The wonders of Edamame!!!

So I had these with a teaspoon of olive oil, lite salt and pepper. YUMMY!!!! Edamame is a complete protein containing all the eseential Amino Acids our bodies need to efficiently burn fat. They are a great source of protein, fiber, essential fatty acids, and isoflavones (found only in Soy). It is an excellent food for weight loss as well. If you are looking for that miracle food to lose weight, try these soybeans. They retail (frozen) for about 3 bucks and they have more protein than a chicken breast! The fiber content is also high and if you eat a cup of these babies, you will have half of your necessary fiber for the day. Fiber is a superfood which moves fat out of the intestines and prevents it from absorbing into your body and sitting on your waist. Please try these cheap yet credible beans in place of meat every once in a while and you will see results!
Read more on Edamame by clicking here

30 Second Weigh In

I am officially down 1.4 lbs, so that takes me to 10.2 lb LOSS for the month of January! Praise GOD!!!

After leaving the gym

I went to the gym at 7:55pm and left that wonderful place at 8:55. I did 30 mins on the elliptical, 10 mins on the treadmill as a cooldown, and then I did some leg presses and called it a night. This is how I looked after getting home. I threw myself across the bed and waited for the cool down to kick in - then I took a nice, hot shower and exfoliated with St. Ives body polisher brighten and glow. Please go and get you some. It retails for about 5 bucks, so its worth it. Your skin glows after using this stuff and I swear it even makes the hair on my legs grow slower. Everytime I use it, my husband says how soft I am and he cant keep his hands off me!!!

My healthy high protein dinner

I had baked chicken
brussel sprouts
black beans
water w/fiber sure
jello pudding for dessert:) (lowfat fa sho')
Notice the plate is very small, its a salad plate. Also take notice of the portions. When committing yourself to a weight loss plan...sometimes its necessary to say goodbye to the starch filled dishes at dinner time (brown rice, pasta, bread etc). You get carbs from the beans as well as the vegetables. I don't recommend completely cutting carbs but cutting back on the white breads and heavy starches at dinner is a good idea and if you do choose to indulge, always have a 1 cup serving. Black beans are extremely high in protein as well as fiber. Thats always a plus. Black beans could have been the main dish on my plate but since I am looking to build muscle in order to burn this fat, my protein portions has increased dramatically. Always make sure that protein is over 60% of your dinner and I promise results. If you like me posting what I eat, let me know so that I can do this more frequently.

Before and After - Bye Bye fat face!

That was me, 215 lbs back in april of 2007. I am now 188 lbs and healthier and happier. Wow, I have come quite a long way. Do you see a difference? I had to stop dieting when I got pregnant in September 2007 and had the baby in may of 2008 but now I am back on track... and loving it!

My Ideal breakfast

I got this idea from a blogger to take pics of my food just to show you guys what I eat. I wont do this everyday but you will get an idea as to whats promoting my weight loss for me. I put the fiber sure in a bottle of water, eggs, banana, and 1 slice of toast with prenatal vitamin and a omega 3 capsule helps me to start my day with energy, fat burning, and happiness that I am not gulfing down trash in my body. The eggs and toast with fruit is surprisingly my new favorite breakfast:)

Body Shots Before and After

The dates are a little off but you get the idea)))))
Do you see a difference? There are suttle changes such as in my waist - I love the new hourglass figure thats emerging. If you look at my arms in the last photo you can see definition is coming in. My hips have a nicer curve now instead of frumpy fat on them and my face is even cuter! I have more confidence, my belly is still there but has went down dramatically. I couldn't fit those blue jean capri pants when I first started this diet, they wouldn't button up but now I can button them and theres even a little bit of space left YAY!
Well, I hope you can see a difference.... Thanks for viewing my blog and check out my youtube as well at www.youtube.com/divaonadiet

Emotional Eating raises Blood Pressure

This pic is of me at 200 lbs out eating with friends 8/2007. My face was so fat and round. I ordered a bunch of food this day.

Have you ever had a bad day and went to the refrigerator/pantry to soothe yourself? I did. After I had the baby (in may 2008) my blood pressure went up substantially. It skyrocketed to 140/95. My devastatingly high numbers weren't even enough to whip me into shape. In fact, I continued to buy salty processed foods, big bottles of salt to dump on food, and down a whole bag of crunchy, puffy, yummy cheetos in one sitting (the bigggg bag). One day I asked my husband to go and buy me a bag of cheetos (they were my favorite snack back when I wasn't eating healthy). I ate the WHOLE BAG in 1 hour while watching my favorite show 'Wife Swap'. Something told me to 'take my blood pressure' after I finished licking my cheesy fingers so i whipped out the electronic gadget and took the batteries out the remote to put in the blood pressure monitor. When the numbers popped up the machine started beeping with a red light (something I've never seeen it do). My blood pressure was up to 170/110! I will never forget seeing those numbers. I went into a panic. The first thing we do when we panic as human beings is go for a glass of water.
I went and had a bottle of water and hoped that my blood would stop pumping so hard against my veins as I down the whole 16 oz bottle. I then remembered that banannas are filled with potassium so they naturally lower your blood pressure. I ate one. I looked around the kitchen for more home remedies to lower my pressure. A-hah! I saw a box of oatmeal and I ate almost the whole box. I went and sat down and waited a half hour and took my pressure again. It was down to 150/99 which was better than the previous reading. That was another one of my a-hah moments where I finally decided to eat better and stop downing a whole bag of chips. That moment in my life is what took me to where I am today - on a journey to a better and healthier me. By the way, today my numbers sit at 116/78 and the highest i've seen it go in the past 6 months is 120/85. God is GOOD!!!!!!!

