Finally Getting Fit

I don’t know about you, but I love music. I listen to music when I’m cleaning, I use music when I’m writing to help me creatively and, of course, I like to listen to music when I work out. There is something about the right rhythm that can really keep me going on the treadmill and/or elliptical.

This week I am listing thirteen songs that keep me going (be warned - it’s a mix of all kinds of songs, new and old). Be sure to put what music you like to work out (or clean, or…) to in the comment section!

Happy Thursday Thirteen!

1. Love Fool - Cardigans
2. To Be Free - The Calling (kind of slower, but a good rhythm to walk to)
3. Swing, Swing - The All-American Rejects
4. Wordplay - Jason Mraz
5. Dancing Queen - Abba (Hahahaha)
6. Do You Only Wanna Dance - Dirty Dancing 2
7. Copacabana - Barry Mannilow (Yeah, baby)
8. It’s All About You - Emerson Drive
9. Carpal Tunnel of Love - Fall Out Boy
10. Standing Outside the Fire - Garth Brooks
11. Nothing on But the Radio - Gary Allen
12. Jesus of Suburbia (and connected songs) - Green Day
13. Sunday Morning Rain - Maroon 5

Check out my other Thursday Thirteens at Fiction Scribe, Write Anyway, and The Book Stacks

Sometimes all I need is a little bonding with the other women who know what I’m going through to make my day better again…

1. They have been where I am.
2. They have tried the diets I have/am trying.
3. They know what it’s like to be judged.
4. They know how hard it is to lose weight.
5. We can compare tips, tricks, and ways of doing things.
6. I can be guaranteed to be able to find someone who is in my situation - trying to lose weight before pregnancy.
7. They know what definitely doesn’t work.
8. I have something in common with them from the start.
9. I love reading other getting fit bloggers. It’s nice to see how they balance getting healthy with the rest of life.
10. They know the value of talking and laughing about things non-weight related.
11. They know how hard it can be to find plus size clothes and other annoyances of overweight women.
12. Two-way friendships - we can support each other.
13. Healthy recipe sharing.

Check out my other Thursday Thirteens at Fiction Scribe, Write Anyway, and The Book Stacks

With my gym membership ending in a month or two, I’m beginning to think about all the things I’ll miss…

1. Common goals. People may be there to bulk up or trim down, but they’re all there to either get or stay fit.
2. Variety of equipment. There are so many things to do and use at the gym. If you get bored of one thing, you can just switch to another.
3. Direction. I don’t have a personal trainer, but built into the cost is meeting with one of the trainers every so often to get your routine set in place.
4. Support. People generally keep to themselves at the gym, but if you get them talking, everyone is very supportive.
5. Swimming pool. Admittedly I haven’t used it a lot, but I love having access to a pool.
6. Being able to watch five different channels at once. I usually don’t pay attention to the tvs, but it’s still cool.
7. Cafe! I know it sounds weird, but my gym has a pretty cool cafe built in where you can get coffee and healthy food.
8. Great floor plan. It may not seem that important, but my gym just flows. One area into the next, it’s easy to get around and see where anything you might need is.
9. Nice shower, bathroom and locker area. The gym I go to is very organized and clean. The little things make it all that much better.
10. Classes. There are all kinds of fitness classes available for all skill levels.
11. Ladies only area. Need I say more?
12. Stretches area. How cool is it to have an area just for doing stretches?
13. Last but not least, the lovely sauna…

Check out my other Thursday Thirteens at Fiction Scribe, Write Anyway, and The Book Stacks

If you’re at all like me, then at least at one point in the past you have rewarded yourself (and probably others, too) with food rewards. A cake. A pie. Sweets. A night out. His/her favourite indulgence.

And why not? It usually tastes excellent, isn’t something s/he eats every day, and makes the person feel good.

Well, that sort of thing isn’t so great for those of us trying to have a healthier lifestyle. While having a treat every now and then certainly isn’t the end of the world, it would make things easier if we just changed the behavior habits…

1. If you must make a food something, then make it healthy. Things like fruit pizza are usually very yum without as much of the bad stuff to worry about.
2. If you must go out for a meal, choose a place with a lot of healthier choices. Or a place the focuses on healthier food. That makes it easier.
3. Try a non-food outing. There are parks, theme parks, tours, market days… If you go out, it doesn’t mean you have to eat.
4. Try a CD or DVD. This can mean a lot more than food because it shows you pay enough attention to know what the person likes.
5. Gift cards. People think they are impersonal, but I think they’re nice. What’s better than letting someone pick out what they really want?
6. Go to the movies.
7. Spa day. While this might not work as much for the guys, it’s still a great idea. If you’re willing to spend money on the person, why not do something to enhance their life instead of hindering it (with not good for you food)?
8. Other shopping. Has the person got a new job? Clothes shopping. Has the person accomplished something tough? Maybe a new something to symbolize getting through that struggle.
9. A weekend holiday. Go somewhere new and have a little fun.
10. A lazy weekend. Declare a lazy weekend where you don’t answer the phone, wear your pajamas all day, and just relax.
11. Go out with a group of friends. Maybe shoot some pool, go for a drive, or do something else with your group.
12. Go to a sporting event or concert.
13. And sometimes a hug and a kiss is all that’s needed to make someone else feel great.

