No More Diet Sodas!!!

I have always heard bad things about diet soda. It's not that I didn't believe what people said, it's just that I didn't really care too much, and I wasn't about to switch to regular soda, and consume even more calories. But today I was reading an article on ShapeFit about how these artificial sweeteners (A.S) in diet drinks cause a number of side effects:

•  appetite stimulation
• increased carbohydrate cravings
• stimulation of fat storage and weight gan.

On top of these issues with A.S., they also can trigger or worsen the following diseases:

• Brain tumors
• Multiple sclerosis
• Epilepsy
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
• Parkinson's disease
• Alzheimer's disease
• Mental retardation
• Lymphoma
• Birth defects
• Fibromyalgia
• Diabetes

 This is horrible!! I don't want subject myself to these kinds of diseases! I thought diet coke was clearly the better option over coke, but it looks like I was dead wrong!

 

I'm making a commitment right now to stop the artificial sweeteners, including Splenda. I'm just going to use sugar from now on (if I'm drinking Iced Tea) or just drink water! This is crazy. I was also reading about Aspartame, one of the most common A.S's out there, and it's also the most dangerous.

 

 

Updating

I didn't have a chance to blog yesterday since our office was in a training session pretty much the whole day. I had one donut for breakfast yesterday (380 calories). Then I didn't eat anything until like 2:30-3:00 pm which was the same thing I had the day before, the Southern Style Chicken Sandwich and fries. That was like 780 calories plus 30 for Ketchup. Then I ate a piece of Garlic Bread for a snack at like 6:30 pm.

Today I have eaten a Wheeties Protein Bar of 290 calories. Today is James's birthday so I think we're going to Red Lobster. Fortunately, seafood is pretty low-cal so I think I'll be alright if I stick to broiled and grilled instead of fried.

I have a $.99 bag of Doritos for like 310 calories. I know that's not a great snack to eat, but I just had the urge to buy them this morning. Right now I'm drinking water and feeling energized from that protein bar.

Hope I will do well today.

A Few Inspirational Quotes

I decided to look up some inspirational quotes for weight loss and put them out here for anyone who just needs a little boost today or for whenever.

• "Take care of your body. It's the only place you have to live."

- Jim Rohn

• "That which is bitter to endure may be sweet to remember."

- Thomas Fuller

• "The chains of habit are generally too small to be felt until they are too strong to be broken."

 - Samuel Johnson

• "The first and the best victory is to conquer self."

          - Plato

• "The good Lord gave you a body that can stand most anything. It's your mind you have to convince."

         - Vincent Lombardi
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Who knew that such simple words put together can impact a person so much? It really is incredible. If you read the words carefully and think about them, it can make a big difference. I know it does for me. I like all of these quotes. The first one is so true. I don't have any other body to live in if I mess this one up. I have to take care of it and keep it healthy and moving. I don't want to be stuck in an unshapely and unhealthy body for the rest of my life.

Thomas Fuller's quote is great too. The sweating, suffering, and hard times we encounter on a journey for whatever thing is usually worth all that. Good things in life don't come easy. You can't expect to coast along in your journey and still end up with great success. Life doesn't work that way. You have to put forth an effort and sweat equity.

In the next quote, Johnson is saying that what might start out as 1 or 2 times sneaking down to the fridge for a midnight snack, can easily turn into an addiction. Don't let your occasional bad behaviors turn into habits. They are hard to break. Instead, start a healthy habit. Sneak in some vegetables into your meal every now and then. That could become a habit as well.

In Plato's quote, he is saying that the first thing anyone needs to do, regardless of the situation, is to conquer yourself. It's true. The minds that we have are so powerful and full of different thoughts and ideas. Sometimes our bodies want to do one thing and the brain is making us do something else. When we can figure out how to override the brain's decision, we have conquered ourselves. That's basically what the next quote is saying as well. The mind can be a great thing when used properly. If not, you won't have a chance at success ever. It's all in the mind. Willpower is key.

Back to the Golden Arches

Lunch was kind of rushed today due to our schedule and we had to wait for a patient to be picked up. We decided to do McDonald's for lunch at the last minute. I looked up the nutritional values before we left, and tried to make a little healthier decision than normal. Yet, things never turn out as I plan. That is always the case with me!

