Looks like I am heading for another big challenge in my life, I am having knee surgery on Monday (December 4th). I tore my ACL a couple of years ago and have never done anything about it till now.

I am nervous and scared, however the funny thing is that I am more scared about gaining weight then I am about the actual surgery. Just the other day I was talking to a good friend telling her I was more nervous about having a root canal than major knee surgery. I am so scared of the dentist (I think they are evil ). It’s an old story, I had a bad experience with a dentist once and that scarred me for life. However I have discovered that nitrous is a good thing :-).

But anyway, the knee surgery is supposed to be bigger than what I originally thought. I told the doctor that I had 2 c-sections and recovered very well from them and I wasn’t worried.  My doctor said this surgery is going to be a lot harder of a recovery.  I asked the doctor when I will be able to get back in the gym.  My doctor informed me that I will be seeing a physical therapist shortly after my surgery and they will work with me on my recovery. So I will keep you updated as I can through all of this.

Today I was looking on the net at a few weight loss stories to help motivate me (yes sometimes I need a little motivation too). I was very saddened that a lot of these people lost weight but still did not look very healthy. They didn’t talk much about weight training and cardio, just the food they ate. I mean if you are over weight and want to look good without extra skin or fat rolls you still need to work out. Exercise not only helps you loose weight, it is also good for your heart, lungs, and joints. Another great benefit of working out is the more muscle you have the more fat you burn which in turn means you can eat more( doesn’t mean you can go crazy and eat what you want all the time).

Food is definitely a big part of loosing weight but not all of it. You can only cut back on your calories so much before your body adapts to it. This brings me to the concept of my cheat day. Six days a week I eat clean like the weight loss diet that is posted on this site.  On Saturday I break free from my weekly routine and eat what I want all day long.

Not everyone agrees with the whole day as a cheat day concept.  Some experts only recommend a cheat meal but so far the entire cheat day has worked well for me (plus if it isn’t broke then don’t fix it). The cheat day also really helps me to stick to the diet all week. However, the greatest benefit of a cheat day is that it shocks my system enough so that I have many few weight loss plateaus. If you think about it, I get to eat whatever I want once a week and still come in 1-2 pounds lighter every week.

Basically my weekly routine is like this.  On Saturday morning I wake up and measure all the body parts that I want to track my weight loss progress on (arms, belly, waist, etc).  I also weigh in to keep track of my weight loss.  Just the other day I went back and looked at my measurements from a year ago and I have lost 10 inches in my waist and another 10 inches around my belly. I wrote my old measurements down and put them on my bathroom mirror to remind me that I DON’T ever want to go back there.

Once my measurements are done, I then make a B line to the fridge. About every other week, depending on time, my husband and I will calculate our body fat percentage to make sure that my body fat percentage is decreasing.  Another modification that I have made with the diet, in addition to my cheat days, is how I handle holidays and special occasions.  Last year during the holidays or special occasions we didn’t budge from the diet during the week. 

Now days we allow more flexibility in our diets during the holidays and/or special occasions.  For example if it is my mom’s birthday I will enjoy a small piece of cake. However, I will do ~ 10 extra minuets of cardio the next morning. My body now seems to burn calories better than it use to and the holiday or special occasions do not seem to hurt my overall progress.  As long as I am conservative about everything I can quickly get back on track to losing 1 - 2 pounds a week even after a fun holiday.

I had my weigh-in last Saturday and so far I have lost 60 pounds since I started the diet.  My husband and I started our diet the week of Thanksgiving last year so I thought it was only appropriate to post this years results right before the Thanksgiving holidays.  I still have 15 to 20 pounds to go to reach my goal but I’m happy with the progress I have made so far. 

The funny thing about exercising and eating healthy is that the longer you do it the easier it gets.  The key is that you just have to start to make a difference in your life.  My diet and exercise program has changed my life and I promise that if you can commit to one it will change your life too.

If you don’t know where to begin on your diet and exercise program then I recommend picking up a copy of the ebook Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle.  My latest diet changes are customized from the information that I learned from this book so I highly recommend you give it a read.

Click here for additional details on Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle

When I first started my diet the rules were strict but simple, I could basically eat anything with the exception of milk, flour, processed foods, and sugar. So, for the most part that left me cooking all my meals and avoiding anything that came out of a bag or box (excluding rice). A few months after I started the diet my husband and I discovered that our son was allergic to sugar. Just in case you were wondering, at that time we had not changed the kid’s diet yet. My son was very hyper all the time and we were frustrated.  I read a great book about kids with ADD and ADHD and WOW, was it an eye opener! The author of the book explained how diet can play a large role on kid’s behavior. I decided to cutout the refined sugars and processed foods from my kid’s diet to see if it would help with my son’s hyperactivity.  After all, if it worked it was a win-win situation, not only is this an opportunity to reduce my son’s hyperactivity but it is also a chance to teach my kids how to eat and live a healthy lifestyle.

