Working out but not losing weight?

As I'm eating my healthy salad with tuna and homemade dressing for lunch, I got to thinking about a question someone asked me during boot camp last night. The question was, "How long did it take for you to start seeing results?" When I answered, "Pretty much right away," she looked kind of sad and said that she had not seen any real results after a couple of weeks of coming to boot camp. When I asked about her eating, she said it had not been optimum. When I told her that her diet was probably the reason, she mentioned that our trainer told her the same thing.

I can truly attest to this. I worked really hard with the "drop a dress size" diet plan and lost almost 24 pounds in 8 weeks. When that challenge was over, I went right back to eating like an idiot... in fact, probably worse. What happened? I gained TEN POUNDS in just a few weeks!

What's wrong with this picture?

I'm back on my program now, and since a friend is keeping my scale to help me with my issues (I weigh myself too much), I'm not sure exactly how much weight I've lost, but I'm probably down 5 or 6 pounds in 10 days.

I promise you I could lose a ton of weight just watching my diet, but it's EXTREMELY hard to lose weight with exercise alone.

Don't get me wrong... working out is important, too! We want to be strong and toned, AND adding muscle to our bodies makes us burn more calories--BONUS! However, food is truly the key to weight loss (or gain).

I hope you will learn from MY mistakes and make your eating program your priority. Next time you go to reach for a cookie or glazed doughnut (see photo), think about how many burpees you'd have to do to compensate!

And remember... Work hard and be patient... it's worth the weight!

Weight Loss Tool That's Small and Powerful | BONUS! Easy Salad Dressing Recipe

I like to take salads to work. It's a good way to get LOTS of veggies and to fill up without a lot of calories. However, there aren't a lot of good salad dressings that work with my food plan or that taste good to me.

So... I started making my own dressing. It's healthier, and tastes better, too. Then, I had to figure out how to carry the dressing to work. I found these little Tupperware Midgets, and they are perfect.

I tried making a big batch of dressing and pouring some into the Tupperware, but unfortunately, in the beginning I would get mostly oil pouring off the top. Since that wasn't working out too well, I decided to just create individual portions. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 TBSP Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/2 pinch Oregano
• 1/2 pinch Garlic Powder
• 1/2 pinch Onion Powder
• 1 pinch Sea Salt
• 1 pinch Black Pepper
• 1 pinch red pepper flakes (careful...this gets HOT really quick)
• 1-1/2 TBSP Red Wine Vinegar (approximately)

Directions

1. Put olive oil and dry ingredients in container
2. Fill the container the rest of the way with the vinegar
3. Shake

I like to make this ahead of time to let the flavors blend. Sometimes I make 5 all at once so that I'm all set for the work week.

Switch up the ingredients to suit your dietary needs and taste. Use rice wine vinegar, a little bit of sesame oil and soy sauce for an Asian dressing. Or add some mustard for a creamier dressing. The beauty is that if you don't like it, it's only 2 oz. Throw it away and start over!

Do you have a "go to" tool? A favorite salad dressing recipe? Please comment below.

And remember... Work hard and be patient... it's worth the weight!

Update! The 8-Week Weight Loss Challenge Results

After recommitting to getting my weight back on track, I joined an 8-week team weight loss challenge. Our team, Angels and Demons, came in second, losing a total of 27 pounds. I lost 23.6.

How did I do it? I worked REALLY hard and followed an extremely strict diet plan.

It was not easy, but the results were worth it.

We have started another weight loss challenge at my boot camp. The challenge started on Monday, 4/21 with each of us putting $10 in the jar. At the end of the challenge (6 weeks), the person who has lost the highest percentage of weight will win the contents of the jar ($200+).

I want that money! And, I'm going to use this blog to show how I get there.

Watch me... keep me accountable... cheer me on... I need the support!

Are you trying to lose weight, too? (If you're reading this, the answer is probably "yes.") What are you doing? What's working? What's not? Please comment!

And remember... Work hard and be patient... it's worth the weight!

Back on track!

So... this seems to be the struggle for EVERY person who loses weight--especially if they lose a LOT of weight. I lost 110 pounds and then gained 75 of it back. I was so ashamed and disgusted that it caused me to not want to see my friends. What would they say/think? They had seen me some time ago and I had gotten so "skinny." They were proud of me. They congratulated me. 

