Zion with Alan...awesome day!!

http://cats1ife.blogspot.com/2011/04/back-to-camels-back.html

Tuesday in St George

http://cats1ife.blogspot.com/2011/04/i-am-really-enjoying-being-able-to-go.html

Day 2 - St George doing a solo act~

http://cats1ife.blogspot.com/2011/04/day-2-freelancing-with-hubby.html?showComment=1303271408928#c8819738631320975456

New Post...

http://cats1ife.blogspot.com/2011/04/new-adventure-with-hubby.html  New blog post today about my trip to Utah.

Change of Plans

I know it has been awhile since I checked in on here, and now I see myself moving back on to my other blog, http://cats1ife.blogspot.com/.  I have thought long and hard about my plans to go back to Fitness Ridge, and I have decided to postpone my trip awhile.  I am actually going to save the trip and head to Malibu for a week or two either in the fall or next year.

What gives?.....My hubby is turning 50 this summer and has found a passion in hiking with me.  We have managed on a few days of the thawing out of winter, to go hiking together.  He expressed a desire to go with me on a hiking trip, but one that offers a little less structure.  We leave for St George, Utah at the same time but will be staying down the road.  We will be eating calorie conscious food, taking daily hikes and whatever classes we choose during the day.  We are going for 1 week and I am super excited to be sharing my experience in Utah with him.

I am a firm believer in the experience you get at the Biggest Loser Resort at Fitness Ridge, and I don't want anyone to think this takes away from that at all.  I will return to the Resort and being originally from California, I have a real yearning to try the Malibu Resort next. I have driven through the mountains of California and specifically the canyons surrounding Malibu 100's of times, now I want to hike them.  So I plan on going there with my credit.

I will still be blogging about my trip, and my plans for the future, and I will try to be more on top of everything.  Please do not be discouraged by my decision, I will return to Biggest Loser Resort again, but for now, I am excited to get my husband on the same path so we can live a long life together.

Moving forward, changes can happen, but as long as the path remains the same, it may be fun to explore the roads less traveled.

Best of health to you all.

I Want To Be My Valentine

I like to remind myself on Valentine's Day, that the #1 person to love is myself.  Now is the time to be focused on putting the right foods in my body, exercising and getting the right amount of sleep.  I know without taking the steps to insure my health is intact I can't possibly be there for the Valentine's in my life.  So today, I won't treat myself to a box of chocolate's as they are full of saturated fat, which is completely the opposite of loving myself.  Instead, I will melt down some 70% chocolate chips in my microwave, and I will dip them in some strawberries. I am so grateful for the education I have received in the past few years when it comes to what I put in my body.

A few tidbits about having those chocolate dipped strawberries.....

1) Dark Chocolate has been shown in studies to lower blood pressure
2) Dark Chocolate has been shown in studies that it lowers your bad cholesterol LDL
3) Contains Serotonin, a natural mood-boosting anti-depressant
4) Stimulates endorphins

5) The saturated fats in dark chocolate do not elevate cholesterol levels

6) Dark chocolate is hearty in antioxidants

Team that up with Strawberries:

1) A cup of strawberries is approximately 50 calories

2) Strawberries are a natural source of Folate & Potassium

3) Strawberries are an excellent source of Dietary Fiber & Vitamin C 

4) Strawberries are an excellent source of Maganese which utilizes several key nutrients, keeping your 

bones strong and healthy, helping your body to synthesize fatty acids and cholesterol, helps maintain normal blood sugar levels , promotes optimal function of your thyroid gland, maintains the health of your nerves and protects your cells from free-radical damage.

So today I toast my Valentine with Dark Chocolate dipped strawberries.  2 tbs of 70% dark chocolate  teamed up with a cups worth of organic strawberries.  Total calories on this plate of strawberries made in 2 minutes by me, 190 calories.  

Here is some typical other Valentine's Day choices:

2 Hershey kisses: 50 cal / 2 gm fat

1 Dark chocolate dipped strawberry = 48 cal / 2 gm fat (not homemade!)

1 Lindt truffle = 80 cal / 6 gm fat

1 Godiva truffle = 110 cal / 13 gm fat

1 Godiva liquer truffle = 100 cal / 7 gm fat

1 small piece of chocolate fudge (1 piece, .6oz) = 70 calories, 1.8g fat 

Chocolate martini (1) = 438 calories, 20g fat 

1 pound box of chocolate = 1400 calories

I have many Valentine's in my life with my husband and family, but I am staying focused on #1, just as the flight attendant says, "put your oxygen mask on first, before helping others".  I am taking care of #1 so I can love the ones that love me.

