Welcome to this week’s installment of the Useful Website of the Week!  This week I submit to you a fun little website that is devoted to giving us tips to improve our lives with a common sense approach.  The website, Dumb Little Man, states that they are here to provide tips that will save us money, increase our productivity, or simply keep us sane.

I have found many posts on Dumb Little Man to be very practical and useful.  Here are some of my favorites that make me laugh and yet still provide some real insight. 

I often refer to the post, 10 Commandments for Dropping 10 Pounds & 10 Years, for a much needed reminder on how simple it actually is to be healthy.  I tend to complicate health and weight loss, so it’s nice to have a post like this to get a reality check.

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Am I in the middle of a HUGE lesson in patience?  That’s what this feels like.  I feel like for some reason, I am stuck at 156 pounds and come hell or high water, that number in it’s 10 variations (156.0, 156.1, 156.2, etc.) are plaguing me to no end. 

So yeah.  Today is my weigh-in day and rather than wait until Tuesday to weigh-in, curiosity got me and weighed I in yesterday.  To my major dismay, I went from 156.0 last week to 156.8 this week.  Wow.  W-O-W.  W-O-W!!!

Pardon the tone of this post, please.  I am feeling very frustrated and angry at this point.  I’ve been stuck at 156 for what is now the beginning of three months.  And that is despite my going from running 3 minutes straight to 36 minutes straight.  And despite that I have added working out my arms with 5 lb. weights and started yoga for abs.  And that is especially despite my absolute healthiest week of eating, ever, in my entire life… this past week. 

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I found this recipe for oatmeal cookies in the ivillage Healthy Living Program recipe database.  It impresses me when a recipe for homemade cookies can boast 72 calories, 1.06 g fiber, and 1.88 g protein per cookie.  So I made these cookies this past weekend and gave them a shot.  My review would be that they are great, if you like a very moist and chewy cookie. 

My idea of an oatmeal cookie is that they are better when crispy so, I was a bit disappointed.  This is not a recipe I will make again, unless my daughter tries them and loves them (she hasn’t done her taste testing yet, and this girl is p-i-c-k-y!).  But like I said, if you love a chewy oatmeal cookie, these are for you!  So I wanted to paste the recipe just in case you chewy cookie lovers are out there.  Here you go and look for the rest of the nutritional info below the recipe!

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One thing that I have learned since I started running, is that it is just as much a mental game as it is a physical one.  When I described in a previous post about those days where I would struggle to complete my workout compared to the days where my workout was a breeze, I didn’t realize what the differences between those days were.  I had thought it had to do with my physical ability and possibly soreness from previous workouts.  My new experiences have shown me something completely different.

I still have the days where I struggle to run.  I now know that the reason why is that I am not mentally in the game.  In order for my runs to be “easy” and “a breeze“, I have to be in the right frame of mind, otherwise my eyes are glued to the timer on the treadmill and I am miserable. 

One post that really helped me come up with some mental strategies for staying in the game, is Thankful for 13.2 Miles of Road, from Workout Mommy.  In it she discusses the importance of staying positive during the run and having a list of things to think about for each mile:

Since running is mostly a mental game, I came up with a list of things I will think about during all of those miles. I figure if I can keep my mind occupied with positive thoughts then I won’t even have time to think anything negative.

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For you runners or aspiring runners out there, I found a wonderful article on Runners World about the type of diet we should be eating to continue to run and still lose weight.  Now that I am really starting to be able to run for longer distances (got up to 3 miles yesterday!), I have been wondering if I should be making changes in my diet to accommodate the running.  Apparently, I should be! 

The article discusses what they call the “The Runner’s Diet”.  It talks about selecting the right types of carbs and proteins and distributing them at the right times throughout the day (relative to your running).  Apparently it is the carb distribution that is so important because the majority of the carbs need to eaten before and after the run takes place.  The lean proteins and healthy fats need to be at different times of the day. 

