Exercising

*Where are my balloons and my party for my two week mark?

As you know, I quit drinking soda on July 20th. I am not sure how long it had been since I last had a soda, so I will just say the 20th. That is the day I decided I would stop drinking soda. That means today it has been two weeks since I officially stopped drinking soda. What I love, is that it was easy, like it always is. I just truthfully and honestly love the taste of Mountain Dew and that is what had me wanting more. Luckily, I never went through the "withdraws". Does this mean I wasn't addicted? Haha

I went to the gym yesterday and worked out for almost an hour. I need to remember to get my running in before I am so tired from walking (fast of course). I only ran for a couple of minutes, but the rest of the time, I was speed walking and working up quite a sweat.

Today, I am planning on doing a lot more running. I am not a runner and honestly, I don't really like running. But, I will do it for a healthier me. I go to the Bubble (that will be what I always call it...aka: the Rec Center). It is not my favorite gym, but it is close and has the necessary equipment to help me on my journey. My little sister and I went to a gym that we both loved. The secret to getting us Bailey's to a gym is a TV! No joke! I know the Rec Center has TV's too, but the other gyms TV's were awesome. Plus, they had a theater room. It was in the dark and played a great movie every day. That is where Heather and I spent most of our time. Doing exercise while watching a great movie makes the time go by super fast. It doesn't seem like an hour or two. It was heaven. There was seriously no motivation needed to go because we could also be "lazy" there (meaning: still being able to watch TV...haha).

At any rate, this journey has only begun. I have already been eating a lot better for a little more than two weeks, plus now I am exercising and being more active. I cant wait to see start seeing the results.

Krista

Mountain Dew it's up to you! It's like no other when you discover it!!!

Ill write in green today to sponsor Mountain Dew... hmm...yummy!!!

My name is Krista Bailey and it has been seven days since my last soda...
aka: Mountain Dew!

A couple weeks ago, I blogged about my love for Mountain Dew. And as with many things we love, sometimes we just have to let things go. Mountain Dew would be one of these things for me.

It has been an entire week without any Mountain Dew, or any soda for that matter. If I am being totally honest, I dont feel a "healthier"difference yet. But what I have noticed is I feel a lot more tired. I am not sure if this really correlates with not drinking Mountain Dew or if it is just a coincidence since this past week I havent fallen asleep before midnight...haha. At any rate, I am drinking more water. I am getting between 48-62 oz every day.

How am I doing it:
For one thing, I told people that I am not drinking Mountain Dew, or any soda for that matter, anymore. I fully acknowledge when we go into a restaurant that I will not drink soda and that I will have a "cold glass of water." I do this when I am at home as well. I know it does sound funny, but it does help. Plus, when I really do want a Mountain Dew, my friends are around. This helps me be accountable for my own actions- knowing they might "judge" (term said loosely and more for entertainment) me.

Another thing that helps me is I carry around my Camel back water bottle. My little sister and her husband got these water bottles a couple of years ago and since then, it has become a little fad within my little group of friends, as well within my family. The camel back is just so convenient. We love our camel backs!!

So HORRAY for me!!! Let's hope I can go another week without any of that deliciousness I call Mountain Dew...

Until next time,

Krista

Meatloaf

*I will try to remember to take pictures when I cook these yummy meals.

Last night we had some delicious meatloaf. When I was younger, well, really pre-mission, I did NOT like meatloaf. My mom would make it all the time, and I don't think anyone ever ate it but her. I never understood why she kept making it. Luckily, my mission helped me like a lot more variety of food. I am really grateful for that too because now I really like to try all sorts of new foods.