Now I was fat again (not AS fat, but still FAT). Surely they would judge me. Surely they wouldn't love me as much.

Well, guess what? The only person who judged me and didn't love me as much was ME! Abandoned by the trainer who helped me lose all the weight (let's just say his girlfriend was the reason), I was lost. I didn't care and I just kept getting fatter.

Then, some friends at work joined a boot camp. I went, too, but I didn't change my eating habits. I worked out pretty regularly and even managed to complete a 5K (or other race) every month. However, I was still getting fatter!

My co-worker, Linda, told me about her boot camp, and I decided to give it a try. It's close to work and it's mostly ladies, mostly my age. I did the boot camp, but I still didn't fix my diet. I was tired, bored and lonely, and food was my solace.

What happens after that is for my next post.

Lose 10 Pounds... (Happy Hour Edition)

To lose ONE pound, we need a 3500 calorie deficit. If you cut just 100 calories/day, you can lose 10 pounds in a year! Here are some creative ideas on how you can cut 100 calories from your happy hour. Just think, if you find a way to cut 100 calories 3 times a day, you could be 30 pounds lighter by the end of the year! If you missed the earlier posts in the "100 calorie" series, scroll down for the breakfast and lunch editions.

• Nurse a single glass of wine instead of downing 2 beers.
• Ask for your rum and cokes in a highball glass. Bartenders pour an average of 20 percent less liquid into taller tumblers, so you'll swig less per round.
• Drizzle extra hot sauce, not blue cheese or ranch dressing, on your wings.
• Ordering a cocktail? Make it on the rocks instead of frozen. Slushy fruit drinks tend to be made with bottled mixers that contain added sugar and syrups.
• Blending your own? Have a daiquiri, not a piña colada.
• Pop the cap off of an MGD 64 instead of a bottle of Killian's Irish Red.
• Sip a glass of water between drinks—pacing yourself can help you cut back by a glass or more.
• Dip your nachos in salsa rather than guacamole.
• For automatic portion control, sip wine from a Champagne flute, not an oversize goblet.

Lose 10 pounds... (Lunch Edition)

To lose ONE pound, we need a 3500 calorie deficit. If you cut just 100 calories/day, you can lose 10 pounds in a year! Here are some creative ideas on how you can cut 100 calories from your lunch. Just think, if you do that at breakfast, lunch AND dinner, you could be 30 pounds lighter by the end of the year! If you missed the first post in the "100 calorie" series, click here to see some ideas on how to skinny down your breakfast.

• Leave the Swiss cheese out of your sandwich.
• Slather your bread with mustard rather than mayo and save 80 calories per tablespoon.
• Pass up croutons at the salad bar.
• Use up to 10 pumps of ranch dressing spray instead of pouring 2 tablespoons from a bottle.
• Devour a slice of Pizza Hut cheese pan pizza instead of the meat lover's variety.
• Take your iced tea unsweetened.
• Reach for a Snapple raspberry white tea instead of a Snapple raspberry iced tea.
• Stuff chicken salad into a whole-wheat pita instead of between slices of multigrain bread.
• Make your burger turkey, not beef.
• Slurp minestrone soup instead of cream of anything.
• Go bunless—shed your hamburger roll.
• Use south-of-the-border savvy: Have a quesadilla made with two 6-inch corn, not flour, tortillas.

Lose 10 pounds... (Breakfast Edition)

To lose ONE pound, we need a 3500 calorie deficit. If you cut just 100 calories/day, you can lose 10 pounds in a year! Here are some creative ideas on how you can cut 100 calories from your breakfast. Just think, if you do that at breakfast, lunch AND dinner, you could be 30 pounds lighter by the end of the year!

• Ditch the Pop-Tart for a slice of high-fiber toast with strawberry jam.
• Gotta have carbs? Split a bagel with a coworker.
• Drink your two cups of coffee black. Or order a single espresso instead of your usual latte.
• Swap OJ for the real deal—one fresh orange.
• Trade a side of regular sausage for turkey.
• Top your waffles with Reddi-Whip instead of syrup (or use sugar-free).
• Skip the whip on any Caribou Coffee 16-ounce drink.
• Eat your granola from a 4-ounce mug, not an 8-ounce bowl.
• Lose the Yoplait Thick& Creamy and have a Yoplait Fiber 1.
• Order pancakes, but hold the butter.
• Scramble together 4 egg whites instead of 2 whole eggs.