Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Morning Banana Diet - Day 40

What a day and its not nearly over. With spring comes spring cleaning, spring weeding and other springy type things. Today i went down to our beach with my husband and kids and collected drift wood for the green house we're building. Now when i say drift wood i don't mean the small stuff, i'm talking logs. It took a lot of effort (mostly my husbands), but together we carried nearly a dozen logs across the beach (its big), up the bank (the stairs washed away in a storm), up the ramp and to the bottom of the drive-way where they now sit waiting for us to drive down there and with a truck and bring them up to our yard. (Its 19 acres here.) i tell you my heart was racing with the effort i was exerting. Just imagine the calories i must have burned!

Yesterday we were down near the beach collecting the wood from what used to be a fence that we're going to use to build a chicken-coup for the hens we'll be picking up next week, that took a hour or two and a few hundred calories burned. Once we came back from the beach i was outside raking my walk-way and laying out sticks for markers of where we're going to put the green house. Tomorrow we start building the frame and once that is done i'll have to start digging a dozen or more wheel barrel loads of dirt for the garden. There's a lot more i'll be doing, but too much to list. All i can say is that now that it is spring i'm getting up off my butt and working, burning calories and hopefully the weight will just start falling off!

(I want my greenhouse to look like this!)
Another thing that i have been doing is reading a book my aunt bought for me from the second hand store for $4 whole dollars (thats pretty ritzy for second hand!) about Pilates. I know that i have posted before about how difficult it is for me to exercise, well i have to tell you that the only place in my small house where i can get away from the kids to exercise and they don't jump on me is my bed (its raised chest high). Unfortunately its difficult to exercise on the bed because its squishy and not very good for resistance things like push ups, planks and what-not. Have i mentioned that my lap top that i am currently typing on is on my bed? I spend a lot of time on my computer, meaning that i spend a lot of time laying on my bed. Anyways, (don't let this sound to sad now), what i've read so far about Pilates is pretty interesting. It was invented for bed-ridden patients in ww1 who would use these exercises to keep their limbs strong without leaving they're beds. Its interesting because it means that i shouldn't have any difficulty doing these exercises' from the only place where i can escape the children. My Bed!

Oh, and i've also been trying to take a fiber supplement (Ultra Fiber) 100% natural. Basically you're supposed to take it before meals with a large glass of water. Fiber is the part of your food that the body does not digest and that creates "bulk" to move food and bad things that could normally be left behind by junk foods out of the body. You don't need to take fiber supplements to do this, you can just add more fiber to your diet by eating Banana's or oatmeal or other fiber rich foods. The thing about fiber is that is fills you up, leaving you feeling less hungry and ending up eating less. One way to do this would be to eat one banana and a glass of water 30 minutes before any meal and you will feel fuller and eat less.

Well thats it for today, i'm going back outside to finish up a few things before the suns gone!

Thanks for tuning in to my Morning Banana Blog!
-Angie





Make money from your Website or Blog with BidVertiser

Monday, February 16, 2009

Morning Banana Diet - Day 38 - Before Pics!!! (((Please Comment!)))


Ugh! I just haven't bee
n with it these past two days. I swear, i really had meant to post again, but i just haven't gotten to it until now. Not to mention i haven't been recording my calories the last two days either, don't worry, i don't think i went over. Then again, i did have and A&W Mama Burger Meal yesterday then had Mr.Noodles for dinner..... i cringed when i thought of the calories! But i have to remind myself also that this is the morning banana diet, and the rules state "Eat whatever you want!".

I weighed myself this morning and i went down another pound to 147lbs! It seems that i have finally made it past my diet plateau :-) I really am feeling better since being on this diet, like i have more energy and i almost feel like exercising! The thing is that it took so much effort because my body was heavier than i was used to and now that its coming off ( i was 155lbs when i started, i've lost 8 pounds!) it feels easier to exercise and to do things, less tiring.

I've been thinking lately that i should post my before pics. Or rather my before "kids" pic and my after "kids" pic, so that when i'm fit we can see my Real After Everything Pic! Anyways, don't laugh, they're not that great of pics...

