Advice from The Dr. Oz Show

MYTHS BUSTED ON DR. OZ
1) Don't drink Diet pop, the artificial sweetener makes you want to eat more sweets and junk foods because it doesn't satisfy your cravings for sweets.

2) The more calories you cut the more weight you will lose --- If you try to lose to much your body will go into starvation mode and your body will stop using calories. He recommends losing 500 calories a day. If you lose 3500 calories a week you will lose a pound a week.

3) Pasta/Carbs making me fat? Pasta is not a problem by itself but its all the stuff we add to it. The cheese and the sauce. Plus we are eating the incorrect amount. The amount you should eat is enough to fit in the hole when you make the A- Ok sign.

4) Eating after 8 will make you gain weight? The avg woman should consume 1800 to 2000 calories a day. Most people that eat after 8 have all ready consumed past there calorie limit and the foods they eat after ate are usually snacks. So it's not the time of day that makes you gain weight, its eating past your calorie intake.

5) Reduced fat product help you lose weight? this is a myth! He used PB as an example. The reduced fat has the same calories but they add 2x as much carbs and it contains hydrogenated vegetable oil which is a trans fat that is the primary source of artery clogging fats.

6) Dr Oz says to use Rice Bran oil because it is the healthiest oil and it may help you lose weight.

That's the advice he gave on yesterday's show. Hopefully it will help! He also had these healthy foods to try.....

Superfoods to Keep you YOUNG!
*To age gracefully eat Black Garlic (more expensive but doesn't have the smell of regular garlic)
*To help with Crows feet eat Jicama, excellent source of vitamin C, boosts collagen and fights wrinkles
*To help with Under eye circles eat Jerusalem Artichokes. They have 5x more iron than potatoes and fades the appearance of under eye circles (you get those circles more when you are lacking iron)
*Eat Purslane it contains omega's fatty acids, reduces heart disease & stroke risks
*To lower cholesterol use Sunflower Seed Butter it is rich in polyunsaturated fats

I try to find healthy tips to help us all. Anything diet and exercise related I enjoy reading up on. I want to lead a healthy lifestyle for the rest of my life. I'm not stopping once I lose the weight. This is a lifestyle change because I want my kids to grow up healthy and they won't learn unless I teach them and follow a healthy lifestyle!

So now I am going to hit the country roads and go for a run!! I stepped on the scale this morning and it said 167. But I am going with 168 since it said that yesterday. If it still says 167 tomorrow than I'll change it. It seems like I am really losing weight fast this week. I don't know if its because I didn't lose for like a week and its catching up or is it that xygn pill? I just hope after I finish those samples I don't see the scale go up. It makes me nervous. I hope its just because I am working hard and eating right!! ahhhhhhhhh, i just really like seeing the scale go DOWN!!! lol

Til next time! Casey

I feel successful!

This morning I stepped on the scale and for the first time it was said 168.8!!! I could have jumped up and down when I saw that. I haven't updated myfitnesspal with it yet because I want to step on the scale and make sure it still says that tomorrow. But it was the first time its been out of the 70s and I feel amazing. I am getting there. When I hit the 50s I'm going to be on cloud 9. THe lowest I have been since I had kohl is 156. When I get there you all better watch out! lol.

Anyway, I took Xygular's pill "xygn" yesterday. I didn't notice much of a difference. It doesn't settle to well on my empty stomach yet. I think it gives me a bit of a headache at first. Like I took it this morning and my head kind of hurts. I am fixing to work out here and I'll see if it doesn't any better than yesterday but I don't think it helped yesterday. I usually fill sluggish on Mondays and I still felt sluggish!

I have evening clinical's tonight so I have to work out and than I have pictures for school around 11. So my morning is slipping away from me. I better get moving. But I wanted to update you all on my thoughts. Ohhhhhhh and the Flush pill did not make me poo like crazy, and I didn't feel bloated. So maybe it works? Anyway, I'll update again soon! Love, Casey

PS: good Luck Gma Wymore with your weigh in today!! Hope the jogging suits worked there magic for ya!!

