One Week In and What About Exercise?

Today marks one week since my first weigh in (with my Biggest Loser girls).  I'm down 8.3lbs.  Woohoo!  That marks the most weight I've ever lost in one week.

Yes, I'm still enjoying eating freezer meals for lunch and dinner (Healthy Choice and Lean Cuisine offer many preservative free/better choice options).  I'm adding a cup of zucchini, a cup of mushrooms and 3 spears of asparagus (all pan sauteed with a dab of olive oil, Celtic Sea Salt and pepper) with each lunch and dinner... I'm also usually adding a salad of organic mixed salad greens with a drizzle of full fat ranch.  I haven't gotten tired of this veggie combo yet... after all, they are my favs.

A typical daily menu looks like this:

6am: 1 cup Post Shredded Wheat Vanilla w/ 1/2 cup almond milk  (240 calories, 3 grams fat)
8am: 1 cup coffee w/ 2 Tbs ff creamer and 2 Tbs good creamer, 1 banana (150 calories, 4 grams fat)
11am: Lean Cuisine meal, 3 cups sauteed veggies, Crystal Light Pure Fitness- Lemon/Lime (cal depending on meal chosen, I keep lunch calories under 450, fat under 15grams)
2pm: garden salad or airpop popcorn (160 cals, 5 grams fat if dressing on salad)
4pm: Apple slices or carrots  (50-60 calories can add a bit of ranch or pudding dip)
6pm: Lean Cuisine meal, 3 cups veggies, garden salad w/ ranch (cals and fat vary based on meal variety, dinner total under 600 cals/15 grams fat)

On the high end this gives me 1480 calories and 45 grams of fat (if fat is high end per meal and added to snacks).

I try to stay about 1200 calories and 35 grams of fat to keep my body out of starvation mode.   

In addition to the Crystal Light Pure Fitness, I'm also drinking plain water.  I generally drink 1 Pure Fitness a day (16 ounces total/divided by two meals) and I try for another 32 ounces of water a day, plus 8 ounces of coffee.  This isn't perfect, but I also know that the large amount of fresh veggies I'm eating daily add water also. 

Now, EXERCISE (isn't that a four letter word?).  I'm a moderate activity level person.  At this time, I'm maintaining that activity level.  That means, walking at least 2 miles a minimum of 3 times a week or doing some other sort of physical activity that burns 150-250 calories (mowing the grass, dancing, walking, etc...).

I'm also signed up for both ballet and tap starting this summer.  And I hope to add a third dance day of line dancing... with five active kids going for three nights of dance a week might prove too difficult.

To kick start the morning, I'm starting with 30 minutes of yoga.  This is for relaxation, breathing, over all well being, and please let it be so flexibility. 

Back in the day, I did one hour of high impact aerobics, 5 times a week.  I was graded... therefore, I worked hard.  I'm not sure that I will reach that level at this stage of my life.

My Action Plan

My initial thought was that I'd order NutriSystem for about three months... just enough to kick start my loss and get me headed toward my goal.

Then I decided against it for several reasons:
1. I want to handle my own breakfast and snacks.
2. I want a larger choice of meals, but I don't want the company to preselect choices for me.
3. Price, ouch!
4. Nutritional content. 
4. I'm confident that I can do just as well on my own.

So, what I'm doing instead is eating one of the freezer meals available at the supermarket (Smart Ones, Lean Cuisine, Healthy Choice, on sale the cost is $1.55-$2.55 each) for lunch and dinner along with lots and lots of veggies.  Right now, I'm on a kick of enjoying zucchini, mushrooms, and asparagus little grilled with fat free olive oil pan spray, Celtic sea salt and pepper.  I also add a fairly large portion of mixed organic salad greens with a drizzle of my favorite dressing, full fat ranch. :)

For breakfast, I'm enjoying proper serving sizes of whole grains (oats, brown rice, whole grain cereal, kefir smoothies, whole wheat bread), along with a fruit.

Snacks, if needed are fruits, veggies,  a serving of whole grains, or a lower fat/calorie treat (such as 100 calorie pack, small fudge bar, Smart Ones Dessert).

I'm aiming to keep calories between 1200-1400/day and fat grams under 45.  The fat I add is nourishing fat.  I'm not a fan of all these margarines and oils that have been created to make us more healthy.  I am a follower of Nourishing Traditions and believe that when consuming fat, we should consume natural fats.

Yes, the freezer meals go against all my dietary rules... luckily, many are now more natural and free of preservatives.  They are a long way from organic, grass fed, free range or sustainably produced.  Use of them is a short bridge to get me across this first hurdle.  I feel strongly that regaining a healthy for me weight reaps many more health rewards than the short term use of processed foods.  I stress short term... my plan is three months, which I will evaluate as we go.

Yesterday I also started taking Alli again.  I waited 4 days into my reduced calorie/fat diet to start to reduce the risk of treatment effects (I've only had those effects one time when I first used Alli over a year ago and that's because I ate out without restricting fat intake).

Alli is a reduced strength of the prescription drug, Orlistat.  It binds with fat to prevent the body from absorbing all of the fat consumed and flushes it out of the body (via the bowels).   I used it previously for all of two weeks.  I don't know why I quit, lazy I guess.  That round I was recording all my food intake and spent a lot of planning time between shopping and determining proper portion size.  I was losing weight at a good rate... but gained it back once I returned to my old habits.

Because of this, I know that developing a healthy attitude about food is important.  Just because my Grandma made me pour on the gravy (I hated gravy until around age 10) as a child doesn't mean I have to now.  By altering my entire way of eating and my beliefs about food, I will be successful in losing weight and keeping it off.

The time is now.  If I don't do something, I know that I will gain more weight and end up in a much worse situation than I am now... my family has a ridiculous history with Type II Diabetes... I don't want it, thank you very much.

I'm six days in and feeling good. 4.8 lbs gone, sweet cravings drastically reduced.