(You can click the pictures to make them larger)




(You should also note that the below picture i weighed about 160lbs)



Thanks for tuning in to my Morning Banana Blog!
-Angie





Make money from your Website or Blog with BidVertiser

What's Your BMR?

Leave your comments and tell us how you did! Mine is 1288 to lose 1 pound per week, whats yours?



For more widgets please visit www.yourminis.com



Thanks for tuning in to my Morning Banana Blog!
-Angie





Make money from your Website or Blog with BidVertiser

Saturday, February 14, 2009

My Morning Banana Diet Day 36....


Happy Valentines Day!!
Hubby didn't buy me chocolate, but at least i was saved from the saturated fats and calories, right? humbug...
Don't worry, i'm not :) I weighed myself this morning and i'm still stuck at 151lbs. So my question today is this, if i don't eat enough calories to reach my minimum (not on purpose) will my body go into starvation mode? I need to eat about 1289 to lose 1 pound per week, yesterday i ate something like 1230 i think, but today i ate 1cal shy of 600. I actually did eat 4 times too, breakfast banana, lunch banana, egg/veggie lunch and potato/gravy/meat dinner. I'm not hungry either and i spent 4 hours in my yard doing hard work. (remember i live on a farm not the city). I was raking and burning garbage, weeding garden, sorting kids toys, bagging things, digging holes, lots more stuff. Hmm.... i'll have to google this one.. ..

Thanks for tuning in to my Morning Banana Blog!
-Angie











Make money from your Website or Blog with BidVertiser

Friday, February 13, 2009

My Morning Banana Diet Day 35 - Counting Calories

So I Googled my BMR and discovered that in order to lose 1 pound per week, i need to eat aprox 1289 calories per day. Conveniently I ate 1229 today without thinking about it. One thing i noted, though it wasn't news to me, was that i only drank one glass of water, one cup of earl gray and one cup of black tea. (Though i will more than likely have something more to drink pretty soon). I haven't weighted myself today either and since its after dinner, i will just wait until tomorrow, the results aren't likely to be accurate right now anyhow.

I've posted my BMR screenshot, you can find out your BMR if you scroll to the bottom of the page and use the widget i just added. I also posted my calorie intake diary for today at the bottom of this post. My hope is that by obligating myself to post this information everyday i will become more conscience of it and perhaps if i am slipping i might receive comments reminding me of my goals...

Alright, sorry to cut this one short, but i'm tired today. Anyways, off to bed for me!

Thanks for tuning in to my Morning Banana Blog!
-Angie





Make money from your Website or Blog with BidVertiser

Thursday, February 12, 2009

My Morning Banana Diet Day 34 - I've been bad...

I bought a carton of make-it-yourself whipped cream. I made it myself, then I ate it with a spoon..... it was only a very little carton though and i had to cause it was going to expire, and it was just so good! Oh, and i skipped water with my banana this morning, and didn't sip my water at all slowly yesterday. Then i made pancakes for dinner, not sure if that's unhealthy as far as calories go, haven't checked the nutritional facts yet. Its evening and i weight 151lbs, which is the same as 4 days ago, so hopefully its a little less. I need to start getting back on track with doing this diet properly. I eat my banana and room temp water every morning, but i haven't been eating as slowly as i'm supposed to lately and some mornings i forget the water... I haven't been eating any breakfast other than the banana and still don't have a set-in-stone routine to eat lunch at noon and a snack at 3pm. Its not that i don't eat at those times, but that i tend to skip them entirely, and end up doing things like eating whipped cream. (ok, that doesn't happen all the time.) I'm not prone to messing up my diet with bad things like chips, cakes, whipped cream, and other such treats because i don't buy them when i go grocery shopping and i don't live close enough to a store to go buy junk food on a whim. Is skipping those middle meals so bad if i eat a small breakfast and dinner? I'd really like to start putting more water in my diet, i know i keep saying it and starting it, but just can't keep to it. It's all one step at a time though. The number one diet-bomb is expecting too much of yourself right away and giving up too early. Once you've got the easy rules of the Morning Banana Diet down pat, start adding one more healthy goal at a time, like a daily calorie limit, or 2 minute ab workout.