I don't have the exact recipe with me, but I am pretty sure I can remember it:
1 lb ground beef (we substitute that for ground turkey)
I egg
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp dry mustard (we used regular mustard)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
4 slices of bread (we used gluten free bread, but I am sure a similar amt of oatmeal would work)
1 tsp sage (we didn't use because we don't have sage)

First beat the egg, then add milk, salt, pepper, dry mustard and mix. Add meat and bread (make into bread crumbs). Mix all ingredients together. (I mix in a large mixing bowl and just use my hands). Place meatloaf in bread pan and cook for 1 1/2 hours at 350. Approximately, 10-15 minutes before meatloaf is finished, I mixed ketchup and a little bit of mustard together and put on top of the meatloaf. It makes a jelly like topping and it is delicious!

Sides:
Squash- cut into slices and boiled. Can add a little butter and salt for flavor.
Red Potato- microwaved for approx. 5 minutes. Put a little butter, salt, and some cottage cheese on top.

This was a delicious meal. It does take a little time to cook, so prepare for that time. I was able to be productive during that time and I cleaned the house, the kitchen and family room, which helped with the exercising part.

Once again, share your healthy recipes please. I would love to have a healthy recipe book someday!!!

Krista

[Side note: We also went and saw Despicable Me last night. It was a freakin hilarious movie!!! "It's so fluffy, I'm gonna die!!!!!" Haha... classic! It is a definite must see!]

Thanks to Jamee!!!!

One of my really healthy friends, Jamee, came over to our house last night to give us the run-down on what we need to do to be more healthy. I really learned a lot and was reminded of a lot of different exercises and food tips.

Jamee gave us some healthy recipes to foods everyone already eats anyway. As we try them out, I will share them with you. We are going to try out the meatloaf tonight. One thing Jamee kept saying was, "look at all the ingredients- they aren't bad for you." That stuck out to us a lot. Jetta and I, on our own, have been trying to eliminate or substitute certain foods. One thing we have done is stop using sour cream. We have found a delicious substitute- cottage cheese. I know it sounds nasty, but it is actually really good, and most of the time, we cant even tell a difference. We put cottage cheese on potatoes (red), nachos, taco soup- really just anything we would have normally put sour cream on. It adds a healthy protein to our diet. Ive also heard to use honey instead of sugar, and applesauce instead of oil/ butter. We all need to remember diets DO NOT work. If you want to lose weight, you need to make it a LIFE change. You cant just exercise and lose 50 lbs and then expect the weight to stay off if you never exercise again or stop eating healthy. We all need to make healthier changes in our lives. We need to make a life change!

( Please feel free to share some healthy meals that you have tried as well. We all could use more healthy recipes!)

Jamee and I also talked about MOUNTAIN DEW! This drink is literally killing my body slowly. I am really not a muncher of foods, I am a drinker of my Mountain Dew. I am really trying to be better and drink water. I can honestly say, I do not like drinking water. I feel it does nothing for me (I know, right! haha). But today, I have already drank 48 oz of water. Do I feel better? No, but in time, I know I will. I think it will be a slow, but ever evolving change. Drinking water is one step closer for me to be living a more healthy lifestyle.

A funny, yet ironic thing- I actually do like to exercise. I LOVE feeling the burn and the aches after a nice workout. I like to even feel the pain the next day. If I don't feel pain, I get a little upset with myself. The questions is then, "Why am I chubby?" One answer is, I am super lazy. I work an 8-5 job. When I get home, I am already tired, and I just want to relax and do nothing. Sometimes I like to read, watch TV, or even clean (only when our house is so nuts it kills me not too...haha). In those things I like to do, I need to add exercising. One thing I am going to try to do better is bring my gym clothes with me to work. If I do that, I can change into my gym clothes at work and then head straight to the gym after work. This will eliminate me already being home and settling in to other things- not pertaining to exercising. Jamee also said, when I am being lazy and watching TV, that I could and should do some simple exercises.

Honestly, Jamee coming over last night was super amazing. It is getting me closer and closer to the path of me being a healthier person. I am grateful that I have people who are rooting me on and who are also on the same healthy path that I am trying to get on. Thanks for the continued comments and support. This journey is going to be long and life changing, and I am glad I can share it with you!

Thanks again, Jamee!!! I really appreciated it!

KR-ista

Am I still on thr right path???