What I also found to be particularly helpful was the breakdown of what carbs we should choose to eat often versus the carbs that should be eaten sparingly, along with the proper portion and calorie count for each. 

I’ve bookmarked this article and will probably be referring to it often.  Hope you find some use in it too!

I was thinking, there are really two sides to this whole getting healthy thing.  There’s the mental side and the physical side.  Let’s call them Brain and Body.  And they rarely seem to agree.

For instance, Brain really isn’t too keen on running.  Brain would rather be reading, sitting at Starbucks sipping a white chocolate mocha, watching Top Chef, or something like that.  Brain thinks running is pretty draining because it takes a lot of mental work to stay focused enough to keep going. 

Body, on the other hand, absolutely LOVES running.  Body loves running so much that it practically begs Brain to take it running.  Body loves the feeling of pushing itself to the limits and seeing just how far it can run.  Body loves sweating, moving, and any kind of activity because it makes Body feel like it’s alive!

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So I promised you an update two weeks ago about my plateau, formerly known as “not a plateau“.  I had discussed changing my eating habits even further by cutting out some of the sweet cheats I’d still been eating and by adding more healthy calories to my diet.  I did those things, and to a large extent, they did not make a difference.  I was surprised because I really thought for sure that those changes would help solve the problem, and they didn’t.  They did, however, help me to realize some things about my frame of mind during this plateau.

I’ve realized, through prayer and talking to friends, that I am relying way too much on the number on the scale.  And I don’t think it’s healthy.  And aren’t I trying to just be healthy?  Well I can’t let my weight loss become an obsession and go and screw up my mental health, right?!  So this has all brought me to the conclusion that I need to cut my time on the scale down to once a week for a weekly weigh-in and that’s it.

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This week’s Useful Website is one I just discovered yesterday and am already finding it to be tremendously valuable.  Maria’s Last Diet was created by a husband and wife team that specialize in the psychological aspects of losing weight and keeping it off.  They have put together a large database of articles concerning the typical weight loss issues but the advice given in the articles is anything but typical.  The focus is centered on the mental aspects of losing weight and answering those questions relating to our struggles with food and weight.

The About page on Maria’s Last Diet describes the website as the following:

Members of the Maria’s Last Diet community share one thing: a true desire to lose weight and keep it off.

Maria’s Last Diet is here to help women diet successfully. It is not a diet in the usual sense. There is no one particular food plan. Our mission is to help you stay on whatever diet you choose. Sticking to your diet is the key to your weight loss success.

The right diet and weight loss tools, information and support will enable you to reach your weight loss goal. Maria’s Last Diet applies psychological principles, tried and tested in research and clinical practice, to the universal problems that women have with sticking to their diets.

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How do your vacations usually effect your weight loss?  Is it hard for you to stay on track?  Do you take a diet break?  Does going out of town throw your routine out of whack?  I’ve grappled with these questions before and gone into some trips very unprepared for what temptations are out there.  In the past, I have completely stopped my diet and ate whatever my heart desired.  I’ve had other times where I’ve done ok being out of my routine and managed to eat healthy and get some exercise. 

Fighting temptation while on vacation can be a tricky thing.  We are going to Disneyworld in a few weeks and how I will handle myself while there is definitely something I am considering.  I decided to do some research and find some tips from the experts to help me have a plan and a better idea of how to be successful on vacation.  (You mean I can’t eat a churro!?) 

This article from Diet & Body has tips for the different types of vacations people take.  Road trips, staying with friends or family, airport tips, and advice on returning to your routine when you get back home. 

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Okay, time to be brave, folks!  I was inspired by Betsy from Girl Gone Healthy’s brave posting of her “before photos“.  I think it’s high time that I put mine up as well.  Why?

Accountability.  So you know why this weight loss mission is so important to me.  Facing me fears. 

And most of all, simply admitting that that was me at 198 pounds, my heaviest.  I’ve since lost 42 pounds and am well on my way to my goal.  But it’s always good to remember where I came from and why I’m here doing this. 

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