Something to think about

Body scan of 250 pound woman and 120 pound woman. If this isn't motivation to work out, I don't know what is!! Note to self: Look at the size of the intestines and stomach; how the knee joints are rubbing together; the enlarged heart; and the fat pockets near the brain.        
     
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Binge-eating disorders

Binge-eating is something I feel I <sometimes> struggle with. It's not an all the time thing, but on occasion I have this urge to just eat and eat for no reason.  Binge-eating is stated as a serious eating disorder in which you frequently consume unusually large amounts of food.  Everyone can admit to overeating at times, however, overeating for some crosses the line to binge-eating disorder and it becomes a regular occurrence, shrouded in secrecy.

There is a compulsion to eat and eat which is similar to someone that has a drinking problem.  There is something going on in the brain that doesn't give that "enough" sensation to tell you to stop. There is a certain euphoria you feel.  But who wants to admit they are a binge eater?  This is something that  is embarrassing and is very costly.  It feels good to eat, but there is a line and once that line is crossed its hard to stop.  I love to eat, who doesn't but when this happens I always feel like shit during and afterwards ....mentally, emotionally and physically.

Biological factors. People with binge-eating disorder may have inherited genes that made them more susceptible to developing an eating disorder. In addition, brain chemicals may be altered in people with binge-eating disorder.

Psychological factors. Psychological and emotional factors may also play a role in binge-eating disorder. You may have low self-worth and trouble controlling impulsive behaviors, managing moods or expressing anger.

Environmental factors. Modern Western culture often cultivates and reinforces a desire for thinness. Although most people who have binge-eating disorder are overweight, they are probably acutely aware of their appearance and may get angry with themselves after eating binges.

          

Symptoms of binge-eating:
 *Eating large amounts of food
 *Eating even when you're full
 *Eating rapidly during binge episodes
 *Feeling that your eating behavior is out of control
 *Eating a lot even though you're not hungry
 *Depression
 *Anxiety
 *Frequent dieting, possibly without weight loss
 *Frequently eating alone
 *Feeling depressed, disgusted or upset about your eating

<source: Mayo Clinic website>

First weigh in weekend

I did my first weigh in on Saturday 10/29 and lost a total of 3.6 lbs.  Thats pretty decent as most say 1-2 lbs is healthy to lose per week  So, my weight loss was slightly above average.  I was hoping for a bit more of a loss.  I watched what I ate pretty well but could have done better. But on a couple days I definately watched my calorie intake and was semi hungry throughout the day.  Oh well...it was week one.  And to top it off, I haven't yet exercised (which I need to obviously).  Hopefully this week I start it up.  It will just be a lot better for me in the long run.  I need to get this going as I only have 6 months left before I get married....AND my wedding dress is being made and will be here in 4.5 months....I have to fit into my dress, look fabulous and lose as much weight as I can.

Hope this week goes better than how this past weekend went.  Ugh.  Anyways.  My goals for this week are to get a few wedding plans figured out, work out every day and as far as a weight loss goal....hoping to lose 4 lbs.  I think for myself I need to start setting small personal goals to help me in this weight loss journey.  Cheers to a great week!!

Relaxing Weekend

This weekend was very relaxing and also my fiance's birthday (today) Sunday!  We had his daughter Thursday night through Sunday afternoon.  Saturday morning was spent by me cleaning the house like I do every Saturday.  Mike went and donated plasma and KK played in her room, colored in chalk on the sidewalk in front of our house, played on the computer and helped clean her room for me.  Up until the last two years I was able to sleep in on the weekends till at least 11 or so.  Now, not so much so its nice to get up and get the house all clean in decent time Saturday mornings that way we can enjoy a clean house all weekend. 

After cleaning the house Mike got home and we decided to head to Kohls for some new work jeans for him and a new pair of shoes.  I had received a 30% discount coupon in the mail and so off we went.  We spent only $60 dollars while saving $100.  Not to shabby.  After leaving Kohls we went and bought a few groceries.  Mike decided instead of going out for dinner for his birthday this weekend, we would grill out since it was so beautiful out and it would save us some money.  We grilled steaks and had baked potatoes.  We sat as a family after dinner and watched the movie Rio while KK and I split a bowl of popcorn.  It was a great family evening. 

