Day 92

The day has finally come, the end of Mission: Incredible NOLA. It’s been a great ride.

Remember the challenge?

“It’s time to stop breaking the promises you make to yourself to eat right, exercise and develop healthier habits. For the next three months, from 05 September 2011 to 05 December 2011, MISSION: INCREDIBLE NOLA focuses on getting healthier one day at a time. There is only one rule: do a little more today than you did yesterday to keep your promise of taking better physical care of yourself. Follow that one rule – EVERYDAY – and the changes you see in three months will be incredible.”

We’ve talked about exercise, obesity, heart disease, cancer, food and the emotional hold it has on so many of us. I’ve detailed my meals and illustrated the good, the bad and the ugly of calorie and fat gram counting. And you’ve watched as I did battle with portion control, M&M’s candies, the devil behind the local hot deli foods counter and those ubiquitous hot wings that entice me every football weekend.

Yesterday morning, December 5^th, I got on the scale and found I had lost ten pounds. Ten pounds in thirteen weeks is not too shabby, especially when I know it is weight I won’t regain.  Mission: Incredible NOLA is a way of life, not a fad.

When you think about it, making changes – even small ones – in a city like New Orleans is a tall order. I’m in the land of pralines, beignets, fried seafood, gumbo, jambalaya, shrimp creole and fried turkey. And that’s just for Sunday dinner!

That was the thrill, though: challenging life-long habits and cultural mores, and resolving to find a healthier way to live. Excuse me while I pat myself on my ten-pound lighter back.

It hasn’t been easy, not by a long shot. That devil behind the deli counter I spoke about before is still giving me that crap-eating smile every day as I attempt to choose salad over red beans, rice and fried chicken. Sometimes I give him the finger and walk away proudly with my arugula, balsamic dressing and grilled chicken. Other times, I throw my hands up, say “What the hell!” and grab a roll of paper towels to wipe up all the grease from the barbecue ribs I’m going to inhale.

Hey, life is about balance, right?

Had it not been for Mission: Incredible NOLA, I doubt if I’d be an avid walker, getting in four to six miles per day, four to five times per week. It’s done wonders for my cardiovascular fitness and my self-esteem. I can see and feel the changes in my body and it’s great. I’m not the same person I was three months ago.

I was asked recently to spearhead an effort similar to MI NOLA for one of the local Mardi Gras parade groups here in the city, also known as “krewes”. This particular krewe hosts an annual 5K run/walk, and the chairperson of the run/walk wants to increase participation. He felt like more members of the krewe and the general public would sign up if there was a support group that helped individuals to prepare a few months in advance. It felt great to be seen as a go-to resource for inspiration and encouragement for a healthier lifestyle.

I’d like to thank all of you out there who’ve been so supportive and helped me through the rough days when all I wanted to do was lie in bed and eat ice cream. And thanks for sharing your stories and your journeys, as well. Most of all, thanks for putting up with my corny jokes. I believe everything is better with a little humor.

Several months ago, when I reached the age of forty one, I figured it was time to take stock of my life and give myself some direction. We don’t live forever, and it would kill me to look back and think I hadn’t done my best with all the gifts and blessing I’ve been given.

I worked hard on crafting a mission statement to guide me. After months of powerful self-reflection, it seemed to me that my life’s purpose is to have the words I speak and the things I do inspire and liberate people to live happier and more fulfilled lives.  My life’s mission is to relentlessly communicate the idea that together we will survive, thrive and create our best life.

I hope that Mission: Incredible NOLA and its message of “Small changes, Big difference” has helped you to begin to create your best life in some small way.

Remember, you can do it.

Geauxing farther,

Nicole P. Moliere

 

Nicole Moliere is an artist, speaker and freelance writer based in New Orleans, Louisiana. She can be reached at nicolemoliere@msn.com and MissionIncredibleNOLA.wordpress.com.

 

 

Day 89

Call me Scrooge, but I think New Year’s resolutions are a sham.

Every December, we begin the same tired cycle: we decide which life-altering promise we’re going to make, we declare it loudly and proudly on January first, and then we abandon it before Punxsutawney Phil gets his fifteen minutes of fame on Groundhog Day.

Admit it: you made promises in January to eat right, exercise and finally lose some weight.

You probably joined a gym and purchased exercise gear. You may have actually dragged yourself to the gym a few times. Then “life” started exerting its inevitable muscle and you couldn’t find the “time” to go as much as you wanted to, so you stopped going at all.

