Kansans and Friends In Weight Loss

I am cross posting this from  my blog over  at  Wildheart’s  Works.

I am writing this post for two reasons. One my blogger friend Anthony over at Old School SEO had something to do with it and after 7 years of my grandmother being gone I decided I needed to deal with her death in some way. My choice of dealing with things has always been writing.

My grandmother was my mother. She along with my grandfather gave up their retirement to take care of four kids that suffered early on the signs of attachment issues and early trauma from being neglected, and abandoned. My biological mother was not a mother to us. She neglected us and ended up being the cause behind us being taken away by the state and being put into foster homes. My grandparents fought hard to get us back together because they didn’t want us to go around in the world wondering who our brothers and sisters were. Despite the dysfunctional ways they grew up they had their family throughout their life. As soon as my mom went through all the motions for the court to fake she had changed she ditched us. I was 7 at the time. My grandmother made me who I am today a strong woman who knows how to take care of herself and her son. She made sure that I would not follow the same footsteps that my mom did. She took me aside and showed me how to do everything that involved running a household. By the time I was 15 and forced to leave home I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt I could take care of myself when the time came. Our relationship afterwards was tested due to the fact that my grandfather who molested me held all the emotional cards to keep her from leaving him.

There are so many good memories I have of her and so many memories I have that I know I tried her patience time and time again. I was angry not at her but at the fact I would never get to know my dad and at the fact that I had no idea why my mom didn’t love me enough to want to stick around to be a mom to me. I was angry at being put in foster homes and juggled all over the place. Later I became angry because I was being molested and lived in a town where no one believed me until I did something drastic to get out of the situation. I could never be angry with my grandmother. I loved her too much. It wasn’t until I had been in three abusive relationships that I knew what she suffered being with my grandfather from her perspective.

I did falter in my confidence as a mom when she passed away because I didn’t know what I was going to do without her. Then a voice that was more like a scream than a whisper told me I was going to do what I did every day. Get up and take care of my son. Be the mother she tried to teach my mom to be, but had succeeded in teaching me to be. She gave me all the tools to be a great mother. She is my inspiration for running my blogs and doing what I do on the internet each day. I keep a picture of her handy now to look at when I get to feeling down or depressed. She seems to look at me like “You can do whatever you put your mind to; you are a pretty girl with a great complexion and you’re very smart.”

Inspired by Old School SEO Mother’s Day Giveaway for Mom Blogger’s

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New York Firm Recalls Ground Beef Products That May Contain Pieces of Plastic

