TIPS RECEIVED FROM FAMILY AND FRIENDS

These tips are just too good not to share...

Received 5/20/10 from Maria P.

Hi Jill!  I'm so impressed with your commitment.  It really takes guts to hold yourself accountable so publicly.  It also shows how much your trust all your great friends to encourage you.  You are so fortunate to have such a huge support system.  Not everyone has that.
 
I saw your website and it's great!
 
If I can give you any advice (remember, I lost 35 pounds a couple of years ago as I approached 40) it's to really like your diet food.  If I didn't enjoy the foods I was eating as I dieted, I would never have stayed on track for almost a  year, which is how long it took to lose all the weight.  I only lost about a pound a week or less, but it stayed off.  I learned how to find or make lower calorie versions of the junk foods I loved and had them as regular parts of my diet.  Example:  Low calorie philly cheesesteak sandwiches (let me know if you want my recipe if that's something you like.  Dwight loved them too.)
 
The other part of my success was LOTS of exercise.  You don't have to train for marathons like I did, but you have to find something you like to do and do a lot of it. 
 
I know you can do it!

Received 5/18/2010 from Veronica F. 
 

You are too funny- (FreeJilly), and you are beautiful so don’t sell yourself short!  Anyway, I promised you some healthy snack ideas.  This is what I snack on if I snack…I love the Special K bars (strawberry, or vanilla, if you need a chocolate fix they have a chocolate pretzel one)- Just eat one of these in the afternoon when you need a little snack to take the edge off.  For breakfast, try a yogurt and some fresh fruit.  For dinner, modify your carbs, and eat lots of veggies, fruit and some meat.  Soup is always good for lunch, and love the Lean Cuisine meals for lunch too.  Water, water, water, or Crystal light lemonade.  Stay away from the sodas!!!!!!!   I still have my 2 cups of coffee in the morning (with my creamer), otherwise I am a complete bear to deal with.

You need to eat at least 3 small meals a day, with a healthy snack included.  If you are having one of those days (or weeks in my case)- have some hard candy near by to take care of the sweet tooth.

Call me if you need any other pointers- I have been eating like this for a few years, and I swear it works for me…I know everyone is different- so let me know if this works… 

Received 5/18/2010 from Kim C.
 

Alright - I am totally inspired by YOU!

So - I have gone up and down on my weight - in this year alone down 20 up 20...  ugh! 

Some of my friendly tips for you:

  • If you want to drink - have a glass of soda water with lime before and after EVERY drink.  You'll drink less, it LOOKS like a cocktail, and you'll be hydrating (less chance of hangover) - calories and carb free!
  • McDonald's chicken nuggets are EXTREMELY HIGH IN FAT (even one bite)
  • When you go to a restaurant - get the to-go box when the meal comes and automatically put the portion you are NOT going to eat into it.  It won't be there to sit in front of you and nibble on!
  • Park far away from the doors (but still stay safe) - makes you walk farther.
  • I just looked at all the pics of us in Puerta Vallarta on the plane home - let Mike or someone take candid pics of you playing with the kids or something one day - look at them and delete them - it will remind you WHY you are doing it... 

Received 5/6/2010 from Greg C. 


I had an idea that you might consider ... you should start up a Web site using one of those freebie services and document your progress in reality TV style. Take pictures and video, and keep a blog and a video journal. And POST THEM! It might be hard at first, showing what you believe to be your overweight self to the world, but think of the motivation you will have as you progress to post pictures and vids that show you slimming down. Make sure those of us in the support network can post comments and cheer you on.
 
I thought this might be a good idea because there will be days when you don't feel like working out, or you feel like eating a cheesecake for breakfast, but if you know that you're going to be posting a weekly or biweekly photo (and that all of us in your support network are expecting to see it) it might give you that extra dose of willpower.
 
This is just a thought, but it could be something that would be fun and motivational. AND it might help inspire other people to follow suit.
 
Finally, keep in mind that "weight" alone isn't the sole factor in whether or not you're healthy ... you should also lift some weights and develop some muscles if you don't already. Now keep in mind that muscles are denser than other body tissue, so the scale might not show as much progress as you're actually making, but weight lifting tones and tightens the skin, increases circulation and blood flow and increases your metabolism. Increased metabolism leads to more frequent releases of endorphins and serotonin, which then serves to decrease appetite :)
 

Received 5/6/2010 from Jeannie P.
 

If you don’t already to it track what you eat… Here is a good website I use to use. People that track what they eat loose 20% more weight ;-) I joined our Y wellness program last year.

https://www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate/users/myplate/

This will help you track calories. Make sure you eat 5 times a day and make healthy choices… “say no to the Dorito” hehe… unless you are under your calories and you have eaten healthy all day.. they do have 100 cal packs ya now…

More tips:
  • You have to eat at least 1600-1800 on the days that you exercise ;-) 1200-1500 on days you don’t let anyone tell you different…. And you could need more…
  • The more protein the better especially in the morning, but don’t give up good carbs or dairy
  • Successful weigh loss has to be balanced by three things: Diet, Exercise, and sleep ;-)

Received 5/6/2010 from Marc P.
 

If you don’t already do them, here’s what you have to do: 

NO SODAs.. period!  Stick with water, milk, (any natural juice.. but morning only), and alcohol (who’re we kidding here.. we have to have that (in moderation during the week, of course). 

