Sickness and Stress

Wow...We have not done a very good job at keeping our blog updated and we apologize! The past few weeks have been absolutely crazy! Both of us have been fighting off colds, sinus headaches, coughs...whatever else that has been going around here in Michiana. This crazy weather has NOT helped and it seems that when one of us is feeling better, the other one gets something else. It's a vicious cycle! LOL

On top of being sick, both of us have been on stress overload. Ashley's husband has become the new store manager at the Sears in Bourbonnais, IL. Although this is something Ashley & Rick have been wanting, it now means that Ashley is moving in June. :o( Carrie has recently started back at Victoria's Secret, so on top of her full time job through the week, she is now working again on the weekends. All of this stress/change has made it a little harder to stay on our schedule...ok, a lot harder.

As many can probably relate, when you're sick and/or stressed, all you want is comfort food. Needless to say, we had quite a few cheat days these past few weeks. :o/ Something we both have found out though, is that after we cheated, we wish we hadn't. The food may have tasted good, but we just felt like it sat heavy in our stomachs. We're working on getting back on track and learning from our "mistakes."

One thing we like to help us "restart" is the Fat Burning Cocktail. All it is, is green tea and the juice of 1 orange, lemon, and lime. We drink this stuff like it's going out of style. It took us a while to get the ratio correct and for it to taste good! We use a 12 cup coffee pot to make our "cocktail." We brew 5 bags of Lipton Green Tea with a full pot of water and add the citrus juice. It takes some getting used to, but after awhile, we craved it! We've found that it also helps with any bloating we're experiencing.

As soon as things settle down around here, we're going to try to start posting a bit more regularly. Please don't forget about us! And if there's anything you'd like to know, please leave us a comment either on here or one of our Facebook pages. We're always open to ideas on what we should write about! :o)

~*~*Ashley & Carrie*~*~

Hurry! Write a Blog Post! Ashley's Internet is Working!

Not having the internet at Ashley's has made it very difficult to keep up with our blog. The internet is deciding to only work once in a blue moon and it's been very frustrating. Hopefully we will be back up and running more regularly once Ashley and Rick switch internet providers. *ugh*

Just a quick update and some pictures for today's post...

We have finally started to exercise! We're both not fans of exercise, and want to have fun if we have to do it. Carrie bought Zumba 2 for the Wii and we tried that for the first time last night. It's hard, but a lot of fun. Ashley is so not coordinated and was pretty much making up her own moves. Carrie rocked it though. Ashley's cousin, Kelly, also recommended a quick workout plan that we hope to incorporate as well. We've been pretty successful losing weight by just changing our eating habits, but we know we'll be even more successful now that we've decided to start exercising.

Ashley just wants to say that she finds it very awesome that she and Carrie have influenced quite a few people so far! Ashley's mom has bought the CarbLover's book, cookbook, and Pocket Guide. So have a few of her other friends. Rock on people! We hope you all enjoy it as much as we have! :o) Keep us updated on your progress and success!

~*~*Ashley & Carrie*~*~




               Carrie, Ashley, and Amanda had a "Girls Night" the other night. On the menu...
                                                       
                                                         Roasted Asparagus...

                                                            ...and potato skins.

                                                               

                                                     

                                  Kashi Go Lean! Crunch with blueberries...really good!

                                Pizza with Proscuitto and Tomatoes...supposed to have
                                      fresh Basil, but we forgot to buy it, oops! haha

                         Pasta with ham, peas, and parmesan cheese. Serving size: 2 cups
                                                           (One of our favorites)  

                                Made potato skins, again. These things are AMAZING!!!
                              And we're allowed to have 2 potato skins (1 whole potato).

                Ashley's new camera is really cool! We can get really awesome close-up pics :o)

Imperfection is Beauty

Ok, we are heading into our second month of actually doing our diet. In the last month we have learned quite a bit about not just food, but about ourselves.

We have learned what foods are going to help us reach our goals. Foods high in RS are key to helping our bodies flush that fat. We learned that carbs are not a bad thing, as many other "diets" suggest. How many people do you know that have actually followed through on their "New Years Resolution" of losing those extra pounds this year? Not many people can actually follow through because they are being deprived of something. We are rarely hungry, our meals fill us and we rarely feel like we are going without (Girls, when on your period you will want cake, cookies, ice cream and anything chocolate...make sure that you plan your start date well! FYI you can have these things but use moderation and self control. Also know that your weight will fluctuate between 2 and 5 pounds). We don't like to consider this a "diet" even though the name says it is. When changing your eating habits and becoming healthier is labeled as a diet, more times than not you're not as prone to sticking to it. Having this mentality is why we think we've been pretty successful this past month.

