The Best Day Thusfar!

As most of you now know.. Im ENGAGED! Its true!! I have found the love of my life and he has asked me to be his wife! Im so very overwhelmed with joy right now! It will be very weird to get used to this ring on my finger, but so very beautiful! Okay: here is the story!

I got back from dropping my sister and friend off after a baby shower and running by Old navy 10 minutes before closing, and I had found the cutest halloween costume for Toby(my dog!). Well.. Got into the house, Daniel opens the door for me, and says he has a surprise and he missed me. I say, "wait!! I have a surprise for you and toby!!" So I pull out the costume, we put it on him and laugh at his new "superman" costume!

He finally says, Okay come in here and I have a surprise for you! I was thinking, oh.. he got a good deal on something for DisneyLand! I sat on the edge of the bed while he reached under and grabbed a Converse shoe box. My eyes got huge as I realized he got me a new pair of chucks!! He says as he brings them out, "You know.. were going to dineyland and you cant go to cinderellas castle without a matching pair of slippers with your prince charming!" and I got so excited I kissed him and hugged him, and thanked him again and again! I went to open the box and realized they were the same color as his, "awh! matching ones!" and then.. wait.. the right shoe is missing!

As I look up and say, "there is only one!" he has the right shoe coming up from the ground with the ring attached to the right shoe and says, "in order to start our life out on the right foot, will you marry me?" And I instantly sobbed, and said "I love you so much!" over and over again! It wasnt until 20 minutes later when going to show my sister that he realized.. "wait a minute, you didnt even tell me yes or no!" I looked at him, smiled and said, "of course, YES!"

I am so lucky and blessed to have such a wonderful man in my life, so thankful for his family, as well as my family for keeping this secret safe! I had no IDEA!

..And to know.. it was in the house.. THE WHOLE TIME!

The true me

Well this last week has probably been most challenging in my journey, I didnt workout for a WHOLE week (slacker..) and I went to the fair two days this last week and had a fair scone each day!(slap on the wrist for that one!) I had a few things off my diet, in the end I gained a few pounds. Im going to blame that on my slacking off on my exercise routine.. thats the killer! Well, I have come to a conclusion on a few things and I thought I would share them.



I have to be honest, 75 pound ago when I would look in the mirror.. I would and could not see how obese I had become. I didnt see the "true me."

I know most of us hate looking in mirrors, but I have always loved clothing.. therefore loved mirrors. I loved going to find a new outfit, or finding that last piece to complete an outfit. I was used to finding clothes to "hide me" instead of taking care of the problem underneath. Isnt that like us humans? Cover it up so we dont see it, if we cant see it.. its not there. I remember waking up several months ago, and making the decision for myself to change my outer appearance.. and OH BOY! I notice a difference each and everyday.

The main problem I am seeing at this point in my journey is that I still look in the mirror, I still have a hard time seeing the "true me," I tend to look past all of my success so far and point out all the faults in my body that still remain. I have gone from one extreme to the next. I hate the thoughts that go through my head when someone compliments me on my success at weightloss, "Yeah, but you dont see these flabby arms? Do you see the side fat that still lingers?" I really hate to think those thoughts. Every day is still a struggle, every day I tell myself, "you are not done yet, but love who you are right now." Believing in myself and loving my body everyday and not just the body of myself "someday" is getting easier and easier. Lets love our bodies today, tomorrow and each day after that!

OLIVE JUICE

Dont Whine.. Grab your glass of WINE

Just got back from an extra long workout with one of my good friends, Leah! I had to ask this teenage boy how to use the ONLY machine I have yet to use in the little gym at my apartment building! So onto a subject I know you all would like to read about! I know that there are a lot of wine drinkers out there and I myself love a glass of wine here or there :) So I have gotten a few questions about is wine safe to have on a low carbohydrate diet? 

Okay, so with my research I have found that YES, we can have our glass of wine on our low carbohydrate diet, but is only recommended after a period of time. I would recommend waiting at least 2 weeks after starting ANY form of diet to indulge in a glass of wine. If we look into our Carbohydrates for the day, you can make the decision yourself if a glass of wine will fit into your daily allowance. I just told you that yes, we can have a glass of wine.. but I didn’t tell you why!

In my research I have concluded that although alcohol is sometimes lumped in with carbohydrates, our bodies treat alcohol and carbohydrate differently. If we are counting our calories per ounce, an ounce of alcohol carries 7 calories per gram whereas a carbohydrate has 4 calories per gram. Our bodies will use the calories from the alcohol before using any from our carbohydrates or fats.

