Fitbit

I got a fitbit about a month or so ago. I really, really like it!  I'd been looking for a good pedometer.  I like tracking my food and weight online.  And I love to see how many calories I've burned.  Well, this has given me all that and more. 

It's super small so it fits in your pocket or clips to your bra without any problem.  It's easy and accurate!  It even tracks your sleep!  Seriously, you put it on a wristband overnight and it knows when you fall asleep, how many times you woke up and then gives you a number for how long you were actually asleep. It's kinda eerie but extremely accurate!  Plus, it's super comfortable to wear so it's not like hooking up to a huge contraption.

The only drawback is that it IS small and I'm always afraid I'm going to lose it. I have a good routine with it now so I'm not as fearful anymore.

It is a bit spendy, it's $99 on fitbit.com.  I debated a long time over this, I don't have money to burn, that's for sure.  After reading several reviews and committing that I would actually USE it, I bought it. And I'm glad I did.  Now my husband wants one. He wants one more as a toy though than a fitness tool.  I thought about changing my profile to his stats but that would mess things up for me so phooey on him. I'm keeping it.  :-)

You are able to use it for social networking and you can find friends and compare numbers. I would LOVE this as I think it would keep me going stronger to know that someone else was watching my stats and knowing how many steps I take a day.  However, I have yet to find anyone who uses theirs regularly.  If you are using one, I would love to "friend" you on fitbit. :-)

Slimmer This Summer Final Post

Woohoo! We made it 12 weeks!  How did we all do?  I've been reading the blogs and many have been doing fantastic!!  I admire all of you who have stuck to your goals and lost a lot of weight!  Some have fallen along the way and hopefully they will pick themselves up and get back on track.  Then there are some who have stuck with the challenge but have just done so-so with their goals. 

I would fall into this last group.

I don't have awesome results to show for this summer.  Not. At. All. Despite the support and the goals, I've just kinda fallen into a funk.  And really, really need to get out of it.  I haven't been consistent at all. I've had weeks where I've been spot on at 1200 - 1400 calories, exercising well and doing good. Just to fall flat on my face the next week.  And the falling on my face was hard. 

I didn't admit all my failures on the blog, I didn't lie, I just was a little vague.  (this is humbling people, really).  I felt as a leader of a challenge, telling you that I was binging on crap wasn't going to help any of you, so I kept it to myself. Well, hiding didn't help. At all.

I pretty much maintained the first part of the summer, kinda yoyoing up and down but then August hit and I gained weight. Yup, I gained. And I feel it and my clothes feel it.  Just a bit. 

On a good note, exercise has been good.  Really good.  It actually ticks me off that I'm FINALLY getting into a good exercise routine and getting my muscles going and then I turn around and eat crap. 

I have school starting next week and I will have a good routine here with the kids. Summer with 13 kids here has been chaotic and anything BUT routine.  I will have less daycare kids and my 3 kids will be homeschooling so it's time for organization and routine to kick in.  I'm hoping this makes a difference. 

It HAS to make a difference.

What is the alternative?  Me continuing to eat until I grow out of my clothes?  Uh uh.  That just can't happen.  I feel like I blew the whole summer and I'm super depressed about it.  But I can't change what I did, can I?  The only thing I can do is move forward. 

Luckily Mir is starting up a new little challenge in a couple of weeks.  The Christmas Dress Countdown Challenge.  Now, I don't celebrate Christmas, nor do I have any idea what size dress I would wear.  I'm more of a skirt wearer myself.  But, that's not the point of the challenge of course.  There is a jacket that I want desperately to wear this winter that will require more weight loss. 

Take a look at the challenge and decide if it is for you.  If not, please, please, please, continue moving forward.  Continue to stay healthy.  Whether you are needing to lose a lot of weigh, maintaining or just trying to lose the last 5 pounds, we all need to stay healthy and fit.

So for the last time, link in your results and let me know that you have not quit!  I thank all of you who have stuck with this!  

Giveaway winners will be announced later and I will email you with what you have won. 

