Concuring the midnight munchies

         My mother was a sleep eater. She would wake up in the middle of the night and eat. In her case she would not remember eating and blame everyone else. In my case I find myself eating in the middle of the night when I have been woken up too many times then I eat something and go back to bed. Now of course its not like I am eating a banana or an apple. I am eating leftovers and generally carbs like cookies or bread or a PB sandwich and milk. I also remember what I did and know what I am doing at the time. It is a bad habit I would like to quit. Well for the last few weeks I have been fine. I slept decently so I did not find myself waking up and eating. But last night I woke up thirsty. I went in to the kitchen for a drink of water. I found myself reaching for leftovers when I remembered what I am working for and walked away. I was rather proud of myself and still am. I learned a couple of things that I am going to try to do.

#1 keep a bottle of water by my bed. If I get thirst I can drink and not go to the kitchen. No kitchen no temptation.

#2 clean the kitchen and put away ALL food before bed. That way I am not easily temped if I do need to go to the kitchen. Out of side out of mind.


                Also last night I tried two new Low Calorie recipes. Garlic lime tilapia and sauted garlic mushrooms with broccoli. Both were delicious.I look forward to trying new recipes this week.

Try try again day 8

     I have waited to re start this blog till I could see if my momentum was enough that I would keep going. And to my delight I have been changing habits and eating a more appropriate amount of calories for 8 days so I decided I would like to add the blog back in to the mix. I really enjoy having a way to look back and if all goes well having some people to talk to along the way.

    I will post my stats at the bottom of this page and continue to do so through the duration of my posts but I would like to focus a bit more on the fun stuff. The thing that I could not handle about the weight loss in the past is the way it made me feel isolated all the time. Constantly eating something completely different than my family all the time. Needing to decline invitations for fun activities or going out to eat because most of the time they included calorie rich foods. And then the way people would comment on everything you put in your mouth as soon as they catch wind you are trying to loose weight. It all would become too much and I would stop. The constant feeling that I was being babysat was just to much pressure for me. At the same time I think it is a manipulation tool for people who want to keep you the way you are because it makes them feel better about them selves. As if they can only be great if you are the "fat" girl. So this time around I have made some changes in my plan.

   First off I am making small changes each week. for example this week I am planning my meals in advance and prepping breakfast and lunch in the AM or the night before so I dont have to stress about it when I am hungry.Next week I will be adding a new one. I figure every week I accomplish a small goal I will get a bigger boost emotionally than I would seeing 1 or 2 pounds come off. And because I know there will be weeks when nothing comes off I really need t have something that gives me that boost so that I can keep on being excited for the journey and not disappointed and wanting to give up.

   Secondly I am trying to make the meal parts fun. For years I have made what my family wanted wether I wanted it or not. And to combat the feelings of deprivation I am trying a new lower calorie/fat recipes for lunch most days of the week. This fulfills my need for tasty food. Also my desire for something new and just mine. It also is a fun creative outlet for me because I like to cook. I am thinking about posting those adventures on the days I do them. So here is to making this work for me!!


                                                              Jodi Hernandez
                                                                                                                        Start weight 369
                                                                                                                        current weight 357
                                                                                                                        Goal weight    150

Day 10- making it all work

       Hello again! So in trying to make this work this time I am making adjustments to try and not get so stressed out that I find my self too tired, with too strong cravings to deal with. Hubby has Benn great about watching the kids when he gets home so I can head tot the gym. And because of that I am trying to make it as seamless as possible. The first problem to arise was dinner. I started by having dinner ready and all they had to do was heat and eat when they were ready. Problem was I think I got them used to being served because I would get back at 8:45pm from the gym and they still would not have eaten. So I began having it ready when he walks in the door so we just sit down and eat. That was a little strange because we normally eat after he showers but it is working so we will adjust.

      My second problem arose on Tuesday night. Because I have been focusing on my weight loss the house was getting a nit behind. My hubby is sensitive to it and I did not like were it was going. So yesterday I settled in and busted but. Now mind you it is not perfect but my goal is to make sure in the morning the bigger things are taken care of while son is at school. That way the only things left are the small pick up things and house is fine when hubby gets home. I am sure it wont be the same when I get out of the gym but I will deal with it.

