How to Curb Night Hunger

I’ve been having a hard time sleeping lately. I haven’t been able to fall asleep until three or four in the morning recently, and a good friend of mine suggested that maybe it was because I was hungry! I decided that maybe he was right. But what am I supposed to do? They say you aren’t supposed to eat after eight o’clock. You don’t burn calories while you’re sleeping. What can you do besides drink water?

I have found what I think is the perfect solution. It has worked really well for me so far anyway. It’s gonna sound so basic, you’ve been hearing about it all your life! But hear about it from a different perspective this time.

Milk.

That’s right. Milk. Don’t heat it up, that’s just gross. I never understood the whole warm milk thing. That never helped me growing up, plus you can’t get past the first disgusting sip. So after my conversation with my friend about how maybe I can’t sleep because I’m hungry, I decided to maybe try something other than water before going to bed. But what can you have that doesn’t ruin your diet? I was looking through my fridge and saw my skim milk and decided to try it. I don’t love milk; I only have it for my cereal. I haven’t been a milk drinker since I was a kid. But it’s got more calories than water, so I decided to try it. It worked really well! I felt almost full, and I got a really good night’s rest.

The science behind it: I was talking to my roommate about my new discovery, and she enlightened me as to why this works. Milk isn’t just a regular liquid like water. It has lactose in it, and when that hits the acids in your stomach, what does it do? It thickens! Drinking milk is the magic solution that fills your tummy at night for a mere 80 calories. I used to have a hard time finishing off my half gallon of skim milk before it went bad, but I don’t think I’m going to have that problem anymore after this discovery.

Maybe This Won’t Be So Bad After All

I’m gonna be honest. I had a really bad attitude about the whole exercise thing. But I knew I had to start exercising eventually, plus the whole conversation with my brother… So the question was what kind of exercise was I going to do? I’ve mentioned I’ve done all sorts of exercise in the past, and I decided that the most effective routine that I had done was the Body for Life routines. So I decided that’s what I’m gonna do. I’m not gonna do a whole Body for Life session, that is pretty intense, and I’m not eating enough to sustain that sort of regimen. But the Body for Life workouts are pretty amazing, and my first thought after my first workout on Monday was “Huh. Maybe this won’t be so bad after all.”

I was so encouraged on Monday when I was done! I had no idea my first workout would be such a positive experience! Don’t get me wrong, the workout was pretty intense. My abs were feeling it pretty hardcore, and the last five minutes I wanted to quit. But it was doable, and I felt good afterwards. I wanted to do it again the next day. I don’t remember ever feeling like that before. Apparently it’s a lot easier to drag your body along when its 42 pounds lighter.

One piece of advice when it comes to exercising: have a support system. I’ve mentioned my roommate who is super active before. She motivates me to want to exercise, and I get the feeling sometimes that I motivate her to eat healthier (although she doesn’t need to.) We made a bargain. She doesn’t like to run. But since I was going running (the Body for Life running routine) she decided she wanted to go running with her dog. We motivate each other. We both had really positive experiences. We both found out that we can do a lot more than we could before. I can do more because my body isn’t carrying around as much weight. She can do more because she is being treated for a thyroid problem she has had for years. It’s amazing what the body can accomplish that we never know it can until we try. Especially when you have your pump up music to keep you going!

Official Weigh In

Sunday mornings are when I do my official weigh ins, and as of this morning I have lost another two pounds. I'm happy with two pounds. I'd rather it be, say, maybe like nine pounds, but I don't think that would be a very healthy rate of weight loss. Two pounds is healthy.

Someone told me once that if you are ever disappointed with having lost only two pounds, think of it in terms of butter. To get two pounds of butter, you need eight sticks! So from this week to last week, I am missing eight sticks of butter from my body. So now the total tally is 42!

The Hassle of Exercise

I had a very disheartening conversation with one of my brothers (who shall remain nameless) the other day. It went somewhat like this:

My brother – “So how much weight have you lost now?”

Me – “40 pounds”

My brother – “And you’ve lost that much weight without exercising?”

Me – “Yep!”

My brother – “Rosie, don’t think I’m being rude, but a lot of times when people lose a lot of weight without exercising they get flabby.”

Great. I had these high hopes of losing weight without exercising and looking awesome when I was done. But apparently if I don’t start exercising I’m gonna be one of those people who have to have surgery to remove excess skin. Is there any kind of exercise out there that doesn’t suck butt? Don’t think I don’t know all about exercise. I have done it all! I used to Jillian Michael every day, I used to go running all the time. I even did a whole session of Body for Life, with the weight training and everything!

My roommate is such a good example to me. She is so active! When she isn’t out on a walk or going on a hike, she is doing one of those blasted Jillian Michaels videos. And she seems to love it! I wish I could be one of those people that loves exercise, but I just HATE it! But I think I will hate droopy skin more, so I think exercise is on the menu again…

My new blog!

Everyone has a blog, and I decided that I want one. But what in the world do I have to write about? All I do is go to school, do homework, and go to work. Nobody wants to read about that. So I figured if I'm gonna have a blog, it should be one that not only inspires people, but one that motivates me as well. So here we are.

So I've battled my weight for years now. It started getting better in February when I paid a visit to my neurologist who decided to put me on a new seizure medicine that inhibits my appetite. This was pretty awesome, but not a miracle. I still had to work pretty hard. I dropped ten pounds pretty immediately, but it stopped being easy after that. It was the catalyst that started my weight loss, however. I went up and down since February, but I've done really well the last few months, and I've lost a grand total of forty pounds. I hardly recognize myself!

So my goal with this blog is to basically motivate myself and those around me, and to track my progress. Yeah for blogs!