Goings On...

My 4th anniversary is coming up, and we'll have family in town for it. Though, I'm not at all bummed about having family around, I just wonder how we'll celebrate it. We are going to DC 2 weeks after, but that's for business. It will be just Sam & I, so I guess that's as alone as we'll get for a whole weekend. We'll be back in time for Labor Day--anyone BBQ'ing?
The other super cool thing is that Sam & I are both losing weight, although, our scale is now broken. Aside from our fat clothes not fitting so tightly, our fitness center has a balance scale (like the Dr's offices) that I've been able to track some progress with. Both fortunately & unfortunately, the complex has closed it for a couple weeks for remodelling. Though, I have seen diddly squat happen in there, nor has the equipment been replaced. It's still the same old broken down equipment. I do hope they keep the scale though.
When Sam & I started 3 weeks ago, he weighed 211 and I was 199 (on our scale...though come to find out that on the balance scale at the fitness center, we were probably both 10 lbs heavier than that, judging by the difference between the two). Since then, we've both lost at least 12-15 lbs, though I can't wait for our fitness center to open again so I can double-check. Today my scale said I was up 3 lbs since my last check was at 188. It's kinda rediculous. However, we keep pluggin' along until the end of our program.
What are you doing??--well, it's called Healthpointe 2.0; and I've done it once before about this same time with Melanie. When Melanie was 7 months, we started, and now that Celia's 7 months, I guess it just seemed right to start again. The only difference is that Celia still breastfeeds, although she is now on solids, so I don't have so much the requirement for all the demand on breastfeeding. This is my personal opinion, not a doctor's. However, in this program, you have about 5 sections. The whole program is designed around boosting your metabolism to burn your stored fat, rather than all the carbs and protein. Your body will start burning carbs before it burns fat, so yes, this is going to be a low-carb, low-fat, high protein program.
First, you prepare mentally. If anything, it takes the acknowledgment that you're even going to commit, so you start to eat normally, or in some cases, indulge in those last cravings before you really put your nose to the grindstone.
Second, you take 1-3 days as jumpstart days. These days you eat solely protein. The book/guide that comes with it has a few pages showing exactly how many carbs are in your protein choices, and for later, fruits/veggies servings. Nutrition facts are helpful, but for this program, you'll obviously be staying away from bacon, sausage, and most pork products as they are high in fat. Nonetheless, since Sam & I are with Amway (and this program comes from our networking group), we do use the Amway protein bars, shakes, and snacks. Thus, they do make these days easier, since they're designed to have the appropriate ratio of carb/prot/fat.
Next, you move on to menu days. The guide contains 10 menus each for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. In general, breakfast is a serving of protein and a grain or fruit. Lunch and dinner are both a serving of vegetables, protein, salad (either side, or used as main dish), and fruit (for "dessert"). As mentioned before, the guide contains a few pages for carb counts on the selected fruits & veggies. This you do for one month.
Next, you have two weeks of "Add Food Days" where you do just that, add food. You can start out by adding another fruit or grain to your breakfast, a grain to your lunch and/or dinner. Of course you start out slowly, because you're not instantly going to eat pasta and french bread for dinner. By the end of two weeks, you probably could, but of course within reason. If your body fluctuates more than 2 lbs, in either direction, then you should probably do a protein day.
Last, if you still have more weight to lose, start at the jumpstart days, and repeat. If you're satisfied where you're at, go to long-term maintenance.
Throughout this program there are some things you will have learned by inheriting a different lifestyle. You've been eating fresh fruits and vegetables for the last 6 weeks. You may have learned you really like the fajitas wrapped in lettuce, so you incorporate those menus into your regular dinner plans. It's actually rather refreshing too to have a fruit for dessert, and the rare occassion some ice cream too. You learn to not overdo it. Just because you can have your large burrito, doesn't mean you have to eat it all either. You learn portion control.
Other things you're supposed to do throughout the program: between meals, eat a snack. What?! Snacks? Yes, snacks--protein snacks, of course. When you feel hungry, don't just drink water to fill your stomach, eat something. This way your body is fueled (for your metabolism), and your body isn't starving. If it thinks it's starving, it will hold on to that stored fat to use it in time of need later. For those who do starve themselves to lose weight, it will work, but your metabolism wasn't changed, and therefore, you'll gain it right back once you start eating. Also, the goal is to drink 80-100 ounces of water per day. Drinking more might be okay, but it's recommended to not go over 100 (I haven't figured out why yet, but the idea is that if you're drinking more water, are you drinking to keep from being hungry, or are you drinking because you're thirsty?). I am still breastfeeding, so I do try to aim closer to 100 for myself, personally. And another thing to do in this program is to do light exercise. In the box, you receive a pedometer. The goal here is to walk 8-12K steps per day. Though, I'm a stay-at-home mom, I really don't get out much. So on a regular day with my girls, I get about 4,000 steps. Now, I take them on walks, take out the trash more frequently (go figure), get the mail, or something more. Even just jumping around while I'm typing on the computer, or other such thing. It's been quite rewarding anyway. I do go to the pool with Melanie & Celia on occassion, but not often. So most of my exercise has just been walking. Granted, if I'm only at 5K by 9pm, I know I need a walk. But since it's been cooling down at night, it really has been nice to get out too, after the girls are in bed.
I'm sure I'm missing a couple things, but that's the basics. Oh, and of course, document your intake of carbs, weight, steps/day, and water intake. If you don't write it down, you won't realize how much you're cheating, or losing. I had my day where I just couldn't live without another bite of peanut butter, but of course, I wrote it down, tried to take more steps, and knew why I hadn't lost much the next day. If you get stuck, there are some things to help you along, but also to realize. You're boosting your metabolism and sometimes your body "remembers" what weight you've been stuck at before, so it gets into old habits. You just have to keep going, because you're retraining your body too. It needs to remember what it's like to be skinny again...right?
Anyway, this is moreso just a detailed "report" of what I'm doing, and how I do it. The kit itself (pedometer, guidebook, journal, and "how-to" video) has been worth it. And since Sam does it with me, it makes it all the easier to try and lose as much, or more, weight than he does (since I'm of the competitive nature). The hardest part so far, aside from avoiding my favorite peanut butter, is making the PBJ, pasta, rice, etc for Melanie's meals. Though, she does love eating her fruit for dessert, and will eat the chicken/steak/hamburgers with us.