I've Got A Lo-ve-ly Bunch of Coconuts!

My two best friends and I spent the weekend at a Spa Retreat at the lake.  We stayed in a beautiful 2 bedroom loft apartment with a breathtaking lakeview and were fed organically homegrown meals.  We took nature hikes and sat in the hot tub.  Then we each got a one and a half hour massage.  We talked and shared stories, and even sang a little!  It was about as good a time as one could hope for.  I think the only reason we weren't sisters is because God knew our parents couldn't have handled all of us!

Along with all of the good memories, we also got a health lesson.  The ladies that run this retreat are all about organic foods and purity.  One of the women, Elaine, has studied organic nutrition for 10 years.  About 4 years ago, she created a concoction she calls "Innocent Chocolate".  We were given some Saturday night for dessert.  OH MY GOD!  This stuff is phenomenal!  It's made with Agave Nectar as the sweetener, which has a very low glycemic index.  But what was most surprising to me is that it also has extra virgin coconut oil in it.  Now I always thought that coconut oil was not good for you, but she explained all of the health benefits.

Of course, as soon as I could, I googled it, and came up with this site:        http://products.mercola.com/coconut-oil/ 

AMAZING!  It never occured to me that the Polynesian diet is rich in coconut oil, and yet they have a very low incidence of heart disease or obesity among their population.  And who wouldn't love to have their wonderful glowing skin?  I'll be ordering some of this stuff after having read so much about it.

If you are at all interested in the chocolate, here's that website: http://www.innocentchocolate.com/  I find it to be a little pricey, but would be nice for the occassional treat, like after having lost 20 pounds or something!

And just because I'm apparently on a website listing roll, here is another one for you:  www.drbronner.com  This will take you to the site of the soap that we had in the shower.  We had the peppermint one, and it was SO refreshing!  We were ready for another hike!

I have really been looking forward to getting on here to share these sites with you.  All of these items are truly a treat.  No...I don't get a commission.  Just whenever I find something that I like so much, I want to share it with like minded women.

I hope you find these sites useful, and that they help you on your journey to better health.

Enjoy!

In peace,

~Rena~

who DOES this?!?

One of the things I love about this venue is that I can share my thoughts, successes and setbacks, and offer and receive support.  As a matter of fact, y'all are the only ones who even know I'm trying (again...) to lose weight.  It seems like in the past when I've talked to others about it, everyone has their own way of losing weight and it's always better than the way I'm doing it.  Funny thing is, they're just as overweight as I am, so is there way really better?  When I HAVE been successful in the past, there was one particular friend who acted pissed off at me every time she saw me.  I had lost 32 pounds and everyone was complimenting me (even though that was only half of my goal), and she would be annoyed about it and started being snarky to me.  So I'm no longer her friend.  Who needs it?  Friends support each other, and again, that's what I'm loving so much about these boards and blogs.

So...being in the 21st century, I can still vent and learn from y'all.  It's kind of weird, though.  I haven't even told my husband.  For the first time in my life, I am truly doing this for ME.  Not because my friends are ore I think my husband would like it, but just because it's the right thing for me to do at this time.

Now my question to each of you is, are any of you facing this lifestyle change in secret to keep your sanity?

~Rena~

Holding myself accountable (with this formula!)

What I like most about this forum and blogging is that I’m essentially being held accountable for my goals. You don’t know me, and I don’t know you, but if I put this out there for all to see, I’m still going to want to adhere to it because I don’t want anyone to think I’m just a doofus.

So, I’ve really been studying and talking to nutritionists and reading as much as I can from people who seem to be “in the know”. This is not new information. As a matter of fact, most people know about 98% of this stuff already. But maybe by having it in written form, and looking at it every so often, I will hold myself accountable to my own goals.

Before I go into the “rules” to meet my goals, I should note my goals:

*lose 40 pounds OR

*get into size 8/9 (whichever comes first)

My physical goal is to strengthen my skeletal muscles through daily exercise. To burn off one pound of fat, I have to have a 3500 calorie deficit. I’ll work the formula below.

After having studied (and tried) Nutri-System, Weight Watchers, Atkins, South Beach, Dr. Oz You: On A Diet, meal replacement shakes, cabbage soup, BFFM (Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle) TrimSpa, Lean System 7, Five Way Fat Burner (well, you get the picture) and multiple other “fad of the week”s, I have come to the following conclusion: I suck at all of these for one reason or another after a while.

But by combining different livable aspects of some of each of what I‘ve learned , I think I finally have the following conclusions.