Happy Valentine's Day to YOU!!

Ups N Downs N Ups Again

My husband said, "write your blog", "make a post", reach out!  I have had such a hard time writing anything lately, shown obviously by my lack of post.    Here it is "66" days till my return to Fitness Ridge, and as I sit here I have not had the number go down in the last 2 weeks.  I eat good, and see the scale drop a few pounds as it did when I did the jump start with Cinch.  Then I go back and do my best to eat right, and succeed pretty much.  If I was on a maintaining program I would be golden.  But I am still trying to shrug off the pounds that continue to haunt me.  I spoke of this year being the year that I get a emotional understanding of my lifestyle.  Its obvious I can work out and eat right, its been documented within this blog.  Its discovering my pitfalls and reconstructing how I deal with things that I need to work on.

I am taking everything I have learned from my daughter, the Cinch plan and more and am now doing a new program.  For the first time in my life I feel as though I can succeed and work with this for my life!  I will share my information but not till it proves me great success.  All I can say about it right now is that for the first time in my life I am soooooo excited about what I am doing and feel it will keep me from falling into my previous traps during times of stress and anxiety.  I believe that I can live with the structure of what I am doing for the rest of my life, which I hope to be many many decades from now!

I must address my knee problems and try and get moving more.  Going outside is not an option right now with 3 feet of snow surrounding the curbs of my neighborhood.  I have been nagged off the treadmill due to my pain and am trying to gain strength through my elliptical.  I thank those of you that have commented and give me advise, as life is all trial and error.  I think I have learned that I forever am trying to improve on what I am, both physically, mentally and spiritually.

Today I send out this blog post as I struggle to stay in check and improve on myself.  I am a little more than a month away from my first goal of the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame Inductions, and I hope to be in the 160's when I am there.  So starting immediately, I am going to change that word "hope" into "I will" be in the 160's by then.  Thanks for reading, sharing and being patient with me at my time of struggles.  I will come out of this a winner, but I feel it is important to share my struggles too.  And thanks to my husband Alan for pushing me to write today.

Here's to being a more positive person and making it happen!

These Old Bones

Unfortunately, I am having issues with my joints, especially my knees.  I am fine one day working out, then the next day I am in pain.  I need to get in the pattern I had at Fitness Ridge, that is to ice at the end of the day.  I have been doing a combination of walks on a 12 incline on my treadmill, and jogs at 4.0.  I seem to do fine then the next day I can't walk down my stairs.  I just need to get in practice of icing everyday.  It worked wonders on my last visit to Fitness Ridge, so what am I waiting for?  Time is now!

I find myself planning my workouts for later in the day, which causes me to miss days.  I need to practice what I preach, and that means, getting up earlier to workout before my day starts.  I have always felt a since of peace during the day when I started it with my workout.  My plan is to get up earlier, workout after breakfast and then have the day to get whatever I have to get done, done.  It hasn't helped that my hubby has been on reruns this week, makes for my days being filled with a little more than usual.  Thank God he goes back to work on Monday, I need my "me time".  I love him so, but I have got to be more focused on getting healthy and that means more workout time.  We have had so much snow this week that shoveling has taken place of our kick boxing time, so we haven't had the workout together this week.

My goals are set, I need to get up earlier, eat breakfast early, workout early.   

Goals for the next 7 days... WAKE UP EARLIER.....WORKOUT EARLIER.... and remember my

 before and after care....

STRETCH....ICE......STRETCH!

79 DAYS till I return to Fitness Ridge.....

Managing Mealtime

I have learned that if you do not eat until you are hungry, you might just eat your kitchen.  That uncontrollable urge to eat can come when you have NO time to make anything.  It was one of the pit falls of my summer costuming project.  I was consumed with making over 100 costumes for Alice in Wonderland, and I had approximately 4 weeks to make them all.  The summer before, it was Beauty and the Beast, making over 110 pieces for that production.  There was NO time for me at all.  I sewed around the clock, making sure I had 5 hours of sleep, then back to sew I went.  I remember munching on whatever I could find when I was hungry.  I had that mentality of "treating myself" because I was so exhausted and overworked.

