The Chatty Gourmet

Hi all, so it has been awhile since I have updated you on what has been going on with me, along with what is new here at SHG. First off, I would like to start by saying I hope everyone has had a great summer. I know for me it was pretty relaxing. I took the summer off from school and have just been working, and enjoying time with friends. This last week I started my last semester of College at Cal State Fullerton. It has been overwhelming but exciting at the same time.

At the start of the summer I did a lot of splurging, going out to dinner, enjoying food at the fair, and so on. However, now at the end of summer I feel all of my splurging, may have resulted in a few extra, unwanted pounds! It was time for me to get back on track with my eating and working out. Two of my co-workers and I decided to start hitting the gym regularly. Sometimes we all go together and other times due to conflicting schedules we go alone. We all have passes and have found it is both fun and motivating to be accountable to each other. We also enjoy trying new classes and some weight training together. One of the classes I have really enjoyed is trampoline aerobics; it takes place at a local gym in Costa Mesa, called Sky High. The class may sound more fun than beneficial to your body, but you’d be surprised. It is the most amazing work out and the next day you feel it all over!

 As far as eating I have gotten back to the thing that I know works; Susan’s Healthy Gourmet. Throughout the week I pretty much only eat SHG meals, then I treat myself on the weekends and go out to eat with friends. I have already been feeling better about myself. I am less tired and have noticed that I am toning up. Grab a buddy and hit the gym or try some new, fun ways to get that body in motion!

Hello all, I know that it has been a while since my last post. The longest since I have started blogging and I want to apologize, however I am here now to update you on the last several months. Let me start by saying I had surgery to remove my tonsils on January 3, 2011, it was the worst experience ever. Nothing went right, I couldn't keep down the pain medication due to the fact I could not eat. I was in pain, miserable and out of work for two full weeks, much longer than I had planned.

Initially, because of the fact that I could not eat I lost more weight, which was great. The only problem with that was the minute I started eating I gained the weight I lost during the surgery, plus the weight that I had worked so hard to lose from August to the start of January. I was so hungry after not being able to eat for several weeks I literally ate everything in sight. I also developed thresh in my mouth, got pink eye due to my immune system being down, and had several side effects with talking and hearing. I was depressed, emotional, and hungry. So to say the least it has been a rough couple months.

This last week I have finally been able to get back on track. My routine with school, work, softball and friends has been steady. Emotionally I have also felt more normal again. On monday I got back on the wagon with my eating, calorie count and portion sizes. I already feel better and hope to get back to where I was pre-surgery. This is something that is not easy,  but I hope by sharing my experience you might be able to take something from it. You might feel motivated with whatever it is you might be struggling with. We all have set backs but as long as we keep pushing forward we can do anything as long as we our willing to take the action. So good luck to you all and i will be in touch soon (I promise it will be in less than 3 months this time).

Alysse

So it has been about a month since I have updated you all on my progress with my weight loss and healthy living. It has been an interesting month as well. I have been sick twice and recently found out I need to have my tonsils removed in January. Despite the illness  and the Thanksgiving holiday I have still managed to stay on track. Although, now that I only have a few pounds left to my goal weight it has been a slower process. I have two more pounds until I am at the goal I set for myself at the end of August. I am at a total loss of 18 pounds and feel great. I think I am most excited to know that I have changed my eating habits completely, thus keeping the weight off even without being able to exercise. Unfortunately, due to my knee injury and being sick, yes, I will admit I haven’t been exercising. This was part of my original goal but some times life gets in the way. So hopefully after the New Year and my surgery I will be able to start back up with the exercising and tone up a bit. For now I will continue to regulate my eating to the best of my ability on a daily basis through the rest of this holiday season. One dessert I treat myself to is the ginger snaps here at SHG. They are so good and a great way to enjoy the season.

So we all know that lately I have been keeping you all updated on my current weight loss. However, I have had a few questions of my own. One question that crossed my mind was the effects of splurging every once in a while. For example, right now during the holiday season. Recently I was scrolling through Yahoo Health and found a great article on what a splurge day can actually mean in terms of weight gain. I was surprised to learn that it takes quite a bit of splurging to gain one single pound. According to Heather Hawkins a fitness nutrition coach “It would probably take about a week for a true one-day overage of 3500 (remember, that’s 3500 OVER your daily burn, so we’re talking a 5500+ calorie day here) to convert to a single pound of permanent body mass.”I don’t know about you but this was somewhat comforting to me. I mean a total of 5500 calories is quite a bit of food. So as long as you keep with in your means you should be able to have a guilt free splurge day once in a while. Just remember that the holiday is one day so keep the splurging to that day.

Read more...