Xyngular

Today a friend of mine invited me to pizza hut to listen to her and another gal about a product they are taking. It's called Xyngular and it is helping them to lose weight. They showed before and after pictures and you could see they were having success. They let us taste the products and they tasted fairly good. They gave us some samples of the pills to try as well.

On our pizza they sprinkled it with this stuff called "cheat" It's suppose to help you eat 25% less calories. I only at one slice and didn't feel the need for more. We took a shot of juice that has 22 antioxidants in it, and we tried the shakes. We tried the shake with water and with skim milk. I actually liked it with skim milk. She added cinamon and it reminded me of a mexican rice drink I've had before. We also were given a pill called accelerate. I took it after I ate and than worked out. It was suppose to help me burn more calories while I worked out. And to be honest I felt good while I ran.

Tonight I'm taking a pill called "flush" its suppose to help my colon. THey say its doesn't make you crap all over but helps get your colon healthy. YOu take it at night, so tomorrow I'll let you know if I'm pooping like crazy, haha.

Tomorrow I am to try a pill call xygn. It is suppose to give me energy and help curb the appetite. My friends grandma took it and than went and painted the ceiling in her basement. So I'm curious to see what it does tomorrow.

Overall I am satisfied with how I am losing weight and I don't feel that I need a product to help me. But I wouldn't mind an energy boost. I'm doing some research on it to see what I really think. I did not buy anything but if I like my results this week, I may be tempted. I think what tempts me more is selling it to other people and making money off it, lol! But who knows if I have time for that!

Anyway, I enjoyed a 4 mile run at the track tonight and I'm looking forward to working out tomorrow and seeing what xygn does for me at the gym. Love to all! ~Casey

Day of Rest

Today I gave my body a break. I've ran a total of  20 miles this week! I will exercise tomorrow because I am planning to eat pizza and I had pizza today so I don't want to really unhealthy days in a row :S Today's pizza was unplanned but it was nice. Dustin's aunt and uncle came out and visited. They came with supper (gambino's) and we really enjoyed visiting with them.

I have been working on my speed on the treadmill. I ran 2 miles in 17.50 and the fastest I did 4 miles was 36.23. I've been increasing the incline on the treadmill to help me conquer the hills when I run outside at home. I'm also trying to increase my speed so I can run a mile faster. I seem to be able to run so much faster on a treadmill but I struggle outside. So I am hoping that if I keep pushing myself on the treadmill it will help with my endurance outside. It sure that heck can't hurt!

On June 30th my family is doing a 5k run together in KC and I am really looking forward to it. Its called the color run and at each kilometer they throw a different color on you and at the end the send a ton of color up in the air. It looks like a ton of fun.

I am thinking I'd like to do a 10k run this year and maybe by this fall I could do a half a marathon. I'd really like to push myself to do more because I feel like I can do it. I really enjoy how I feel after a long hard run. I am also loving the changes I am seeing in my body. I can't weight to get closer to my weight goal and each week I get a little closer. Today I weigh 170.4. I have lost 12.6 pounds and I have earned everyone of them.

I am so glad I didn't try the gimmick way out buy drinking some special drink or taking some pill. I love my new lifestyle and I don't plan to change it any time soon. I hope I can encourage my friends to keep working out with me. Some are struggling but maybe my drive will propel them to jump back in the boat. I'd love for them to feel as good as I do. Anyway, I'm signing off for now. Love to all! Casey

6 weeks worth of results!

Jan 9th I weighed in at 183 pounds
Today I weigh in at 171.8

Here are my first measurements from Jan 11th!