            The reason we all hear not to drink alcoholic beverages while on a low carb diet are possibly because alcohol can cause our blood sugar to become eratic, depending on which type, the amount of food in our stomach, or the amount of alcohol consumed. So we have established that on a low carb diet we can consume alcohol, but doesn’t it come from fruits high in sugar? Yes, you are correct..

            Our wine starts as a high-carbohydrate plant, but during the fermentation process the yeasts eat up the carbohydrates producing the alcohol. The carbohydrates that are left are contributed by the leftover sugars not eaten up by the yeast! So each and every wine has a different level of carbohydrate. What is your favorite wine, and what is the carbohydrate amount??

This is per 5 ounce serving:

Dry Champagne: ~2.5 to 4.5 grams
Dry White (e.g. Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay): ~3 grams
”Off Dry” (e.g. Reisling, Chenin Blanc): ~5 to 6 grams
Muscat:~8 grams
Dry Red (e.g. Syrah, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sav.): ~3.5 to 4 grams
Zinfindel: 4.2 grams (yumm.. my favorite!!)
Dessert Wines: 12 to 14 grams
Sweet Late Harvest Wine: 20 grams

            So there you are! Now every time you take a glass of that wine, you will know EXACTLY the amount of carbohydrate you are ingesting!  

            Wait!! You don’t like wine and prefer a mixed drink instead? Well that is an EASIER ONE! Lets say you are out with some girlfriends, and your friends all order a Whiskey Sour. You panic.. you have NO CLUE what to order that is on your diet!! Don’t panic.. this is the EASIEST situation! Since our basic liqueurs such as: vodka, rum, whiskey, etc have nothing left to them BUT the alcohol.. you are safe.. so choose a DIET coke.. some lemon or lime juice(add your own SPLENDA!).. You will feel ten times better than the rest of your lady friends.. (that whiskey sour they just ordered.. ¼ cup of that sweet and sour they use in it.. has 17g. of carbohydrates!!)

Here is a recipe for an at home cocktail.. LOW CARB STYLE!!

Borrowed from http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/beverages/a/lowcarbcocktail.htm

Carbonated mixers are either naturally carb-free and calorie-free (club soda, sparkling water, plain water) or come in diet versions (tonic water, ginger ale, cola, lemon-lime soda such as 7-Up or Sprite). Note that tonic water does contain sugar unless it is a diet-type. "Highballs" (mixed drinks which are mostly mixer) made with just these mixers and liquor are easy to make sugar-free. For example:

·         Gin and tonic (or vodka tonic)

·         Jack and Coke (made with diet cola)

·         Scotch and soda

·         Seven and Seven (Segram's 7 and Diet 7-Up)

·         Rum and diet cola

·         Rye and Ginger (rye whiskey and diet ginger ale)

Alrighty my dear friends! I have had a blast researching this information for you all!! Until next time!

OLIVE JUICE

Lets learn some things..

I know how much will power it takes for us all to go and exercise. The term “workout” alone can be frightening! We associate the word “work” with something that is difficult and we do not want to do. It is funny to look back at all the times I came up with an excuse not to go to a gym, or simply go for a walk. Is there really a good excuse not to? You have asthma? Well, when you start out it will be difficult, take your inhaler and take it slow. You don’t have time? Start out on the Eliptical for 15 minutes in the morning, 15 minutes in the evening and eventually you will love doing it so much and love the feeling it gives you that you will do it more and more. We do not have a good excuse for letting our bodies go down hill. Which brings me to our daily caloric intake.

                We as Americans do not practice self-control, nor the habit of looking at what we are putting into our bodies. We do not count calories, we don’t look at the amount of fat, or carbohydrate we are ingesting. Im not saying that any diet is right or wrong here. I am simply saying, if you are obese or overweight, you should be looking at what you are intaking into your body. If you do not exercise and diet you will not succeed, you might lose some weight but you will eventually gain it back because you are not changing your lifestyle. A lifestyle change has to be your choice, not the choice of those around or even me. I want to see more people WANTING to change their lives for the better. I love my fellow Americans and hope that we can all see the damage we are doing to our bodies.