You probably started eating salads in January, too. You may have even read a few nutrition labels.  Then “life” reminded you that it takes a great deal of “time” and trouble to plan your meals and to eat lunch at places that had healthy offerings, so you stopped trying.

I’d bet a figgy pudding that you weigh more today than you did in January. And I’d bet that same figgy pudding that you blame “life” and “time” for not being able to follow through on your resolution.

The truth is you can’t force people to go psychically farther than they are ready to go. If you’re not emotionally ready to make long-term lifestyle changes, you won’t make them. If eating right, exercising and becoming healthier are not priorities in your life, you won’t confront yourself when you settle back into your routines and habits. If the kids’ soccer games and an extra hour of sleep and your favorite television programs are all more important than exercising or preparing healthy meals, then you won’t lose weight.

The truth is you’re Scrooge. “Life” and “time” were not the bad guys. You simply were not ready to make the commitment it took to keep your promise to yourself. You were confronted with some challenges, you made excuses, you engaged in the blame game and now you sit – literally – on a year’s worth of atrophied glutes, ice cream and fried foods.  You need to admit that. The Ghost of Resolutions Past demands it.

But before we cue the scary, sickle-carrying guy in the black Snuggly, know that, like old Scrooge, there’s hope for you yet. If you must make a resolution (Bah, humbug!), and the upcoming year is (finally!) going to be the year you keep it, it’s going to take a little work.  Here are four tips that will help:

First, let go of this obsessive preoccupation with the first of January. The only thing the winter is good for is sleeping and eating. If you haven’t noticed, it’s freezing, dude. You and I both know it’ll take more than a chain-clanging ghost of Jacob Marley to get you exercising if it involves going outside.  Save the promises of going to the gym until spring. Otherwise, there’s less than a snowball’s chance in hell you’ll keep that resolution.

Second, give your all-or-nothing thinking the heave ho. For example, instead of promising to totally give up sweets, make a commitment to finding alternatives to high-fat and high-calorie sweets, and eat those alternatives most of the time. Don’t deny yourself the things you crave. That’s a sure-fire way to send you spiraling into binge mode. Seek ways to lower your fat, sodium and cholesterol intake that allow you to wean yourself into healthy levels rather than trying to go cold turkey.

Third, seek help. Adopting a healthy lifestyle is hard. Even small changes, such as decreasing the amount of canned soda you drink, can be a big deal. Find a buddy or a group that has similar goals. The support you’ll receive when you get weak is invaluable.

Last, be realistic. If you haven’t exercised in years and you’re carrying around enough extra weight to make your own Tiny Tim, don’t promise to lose some ridiculous amount by bikini season. You’re dooming yourself to fail. Start small. Small changes, such as losing a pound per week, for instance, can produce big results. You’re also more likely to keep the weight off long-term if you lose it this way.

Want to know the real trick to keeping a New Year’s resolution? Make and start it NOW. There’s something empowering about being able to say, “I’ve already started,” when you’re having the resolution conversation around the holiday dinner table with family or at the company Christmas party with co-workers.

Granted, December is a very food-intensive month. We’ll all put down enough gingerbread, fruit cake, spiral-cut ham and other delicacies to feed a small nation. But if you can get a jump on your goal, you will enter into the New Year with a distinct psychological advantage. Sometimes knowing that you’re a little ahead of everyone else is all it takes to keep you going. Never underestimate the power of competition. Take advantage of anything that motivates you to keep your resolution.

Unlike Scrooge, your transformation will not occur overnight. Losing weight takes effort and a long, hard look at the habits and practices that got us overweight in the first place. But if you take it slow and give yourself credit for every small victory, you ought to be able to keep the scary, sickle-carrying guy in the black Snuggly at bay for a long time.

Good luck. And God bless you, every one.

 

 

 

 

Day 80

There’s no holiday quite like Thanksgiving for denial.

Every year we envision the idyllic drive to grandmother’s house, the warm and fuzzy love of family, and controlling ourselves while enjoying the perfectly-cooked, Cajun-injected fried turkey.

And then reality sets in.

That idyllic drive turns into an airport disaster that empties our savings account, we remember in vivid detail why “family” is the original “F” word, and attempting to partake in moderation turns into an overeating fest of (g)astronomic proportions.

We return home to more denial.

The bathroom scale gets to be the scapegoat, blamed for all the sweet potato pie, stuffed bell peppers and baked macaroni we shoveled in while trying to figure out how we could whack our ever-annoying idiot brother on the down low. Mom always did like that little jack wagon best. Grrr.

