It All Counts

Creep. Creep. Creep.

That's the sound of extra pounds magically appearing when I have banished them from my body.

UGH.

Admittedly, I have been struggling the past month or so with staying on track but today the scale jumped into the 150's as if by magic.

OK, maybe not magic.

Have I been careful about what I put in my mouth? NO.
Have I consistently tracked what I'm eating? No.
Have I been exercising regularly? No.
Have I been sneaking an Oreo here and there? Sadly...Yes.

So who is to blame but me? No one.

Which got me thinking about those universal truths about dieting.
If you don't write it down it doesn't count.
If no one sees you eat it, it doesn't count.
If you eat standing up it doesn't count.
If you just have a "taste" it doesn't count.
If you eat it straight out of the box/jar/container it doesn't count.

IT ALL COUNTS.
Even if you are standing at the counter. Or eat if off your child's plate so it doesn't go to waste. Or in this case it just goes to "waist"

It counts on the scale whether someone saw you eat it or not.

It counts if you eat the Oreo out of the bag in the fridge...especially when you dip your hand in there repeatedly during the day.

It counts if you just put the spoon straight into the jar of peanut butter or (worse) the pint of ice cream.

And it counts if you eat those nuts by the handful...or two or three.

Am I alone in this or have a struck a nerve?

So before my weight takes off like a runaway train, I'm going to start with a few new universals.

This week, I will eliminate those "special foods" that I know are a trigger for me to over do it. Peanuts, Peanut Butter and of course, the dreaded Oreos. (This week's shopping trip will include cookies for my kids that I can stay away from.) I know that if I can just stay away from those three things, then I will have a successful week and get back on track.

And that is really what it is all about. Staying on track and accepting the fact that I am not perfect and will occasionally have to kick myself in the head to be reminded of that. My new favorite blog over at Cranky Fitness, had this to say about that. She's a scream so check it out.

What are your trigger foods? And what do you do to stay away from them?

Holiday Shopping? Already??

We took the kids to the mall last night to get their Halloween costumes and I was mortified to see the beginnings of Christmas decorations going up.

Call me Scrooge if you want. But I’m just not ready.

Problem is I don’t think I’m ever ready. I have grand ambitions of getting the holiday shopping done early but every year I find myself running around in those days before Christmas for that “one last thing.” The fact that we are a dual faith household doesn’t really help matters. Especially this year because Chanukah falls at the beginning of December.

I have a friend who prides herself at having all her shopping done by early December. In fact I think she takes great joy at going shopping on Black Friday and doing it all in one fell swoop and then reminding me of it all December long.

So this year, I am bound and determined to spend as little time in the mall as possible and NOT be still searching for the perfect gift on December 24^th.

In fact, nothing would please me more than to stay completely out of the mall this year.

Enter Couponchief.com. OK, so maybe it’s true that I’m a sucker for a good deal but this site is great because it has all those deals in one place from retailers that we know and trust. In fact, I was really surprised by the sheer volume of choices. All offers have promo codes that carry the offer with you to the checkout.

I have to get working on a list but I found some incredible deals from places like KB Toys, Target and Best Buy. Some of the coupons are for particular items (like $15 off a digital camera) or a percentage off the total. And others are for free shipping which can certainly make a big difference to some between the convenience of shopping online and saving the shipping by picking it up in a store.

Hey, I might actually be excited about the holiday shopping now that I think about it.

Hmmm… let’s see, I can cover all the kids with coupons from KB Toys, a digital picture frame for mom at Best Buy, and maybe I can coax new clothes out of my husband using the DKNY coupon. Gotta get a new wardrobe for my new single digit size, right?

Shopping in my pjs? Saving money? No fighting for a parking spot?

What could be better than that?

Seeking Answers to Life's Questions

The quest to keep my weight down continues so I look for answers wherever I can find them. I started reading Protein Power this week. A few weeks ago I read their follow up book and isn't that so like me to do things backwards. Anyway, I saw enough interesting information in their lifetime plan to want to go back and read the original weight loss plan.

It's a good book and if you are currently low carbing it or thinking about it and want to take a slightly different approach than Atkins, then check out what Drs Michael and Mary Dan Eades have to say on the topic.

I'm only a third of the way through the book so far and some it is stuff I already knew from other low carb sources but what I've found most interesting is the formulas they've put together to determine personal weight goals and protein levels. For instance, based on some simple measurements, formulas and charts, I was able to figure out my body fat percentage, lean body weight, Ideal body weight range and the minimum grams of protein MY body needs.

