Welcome

I have been on a journey to a happier and healthier lifestyle. In 2007, I was bed ridden due to an infection and although I was already obese, I gained more weight and topped out at 500 pounds. I began writing about health and fitness after I suffered Congestive Heart Failure and Respiratory Failure in February 2009. I currently have lost over 150 pounds and continue to walk toward my goals. I am a member of Weight Watchers and I am top contributor on the Weight Watchers site. Here is a link to my Weight Watchers blog. I hope my blogs inspire you and help you realize miracles do happen and your goals are achievable. Take care and God bless you.

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Blurt: Hate Drinking Water?


WATER, I HATE IT! Well, at least I used to. I had to force myself in the beginning to drink it. Everyone says, “Drink plenty of water when you are on a diet.” Trying to drink eight glasses of water a day on any stupid diet was just killing me. I knew it was good for my health. However, I also know this was one of the things in the past that used to make me come off of my diet. I had to have a soft drink and I hated diet soft drinks, still do. It is just not the same. Part of the reason I came off of the diets in the past was because I thought of them as diets, not a lifestyle change like I talked about in my article, Blurt on “Dieting". However, having to drink water, I really hated that, yuck!

Now I find that drinking water on my diet is not so bad. I actually enjoy a glass of ice cold water, whether it is good for my health or not. It is so much better when it has ice in it or is cold out of the refrigerator. I keep a picture of water in my fridge so I have some all of the time. I usually finish a picture a day. In fact, I think I will pour me a glass right now. Yummy, this water is good. Nice and cold, just the way I like it.

I still drink regular soft drinks occasionally even though they may not be the best thing for my health. However, I do not drink them every day. I drink those, maybe, twice a month, if that. I try to keep some sugar substitute and some of the sugar-free drink powders on hand for when I am in the mood for something besides water. This helps me stay on my diet and satisfies me. As I stated yesterday, you cannot expect to be able to stay on your diet and keep on track if you deny yourself the things that you enjoy. I enjoy regular soft drinks and I know that I will drink them from time to time. I do not like diet soft drinks and there is no use in me trying to kid myself. Learning your diet is how you will live for the rest of your life is so important. IT IS A LIFESTYLE CHANGE! Have I said it enough yet? Is it sinking in yet?

If you are a tea and/or coffee drinker, that is okay. You still need to drink water, maybe more to wash out the caffeine. I enjoy tea and coffee myself and have a glass or cup too. I drink my coffee black and I use a sugar substitute in my tea. I find a cup of coffee or tea in the morning helps me start my day. (I know it is probably the caffeine, but I will not blurt on the ill effects of caffeine on health today. I have not had any today to energize me). Also, I enjoy a glass of iced tea from time to time with my meals. I do not feel that these are as bad for you on your diet as long as you still are drinking some water. I think if you substitute two or three glasses of water for these a day it is okay. I drink them on top of the water I already drink.

I drink mine from the tap because I cannot see me wasting my money on somebody else sticking a plastic bottle into a nozzle and filling it up with their tap water. I have my own and it is basically free. Not to mention the poisons the news media have been talking about found in bottled water from the plastic bottles they use. I even read that the water in some of them is not as clean as the water that comes straight from the tap. So if you are going to spend your money on bottled water, I would make sure it is spring water, not just plain water. Otherwise, buy yourself a water filter, if you are concerned about taste or have health concerns about straight tap water.

So if you hate drinking water like I did, try easing yourself into it. I know the more I drank water the more I started to like it. Try using ice. Try bottled water or filtered water. Try flavored water or some of the drink powders. If you do not like one flavor, try another. The main thing is your body needs water, it is good for your health, and it will help you on your diet. Good luck to all of you. Keep me up to date on your progress. God Bless.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Blurt on "Dieting"


Everybody these days is on a diet. You hear it all the time. “I need to go on a diet.” “My diet is hard to stay on.” “How is your diet going?” “Don’t you think you should start a diet?” Well, I hope they are on a diet. If not, I guess they are not eating at all. A diet is the foods that you eat, nothing more, nothing less. I mean we all have an addiction to food, don’t we? There are healthy diets, fat-free diets, low-sodium diets, diets that count calories, diets that count carbohydrates, good diets, bad diets, diets that work and diets that don’t. I get so tired of hearing about diets and dieting especially from people that obviously look like they need to change their diet. I feel like saying some choice words to those people. I will not say it here, because this is not the place nor do I have any room to talk.

