Weight Loss

Weight Loss Wednesday: May 9, 2018

May 9, 2018 By Lisa Leave a Comment

So after last’s week awesome hike to the top of the mountain in under 35 minutes, I started thinking about other hikes I’d like to accomplish. One of them is Piestewa Peak, which is one of the hardest mountains in Phoenix to climb. When the idea first crossed my mind, I dismissed it, but it kept playing through my mind over and over again. I was looking for something a little more challenging and that’s a much longer hike. It’s also much steeper. So I figured what the heck…I should go for it. I realized that I don’t have to actually make it to the top. I just have to attempt it…and then attempt it again and make it a little further…and again…until I made it all the way to the top.

Last Friday, my husband agreed to go and hike it with me. After just 30 minutes of hiking, he said “I’m done” and headed back to the car. He told me to feel free to keep going and I did for a while, but then I realized that at 45 minutes of hiking, I still wasn’t even halfway to the top. I decided to turn around and head back to the car so my husband didn’t have to wait too long.

On Saturday, I left the house before 5 am, drove to the mountain and attempted it again…and I made it to the top. It took me 2 hours and 25 minutes to make it to the top, but I did it, and the views were amazing!

I’m learning every week how much my body needs exercise…and lots of it. After lots of good hiking, I had another good weight loss week. I lost 3.2 pounds!

Last Week’s Weight: 221.8
Today’s Weight: 218.6
Weight Lost This Week: 3.2
Total Weight Loss: 49.1

My goal is to continue to hike this trail until it’s too hot to hike…and to improve my time as much as possible each week!

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How To Lose 10 Pounds {10 Easy Tips To Help You Lose Weight Without Losing Your Mind}

May 4, 2018 By Lisa Leave a Comment

For the last 5 years, my goals have included losing 100 pounds…and for the last 5 years I lost and gained the same few pounds over and over again. I finally decided enough was enough. This year, while my goal is still to lose 100 pounds, I broke it up into 10 pound goals. And so far this year, I’ve lost almost 50 pounds! If you’re like me, you’ll have better results if you attack your weight challenge 10 pounds at a time instead of trying to tackle your huge goal. This is a manageable and believable goal, and you’ll only need to make a couple of small changes to achieve it. If you want to know how to lose 10 pounds quickly, this is for you!

Do the minimal amount to lose 10 pounds in a reasonable amount of time. If you want to lose 10 pounds quickly, commit to a few of these items.

How to lose 10 pounds with the minimal amount of stress and effort:

Drink fewer calories. If you drink calorie-containing drinks, it’s easy to consume a lot of calories without your awareness. Switching to water is an easy way to save yourself several hundred calories each day. You can flavor it with fresh fruit. I’ve always loved McDonald’s Cokes, but by cutting them out, I’ve saved myself a ton of daily calories!
Walk. Hitting the gym could be even better but be certain you’re walking each day. We’re meant to move around more than most of us do. My goal is to hit 10,000 steps every day. While it doesn’t always happen, I’m definitely moving a whole lot more than I used to. If you have foot or leg problems and walking is difficult, swimming is an excellent alternative.
Eat slower. You’re much less likely to overeat if you eat slower. Pay attention to the food in your mouth and chew thoroughly. I try to chew each bite 30 times. Avoid watching TV or playing on your phone while you eat. Give your meal your undivided attention, eat slowly, and you’ll eat less.
Reduce your intake of processed carbs. I know….now I’m just meddling! 🙂 I love carbs too, but processed carbs are loaded with calories and are not healthy. Skip things like cookies, crackers, bread, and pasta and opt for fresh fruit or veggies instead.
Stop eating after dinner. After two or three meals, your body has had enough. Eating after dinner is unnecessary and can cause a host of problems. Eating a lot and then going to bed isn’t optimal for your weight or your health.
Sleep more. Studies show that tired people are attracted to fattening foods more than the well-rested. A lack of sleep also contributes to metabolic issues that make it harder to maintain a healthy weight. Try to be in bed before 10pm.
Eat at home. I love to eat out, but it’s a lot more challenging to be healthy when you’re eating out. There are so many sneaky things added to your food when you eat out. Make your meals at home and you’ll know exactly what’s going into your body. And as a bonus, you’ll save money so you can buy cute clothes in smaller sizes! 🙂
Weigh yourself daily. When you measure something, the thing you measure changes. Weigh yourself each day and average your weight at the end of each week. You might find this is enough to move your weight in a positive direction.
Eat more vegetables. With few exceptions, vegetables are low in calories and high in bulk. You’ll feel full without expanding your waistline. While green leafy veggies are best, a variety of brightly colored veggies will help with your weight loss and your health.
Skip breakfast. For ages, we’ve been told to eat three meals a day. However, there is so much great research on intermittent fasting. Don’t skip lunch. Just shorten the amount of time you eat during the day… In other words, skip breakfast or dinner. While skipping dinner is just as beneficial (and often more beneficial) than skipping breakfast, most people find it easier socially and psychologically to skip breakfast.

Losing 10 pounds is a lot easier physically and mentally than losing 60 lbs. Set a series of 10-pound weight-loss goals until your target weight is reached. A few small changes can be enough to see real results.

Just add a few of these tips to your life until you’re losing 1-2 pounds each week. Avoid the temptation to try to lose 25 pounds each month. Two pounds/week is 100 pounds/year. How much did you lose last year with your current strategy?

For your best results, take your time and make permanent changes to your habits.