The good news is that according to Drs Eades, my ideal body weight range is 131-142 which seems far more reasonable than other charts I've seen that do not take into consideration body measurements and age. I feel that range is not only completely doable but reasonable to maintain. It was those charts that had me convinced that I needed to be 125 pounds that had me saying "who are they kidding?"

Once I finish the book, I will work at their plan for a while and see how I do. If you've done Protein Power and have any pearls of wisdom, please share.

In other self-help news... I've been under a tremendous amount of stress lately with an impending layoff hanging over my head. I'm not pleased with how my employer has handled the whole situation and as of yet, I still do not know exactly when my relationship with them will be "severed" However, in the past week, I've had some internal opportunities presented to me, have gone on some great interviews outside the company and have gotten several promising calls from recruiters.

The problem in all of this is that I just don't do change well. Specifically change that involves key elements that are out of my hands. I'm no good at sitting and waiting for the "proverbial" phone to ring. (perhaps it is why I was never much good at dating.) Which is exactly what I am forced to do lately...wait for the severance letter, wait for my phone to ring with invitations to interview and bottom line....WAIT to see where the chips will fall.

There are too many variables in the equation and sometimes I just feel paralyzed while I wait for ANY of the pieces to fall into place. I hate not having control of the situation.

A former boss, knowing my situation and knowing me well enough to know how I was handling it lent me her copy of Who Moved My Cheese? A book not only had I not read but really had no intention of ever reading. It seemed at first glance to be one of those hokey self help books that was all theory with no basis in reality.

But the kicker here is that because of who gave it to me and because I KNOW she will ask me about it on Monday... I felt compelled to read it so as not to look foolish or ungrateful for the suggestion. So if YOU haven't read it, please do. It will take you about an hour to finish. And if you've ever had trouble navigation change, you will find some useful guidance in its pages.

The bottom line is that my life is fraught with change lately and I have to find a way to cope with that change and not stress about every little piece of it. I can only change what I have the power to change...the rest is navigating the maze.

Zen moment officially over.

A Workout for the Exercise Challenged

I hate to exercise. And I resent that losing weight and keeping it off just about REQUIRES me to do some form of exercise.

I have a Fitness Flyer which I've tried to be diligent about getting on for 20 minutes a day. But given the chance, I will find just about any excuse to not exercise.

And I've tried taking exercise videos out of the library with the sincere hope that I'll find one that I really like where the cheeky host doesn't grate on my nerves in the first five minutes. Not an easy task. All those skinny, perky former cheerleaders who never struggled a day in their lives to maintain a single digit size....and the class participants with the same MO is enough to make me want to strangle each and everyone of them. UGH.

Last month, Claire, over at Burning the Scale, posted a blog entry about a promotion that Wrigley was doing in conjunction with the Biggest Loser. The Gumisgood.com web site wanted to know how gum had helped you in your weight loss efforts. Well, this was right up my alley since chewing gum has been one of the constants in my efforts. Keeps me from the vending machine.

So I signed up, told them my little story and in response, they sent me a gift of a water bottle, a pedometer, 5 packs of gum and a Biggest Loser workout DVD. Pretty cool, huh?

But remember...I hate to exercise.

But it was free. So first I took it out of the plastic...then it sat on my nightstand for 3 or 4 days.

Well, today I finally decided to give it a try. And I was REALLY pleasantly surprised.

Instead of the usual one-size-fits-all workout that is usually on things like this, there are 9 different segments to choose from. The opening menu allows you to chose which segments you want so your workout, not only doesn't have to be the same every day but you don't have to spend your time forwarding between segments in the middle of a workout.

The segments are:
Warm Up (5 min)
Low Intensity Cardio (15 min)
Boot Camp (15 min)
Functional Flexibility (10 min)
Cool Down (5 min)

You can also choose a High Intensity Cardio (10 min) or Power Sculpt (10 min)..one for Men...one for Women.

For my first time out, I chose the Warm up, Boot Camp and the Cool Down. (After I had done 15 minutes on the Flyer).

Best part of the whole thing? Bob Harper (the trainer) didn't annoy me. And the participants on the video were former Biggest Loser contestants. NO skinny perky cheerleader types. Real people. Real sizes. Very refreshing.

I'll try it again tomorrow with a different mix. And perhaps I'm on to something. We'll see.

Stay tuned for less of me.

Dedicated to all the Moms out there

I had to share this because it is just about the funniest thing I've seen in a long time. And we could all use a chuckle, couldn't we?