Recall Release CLASS I RECALL FSIS-RC-015-2008 HEALTH RISK: HIGH Congressional and Public Affairs (202) 720-9113 Amanda Eamich WASHINGTON, May 12, 2008 - Fairbank Reconstruction Corp., an Ashville, NY, establishment, is voluntarily recalling approximately 22,481 pounds of ground beef products that may contain pieces of plastic, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced today. The following products are subject to recall: [View Labels (PDF Only)] 1.2-pound trays of “Shaw’s Fresh Ground Sirloin 90/10.” The labels on the bottom of the package bear a Julian Date of “124″ on the bottom right hand corner, as well as the establishment number “EST. 492″ inside the USDA mark of inspection. 1.3-pound trays of “Shaw’s Fresh Ground Beef 80/20.” The labels on the bottom of the package bear a Julian Date of “124″ on the bottom right hand corner, as well as the establishment number “EST. 492″ inside the USDA mark of inspection. 1-pound trays of “Shaw’s Fresh Ground Beef Patties 80/20.” The labels on the bottom of the package bear a Julian Date of “124″ on the bottom right hand corner, as well as the establishment number “EST. 492″ inside the USDA mark of inspection. 3-pound trays of “Shaw’s Fresh Ground Beef Patties Family Pack 80/20.” The labels on the bottom of the package bear a Julian Date of “124″ on the bottom right hand corner, as well as the establishment number “EST. 492″ inside the USDA mark of inspection. 1.3-pound trays of “Price Chopper Fresh Ground Beef Sirloin Patties, 90% Lean 10% Fat.” The labels on the bottom of the package bear a “Sell-by” date of “05/13/08″ as well as the establishment number “EST. 492″ inside the USDA mark of inspection. 1.3- and 3-pound trays of “Price Chopper Fresh Homestyle Ground Beef Round Patty, 85% Lean 15% Fat.” The labels on the bottom of the package bear a “Sell-by” date of “05/13/08″ as well as the establishment number “EST. 492″ inside the USDA mark of inspection. 3-pound trays of “Price Chopper Pub Style Ground Beef Chuck Patty, 80% Lean 20% Fat.” The labels on the bottom of the package bear a “Sell-by” date of “05/13/08″ as well as the establishment number “EST. 492″ inside the USDA mark of inspection. 1.3-pound trays of “Price Chopper Fresh Homestyle Ground Beef Chuck Patty, 80% Lean, 20% Fat.” The labels on the bottom of the package bear a “Sell-by” date of “05/13/08″ as well as the establishment number “EST. 492″ inside the USDA mark of inspection. 5.3-pound trays of “BJ’S Fresh Ground Beef, 100% Beef, Contains 15% Fat.” The labels bear a “Sell-by” date of “05/15/08″ as well as the establishment number “EST. 492″ inside the USDA mark of inspection. 1-pound trays of “Fairbank Farms Ground Chuck Patties, 100% Beef, Contains 20% Fat.” The labels on the bottom of the package bear a “Sell-by” date of “05/15/08″ as well as the establishment number “EST. 492″ inside the USDA mark of inspection. The products were produced on May 3, and were distributed to retail establishments in Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts and New York. The problem was discovered after the company received consumer complaints. FSIS has not received any consumer complaints at this time. No injuries have been reported at this time. Anyone concerned about an injury from consumption of the products should contact a physician. Consumers with questions about the recall should contact the Fairbank Farms’ toll-free hotline at (800) 724-1136. Media with questions about the recall should contact Company Representative at Agnes Schafer (816) 512-2291. Consumers with food safety questions can “Ask Karen,” the FSIS virtual representative available 24 hours a day at AskKaren.gov. The toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline 1-888-MPHotline (1-888-674-6854) is available in English and Spanish and can be reached from l0 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Eastern Time) Monday through Friday. Recorded food safety messages are available 24 hours a day.

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Someone has taken notice of this blog and has given me a fairly good ranking as you can see. I was pleasantly surprised. I want to thank those who follow my blog and for hanging in there with me. Even though I don’t get much in the way of comments I can still tell folks are coming here.

I will continue to write good quality posts and also provide other resources. This will always be a great resource and support blog for those wanting to get healthy from the inside out.

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Researchers recently identified three common culprits for unhealthy eating on school campuses. The first you may be familiar with — convenient vending machines filled with tempting junk foods. But the other two may surprise you — early lunchtimes and fast food! The researchers found that kids were more likely to order a la carte items rather than a balanced meal if their lunchtime was before 10:30 in the morning. Similarly, students who had the option to leave campus during lunch were likely to buy fast food or have parents bring it to them rather than opt for a balanced cafeteria meal.

So what can you do? First, make sure your child understands the connection between the right foods and health. If your child’s school has vending machines, take a look at what’s available and discuss the choices with your child. Encourage him or her to choose a balanced meal over a la carte or fast-food items, regardless of what time lunch is served. If your child doesn’t care for the foods served in the cafeteria, try packing his or her lunch and snacks at home instead. Teaching your child how to provide his or her body with the nutrition it needs — not just calories — is one of the most important lessons you can impart!

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So I was reading my Around the Net In Search Marketing digest and came across this very useful search tool for women that relates to everything Obstetrics and Gynecological. I was playing around a bit to see how many hits I could get for the phrase weight gain and birth control and got 2,325 hits to ObGyn sites discussing the words found in this phrase.

You can find it at OBGFindit

Topics are cervical disease, contraception, Gyn cancer, infectious disease, menopause, minimally invasive surgery, obstetrics, osteoporosis, pelvic surgery, practice management, prenatal counseling, professional liability,reproductive medicine, urinary incontinence, and women’s health.

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Hawaii is recalling meat due to possible E Coli contamination please visit the link at

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/Recall_014_2008_Release/index.asp

for a complete list of the meat products being recalled.

