Monday, August 31, 2009

On the Run: Literally

What a busy day!!



Bailey T and I went just under 2.5 miles this morning on the treadmills.  We're going in tomorrow to do the same if all goes as planned!  Of course, I'm feeling like I might have pulled a muscle in one of my legs at some point today in all of my walking around campus.  Hopefully I'll sleep it off!




I could only pull off about 25 minutes of Yoga and Strength Training on the Wii Fit this afternoon after classes.  I know though, that the more consistent I am, the more I'll be able to do!


I was inspired to hear today in Jazz Band, that OC's beloved Jazz Director, Dr. Jones (husband of blog-reader 'Elizabeth') is planning on losing 40 pounds by February!  Kudos to him and her as they work to burn the fat off, and of course ALL of my devoted readers.




I consumed approximately 1370 calories today.  PLUS exactly 3 m&ms from Pattie's desk in the music office.  Carly C. was there- she scooped me 3 and only 3, I PROMISE!  I suppose that puts me up to about 1400- DANGIT!

Still...not bad, considering my previous eating habits.  My plan is to keep as far under 2000 calories a day as possible.




I stayed pretty busy today, so snacking wasn't a big issue like it can be when I sit around too long.




One of my BIGGEST concerns right now is creating a routine.  I want to exercise every day, so that it becomes normal!  If I skip even one day, it's really difficult to get back on.  I try and schedule my working out in advance- usually the night before.  Any other thoughts/suggestions on how to do this?





I'm going to Arby's tomorrow for dinner with Katie V and some friends.  Here's what I'll get: Regular Roast Beef Sandwich- 320 calories, SMALL curly fries: 360.  This leaves me around 800 calories for lunch and breakfast.  This PLANNING AHEAD will help me remember throughout the day tomorrow to save up 680 calories for dinner!




Goodnight!!!

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Stair-master to Heaven

Good evening readers!  It's Sunday, I'm exhausted, and have to wake up super early, so my post will be shorter tonight!



In lieu of the tremendous response I've received (in comments, phone calls, messages, and e-mails), I'm going to do a quick shout-out* to some of you who are joining me in this health quest!  Your feedback to me is priceless, and equally inspiring.




To:



  • Bailey T
  • Jan B
  • Megan B
  • Rachel M
  • Sandi S
  • Gary S
  • Adam B
  • Elizabeth J
  • Aliese K
  • Kim S
  • Roslyn D
  • Carol M
  • Lindy A
  • Susan R
  • Joy N
  • Mira M
  • Mira M's Roommate
  • and many more



...



Keep up the healthy lifestyles and work hard!  Keep reading and commenting, as your comments and support encourage me and everyone else who reads my blog.  



Having mutual goals as a community is SO empowering and I hope we can all celebrate the little victories with each other!  Set small goals for yourselves and make the effort to reach them!



I'm hoping to get down 5 pounds by Wednesday, my one week mark.  I don't know if this is realistic, but I am down about 2.5 pounds.  We'll see!  CHEER ME ON!!!!!  NO FAST FOOD!  NO SNACKING! LOTS OF WORKING OUT!


I'm getting up at 6:30am tomorrow to do an hour of treadmill cardio with my dear friend Bailey T before we go to our 1st day of school.  We're going to pop in LOST Season 1!!!  I'm hoping the time will fly, since I'm a huge LOST fan.




I haven't gotten up before 7 in a REALLY long time, so wish me luck!  I'm also starting my final year at OC tomorrow!


side note:
First Class: BIOLOGY!  I'm terrified.  I don't know anyone in there other than this tool* that one of my best friends briefly dated last year.  He doesn't know who I am.  We probably definitely won't be lab partners.





1 Corinthians 6:19 (The Message Translation): Don't you see that you can't live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. God owns the whole works. So let people see God in and through your body.




A prayer for weight loss, because I'm called to be healthy.  We all are!



Thank you, Lord, for teaching me discipline.
Thank you, Lord, that I am free to be in charge of what I put in my body.
I choose to receive from You the strength I need to be faithful to my commitment to You.
Your strength fills me.
You show me that I can be responsible for what I choose to eat.
I will not be a slave to food any longer.
I am victorious because You are victorious!
In Jesus' name.
Amen.






*tool defined: 
A person, typically male, who says or does things that cause you to give them a 'what-are-you-even-doing-here' look. The 'what-are-you-even-doing-here' look is classified by a glare in the tool's direction and is usually accompanied by muttering of how big of a tool they are. The tool is always making comments that are out-of-place, out-of-line or just plain stupid.  