*Chest: 37 1/2
*R. Arm: 11
*L. Arm: 11
*Waist: 33
*Hips: 44
*R. thigh: 25 1/2
*L. thigh: 25 1/2
*R. calf: 17
*L. calf: 17

MY MEASUREMENTS TODAY

Chest:33 ( 4 1/2 inches lost)
R Arm: 10 1/2 (1/2 an inch lost)
L Arm: 10 1/2 (1/2 an inch lost)
Waist: 30 (3 inches lost)
Hips: 37 1/2 ( 7 1/2 inches lost)
R. Thigh:21 1/2 (3 1/2 inches lost)
L Thigh:22 ( 3 inches lost)
R. calf: 16 (1 inch lost)
L calf: 16 (1 inch lost)
TOTALS LOST: 24 1/2 inches!

So in six weeks I lost 11 pounds and 24 1/2 inches! I am dang proud of that! I can't wait to see my results in 6 more weeks. I'm ready to lose some more pounds!

Today I ran 3 miles in 27 minutes and 50 seconds and I pushed myself to run another mile! I ran 4 miles in 36 minutes and 50 seconds. Than I walked for a quater of a mile and finished a 40 minute workout burning 600 calories! It felt great! I want to do some 5k runs this summer but if I keep going like this a 10k looks probable and if I can accomplish that than maybe a 1/2 marathon! I would love to be able to run a 1/2!

Anyway thanks for all the encouragement and "fat dances" in my honor! I am loving losing this weight and today Kohl was showing me his exercise moves and that just made my day! I am influencing him with my healthy choices! He makes me one proud mama! I love watching him dance, jump up and down and do sit ups! He is adorable! Anyway, til next time. Casey

weekend slump!

This weekend I did not work out. I felt horrible yesterday (bad headache) and today I've had other things to do. SOmetimes I just have to give the old body a break. I'm ready to hit the gym hard tomorrow. Anyway, hope everyone had a great weekend. Tomorrow I do measurements. Hope I see some good results. Love to all! Casey

91 minutes

I just spent 91 long minutes at the gym. I think that has to be my longest workout yet. I lifted weights for 30 minutes, I ran 3.25 miles in 31 minutes and I biked 6.10 miles in 30 minutes. Can ya feel the burn baby?! I had sweat dripping off me like a mad woman and it felt good. I'm building those muscles and I am kicking that fat in the ass! I want it off me. This Monday will mark 6 weeks of my new lifestyle change and I'm hoping to see some new results on my measurements!

This morning I weighed myself and 171.8 flashed up at me! I could have jumped for joy. I just have to lose a couple more pounds and I'll be in the 160s. To me that's going to be a big milestone! I may have to party when i hit the 150s. I haven't seen that range since Kohl was 10 months old. Shortly after I stopped breastfeeding I started packing on my weight. I had 16 lbs left to lose from that pregnancy and never go it done. Instead I gained 20, than I worked really hard last summer and lost 17lbs but than I gave up and gained it all back plus another 10. So when I stepped on the scale at work one night and 187 stared up at me I about had a heart attack.

I couldn't figure out how that had happened and why I had let myself get there. I've always enjoyed physical activity so why wasn't I doing it? If I didn't put a plan in motion soon I was going to be 200 pounds and probably headed towards an unhappy marriage. I say the marriage part because how you look is an attraction to your partner and if Dustin suddenly became fat I think it would affect my attraction for him. So why wouldn't it do the same for him?

I wallowed in self pity and shock for a few days. I kind of let myself be a bit depressed. I looked closer at myself in the mirror and I felt disgust. I almost started hating myself. Than I thought, hey, you have 2 gyms you can go to for FREE right now. Why not use them? You have a TV and DVD player with several different work out video's, why not use them? So now here I am, nearly 6 weeks later with an 11 pound weight loss. It's not nearly enough for me to be satisfied. I won't be satisfied til I actually succeed in losing what I need to but god it feels good to know I have lost 11 pounds and I have done it by eating right, exercising and the support of my family and good friends. So in two more pounds I'll probably shout from the roof tops and when i hit 20 I'll celebrate too. Heck I have a small victory dance for each pound because I am pleased with myself. I am happy because I am doing this!