A few weeks ago a friend of mine introduced me to some of his home-made Sushi (not the raw fish kind, just raw veggies) with a piece of pickled ginger on top. When he'd offered it i wanted to say "No-way!". This was my automatic reaction because of some ingrained dislike of them, though i wasn't sure why. I think it had something to do with raw fish being in traditional sushi that just stigmatized the whole sushi group for me. When he assured me that there was no raw fish and that it was just carrot and cucumber, my mind screamed "no way!" again cause it was wrapped in sea weed, and well, sea weed is icky. (I have beach front. Love tied with stinking sea weed is not my friend). A few peer-pressure-filled-minutes-later i found myself popping a sushi roll into my mouth and expecting to gag, but to my absolute surprise it was Delicious! I then proceeded to eat 3 more and soon discovered that i was actually full and satisfied from just 4 sushi rolls. So on my last grocery trip i bought myself all the neccesary ingredients and bamboo mat (for rolling the sushi) and have made a few batch's, each time experimenting with fillings a little more. But is it good for me? Meaning, is it like living off of Mr.Noodles? (little .25cent Chinese noodle soup packages). i will have to check the calories, but i may have solved my missing lunch problem. Its not that i don't like to eat lunch, i just don't feel like coking it, or just plain forget. I could make this the night before when i'm cooking dinner and just put it in the fridge till the next day! I think i'm on to something :) See, just one step step at a time....

Thanks for tuning in to my Morning Banana Blog!
-Angie





Make money from your Website or Blog with BidVertiser

Monday, February 9, 2009

My Morning Banana Diet - Best Banana's?



So I was at the grocery store stocking up on my supply of delicious yellow fruit- {Banana's of course} and when I found them in the produce section I discovered that I had to make a choice between brands. Dole or Chiquita. It came to me that I didn't know the difference or whether one was better then the other. So I just grabbed 3 bunch's of the nicest looking one's (making sure one bunch was green so it would have longer to ripen) and would you know it, I picked Dole. So I did a Google search when I got home and discovered that Dole and Chiquita were two of the top three Banana Companies in the world and that Dole in fact was at the top. Could that be why they are at the top, are they just better? And what really is the difference between the Banana Companies? Its not a secret recipe is it, aren't they just Banana's? So i figured it must boil down to management, company standards for how the farms are handled and how quickly and safely the fruit was shipped to various locations, lets not forget customer service. All these things together contribute to the over all quality of the banana's we buy at the grocery store.

Dole Organic has an interesting idea. There is a 3 digit farm i.d. number on the banana's sticker that if you were to go to they're web page and enter the numbers you could "travel" with the banana. Learn about the farm it came from, look at pictures and have an enriched banana experience.

I found the Dole.com web page to be very informational and easy to navigate, there was even information about the morning banana diet that was not on Chiquita's web page. I was not incredibly impressed with Chiquita's web page (though i'm sure its way better than mine is), but compared to the No.1 Banana company, Chiquita paled in comparison. Though it was not that tricky to navigate, everything section was just a small blurb about the subject in question,
nothing to special. Now that's not to say that i didn't find anything good about Chiquita, or that i didn't find anything bad about Dole. But those things did not have anything to do with the quality of the banana.

In the end everyone will make they're own choice, or just buy what is put in front of them. But I've decided that I like Dole the best, because it's just a good tasting Banana. Will you walk away from this post craving a Dole Banana? Who knows, all i can tell you is that I for one am beginning to feel hungry...

Thanks for tuning in to my Morning Banana Blog!
-Angie










Make money from your Website or Blog with BidVertiser

Sunday, February 8, 2009

My Morning Banana Diet - 30 Days Today and i'm Out of Banana's!!!

So i just weighed in at 151lbs. A whopping loss of 9 pounds in 3 days!! No, not really. Read my earlier post before you think i'm an anorexic.... I'm fresh out of Banana's and can't get to the store!! But it's ok, i'll make due with apples, i got plenty of those and should work just as well as banana's. It's all about fiber right? I think anyhow. Thanks to a comment I received from Jessica, I've been researching exercises I can do with my children and found it very difficult to find anything of use to me. Not that the information was useless or anything, just not what i was looking for. Mostly they talk of things such as going for a walk with a stroller or with a baby backpack, playing in the sandbox or dancing with the kids. Basically playing. These are all good, but not what i was looking for. What i AM looking for is ways to USE your children while exercising in a gentle playful way like Jessica suggested. Lifting your child up and playing airplane was a good idea and I tried using my 1 year old like a weight, lifting her her up and down (she thought it was hilarious) and my 3 years as a weight for my legs, doing the same lifting him up and down was a fun right for him and left me with a good thigh burn. Also the "i'm gonna get you!" game of tag where we chase one another around my small house is one of my sons favorites (we also do this at the laundry mat).