"Treating myself" is the mentality I was raised with.  And as I said 2011 is the year I get in my head and clean out the closet.  I WILL treat myself again, only this year I understand what that really means.  The treat is being prepared to eat the right foods during crunch time.  This summer will be the first year with my own community theatre company that me and my youngest daughter are starting.  We are co-owners and are planning 2 shows back to back this summer.  I will be a different person this summer when it comes to crunch time.


With Cinch I learned a lot about cooking foods, and pasta was a big part of it.  I am now cooking a pound of wheat pasta and storing them in sandwich baggies of 1/2 cup cooked in my freezer.  It takes me just a few minutes to whip up a great pasta dish using my pre-measured pasta bags.  I have done the same with grilled chicken, measuring 3 ounces in separate bags then freezing them.   I always have organic pasta sauce in the house and know exactly how much needs to go on my pasta.  I throw it in a pan along with my veggies and meat or cheese and within minutes I am eating a great meal.  Lunches are easy with salads and the right breads and I enjoy nuts and cheeses with greens in a pita.  (minutes to make)

Morning is the most important meal of the day, it gets you going.  I think the best thing is to eat right before you find yourself with little time.  Frozen berries have become the staple of my diet, high in antioxidants and an entire cup is about 60 calories.  A cup of berries on a high fiber french toast! yummy.  Smoothies are a great way to start your day or have at anytime during the day.  If you can buy a magic bullet, it is my best friend.  I can mix berries with milk or yogurt along with a few other things even chocolate and have a great breakfast or snack. 

I know I keep going back to Cinch, I guess I have concluded that for me it was an education on great eating that I will now be able to work in my daily life.  I do not live off any plan, more like just getting the right amount of necessary foods in my body.  I am more educated because of what I have learned in the book and use it along with the other knowledge I have received both from my nutritionist daughter, Michelle and also what I learned at Fitness Ridge.  Books about eating right and NOT using the word "diet" in their title are good because they help to educate me.  Obviously I needed the education if I have struggled my entire life with my weight.

So I will stay prepared by having the right foods available to me, and quickly so I can make it in a rush, because life stops for no one, regardless of how busy you are.

  

Fast Forward Finished

I spent the last 5 days doing the fast forward in the Cinch book.  Although I was a case study in the book, I didn't do the fast forward part.  My daughter Michelle and her girlfriend both started the fast forward the same day, so I thought, let me give it a try.

To think I spent the last 5 days eating nothing but "spinach, eggs, 0 % yogurt, almonds and raspberries".  Day one, I found it difficult to eat a cup of spinach in one egg, but as the days progressed I learned how to mix it with garlic and onion and get great flavor in the egg.  And I confess I am stubborn with yogurt as I basically didn't even try to like 0% yogurt before this past week but will never buy the fruity sugary yogurt again.  I now have a great recipe for raspberry vinaigrette, and it will become a favorite salad topper for me.  I won't ever miss croutons on my salad as almonds are a tasty crunchy replacement.  A late night smoothie with almond butter (I made it myself - simple) mixed in is super tasty and never did I miss the sugar I would put in a smoothie in the past.  I feel revived and thinner after just 5 days doing the fast forward. I feel as though I trained my palette for more healthy tasty foods.  Speaking of thinner, yes I lost 4.5 pounds in the 5 days I was on the fast forward, and since I was eating a healthy low calorie plan prior, I would say that is excellent!!  It was well worth doing, and 5 days does go by really fast!  Best part is, I was never hungry so cheating was easily bypassed.

Moving on from there, about 10 days ago, my husband and I picked up a punching bag and 2 sets of gloves.  We created a music mix and we do about 25-30 mins of punching and kicking the bag together.  I found something that gets him off the couch!  Best part is, he wants to eat right now that he is burning those calories.

If you have limited space in your house to work out and don't want to go to the gym, I highly recommend it, you keep moving the feet the entire time you punch and kick the bag, and I am sure there is free you tube videos to show you steps.  We are so wiped out in 30 mins, it is a great calorie burn.