So, as for writing each week...Sorry about not doing that.

On the up and up...

I have been doing a whole lot better. I haven't lost any weight, but I think I am on the right path. I started to stop drinking soda, but for some reason, I always end up drinking it again. I really REALLY like my soda. I know I need to stop drinking it, but I just really love the way it tastes. Is there anything anybody has tried to help them not drink it or to slowly get weened off of it? Suggestions are greatly appreciated here!

Jetta and I have been really good about making a food preparation list for the week. We have a planned schedule of what we are going to eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack times. This has helped us know how many calories we are truly eating in a day. I realize one of my key problems is, I actually dont get enough calories in a day. I was eating about 1100, if not sometimes less. Yikes. To help us with knowing how many calories we need to eat a day, we go to livestrong.com. (Jamee- if you know of a more accurate way to figure out how many calories I need to eat per day, please let me know. As well as how many calories I would need to burn. I figure you would know because you are such a health/ nutrition person.) Jetta and I have also been making specific grocery lists from our food preparation list. This helps cut out "binging" grocery shopping. It helps us cut out a lot of crap we used to buy.


** If you have fun snack suggestions or craving helpers, we would LOVE to know. I think it is tough to lose weight and be healthy because we are limited to our own knowledge. This is where are educational systems are lacking greatly. This lack of information on how to be and stay healthy is ruining our country. We need to be taught how to be healthy people better- not only from our teachers, but from our doctors too.

Along with my soda addiction, I do have a tough time going to the gym everyday. I started off going string, but surely enough, it seems like we are never going to the gym. I know it is hard to go to the gym, so I was thinking I need to stay active throughout the entire day, and this would also help me lose some weight and get on track to a healthier me. I do have an office at my work with a door. So I was thinking I needed to bring some exercise equipment here so I could do some exercise during my breaks and on lunch. I was thinking about bringing the ball in to sit on, instead of using my chair. I hear this helps build some of the upper body. I was also going to start doing sit-ups, lunges, and lift some arm weights. **Again, if you have suggestions on what else I could be doing, dont hesitate to inform me! I am wanting to know!!!

Other then drinking my soda and not going to the gym... haha... I think I am on a better path to getting healthier then a couple weeks ago! And I am excited to continually share my thoughts and my internal and external changes with you all.

Till next time...

Krista

PS... This summer, so far, has been full of a lot of fun. I went boating 4 weeks in a row. My body is in continual recovery of all the damage from tubing and wake boarding and from the really nasty sunburns.

I also have a new job, and I am really like it! It has been a great opportunity to learn new things and to meet new people.

Good Idea...

I saw one of my friends blog about losing weight. She writes on her blog weekly about what she has done that week that has helped her lose the weight. I was thinking, what a great idea. I dont have a lot of blog followers...if there are any still out there who read my blog, since it has almost been a year since I have last blogged.

My goal is to write on my blog, at least once a week, and share what I have done the past week to help me lose some weight. This is also a good way for me to be accountable to something. I figure, it wont hurt anything. At the least, I will have one random blog post about this... who knows.

My goal:
I wont say how much I weigh, because let's be honest, that would just be embarrassing. My goal is to be a more healthier me by the beginning of 2011... That gives me a little more than six months. I would be ok with losing 50lbs., but I am almost thinking 60. We shall see. I dont want to be super skinny... I just want to feel and look more healthy. I honestly dont think it will take me six months to reach my goal, but I need an end point if I would like to reach my goal.

So for now:
I am going to slowly, but surely, stop drinking soda.
I am going to plan my meals- especially lunch for work. I seem to eat out a lot because I forget my lunch. Oopsie!!
I am going to exercise for, at least, an hour five times a week- doing cardio everyday and switch strength training between upper and lower body.
I am also going to drink the amount of water I am suppose to be drinking... YIKES!!!
I am also going to limit calories to max: 1500 and min: 1200.

If you guys have things that help you lose weight and stay healthy, please let me know.

Get excited... because I am!!!

K to the Rista!