This week’s weight: 205

Oh boy did those bagels (and bunches of other bad stuff) catch up with me. Looking forward to buckling down, getting some much needed exercise, and getting back on the health-food kick. I really enjoy eating healthy when I’m doing it. I just wish it wasn’t so damn easy to stop doing it.

I have the most boring blog in the world. Here’s another update from the weight loss files. It seems like the unhealthy bagels and lunches out from two weeks ago caught up with me. This week I’m up .5 pounds. Guess that makes me even.

So here we go: Wednesday weigh-in 204 pounds. Total lost: 9 pounds.

Still working on it.

Blog: A blog (a contraction of the term “web log“)^[1] is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video.

“Regular entries” seems to be the part that’s missing here.

But here’s an update anyway, and a hope that I’ll be back to chat more in the very near future when work shit calms down some.

This week’s weigh-in: 203.5. Down .5 pounds.

Too late. I already did.

I really did weigh-in on Wednesday. Honest!

This has been a crazy-busy week at work, at home, in my fledgling business, and in my life in general. Somehow, I still managed to eat right and lose a little weight. Here’s a recap:

Weight – 204, down 2 pounds!

How was your week? Do you always take the time to eat healthy foods when your day goes to hell and all you want to do is down a pint of Ben and Jerry’s with an Oreo chaser? Tell us how you cope with stress without packing on the pounds? I’ll share my own tips tomorrow.

But first, this week’s weigh-in: Down two pounds (yay me!) to 206. Feeling more like I’m on a sustainable path now. My next hurdle is to get on a regular exercise program. And no, there will not be real hurdles involved. Just metaphorical ones.

Dinner on Monday was a carb-fest. A big plate of angel hair pasta topped with lots of yummy marinara and just a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese. With a slice (or two) of garlic bread for crunch. No, it’s probably not the best choice, but not the worst either. And I did start out with a nice green leafy salad with tomato and carrot and no cheese, so all in all, not a bad dinner.

But here’s the thing. Immediately after I ate I simply could not keep my eyes open! I’ve heard of this, of course, and I’ve even experienced it – daily, in fact. When I really started to concentrate on eating healthy, my blood sugar leveled out, and the roller coaster of energy levels evened out. Then on Monday, I brought it back with that plate of pasta. Suddenly it was crystal clear what my diet was doing to me, and I didn’t like it.

Does that mean I’ll never eat spaghetti again? Of course not. I love spaghetti. It just means that I’m going to try to be more aware of what I eat, how I feel before and after I eat, and hopefully I’ll learn how to enjoy pasta and manage to stay awake, too.

Maybe last week was a fluke. Today’s weigh in puts me down four pounds, for a total loss of five. Of course, after eight weeks, I probably shouldn’t get too jazzed up about five pounds, huh?

After my ridiculous back injury last week, I was thrilled to get out and do some serious dog walking. We did about three miles on this beautiful trail near my house. It’s perfect for walking – at least until mosquito season – because it’s paved, flat, pretty, and there’s no traffic. Who could ask for more? Oh, and there’s lots of stuff for the dog to sniff, and lots of wildlife to chase. We’re both looking forward to getting out there a lot more in the coming weeks.

It's hard to get a walk in when the dog wants to smell EVERYTHING!

What about you? Are you getting outside more now that the weather has turned nicer? Do you find it helps with your weight loss goals?

I hurt my back last weekend. No, I don’t know what I did this time, I just know I was off work and hopped up on massive doses of ibuprofen for a week. Seriously, I’ve had lower back problems for years (I have a slipped disk) but never have I been laid up for that long. So, as I am prone to doing when my back is out, I went in search of some exercises I can do to strengthen my abs and reduce the stress on my lower back.

I found this article by Craig Ballantyne of Turbulence Training fame, which introduced me to a new abdominal workout: the plank (which is, by the way, a whole lot harder than it looks). They look to be a good alternative to crunches, which my back will never tolerate.

Here’s what Craig has to say on the subject:

If you’ve been struggling to get flat, sexy abs and burn belly fat with traditional workouts, then you are going to love these 5 weird abdominal exercise and diet tips.

Over the last 13 years as a trainer and athlete, I’ve been studying every expert and research study I can find about the best way to get flat abs. Today, you’ll discover 5 weird tips you might not know when it comes to getting a flat stomach and firm abs.

#1 – The best interval training work-to-rest ratio for losing belly fat might be 1-to-1.5.

In an Australian study, researchers found that doing intervals for 8 seconds followed by 12 seconds of rest resulted in significantly more belly fat burning than long slow cardio. Now I know that 8 seconds on and 12 seconds off sounds a little annoying (just try doing that on a machine), but the good news is that these researchers found that going for 24 seconds followed by a
36 second rest works just as well for boosting fat burning hormones.