Anyway, I need to hit the shower. Tonight I'm going with the husband to some kind of dinner meeting thing? I think we get steak and I have to dress nice. So i better get moving. This dinner is why I worked out an extra 30 minutes. I want to enjoy my supper without calorie counting ;-)

Until my next rant on weight loss! ~Casey

I hate full length mirrors

Today I walked by a full length mirror and went....eww! I don't like how I look. It's so much better when I can only see half of me at a time. A full length mirror gives me to much to digest at once. I can see my bottom and top half. Put them together and I don't like how I look but if I look at them separately I think they are looking better. Craziness I know but when you are working your butt off to lose weight you don't want to go by a mirror and think eww. I think I'll stay away from those things a while longer! lol, Or maybe I'll just use it as more motivation.

I know that all my hard work is going to pay off but sometimes I just want to look good NOW. I have very little patience which is probably why I am pushing myself so hard. I am going to prove to myself that I can stick with this. I really want this and I am going to make it happen. Sometimes when I am at the gym I will pick out a girl that I would like to look like and than I pick out one that is worse off than me. It motivates me to keep working towards the girl I want to look like and away from the girl I don't want to be. Magazines with pretty girls also motivate me. I see there abs (i don't care if they are air brushed on or not) but anyway, I see them and I think, I use to look like that, I can look like that! I can do this.

Today as I was working out I was thinking about myself. I've never considered myself the pretty one. I don't think I'm ugly but I'm right along the lines of average and I'm okay with that. But one thing I always had was my figure. And I thought I had a killer figure and somewhere along the way I let that go. I let the one thing I really thought I had going for me go. AND I MISS IT. I can't wait to get it back and feel sexy again. I want to look good because it makes me feel good and let's face it I'd like to look good for my husband. I want other men to think my husband is lucky because his wife is in shape. I mean I take pride in my husbands physique and I'm glad he doesn't have a beer belly, so why should he have to put up with mine??? lol....

Anyway, speaking of husbands today is his birthday and even though he isn't big on sweets I am going to bake him a cake. I worked out extra hard today so I could eat some with him and I can't wait to give him his gifts. I hope that what I got him will surprise him! ;-) Anyway, this week I am back on track with updating. I hope you enjoyed my rambles. Much love! ~Casey

I'm a slacker!

Sorry, I haven't wrote lately. I got a little busy and pushed this to side but i have not stopped working out! That I have been doing great on! I have finally lost 10 pounds. I now weigh 173 ;-)

I can really see the difference in my self and it was very encouraging when my mom could see it too. :) Makes you feel good to put on a pair of pants and need a belt to hold them up. Now if I could just keep that going because I have a lot of jeans that are still to tight. I'd like to throw my fat jeans out. I don't want to keep them so I can wear them again someday! The only time I ever want to wear them again will be as maternity pants.

That kind of freaks me out, thinking of getting pregnant and gaining weight back. But when I get to that point I will do things differently than last time. i am going to stay active and eat healthy so that I don't gain 50lbs and I can stay within the recommended 25 pound weight gain! But that's a long ways off! Right now I just want to lose weight, not think about babies!! ;-)

By the way HAPPY VALENTINES DAY! I love you all!

XOXOXOXO ~Casey

Updated measurements

Well my measurements are not as impressive as last time. Actually they are kind of confusing because my thighs apparently increased an inch? I'm thinking maybe our measurements are not really accurate as we all measure them a little differently. TOday I had two people measure me and they both came up with different measurements. But, I will continue with them because it is showing some kind of change.