*shout out defined:
To acknowledge someone with respect






These are my confessions...

I bought a pack of Hostess Chocolate Cupcakes out of the vending machine at work on Thursday night.  I was bored.  Not hungry.  Bad decision.  I Wii Fit Hula Hooped it off this weekend, but still feel a little guilty.  Those things are delicious.  I'm sorry to let you all down.




Saturday, August 29, 2009

Teach Your Children Not to Eat Fast Food



*WARNING- READ ENTIRE BLOG, OR YOU MAY DECIDE TO STOP AND GET FAST FOOD BEFORE THE BLOG IS OVER*
As I’m writing this, there’s a group of students in the Nowlin Center watching Hannah Montana Movie Musical on the big screen.  I don’t like Miley Cyrus or anything that comes out of her mouth.
Thesis statement:
The alleged convenience of fast food is not worth the negative effects that fast food will have on your body, spirit and mind.
First of all, I’d like to talk about the fast foods I’ve had a lifelong love affair with:
-       Hamburgers.  From McDonald’s.  From Braums.  Burger King.  Really anywhere- hamburgers are the BEST.  Can anyone argue that?  I’m the human embodiment of the Hamburglar.  I feel like I could stoop to thieving hamburgers.  Now, I don’t know of a situation that would arise that would cause me to do that, but I’m sure it’s happened before.  They’re just too delicious.
-       French Fries.  McDonald’s.  Arby’s. Chik-Fil-A.  What can I say about French Fries?  They are golden brown, and crunch in my mouth with ketchup.  Hosts of other places, really.
Hamburgers and French Fries.  How could someone NOT want these things?  They are just the most delicious.  Not to mention the camaraderie that they most certainly require.  The pairing of the 2 foods is…incontestable.  A match made in culinary heaven.  One cannot be without the other.
Burger & Fries.


Time to count calories- BOO!


McDonald’s Hamburger- 250 calories
McDonald’s Quarter Pounder w/Cheese- 510 calories
McDonald’s Medium French Fries- 380 calories
Braum’s 1/6 lb. Hamburger- 426 calories
Braum’s 1/3 lb. Hamburger- 730 calories
Burger King Whopper Jr.- 370 calories
Burger King Whopper- 670 calories
Burger King Medium French Fries- 480 calories
Arby’s Medium Curly Fries- 500 calories
Chik-Fil-A Medium Fries- 370 calories
Okay- let’s get real here.  Let’s say I’m on a 1200-calorie/day diet.  If I decide to eat a number 2 from McDonald’s (which includes a 210- calorie medium Coke), I’ve eaten 1100 of my calories for the entire day, which leaves me 100 calories…JUST SAY NO TO VALUE MEALS!
Anyways, I've found that one of the EASIEST ways to DIET is counting calories.  Just the act of paying attention to how many calories you’re eating or drinking in a day can really help cut down on food intake!
Now, it’s also important to eat good foods- fruits, vegetables, etc… but sometimes UNHEALTHY food in a SMALL portion is the best you can do.

My challenge today for myself, and for my readers: No more medium or large fries.  Always get small if you get any at all!

Thanks again for all of the comments- they are MAKING MY DAYS!

Friday, August 28, 2009

Snacking In the Middle of the Night

Firstly, I’ve worked out over an hour every day since Monday.  HALLELUJAH!
Secondly, I’ve been counting calories and have lost 2 lbs.  It doesn’t feel like an accomplishment.  5 lbs. will though!
Okay- now for the blog:
-----------------------


I gained weight before college just eating 2 square meals a day.  Of course, what does that even mean?
Square meal: a filling and nourishing meal
I apologize- I just lied to you people.  I did not eat nourishing meals in high school, unless you count a bagel and a coke for lunch, and taco bell for dinner…  Well, that’s an exaggeration as well.  I had home-cooked meals too.  The thing is, my body doesn’t maintain weight UNLESS I work out and eat small portions.  I automatically gain weight.  In fact, I am capable of gaining 5 pounds in one day, and not being able to lose it for a week.  It’s a curse.
Enough boo-hooing.
In college, friends eat.  We eat all the time.  We eat at any given social activity, and we eat when we study.  We eat at rehearsals and in between rehearsals.  It’s out of control.
Here is a breakdown of the kinds of eating I did freshman and sophomore year:
Breakfast- Not really- maybe a frappucino.
Lunch- Trying a little bit of everything in “the caf”…deciding it wasn’t that good.  Maybe grabbing a cheeseburger from McDonald’s after that.
Dinner- Eating something in the caf again and maybe deciding to go out…again.
4th meal- past 11pm- this is the time when me, David, Robbie, and James and a host of other people went out for fast food.
Various snacking.

