been watching ”losing it” with jillian michaels on youtube the past couple of days. this is the first episode.

now, she does do my head in a little bit here and there with the cheesiness haha, but hey i can let her off for that!

..sue xx

why do people think all of their problems will be solved if they lose weight?

yes, ok, you will feel better and possibly look better physically, at least to yourself, but really, do you expect your body shape to solve everything else in your life?

trust me, it wont.

you will still have all of the problems you had before, you will just not weigh the same!!

ive lost around forty pounds, and i am SO happy about that, but god, has that taken away anything i suffered before?

has it hell.

im still stressed, i still need another job, i still miss my kids when they arent here, i still cry over stupid things, i am still struggling with money, i still feel anxious and alone, i am still going through a hellish break up at the moment.

really, stop equating all your lifes happiness to what size jeans you will be wearing!

if you are waiting for that magic number on the scales, and thinking that once you get there, wow, you will have a perfect, fantastic, stress/problem free life, you are going to be SERIOUSLY disappointed!!!

..sue xxx

dont allow your emotions to dictate your body shape!!

..sue xxx

oh so i got some callipers today, and if i used them properly, it says my body fat is 19%.

i have no idea. is that good or bad or in between or what?

ok, edit. hang on, i just saw that pic that people have been reblogging, showing examples of different body fat percentages, and erm….maybe i used the callipers wrong, cos im sure im not THAT skinny!!!

..sue xx

BREAKFAST:

2 slices wholemeal toast

LUNCH:

oat and raisin cereal with s/sk milk

DINNER:

baked sweet potato

tinned tuna

mixed leaf salad

baby beetroot

onion

SNACKS:

can of coke

protein bar

banana

2 oranges

apple

snack-a-jacks (mini flavoured rice cakes)

ive had 1750 calories (give or take a few) today, which i think is a good amount, and thats before taking into account any exercise.

..sue xx

so ive had like 1750 calories today, which is fine. i must have worked off about 300 with my exercise. im only guessing, i havent logged it yet, but ive been stuck in the house all day apart from going to the doctors this morning, so im happy with that, and its all been good stuff, apart from my can of coke of course!

BREAKFAST:

oat + fruit cereal with semi skimmed milk

bananana

LUNCH:

porridge made with sweetener and s/s milk

DINNER:

small baked potato

3 small slices pork luncheon meat

mixed leaf salad

onion

mushroom

baby beetrot

SNACKS:

coke

apple

orange

pineapple

lemon mousse (just a small supermarket one for a bit of sweetness)

protein shake

..sue xx

Are you looking to trim fat, lose love handles, and flatten your belly? We hear a lot about dieting and cutting back our calories to lose weight, but we don’t just want to lose weight, we also want to lose fat… and fast!

In a nut shell, without exercising, much of the weight you lose will be muscle, not fat, and your metabolism will slow. To lose fat, you’ll need to add more exercise to your weight loss program. Try increasing your workout routine to at least 3 days per week for 1 hour each day. Aim to get your heart rate into that cardio fat burning zone of 60% - 70% of your maximum heart rate (max heart rate = 220 - your age) for at least 30 minutes each workout and do a variety of strength training exercises for at least 20 minutes.

Develop a healthy diet plan with fewer calories than your current daily intake. Then, increase the calorie deficit by burning more calories with both cardio and strength training and you will begin to see the fat melt away.

1. Strength Training. Lean muscle helps burns more fat in both your active and rest states. To gain more muscle, you must strength train regularly. Lifting heavier weights at lower reps will burn more calories and elevate your metabolism. Don’t worry ladies, strength training will not make you bulky, you need testosterone for that.

2. Cardio Training.  Work up a sweat. Find an activity you can do for an extended period of time. Run, walk, cycle, and spin your way to less fat.  Try to go for 45 minutes to 1 hour with at least 30 minutes in the fat burning heart rate zone.

3. Circuit Training. An excellent way to burn fat is to circuit train. Perform a variety of strength exercises in a progressive sequence. To further increase fat burning, keep your heart rate up by moving quickly, or jogging, between exercises.

4. Know Calories Burned. Make the most out of your workout. Use a calories burned calculator to learn how many calories each exercise burns. Popular cardio machines also include a fat burning settings to ensure you’re working at a speed and intensity to target fat.

5. Know Your Daily Calorie Intake. So, how much exercise do you need to perform? A calorie calculator will establish your daily intake for weight maintenance. Eat fewer (but not too few) calories and burn a lot more with exercise to create an energy deficit.

6. Track Calories and Nutrients. Design a plan and stick to it. Stay within your calorie and nutrient target ranges. Utilize a calorie counter to track the foods and beverages you consume each day. Knowledge of the foods you eat will help you make better choices.