Scared of the Gym

It was 12/30/2008
I've never been one to go to the gym. I've been inside a few gyms in my lifetime (not to work out) but I never stayed long. I was always scared, ashamed, terrified, and intimidated by the thought of working out at a gym. I have a friend who lives here on base and she asked me one night to go with her. I had dedicated my whole evening to watching TLC (The Learning Channel) because they had a marathon on The
1000 lb dad
1000 lb teen
1000 lb mom
I watched 2 of them and all of a sudden my friend called and asked me if I felt up to going to the gym with her. Since watching the show had me so focused on not becoming the 1000 lb mom, I decided to go. At first I was going to ditch her and stay in and lay on the couch all night but since I'd vowed to go with her so many times before - this time I wouldn't let her down. We went, I surprised myself and did 20 minutes of running nonstop on the treadmill. It was all over from then... Ever since that day I haven't missed one trip to the gym. Although I'm usually in the top 5 of the biggest people in the gym, that doesn't discourage me. I still go because my health is far too important to give into such a silly notion that larger people can't work out at the gym. Since going, my blood pressure has went down, my legs and joints dont hurt anymore, and I have more energy to get more housework done and still spend ample amounts of time with my baby. Don't be afraid of the gym if I can go - YOU can go!

Gym Challenge

This old pic of me was when I was over 200 lbs in 2007

OK, so my hubby is in the military which means I automatically get a free gym membership to any gym on a military base. The gym I attend has state of the art equipment and everything has a flat screen cable TV attached to it which is cool so I never miss any of my favorite shows because I am indeed a couch potato prior to my working out regimen. Anyway, when I get on the elliptical machine - I try to be the last one standing. When someone walks up to get on after I've been on it for - lets say - 30 minutes... I will still overexert myself in order to stay on longer than them. I never knew I was competitive until I started working out. I usually am the last one on the machines and they always get off before I do in a sweaty, out of breath mess. LOL I know I am wrong for secretly competing with any and everyone who walks up and gets on the machines. Hey, Its still fun and it makes working out so much more rewarding when I win. I doubt I would even join a gym if it wasn't for having the benefits of a gym included in my hubbys career:)

10 pound difference

Here are 2 images of me.
The top one when I had on grey: 01/02/2009 and I was about 197 lbs
The bottom one in the pink shirt: 01/21/2009 and I was about 188 lbs

I am keeping track of my weight loss through a mirror in the upstairs hallway (ha ha). My cameras flash broke so I need to buy another camera but in the meantime, this will work. Notice my hips went down, my breast has lost a whole cup size and my waist is trimming down lovely. I wish I could show you my back because I lost a lot of fat but you have to stay tuned to see that. My confidence is slowly increasing and I even walk around the house without my frumpy big and pink robe anymore. My husband is very encouraging and he loves me no matter what size I am. I am doing this for myself, my health, and for my baby and hubby. I am unstoppable. Even if this blog doesn't reach too many computer screens I hope I can through the power of blogging inspire someone to go on this journey with me and drop weight, maybe I can be an inspiration to someone whos been battling weight their whole life (such as myself). Please follow my journey and enjoy!

Keep Flavor for less calories!!

So, here is a great product if you are kickstarting your weight loss goals. YES CHILE' - Bush's Baked Beans are only 140 calories for a 1/2 cup and 1 grams of fat per serving. If you eat a cup, you are consuming a whole lot of fiber (10 grams) and fiber helps to pass fat without it absorbing into your waist line. I love these beans because they are delicious, filling, and although there are carbs in it (I am not doing the low carb diet) the fiber takes away the effect of the carbs - and these happen to be good carbs because they have only 12 grams of sugar and very high in protein . The only drawback I can find is they do have a lot of salt - so drink lots of water and watch your salt intake for the day if you are eating these for dinner or lunch. I can work these off in 15 minutes so its totally worth it. Get yourself these low calorie, high tasting beans if you are gearing up for a new weight loss regimen but be careful to measure properly because they are so good that you may overindulge.

She didn't know who I was!!!