What have we learned about ourselves? We've learned that we can, in fact, control our cravings. It hasn't been easy, but we've done it. When all we can think about it eating a cheeseburger, a piece of cake, or drinking coffee/pop we either talk to one another or find something else that we know will be just as satisfying and much healthier for us. We've learned that cheat days are necessary, but having one after just a week of starting all of this was WAY too soon. We have learned that exercise is not necessarily necessary, especially when you don't really like to do it. Will we exercise, yes but we don't want to be body builders and having that pressure off of us has help us stick to this a little better. Conquer one thing at a time. We've learned that we wouldn't be as successful if we were doing this alone. Both of us are so grateful for the other.

This is not easy. We have been told we make it sound that way. We have to sit down, plan a weeks worth of menus and a grocery list, spend two hours at the store (we are getting better at the time thing)and then make the food. Sticking to it when you're tired, frustrated or stressed is hard. However we have found that through  all of that, having our menu planned out and having each other makes this so much easier. If you decide to do something like this make sure that you have a good support system and that you are ready to make this change. Also make sure your support system is with someone that you are willing to spend A LOT of time with! That person, if not already, is going to be your best friend for the next 6 months. Explain to family and friends what  you're doing and ask them to be supportive as well.  Both of our significant others have been super supportive and understanding and we are very appreciative of them.

Here are some inspirational quotes from Carrie's favorite "plus size" role model, Marilyn Monroe...

"To all you girls who think you're fat because you're not a size zero, you're the beautiful one. It's society who's ugly."

"Imperfection is beauty. Madness is genius. And it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring." 

"When it comes down to it, I let them think what they want. If they care enough to bother what I do, I'm already better than them anyway."

*~*Ashley and Carrie*~*

Porkin It Up!

We have completed our second round of the 7-Day Kickstart Plan. In the Kickstart plan we are allowed 1200 calories a day with one snack, which can be consumed whenever you would like to have it. We both chose to do our snack in the afternoon, around 3 o'clock, because its about halfway between lunch and dinner. Snacks are key in this diet because it prevents between meal binging.
In the second phase of the diet (Immersion Phase) we are allowed to have 1600 calories a day and two snacks. The second snack is usually a "dessert", however; if you have more then ten to fifteen pounds to lose it is recommended that you stay with one snack. We have chosen to stay with one snack, unless we are very under calories (Carrie was today) for the day.

After this weekend both Ashley and Carrie have come to the conclusion that Saturday and Sunday's are the hardest days to stick to a diet. Our schedules are off and we are sitting at home watching the clock and getting up to see whats in the kitchen. We know that we are not hungry, but we are both bored eaters and we just need to "munch". Having the meal plan written out in journals helps, because we know what we can eat. When we have a night that we don't know what we are doing, it makes it really hard to stick to the plan, and very tempting to just run through the drive through and pick up something fast.

The menu for today was a little different for each of us. Breakfast for Ashley was Kashi Crunch with Frozen (fresh) Blueberries and a Banana. Carrie had Banana Walnut Oatmeal. Lunch for Ashley was a Broccoli and Cheese Baked Potato (Wendy's) and Carrie had a Lean Pocket, also broccoli and cheese.......... sorry for the pause but Ashley just saw a Breaking Dawn commercial and started freaking out...kinda funny...... Dinner was a Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Apricot Barley Pilaf. Both of us were a little concerned about the pork, Ashley doesn't do well with pork, and Carrie just doesn't eat it. We all really enjoyed it. (Rick and Amanda too)

Tuesday January 31, 2012
Ashley is weighing in at 277 - total lost is 17 pounds
Carrie is weighing in at 170 - total lost 14 pounds


Note: Amanda T thought of our title, we give credit where credit is due

(Ashley got a new camera and we are currently trying to figure out how to get the pictures into a .jpeg format so we can upload them. So...pics to come soon!)

Taking a Starring Role is....Resistant Starch!

So we mentioned before about Resistant Starch (RS). Well, that's what we are going to talk about tonight and why it's a big deal. RS is a type of carb that resists digestion. It doesn't get absorbed in the bloodstream in the small intestines like other foods. "It creates a chain reaction in your body, literally shrinking fat cells, preserving muscle, stoking your metabolism, and making you feel fuller, longer."

"Resistant Starch might sound exotic, but the foods that have it are probably in your kitchen right now! As a bonus, they're affordable, tasty, and easy to prepare." Some of the top RS Foods are: Bananas, Oatmeal, White Beans, Potatoes, Whole-Wheat Pasta, Brown Rice, and much more. On the CarbLovers diet, you are suppose to consume 10-15 grams of RS daily. Most people only consume about 4.8 grams. So, the more RS you eat, the more weight you're going to lose. We try to eat a banana everyday. Green bananas are actually the highest RS food on the list. Ashley isn't a huge fan of green bananas, but she's getting used to eating "crunchy" bananas. Carrie was stoked about the green bananas, because that's the way she has always preferred them. We love our Breakfast Shakes, which we've mentioned before, and we also really like Banana and Almond Butter Toast, and something called the Banana Nut Elvis Wrap.