7. Eat Smaller, More Frequent Meals. Distribute food energy into 6 small meals per day. Eat 3 balanced, portion-controlled meals with 3 smaller snacks as needed. You’ll feel more satiated, have more energy for workouts, and keep your metabolism revving.

8. The Right Stuff. What you eat is as important as how much you eat. A fat burning diet should be low in added sugar, lower fat, and higher in protein. Eat lean meats, low-fat dairy products, fruits, non-starchy vegetables, and whole grains. Avoid added sugars and processed foods.

oh, so for separate reasons, i have got copies of recent doctors notes that have been written about me, and my doctor has noted that he believes i may be suffering from ”borderline eating disorders” because of my relationship with food.

now its funny he should say that (even though he didnt actually say anything to me at the time), because i have recently been wondering about it myself.

i think maybe i have something too. i have a really weird relationship with food, yes, i always have, especially since i became diabetic at age 15 (25 years ago).

its not so bad now, but i can still eat and eat and eat until i feel sick, and even then not stop.

its rare, but i do do it from time to time.

i suppose you could say thats binge eating, but its not a regular thing. but i could quite happily sit and eat for the whole of the day and not stop, although i dont of course.

ive never made myself sick or anything, but ive been obsessed with my weight, and eating, and all that other stuff for the whole of those 25 years.

i just thought that was normal, but im really starting to realise that no, its not!

after saying all that, i have still managed to keep good blood sugar control, more or less, lol, and i have now got to a healthy weight and bmi, but it is a constant struggle.

…sue xx

boo hoo hoo yeah lifes crap at the moment…blah blah blah.

enough feeling sorry for myself. nothing that has been happening is really so much of a big surprise to me.

so today ive kicked myself up the backside again and told myself to get over it. sitting on my backside eating crap and not doing my fitness properly isnt making anything better, its just making it worse.

i will no doubt still get those bad days, but i am not going to allow it to drag me down to where i was before.

ive just done a kick arse strength workout to break myself out of the rut, and im so glad i did!

we will all have those times when we just want to curl up in a ball and cry, and thats normal. we arent robots. but its how long we allow it to go on for. a few days is plenty for me. i just know that if i dont straighten myself out again, it wont be long before the weight has crept back on to the point where i just want to die, and have lost the pride in myself that i have earned by losing it in the first place and by getting so much fitter and healthier.

it JUST ISNT WORTH it!!!!

..sue xxx

Your body weight is controlled by the number of calories you eat and the number of calories you use each day. So, to lose weight you need to take in fewer calories than you use. You can do this by becoming more physically active or by eating less. Following  a weight-loss program that helps you to become more physically active and decrease the amount of calories that you eat is most likely to lead to successful weight loss. The weight-loss program should also help you keep the weight off by making changes in your physical activity and eating habits that you will be able to follow for the rest of your life.

Weight Loss Programs

Principles of Healthy Weight Loss

• Follow sensible and healthy guidelines for eating and physical activity for achieving and maintaining healthy weight.

• Excess weight is caused by an interaction of genetic (inherited) and environmental (social and cultural) factors, which include metabolic (physical and chemical) and behavioral (psychological and emotional) components. Because of the complexity of weight loss, gain, and maintenance, women need to understand that a quick and effortless weight loss is worthless.

• As sedentary lifestyle is a significant barrier to successfully maintaining weight loss and preventing further weight gain, it is important to add more activity in your daily routine.

• Losing weight requires burning more calories than the body takes in, by either reducing caloric intake or increasing caloric expenditure, or preferably, both.

• Remember, achieving and maintaining even a modest amount of weight loss can reduce the severity of illnesses associated with obesity.

• Medical, pharmacological and surgical interventions may be options for women with more serious cases of overweight and obesity. These interventions, used in conjunction with a plan for healthy eating and physical activity, should be utilized in conformance with applicable treatment guidelines.

Maintaining Weight After Weight Loss

Once you have achieved a healthy body weight what lies ahead is effective weight management, which involves behavior modification which is a lifelong commitment and includes at least two components:

• healthful eating in accordance with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, emphasizing a reduction in total calories, a lowered fat consumption, and an increase in vegetables, fruits and whole grains, and

• increased frequent and regular physical activity of at least moderate intensity.

The Risks Associated With the Fad Diets, Dieting and Other Weight Loss Products.

A diet designed to promote healthy weight loss promotes a weight loss of no more than two pounds — or one percent of total body weight/a week. Medical authorities recommend that losing weight at such a rate reduces risk of health problems that have been associated with more rapid weight loss (greater than three pounds per week). Some people may lose weight at a slightly higher rate. However, a rapid weight loss of more than two pounds a week is unhealthy and should be avoided.