Eat a light something in the morning.  Eat a small lunch, and a reasonable dinner (or switch the lunch/dinner sizes around). 

Exercise!  Go to the gym – you must actually go to it and perform a routine workout… you do not have to be there more than 30 minutes… but you have to go. 

This is important: DO NOT BUY SNACKS AT THE GROCERY STORE, just by staples and food you intend to make/eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Not sure if you ever noticed; but in our house we just don’t have snacks lying around.. we always have to go buy some when we know guest are arriving.  If it’s not in the house, you can’t eat it ~ right?! 

A great sport for losing weight is tennis.. if you can play that one, join a league (this one is usually a time consuming one though.. and takes you away from family time).. but you can really burn some calories with it.  I know you like volleyball, but if you going to be away from the family, play a sport that really gets you sweating.  I don’t mean to imply volleyball is easy or non-calorie burning, just comparing the two is all.

Okay.. so, I’ve gone on and on about what I do and what you could do… now a word about MOTIVATION.

The camera is a great motivator.  But a temporary one.. once you get it, then where’s the motivation? It is sad if the motivator for the camera is stronger than for yourself or your family.  So, to make you feel bad (as only a friend can) .. cause you should, I’ll say – ‘you owe it for yourself and your family to be as healthy as you possibly can!’ weight aside…I’m talking healthy.. the health of your heart, your knees, foot, etc.  You already said you want to be able to keep up with the kids as they get older – well, there ya go!

You can do it…. Remember, it’s not just about dropping the weight as fast as you can, it’s about being healthy!  As we get older our body metabolism slows down and we need to kick it into higher gear in order to burn the same calories.  As you begin to cut out food your body doesn’t need and exercise more, the weight will naturally drop, but more importantly… you’ll be healthier inside.

Received 5/6/2010 from Julie M.
 

I totally get it.  You have my total and utmost support!!!!

Here are some helpful tips that helped me:

  1. Don’t let your husband (nor you) have any junk food in the house.  It’s way too tempting.
  2. Drink water relentlessly.  AND, make sure you drink water right BEFORE you eat.  I found if I drink it really fast it tends to make me feel full quicker.
  3. Use the “small” plate at your house…not the big one.  I even bought these little bowls from Crate and Barrell so my bowls were small too.I gave up appetizers and desserts. 
  4. I gave up drinking during the week and bought ½ bottles for the weekend.  That way I had one glass on Friday and one on Saturday and I was done.  It was too tempting to have the other ½ of the bottle sitting around and I won’t throw away perfectly good wine.
  5. I snacked on almonds, pistachios, fruit (mainly apples), and popcorn.
  6. If you HAVE to have something – take one or two bites (like ice cream, dessert, pizza, etc).  BUT, stop at 2.  That way you don’t deprive yourself and really miss it.  BUT, don’t do this more than once a week. 
  7. Walk walk walk.  I didn’t do anything but watch my diet and walk 1-2 miles a day.  It was sort of brisk but mostly just took the dogs with us (which as you know, dogs like to stop a lot).  So, it wasn’t super vigorous.  Then, I walked longer on the weekends w/out the dogs when I had more time.
  8. Instead of meeting your friends for dinner/drinks to catch up, ask them to go for a long walk with you. I started doing that with friends here once I moved back.  It’s a much better way to keep attention and stay healthy AND it’s FREE!
  9. Oh, and if you don’t record Dr Oz show, could be worth it. I swear he gives me tidbits about my health every day I watch it.  I kind of see Dr Oz as my motivator/support club.
  10. Finally, once you lose 10lbs, go take all of your favorite skirts/clothes in.  You’ll be so happy how little you look in them you’ll want to lose more…and you won’t be able to gain weight or your skirts won’t fit!  Hehe.
  11. Oh, and one last one: You gotta eat breakfast and make it big (500 calories or so).  I eat 2 pieces of whole grain toast with PB, glass of water and a vitamin.  Fills me up for 5 hours!

I only weighed myself once a week – Mondays right before I got in the shower. 
 
I’m not going to say GOOD LUCK.  I’m going to say
“SEE YOU AT THE FINISH LINE!!”

Received 5/6/2010 from Julie F. (a registered dietician)
 

  1. Buy a pedometer and wear it always.  Grandually increase your daily steps to equal 10,000 (3.5 miles)
  2. Cut the carbs at supper.  When we eat extra carb at supper it turns to sugar and then is stored as fat when we are less active at night.
    Do not try to change everything about the way you eat.  Keep a food journal for just one week and try to notice if certain foods are eaten too much or in too large of quantities.  Pick these foods to focus on.  Small changes make a BIG difference.

Call me or email me if you have any questions.  You can do this!!!!

Received 5/6/2010 from Nicole D.
 

First and foremost, we gotta rev up that metabolism of yours. Are you eating breakfast and drinking ungodly amounts of water? If not, those are two great things to start doing, so even though you’ll be hungry 2-3 hours after breakfast, just grab a handful of almonds. To keep your metabolism up, it’s best to eat a little something like nuts, veggies or fruit every few hours in between meals. And as far as meals go, the rule of thumb is that you shouldn’t have carbs, and particularly the simple variety, after 4pm. Now, I know that’s a pretty tall order, but maybe you can try cutting yourself off at 7.