#2 – Dr. Chris Mohr’s #1 weird diet tip is…

I just finished up a fat loss nutrition interview with Dr. Mohr and he told me that his simple, yet slightly weird #1 diet tip for fat loss is…

“Get almost all of your carbohydrates from fruits and vegetables.”

I really liked that tip because I’ve been telling people this for years, and it’s part of the Fat Loss Foundation you’ll discover in a Simple Nutrition plan.

#3 – You need to be able to do a Plank exercise for 2 minutes.

Dr. Stuart McGill, the world’s leading expert on low back health, says in his book that a person with fit abs should be able to do a plank exercise for 2 minutes straight. If you can’t do the plank for 2 minutes, then you need to lose belly fat and you need to get an abdominal workout DVD program that works your abs properly.

#4 – New research shows that supersets training burns more calories than traditional straight set resistance training.

And that’s exactly what you’ll get in every short, burst exercise workout. The short, burst superset programs save you time (getting you done in half the time of a traditional resistance workout) while helping you burn more fat.

#5 – To see your abs, a man will need to be close to 10% fat and a woman will need to be at about 16% fat.

Of course, the more muscle you have, the easier it will be too see your abs, so you’ll still be able to see a 4-pack on muscular guys when they have 12-13% fat. But the bottom line is that you need to use the Simple Nutrition plan combined with the short, burst exercise workouts to burn belly fat to see your sexy abs.

BONUS Tip – A great way to work your abs harder than normal planks is the Stability Ball Plank.

Research reported in Men’s Health magazine reported this exercise to be 30% harder on your abs than a regular plank.

And last Friday I used an interesting technique with this exercise that caused my abs to be sore for days. But that’s another story for another weird abdominal exercise article.

Get more FREE sample fat burning workouts at: http://www.TurbulenceTraining.com

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men’s Health and Oxygen magazines and will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment.

Discover the Abdominal Exercise workouts to help you burn fat, do more pushups, and build ripped six pack abs in less workout time than ever before.

You have permission to publish this article in your web sites, ezines or electronic publication, as long as the piece is used in its entirety including the resource box, all hyperlinks (HTML clickable) and references and copyright info.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Craig_Ballantyne

I don’t think for a minute I’m every going to have flat and sexy abs again. That ship has sailed. But I would like to be able to do some yard work, or even just walk the dog, without worrying that I’m going to move wrong and put my back out again.

What exercises do you do to get back your youthful figure? I’d love to hear what works for you, so leave me a comment.

Have you ever had a hankering for pizza? Or wanted a bowl of ice cream so badly you’d do just about anything to get it? How about chocolate? Potato chips?

Nearly everyone I know has experienced a food craving at some point. Some, like me, battle them almost daily. What exactly are food cravings, though? Are they your body’s way of saying its lacking some essential nutrient, or just a lack of willpower on your part?

Truthfully, they’re both.

Sometimes, cravings really are just a habit. At least they are for me. I don’t really crave sweets after dinner, I just got used to always eating dessert, and now I want it. I don’t really crave popcorn when I’m sitting watching television. I’m just in the habit of munching on something. These types of “cravings” are relatively easy to deal with. I simply give in – sort of. Dessert is now a small chocolate cappuccino. Satisfyingly sweet, not too many calories. Popcorn is limited to one 100-calorie bag. Problem solved.

Certain cravings are undeniably your body’s response to something. Lack of sleep may make you hunger for a high-carb donut or other sugary treat. That makes sense. We all know that sugar wakes you up, albeit temporarily. If you’ve had a particularly stressful day, like I did a month ago when my husband went out of town for an extended trip, you’ll probably crave comfort foods. And that chocolate you want so desperately? Very possibly hormonal. But you already knew that, didn’t you?

The real cravings are a little more difficult to deal with than the habitual ones. Start with eating a balanced diet. When you’re getting all your vitamins and minerals, you’ll be less likely to crave foods that your body thinks it’s missing. Make sure you get enough sleep, to keep those morning donut cravings at bay. Drink plenty of water, since it’s well-known that thirst often masquerades as hunger.

Beyond that, pay attention to your own particular cravings, because they can often tell you something about yourself. If you’re feeling down and craving carbs, for example, you may need a boost of seratonin, a brain chemical that helps regulate your mood. Exercise is a proven method of raising seratonin levels.

Diana Walker, The Cravings Coach, has a wonderful book available called Craving Secrets from A to Z. In it she covers all the common food cravings, including sugar, alcohol, chocolate, and fast foods, along with many others I would never have considered, like dairy. She examines what causes each craving, the health problems caused by over-indulging, and the steps you can take to alleviate the craving and get healthier. For anyone who struggles with food cravings, I highly recommend picking up a copy. It’s a wealth of information.

Today’s weigh-in was a little…distressing. Up two and a half pounds from last week. I’m not exactly sure what happened. I’ve been eating healthy. I thought I was in line for at least a pound lost.

Oh well. Tomorrow, as Scarlett says, is another day.