Slimmer This Summer Week 12

Well, this is it folks.  The state fair is headed to town next week.  The kids are getting their school supplies together.  People are making Labor Day plans. And the Slimmer this Summer challenge is heading into it's last week.  Summer is coming to an end. 

Is it just me or did that go fast?!  Like, really, really fast! 

We've had a good summer. We did a lot and I'm still hoping to squeeze in some more beach visits before they close, but it's been good. 

This week has been about the same for me.  Good days and then some just so-so days.  I had a mini cold the beginning of the week so I didn't exercise much but then have been doing good the last half of the week.  Eating has been good, but not great.  I'm still trying to figure out the whole digestion thing and seeing if gluten is the answer or not.  I've been ignoring the scale, I'll spend some quality time with it next week.  :-)

Don't forget I have two giveaways, the Vitatops Giveaway and The Comfort Food Diet Cookbook Giveaway.  I also have a giveaway on my other blog for Lawry's Seasoning Marinades that ends tonight!

I'm going to put up one more linky next weekend to link in the final results. I didn't stay as active as a leader as I had hoped but I so appreciate you hanging in there!  Mir was awesome and super helpful!! Check out her post to all of the challengers here!

It doesn't matter if you've been on track all summer, just so-so, or ready to jump back on the wagon, let's make this a GREAT week and get as much done as we can!!

Slimmer This Summer Week 11

We're on the home stretch!!  Two more weeks of the challenge!  How are we all doing?

It's been a good week for me.  Food has been so-so. I've been tracking for the most part but going over in calories.  Not horribly but still over.  I haven't been able to get that strict discipline with food this summer.  It's been up and down for the last couple of months.  How do I get it back??  You'd think looking in the mirror and seeing my giant stomach would put the fear in me and get me motivated again!!  Ugh.  I'll get it, slowly but surely. 

Exercise, however, I've been rocking this week. I set a new goal with number of steps and I've hit it every day this week plus a whole lot more.  I'm noticing a big difference in my walking, I'm getting faster and the ankle is staying happy. I'm even sorta starting to enjoy it.  Shhh...

I've been a bit vague on weight because I've been ignoring the scale.  I wanted to wait until after the challenge to ignore it but I just got so sick of being a slave to the scale.  I really don't want to look at it again until September.  Maybe I'll peek though.  I'm not expecting any glorious results that's for sure.

How's everyone else doing??

 

Gluten Free

So I had a whole post written down for this week about whole grains.  I was going to just remind everyone how much better whole grains are and how the body has to work so much harder to process the whole wheat rather than the other, therefore making it better for your body. Yea, we all know that but sometimes a reminder is good.

But then I nixed the whole post. 

I'm starting a hopefully temporary new way of eating.  Gluten free.

It seems that everyone is getting on the gluten free bandwagon lately.  For different reasons it seems, some for medical reasons and many just because it makes them feel better. 

Well, I've been having this intestinal issue for awhile.  I'm not constipated. I don't have diarrhea.  No cramping or pain.  I....well...

Don't laugh. 

No really, don't laugh.

I have really, really, really stinky farts. 

Okay fine, laugh.

Yes, it's true.  It's been especially so the last few months, all summer pretty much.  Before that, I was stinking more than the usual person but I just blew it off as "It must be something I ate".  Well, starting this summer, it's been daily. Really, everyday.  I bought some Special K Protein bars a few months back and was eating one a day and THOUGHT it was because of them.  Boy, was the family glad when those were gone!  Well, the stinky issue didn't go away. 

It didn't matter what I ate.  I finally realized that something is wrong and it isn't just "something that I ate".

So I did some research and found from other stinky sufferers on the internet, that gluten MIGHT be the issue.  Well, it was a good place to start. 

So I did a bunch of research and have been gluten free for 2 days now. 

Guess what. 

I SMELL GOOD!!  Seriously, after the first day, no stink!