I mean, I know I’m overweight. I know I have not paid attention and have completely lost control of the foods that I have eaten in the past. I’m huge! I know it. I know that I’m prone to addiction. I have violated the cardinal rule, ‘Thou shalt not weigh more than thy refrigerator.’ I know my health is in dire need of an overhaul. As I said yesterday, I had to make lifestyle changes if I was going to survive. Well, I’m doing something about it. I’ve lost 130 pounds! How is that for weight loss? I have started Weight Watchers® and it is working for me. I think people that have a problem just need to find a diet that can work for them and STOP CALLING IT DIETING! People should realize that a diet is just the foods that you eat. It is NOT something that you do until you lose the weight. It is a lifestyle change! I cannot emphasize that enough. IT IS A LIFESTYLE CHANGE! If you do not see it that way, you will probably fall back into those same bad habits that you had before. Before you know it, you have gained the thirty pounds you lost and another twenty pounds on top of that. I know all about the yo-yo effect. I have started so many “diets” and then gained the weight back. I will not list them here because I do not think it was the so-called “diets” fault and I do not want to spread any blame. It was my fault for not making the changes in my life to live a healthy lifestyle.

What is a good diet? You need to choose healthy foods for your diet. People have different needs. Everyone is different. What is right for me, may not work for you. I’m on a low-sodium, low-fat diet. Because of my medical condition, this is the proper diet for me. I am not going to pretend to be a physician or a nutritionist. I advise you, if you are obese like me, see a doctor and seek their advice on what diet you need before starting a program. Decide what diet will work for you. Maybe you just need to cut out the fried foods and that will be enough for you. Maybe you need to do something about that addiction you have for chocolate. Maybe you need to stop drinking regular soft drinks. Maybe you are like me and need to do lots of things. I am not going to try to design a diet and list all the foods that you need. You can do that yourself by looking up information on the Internet. A good start would be to look at the food pyramid and go from there if you really do not have a clue what foods you should be eating. I think that you, with the help of your physician if needed, can decide what foods your body needs.

There are several key factors that I have found work for me.

1. It is a lifestyle change. You must decide that this is a choice that you can live with for the rest of your life. Not just until you lose the weight. Not just until you can fit into those jeans or bathing suit. Not just until you can see your toes. It is a change that you must decide to make for the rest of your life! You must have this kind of determination.

2. It must include your favorite foods. If you like chocolate, french fries, chips, or ice cream, you must include them in your diet somewhere. There is no way that you are not going to eat your favorite foods forever. Remember, this is a lifestyle change. Otherwise, you will fail because you will eat the foods you love. Then you will be feeling guilty. However, if you plan for them, then you can eat anything.

3. Track what you eat. Keep a journal with all the foods that you eat each day. By knowing what you are eating, you can find out where you are making your mistakes and correct them. If counting calories is your thing, then keep track of them here. Write down everything. You will be surprised how many times you have a taste here and there.

4. Set goals and track your results. You cannot get there if you do not know where there is. You have to set realistic goals. Do not make a goal that is unachievable. You are not going to lose weight overnight. It took a long time to gain the weight and it will take time to lose it. If you lose just one pound a week for a year, you will have lost 52 pounds. Track your results and reward yourself when you reach your goals.

5. Now I’m going to say the word that every one of you hates. Here it comes, EXERCISE. Yes, I said it. You have to exercise. Your body needs movement to burn off calories. It does not mean you have to go out and join a gym that you are not going to attend anyway. Any movement will do. It can be cleaning the house, walking, walking the dog, parking farther away from the store, stretching, weight lifting, tennis or anything else that will move your muscles and get your blood and sweat flowing. Hopefully, not from the same place. haha

6. Find support. You can find support from family and friends. You could join Weight Watchers® like I have. But find someone you can talk with about the feelings that you are having. This helps keep you going and motivates you as well as give you ideas of things you can do and ways to prepare meals that both taste good and are good for you.