There’s so much about the traditional celebration of Thanksgiving that gives me the willies.

Before many of the most recent feasts I’ve attended, there’s this big, showy prayer that’s supposed to make everyone feel good, but it’s a sham. No one is reflecting on thankfulness. What they’re really doing during the prayer is figuring out how to get into the buffet line before Cousin Pookie because you know he’s a dog and will try to pick all of the shrimp out of the gumbo before anyone else gets a chance.

Lest you think I’m a Thanksgiving hater, let me say right now that I love the idea of Thanksgiving. Taking the time to truly reflect on how blessed we are to live free and in abundance is a beautiful thing. However, Thanksgiving – as it’s traditionally celebrated – is often no such thing. It’s a contest of who can cook the best, eat the most and tell the biggest lies to themselves the day after.

While I’m on my soapbox and high horse all at the same time, I’ll tell you what I’ll be doing this Thanksgiving. I won’t be feeding the homeless or giving out turkeys or anything even remotely praise-worthy. No, I’ll be traveling from house to house, visiting relatives, thinking how disgustingly full of fat grams everything is and then eating it all with impunity.

My hypocrisy knows no bounds.

If I had any guts (well, I do, but not the good kind), here’s what I’d really do on Thanksgiving: I’d wake up and thank the Maker for that before even getting out of bed;  I’d give thanks for being able to walk, talk, touch, see and hear; I’d give thanks that I’m in great health and medicine-free; I’d give thanks for the health of my children and my family – even that shrimp-stealing criminal, Cousin Pookie; I’d pray to think about someone other than myself every once in a while; and, I’d stop griping and actually be thankful – for everything, all the time, good and bad.

But then, I probably should do that every day, right? Hmmm, being thankful every day? What a concept!

Happy Thanksgiving, Y’all. Cut your idiot brother some slack, but tell Cousin Pookie I’ve got my eyes on him.

Day 72

Day 72

(15 November 2011)

Last week I walked over thirty miles. That’s five 10-Ks.  I remember training for my first 10-K back in 2006, for the first run of the New Orleans Crescent City Classic after Hurricane Katrina. Back in those days it took me months to work up to walking a full six miles. Now I can do five of them in one week. That says something about the human spirit and what we can accomplish when our minds are ready to tackle a challenge.

We are capable of much more than we give ourselves credit for.

I walk at a pace of about twenty minutes per mile, so it takes me about two hours to do a six-mile walk. I did the walks twice alone and three times with a great friend who also happens to be a counselor by profession. When we walked together last Tuesday, we talked, like everyone else in the country, about the Penn State child sexual abuse scandal.

Penn State probably took up an hour and a half of our conversation during the two-hour walk.  The grand jury findings against Jerry Sandusky had been published, but Joe Paterno had not yet been fired (that would happen the next day).  We were debating Paterno’s culpability and how we might have reacted if we were Mike McQueary and had seen a child being assaulted right before our eyes.

Once you see something like that you can’t un-see it.

More importantly, as in the case of that young boy, and millions of other young children like him, once you’ve experienced something like that, you can’t un-experience it.

A little over twenty years ago, I was intimately involved in a sexual abuse situation. The survivor, at that time a teenager, confided in me about abuse at the hand of a relative over the course of several years. I was outraged, stunned, shocked – and scared. I insisted that we tell the survivor’s parents that same night. My suggestion was violently resisted at first, but the survivor gave in after I made the case that adults needed to be told and would know what to do.

I was wrong.

They didn’t know what to do. They gave it their best shot, I believe, but they were totally unprepared for the emotionally wrenching turmoil that sexual abuse causes. The survivor had exhibited all of the classic signs that something was wrong, but the parents had never put two-and-two together.

Things got worse before they got better.

More than twenty years later, the survivor is still grappling with the self-worth issues inherent in cases of child sexual abuse. At one point, obesity was a major issue in that person’s life. I’m not a counselor, so I’m not qualified to make a judgment of this, but I’m not sure how much “healing” has taken place.

Which brings me back to Penn State and the way the word “healing” was tossed around this past weekend before, during and after their football game with the University of Nebraska: I hate to break it to everyone involved in this tragedy, but healing is nowhere in the cards just a week or so after the revelation.

What many of those folks meant when they said “healing” was really something more akin to being “distracted from” or “forgetting”, the same way most of us eventually got distracted from all of the institutional sex abuse cases involving churches, The Boy Scouts and others over the past few years. At first we’re outraged; then we’re overloaded with the media coverage; then we look for something else to preoccupy our minds. We are simply unwilling to dwell on it – or anything else for that matter – very long.

