Sugar-Free

Today, I start the 10 day sugar-free challenge with RuntotheFinish and 60 other crazies. Added sugar that is, not all sugar. Fruit is such a huge part of my diet I'd never be able to quit. (Really, I could be 100% sugar free but I'd hate it. Who wants to live there life denying themselves all the time.) Since I started watching my weight, I don't really eat a ton of sugar anyway. This challenge won't be nearly as hard as it would have been in college when I drank full calorie cokes and ate out often.

While it will be easier, this challenge will not be a cake walk. I do have daily habits that will be a struggle. My morning coffee with milk and splenda might be my favorite part of the day. The splenda will go for a bit since fake sugars are out in this challenge as well. After I exercise or before a long run, I eat half a peanut butter sandwich. And GU will have to go too. Obviously, there is added sugar in PB but there is also sugar added to bread. Nothing make me as self-conscious as thinking I have bad breath. There's a constant stream gum and breath mints in my mouth after meals. Second breakfast will no longer be cheese & crackers or hummus & pita. And I will forgo my after dinner piece of chocolate.

But I have a plan to make it thru:

Pitfalls	Plan
morning pb sandwich	hardboiled eggs2
GU	not sure yet
breath mints	mouthwash/green tea/water
snack time	veggie chips
café au lait with splenda	black coffee or with milk only
after dinner chocolate	nothing

The whole goal of this experiment is to rid oneself of the desire for sugar. A side benefit for me, hopefully, it will be easier to stay on my diet since most of the foods I am avoiding are high in calories. I haven't figured out what to do about mid-run fuel. Normally, I grab a GU & go. More research needed.
I'll let you know how I do in the end.

Sweet Enough...

As in I don't need any extra sugar. That's not true, at all. I could stand to be sweeter but I do not need any added sugar. Y'all know how it is, the more sugar you eat the more you crave. At least that way with all junk food for me.

I've kind of fallen off the wagon since my last race in April. My weekly mileage barely breaks double digits. And I don't start training for the fall half marathon season until July. In fact, I've skipped asmany early morning sweat sessions as I've done. This foolishness is not going to get me to my goal of 10 lbs lighter by the end of summer. So...I'll join in on some one else's foolishness and maybe it'll make me fall back into line.

RunToTheFinish is hosting a 10 day sugar free challange. She's been considering going without extra sugar for awhile and misery loves company. June 1 thru June 10 I will attempt to got sugar free with her.

This snippet from her blog explains the what to eat, what not to eat, and why.

What Not To Eat

• Syrups (cane syrup, rice syrup, corn sryup, high fructose corn syrup, molasses, honey, sorgam)
• Refined and processed sugars (cake, cookies, candy)
• Look through your cabinets, unexpected things like tomato sauce, ketchup and peanut butter can contain sugars we are trying to avoid or just excess sugar. Avoid: Fructose, Maltose, Sorbitol, Evaporated Cane Juice, Xylotol and other sugars end in “ol” or “ose”
• Sugar substitutes (Aspartame, Sucralose, Nutra-sweet, Stevia)
• Fruit juice
• Advanced: If you already have a very low sugar diet or want to see what a complete sugar detox feels like you will also remove “sugar forming foods”. This includes: all starchy root vegetables like sweet potatoes, carrots, bananas, quinoa millet and buckwheat.

What To Eat

• MORE importantly let’s focus on what to eat…WHOLE FOODS
• Fruits of any kind (recommended to eat whole fruits and not dried at this point)
• Vegetables: Especially cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower
• Protein: Eggs, meat, beans, dairy, avocados, nuts
• Spices: Cinnamon, vanilla, allspice, ginger, nutmeg

Why?

• Most of us realize that sugar isn’t great for our bodies, but until recently the research hadn’t been strong enough to give us more reason than weight loss. I have a complete post on all the ways sugar is harmful.. but in case you don’t click back.. here are a few:
• Addictive: “Sugar can be addictive, wielding power over the brains of lab animals much like a craving for drugs, according to Princeton University scientists.”
• Too much sugar blocks leptin in your brain and your body can’t tell when it’s full…this is part of why we are now in an obesity epidemic
• Toxins: Our liver holds on to toxins and fat when we eat too much sugar…so we need to clean it out by cleaning up our food choices.
• May be a leading cause of cancer - creating insulin which feeds cancer cells and scientist are working to prove the theory that it causes them to grow faster 

My family doesn't eat much pre-packaged food. Any sauce we eat I make. This challenge will not be too far out of my normal life. But there are treats I will miss.

Giving up "sweets" will be tough since I love candy. But the hardest will be bread. I eat at least one peanut butter sandwich everyday. Oh yes, and coffee. I looooove coffee. But I like it with milk & Splenda. But that's why she's calling a challenge. It won't be a "cake walk."