Diet: No hydrogenated oils

No sugar (or at least <4 gms per serving)

No high-fructose corn syrup

No enriched flour

No bleached flour

No trans fats

<4 gms saturated fat per serving

Healthy snack foods: apples, carrots, almonds

I’ve started Phentermine on 15 October to give me the “willpower in a bottle” that I’m needing. It’s the first thing that I actually think is working.

Exercise:

*Mon through Fri: 45 minutes elliptical

*Mon/Wed/Fri: crossbow

*Tue/Thur/Sat: tabata, ball

*Sun: day of rest! Well, except for housework and yard work, and shopping, and taking the horse for a walk…

OK, so to get this straight in my own head (sorry if you’re reading this thinking “this is about the most lame blog I’ve ever read”, but again, I’m trying to hold myself accountable to myself): Everyone has a Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) and a Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE). The BMR represents how many calories my body uses each day to function at the most basic level. The TDEE is how much energy my body, and therefore additional calories (taken strictly from excess fat), my body uses to perform additional tasks, like exercise. The key here is to determine my BMR and TDEE, then take the TDEE, subtract the BMR, and that’s how many calories of fat I’ve burned off that day.

Whew! Sounds complicated, hunh? Let’s see if I can do this right.

BMR: 655 (4.354 x wt in pounds) (4.569 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years)

Damn! I knew I should’ve paid better attention in algebra!

Ok, so then 4.354 x 180 = 783.72 655 = 1438.72

4.569 x 63 = 287.847

1726.567 -

4.7 x 41 = 192.7

1533.867

So I’ll just say 1534. It takes 1,534 calories a day for my body to function just to survive.

Now, Total Daily Energy Expenditure

TDEE: activity multiplier

*sedentary (desk job, little exercise) =

BMR x 1.2

*light (light exercise/sports 1-3 x week) =

BMR x 1.375

*moderate (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 x week) =

BMR x 1.55

*very active (exercise/sports 6-7 x week) =

BMR x 1.725

*extreme (training for marathon) =

BMR x 1.9

Well, my exercise load right now would be light, which is actually up from sedentary. I’ve been really lazy this summer. So my TDEE is 1534 x 1.375 = 2109.25 making my TDEE to BMR deficit 2109 - 1534 = 575

So, I’m using 575 more calories each day that what my body needs just to survive. Therefore, if it takes 3500 calories to burn off one pound of fat, then 3500 divided by 575 = 6 days to burn off one pound of fat. I want to lose 40 pounds.

40 x 3500 = 140,000 calorie deficit to lose 40 pounds

140,000 divided by 575 daily deficit = 243 days = 34 weeks = 8 months

Of course the formula numbers change as the weight lowers and the exercise increases, so I’m going to shoot for 7 months, since I’m climbing the Chichan Itza Pyramid next May.

Ok, so there’s my goal.

Thanks for reading!

New to the community

Ok, so I’m new here to the extra pounds and phentermine.com communities, and already feel kindred spirits all around! How wonderful and motivating to read about successes, setbacks, encouragement and downright ass-kicking to get everyone back in shape.

I’m 41, married 20 years, and have had a battle with my weight since I was 15 years old. I’ve lost the same 25 pounds over and over again. I’m tired of the trip. I’m ready for a steady pace. To kick it off and KEEP it off. So I figured if I was going to settle for those pesky 25 pounds, then I would shoot for the entire 45 to get myself from roly-poly to rockin’ hott!

That’s what brought me to phen. I took the now-notorious phen-fen combo in the early ‘90’s before people started dropping like flies and have just been winging it ever since.

I did really well from July 2006 to May 2007. I lost 38 pounds, going from a size 18 to a 10, on my own with the knowledge that there was an anniversary cruise attached to the end of it.

So we went on cruise, and I’ve slowly gained back 12 pounds since we got back. My clothes started feeling snug, then quit fitting at all, so I shoved them to the back of the closet and went shopping last weekend. I spent 40 minutes finding the right size 14 clothes to try on and got as far as the dressing room and really took a look at myself in that full-length mirror under those harsh lights and thought, “no…uh uh…this is bullshit” and loaded up the clothes and re-racked them myself. I walked out to the car and called my doctor. I had my appointment on Monday afternoon and officially became a phenster on Tuesday, 15 Oct.

If I have just a small portion of the success that I have read others have, then I will be able to reach my goal.

So…I’m here to motivate others and seek motivation from you. Please feel free to drop in and drop me a line any time.

In the meantime…enjoy each day, you big loser!