My Beginning

Beginning bloggers tend to lose the popularity contest in the nutrtion/dieting category. I suppose one would have to have advice no one else could give, show somewhat fast results, have awesome recipes, or just be a witty, inspirational character. A poor, unfortunate soul am I.

I don't have much success to report in terms of weight loss. I have been treated one too many times this week to a heavy meal, which screws me up the following week. I think from the scale that I'm just retaining a bit of water. I'll try to be REALLY good for the next few days to see if I've done real damage. This process is all about balance. You'll want to be "good" most of the time. Most of the time= maybe 80% of the time (while making sure the other 20% doesn't actually equal or outweigh the 80%). That's probably a good estimate for long-term (slow) results or weight maintenance.

In other news, I feel I've improved my endurance. I ran another mile in 11 minutes the other day. I suffered less, too. It was only the last minute and a half that were tortuous. But I felt so good about myself I went another minute! Yes, it is pathetic to most, but for me, that's wonderful. You see, I was the chubby girl who usually finished 2nd or 3rd to last in gym (I always wanted to feel like someone was behind me, so I worked a little harder.). I never ran a full mile without stopping. I was amazed and a bit jealous of the middle-school superstar runner who ran the mile in about 6 minutes. How did I know she ran it that quickly? I was a bit "sick" the day we recorded the time, so I was set to record everyone else's time. Yes, that was me. People weren't cruel though. I wasn't made fun of (except by a trio of bullies that really just made fun of everyone), or at least I didn't catch anyone.

I did understand that I was overweight, and that I probably needed to do something. The change came when my mother bought a fancy scale for herself. I just thought it was cool and weighed myself. I was rather shocked when it said I was 190. I think for my height then I would have technically been obese. My mother never put me down, but she introduced me to her weight watchers plan and got me a pedometer. I was definitely more careful. I kept a food journal. I managed to lose 20 pounds that summer, and then another 15 or so over the next few years (eating well in general and staying somewhat active, but not on weight watchers).

So here I am. I've put on some weight again, and am trying to get it off and improve my fitness. Now, I use Sparkpeople to track my nutrition and fitness. I recommend it. It can track various kinds of nutrients and shows you charts of how you ate that day (percentage carb,protein,fat; percentage each food for the day).

I don't have any budget inspiration today. Oatmeal is always a good choice. It's filling and cheap per serving (maybe 12 cents if you buy in bulk), but you really have to watch your portion size here. You could down a half-cup serving (150 calories) easily, and that's just using water. So try to have a fruit and maybe veggies to bulk up the meal, if you need volume. You can also bake your very own breakfast bar using oatmeal. Enjoy!