What do you think about this foolishness?

Weight Loss Challenge Wk 8

So... I've come to the conclusion I do not understand weight loss. Last week, I didn't lose any weight. I did have a few treats but I stayed with in my points. So I figured I need to be more disciplined and stay on plan. Then, this week I ate lunch out three times this week, which means I blew thru my daily points before dinner. And I didn't work out Tuesday and Wednesday due to injury. (That story to come) But I lots 3lbs.
The lesson I learned over the past two weeks is just keep at it. Slow and steady. I should know this already.
This weeks progress:

	Big Man	Δ (%)	Meg	Δ (%)
Starting wt (lbs)	258	0	182	0
Wk 1 wt (lbs)	255	.99	177	.97

Wk 2 wt (lbs)	255	.99	176	.97

Wk 3 wt (lbs)	252	.97	175	.96
Wk 4 wt (lbs)	252	.97	173	.95
Wk 5 wt (lbs)	251	.97	172	.94
Wk 6 wt (lbs)	250	.97	170	.93
Wk 7 wt (lbs)	250	.97	170	.93
Wk 8 wt (lbs)	249	.96	167	.92

Weight Loss Challenge Wk 6

Not sure why I resisted Weight Watchers for so long. I'm a numbers person. I like tracking and analyzing data. I like seeing the weight tracking down a few points every week. Plus the daily food tracking. And it's kinda a game to optimize you daily points allowance. And this is the best kind of data. You  are in control of if the data trends in the right direction or not. And at the end, you are skinnier.

I'm doing really well. I steadily loose 1-2lbs a week. Most days I don't feel deprived. I think the portion control is the biggest thing WW is teaching me. A cup of this is plenty. So many oz of that is more than enough.

As I get smaller, my clothes stay the same size. I realize that this is stating the obvious but it can be really frustrating getting dressed. My go-to outfits no longer work out. Shirts and pants bunch and gape. I can't walk around like this. Kerrie at Momvs.Marathon had a similar problem a few days ago. To deal with it, she issued a challenge to her readers. "Clean out your closet! And your dresser drawers! Get rid of things that don’t fit anymore. Donate them to a homeless shelter or drop them off at a Goodwill or sell them on eBay. Whatever you want to do."

My biggest problem is my camis. I'm wearing the same post-baby, xl sized under shirts I've had for years. The issue is that I am particular about my under shirts; long but not too long, form fitting but not tight, and no shelf bra. That's a lot of requirements for a shirt. So I'm hesitant to buy more shirts until I find the right ones. But I haven't even tried to find new ones. That stops now. In the next few weeks, I'll be replacing all my worn out, over sized camis.

Do y'all do that? Hold on to clothes that don't fit or are rags because you're too lazy to find replacements?

This weeks progress:

	Big Man	Δ (%)	Meg	Δ (%)
Starting wt (lbs)	258	0	182	0
Wk 1 wt (lbs)	255	.99	177	.97

Wk 2 wt (lbs)	255	.99	176	.97

Wk 3 wt (lbs)	252	.97	175	.96
Wk 4 wt (lbs)	252	.97	173	.95
Wk 5 wt (lbs)	251	.97	172	.94
Wk 6 wt (lbs)	?	.97	170	.93

Note: The big man forgot to weigh himself first thing this morning. I'll add his weight tomorrow to this post.

Weight Loss Challenge Wk 5

Over the last few weeks, I've cut most of the sugar out of my diet. Very few sweet snacks, no Alcohol, etc. Before I started losing weight, I ate candy everyday and had a few drinks most days. (Hence, the weight gain.) Cutting out sugar has been a lot easier than I thought. You know, I'm on a weight loss mission. This has had two side effects. My face has thinned out. Huh! I always thought I had a round face. Guess not.

Before/After

And I was walking down the cereal aisle and wanted to buy sugary Lucky Charms. I haven't eaten sugary cereals since I was in college. That was a light bulb moment for me. I need to allow myself occasional treats or this weight loss won't stick. After my long run last week, I made myself a small brownie Sunday. (FYI...brownie sunday = awesome) And I still lost weight.

This weeks progress:

	Big Man	Δ (%)	Meg	Δ (%)
Starting wt (lbs)	258	0	182	0
Wk 1 wt (lbs)	255	.99	177	.97

Wk 2 wt (lbs)	255	.99	176	.97

Wk 3 wt (lbs)	252	.97	175	.96
Wk 4 wt (lbs)	252	.97	173	.95
Wk 5 wt (lbs)	251	.97	172	.94

Do you have treats every day/week?

Weight Loss Challenge Wk 3

Three weeks down. I finally feel like I'm getting enough protein on Weight Watchers. It took a little time to adjust to the points distribution. A decent size pork chop is only 3pts. I guess I've never really know proper portion size.