Sunday (today) is my fiance's birthday.  He is the ripe young age of 41 and definately doesn't act like it.  He is a kid in a man's body lol.  I love him so and he puts a smile on my face every day and makes me laugh.  We decided this year for his birthday that I would not get him anything.  BUT, however I did get him something small.  We love eating at BWW and his favorite sauce is the Mango Habanero...its too hot for me!  So, I bought him a bottle of sauce knowing he would love it....and he did.  Later this morning him and KK carved a big pumpkin.  Apparently this is the first one she has done....ever.  So, needless to say she had fun but didn't know what to think at first.  She is very girly girl so she was hesitant to stick her hands in the pumpkin goo....But she was a trooper and helped dad dig out all the pumpkin guts.  I them took the pumpkin seeds, salted them and baked them in the oven for a snack.  They weren't too bad for my first attempt at making them.

This afternoon was completely lazy.  Mike and KK played some game on FB while watching football and I watched a few episodes of one of our favorite cooking shows, "Chopped" Halloween edition and switched from that and "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation"..one of my ultimate top 5 favorite movies ever.  KK will go home to her mom's in a little while and I am not sure what's on the agenda for tonight....oh I forgot, Mike got him and I a movie called Hall Pass so we will watch that and probably call it a night.  By the way, this is day 3 on the CTS 360 and I feel great....no jitters, light headedness or sicky feelings going on.  My appetite has definately decreased this weekend and I have slept good at night from the night pill...except for last night where I was up at 4:30 and ended up on the couch finally falling back asleep till Mike got up at 7:30.  Definately needed a lazy day after not sleeping the best last night!  I am also hoping the scale is good to me this week...I need to start seeing something.  And it will help when I start working out tomorrow....ugh.  I mean YAY!!!  lol :)

Day 1 on CTS 360

Today is my first day on CTS 360.  I prepared my pills last night into a nifty little pill holder that came with the pack, read through the directions and through the suggested food list.  The pills are CTS Advanced, Maximum, Tone and the Night pill.  I take 2 tone and 1 Advanced at breakfast, 2 Tone and one Maximum at lunch and one night pill one hour before bedtime.  Thats a lot of pills! :P
I have felt really energized today and not crappy which is nice.  In the past when I have taken diet pills I always feel like shit, light headed or my heart races.  But so far so good.  I will have to watch my caffeine intake with these though as they are a stimulant.  Before trying these, I had a sample pack and learned the hard way.  I had my usual 12 oz can of Diet Dew and took one of my pills.  Needless to say I had a caffeine overload and it made me sick to my stomach.  Lesson learned!  From now on if I want a pop I am going to have to drink caffeine free, blah.

Today at work we had a food day....and those are always hard to do when your trying to watch your waistline.  But today hasn't been bad.  I did have one plate of food for lunch and have snacked a little this afternoon.  My fiance made meatballs for me and they are delish.  They went over pretty well for their first food day.  Tonight I will probably have a light dinner with no snacking.  I am going to weigh in every week and I hope to see some results.  It would be superb if I could lose about 30 lbs in the next two months.  I have lost 10-13 lbs in one month before, so I think this is attainable.  Come Monday I will incorperate working out, probably on my lunch hour to keep my metabolism going and to give a chance for those Toning pills to work at their fullest!  On to a healthier me!! :)

Herbal Cleanse, CTS 360 & Charger for Him

On the radio I heard a commercial by Amy Wolff, former contestant on the Biggest Loser.  She lost a lot of weight on the show, came home and got pregnant and gained a lot of her weight back (70+ lbs).  She was in contact with Complete Nutrition to get on a weight loss program. So far, she has lost 30 lbs.  I am not sure how long she has been on it, but thats a great number and I hope to reach that plus some.

So, my fiance and I went to Complete Nutrition to get a jump start on some weight  loss.  Him and I both have gained weight since we moved in together and we both want to get some of it off before our wedding.  I clearly have more to lose then him but we both need to get healthy.  Anyways, we talked to this guy at Complete Nutrition about products they sell. He suggested a 10 day cleanse which is to detoxify your system and get your body ready for an actual weight loss program.  So we bought that and for me I bought the CTS 360, which is a weight loss program that will burn lots of fat and calories while increasing my energy levels.  The one we got for Mike was Charger for Him and it will boost his testerone levels, give him more energy while burning fat and calories as well.