Typical.
It’s really horrible- of course; this doesn’t effect some people physically the way it does others.  I gained about 10 pounds my 1st semester of school.  Sophomore year, I shot up another 30 or so.   And I worked out too…maybe twice a week.
NEWS FLASH:  YOU AREN’T SUPPOSED TO EAT FOOD UP TO 3 HOURS BEFORE YOU GO TO BED.

You just can’t burn all of those calories in your sleep.
I’m trying to do this- this being, not eating after 10 or 11.  It’s hard, because James eats food late all of the time.  But I cannot let his habits be mine, just because we live together.  Since a lot of my heavy-eating-tendencies are late at night, it’s important that I put a stop to late night eating.  Doing this alone won’t solve my problems, but it will make a huge positive impact!
Join me!!!!

Thursday, August 27, 2009

“Get Back to Where You Once Belonged- in size 8 jeans”

Have you ever heard of a “little black dress”?
Let me define for those of you who might not know. The ownership of a "little black dress" is crucial to complete a proper female wardrobe.  It needs to be short, but simple; sexy, but timeless.
Most girls have 1 (or 5).  I am an accompanist, so I default to black dresses anyway.  I almost bought my 6th yesterday.  It’s kind of an addiction.  I LOVE BLACK DRESSES!
Black is slimming, and somehow, it’s sexy.  How does a color become sexy?  I don’t know how that works, but black is just sexy.  LBDs are magical for fat bodies.  They are magical for skinny bodies.  Anyone could wear one anywhere.  With a cardigan or with a jacket.  With high heels or with diamonds.  In a box or with a fox.  The LBD is just…essential.  I digress.
The reason I bring up the LBD is to segue to the “perfect jeans”.
Most of the ladies I know, have a pair of jeans (or 5) that they feel especially close to.  We women have personal relationships with our clothing.  We know them.  We know why they work or don’t work for any given situation.  We understand when we dress, the reactions we will or won’t get from men or women in our daily lives.  Women just KNOW their clothes.  It’s a funny thing that men probably don’t get (yikes- I just gender-stereotyped!).
For example: I could describe in detail every pair of jeans I’ve owned since about 2001.  Here’s 3.
There were those mid-rise, size-10 medium-wash capris from Old Navy that I bought at the Grapevine Mills Mall in January of 8th grade.  I also bought a Small, Red, Ribbed- Tank, and Red, Heart-Designed Flip-Flops that same day.
How about those size-12, boot-cut, dark-wash Gap Jeans, with the wide belt loops I bought on sale for $19.99 in August of my freshmen year at OC?  They were stolen from the Gunn Henderson Laundry Room (the one time I did laundry that year).  I wore holes in those jeans in a short time.
But the real gem…
Size 8.  Dark Wash.  Tight.  Extremely Low Rise.  American Eagle.  Slightly Flared.  Totally Hot.
These were my very favorite jeans, because I bought them after losing a bunch of weight in 2002.  They made me feel SO confident.  Wearing them made me feel like no one could touch me.  Of course, all the boys wanted to.  I know they liked those jeans.
My point is, not since my freshman year, almost exactly 4 years ago this week, have I had “that favorite pair of jeans”, because at some point, nothing you wear can make you feel beautiful or sexy or confident when you’re too overweight.
Of course, I should note that true confidence and beauty comes from within.  I really do believe that.  But all of you musicians will agree with me, that dressing up, or wearing the best outfit really does so much for women (and maybe men…I don’t know!).
I STILL have those AE jeans from when I was 16.  Maybe I’ll squeeze in them again sometime.  To be able to put those on again would be…physically restricting, but metaphorically freeing.  And totally hot.
I spent 1.5 hours working out today.  I’m obsessed with Wii Fit.  The trick is balancing it with school and piano starting next week.  YIKES!

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

”We can work it out 5 times a week for at least 20 minutes.”

*see note
Who knew you could feel the bliss of accomplishment after playing a video game?  After all, video games are an excellent way to become a lazy-fatty.  As I’m writing this, I’m sitting on the couch watching my husband play Super Mario World- ironic?
BUT, it’s okay that I’m sitting here watching him play video games because I just worked out for 40 minutes.

With a video game.

Wait. WHHHAAAAAAAAAAAT?!  What is this nonsense you speak of?  VIDEO GAME EXERCISE?  Sounds CrAzY, Rebekah!!