In exactly 91 days I will be arriving once again at Fitness Ridge.  I hope to be weighing in at least 10 pounds lighter than I did when I tested out of there last year.  I continue to work at the goals I have set, first my March goal, second my April goal.  I have learned that a healthy weight loss is about 1.5 pounds a week, which seems small, but take that 1.5 pounds times a month and that is 6 pounds.  Take that 6 pounds and times it by 5 months, and that is a 30 pound weight loss!  Figure in every 10 pounds is about a pant size and that is a 3 pant size loss!  Not bad at all.  Also, I like to keep in check how quickly I can gain that 1.5 pound back and that keeps the wrong foods out of my body.  When I know I'm going to be overeating, I try and move more that day to help balance out the calories.

Small steps bring BIG results, you just have to keep your eye on the prize!

Goal This!

Last Year R & R, Basiri, Cat & Alan

Today marks 93 days till I leave once again for Fitness Ridge.  So like last year I have 2 goals before I get there.  My first goal brings me to the Rock N Roll Hall of fame inductions on March 14th.  I have attended many exciting events, from concerts at the White House, the Emmy Awards and many times I have gone to the Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame Inductions in NYC.  I have weighed in at theses events in many different sizes, from an 18 to a 10.  Walking "red carpets" with all those beautiful people can be really depressing when you are in a size 18.  I felt pretty good at the Emmy's when I lost enough weight to wear the dress I wore, however, I weighed in at 182.  That was my goal for the R& R inductions last year.  I almost reached that goal.  My second goal was to weigh in the 170's the day I arrived at Fitness Ridge, however their scale said I weighed in at 182.  Again I didn't kick myself as I was close on both accounts.  After I left Fitness Ridge I weighed in at 170 and when I arrived at home, I weighed in the 160's wearing a size 10.  In the end that was my final goal for my trip there.

But as I sit here today, I managed to pack back on many pounds, putting me in a size 12.  That is a far cry from the size 18 I was last winter, but it shows my consistency to fail.  I am grateful I have picked back up the pieces of my broken plan before I skyrocketed back up to 200 pounds.  I am really holding on to those mistakes I made in the past few months so I can stay a healthy weight when I get down to my size 6.  I know where I failed this time, and there won't be a next time.  I will eat right when I have no time to eat, by preparing ahead of time the foods that are good for me.  I will remind myself that eating those tasty sweets and salties when things are going wrong are really punishment, not reward.  And I have a real understanding of how fast you can gain back weight when you eat "candy" and other sweets.  Take a tiny snickers bite, they lure you in with the few calories that are in them, but do you stop at 2? A portion is said to be 4 which equals 170 calories.  Yeah I reached for only 4 in a setting, which is equal to a mile on my treadmill...but then later that same day I am even hungrier and wanting more sweets.  Its an ugly cycle of bad eating.

Staying in touch with the calories I put in my body and how many I burn in a day was the greatest tool I used in 2010.  When I went to the Biggest Loser Resort, many of the prior contestants I met said the same thing. "It's simple math, what you eat, what you burn, you MUST keep a deficit of calories being burned if you want to lose weight."  That is the secret to losing weight and keeping it off.  Stay in touch with that formula and you will lose weight and or maintain weight.  When I ignore that formula, that is when I fail.

So as I sit here, knowing I must go eat my morning food, I know I must put the sneakers on and move today.  I have made it my goal to not go more than 2 days without exercise, as I believe anything I do for more than 2 days becomes either success or failure.  Whether I ignore eating right and exercise = failure, or if I eat right and exercise = success.  "2 Days" if it falls on a 3rd day, I am either getting more comfortable not doing the right thing, or I am finding it easier to do the right thing.  That is how "I" stay in check.  

So in closing today, goal #1 is to be in the mid to low 160's by the R&R Inductions in March, my second goal will be to lose another 5 pounds from March 14th till I leave for the Biggest Loser Resort at Fitness Ridge.  And a third, goal on the horizon is to be in the 150's by June and seeing my goal weight of 135 by my birthday in September.  

Moving forward

On Sunday I mentioned I was cleaning up my workout space, did I mention there is a 8 foot closet in that room with everything from DJ supplies, office supplies, costume supplies and more?  It was a train wreck!  Every day I have been waking up and heading straight to that room to clean.  I was serious about being organized this year and I really cleaned up.  Today I sit with the job 97% finished, and figured I would get in a quick blog before finishing.  I managed to burn around 2400 calories each day and found myself eating around 1200-1500 calories of good food.  I have taken off 3 pounds in the past week, and already feel rejuvenated and thinner.  We all need to make a space for ourselves that allows for a workout, I think its good to walk by and see that little space you created because it will beckon you to play, uh...work,  well workout.