Check out my other Thursday Thirteens at Fiction Scribe, Write Anyway, and The Book Stacks

Hi everyone!

I thought that it would be fun to put up a set of questions that any diet/fitness/weight loss blogger could answer. If you want to answer these questions and send them to me at sylvr451@tpg.com.au, then I will put them up with a link to your blog on here on this site.

It’s a great way for us to get to know each other and start visiting each other’s blogs! (So be sure to include a link to your site in the email!)

What do you think?

1. Who are you? Tell everyone about yourself.
2. How long have you been overweight?
3. What do you think caused your weight gain (besides the obvious)?
4. How much weight would you like to lose? Why that much?
5. What is your approach to losing weight?
6. What diets/strategies have you used in the past?
7. What worked? What didn’t?
8. Do you have a favourite exercise/activity?
9. What are five things that motivate you?
10. What are your biggest pitfalls when it comes to getting healthy?
11. What is one thing you need to reach your goals?
12. When and why did you start weight loss blogging?
13. Where can we find your blog(s)?

Check out my other Thursday Thirteens at Fiction Scribe, Write Anyway, and The Book Stacks

A fact of life for people who are overweight is that we all occasionally deal with people who simply don’t understand what it’s like to be overweight. Either they don’t know that saying some things are rude or insensitive or they simply don’t care. Whichever it happens to be, it’s annoying and it often hurts.

I invite you to tell me your “I can’t believe s/he said that” story in the comments section of this post. Get it all out.

And have a happy Thursday.

1. Can’t you just stop eating for a while? (Especially annoying when they say it while eating something.)
2. Can’t you just, you know, try harder?
3. I don’t get why it’s so hard for some people to lose weight.
4. Want to go to McDonald’s?
5. Want to go clothes shopping?
6. Are you sure you should eat that?
7. Are you sure you want to eat that?
8. Be careful; that might stop/break/fall apart (depends what you’re standing on/sitting on/using).
9. I’m sorry, we don’t have things for wo/men of your…size. (Always that much more nasty with the pause in there.)
10. Is that all for you?
11. Go to the gym. (Especially annoying if you do go to a gym.)
12. You’re related? (When talking about your skinnier relatives.)
13. No words. Just dirty or ’sympathetic’ looks.

Check out my other Thursday Thirteens at Fiction Scribe, Write Anyway, and The Book Stacks

1. I’ll start tomorrow.
2. I’ll start next week. I like to start things on Mondays. (From yours truly…)
3. I want to have a baby, so I’ll wait and get rid of the pregnancy weight as well after. (So much for a healthy pregnancy.)
4. Next week is that big party. I’ll start after that.
5. I’m afraid I’ll get overwhelmed. (Then start small. Stretches in the morning and junky food only one night a week.)
6. I’ll start at the beginning of the year as a New Year’s resolution.
7. I have too much to do. I’ll start when I have more time.
8. I’ll go on a diet when I start feeling really uncomfortable about my weight. (Can we say ‘denial’?)
9. I’ll start after I go to the doctor. (There’s no reason you can’t start eating healthier now and still go to the doctor later.)
10. I have to plan everything out still. (‘Eat more veggies and less ice cream’ doesn’t take a lot of planning.)
11. I can’t afford a gym membership. (Weight loss doesn’t always equal gym time and gym time doesn’t always equal weight loss. There are alternatives.)
12. I need time to sit down and look at all the different diets. (Don’t we all.)
13. I don’t have anyone to do it with me. (You realize what website you’re on, right? There are plenty of people out there to help support you. Heck, I’ll help you set up a blog if you want help.)