I assure you- it’s not crazy!  It’s called Wii Fit and it’s awesome!
Wii Fit.  It’s really cool.
In the Wii Fit game, which the Parkers invested in,- yes, I would call it expensive enough to be an investment; of course, it’s an investment in my health and well being, so that’s really priceless, right? – any player can participate in numerous activities in 4 categories: Yoga, Strength Training, Aerobics, and Balance Games.  The more you work out, the more challenging the activities can become, and the more new exciting games you can “unlock”.
I applaud Nintendo for coming up with this revolutionary idea.
One of the best things about the Wii Fit, is that it tracks your weight changes every time you play.  What an excellent incentive- to be able to see my weight changes on a graph!

Now, since I’m divulging to you, my faithful followers, my weight loss tactics- I’m going to explain my workout regimen:
-I’m moving from 5 days a week to 7.  Taking the weekend off of working out makes Monday so much harder.
-I’m doing app. 50 minutes of treadmill (in phase 6) in the mornings BEFORE all my classes.  6:30am anyone??
-I’m using the Wii Fit and my beloved exercise bike as purely supplementary exercise.
My biggest concerns right now:
a)    Making myself get up in the morning and go to the treadmill in phase 6
a.     Why would this be difficult?
                                               i.     My husband sleeps in and works at night
                                              ii.     I have trouble deciding what to wear- even to work out (Rebekah: “James, I have NOTHING TO WEAR!” James: “What about one of the 16 clean t-shirts in the closet?”  Rebekah: “Those aren’t comfortable” or “I don’t like them” or “They don’t fit right” or “I can’t wear THOSE!”  James: “……….”
                                            iii.     Working out means sweating, which means showering, which means, I have to dry my hair, which is a HUGE task
b)   Actually working out 7 days a week
a.     Why would this be difficult?
                                               i.     Saturdays.
                                              ii.     Sundays.
                                            iii.     No further explanation needed here.
Anyways, I’ve already been working out some, but my 7 days a week is starting this Sunday- the day before my senior year of college starts.  I’m hoping it will be a landmark in my life history.  The 1st day of the rest of my life, working out every day.
I’m coinciding my new exercise regimen with my schoolwork this semester- going for all As this semester!  I’m not quite as committed to that goal of course but…oh well.
School sucks.


* Thank you to everyone for commenting on my first post!  I appreciate anything you have to say to me and reading your comments motivates me!

The Long and Winding Road to Being Healthy

I feel like a wolf in sheep’s clothing and the sheep is fat.  This isn’t news, though.  I’ve felt this way for years- maybe even my whole life.  I’ve become fat on the outside, while remaining quite in shape on the inside.  In fact, my insides are in the best shape of their life so far (more on this later)!  If only, the outside matched.  Well, that’s kind of my goal (is that even realistic?)- to be able to present ‘the real Rebekah’ inside and out.
In the fashion of introductions, I have been on a diet for over 10 years.  Well, that is, some form of a diet, and off and on since then.  Some have worked, as I’ve been able to shed off up to 50 lbs. on occasion.  Most haven’t though.  This is the curse of my genes- the slow metabolism genes.  In this blog, I’m going to attempt to put into words, the experiences that go hand-in-hand with weight loss. 
As I chart my weight loss progress (and hopefully in return, receive mutual motivation), I will be working with percentages.  This is the stat I’m giving you, my soon-to-be faithful readers, as I don’t prefer to say my weight just now.  I am a lady for cryin’ out loud, and I get to keep some things personal.  Here goes:
According to my weight-loss research, and based on my height/age/weight stats, I need to lose approximately 45% of my current weight, in order to be healthy.
45%.
What’s 45% of your weight?  A lot, right?  That is almost half of me.  Imagine some other, evil Rebekah, running around, evading incarceration, constantly tricking and manipulating the “good Rebekah”…  If only I could just catch the “evil one” and KILL IT!  (Of course, please note, that I don’t believe in using guns or in the enforcing of the death penalty- even to kill an imposter half of my own body that I don’t want). 
Moving on: I can hardly fathom nearly half of my body being
evaporated away or sweat off.
How does one go about this, you might ask??
Exercise.  Healthy eating.  2 things.  2, seemingly simple things, albeit, 2 seemingly simple things, that will put into motion the changing of my entire life.
This is my weight loss tale.  Whoever guesses the song reference of the day (title, song & artist), will win some sort of prize, to be determined by me and only me.  They’ll get harder.
Please join me in this blog-venture, as I explore and subsequently spill my past, present, and future, in an attempt to motivate the crap out of myself.  
Or at least all of the fat.