to contribute to my BLC team this week. That still puts me back to my dreaded 212.4 (have YET to make it under 212) but I'm really hoping once I get under it, my weight loss starts becoming more consistent again.

And the recap for January 23rd - January 29th

Track water and get a minimum of 8 glasses. 6/7 days.

Strength Training: 3/5 days... What I have learned from this is that my best chance at actually completing the lower body strength training is to include them on the upper body days. Maybe just to do them on 2 of the upper body days would work. That way it's a total of 3 days but just getting them all done at once.

Cardio: 7/7 days Been going great with that, a lot of it is contributed to the BLC because I want my fitness minutes points for my team. :)

1000 Monthly Fitness Minutes: 1358/1000 And the month is not even over. My first 1000 FM trophy since October. I plan to keep the momentum going.

Track Food: 7/7 days

Stay In Range: 5/7 days This is definitely a huge improvement from last week, but still plenty of room for improvement. I'm getting there, slowly but surely, the redeeming quality is the 2 days "over range" were 1988 calories and 2115, whereas last week they were about 2300 and before that the "over days" were 3000+. So I've definitely improved tremendously.

Blog about goals once per week: This is it, so

Overall: 85%

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