All-in-all, Resistant Starches are your secret weapon to successfully loose weight on this diet, without feeling hungry or having cravings. They're only found in carbohydrate foods! So many people are freaked out about eating carbs, but in reality, if you don't eat carbs, you won't lose weight.





Please note that some information given was paraphrased or taken straight from our copy of "The CarbLovers Diet" By Ellen Kunes and Frances Largeman-Roth, R.D

Busy, Busy, Busy...

We haven't posted anything since last Wednesday, and we feel really bad. We both have been busy since then and haven't had time to sit down and write anything. But we promise that we'll be back tomorrow with a couple of posts...so keep checking back!  Thanks for all of your support! :o)

Beans, Beans, the Musical Fruit...

What was on tonight's menu? Black Bean Tacos! These have become one of Ashley & Carrie's favorite meals. They're super easy and are ready in like 10 minutes. All they are are 6" white corn tortillas, black beans, carrots, salsa, cheese, and lettuce...and we're allowed to have 3 of them! Very filling and oh so yummy!

The CarbLovers Diet suggests getting creative with beans of all kinds. Beans are a "true star of the carb world." They pack a lot of both types of fiber and are a weight loss secret weapon! "Soluble fiber helps you feel full by absorbing water, and it prevents some of the calories you take in from getting absorbed into your blood stream. It also slows the absorption of glucose, helping your blood sugar levels stable."  (It's no wonder since Carrie can't eat a full serving, LOL)  "Insoluble fiber is bulky and fills you up, triggering the feeling of satiety. It also keeps things moving, which prevents bloating. A Brigham Young University study of 252 woman found that one gram increase in the amount of fiber consumed correlated with half a pound of weight loss." So the song is true... "Beans, beans, the musical fruit, the more you eat, the more you toot. The more you toot, the better you feel. So eat your beans at every meal!"

Today for lunch we ate Chicken Pita Sandwiches. "This easy sandwich will fill you up on lean protein with a hearty 5 grams of fiber from the whole grain pita and vegetables inside." Again, one of our favorite meals and super easy! Chicken, baby spinach, red pepper, low fat Italian dressing, and a whole grain pita. It's a salad in a sandwich!

Breakfast was just as easy, a Banana Shake Plus. We make them the night before so it's a breakfast-on-the-go as we're leaving for work in the mornings! All it is is a banana, low fat milk, honey, ice, and ground flax seed.

Now tell us, all of the things we mentioned are just as easy to get at a restaurant, in some variation right?  But we can make them at home, in our pjs, know what's going in all of our meals, and save a boat load of cash. Our entire meal plan for the day maybe totals $30, if that, for the both of us. (We do buy in bulk.) You can go out to dinner for one night, have food that's similar, but less filling, and pay the same amount or more, on 1 meal. For us, that's about $10 a person. (Rick included) Not to say we don't like going out to eat, but whatever happened to the time when going to a restaurant was a treat...not a daily occurrence???  We will admit, that going to a restaurant is so much simpler then cooking at home. They do all the work for you; however, we have found that we have more energy to do these things since we've changed our eating habits. None of it seems like a chore. And when you have your best friend to help you, it makes working in the kitchen that much more enjoyable!

We've mentioned before that working together on this has made it so much more enjoyable! Yes, you could do this diet by yourself, but when you have someone right there alongside you, doing and eating the exact same things, you have that huge support system to back you up. We have both had bad days when all we want to do is go grab an Oreo (ok a box), a cup of coffee (we'll explain about coffee later), a Diet Coke. When we have those moments, we text each other right away. Carrie texts ALL. DAY. LONG. Ashley's phone explodes when she turns it on at the end of the day! However, Carrie says, "Texting your support system helps release pent up frustrations with not getting what you 'think' you need."

We invite you to comment here or send us a message on Facebook if you choose to join us in the CarbLovers Diet; especially if you don't have a support system like the 2 of us have with each other. We'll be more than happy to encourage you along on your journey!

"Good friends are like stars. You don't always have to see them, but you know they're always there."
*~*Ashley & Carrie*~*

                                                   
                                                           Black Bean Tacos...YUM!

                                                     

                             We're making the Banana Shake with Strawberries for tomorrow morning

                          

Please note that some information given was paraphrased or taken straight from our copy of "The CarbLovers Diet" By Ellen Kunes and Frances Largeman-Roth, R.D