So....10 days ago we started the cleanse.  Today is day 10.  I didn't notice any change when it came to "getting cleaned out."  I think Mike might of had his moments, but I was as regular as I always am.  So, that was a bit of a disapointment.  Tomorrow 10/21 we both start our our 2 month program.  The guy told us that especially with my program people have had great success in losing weight, some as much as 30-40 lbs in 2 months.  That would be AMAZING!!! We will be watching what we eat and I will be incorperating working out into my program.  Complete Nutrition wants me doing lots of cardio and strength training.  He said I could workout all the time doing cardio things, but the strength training is the one thats going to get my metabolism going to burn those calories.  I really hope this works....!!  I need something to actually work and this is is something I need to stick with.  I don't have a great track record of sticking to weight loss stuff and working out.  No wonder I am not making any progress towards a healthier me....hmm.

Crazy Life Update

Ok.so.lets.go. 

September~I have been real lack in the blogging world...Ok, so I have only blogged once before now.  Lots has gone one.  My fiancé and I went on vacation to the Ozarks over the weekend of my birthday in September.  It was awesome to get away from everything.  It was the first time we had ever taken a vacation together.  The weather was rainy and cold the whole time we were there.  We still got to go shopping, ate at some delicious places on the lake and drank....lots.  Then back to reality.  Wedding planning...or so it goes.  Everyone keeps asking me "hows the wedding planning going?"  I had no idea where to start when it came to planning everything.  What do I do first?  Who should I call first?  AHHHH! I haven't ever done this before LOL!

October~ The weekend of Oct 2 my mom came up to help out with some wedding things.  We went and looked at reception site, Mike met us there and we loved it.  It was a huge room, full kitchen, dance floor and a sitting area.  We decided not to look at any other venus because we wanted that one, plus it was reasonably priced...or so we thought.  After we looked at the venue, Mike and his daughter went home and mom and I went to look for a wedding dress at this little shop on Main St. We walked in and were greeted right away from a really nice gal.  She gave me the rings and told me to tag whatever dresses I liked.  I found 4 (I think) that I wanted to look at. 
 
 As you may know, wedding shops only carry a select few dress sizes to actually try on.  And being a girl that is curvy and weighs to much there was like one that truly fit.  However, the first one I tried fit me like a glove.  It was a really pretty V neck dress covered in sequens and jewels.  I really liked it but the V neck was a little much for a wedding dress aka too much cleavage...and I have a lot of natural cleavage.  The second dress I tried on was totally me, it was abit flowy and roomy, ivory white with a beautiful broach on the side.  At this point don't want to get into too much detail but I will post wedding pictures.  After trying on a few dresses,  the gal wrote down my dress information and we left to go to another shop.  The 2nd shop totally sucked, I didn't like anything they had and they were way over priced.  We went then to a 3rd shop and I tried on 3 really gorgeous dresses.  They were a lot bigger and more ballgown then I wanted...but it was a lot of fun trying them on and looking like a princess!  I took a card from the gal with the name of the dress I like from there.  When we left, we decided to go eat a late lunch.  On the way to the shop I asked mom how long the bridal shop was open on Main St.  She said "I know exactly what your thinking, lets go back before we eat."

 We went back to the shop and I tried on the dress for a 3rd time.  I knew this dress was it.  We were making it custom by adding a beautiful floral piece to the neckline of the dress.  It made the dress.  I can't wait for the day I get to wear it for my husband walking down the isle. :)  I just have yet to go get fitted which I need to do soon.....I have 7 months and counting!!!

 We are back to square one on finding a reception hall.  The place we wanted doubled the rental price, said we needed to hire a security guard and there were other fees they were going to charge us.  So, needless to say Mike and I started looking around for other places again.  This week I am going to get off early and go take a look at 2 of the places we were supposed to go see with mom but didn't end up going.  I hope we find something soon because time is running out on trying to find a venue.  We also need to keep looking for a place to have our wedding.  Since we aren't from here we don't belong to any chuch.  One said we could do it at their chuch but we have a minister in mind, so he wasn't going to be able to do the vows but the rest of the wedding.  And one church said they couldn't help us.  Hmmm. Nice.  An outside wedding is always beautiful, but with how screwy Iowa weather can be it will be hit or miss.  But it is always an option to have a small ceremony at a pretty park.  Anyways, so need to keep truckin on that one too.  We should have just eloped to somewhere tropical then had a big reception when we got back.  It's frustraiting trying to find a place to host my reception especially since we don't have a huge wedding budget.  If I had all the money in the world then it would be a hell of a lot easier....c'est la vie!