Isla de Angela ~ gaining inner peace, losing extra weight

She’s Been Spotted

You know how your mirror and camera don’t agree on how you look (I look soooo much better in the mirror than I do in pictures!)?  Well, it’s pretty much the same thing when you see a person that looks like you – ie. your Doppelganger.  My daughter and I (ok, mostly me) play the “Is-she-bigger-than-me-game”.  Basically, I’ll see a woman and ask her,”Is she bigger than me?”.  The point of the game is that I want her to say, “Yeah, Mom.  She’s bigger.” So naturally, I usually pick women that I think I’m smaller than – ha, ha (yes, I fix the game!).  Today, though, I met my match as they say.  She was even wearing a shirt that I own!  Even before I asked my daughter the question – I knew the answer.  We had the same body shape.  The same body size.  Close to the same height.  Our faces and hair are different, though!  If it wouldn’t have been rude, I’d have asked for a picture!  Ha, ha!

She’s actually the friend of a friend and is a perfectly nice woman.  I don’t want to have her body, though.  It’s a little hard to see it and know I look the same.  Not much else to say about it, I guess.  I know I’ll be running into her pretty regularly.  I’d like to ask my daughter “THE” question one day and have her be able to honestly answer, “Yeah, Mom.  She’s bigger.”… It’s a childish game, I know.  I imagine I’m not the only one that plays it, though!

Weight Loss Guru’s Through The Years

It’s been about a decade that I’ve been over weight and trying to lose it.  Like most women in the same boat, I’ve tried many programs.  They all seem to work for the period of time that I could  stick to them.  That’s always been the problem for me, though.  The sticking to it.  While none if them have been a sustainable life-style for me, many things that I’ve learned thru them/on them have stayed with me.  Many of the ideas, tips, etc, are what I’m holding on to right now.  Some of the things I’ve learned through the many diet guru’s who have passed through my life over the years:

6 Week Body Makeover Taught Me:

• the benefit of eating 5 small meals a day
• what a real serving looks like

Richard Simmons (yep, you read that right):

• by cutting soda out of your diet you can lose 10-12 pounds

Suzanne Sommers:

• eat protein, fats, vegetables, and fruit – just not all in the same meal
• gave me my favorite beanless chili recipe

Rachael Ray:

• the importance of everything in moderation
• to not be afraid to venture off the written recipe

Geneen Roth Taught Me:

• eat when you’re hungry
• eat what you really want – just eat it slowly, mindfully, and joyfully – stop when you’re full (ie. listen to your body)
• the binge - “Compulsion and awareness cannot coexist at the same time.”  Once you are aware that you are in the moment of compulsive behavior the “spell is broken”.  Now it’s a choice, not a uncontrollable force.

Dr. Beck:

• it’s not okay to take it easy on the weekends and every special event BECAUSE – There are about 140 weekend days of a year, not to mention the numerous holidays, anniversaries, birthdays, showers, weddings, parties, restaurant meals, fairs, conferences, meetings, special occasions, and vacation days.
• each time we “resist” an urge to fall of plan we strengthen our “resistance muscle” and each time we “give in” to temptation we strengthen our “give in muscle”
• don’t veer from your plan unless you’ve “planned” to ahead of time (don’t decide to eat cake just because there’s one in the break room) and if you’re going to eat something high-calorie, fat, sweet, etc… make sure it’s a 10 out of 10 (something you truly love) don’t waste your recent efforts on a 5 or 6…

The Full Plate Diet:

• increase the fiber in your diet – it makes you feel full – therefore you’ll eat less and fiber is calorie-free – therefore you’ll consume less calories making it easier to burn more calories than you eat in a day
• when you eat more fiber you soon realize you need to drink more water – which is a good thing

Dr. Oz & Angela from the Green Monster Movement:

• adding spinach (steamed baby spinach) to my morning smoothie is excellent for my diet with no noticeable taste

Bikram Yoga:

• You can only find out what is possible with your body if you first conquer your mind. 
• the importance of doing an exercise that you enjoy

Various Low-Carb Plans:

• the importance of keeping pre-made snacks and meals in the fridge
• that I feel good when my protein and veggie intake far out-weighs my carb intake
• how insulin works in the body

Oprah:

• stop eating at 7 or 8 each night and embrace that achy/rumbling belly when you’re trying to fall asleep – that’s what it feels like when your body is living off its fat reserves.  (yeah, probably not true but I like the image!)

and, of course, the piece de la resistance:

or… maybe it’s fat melting??? 