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Are your workouts working for you? Not sure? One way to tell is by using a method called the rate of perceived exertion, or RPE. It helps ensure that you’re working out to your optimal level! Aim too low and you’ll just be going through the motions without much benefit. Aim too high and you could end up frustrated, burned out, or injured!

So how do you find a pace that’s just right? Think of exertion on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being no exertion (sitting in a chair, for example) and 10 being the most you can possibly do. A moderate walk might put you at a 3. Remember, it’s not about how fast you’re walking, it’s about how strenuous it feels. Aim for a range between 3 (moderate) and 5 (strong), say experts at the American Council on Exercise. You should feel you’re exerting yourself enough to gain cardiovascular benefit, but not so hard that it’s difficult or uncomfortable to sustain your workout.

As your strength and fitness level increases, bump up the intensity to compensate, aiming to stay within your newly defined 3-to-5 range. The best thing about perceived exertion is that you can use it for any workout — walking, jogging, bicycling, bench stepping, climbing stairs, or performing low-impact aerobics! And be sure to keep checking in when you’re working out!

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This recall is so huge that all I can do is post a link to the page where you can find the information on the recall.

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fsis_Recalls/Open_Federal_Cases/index.asp

You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this recall as the USDA has it in PDF format only and look for the recall date of May 3rd, 2008.

If you have purchased any of the foods listed in this recall please throw away the unopened products and also make a note of the ones to avoid when going shopping.Further information on the status of this recall will be provided as information becomes available.

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Yesterday was the last day for my Emotional Eating 101 free articles emailing. In the last article we are given what are called 6 failure strategies and are asked to look at them to see where we fall. For space and times sake I am going to just give you the strategy and the first sentence to give you a glimpse into the description of the strategy.

Failure Strategy #1: Deprive and Binge
Almost every single diet book and diet plan leads to the deprive-and-binge approach, and so this is the most common strategy.

Failure Strategy #2: Binge and Run
This is the approach where
you allow yourself to overeat, or try to exist side by side with your
addiction, but try to compensate for it with exercise.

Failure Strategy #3: Binge and Purge
The binge and purge
cycle of bulimia is a very dangerous strategy, and luckily it is
normally viewed as an unhealthy approach to weight management.

Failure Strategy #4: Going Public
I call the fourth failure
strategy “Going Public.” I’ve seen many variations of this strategy,
including losing weight for a specific event such as an upcoming
wedding or family reunion, or making a public declaration that you’ve
started a diet, or buying clothes that fit only if you lose weight, or
paying to join a support group that encourages success but rejects you
if you fail.

Failure Strategy #5: The Blame Game
Do you curse parental
genes for giving you a slow metabolism? If so, you’ve fallen prey to
the fifth failure method–blaming the extra pounds on your metabolism.

Failure Strategy #6: Medicate the Hunger, Trick the Metabolism
In
our culture, many seek a magic pill to dissolve cellulite, reverse
weight gain, and make getting thin a breeze. This search constitutes
the sixth and final failure strategy.

Then we are asked to think back to a time when you tried to lose weight with one of the
failure strategies. Describe the attempt in detail. Was emotional
eating the main reason it was unsuccessful? If not, why didn’t that
strategy work?

For me the first strategy certainly holds true. I am one to find a diet that restricts me and then when it puts me into feeling like I am deprived I want to immediately go off of it because I don’t want to be hungry all the time. Now with the fifth strategy that is something I can honestly say that is a problem for me I don’t blame it on genes that my metabolism has slowed over the last couple of years. When I started taking birth control and Zoloft together it did cause some weight gain and also caused my metabolism to stall out. This is where the vicious cycle of depression rears it’s ugly head because I am on both medications for a reason. I need the birth control more for regulating that time of the month and allowing for an easier time of it during that time. I need the Zoloft to function every day.

I tried Nutri System and that diet was too restrictive. Even though I had great immediate results I felt starved and the cost was too much. I have sat in on a Weight Watchers meeting but when I went it felt too robotic. I don’t do well with that approach. I have tried Isagenix which again has some great short term results but I couldn’t handle being physically hungry for the first week on the program and it was an MLM type product that they would try and sell you only if you became a distributor. I didn’t want to become a distributor at the get go I just wanted to lose weight and see if the product was right for me. I have tried ephedra based products. Now I am here to tell you that is one thing that did work for me. In a matter of two months I easily lost 10 pounds because it kick started my metabolism so I could lose the weight.