This is what I had:

• Southern Style Chicken Sandwich- 400 calories
• Medium French Fries- 380 Calories
• Honey Mustard- 60 calories
• Ketchup- 30 calories
• Sweet Tea (just a couple sips)- ~20 calories

So the grand total for lunch is more than what I was supposed to eat. Duhhh! It's me at McDonald's. Of course I'm going to eat more than I'm supposed to.

Total = 890 calories

I was supposed to only eat 770, and I went over by 120 calories. Therefore I'm deducting the 120 from 150 from my afternoon snack.. leaving me 30 calories for a snack (which I shouldn't want for awhile anyways since I'm feeling like a beached whale right now).

Tonight's dinner will most likely be some kind of chicken and vegetables. I might even do some extra exercise or "extracise".

I hope the rest of the day goes better.

New Scale and Doritos

This morning I weighed in on my new scale: The EatSmart Precision Premium Digital Bathroom Scale. I like it because it's really thin and all I have to do is step on and it turns on and gives me the weight. Well, it read 250.3 lbs. I know.. It's a bit up. But I'm hoping that in a couple of days it will go down again.

My breakfast consisted of a 120 calorie Kashi Bar plus a half of a banana (I think we're saying 50 calories for that). So that's 170 calories used out of 300 breakfast calories. That leaves me.. 130 calories to add for later. 

And... I already know how I'm going to use them. I bought a bag of Spicy Doritos from 7-Eleven.. I think they are like 310 calories. Then, I will deduct calories from Lunch because that puts me over my limit.

If I'm confusing you (which I probably am), let me explain. 130 calories + 150 calories (for morning snack) is 280 calories. The Doritos are 310 calories. So, I'm 30 calories over budget. So, for my lunch I will eat 770 at the most.

Goodness, this is like banking with real money. Too bad it's not.

Evening update

Tonight I took a nice long nap after work and then we ordered Olympians for dinner. I ate about 1/3 of a Chicken Souvlaki pita with about 20 fries or so, 1/2 slice of pepperoni + sausage pizza, and maybe 1 chicken finger (I took a bunch of bites from Charlie's food). Unfortunately I don't know how many calories I ate, but I don't think it was that bad because I was kind of sampling the food not eating all of everything. I'm assuming I used up all the calories I had left and maybe a few extra. I walked around the block with my brother and afterwards I used the treadmill for 30 minutes. I burned about 200 calories between the 2 exercises. I'm all ready for bed now and excited for tomorrow's food adventures! Haha. Good night all!

It Adds Up

I just finished eating a half a pimiento loaf and cheese sandwich for my afternoon snack.

• Pimiento loaf (1 slice)- 90 calories
• Pepperjack Cheese (1 slice)- ~33 calories
• Bread (1 slice)- 50 calories
• Mayo (just a teeny bit)- ~20 calories

Afternoon snack total = 193 calories.

So that wipes out all of the 150 calories that I had for snack minus 43 off of my leftovers. I had 160 leftover.. 160-43 = 117 calories still leftover for later!

Leftover calories and hunger

Those leftover calories that I had are about to get taken away right now. I'm feeling kinda hungry, and I only ate 400 calories for lunch. I've found a pack of Cheese & Peanut Butter Crackers with 190 calories for a little "pick-me-up".

So.. 350-190= 160 calories still leftover for later :o)

Lunch Menu

My lunch went as planned. Let me give you the menu:

• Tuna fish (1/2 can)- 60 calories
• Mayonaise (1 tablespoon)- 90 calories
• Bread (2 slices)- 100 calories
• Utz Potato chips- 150 calories
• Water (lots)- O calories!

Lunch total = 400 calories

Balance = 350 calories (remember I deducted 50 calories from lunch due to extra calories from snack)

So, what should I do with these extra 350 calories? Should I wait and add these to my dinner tonight? I'm not really hungry right now.. There's not much to eat here anyways at work. Or maybe I could add in a dessert after dinner, or a smoothie of some sort? I'm not sure, yet.

Snack Attack

I had my morning snack of Oreo Crisps a few minutes before 10:00 am. I was feeling a little hungry about 10 minutes ago, and so I ate 2 slices of cheese on 2 ritz crackers-- those were like 100 calories (maybe a little less). That's over the 150 calorie snack by like 50 calories, but I had 10 leftover from breakfast, and I can just deduct from my lunch.. That makes sense doesn't it?