    As for daily check ins. I ate 140 calories above my limit for yesterday LOL. But I burned 905 calories at the gym so I am OK with that. I swam 35 minutes all butterfly stoke no board assistance so I am a happy camper. And that was with me having one of those find any excuse to cut my workout short days. You see last night was special Olympics training day and there were double the people from a week before. Now don't get me wrong I love that they do it! I love seeing how excited they are about doing it. But they splash SOOOO much that it is harder for me to keep going and I tend to get hit by waves that I choke on. So after about 15 minutes I was about to give up when a man with amazing arm muscles gets in the lane next to m and just goes. I was in awwww. So I kept going. I figured if he can swim laps around me the least I can do was keep going. I am competitive so this was a good thing. And I did. Well he had a good swim planned so It was long enough not only to keep me going my normal 30 minutes but an extra 5 and ALL arms not board help! I even told the man thanks for the inspiration!  He was my work out angel for the day.


                                                          xoxo
                                                              Jodi

Day 7- Finally facing my goal weight

  OK so I decided after all to take yesterday off calorie wise. And the weekends are not my gym days by force because they close earlier than hubby gets home. I ate at Del Taco and managed to eat everything I wanted and still loose a bit of weight. Not a ton but some which is far better than gaining. I did not have breakfast because I ate in the middle of the night. And I ate a salad for dinner so that helped. But I also had a cadbury cream  (I LOVE those) and 2 dove chocolates (small ones). So I am feeling good and back to the calorie count and exercise for the week.
  
   I will be going on a river walk today and then the gym this evening and my goal this week is to swim 30 minutes and to do 2 days of weight training. So today I need to come up with a weight training plan on spearkpeople.com I will do Tuesdays and Fridays as my weight training days.

   Now for the tough Part facing my goals. Now I would like to remind my self that I am going to put the goal of Ideal weight as my IDEAL goal but that I will be crazy happy with anything under 200!
SO My ideas weight for a 5'6" woman of big build,(don't truly know  I am but I know as a teen I was my smallest at 150 and could not get bellow that for more than a couple days no matter what I did,so this seems reasonable that I am a big frame). As I was saying a big framed Woman 5'6" should be between 145-159 pounds. So 159lbs is what I will work for. At 363 starting that is a staggering 204lbs!!!!!! WOW!!! That is a overweight/obese person I need to loose!!!!! But I will get there one step at a time.



                                                  XOXO
                                                       Jodi

Starting weight 3/27/2012  363
4/2/12                                  355.8



                                               

Day8

I made fried chicken strips last night with a salad. They were delicious and I ate 3/4 of my plate salad and 2 small chicken strips. I swam 50 minutes last night. I had only planned for 40 but met a woman and was engrossed in conversation that time flew by and I had done it for 50! Nice little bonus. I also ate in my calorie range. As a matter of fact at the low end. Today I am going to swim tonight and will have a BBQ chicken salad for dinner. I might go for a quick walk too this evening but that one is not for sure.


                                       xoxo
                                         Jodi

Day 6- life happened and I survived

    Yesterday was raining cats and dogs most of the day. I was in pain with leg cramps from the hormones so I did not at home exercise. And Hubby got home from work too late for me to make it to the gym. But that is ok M-F is enough swimming anyway. I ate in my calorie range. I was worried I blew over it because I had a small amount of pasta and bread along with broccoli and carrots and a think pork chop. But when all was calculated and after being very conscious of my eating all day I was still in my range. Makes me happy to know that as long as I am careful early in the day I can indulge a bit and be OK.

   Hubby has to work today also sadly so I will not be taking today off like I planned. I did eat in the middle of the night. But I added that to my breakfast calories today and I will just need to eat lower calorie today to make it work. I am not feeling bad about being human. I managed not to night eat for 3 days in a row so one slip up is no big deal. Now  just get on the horse and try again. LOL.



                                         xoxo
                                            Jodi

Day 5- whoo hooo down 6.2 pounds

    I ate more yesterday than the last few days but still in my prescribed calorie range. 1598 calories yesterday. I swam at the gym for 35 minutes. But I did not do the breast stroke as much because I was tired and it takes so much out of me. I started my period.grrr. It always happens when I start loosing weight. The release of the stored estrogen in the fat makes me bleed. And sadly if past experiance is a idea of what is to come it wont stop anytime soon. And My leggs ache wich happens when I start my period so I am going to have to work through this because I really want to loose weight.

   Today is raining cats and dogs. So no outdoor walking today. But I did find some exercise videos on netflix streaming and I want to do some today. I tried pilates once but it was a fast paced one and it was not happening. My sister still laughs at me over that attempt. But I saw some begginers yoga videos I want to try. One for pain relief so you can guess wich one I am going to do today! I am on the fence about the gym today but with the rain the kids will probably drive me up the wall to the point I WANT to go LOL.


                                                 XOXO
                                                     Jodi