                Speaking of damage, another disease that we commonly look over but more often than not is caused by obesity. Diabetes, some forms are known to develop because of a persons weight. I watched my Grandma on my Mom’s side suffer my whole life with numerous ailments, including obesity and diabetes. I remember as a kid always thinking, “that couldn’t happen to me, I could never get that big to where I would develop diabetes or any other disease.” Oh how incorrect I was, I could easily develop a number of diseases related to my weight. I cannot stress enough to those of you who are struggling with your weight, how much better it feels to do some form of exercise, raise that heartrate and sweat it out!

                I bought the most amazing tool for doing crunches!! AB ROLLER! Twenty bucks from Walmart, it comes disassembled, but is incredibly easy to assemble. I tell you what, I love the burning sensation I get from doing  100 crunches! I love knowing that in the long run my body will thank me for the effort I am putting towards the “New Me!” http://www.walmart.com/ip/Gold-s-Gym-Ab-Roller-With-Pro-Assist/11099790 

Okay so I have some people asking me.. "how do I count my carbs and such?!" Well lets take a look at a normal everyday product, my favorite food happens to be spinach, lets take a look at that!

Food Item: Spinach, boiled
Food Quantity: 1 cup
Carbs: 6.8g
Dietary Fiber: 4.3g
Net Carbs: 2.5g

        You are probably wondering what a net carb is! A net carb is the remaining balance of carbohydrates after removing the dietary fiber. Dietary fiber does not affect the blood glucose level because it is not broken down in the small intestine so it doesnt break down into glucose and head into the blood stream. So if you have a 6.8g total carbohydrate in our previously mentioned spinach, below the carbohydrate total will say 4.3g of dietary fiber, subtract the dietary fiber from the total Carbohydrate amount. So what if there is other types of carbohydrate in a food product? What are they and what do they do to my body? 

So here we have a package of sugar free Werthers candies! Everyone loves the feeling of unwrapping and popping one of their delicious candies, well here it is in sugar free! I love having a little package in my purse and sucking on one when feeling a need for a little sweetness. So enough on how delicious they are, lets look at their carbohydrates. 

As you can see the total carbohydrates for 5 pieces is 14g, but below the total carbohydrate amount it has whats called a "Sugar Alcohol" amount, which is 14g. What are sugar alcohols? 

Sugar Alcohols are neither sugar or alcohol, so no.. they WILL NOT get you drunk! Sugar alcohols are extracted from plant. The sugar alcohol that is used in our Werthers candies is one called Isomalt. Since sugar alcohols are derived from our Oxygen producing buddies. What kind of plants do they come from and how close are they to the REAL THING. 

Ingredient	Sweetness	GI	Cal/g
Sucrose(sugar)	100%	60	4
Maltitol Syrup	75%	52	3
Hydrogenated Starch Hydrolysate	33%	39	2.8
Maltitol	75%	36	2.7
Xylitol	100%	13	2.5
Isomalt	55%	9	2.1
Sorbitol	60%	9	2.5
Lactitol	35%	6	2
Mannitol	60%	0	1.5
Erythritol	70%	0	0.2

 I found this little counter online!! I thought it would make everything alot easier to explain. So as you can see Isomalt levels out as 55% of the sweetness of REAL sugar, has 2.1 calories per gram. As you can see there is also another column; GI, Which stands for Glycemic Index. 

Not all carbohydrate foods are created equal, in fact they behave quite differently in our bodies. Glycemic index (also known at GI) is created to help distinguish the differences in carbohydrates by ranking them by each one's effect on our blood glucose level. Choosing a food with a lower GI ranking-the carbs that have a lower effect on our glucose level and insulin levels- is key to a sustainable weight loss. To search for a food in the Glycemic index, visit this website: http://www.glycemicindex.com/  You can search for any food, and it will tell you what you need to know!!

Well, I think My brain is on overload from all this information!! I hope I helped someone figure something out! If you have any questions.. just ask!

Olive Juice,

Mada

..In the Beginning..and some other stuff too

A long, long time ago in a land far away.. Okay maybe that's the wrong story. I was born on May 9th, 1988 weighing in an average 6 pound baby. I was the second child in my family, the first turning only 3 years old a month prior to my birth, the third and final of us "First" three came a short 14 months after I was born. I was born into a family with not only obesity running in our blood, but a multitude of other health issues.

The first memories I can recall were back when I was 3 years old, most of the memories I recall from those ages were typically ones made at my Grandparents house. I remember always being told at the dinner table, "you cant get up until you eat it all.." I look back at that statement made by my elders and I think to myself, why would you instill that into a child's mind? Now, I do not have any children of my own, but I do realize the mindset that can be put into a child at such a young age. "Food, eat it all.. or else!"