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Weight Loss Wednesday: May 2, 2018

May 2, 2018 By Lisa Leave a Comment

I can’t believe it’s already May!!! Where has this year gone? It’s literally flying by! It’s hard to believe how much weight I’ve lost this year. I feel like my body is changing and I’m so much stronger than I was before. I got some great hikes in last week!

If you follow me on Instagram, you probably saw this post. If you’ve been following along with my weight loss journey, you probably remember that when I started hiking, I couldn’t make it to the top of the trail. It took multiple tries before I made it to the top and when I did, it took me over 65 minutes. Last week, I did it under 35 minutes! I’ve shaved over 30 minutes off my hiking time!!!

My eating this past week was decent for the most part, but I totally splurged on Friday night. We went to Melting Pot for a date night. I ate so much cheese and chocolate. I pretty much just dipped apples in the cheese, but I went a little hogwild with the chocolate fondue. I dipped marshmallows, brownies, and cookies as well as fruit. By the time I was done, I was so stuffed I could barely move….but I looked fabulous!

While the early part of my week was great, my weekend was a little rough. On Saturday afternoon, I got dehydrated. And then without warning, I passed out in the church parking lot. I was initially concerned about the scrape and gash on my leg which bled like crazy…and I was annoyed that I ripped a brand new pair of pants!

After the initial leg pain and shock wore off, I realized that my right shoulder was killing me. When I passed out, I landed with my arm outstretched (which protected my face and head thankfully). Unfortunately, that wasn’t a great position for my rotator cuff. On Sunday night, I ended up at the hospital for X-rays and they referred me to the MRI place where I found out I had torn my rotator cuff. GRRRRR!!! They’re going to see how it heals and if I need surgery. For now, I’m rockin’ a sling. It’s not super fashionable and it’s literally a pain in the neck to wear!

Ok…now on to the weight loss! I have to be honest…between the hiking progress and the continued weightloss, I’m pretty much loving life right now. I feel like I’m a whole different person (other than the sling and the gash on my leg).

I’m down 1 pound this week. Considering the amount of chocolate and cheese I ate, I’m happy that the scale has gone down.

Last Week’s Weight: 222.8
Today’s Weight: 221.8
Weight Lost This Week: 1
Total Weight Loss: 45.9

With as much as I’ve lost, I figured it’s going to start slowing down significantly at some point! I really need to consistently exercise. As the temperatures continue to get hotter, I have a feeling I’m going to be doing less hiking. I need to figure out what my new plan is! If you have suggestions, let me know!

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Weight Loss Wednesday: April 25, 2018

April 25, 2018 By Lisa Leave a Comment

We are back home again! We had a wonderful time in Israel. It was really special to be with all of our kids, my parents,and my sister and her family. My brother and his wife were supposed to go on this trip too, but they just recently adopted twins and their trip to Bulgaria to pick up the twins was at the same time as our trip to Israel. We’re so thrilled for them and can’t wait to meet their little girls!

We literally hit the ground running when we got home. We got home late last Thursday night after traveling for close to 24 hours. The kids opted to go to school on Friday morning since we were all up at 4 am. Fred and I had a wedding to go to Friday night. I was absolutely shocked when I put on this dress. This has been one of those “goal” pieces hanging in my closet for a long time and I thought I’d need to lose a whole lot more weight before wearing it. It’s still tighter than I’d like but fortunately you can’t really tell in the picture.

This week, I’ve been playing catch up with a ton of work stuff and also working with the kids to help them catch up on homework. We’re also still not adjusted back to this time zone. We’ve been up at the crack of dawn every single day since we got home.

I was a little concerned about what the scale would say when we got home. Everyone was saying how the scales were off in Israel. Thankfully, when I got home and stepped on the scale, it was pretty close to what the scale said while I was in Israel. And this morning when I stepped on the scale, I was down from last week.

Last Week’s Weight: 224.6
Today’s Weight: 222.8
Weight Lost This Week: 1.8
Total Weight Loss: 44.9

I’m hoping for a big loss this next week to get me into the teens…

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Weight Loss Wednesday: April 18, 2018

April 18, 2018 By Lisa Leave a Comment

We have walked a billion miles over the last week and it has paid off!!! I had my first really big weight loss in a long time. The food has been really good and I’ve been eating more than I usually eat, but the miles and miles of walking each day has definitely helped balance out the eating. I know in my head that the amount of exercise I do (even if it’s just walking) plays a direct role in my weight loss, but it’s weeks like this that it becomes a whole lot more obvious.

I lost 4.2 pounds this week. This is the lowest I’ve weighed in over 5 years. It also bumped me over 40 pounds of weight loss since I started my journey in December and over 50 pounds lost since my highest weight!

Last Week’s Weight: 228.8
Today’s Weight: 224.6
Weight Lost This Week: 4.2
Total Weight Loss: 43.1

I heard from many of you that you enjoyed the photos of Israel, so I thought I’d share a few with you this week. Also, I mentioned last week that it was freezing and I didn’t have warm clothes. The next day, we visited Magdala where I was able to get a fleece zip up jacket that I wore multiple days in a row. It’s quite cute too, so that was a bonus.

Here are a few pics…

This is me on the border of Syria. This was taken less than 18 hours before the US bombed Damascus.

This is a pic of my family on the border of Israel and Syria. We took a Land Rover tour with some Israel Special Forces guys. It was really cool!

This is the sun rising over the Dead Sea. I took this picture from our hotel room balcony! The view was absolutely breathtaking!

We start flying home tomorrow. I’m sad that this trip is coming to an end. It’s been life-changing!

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