#fail and #winning

I thought I was helping Ryan Christopher sell art and find beta readers. The result was an unhappy husband. #nevergonnawin

I finished myfitnesspal diary yesterday and I was under my calories. Too far under. The app yelled at me (not really) and refused to tell me my projected weight loss. #rude

#winning. I made it to the gym in time to catch the sunrise and a good workout. #anklegate is still an issue but it doesn't hurt that much. 

#winning I'm still on track with my 7 day challenge. Blogging, tracking calories, and reading the bible. I haven't gotten registered for global entry but that should be tomorrow. 

Weight Loss Wednesday

Welcome to another edition of Weight Loss Wednesday. This is my opportunity to share my journey towards weight loss maintenance. I remember being the overweight girl in junior high and high school. I didn't accomplish my weight loss goals until in my 30's, which meant I had struggled with losing weight for about 10 years. 

Recently, I started a Facebook group to help keep myself and my friends accountable. If you'd like encouragement, find me on Facebook and I'll add you to the group. If you are starting out in your weight loss journey, I would like to give you two solid small steps toward your goal.

(spoiler alert: I've mentioned these before in previous posts)

1 - Don't drink your calories. Personally, I am guilty of this in the form of beer and alcohol and the occasional smoothie. I try to keep those calories in balance with my workouts.

2 - Walk every day. I am good at this one. I actually go to the gym 5 days a week and I run on Saturdays with the Runhers organization.

If you can make these two small changes to your routine, you will lose some weight. Remember that losing weight is a long time journey and it never ends. (Even at goal, I am still needing to stay focused.) I really wanted to link up with some of my favorite bloggers because they are an inspiration to me.

Tip Tuesday

A friend asked me, "how late is too late to eat?" There's no black and white answer to this because it does depend on your nightly routine. Late night snacks are not a good idea because those are the calories that sit around, don't get burned, and are converted to fat. I make sure my dinner and water is in me before 7pm because I feel better in the morning. I've noticed that going to bed with a tummy full of water causes two problems: nature calling and actual stomach aches. There are nights that I can't stick to this rule, mainly the pack pint runs on Thursday nights and weekend splurging. I haven't reined my weekend treating in yet.

What are your thoughts on the subject?

Things to look forward to at Esther Norine Designs in 2014:

1-Tip Tuesdays will continue.

2- I plan to research and write reviews on my favorites.

3- If you'd like to ask me a question, I'll happily answer it and possibly post it on my blog with a link back to your blog.

Weight Loss Wednesday

Stepping the scale daily is not healthy for me. Weight naturally fluctuates and I don't need to drive myself nuts trying to micromanage my weight. My friend only weighs in once a month and as I sit here writing this post, that may be the way for me to go as well. I have been doing weekly weighins and I am still noticing a regular fluctuation by about two pounds. Possibly that's not a big deal, especially if my clothes still fit.

For now, I will keep the weekly weighins since I need to monitor my progress. As I have worked towards my goal, I have learned that that maintenance is particularly difficult. My brain is chemically sabotaging me to gain the weight back. I have been at or above 150 twice and over 140 once. I will always need a lazer focus to make sure I don't go back to 150.

For a bonus holiday eating tip, you must continue to count calories the entire holiday season. Counting calories keeps you accountable to what goes in and what you expend with exercise. If you keep a good diary through myfitnesspal.com, you will likely not gain weight. I usually put in breakfast, lunch, snacks, and exercise. My goal is to leave about 400 calories for dinner at the end of the day. I don't usually enter dinner because it is homemade and that's tough to count.

Don't you love all the food photos? I do that to show you how I constantly struggle too. Do you need someone to coach you torwards your weight loss goal? I'd love to help you. I can help you with nutrition and recommendations in the gym. I can constantly encourage you to meet your goals and stick to your plan. 

Tip Tuesday

The holidays are just around the corner and it is time to be thinking of healthy eating strategies. I will be sharing tips to help you avoid the usual ten pound gain each year. I have typically gained ten pounds and had to lose it in January and that takes months to accomplish! Please tell me, I am not the only one to experience this problem.

In honor of Thanksgiving, just around the corner, today's tip is to help you avoid eating too many calories at the dinner table (or the snack table). Select the smallest plate or cup available. This is more of a mind trick, which tricks your mind into thinking you have loaded your plate, which you can do when the plate is smaller. When there's not enough space to fill it past your usual daily caloric intake, you won't have over eaten. You can enjoy everything that is offered but enjoy it in smaller portions.

Truthfully, I am horrible at portion control. I never stop when I know I should or sometimes I just don't know when to stop. Having a smaller plate in hand will help me and you keep away the calories we don't need. It will essentially force us to use better portion control.

Go ahead and give it a try. Tell me how it worked or didn't work for you. If you are looking for a coach to help you meet your weight loss goals, email me or leave a comment below. I would love to encourage you to stay healthy this holiday season.

I had wanted this post to be filled with random photos but got rather impatient with my computer. Hence the lack of pictures.

Tip Tuesday

    Welcome to Tip Tuesday! Today's tip is about drinks. Do not drink calories! I can confidently say that I don't always stick to that mantra. If you follow me on Instagram, you will regularly see beer featured.

I have been watching "The Weight of the Nation" sponsored by HBO. The number one cause of obesity is sugary drinks. Even parents don't realize the amount of sugar in fruit juices and lack of fiber. Parents give their children juice thinking that its healthy. I would agree that there are some health benefits from juice but the primary nutrients are found in the actual fruit. I do not drink much juice (especially after enjoying six cavities from drinking orange juice at lunch) and I don't drink any sugary soda pop's unless I'm on vacation.

If you are just starting your weight loss journey, welcome! Its a life long journey that never ends. The first step is to stop drinking calories. If you need to drink diet soda pop, crystal light, unsweetened tea, or black coffee, then do it. At the same time, make sure you are drinking water too. Water cleanses your system, hydrates better, and helps to suppress your appetite. Did you know that when you feel hungry, you could actually be dehydrated? The signals between hunger and dehydration are difficult to decipher. I attempt to drink a bottle of water before meals and some snacks. It seems to be working for me. If you need additional support for losing weight, please let me know! I would love to help encourage you towards your goal!UPDATE! I have lost 1.2 pounds since last Wednesday putting my weight at 133. Week before that I gained 2.2 pounds from enjoying a weekend of beer and Voodoo donuts in Oregon. A real life example of drinking calories not working out.