One thing i need to do though is to keep myself in check with eating. Not necessarily over-eating, but not eating at the correct times. For instance after my apple and water this morning i ate no further breakfast, but had a peanut butter and jam sandwich at 11am. Its not nearly 1pm and i haven't eaten lunch, and i don't expect to eat anything until dinner. I think my problem is under eating. The diet rules (and is the usual advice) are to eat every 3 or 4 hours. So lunch around 8am (banana/water), lunch at noon, snack at 3pm and dinner around 6pm, but not to eat 4 hours before sleeping. Now i always have my small breakfast with the banana and water, except for the apple today, and usually eat something small in the middle of the day between 11am and 3pm (like a sandwich, eggs or raw veggies) then dinner around 6pm. Of course we don't always remember the 3 cheese sticks i had, or the chocolate muffin (Must write things down!). Then again, maybe i am committing the one diet no-no. That is expecting results to early which causes many to give up. (Don't worry, i'm not going anywhere) I haven't been like this the whole 30 days, in the beginning i never ever ate breakfast (the most important meal of the day!), sometimes ate lunch and had dinner very late, sometimes even as late as Midnight. I slept in past 10am and didn't go to sleep sometimes until 3am. So i guess i have made quite a reform and am happy to say that even though i haven't lost a boat-load of weight (though i have lost at least 5lbs, which is good) I am feeling healthier already, happier. I used to get woken up my my children every morning and sometimes would even fall asleep before them while trying to stay awake long enough to see them to bed, it was no life to have them hounding at me every waking minute!! But that was the old days (last month...) and we're all enjoying our new quality of life thanks to the All Amazing Banana!

Thanks for tuning in to my Morning Banana Blog!
-Angie

A tribute to my hero.... the Banana :)







Make money from your Website or Blog with BidVertiser

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Day 27 of my Banana Diet!

Never weigh yourself after dinner! 160lbs??!! I'll have you know that i was 153lbs just yesterday.... So i'm still following the diet, i go to bed very early these days, i figured that if i got my kids to bed at a decent hour i could use that time to exercise, but instead i just get tired an go to sleep too. Then i usually wake up these days around 6 or 7 am, when just a few weeks ago i was sleeping in until past 10am and going to bed around 1 or 3am.

Before i moved out to the woods and i still lived in town i walked everywhere and i walked very, very quickly, very often. There was always some place to be. Now i live in a tiny little house in the woods and i spend a lot of the day on my laptop (my laptop is on my bed). I manage 5 or 6 blogs and i'm also writing a book (5 chapters away from completion!). Then of course there's dish's, diapers, dinner, etc.... ( I didn't have kids when i lived in town) Now if i have to go to the store i drive because it's a 40 minutes walk to the nearest bus, then 2 buses to the grocery store, i have to fold up my strollers too. Then 2 buses back and a 40 minutes walk with a crap load of groceries? Ya, no thanks.

One thing is that the Morning Banana Diet kinda frowns upon the consuming of dairy, but i just love milk so much its hard to give it up. I don't drink that much of it, unless its chocolate milk, then i have to race my son to the finish or there won't be any left for me...

I've also accidentally given up drinking my black tea for organic green tea, which is supposed to be good for weight loss. The other thing i was trying to try was the water cure. Well not that hardcore, not my body weight in water, but for a few days there i was drinking nothing but water and always had a cup next to me. But that kinda faded away, not that i gave it enough time, i'm not knocking the wonders of water or anything.

Well the domestic duties are calling, time to put the kiddies to bed. Good Night to all :o)

Thanks for tuning in to my Morning Banana Blog!
-Angie





Make money from your Website or Blog with BidVertiser