Left Arm- 10 3/4 (1/4 inch loss)
Right Arm- 10 3/4 (1/4 inch loss)
Chest- 35 1/2 (1 1/2 inch loss)
Waist- 30 1/2 (1/2 inch loss)
Hips- 40 1/3 (7/8 inch loss)
L thigh- 23 1/3 (1 1/3 inch gain)
R thigh- 23 (1 inch gain)
L calf- 16 (1 inch loss)
R calf- 16 1/2 (1/2 inch loss)
TOTAL Loss: 4 3/8 inches

We won't measure again for two weeks. But for a months progress I think I doing well. Sometimes its hard because you want to see results faster but to do it the right way it takes time. I am working so hard to get where I want to be that I know it is going to pay off. It has to pay off because I am determined. I'm glad I have a support system or this would be a lot harder. But knowing that others are doing this with me holds me accountable. I don't want to be left behind to watch them succeed. I want to succeed right there with them. So now begins week 5, can't wait to see how I'm doing at week 7! I'm just going to KEEP GOING! <3 Casey <3

bah I can't do math!! lol

If I lose another 1.8lbs than I will have a ten pound weight loss. I started at 183 pounds.

My mom posted a picture on my facebook that said it takes 4 weeks for you to notice the change in your body, 8 weeks for your close friends and family and 12 weeks for the world to know. Well I am almost at 4 weeks and I can see changes. Probably not enough for my friends or my family but I can feel it and it makes me feel better about myself. I'm not so worried about what my body looks like right now to everyone because I know that I am changing it and it isn't going to stay that way. I look forward to going to the gym and my body seems to say "Thank you" afterwards.

Today I spent an hour at the gym. I did 33 minutes on the elliptical and 33 minutes lifting weights. I am trying to spend at least a couple of workouts a week lifting some weights. I also do the video's at home when I'm not at the gym and I always do something with cardio when I am at the gym.

I asked Kohl if he thought my belly was getting smaller and he said yes. He's such a doll. I doubt that he can really tell but just having him say yes really boosted this mama's spirit. After that he lifted his shirt and said, is my belly getting smaller? And I informed him that it was, that he was stretching it up cause he was getting so tall. ;-)

Another thing Kohl does that makes me feel good is that he wants to exercise too. On the nice days at daycare he will tell me that he exercised by riding the tricycle, or he exercised because they went on a walk and he always wants to exercise with me. Today we bought jump ropes so we could exercise together with them. All of this encourages me to keep going. He also tells me when we can't eat something because it has too much sugar and than he informs me of what he ate at daycare. Like today he had donuts with lots of sugar but at home we can't have that. LOL

He's also a little talkative at daycare. He informed them that his mom's butt hurt. I'm not sure if he told them I'd been working out or just that my butt hurt! But he was concerned for me. LOL! All in all I am doing great and feeling great about my progress. Tomorrow I have to go to the gym because I didn't exercise on Wednesday. Than I'll take Sunday off and start the process over on Monday. We also measure again on Monday and I am excited to see what changes it will show ;-)

I hope my friends that are sticking with it see great results as well. We all deserve to reach our goals and seeing change motivates you more. One motivation I had yesterday at the gym was a magazine. As I was running on the treadmill I looked up to see a SHAPE magazine with a girl in a bikini with awesome legs and nice abs and I though, I could be like that if I keep going. I feel like I once looked like that and if I could look like that before why can't I look like that again. SO when I get to where I want to be I am going to appreciate it because it's taking a lot of hard work to get there. Doing this has given me a new insight on everyone who has set out to lose weight and succeeded. They all deserve a huge round of applause for not giving up! So to everyone reading this I say KEEP GOING! We can do this!

Love, Casey

174.8

sooooooo nice to see the numbers on the scale going down! One more pound and I'll have a 10 pound weight loss! This is the 4th week since I started and to have lost 9 pounds in 4 weeks makes me very happy. If I could keep this up by March I'll have lost 18 pounds ;-) I don't know if its possible but I am sure going to keep working hard and try to get close to that ;-)

Anyway, nothing new to report. Plan to hit the gym tomorrow. Today I did the ellipitcal and treadmill. Tomorrow I'll do some cardio and than lift some weights.

Have a good one! Casey