Fad diets that ignore the principles of the Dietary Guidelines may result in short term weight loss, but may do so at the risk of your health. How you go about managing your weight has a lot to do with your long-term success. Unless your health is seriously at risk due to complications from being overweight or obese, gradual weight loss should be your rule — and your goal. 

Many women look for quick and easy solutions to their weight problems. They find it hard to believe in this age of scientific innovations and medical miracles that an effortless weight-loss method doesn’t exist. 

So they succumb to quick-fix claims like “Eat All You Want and Still Lose Weight!” or “Melt Fat Away While You Sleep!” And they invest their hopes (and their money) in all manner of pills, potions, gadgets, and programs that hold the promise of a slimmer, happier future. Some pills may help control the appetite, but they can have serious side effects. (Amphetamines, for instance, are highly addictive and can have an adverse impact on the heart and central nervous system.) Other pills too, are utterly worthless. 

Any claims that you can lose weight effortlessly are false. The only proven way to lose weight is either to reduce the number of calories you eat or to increase the number of calories you burn off through exercise. Most experts recommend a combination of both.

There is no product available NOW OR IN THE FUTURE that substitutes for proper diet/exercise techniques. If you remember this, you’ve learned more than 95% of the people who are currently pursuing physical improvement. KNOWLEDGE IS KEY!

Does Junk Food Have A Place in a Healthy Diet??

— By The American Institute of Cancer Research (AICR)

Studies of American eating habits reveal that almost a quarter of the calories we consume come from nutrient-poor selections – better known as “junk food.” If one-fourth of what we eat is junk food, a plan for weight reduction should emphasize eating differently, not just eating less as many nutrition experts advise for weight loss. And if you have a healthy weight, you should still eat less junk food to prevent weight gain and chronic diseases, like cancer.

Too Many Calories from Sodas, Sweets and Desserts
In a recent study that surveyed 4,700 people, soft drinks were the number one source of calories. They accounted for 7.1 percent of the calories the people in this study consumed. Altogether, the categories of soft drinks, sweets and desserts, and alcoholic beverages made up 23.8 percent of total calorie intake. Salty snacks and fruit-flavored drinks added another five percent of calories. Since all of these foods are relatively concentrated in calories, you don’t have to eat a lot of them to increase your daily calorie total.

Another study revealed that people who eat a lot of junk food suffer nutritionally. This study looked at the impact of salty snack foods like potato chips, corn chips, crackers, pretzels and cheese curls. Those who ate the most of these high-fat salty snack foods had diets high in total and saturated fat and low in fruits and vegetables. These people scored poorly for dietary healthfulness.

Score High Points for Health
Studies of nutrient-poor food consumption highlight several important messages:

• Between-meal snacks and drinks may be the best place to substitute healthy choices and cut back on excess calories.
• People who are overweight can still be undernourished. Eating more healthful foods is a good way to improve your health and lower your calorie intake at the same time.
• Junk food is not okay when it displaces healthy food, even if you maintain an appropriate weight. Eating substantial amounts of high-calorie, low-nutrient foods tends to be part of an eating pattern that ignores nutrient-rich vegetables, fruits, whole grains and beans. Even if you don’t gain weight by eating lots of junk food, you could increase your health risks, like the risk of cancer, by depriving yourself of protective nutrients and phytochemicals.

if you are hungry - EAT!

if you are bored

              lonely

              fed up

              angry

              frustrated

              early for something

              late for something

              waiting for someone/something

              distracted

              emotional

              socialising

              reading

              on the computer

              watching tv

              tired

  or anything else that normally sends you to the fridge……….STOP!!

food isnt something to fill a bit of time,

                               or to soothe your emotions,

                               or get revenge on something or someone,

                               or keep your hands and mouth busy.

its FUEL. its to fill your stomach and help you grow, and give you nutrition and strength and health.

only eat when you physically need to eat!!

it really is that simple.

..sue xx

ive had a great day today!

now that im back in calorie mode, its good to see how many i have torched during my workouts.

and with todays little stack of workouts, ive burned off almost 500 of the little bleeders! thats not a bad result to say ive not left the damned house today haha.

and ive also not eaten anything naughty. yes ive had my can of coke, but ive already allowed that to myself once a day to make me know im having something thats a bit bad, without making me resentful and all that other stupid crap we go through.

ive had LOADS of fruit and veggies. about nine servings so far today.

im very happy with myself today, yes i am :)

…sue xx

now this is a salad!

tuna steak, baked sweet potato (no butter or any dressing of any kind), mixed leaves, baby tomatoes, red onion, red pepper, chestnut mushrooms, a few olives and other antipasta bits (but i seriously only had a couple of bits).

damn, i forgot to add some jalapeno’s!! oh well.

and my dessert, raspberries and canteloupe melon.

yummy, and how healthy can i be for one meal??

..sue xx