Blog Challenge

Well . . . here's how I'm doing.

I'm like that cartoon commercial where the husband loses all that weight and the wife's chest shrinks. I had to get a smaller bra.  So I guess that's good (?). And for pants, my usual size is a little loose, but the next size is a little tight. Hmm.

I read online that about 8-10 pounds is a pants size, but less when you are smaller and more when you are bigger to begin with. And it depends on other things, too.

But I feel more fit, definitely, and that's the best part. Exercising is easier and I'm even jogging a little. I used to love jogging, then I got out of shape.

I'm going to make a new person with my new weight. I'm not sure it's enough to show the difference, but anyway.

We Rock!

We lost about 17 pounds as a group and earned 882 daily/bonus points! That's a lot of veggies. And a lot of sweat. And a lot of ZZZ's. Congratulations, everyone!

Jeanie Johnson is in the lead! Go Jeanie!

Gina Di Vitto and I are tied for second place! 

And to everyone who turned in points, the numbers are very close!! The leading half is very tight and it's ANYONE'S game. 

Remember, every pound is worth approx. 15 points! There was one person who was fairly well behind in daily points, but made it up in weight loss. 

Calculating Percentages & the Daily Point Challenge

Hi everyone,

Remember this is the final week of the first "month," so your percentage weight loss or starting weight and pounds lost need to be recorded. Here's the formula to get the number to turn in:

POUNDS LOST ÷ STARTING WEIGHT = PERCENTAGE WEIGHT LOST (turn this number in to Tanya) 

Don't worry about multiplying it by 100. We'll do that later.

Point Challenge this week:

Anyone who gets 21 daily points the week of July 6-12th (not including bonus points) gets a prize at the next book club meeting.   (The value of the prize depends on the number of people who complete the challenge. No purchase necessary to qualify. Enter as many times as you like, but we will only count you once and probably put you on the spam-blocker list if it gets out of hand.)

Time for a new monthly goal.

If you want to choose a new monthly goal, the new month starts July 13th. You can also keep the one you already have if you are happy with it.

7 hours of sleep

Every now and then I get an email for Jillian Michaels (we're buds, j/k) from her online training program and this was today's email. I thought that it was interesting considering our current adventure and points for 7 hours of sleep a night.

Get Seven Hours of Shut-eye for a Healthier Mind and Body
A full night's sleep is not a luxury — it's a basic necessity for healthy hormone balance. Once you dip below seven hours a night, you are increasing your risk of diabetes, cancer, heart disease, stroke, depression, and obesity.
Some researchers believe that slow-wave sleep — the deep, dreamless sleep that you ideally sink into about three or four times a night — may actually regulate your metabolism. Sleep researcher break down sleep into five stages. Stage 4 slow-wave sleep, which begins about an hour after we fall asleep, is when we release our greatest pulses of growth hormone, the hormone that prompts the body to burn stored fat. When we're young, we spend about 20 percent of our time asleep in slow-wave stages 3 and 4. But as we get older, we may only spend about 10 or even 5 percent there.
Sadly, just two nights of bad sleep will cut your satiety hormone leptin by 20 percent and increase your hunger hormone ghrelin by 30 percent. That one-two punch makes you much more likely to snack on high-carb treats, which couldn't come at a worse time for your insulin levels. In a recent study, University of Chicago researchers found that just three nights of poor sleep made the bodies of young, healthy test subjects 25 percent less sensitive to insulin. This level of insulin resistance is comparable to that brought on by carrying 20 to 30 extra pounds.
In order to block fat-storage hormones and allow the full release of fat-burning hormones, you need to get at least seven hours of sleep a night

No Carbs Before Bed
To slip into stage 3 or 4 sleep, you need to have a high level of ghrelin before bedtime. Carbs depress ghrelin faster than any other nutrient, so eating anything, especially carbs, before bed can delay your entry into deeper sleep for several hours. If you don't get enough restful sleep, you're likely to be hungrier and eat more. So to help you sleep well and deeply, let the hormones do their thing and don't eat after 9 p.m.!

It's finally working!

Well, the first two weeks (and two days) were a total bummer. I did feel better and I craved sweets less, but I didn't lose any weight at all. I thought about giving up. Before this started I was so excited, I could hardly wait. But then to not see anything happening, I was not happy.

So now almost 3 weeks into this, I finally lost some weight! Whoohoo! Because even though "this isn't about weight loss" that is the best way for me to measure whether it's working or not.

I am not doing anything special, but just really following the plan, and it's finally working for me. So if you are feeling discouraged, don't give up, just keep at it and really do the stuff. The excitement has worn off and I'm sick of vegetables, but I'm feeling better about it again.

Vegetable Favorites

I forgot how yummy this simple recipe is until I pulled it out this week. It's a great way to use garden vegetables:

Tomato Cucumber Salad

3-5 diced tomatoes
2-3 sliced cucumbers
1 red or green pepper (optional)
1-2 green onions
2 T oil (I usually add some water to make 2 T)
1 T vinegar (rice vinegar is the best - it's mild)
1 small clove garlic
1 t salt (this is half what the original recipe called for and could still be decreased)

Chop every thing and mix well. Do not refrigerate if you serve it soon enough. Fresh cilantro is good on top.

Another favorite of ours is Spaghetti squash. If you haven't heard of it, it's a squash that comes out in strings similar to spaghetti noodles. We use it in place of pasta. It has a little crunch to it and doesn't leave that heavy feeling that pasta does after eating it.

Just cut it in half, scoop out the seeds and place cut side down on a foil lined baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 45 - 60 nimutes.