Check out my other Thursday Thirteens at Fiction Scribe, Write Anyway, and The Book Stacks

1. Because tomorrow is full of even more reasons to put off starting.
2. You can either start today and have a smaller piece of cake at your birthday or start after your birthday and gain even more weight until then.
3. You never know what tomorrow will bring. At least today is partially over.
4. It’s never too soon to start taking steps towards a healthier life.
5. You can start with small steps. No need to plan every little thing before you start.
6. Tomorrow, next week, next month… All of them aren’t going to make a difference. Either you do it or you don’t.
7. If you’ll wait too long, you’ll wish you had started sooner.
8. If you start today, a little stumble down the road won’t be as damaging.
9. There are hundreds of people ready to help you get started today.
10. You can’t predict what stresses will come your way. Isn’t it better to do a little damage control than to start ten (or more) pounds heavier?
11. There are plenty of delicious foods that are also healthy just waiting for you to discover them…
12. There’s no reason to wait until tomorrow.
13. Haven’t you waited long enough?

Check out my other Thursday Thirteens at Fiction Scribe, Write Anyway, and The Book Stacks

With all the different diets out there, is it any wonder we get confused and sometimes end up gaining back all the weight (and then some)? Not all diets are completely evil and not all of them will deprive you of everything you love.

Still, you need to be careful when picking out your diet and making sure you’re getting the right kind of variety for your body type. Not sure what that is? Visiting your doctor or dietitian will help.

1. Weight Watchers (Very, very popular with the points system.)
2. The Atkins Diet (Hello diet for meat lovers!)
3. The South Beach Diet (From everything I have been reading, this is one of the most reasonable, most easy, and most easy on your system diets out there…)
4. Jenny Craig
5. The CSIRO Well-Being Diet (This one is particularly popular here in Australia. I haven’t tried it myself, but I have looked at the books and it looks interesting.)
6. LA Weight Loss (Because of the pollution doesn’t kill you, you should be healthy in weight…
7. The Zone
8. The Master Cleanse Diet (More like a detox, but also works as a diet)
9. Sugar Busters
10. Nutrisystem
11. Martha’s Vineyard Diet
12. 5-Factor Diet
13. Cabbage Soup Diet (Ew.)

Check out my other Thursday Thirteens at Fiction Scribe, Write Anyway, and The Book Stacks

Keen on getting fit but dreading costly gym memberships, exercising in front of others, and sweating in front of all the buff gym goers? The gym, while useful, isn’t an absolute necessity to losing weight.

1. Walking. You hear it a lot, but it’s one of the cheapest (free!) alternatives out there
2. Buy hand weights. Who says you have to go to the gym for weights? I found one set of hand weights for a little under ten dollars.
3. Not keen on spending any sort of money? Use bottles of laundry soap, water bottles, or other things for your weights.
4. Jump rope. You can buy a jump rope (or make one) for very little money and use that or use it to step up your walking routine.
5. Buy a stability ball. By sitting on a stability ball instead of a chair, not only are you helping your posture but also exercising.
6. Check out my slowly growing list of exercises.
7. Stretch. Stretching is great for flexibility and getting your muscles in use.
8. Play with your kids. If you’re a mum or dad, take the kids outside for a while and run around a bit.
9. Sexercise. Bring on the foreplay – sex can be great exercise.
10. Do little things like walk when you can, take the stairs instead of the ele/escalator.
11. Turn up the radio and dance. Dancing is fantastic exercise.
12. Swimming is also great exercise – especially if you have problem joints.
13. Buy a home exercise DVD. This can get a bit spendy, but not as expensive as a gym membership and you don’t have to go anywhere to get a good workout. (And no sometimes-embarrassing group workouts to worry about.)

Check out my other Thursday Thirteens at Fiction Scribe, Write Anyway, and The Book Stacks

Keeping a food diary can be a very important and beneficial part of your weight loss journey. I have a hard time keeping up with mine sometimes - just like anyone else - but I can’t deny its uses…

1. Reality check. You never truly how much you’re eating until you start keeping track of every last morsel.
2. It’ll start getting you thinking about what you eat faster than anything else…
3. …and possibly get you to start making better choices.
4. Doctor’s visits – they’ll be interested to know what you’re eating, especially if you’re dealing with fatigue, headaches, or other problems.
5. Finding out what’s causing your headaches…and other ailments. You might discover you always get a headache after eating peanut butter.
6. Scheduling your meals for optimum performance. They don’t say to eat six small meals a day because they like the sound of their own voices.
7. Keeping track of water consumption.
8. Keeping track of your weight (if you choose to).
9. Keeping track of other weight-related reminders like measurements every so often, rewards, starting statistics, etc.
10. You can easily see what kinds of foods you’re eating, about how many calories you’re getting daily, when you’re eating…
11. It gives people a ‘safe’ way to ask about your weight loss if they see you writing in your diary.
12. If you put “why?” under your food blocks, you might start to notice mood and eating patterns.
13. It can be useful for finances to see how much you’re going out and eating/drinking.