I know I know what your thinking,”that’s failure strategy number 6,” and your right. I needed it and to be honest if it sounds like a cop out here or a sell out if I could find it on the market again I probably would go out and buy it because it was the only thing that worked. With that being said though I still have deep seeded emotional issues to deal with and I know this too.

What I need to do is refocus my energies back into running my support group full steam ahead because that is what has helped me with my emotional eating. I need to bring us out of the box and make us more main stream, but everyone that I talk to says I have to have a degree to do this and that so I have a lesser chance of being held liable in case someone runs into a problem. To that I can only say even though I am not a Dr. I am still someone who has the same struggles that people who are losing weight have. I don’t need a degree to support someone and to be a source for assisting them in finding resources in their community to help them with their weight loss needs. I don’t need a degree to sit quietly by while someone sobs their frustrations in life out to me and I don’t need a degree to take that persons hand and tell them I DO KNOW what they are going through. I don’t need a degree to take that person in my arms and give them the comfort of a hug to make them feel they are not alone. I got my degree in the school of hard knocks a very long time ago. I have street smarts and am working on the book smarts. Those two combined can be a very lethal combination.

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Try to pinpoint the times when you were tempted to break your diet or overeat. What were the main causes? Were you anxious or angry?How about depressed or stressed? If you do eat during these times, how specifically did it make you feel? Content or safe? Numb or detached?How many distinct patterns can you identify?
The most recent incident that I wanted to overeat but fought it was when I found out that my sons father had been approved to be released back to the woman he was with when he committed the crime that landed him in prison. I found out that the parole plan had been approved back in Nov. of 2007. I was furious that they did all of this without considering what kind of impact it would have on his son. I was even more anxious when I found out that I would have to be facing him this coming month so soon after his release to have to go before the court to settle child support. Again no one told me a damn thing about any of this until I had to call for information and no one told me that the judge had revoked the warrant for his arrest in Douglas county so he could do work release. It feels like the parent in prison has more rights than the parent out in the world trying to work to make it for her son. I was glad that on both of these occasions I was broke and also had a pretty slim selection of food here at the house to medicate myself. If there would have been ice cream here the whole half gallon would have been gone in one sitting I would have really felt crappy afterwards but that is the reality of the situation.

Beside emotional eating patterns, what evidence for food addiction can you find in your life? Your weight might be one piece of evidence, but there is probably more if you think about it. Try to think of at least a few things besides your weight that show food addiction plays a major part in your life.
I like chocolate and ice cream.Those are my two food weaknesses. My other addiction is Diet Pepsi.I really am hopelessly addicted to that I have to have a case in the fridge at all times. I know all the caffeine isn’t good for me especially when I am trying to wind down at the end of the day, but due to all the medications I am on that make me sleepy I have to have one thing that keeps me awake and alert albeit artificially.
You undoubtedly have positive motivations to lose weight. What are these positive motivations? Try describing what you would feel like if you reached your target weight. After you’re done, ask yourself why these motivations aren’t strong enough to carry you to success?

My big motivation is that I want to always be healthy. I do not ever want the life many relatives on my mothers side of the family have had. So many have had heart problems, diabetes, high blood pressure, cancers the whole lot. I just don’t want that for myself ever. I don’t want to be 60 yrs old and taking insulin injections instead of going out and taking in a movie because the insulin is taking more of my money to live and I can’t afford to do other things I want to be doing. I want to live long enough to see my son grow up to be a good man and find a good woman if he wants. If he chooses to have kids I want to live long enough to see those grandchildren and I want to have the energy to keep up with them. I want to be healthy so I can make clear headed decisions for my son right now at this moment in time. I would say I want to look nice in clothes but I don’t look bad in the clothes I have right now, I could look better but feeling better and having more self confidence still outweighs that.If I were to lose the weight that I need to lose I would feel even better than I do right now. It isn’t necessarily that these motivations aren’t strong enough it is that too often even with the help of Zoloft depression takes hold of my brain and I can’t shake the fog that settles there even if I try very hard to shake the cobwebs. This will be a process for me for the rest of my life.

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