Changing lives. Well, Maybe. Enhancing? Embracing? Whatever Works!
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Activity Update- LHAS

July 21, 2010 | Author: FatGirlShrinking

The more time I spend in neighborhoods, the more walking I do. Spending two hours walking around Manhattan is a lot of fun, but somehow walking to the subway, which is two blocks from my apartment, is not fun. Still, I do take time to take extra steps while in the city. Two days this week of two hours each of walking is 240 minutes.

Having little money, and a very hot kitchen, means that I do not eat that much. Which is great, because my cravings are going towards the direction of bacon and chocolate.

(I apologize for missing last week.)

LHAS

July 8, 2010 | Author: FatGirlShrinking

The Long Hot Active Summer Challenge.

No one told me it would be 100 degrees!

Blah blah blah.

I was pretty lazy this week, and didnt do much of anything. I plan on shopping tomorrow, which means lots of walking. I also plan on Walking on my Birthday, which is Friday (July 9), and I get to explore a new area of town. (The Robicelli’s have a new place for their cupcakes, and it sounds like a fun time, and a neat area to wonder.) So, my birthday has walking and cupcakes. And probably drinking.

Heat

July 6, 2010 | Author: FatGirlShrinking

Currently, it is 102 in Central Park.

It is 95 degrees in the living room of my apartment. (I live in a Railroad style apartment, with a bedroom on either side of the apartment, and the living room/kitchen in the middle, and the middle has no air flow or windows)

It is 83 in my bedroom with a tiny window AC.

My typical form of exercise is walking, but, really, I am not motivated to leave the apartment today, even with the bribe of sweet tea and thai food. (However, tomorrow’s bribe of farm eggs and juice is worth it, though. Priorities?)

Pools in the area are not known for being the cleanest, nor workout friendly. I can’t afford a gym at the moment.

How do you stay motivated to work out when it is simply too hot?

No Sweets Recap – LHAS

June 30, 2010 | Author: FatGirlShrinking

Time slips away :)

From having friends over to two days at the Fancy Food Show, where did this weekend go?

To recap on my no artificial sweets week: I ended up losing about 4 pounds, and I was not hungry. I noticed that after I added in the artificial sweeteners, I was more hungry.

Since then, I have walked at least 2 miles each day. Im not sure how big the Fancy Food show was, but I was on my feet 2-4 hours each day. It was very low intensity, and I was eating small bites every 10 minutes or so, but my feet really hurt at the end of it! I had about 500 minutes of activity this week.

I also was far more careful and deliberate on what I did and did not eat last week. Instead of reaching for diet soda, I had to think if I was going to have a Snapple or plain water. At home, I drank southern sweet tea, the real kind, made from tea and simple syrup. Even with drinking the sugar sweetened stuff, I lost weight and was not hungry.

I haven’t decided if I want to continue it. Rather, I am not following it at the moment, but it would be something worthwhile to come back to at some point.

I had a headache 3 of the 5 days, so it either did not help with the headaches, or, more likely, I needed a longer period of time to flush them out of my system and for me to get a routine of getting enough liquids.

The Fancy Food Show was Amazing. I got to try a lot of different things. The best was a spanish cheese tasting. They laid out six different types of Manchego Cheese, and talked about the difference (pasteurized, raw, and how long aged.)

Maybe a cheese diet for a week would be fun :)

No Sweets Edition: LHAS

June 23, 2010 | Author: FatGirlShrinking

I did three days of city walking, and assorted smaller walks. 260 minutes of exercise. I need to start the Cardio Boxing thing again, but it is 90+ degrees in the apartment. At least outside I have a breeze.

I slightly cheated on the No Sugar day today (oops!) I went to the farmers market, and I tried a toothpick worth of three types of honey. I ended up buying a raw, unfiltered alfalfa honey from an Amish area in Pennsylvania.

I was looking forward to farm fresh eggs, but the vendor was not there today :( May have to go out on Saturday to get some.

So far, I have learned that a lot of food has artificial sweeteners. And, also, I eat a lot of processed foods. Is maltodextrin a sweetener? It is made from sugar and corn, but processed differently.

(I also decided that my issue with artificial sweeteners, if there was one, would be in the additional ones that go into sweetening my drink. I am also working on day 2 of a headache, so this week may not work out well.)

Drinks: Aqua Fresca

June 21, 2010 | Author: FatGirlShrinking

So far today, I have eaten a quesadilla (on plain flour tortillas, after I found the whole wheat ones had sucralose), sauteed garlic green beans, grilled chicken, coffee, and tea. I will probably have popcorn in a few.