Those are the lessons that come to mind, anyway.  Those ideas along with “Eat Better.  Move More.” are the casual “rules” I’m following.  And I do mean casual rules – see previous post!!

*************************************

Eating Better.  Moving More. 

(Think I’ll go for an evening walk tonight – it’s perfect walking weather!)

~  Angie  ~

Walking Playlist (approx 122 BPM)

I’ve found that making a walking playlist of songs that have similar BPMs (beats per minutes) really kicked up my walking speed.  I spent WAY TOO MUCH time searching through my iTunes library looking for songs with a similar beat to Pink’s Raise Your Glass, which is slightly faster than I’d walk without a push, but now that I’m done I’m so glad I did it!  (I tried to use 2 different programs to help find the BPMs but they were a horrible waste of time.)  I eventually found over 4 hours of music that met my needs and broke them up into 4 playlists.  Without further ado -

I’m pleased to share my Walking Playlists!  I hope someone finds them useful!  

~ Walk with the Girls – 20 Songs ~

According to You – Orianthi

Born this Way – Lady Gaga

Circus – Britney Spears

The Edge of Glory – Lady Gaga

Fighter – Christina Aguilera

Firework – Katy Perry

Forget You – Glee Cast / Gwyneth Paltrow

Girl Next Door – Saving Jane

Hollaback Girl – Gwen Stefani

I’m a Slave 4 U – Britney Spears

I Kissed a Girl – Katy Perry

Keeps Getting Better – Christina Aguilera

Man! I Feel Like a Woman – Shania Twain

Mercy – Duffy

Raise Your Glass – P!nk

Since U Been Gone – Kelly Clarkson

That Don’t Impress Me Much – Shania Twain

Walk Away – Kelly Clarkson

We R Who We R – Ke$ha

Who Knew – P!nk

~ Walk & Dance – 16 Songs ~

Crazy – Gnarls Barkley

Dynamite – Taio Cruz

Fergalicious - Fergie

Funhouse – P!nk

Just Dance – Lady Gaga

Let it Rock – Kevin Rudolph

Life is a Highway – Tom Cochrane

Love Shack – B-52′s

More – Usher

Only Girl (In the World) – Rihanna

Shut Up and Let Me Go – The Ting Tings

SOS – Rihanna

Stayin’ Alive – Bee Gees

Stronger – Kanye West

Tik Tok – Ke$ha

Your Love is my Drug – Ke$ha

~ Walk & Rock – 17 Songs ~

Alive – POD

All American Girl – Melissa Etheridge

All Fired Up – Pat Benatar

Animal – Def Lepard

Baby Hold On – Eddie Money

Boys are Back in Town – Thin Lizzy

Bring Me to Life – Evanescence

I’m Feeling You – Michelle Branch & Santana

Old Time Rock & Roll – Bob Seger

Paralyzer – Finger Eleven

Photograph – Def Lepard

Rockin’ the Night Away – .38 Special

Seven Nation Army – White Stripes

Stand Back – Stevie Nicks

Sweet Child ‘O Mine – Guns N’ Roses

You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet – Bachman Turner Overture

You Shook me All Night Long – AC/DC

~ Walk It Sexy – 18 Songs (To make you feel sexy – ) ~

Her Strut – Bob Seger

Shakin’ – Eddie Money

A Girl Like You – Edwyn Collins

Unbelievable – EMF

Are you Gonna be my Girl – Jet

You Really Got Me – Kinks

I Need to Know – Marc Anthony

Cooler Than Me – Mike Posner

U Got the Look – Prince

Don’t Cha – The Pussycat Dolls

Jessie’s Girl – Rick Springfield

Start Me Up – The Rolling Stones

Smooth – Santana & Ron Thomas

A Girl Like You – The Smithereens

Hey, Soul Sister – Train

Caught Up in You – .38 Special

Well, there they are! 

I also made one huge playlist of all the songs that I call ~ Walk Forever ~

********************************

~ Moments of Joy ~

Isn’t it wonderful when you ABSOLUTELY enjoy eating something that is ACTUALLY HEALTHY?  For me it’s my daily cup of Red Grapefruit Slices.  They make me incredibly H*a*P*p*Y!  Another such moment of joy is when I treat myself to a Diet Vernors – h*e*a*v*e*n*l*y sigh… (Diet soda/pop is bad for you, I know, but it’s BETTER than regular soda in my book and BETTER is BETTER!)  Vernors is made in Michigan and isn’t widely distributed.  It is the best Ginger Ale on Earth, though.  Really, I jest you not. 