I started carefully reading labels on all the foods that I bought my kids. I was SHOCKED at how much crap is in the food we eat!  My first journey was to find bread with no processed sugar in it and of course no artificial sweeteners in it either. I asked my mother if she knew of anything and she directed me to the health section of our local supermarket to find Ezekiel 4:9 bread. I bought a loaf of the Ezekiel bread and really liked the way it tasted (kids really liked it too). However, the downside is that Ezekiel bread is a lot more expensive than the “regular” bread that I was previously buying. So I became determined to find an inexpensive and healthy substitute for the Ezekiel bread. To make a long story short I went on a wild goose chase and read the ingredients for just about every brand of bread there is in 5 different supermarkets.  To my disgust all of them had at least 2-4 sources of processed sugars and many of them also contained preservatives.  I decided to spend the extra money for quality and have not looked back sense.When you look at the ingredients of the Ezekiel bread you will notice that it contains a fair amount of protein, fiber and non-altered natural ingredients. The bread is also sweetened with natural products such as organic honey and organic molasses (depending on which type of bread you buy).  I personally think that the bread taste great and I highly recommend you give it a try. My family’s personal favorite is the Cinnamon Raison with a little almond butter on it. YUM YUM!

P.S.  The change in my son’s diet worked.  We allow our kids to eat anything they want on Saturdays (I’ll explain why at another time) and can tell a big difference in our son’s behavior from the days that he eats a clean and healthy diet.

Using Stevia as a Sweetener

When I first started dieting I was predominately using Sweet-n-Low and Splenda as an artificial sweetener.  My mother, who is big into the natural stuff, recommended that I start using Stevia.  She also recommended that I do some research on the artificial sweeteners that I was currently using.  At first I dismissed the idea of doing the research on these products but over time I decided to take a closer look. 

I came across website after website that listed a long list of harmful effects on the body caused by using these artificial sweeteners.  Many of these websites also linked illnesses such MS, arthritis, memory loss, and to my amazement even obesity to some of these artificial sweeteners.  However, just don’t take my word on it I highly recommend that you research for yourself.  Just Google “effects of (enter your favorite artificial sweetener here) on the body” to see what you can find.

What I like about Stevia as a sweetener is that it is made from an herb and is not chemically created in a lab (like the other artificial sweeteners).  However, not all Stevia products are the same.  I have tried a variety of different brands of Stevia and some of them have a very bitter aftertaste.  After trying numerous brands, my brand of choice is the NOW brand of Stevia.  I prefer the NOW brand, whether Alcohol or Glyercine base, because it has no aftertaste.  I also personally prefer the liquid over the powder because I have found that the liquid dissolves better in my coffee and protein shakes.

Now a word of caution, Stevia is very sweet and I recommend starting out with only a few drops to get the taste where you like it.

However, one of the biggest challenges I have found with the NOW brand is that it is hard to fine in stores.  I have found only one health food store in my area, and I live in a big city, that carries the NOW brand.  If you are having a hard time finding the NOW brand in a store near you then I recommend checking it out on the internet.  Actually I pretty much buy my Stevia online now because I hate to drive across town for it.  The best deal that I have found on the internet is for around $5.35 for a 2 oz bottle of the Alcohol free Stevia Glycerite.  You can checkout the latest deals by clicking the link below.

Now’s Stevia Glycerite Alcohol Free 2oz  

These pictures were taken a couple of months ago but they give you an idea of the amount of weight loss I have made from my 2005 to 2006 birthday.  The 2005 picture was a few months before I started my diet so I probably weighed around 45 to 50 pounds less in the September 2006 picture.  In case you are wondering the guys in the picture are my brothers ;-).

So how long does it take to lose 50 pounds?

So how long does it take someone to lose 20, 40 or 50 pounds?  It really just comes down to how hard you are willing to work at it.  At first when you change your diet you are going to lose a lot of weight in a short amount of time.  The initial 10 to 20 pounds of weight loss can be misleading and in reality is probably a lot of water weight.  The goal is to lose one to two pounds of fat a week so a healthy 50 pound weight loss should take you around six to twelve months. 

The pictures to the right are for a total weight loss of 55 pounds to date.  Before I changed my diet the pants in the picture were starting to get tight around my waist.  I was about to have to move up to the next pant size and now I can almost fit two of me in them.

The magic ingredient to successfully losing weight is persistence.  You have to stick with your diet and workout program if you want to see continued progress.  To give an example, I pretty much maintained my weight during the summer since I opted to spend more times with my kids and less time in the gym.  Although I did stick with my diet, I chose to go to the gym only about three days a week during the summer months. 

I was only able to maintain my bodyweight, instead of losing additional weight, because I cut back so much on my cardio and workout program (which was a plus because in the past I would have regained bodyweight).  Once the kids went back to school I was able to get back on schedule and start losing weight again. 

I have learned a lot since the summer and feel that I could have made some adjustment that would have helped me still lose some weight.  However sticking with your program really is the key to consistent weight loss.