While I was organizing our office, I came across this picture of the Big Man and I at his graduation. I feel sad for the girl in this picture. Only 22 but 200lbs. And if you asked me if I was happy with my body, I'd have said yes. But I only ever wore pants and rarely wore short sleeves.  And I was sad. I was hiding from my emotions. I hated to leave the house because I hated to get dressed.

Me, the Big Man and the Senior Project Car

I've been giving myself a hard time the last few months because my weight loss has stalled. But I look at that picture and can see how far I've come. Not only physically but emotionally. I feel like I can try anything. I may not be great at it. But at least I'm doing new stuff.

This weeks progress:

	Big Man	Δ (%)	Meg	Δ (%)
Starting wt (lbs)	258	0	182	0
Wk 1 wt (lbs)	255	.99	177	.97

Wk 2 wt (lbs)	255	.99	176	.97

Wk 3 wt (lbs)

252

.97

175

.96

I think I need a new scale. The Big Man has a hard time getting an accurate weight. He can get off and on 3times and get  different weights. I'm pretty sure it has to do with the size of his feet vs. the size of the deck of the scale. Does any one have a suggestion for a man-size scale?

Weight Loss Challenge Wk 2

Week two of the weightloss challenge is done. I feel like I'm settling in to the new diet. I had so many flex points and activity points left for today I didn't even bother to count points. Eating better and

Friday afternoon, the Big Man and I dressed the girl for a walk. While I dressed MM, the Big Man tied Li's shoes. But he didn't double-knot the laces. I noticed he doesn't-double knot his own laces. That got me thinking. Do grown ups not double-knot? Am I just a goofy fool who can't walk with out her shoes coming untied?

We weighed in this morning to check our progress:

	Big Man	Δ (%)	Meg	Δ (%)
Starting wt (lbs)	258	0	182	0
Wk 1 wt (lbs)	255	.99	177	.97

Wk 2 wt (lbs)	255	.99	176	.97

I think I mis-recorded my weight last week. I think it was 179 not 177. But either way I still lost a pounds this week.


Do you still double knot your laces?

Weight Loss Challenge Wk 1

The first week of our family weight loss challenge is complete. We had some bumps but the week went well over all. Like any change its taking some times for us to get used to it.

The Big Man didn't realize the honey-mustard dressing he was using on his salad had 13g of fat/2 tbsp. But he watched his portion size and made better choices during meals. It's hard for him to control what he goes into the food he eat during the week. He lives in a bunk house in a port town on the Gulf during the week where someone else cooks. The opportunities to workout are limited. No gyms with in a hour's drive and only a busy highway to run run on. But he has his own room do lift weights and do P90. Like anyone else, there are always challenges.

I decided to join weight watchers online. There's no time for a meeting but I need a way to keep track of my food intake. I guess I haven't been being honest to myself about what I eating. Hence, the 3lb weight gain. I tried WW a few years ago but I wasn't ready to face my food issues. I didn't keep up with it and I didn't loose any weight. This week has been tough but I'm learning. My morning coffee with honey and cream was killing me on points. So I adjusted the amount I'm using. My favorite lunch burrito place, well, that was obvious. I mean, I go into a food coma after eating the over-sized nachos. But I've been walking a 15mins here and there when I get a break at work. And I've I'm in love with the stationary bike. Not to mention my half marathon training. So far I've earned 35 activity points. But I burned thru them with dinner last night and a margarita. But I'm trying not to beat myself up about it.

The Big Man wanted to go for a family walk this morning. So we loaded the girls in the double jogger and headed out before the heat set in. The girls got out and walked a bit but MM was cranky from being woken up.  Li did a great job. Twice as far as she normally goes. We had a good time walked for a little over an hour.

We weighed in this morning to check our progress:

	Big Man	Δ (%)	Meg	Δ (%)
Starting wt (lbs)	258	0	182	0
Wk 1 wt (lbs)	255	.99	177	.97

He's winning so far but not by much. We've got 7 more wks for me to catch him.

Let the Games Begin...

Over the past few weeks, I have fallen off the healthy food wagon. I don't know what happened. I was doing so well then it got away from me. Oh well, these things happen.

To get me back on track, I convinced the Big Man to join me in a weight-loss  competition. The winner gets a fabulous prize of their choosing. I've been  wanting a trainer for my bike, to ride at night and in bad weather. Of course, I could just go buy it. But that takes the fun out of it. The Big Man hasn't chose his prize yet.

CycleOps fluid trainer

The Details:
The competition will last from now until August 28 or 8wks.  Whom ever loses the most weight by percentage wins. But of course we both win by getting fitter. We'll have wkly weigh-ins and I'll share our progress with you.

Starting Weight:
Ok. I'm sharing out starting weights which is very hard for both of us. But that's the point of this post.

258lbs

182lbs

Check in with us every week to see how we are doing.