7. Plan before you go out to eat. If you can, look up the menu of the restaurant on the internet before you go out. Most restaurants list the nutritional information on the internet and have it available at their establishment as well. Look up information on the fast food places you eat at most and make healthier choices. You will be surprised some of the things that you think would be healthy actually are not. Some salads out there are extremely high in calories.

8. Drink plenty of water. I know many people do not like water. I used to be one of them. I find if I use ice, I like it better. Try bottled water, if you don’t like tap. Try flavored bottled water. Try using the flavored powders. Try making Kool-Aid with a sugar substitute. I do not know why water helps, but it does. I’m sure it must clean the system somehow.

9. Do simple common sense things. Bake instead of fry. Plan your meals. Use a sugar substitute instead of sugar. Use low sodium salt. Buy low-fat items. Keep the junk food for the kids out of sight. Take extra steps when you can.

I hope this helps motivate you, inspire you and gives you some guidance. If you are like me, you have probably heard a lot of this before. The reason it sounds so familiar is because it works. The main thing is to make up your mind that you can do it and you are going to make the lifestyle changes needed to accomplish your goals. I wish you the best of luck. God Bless You.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Blurt: Miracles Do Happen

Originally Published June 4, 2009

I've suffered with all kinds of addiction throughout my whole life. I'm craving a cigarette right now. My health is horrible. I'm on oxygen. I got out of the hospital back in February. I was having trouble breathing and wasn't feeling that great for a couple of days and I just became worse and worse. I mean I was feeling that scary kind of sick, thinking the worse is going to happen, the kind of sick where you don’t know if you can stand up. I was feeling dizzy and unsteady. It was so bad I knew I needed help, but I was stubborn. I knew I couldn’t afford the bill. I don’t like going to the hospital. I had put it off already for two days. Surely I would feel better if I just got some rest. But I had gotten to the point where I had no choice. I knew if I didn’t do something soon, I might die.

So I ended up calling an ambulance and was rushed to the hospital. I don’t know if you have ever been in the back of an ambulance but it is uncomfortable and you feel as if you’re going to fall on the floor and when you’re in the state I was in you just wanted the whole thing to be over with as soon as possible. As they were taking me out of the ambulance and transferring me to the hospital's gurney, I passed out. I woke up with an endotracheal tube down my throat attached to a respirator, unable to talk and being told I almost died. I had congestive heart failure and respiratory failure. When I was passed out they did not know if I was going to come out of it. I had basically slipped into a coma.

Let me say here that this is such a scary feeling it made me rethink how I was taking care of myself. It’s like being a cat in a room full of rocking chairs. so let's talk about miracles.

I had basically flat lined. I was near death. My family had all come to the hospital and was worried and wondering if I was going to make it. My mother had called for a priest. He performed the sacrament of anointing the sick, usually done in preparation for the last rites. At that moment, in this time of sorrow and worrisome, a time when all hope was nearly gone, when the doctors had little hope for me, a time when my son was guilt ridden for purchasing the cigarettes I had smoked, when my parents felt the pain of the possibility of losing their first born child, it was at that moment, as the priest was anointing me with oil; God stepped in and said that He was not ready for me. That He had more for me to do. That He said He would grant me another chance, even though He had granted thousands of them before to this soul. It was at that very moment that my vital signs began to improve.

It is for that reason I decided to embark on this journey. to make myself whole and complete, to make myself well again, to find the strength to walk again, to lose the weight I had acquired through my gluttony for life. To live, to be, to one day love again, and rekindle my love for myself and the love for my family. To fulfill the dreams i once had, to ride the rollercoaster of life, and once again spin that wheel. He had saved me once again. Amen. But for what purpose...?
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