The bad news is it’s going to get worse before it gets better for Penn State.

And what, you must be asking yourself, could possibly be the “good” news?  The “good” news is that the person most responsible for bringing the Penn State situation to light was one of the very survivors of Sandusky’s heinous alleged acts. This teenager had decided enough was enough, and pulled together a courage that few others involved in the case seemed able to muster.

And in that bold act, that defiance of shame and possible stigma, he gave other survivors a blueprint for possibly setting themselves free at some point.  He showed them that they do not have to be silent about what happened to them. What this child did was not simple or easy, but it was empowering. It took guts. Because of it, others may be able to marshal the courage to come forward.  And that’s good news.

I read one post by a sports writer who described the targets of Sandusky’s alleged crimes as “eternally damaged”. These kids are not eternally damaged. That is a disabling and inaccurate label. Child sexual abuse survivors who report their abusers should be respected, commended and supported for their bravery. They prove that there is a part of the human spirit that will not be crushed under the weight of fear and shame.

Child sexual abuse survivors are capable of much more than we give them credit for.

They show us that when all else fails, and when others fail us, it is possible to be the hero or heroine of our own lives.

Walk a mile or thirty in those shoes.

For the regulars, here’s my check in:

G1: You all will have to forgive me for not having a detailed dietary diary entry for today. It just seemed trivial to me as I wrote this blog entry. I’ll have it next time.

G2: As I stated at the beginning of the piece, I logged thirty miles walking this past week. I feel great about that, and proved to myself that I could do more and go farther than I thought. Outstanding!

G3: If you want to learn more about child sexual abuse and how you can help survivors, please visit http://www.heathevans.org/about.aspx.   Heath Evans is a former New Orleans Saint and his foundation is dedicated to fostering hope and healing in the lives of children and families affected by sexual abuse. The foundation is committed to breaking the cycle of abuse through healing the psychological, physical, and spiritual wounds inflicted on innocent children.

Day 65

Day 65

(08 November 2011)

Over the last four days we’ve lost three entertainment and sports icons. I grew up loving Andy Rooney do his grumpy old man routine on “60 Minutes”, and I danced many a night away during college to rap songs from Heavy D, the “Overweight Lover”.  Rooney hung in there until he reached 92. Heavy D was only 44.

But it was the loss of “Smoking” Joe Frazier this week that hit me kind of hard. When I was a little kid, my dad would tell stories about Frazier’s fights, especially the “Thrilla in Manila” with Muhammad Ali in 1975. I loved my dad’s stories, which made me love boxing, and, by extension, love all of the big-name fighters of the era.  I thank Frazier for what he contributed to the sweet science and to my childhood. Frazier was 67.

Now, I don’t want to give you guys the blues today.  What we all seem to forget at times is that we’re not dead until we’re dead. Every single day you wake up is a second chance to truly live. Want to chuck it all, sell everything you own and move to Costa Rica to become a degenerate writer? Why the heck not?! Go for it!

A friend and I sat on the banks of the Mississippi River a week ago, enjoying a particularly beautiful morning in New Orleans, marveling at the tourists eating beignets and drinking café au lait at Café Du Monde. Beignets have a billion calories and enough powdered sugar to put you in a diabetic coma, but that never stops anyone – even life-long natives like my friend and I – from partaking in an order or two.

We sat on the pier of the Moonwalk and began to talk about life, and as we did, I could feel myself going forward in time twenty years from now, to age sixty-one, and looking back at my decisions and actions between this beautiful day and then. And I told my friend that I didn’t want that twenty years to be filled with fear, regret and “I wish I had…”.

And in that moment of clarity, I realized that the time to live is now. Right now.

Dr. Mehmet Oz has been quoted as saying, “Genes load the gun; environment pulls the trigger.” That means even though your genes have a lot to do with your health, your lifestyle can be just as influential. You may be genetically predisposed to certain conditions, but your lifestyle may bring you there more quickly if you’re not careful.

Pay attention to what you put in your body. Move your body. Love your body. Honor your body.  You only get one – and it’s on loan.

For the regulars, here’s my check-in:

G1: Here’s a teachable moment. It’s recommended that you eat no more than 30 percent of your daily calories as fat. Yesterday I went buck wild with “real” food and I also had a snack binge. Let’s see how it translates.

Breakfast [745a] – three slices of real bacon (10.5g fat/150 cals); one serving of grits (1.5g fat/100 cals); water.