I honestly can not tell you how or when my obesity started, but I can tell you it has ailed me my whole entire life. I can tell you that I truly did not see the harm in my size until about 10-12. I remember being at a birthday party for my best friend at the time, and all the girls were so much smaller than me. I remember at one point being in the bathroom, all of us, changing after going swimming and one of the girls suggested I step on the scale. I quietly said no, but then the egging on began. One girl after the other would say, "just do it.. we want to see." I finally gave in to the demands of the girls after each of them weighed themselves. I slowly stepped on and my heart began to race as the numbers sped quickly past the weights of my peers. It stopped at 110. I quickly jumped off the scale as the girls around me were in shock. I fled the bathroom, and kept to myself the whole rest of the day.

I believe it was at that point in my life that I realized what I was becoming, but didnt know how to stop it.

I cannot believe that 20% of 6-11 year old children in America are considered obese.. Not overweight.. actually OBESE. Obesity is any BMI of 30 or more. BMI stands for Body Mass Index, which is determined by a height to weight ratio giving a pretty accurate indication of weight categories along with the amount of fat in our bodies. Lets take a look at the BMI scale:

Underweight= BMI of less than 18.5
Normal= BMI of 18.5-24.9
Overweight= BMI of 25-29.9
Obese= BMI of 30 or more

I started my weight-loss journey at a whopping 43.4 and currently stand at 33.2(still qualifying as obese!).
Since we started off talking about the percentage of obese children in America, let us continue!! Obesity rates among young children have more than tripled in the last 30 years. A 4 year old today is more likely to have a BMI of over 30, than 20 years ago! According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the reason for such a rise in obesity among children is the lack of exercise in schools, not enough outdoor activities, and more television and video games than that of 20 years ago. Obese children are more than likely going to grow up and become obese adults.

There are a number of diseases that have claimed thousands of lives because of obesity. One disease in particular is Cardiovascular Disease, claiming 831,272 lives in 2006. That is 34.3% of all deaths that year (or 1 in every 2.9 deaths). Lets compare that to other deaths that year:

Cancer= 559,888
Accidents= 121,599
HIV(AIDS)= 12,113

So basically, an American has a higher chance of dying this year of cardiovascular disease than dying in some form of an accident! Outrageous! Our country is incredibly and increasingly OBESE!

Lets look at each state individually, I mean.. you are probably thinking.. "Nah, not our state. Not where we live.. that average isnt real!" Well.. lets see here. There are 9 out of our 50 states that have an average BMI of 30 or greater! If you are wondering what Washington averages: 26.4% Oregon: 23.0%

Isn't it amazing?! Simply astonishing at the amount of fat we are all carrying on our bodies!! I wish I could knock some people upside the head, and tell them to join the bandwagon. We might want to fix the problem right this second, find a "five minute cure" for our "ailment" but if we do not know what our ailment is, we cant fix it! If we do not have the drive, the want or the effort to lose it.. we wont! So come on America! Lets change our ways!

Start small.. it will become easier and easier!

From one friend to another..

OLIVE JUICE

Mada

Why am I scared?!

I had this dream last night.. Ive been having weirder and weirder dreams lately. (think its because im sleeping better) I had this dream that Daniel and I were living in this dessert kind of area, all of our neighbors were in kind of close proximity. For some reason I was going to garage sales at each house, when I went up to one house in my car a GIANT elephant started running towards me. I freaked out and backed  up and left their property. It didnt stop, it chased me through the road and to this old abandoned garage, I hid in the corner and its owner came running and screaming. Toby(my dog) had wiggled away from me and was barking at the elephant. The elephant wasnt any NORMAL elephant, it could pick things up and squeeze them. Weird.. I know.

So I am scared to death that toby is now out there with this giant elephant. The owner grabs her gun and shoots toby, then shoots the elephant, the elephant lands on top of my hiding place so I wait a minute to make sure that I can get out safely.. then I run out where a group of people are sitting at a picnic table just talking. I walk up with tears in my eyes, the owner of the elephant tells me,"I wish I didnt have to shoot Toby, I know how much he meant to you.." And I am so furious and sad that I run off screaming and crying hysterically.

Then I woke up! I frequently have dreams that my dog is killed or dead, and it scares me. It doesnt scare me because He is dead, it scares me because I have a fear of something inside of me, that is what scares me the most. I dont know, Im not a psychiatrist.. or psychologist... which ever it is.. haha! I need to get dressed and head out today!

Olive Juice,

Mada