All the Moms out there will find this especially poignant.

Kimkins under new ownership? Who is she kidding?

I guess being banned doesn't preclude me from still receiving the Kimkins "newsletter."

But color me surprised to read the following:

Dear Kimkins Members,

Kimkins is now under new ownership. The website will continue business as usual and the planned site upgrades are almost complete.

The Kimkins Affiliate program is growing rapidly and we thank our affiliates for their enthusiastic support. Kimkins will soon welcome their 1000th affiliate!

Exciting new support resources will be announced very soon for Kimkins members. I will be an adviser and members who want to ask weight loss questions can email me at AskKimmer@gmail.com.

Thanks to everyone who has written incredible emails & PMs of support and understanding.

Kimmer

Under new ownership? Who does she think she's kidding? Sounds like someone's running scared from the Better Business Bureau, the fraud investigation and the pending lawsuit. It's pretty transparent to me that Heidi Diaz is trying to distance herself and her liability in the Kimkins scam. And I'm guessing that whoever the "new ownership" is, the checks are still going into Heidi's bank account.

Wake up "sheeple" (a favorite quote from radio host Mark Maron)! And wake up Heidi! You're not fooling anyone.

Off-Topic Tuesday Are you the Religion you think you are?

Welcome to Off-Topic Tuesday where I take a little break from all this talk of diet, exercise and dress size to talk about anything else that comes to mind.

First a disclaimer... I am not a religious person by any stretch of the imagination but I am fascinated by the devotion that others have. I was raised Jewish but my family isn't devout either. Like many American Jews, the concepts surrounding Judaism are often more cultural than spiritual. My husband is Protestant, my mother-in-law was a missionary in Africa, and my best friends are Catholic.

With that said, I obviously am surrounded by a variety of religions and the pomp and circumstance that goes with them.

So a few times a year, the concept of religion comes to the front of my brain. typically when all the big holidays converge. Easter/Passover, Hanukkah/Christmas and at Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year).

A few weeks ago (around Rosh Hashanah), a friend of mine sent me an email wishing me L'shanah Tovah, the typical greeting at the new year which means "a good year" but is a shortened version of L'shanah tovah tikatev v'taihatem", which means "May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year." (Don't be impressed that I knew that..I had to look it up for accuracy on jewfaq.org...how pathetic is that?) Anyway, because gmail always has those content relevant links surrounding emails, on this one, there was a link to Beliefnet.

And here's my question. Do we believe what we believe because it is what we were born into or because it is truly what we believe? In other words, are you the religion you think you are?

Beliefnet has a handy quiz to help you figure it out. So in my quest for higher meaning, I took the quiz to see if perhaps they would match me up with a religion or set of beliefs that I didn't realize were the ones I really held true. The quiz covers your concepts of God, afterlife, prayer, confession but also covers those topics that make some people squirm like divorce, abortion and homosexuality.

Twenty questions later, the results ranked my beliefs by percentage against 26 different faiths.

And after all that... it seems that what I believe matched 100% with Reform Judaism, the Religion and sect I was born into. Followed by, of all things: Liberal Quaker at 91% (I kid you not) and Unitarian Universalism at 86%.

OK, so the quiz is obviously a little skewed since I didn't answer those questions skewed around Jesus in any way that might have mistaken me for Christian. I guess that's where I lost the 9 percentage points on the Liberal Quaker scale. But it was an interesting exercise and it gave me the opportunity to not only explore my own faith (such as it is) but others as well.

If you don't have the opportunity to learn about other faiths in your every day life, I encourage you to do so on Beliefnet. I think the world might be a better place if we all understood each other a little better.

Thanks for tuning in to Off-Topic Tuesday. Now back to your regularly scheduled blogging.

I'm in Good Company

It's true, my friends. The Kimkins site has officially banned me. :)

I guess they saw my post here yesterday and didn't really like what I had to say about the Kimkins plan and my suggestions (or rather Princess' suggestions) on what you could do with your 60 bucks instead.

My screen names are slightly different from there to here but it wouldn't take more than a few clicks to figure it out. Nonetheless, someone is likely trolling Technorati.

Funny thing is that only way I found out, is when I checked my stat counter today, there was a link from the Kimkins site. When I clicked on the link to see where they came from...I got this:

You don't have access
You don't have access to forums, chat or private messages
Go to Homepage Reason : TOS VIOLATION

The whole thing really makes me giggle. Given all the others who've been banned, I feel like I'm in good company.