Lunch [1130a] – one broiled chicken breast (6g fat/180 cals); one spinach and romaine salad with cherry tomatoes, cucumber and carrots (0g fat/60 cals); two tablespoons of salad dressing (2g fat/40 cals); water.

Snack [300p] – three snack-sized bags of Doritos (24g fat/450 cals); one bag of plain M&Ms (8g fat/230 cals); water.

Dinner [700p] – four 2 oz. servings of Tony Chachere’s shrimp boudin (20g fat/520 cals); two satsumas (0g fat/80 cals); one pear (0g fat/40 cals); water.

The total for the day was 62 grams of fat (yikes!) and 1850 calories. 1850 calories multiplied by .30 equals 555 calories. 555 calories divided by 9 (the number of calories in a fat gram) equals 61.67 fat grams.

So, for a day that is more representative of the “old” me, I was right on target and still within an “acceptable” range. However, the “new” me is not down with that, so back to 40 grams of fat and 1800 calories or less.

Teachable moment over.

G2: I pledged to complete six mile walks at least four times this week. I’ve done two and will complete the third today. Geaux-ing farther!!

G3: The LSU Tigers are atop every major poll after their win over Alabama this past weekend. Now the fun starts. There will be watch parties every weekend. Can I overcome my nemesis, the ubiquitous hot wing? I’ll keep you posted.

Day 61

Day 61

(04 November 2011)

This weekend my alma mater, LSU, takes on the Alabama Crimson Tide in the No. 1 vs. No. 2 college football showdown of the decade. The SEC has grown to be the most dominant conference in the nation, and this game has the potential to be epic. My college buddies and I bleed purple and gold, and the smack talk is already reaching a fever pitch.

But I remember the late eighties and early nineties when LSU was often at or near the bottom of the SEC. We weren’t the perennial powerhouse we have been since the 2003 and 2007 National Championships. The team struggled through coaches whose vision, work ethic and player selection left much to be desired.

But in walk Nick Saban and Les Miles, two men who couldn’t be more different in coaching and management styles, but who have re-instilled and sustained a culture of winning at LSU. That winning culture didn’t come from wishing it into existence. It came from meticulous planning, vision, grueling training and conditioning, the ability to regroup after setbacks, and a relentless dedication to the idea that the goal was not just worthwhile, but vital.

The bar has been raised at LSU, not all at once, not unrealistically over a short time, but consistently and relentlessly over several years, and the results are clear. We are poised to win our third National Championship in less than a decade.

It’s what the culture of winning looks like, and it consists of believing in your goal – your DREAM – with mental and physical dedication to everyday choices that are both difficult and disciplined, but that become a reward in and of themselves when you stay the course.

When I left college in May of 1991, I weighed one hundred and thirty five pounds. By February of 2010 I weighed two hundred and fifty pounds. By March of that same year I couldn’t stand it any longer and swore off fast food, soda and eating out for six months. I also joined the YMCA and began exercising three to five times per week. By September of 2010, I had lost thirty pounds, and I kept it off for an entire year. But by September of 2011 I was ready to raise the bar again, and so was born Mission: Incredible NOLA.

In the last nine weeks I’ve lost an additional nine pounds by confronting my mental food demons, making wiser dietary choices, and exercising consistently three to seven times per week. I had to go shopping this week for smaller jeans because my current ones no longer fit. I feel great physically. I am proud of my body and the changes I see in it. I want to be stronger, geaux farther, do more.

I am the six-million dollar woman: better, stronger, faster.

I am winning, and winning big. I will never see the 250-pound Nicole again. I will never see the 220-pound Nicole again.

I’m the coach of my own life, and I’m not going to look back at age sixty-two (God willing) and wish I had done things differently. I’m going to do it now. Sometimes I’m Nick Saban: methodical, serious and meticulous. And sometimes I’m a grass-eating, risk-taking, genius head case like Les Miles. Either way, I’m getting it done.

I can see, smell and touch my crystal trophy of 150-pound Nicole as if she’s already here. Because she is.

We’ve got one month left, folks. Let’s geaux.

Here’s my check-in:

G1: I’m attending a big watch party tomorrow night, so today’s menu will reflect some preventive maintenance. Since I know it will be hard to resist the wings, dips and desserts that are sure to be there, I’m going to go heavy on fruit and veggies today.

Breakfast [900 am] – three satsumas (0g fat/120 cals); one serving of butter-flavored instant grits (1.5 g fat/100 cals); three slices of turkey bacon (2g fat/70 cals); 8 oz. of calcium-fortified orange juice (0g fat/110 cals).