I do not like plain water. If I can find a way to change it up a bit, I can drink more of it. And, since all soda is basically off limits this week, I was stuck.

I was searching for sugar syrup (checking my proportions, mostly), and came across aqua fresca.

This drink is a mixture of fruit, sugar, and water. Instead of adding fruit juice to water (all the fruit juice currently in my house has HFCS, and most fruit juice is “from concentrate” which has higher amounts of fructose in it), you add whole fruit that has been mashed or pureed. This gets added to water, and some sugar or sugar syrup.

Peach Aqua Fresca
3/4 cup frozen peaches
2-4 cups of water (depending on how strong and/or watery you want your drink)
1/4 cup simple syrup

(I made simple syrup by heating one cup of water with one cup of sugar. You can play with the proportions, but this is fairly standard.)

Thaw peaches, or heat in microwave until soft but still cold. Blend peaches with one cup of water. Blend about 1/4 of this puree with 1 cup of water, and a splash of simple syrup.

(I used the Magic Bullet Blender, but if you are using a full size blender, you can add the rest of the water all at once.)

Play with the proportions to get the taste/fruitiness/sugar level that you want.

30 Minutes In

June 21, 2010 | Author: FatGirlShrinking

After just 30 minutes of “no artificial sweeteners,” I realize that I eat a whole lot of “healthy” things that I have a very long ingredient list.

Things to keep in mind.

Weekly Updates

June 17, 2010 | Author: FatGirlShrinking

Didnt do so well this week. Though, I had about two hours of walking one day (to find cupcakes, and I had to ask them to get the cupcakes out of the freezer!) So, about 240 minutes of walking. (Low intensity).

Next week, Monday to Friday, is my “no artificial sweetener” week. If my grandmother would have cooked with it, it is fine. This includes sugar, brown sugar, honey, and molasses. If it is an artificial sweetener, or any fancy new stuff (high fructose corn syrup, agave syrup, Splenda), I will not be eating it.

My english muffins have sucralose in them :(

Wednesday is the YumJared No sweets challenge. He says he will write about it soon. But, I am taking the challenge as “nothing that has sweetener in it.” I might make myself whole grain bread and eat butter and bread and meat that day. May throw in a vegetable or two :)

So, Monday to Friday (defined as 12:01am Monday to 11:59pm Friday), no artificial sweeteners. Wednesday, no sweeteners of any kind.

Anyone joining me on the week or the day challenge?

Fat is not a bad word

June 16, 2010 | Author: FatGirlShrinking

I wrote this as a comment to a post on FitBottomedGirls.com.

(She) said “When I see the word “fat,” I think “hate” or “ugly” or, even, “not good enough.” In my mind, if you call yourself fat, you’re hating on yourself and not honoring the person you are inside and out.”

I am fat. Fat is a description. It says that I am larger than what some arbitrary person says I should be. Note: larger, not heavier. My blog is “Fat Girl Shrinking,” which is a description, and I do not think I am hating on myself when I say it. I am honoring the person that I was (at 320), that I am (240ish), and that I will be (whatever weight I will be.)

Women think they are fat because we have been told all our lives that we need to be “thin” to be pretty. Thus, if you are not “thin,” then you are “ugly” and “not good enough.” This is not any fault of the word, but rather a sickness that is in our culture.

I would rather live in a world in which ALL women (and all people), are considered beautiful for the beauty that they have, inherent to their being alive, rather than one that says our looks are the only thing that matters to them.

(See also Fat Rant 1 (and part 2 and 3!)

Sleep

June 12, 2010 | Author: FatGirlShrinking

I seriously need to get back on a more normal sleep schedule.

I have been going to bed around 5-7am. Waking up (if I dont set the alarm) between 2 and 5pm. The days that I do have to set my alarm and get up early, it takes me about an hour to wake up, and I still do not go to bed until 5am.

Yesterday, I woke up around 2pm to meet a friend for shopping. I stayed up all night, napped from 3 to 6ish, then got up for a friend coming over. I had hoped that going that long with that little sleep would have helped me get to bed. Yet, here again, it is 4am, and I am not sleepy. (Later today, I have a cake decorating class as well as a friend’s housewarming, so sleep would be nice :)

When i do get to sleep as long as I want and without an alarm, I sleep far too long (10-14 hours).

(Oh, and even with only 3 hours of sleep, and probably not enough watcher, only a slight headache.)

Anyone have good tips for resetting sleep schedules?

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