I'm going to give it a few more days and then next week introduce gluten again, in small portions and see what happens.  I seriously don't WANT to be gluten free. What will I do without my whole wheat tortillas!  :-)  Although, I have to say, being on something so strict as that, curbs my snacking seriously.  No snacking on pretzels, cereal or leftover pizza crusts.  Not that I've been doing a LOT of that but still, I like to eat a few cheerios from the kids now and then.

So has anyone else ever hear of this problem?  Do you have any gluten free ideas or thoughts?  

Seriously, stop laughing.  :-)
 

Slimmer This Summer Week 10

Summer is just flying by!  I can always tell summers coming to an end when the stores start having all their back to school sales. 

Today was fun, went to the pool and got some more sun.  I played with the kids for awhile and then did some kicking in the water with my legs for about 20 minutes.  It wasn't very crowded so I had plenty of room and even though the legs ached a bit, I felt it was a nice unplanned workout.  I'm trying to get better with my legs, I feel they need to most help with strengthening. 

Water has been good, keeping hydrated this week. 

I had an ankle injury last weekend so I've been more cautious on the foot this week.  Pain is gone but it still wants to swell up all the time which is it's way of telling me to go easy.  The water was great as it didn't seem to affect my ankle, more of my legs. I wish I had access to a pool to swim more often. 

I had a decent week of eating this week.  I need to be more strict on the no sugars though.  I found myself craving them this week which is odd.  This weekend I ate out twice.  Grr.  Didn't do TOO bad but certainly not what I planned.

My plan for the week is better on quality of foods and more exercise.  It's supposed to be a nice week without the oppressive heat so I have my exercise class tomorrow and hopefully plenty of brisk walks during the evenings.  Let's just hope the ankle behaves...

How are all of you doing?  Sorry if you're not getting some of my comments, there are several blogs that I know of that aren't getting my comments coming up. We're not sure why.  We're not sure how long it's been happening but there is one blog that I've commented on almost every blog post and she says she hasn't received a comment since June.  What?!  I can tell this is happening on several others.  So just know that I am out there and reading!!!  :-)

If you haven't already entered my giveaways, here they are! I plan to have a couple more over the next couple of weeks too!

Comfort Food Diet Cookbook Giveaway

Vitalicious Vitatop Giveaway

Comfort Food Diet Cookbook Giveaway

Seriously, is it Friday already?

I can't really even use the excuse that it's been busy, time has just gone by quickly!  As most of you may know, I have a recipe blog. This was my reason to start blogging.  I loved finding or creating low calorie meals that were filling, healthy and well, low calorie.  Some are not so healthy, I know, so don't start ragging on me!  :-)

I'm not one of those cooks who can just open the cupboard and put together a fantastic meal.  Oh no. I've had a lot of help.  I've gotten recipes from many online sites and even some of you!! 

I also love cookbooks.  And to multitask. I often will sit by my computer watching TV and paging through cooking magazines and cookbooks. Making notes, tearing out pages and bookmarking recipes while watching ER reruns.  Yea, that's my kind of Friday night!

My latest find is the Taste of Home Comfort Food Diet Cookbook.  I was first intrigued by the words Comfort-Food-Diet all in the same title.  I started out dieting thinking that comfort food had no room in a diet.  Boy oh boy was I wrong there. 

This cookbook has it all; breakfast, lunches, dinners, snacks and desserts.  Most recipes have pictures (which I LOVE).  They have the calories right on the pictures.  They have the nutrition facts at the bottom of the recipe. 

I. Love. This. Cookbook. 

I've used it several times and have about 100 pages bookmarked to try.  I especially want to try new breakfast recipes. I'm a boring breakfast eater and would love to jazz it up a bit.  Plus, we like to eat breakfast for dinner quite a bit.

GIVEAWAY:
I have 3 extra books to giveaway.  Just leave a comment letting me know what kind of recipe you hope is in this book!

SLIMMER THIS SUMMER CHALLENGERS:
You get an extra entry!  Leave me a comment reminding me and yourself that you're not quitting! :-)  Winners will be picked August 26th.

OTHER GIVEAWAYS:
Have you entered my Vitalicious Giveaway?  Hop on over to my recipe blog and enter the Vitalicious giveaway on that blog too!