Check out my other Thursday Thirteens at Fiction Scribe, Write Anyway, and The Book Stacks

I have been thinking of other ways to determine how well I have been doing that don’t have to do with movement on the scale. I then thought of how crappy my diet used to be and how much it has improved.

For this Thursday Thirteen, I decided to list thirteen bad foods I have given up. If you decide to do this list, please link to it in the comments. I’m curious to see what you’ve given up.

Consider it a list of accomplishments. I didn’t realize how many positive changes I have made.

1. Potato chips/crisps
2. Mountain Dew/Mellow Yellow
3. White bread
4. Pop Tarts
5. Gardettos Snack Mix
6. Chex Snack Mix
7. Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream
8. Burger King, McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Taco John’s, etc
9. Toblerones (I occasionally indulge, but I used to eat it all the time.)
10. Surgary cereal
11. M&Ms - Another occasional indulgence that used to be an all the time thing
12. Pasta, ravioli, etc in a can
13. Chocolate milk

Check out my other Thursday Thirteens at Fiction Scribe, Write Anyway, and The Book Stacks

Since I started changing my life towards being healthier, I have discovered a lot of foods that I had never tried or had previously disliked. It turns out when you get rid of a lot of the crappy food, whole new food worlds open up.

1. Garlic. I love garlic, but I never used it at all before I started eating healthier.
2. Broccoli. I used to hate broccoli, but it turns out I just prefer it steamed.
3. Pumpkin. Yum. I never knew what I was missing.
4. Mushrooms. It turns out that the canned crappy tiny mushroom bits that tasted like rubber that my family used to like are nothing like cooking with fresh ones.
5. Potatoes. Yet another things I simply prefer steamed. And baked. Hehe.
6. Multigrain bread.
7. Salads. Salads can be a lot more interesting and can have more variety than I realized. (Plus, my husband makes awesome dressing.)
8. Cinnamon. Who knew you could add it to so many things and that it’s actually good for your blood sugar?
9. Sushi! I love sushi. Absolutely love it.
10. Lamb’s fry. As in liver. It actually tastes pretty good.
11. Apples. Yum. I have re-cultivated my love for fruit.
12. Oysters. I’m not sure how good they are for you, but they’re yummy.
13. Salmon. I love salmon and it’s very good for you.

Check out my other Thursday Thirteens at Fiction Scribe, Write Anyway, and The Book Stacks

Too often we weight loss journeyers focus what is going on on the scale and only on the scale. We forget about measurements, how we can do things we couldn’t do before, and other non-scale accomplishments.

For this week’s Thursday Thirteen, I am going to focus on the non-scale achievements I have made since starting on my journey to a healthier lifestyle.

Happy Thursday Thirteen!

1. Less acne. I’ve always had a problem with acne, but it’s not as bad as it used to be.
2. Mirror time. It’s not always fun, but it is enlightening. I take time to really look at myself now.
3. No microwave. I’m not trying to insult people with microwaves, but it’s one more way I’m making things natural in my life.
4. No numbers. I read nutritional facts. I occasionally have a number or two, but the more numbers anything has, the much less likely I am to buy it.
5. More veggies! I’ve found I actually like veggies if they’re prepared correctly. Mushrooms, pumpkin, broccoli… Yum.
6. Less illness. I’m not sick nearly as often as I used to be.
7. No crisps! I haven’t had potato chips in years.
8. More water. I’m drinking more water now than I ever have.
9. Less hair-related problems. Growing it and losing it has tamed down.
10. I eat less. I can leave food on the plate.
11. No inhaler. I just plain don’t need it anymore.
12. I think before I stuff my mouth.
13. I go to the gym and exercise. For the first time ever!

Check out my other Thursday Thirteens at Fiction Scribe, Write Anyway, and The Book Stacks

Happy Thursday Thirteen everyone!

When on your road to losing weight, I think it’s a good idea to try to keep in the positive. One way of doing that is listing out rewards. Another way is to keep in mind all the things you are looking forward to when you lose the weight.

Have you heard of intention or visualization? Well, it’s time to start doing that by thinking about how your life will be once the weight comes off.

Here are thirteen things I am looking forward to when I lose the weight. What are you looking forward to.

1. Shopping somewhere other than the plus size sections.
2. More choice and variety in clothing.
3. Having a baby.
4. More flexibility.
5. Living longer.
6. More stamina.
7. Better sex!
8. Not so many judgments from other people.
9. Being able to keep up with my husband.
10. Not having to wonder what people are thinking when they look at me.
11. Feeling better about myself as a person.
12. Having a healthier lifestyle ingrained into my life.
13. Lessening of health risks like diabetes, heart disease, etc.

Check out my other Thursday Thirteens at Fiction Scribe, Write Anyway, and The Book Stacks