On my blog, Cat's 1 Life I blogged during my case study with Cinch! which at the time I had to be quite hush hush about.  Today I continue to follow the food groups set up in that book.  Although I received an autographed copy of the book, I also downloaded it on my Ipad and have started highlighting my favorite meals. The book was my foundation on what is good for you and showed me combinations of foods I would not have thought to eat.  I am using what I learned with Cinch along with all the other things I have learned both with my daughter Michelle, the nutritionist and also what I learned on my first trip to Fitness Ridge.  I added this picture of one of my favorite breakfast that I eat thanks to Cinch.  This is a variation of a recipe, but as I said it's using the 5 food groups in your life.  So this is Berry Walnut French Toast and let me say for the record.....YUMMY!


One last note on Cinch, no I am not trying to sell it but I am really excited because a friend of mine who met Cynthia Sass, author of Cinch just after I did my 30 day study is on Martha Stewart today.  She lost 30 pounds since summer with Cinch plan and she looks, feels and is amazing!!  Congrats Jenn, you ROCK!!




As for today, if I could bottle up one emotion in my life, it would be exactly how I am feeling today and everyday that I wake up knowing yesterday consisted of good healthy food and exercise.  I think I wanted to add his today for someone who I know is feeling depressed today.  There can be a lot of things that make up being depressed, but one thing that can and will change is how you feel when you JUST DO IT.  Eat the right foods and get moving.  Also, one thing I think we all know is how easy it is to say "I will start tomorrow".  When you get there it is today, so don't wait, get started right now, do something today to make you smile when you wake up tomorrow.

We can ALL do it. 

2011 Ringing in Prepartion

I declare:  Its 2011....today is THE day...time to get rid of all the spiderwebs in my life.  As I sit here I KNOW...its time to throw out the trash....I will collectively go around the house, starting with my stocking candy and introduce it to my garbage can.  I will go through my cupboards and collect all the starchy salties and part ways.  I will clean out the frig and freezer and make sure they are ready for some long lost friends of mine...broccoli, spinach, peppers, onions, asparagus, and so many more friends of mine.  Yes these are some of my greatest friends...they fill me with good things working hard to repair any damage caused from the sweets n salties I allowed myself to consume.  My sweets will now be replaced with berries and other fruits.

If you have been keeping up with my other blog, Cats 1 life you know I welcomed the summer as a case study for a book that just now came out.  That book introduced me to so many pleasures with raw, natural foods as well as many hot meals I never would have thought to make.  I found myself so excited by this plan that I went out and bought new cutting boards, knives, measuring cups, garlic presser etc..etc...  I went from eating my regular 1200 calories to 1500 calories.  Unfortunately at the time I was so consumed with the crunch of making  "Alice in Wonderland" costumes that exercise had to be put on the back burner.  How could it be then that I lost 10 pounds in a month by "adding" 300 more calories to my eating???  While barely working out.  Meeting Cynthia Sass, a woman with a title too long to mention introduced me to a way of eating that combines a perfect combination of fiber, protein, fruits and vegetables and healthy fats.   No I haven't stayed with her plan everyday and obviously I fell off the tracks and gained weight back, but I know how to get right back on.  Her book is called "Cinch" and if you want to acquaint yourself with a great combination of food, eating 4 meals a day, I recommend her book.  Oh yeah, you will find me in the book on 2 of the pages. (PS this is not an advertisement, just my own personal declaration!)

Part two is my office.  Like many people, I have to share my workout equipment in a room full of other things.  Today is the day to make my workout room, my most important feature.  It is after all a very important feature in my life. I must MOVE and KEEP MOVING to achieve great health.  In this room I am placing a dry erase calender on the wall that shows 2 months of blank spaces.  This will be my reality check.  I will pass this wall daily and it will remind me of my calorie deficit.

As before I will count every calorie and right down everything I consume.  I will keep a note pad in my kitchen so I have no excuse to NOT keep track of what I am eating.

My ratio of eating to exercise will once again be my motivation and remind me that the truth is in the numbers.
And looking back to last January, I am reminded that by this exact way of life, I managed to take off almost 20 pounds in 2 months.  Now if that doesn't motivate me!  well...it does!

So by organizing, removing temptation and making sure the right things are available to me...I will be back on the downward spiral in inches and pounds and on the uphill gain of strength and good health.

Happy * Healthy* 2011 to us ALL!