Counting minutes & calories

Congratulate me! I got back on the treadmill last night after such a long time of not getting on. It actually wasn't as bad as I thought, and the time flew by pretty fast, especially since I was talking on the phone. I had the speed on 2.5 and I did 15 minutes, burning 87 calories. Tonight I'm going to go for it again!

This morning I looked at the nutrition facts of what I ate. I had a Chocolate Dipped Chewy Bar for 150 calories, a cup of fat-free milk for 90 calories, and I ate half of a banana (online it says it is about 50 calories more or less). That brings my  breakfast total to 290 calories, 10 calories shy of the max value of 300 calories for breakfast. I'm feeling good and motivated and energized right now.

For my snack this morning, I have a bag of 100-calorie Oreo Crisps that I plan on eating.

And for lunch we have Tuna that I plan on eating, but I'm not sure with what else.

I feel like I'm at Weight Watchers again, without the weekly cost. The only difference with W.W is that they convert calories, fat, and fiber into Points values. I'm skipping that step and just counting calories. I should have been doing this weeks ago, especially since I had figured out how many calories my body needs daily. Finally, I see the light.

Adding some structure

So I was looking at a previous post from way back in my weight loss hay day in August. I had posted about how many calories I should be eating daily to lose weight or maintain weight. For me, 2040 calories consumed on a daily basis would result in extreme weight loss for me. Sure, I would love that and all, but I think that's just a little bit low for me.

This is my new idea:

I am dividing my number of calories that I am going to consume (to start, I am going to make it 2200 calories) on a daily basis. If I stick within the range of calories per each meal/snack, I should still lose weight. Plus, I will be doing exercise to burn up more calories.

The plan:

Breakfast- 300 calories (at the most)

Morning Snack- 150 calories  (at the most)

Lunch- 800 calories (at the most)

Afternoon Snack- 150 calories (at the most)

Dinner- 800 calories (at the most)

________________________________________________

Total Max Number of Calories = 2200 calories

I figure that if I can stick with this structured eating schedule and get down to the real nitty gritty calorie science of it all, I should be able to keep myself on track.

Plus, I need to at least burn 200 calories a day which is roughly 2 miles of walking. If I can accomplish this I will be a happy camper!

A New Look

Good morning and afternoon blog world! I have given my blog a small makeover. I thought it was just time for a change, and maybe it will not only refresh my blog look but my outlook on my blog as well.. If that makes any sense. Today has not been a very healthy eating day.. What I need to do is EXERCISE!!! I'm not sure what happened to my attitude toward exercise, but it's like it's disappeared. Something I want to do tonight is to get on the treadmill. That is my goal for today. Even if it's for 10 minutes.. I have to do it. It's been so long since I've done exercise, and even longer since I've used that treadmill. It's like an old friend of mine, who somehow turned against me.. but I really want to be best friends again, and be with it everyday.

I won't even scare you with my food choices that I made today. Let's just say I overloaded on very unhealthy sugary things for breakfast, and I had a second breakfast not even an hour later from a very popular food chain with golden arches. Fortunately, I had Panera for lunch. I feel my uniform getting just a tad uncomfortably snug on my body. I can't let it get tight again.. Ughh I don't want to be miserable! I'm definitely paying a visit to the treadmill tonight.

More later!

A Short Weekend

I can't believe the weekend is over already.. Time sure does go by fast when you're having fun. The weekend was full of eating out: Ledo's Pizza, Abi II, PR Cafe, Chipotle, and Yogen Fruz!! Yogen Fruz was probably the healthiest and best thing I have. My friend Fredy has been telling me about this place for awhile and I didn't seem too interested.. But, when I went to order my first yogen fruz ever, I was instantly mesmerized. You have the choice of Vanilla or Chocolate frozen yogurt (lowfat or not fat). Then, you choose the frozen fruits that you want to have mixed into the yogurt. There were so many fruits to choose from. I chose blackberries, raspberries, and bananas to be mixed in. I watched as they tranformed the white vanilla yogurt into a hot pink, berry and banana flavored delight!! It was heavenly and cost me $5.41. Maybe a little pricy, but it was a big cup and it was definitely worth it!!

I walked around the Pentagon City Mall and then around the block with Charlie as my only forms of exercise this weekend. Today the scale said 248.8 lbs. I really want to get down to like 245 this week. I hope I can make it happen.