I did a video on youtube in regards to my neighbor not even knowing who I was one night I went out to see the movie Notorious (it sorta sucked). When I came home, her company was parked in my spot. We engaged in conversation at the door as if we were strangers. When she finally realized it was me - she praised my weight loss and it made me feel soooo good about my accomplishment and it gave me the drive and motivation to keep going. She also touched on how much bigger I was back on halloween (shes a straight forward type of person). She took this pic on halloween night of 2008 and I was 208 lbs on the pic. I am now 188 (20 lbs lighter) and I feel great!

Diet Tricks that work for me!!!!

1. Plan to be on a diet the rest of your life. Did you ever notice how some thin people always talk about dieting? You think to yourself 'they don't need to diet' but in order to obtain lifelong results you must think this way. That’s why they are thin, because they work at it constantly. You must plan to be on a diet the rest of your life. Not necessarily a weight reducing diet your whole life... obviously at some point you’ll want to just maintain your weight. But - you need to continue good healthy eating choices from here on out... and not slip back to old ways.
   
2. Take it slow. Don’t be in a hurry to lose weight. If you follow tip #1 above, this won’t be a problem. Go for 1 or 2 pounds a week. Slow weight loss is healthier, is more likely to be permanent, and is so much easier to sustain over the long haul. And if you need to lose 100 pounds like me, it’s a long haul!
   
3. Don’t Get Discouraged. If you go a week, or two, or even three, without losing a pound - don’t worry! Any week that you do not gain weight is a successful week in my book. And don’t get discouraged by the constant up-down-up-down-up-down-down pattern of your weight. Its usually water weight most of the time and not solid fat which is causing the scale to fluctuate.
   
4. Don’t eat after dinner. Make it a rule to not eat after dinner. Evening munchies was one of my biggest weight gain problems. The way I broke this habit: whenever I want to munch at night, I make myself a cup of warm green tea with splenda. I don’t think diet coke would help as much as a warm beverage.
   
5. Write it down! Keep a food diary and write down every calorie or point or carb (or whatever it is you are counting!). It’s amazing how quickly the calories add up! Even if you cheat and snitch a spoonful of cookie dough or a bite of someone else’s cake. Write it down.
   
6. Get Sweaty! Work up a sweat at least six hours a week. Six days a week you should try and workout to the point where you are sweaty for 1 hour. It doesn’t really matter what you do, as long as you do it regularly. Find something you enjoy and keep doing it until it becomes a habit. Ideas: go for a walk, get a piece of exercise equipment, aerobic workout DVDs, join a gym, go swimming, go for a bike ride, take a spinning class...the sky’s the limit! (Please be sure to check with your doctor before beginning any exercise program.)
   
7. Only Eat in the Kitchen. Do not eat in front of the TV or computer. Only eat at the kitchen table.
   
8. Drink lots of Water. Drink lots and lots of water...at least 8 full glasses per day. Add a slice of lemon to spruce it up. Often, we think we are hungry when really, we are just thirsty. So, next time you head for the fridge, grab some water first and see if that does it for you.
   
9. Veggies and Dip. Keep fresh cut vegetables handy and munch on them when you are cooking dinner to avoid munching on fattening foods. This will benefit the whole family! Choose a low carb ranch dip to dip them in. I like to use Hidden Valley Ranch.
   
10. Don’t eat When you are Stressed. Find another way to relieve stress. A warm bath, a hot cup of tea, a nice long walk....anything besides eating!
    
11. Cut out the Sugar and Refined Carbs. Sugar and Carbs make you crave more of them. Cutting them out really helps you not be so hungry.
    
12. Listen to your body. Don’t eat unless you are truly hungry. If you pig out one day, don’t eat the next meal until you are hungry again.
    
13. Stay Busy. If you’re anything like me, you are sitting at your computer avoiding work, housework, yardwork, exercise, etc. Housework burns more calories than sitting on your duff! Just go do it - whatever it is you are avoiding.
14. Stay clued up
    Knowledge is power. By arming yourself with the facts about healthy diet, and ignoring the fads, you are more likely to build confidence in your abilities and achieve your weight loss goals. Don't expect to lose 15 pounds a week like the people on the TV show 'The Biggest Loser' instead set realistic goals of 2-3 lbs a week

****Believe in Yourself****

This final diet tip is just as important as the tips about eating and exercise.

If things go wrong don’t panic. Learning new habits takes time. Think back to when you learned to ride a bike. No-one expected you to do it the first time. You no doubt fell off a lot and needed picking up, with help along the way. Step by step you took control of that bike and learned how to keep it on course.

How you think, affects how you feel, and in turn the actions you take. Believe in yourself every day. Focus on what you want – being fitter, healthier – rather than how unfit you are. Setting realistic goals and having positive expectations will make all the difference.

Hello Divas!

Its time to shed these pounds for 2009!