*********************************

If something is important to you, you’ll find a way.  If not, you’ll find an excuse.

Eating Better and Moving More

~ Angie ~

Walking

So, I’ve been walking.  I figure if I’m going to do it I should get as much out of it as I can so I googled “walking tips”.  Considering that walking is a pretty basic action for most of us, there’s way more info out there than I expected (entire websites!).  I did pick up a few good tips and realized that I was doing a couple of things “wrong”.

~ A Few Walking Tips ~

• Chin up with your eyes forward, not looking down.
• Shrug once and let your shoulders fall and relax, then roll your shoulders slightly back and down.
• Keep your stomach tight – as if you are bracing for a punch but don’t hold your breath.
• A controlled arm motion can lend power to your walking, burning 5-10% more calories.
• Bend your elbow 90 degrees.  Hands should be loose in a partially closed curl, never clenched. 
• Keep your elbows close to your body – don’t “chicken wing” (like speed walkers in movies).
• Avoid overstriding, which is taking longer steps to increase speed. Overstriding is inefficient.
• Rather than lengthening your stride, to increase your speed, take more and smaller steps instead.
• While walking, your forward leg has no power - the back leg is what is driving you forward.
• Pay attention to get the full power out of the push from the back leg and make sure your foot is rolling through the step from heel to toe.
• It’s very important to cool down after walking.  Simply slow your pace to lower your heart rate and return your breathing to normal. 
• Stretching is equally important after your walk.  Spend 5-10 minutes stretching your large muscles.

Curves Simple Stretching Guide

Those are the tips I found helpful – BUT I AM NOT A DOCTOR, nor do I play one on tv.  I found that while I was walking if I did a “mental head to toe scan” that I kept finding areas that needed improvement (such as my shoulders weren’t back or my abs weren’t tight, etc…) Later in the evening I could really “feel” the difference that following those tips made.  My abs felt as if I’d done a lot of sit ups for one thing!  I know that by making those adjustments that it helped me to burn more calories than I would have otherwise. 

*******************************

Moving More and getting More out of it!

~ Angie ~

Whiney, Whiney, Whiney!

That last post is embarrassing.  I want to delete it but I won’t.  That’s where my mind was – that’s was the real me on that day – the me I try so hard to hide from people because it’s weak and pathetic in my own eyes.

Negative:  If it’s horrible to ME what in the world will other people think?

Truth:  I’m way to concerned with what other people think of me!  If everyone allowed themselves to show the “real them” we’d all see how similar we are on the inside.  No one is perfect.  It’s time to stop expecting myself to show a perfect exterior – it’s exhausting!

———————————————

Getting Over My Yoga Fear -

Well, I figured out that one of the reasons (probably the main reason) I’m so afraid to return to a Bikram Yoga studio is because I know I’m not physically ready.   I haven’t exercised in a LooooOOOnnNNggGGggg time so, of course, my stamina isn’t ready for such a large challenge and I KNOW I wouldn’t be able to keep up.  Time to get over the childish want to be able to do it NOW and work on increasing my stamina so I can return to class with a sense of confidence.  So I got on the elliptical, stationary bike, and found my stretching chart.  Little by little I’ll increase mt stamina.  Simple goals:  feel better, eat better, move more.

————————————————

Debt

Being in debt sucks – it literally sucks energy from my being!!  I spent the day yesterday organizing the bills and finding out our interest rates, minimum monthly payments etc… Good News:  Our debt is down a nice chunk from this time last year.  Bad News:  Almost HALF of what we pay monthly goes to paying interest!  UGH!  I’m going to see if we can’t get our rates down… suck, suck, suck!

—————————————————-

Time to Move

Well, I’m going to counseling today.  Honestly, I don’t feel like it’s necessary today.  Going when I feel “good” seems like a waste of time but I KNOW in the long run that what I hope to learn in these next couple of months will eventually save me from future “doom & gloom”.  So I’ll go!  Before leaving I’m going to visit the elliptical, bike, and stretching chart… come endorphins, do your thing!

—————————————————

*  Feeling Better, Eating Better, Moving More  *

~  Angie  ~

*