Day 2

Today was a great day!  I have spent a lot of today thinking of my Grandmother Caroline Marie Chaffman, who would have been 94 today.  She passed away Feb. 17,  2006 but she is always in my heart and my mind!  My Grandma was always careful with her weight as long as I can remember.  She was very health conscious also. When I was about 5 years old I remember her getting up every morning and having black coffee with a little bit of liquid sweet and low and then watching Jack Lalanne and exercising with him! She was very diligent about it!  She would then have a hard boiled egg, a piece of whole wheat toast,  and a hand full of All-Bran cereal with fat-free milk.  If she got hungry after that she would eat fruit all day. Usually fruit from her trees in the backyard at her home in Temple City.  She had a fig tree, cumquat tree, oranges tree and an lemon tree. She loved fruit! She drank nothing but water strait out of the tap!  Can you imagine? lol  She would sometimes squeeze lemons into ice trays and freeze them and add them to the tap water.  My sisters and I thought It was delicious!  Dinner was always a nice full dinner that included lots of green salad. She would just rip up the lettuce and slice some Roma tomatoes add a little olive oil and vinegar salt and pepper and that was it!  Sometimes she would add kidney beans and chopped celery to the salad.  With the salad she would  usually make  baked chicken breast with the skin and on the bone covered in herbs and seasonings light bread crumbs and crushed crackers on top. Deli-sh! We would also get a potato that she cut into wedges drizzled with a little olive oil and herbs covered them in foil and backed them for an hour.  She was 100% Italian so you know she made spaghetti a lot also. As I reminisce about her cooking and exercise it is such a reminder to me of how much simpler things used to be. Today I am inspired to cook more and stay out of restaurants because of these memories of her today!  She always talked about staying at a healthy weight and trust me so did her girlfriends, they all almost seemed obsessed with the whole idea.  Were they?  I don't think so, I think they were smart and knew that one day when they grew older the heavier they were they harder staying active would be.  I was recently watching a Television program called Food Revolution hosted by Jamie Oliver and he said that "We are the first generation with a life expectancy shorter than our parents"   He contributes it to the astronomical number of obesity in the U.S.  I really thought  hard about that and I wonder, will I live to be 89? Will I still be walking without any assistance and healthy as can be like my grandma?   The answer... probably not if I don't start to make consistent changes now.. Which I am, Praise God!  One day at a time!  I didn't come anywhere near perfect with my diet today but I did eat healthier than yesterday and stayed within my calorie limits.  I am now going for a walk with Bradley and Bryan because it is beautiful outside and has cooled off enough to be out there.  One last thing I would like to mention,  I am so inspired by my sister Kimberly Boehm  Wilkins who lost a lot of weight last year. When I asked her how she did it she said " I used to ask the kids to go get me this or that and then one day I  decided to get off my booty and get it myself" Great advice...

Mimi Tea

Body Bugg

I spent the morning finding my Body Bugg which is a device that is used to keep track of calories burned and steps taken through out the day.  The goal is to hit 10,000 steps and to burn 1,000 calories a day above the calories I intake.  I am going to stay under 1600 calories per day and I am going to have to burn 2600 calories per day. To keep track of the calories I consume I take a few minutes a day and log into my Budy Bugg account and type in everything I eat and drink. The systems does all the calculations and tells me my running total of calories and breaks down each calorie by proteins, fats, carbohydrates, fiber, etc. The technology is really amazing and the weight loss is really just simple math... sticking to it is my challenge. According to self-help experts, it takes 21 days to develop a good habit and stick with it.  I have made a commitment to log every single thing I eat into my Body Bugg for the next 21 days no matter what!  I go back to school in 21 days so I have just enough time to establish this habit!  Wish me luck!

Day 1

Last August was a big month for me I turned 40 and became a Grandma AKA Mimi Tea! I was not happy with my weight or my health and realized I wanted to be healthier to enjoy my children, my wonderful Honey Francisco AKA Papa, and my new gorgeous grandson. I decided I was going to get on track and lose the weight as fast as I could. It has been a year and I am about to turn 41 this month and now Grand baby number two is on the way and I am very sad to say I did not lose one single pound! I did however make a lot of changes in a very positive direction and feel I have succeeded in many ways but it is time to really turn up the heat and get moving more and lose weight now! I am excited to share my journey with anyone who is interested in ideas and inspire others to get moving on their wellness journey also! I am also looking for ideas and inspiration from you! Join me as I begin My Fresh Start Program today! My goal is to lose 50 pounds by May 7 2012.....that is exactly nine months from now so my first goal is 5.5 pounds per month. According to my Doctor this is very realistic and healthy! I AM going to do it and share my ups and downs with you here!

Thanks for your support,
Mimi Tea