weight loss

Weight and see...

So, a few years ago I began the mission to lose weight; 40 lbs was my goal. Through diet, exercise, and a few cleanses I reached my goal and then some.

Even with the weight loss I find myself afraid of buying new clothing. I have a few things in smaller sizes, some of them I was not comfortable wearing out and I had them for over a year. I am able to wear them now but getting new stuff scares me. image

I have this feeling that I’ll get the smaller sizes and in a few months I will gain the weight back and won’t be able to wear the items. Also, I got so comfortable covering up with the larger sizes; I tried on skinny jeans and felt exposed coupled with this idea that, even though they fit fine, that I looked ridiculous in them.  What looks ridiculous are my 32s falling off me. I hate sagging pants and yet I still put them on.

Writing this is helping see my crazy thought process.  I’ll buy a few things here and there, and I will continue to try and eat right and go to the gym like I have been doing.

Cleansing again Days 7, 8, 9, &10!!

I did it! Today is Day 10 of the Master Cleanse.  I feel great and it has help a lot with my muffin top (spare tire).  Still quite energized and not hungry however; not feeling hungry doesn’t mean that I have not had cravings especially during times where I am bored.  

This had me thinking about keeping myself active so I do not find myself standing in front of the open refrigerator, munching on everything, just because I think I’m hungry when I am really just bored.  I can always go for a walk and window shop. 

I made to the gym on Day 7 and 10 (light work out on both days; 20 mins of cardio on an elliptical machine and some weight training [lighter weights, less reps and one less set])

This is the last Master Cleanse of the year for me.  I believe I will do it once per year going forward, and the first weekend of June seems like the perfect time start.

BTW, I weighed myself this morning; I’m 147 lbs; I’ve lost 9 lbs total.  What I would like to do is gain that back as lean muscle.  Wish me luck!

Cleansing again Days 4, 5 & 6

Well, it’s the early morning of Day 6.  I feel great and have felt energized since about midday of Day 3.  If I recall, it took to somewhere between Days 5 and 7 the last time for me to feel this way.  I went to the gym last night for some light cardio and very little weight training.   

I have broken the 150 mark!  I am 149 lbs.  I am really doing this for detoxification purposes this round, but the added bonus is weight loss.  Once I am done with the cleanse, I hope to gain back the weight in muscle. to put me back around 155 lbs.  I’ve officially lost 7 lbs so far.  

My skin is clearing up!  I hate adult acne!  I used real aloe (buy a branch and cut a cube of it it every other night) on my face; works wonders.

Anyway, I’m up early for the salt water flush… gotta get “going" 

Sleep, Hunger, and Way Too Much Coffee

So, I am not a big coffee drinker.  This month I have drank more coffee  than I would normally do in probably a 3 to 6 month period.  Thursday I had a medium cup from The Coffee Bean, and it took a while for me to finish it.  I was then pretty wired for the rest of the day. 

Well, Thursday night, I did not have a wink of sleep!  I prayed to God for the strength to get through Friday.  At work, I found myself extremely hungry and even after I ate something I still was not satisfied. I found this article and lots more on weight gain, hunger and sleep deprivation.  I didn’t know any of this before.

I am, for now, swearing off Coffee.

Sleep Deprivation Could Increase Hunger, Study Suggests

Sleep Hunger

Not getting enough sleep could affect how hungry you are, according to new research.

The researchers from the German Universities Tubingen and Lubeck and Uppsala University in Sweden found that sleep deprivation is linked with feeling hungrier and having higher blood levels of ghrelin (also known as the hunger hormone).

The findings will be presented at the annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior.

The study aimed to look at how sleep is linked with levels of hunger, bodily energy use and physical activity.

The researchers found that the amount of sleep a person gets is linked with feelings of hunger – meaning, the more sleep-deprived a person was, the more hunger he or she felt. In addition, the findings suggested that when a person stayed awake for a whole night, it decreased the amount of energy use performed by the body while resting.

People who had disrupted sleep the night before also had less physical activity the following day.

This is certainly not the first time a study has shown a link between sleep deprivation, hunger and weight. A recent study from Northwestern University showed that people who regularly stay up late are also more likely to eat unhealthier food, weigh more and eat more during the evening, compared with people who go to bed early.

That study, which was published in the journal Obesity, showed specifically that people who regularly go to bed late and wake up late consume an added 248 calories a day than people who go to bed early and wake up early.

Plus, a study published earlier this year in the journal SLEEP showed that sleep could actually help to lower the effect of genes on weight, USA Todayreported.

“The less sleep you get, the more your genes contribute to how much you weigh. The more sleep you get, the less your genes determine how much you weigh,” study researcher Nathaniel Watson, neurologist and co-director of the University of Washington Medicine Sleep Center, told USA Today.

And finally, a study presented last month at the SLEEP 2012 conference suggested that we are less able to resist the call of junk food when our brains are sleep-deprived. That research, conducted by St. Luke’s – Roosevelt Hospital Center and Columbia University, showed that the reward centers in the sleep-deprived brain had more activity in response to seeing junk food, compared with a well-rested brain.