Snack [1200 pm] – one Three Musketeers bar (8g fat/260 cals).

Lunch [130 pm] – two bowls of homemade vegetable beef soup (5g fat/400 cals); water.

Dinner [600 pm] – two baked tilapia filets (4g fat/300 cals); one cup of canned spinach (0g fat/40 cals); one cup of boiled red potatoes (0g fat/100 cals) with one half tablespoon of margarine (7g fat/70 cals); water.

The anticipated total for the day will be 27.5 grams of fat and 1570 calories.

G2: I’ve got a six-mile walk planned for this afternoon and thirty minutes of kickboxing this evening.

G3: There have been many times over the past several years where I wanted to light Les Miles’s hind parts on fire, but I can honestly say that I wouldn’t pick any other coach to go into this battle on Saturday. Les, I’m all in, Baby. Geaux Tigers!!

Day 57

It’s Halloween (Boo!), so I’ve got some scary stuff for you today. It’s called math.

Now don’t go screaming down Elm Street like a sissy. This is math that’s scary but GOOD. It’s going to help you pay more attention to what you eat – thereby making better choices, hopefully – and encourage you get up and move more. Both of these things, of course, can help you lose weight more effectively. And that’s why we’re here, right? RIGHT!

Step 1:  Go to http://www.caloriesperhour.com/index_burn. Here you’ll find a calculator for your Basal Metabolic Rate. This number is the amount of calories you’d burn if all you did was lie in bed all day. Just type in your age, gender, height and current weight and the calculator does the work for you.

Step 2:  When the calculator gives you your BMR (mine was 1688) it will also give you your BMR multiplied by an activity factor to reflect your activity level. See? Easy! The calculator is doing all the scary math for you!

So, depending on whether you are sedentary (sit at a desk all day and rarely exercise), extremely active (you’re a stevedore and you run a 10K every day), or somewhere in between, you will see the number of daily calories it takes to stay at exactly the weight you are right now at your current activity level. Mine was 2616.

Step 3:  But we don’t want to stay at the weight we are now, right? RIGHT! And we want to increase our activity level at least somewhat, right? RIGHT!

So let’s say you want to lose a pound per week. One pound of fat is roughly equal to 3500 calories. Divide that by seven days and you get 500 calories per day. Therefore, reduce your new number by 500 and that will give you the number of calories you need to consume per day – at your current or INCREASED exercise level – to lose one pound per week.

Savvy? Ok, here’s a real-world illustration. My BMR is 1688. I’m moderately active (exercising 3-5 days per week), so the number of daily calories that will keep me at my current weight if I continue my current exercise regimen is 2616.

Therefore, if I want to lose a pound per week, and I keep doing the exact same level of exercise, I will need to consume no more than 2116 calories per day. That way, I will consume 3500 calories less per week (2616-2116=500×7=3500, whew!) and shed a pound per week.

Of course, if you lower your caloric intake AND exercise more (burn more calories), you’ll theoretically lose weight more quickly. There are a number of good websites that explain BMR in detail.  I found these two helpful: http://www.bmi-calculator.net and http://www.weightloss.about.com/od/eatsmart/a/blcalintake.

It goes without saying that you should consult with a doctor before you go on a bread and water diet and start doing P90-X twice a day. I can’t have you guys falling out and going to the emergency room saying, “Yeah, but the chick from Mission: Incredible said…”, but hopefully you understand a little better the “trick” to losing weight. Fewer calories in and more calories burned potentially equal lowered weight and better health. And that’s a treat.

Happy Halloween! And don’t let me catch you stealing M&Ms from your kid’s goodie bag. Those are mine.

 

Here’s my check-in:

G1: Last Friday was the last day of the five weeks of fat gram and calorie counting that I promised I’d do. But it worked so well to help me learn more about my habits and pick more nutritious foods, I’m going to continue doing it until the end of MI. Counting calories and fat grams can be a chore, I admit, but it gets easy once you get the hang of it. And reading labels is so informative! Believe me, it’s worth doing. So look for it here in every check-in until the end.

G2: I’ve got a three mile walk planned for this evening.  And remember, if you’re taking the kids out trick-or-treating tonight and plan on walking, that counts!

G3: I’m down by nine pounds over the course of eight weeks. I’m so excited! And I’m starting to feel like my day just isn’t right if I don’t get at least thirty minutes of walking or aerobics in. What a great feeling.