Blogging Through the Alphabet: G is for Green Tea and Grapefruit

When I was a part of a different challenge a couple of years ago (back when I was losing all that weight before getting pregnant with baby Harold) I learned about the benefits of drinking green tea. When I was pregnant I decided to stop drinking it because of the caffeine and I just never started back up until recently. Even now I am not drinking it as regularly as I would like. The plan is to have a cup of green tea with my breakfast every morning, after two cups of water earlier in the morning. Additionally, if I can tolerate the caffeine, I hope to begin drinking a second cup in the afternoon. 

So, just what are the benefits of green tea?

Two years ago, Vera at Plus Sized Bloggers posted about how green tea can help you burn fat naturally.

• As green tea is a diuretic it helps to flush toxins out of your body. Did you know toxins can cause your body to store fat? I didn't. So if you want to flush those toxins out of your body, in addition to drinking water, it seems green tea is a great addition to your diet. 
• Green tea is also an appetite suppressant. This is another reason I would like to start drinking it in the afternoon. I thought it might help keep me from snacking, seeing as drinking water isn't quite working all the time. Hopefully my body can tolerate the extra caffeine. .
• Lastly, green tea can help burn fat because it increases your metabolism. 

I also found some other health benefits of drinking green tea over at WebMD.

• Green tea has powerful antioxidants which help to fight against cancer.
• It also appears, that as a part of a healthy, active lifestyle, green tea can help improve heart health. 
• Green tea also lowers bad cholesterol.

Quite a few benefits there. I think, after writing this post and having this reminder fresh in my mind, I will be more faithful with my green tea consumption from now on. 

G is also for Grapefruit. Why? Because I was trying to think of something that started with G that would be appropriate for this blog post and I thought of grapefruit. I remember when I was growing up and my mother tried to help me lose weight she would serve me grapefruit and grapefruit juice. Did I like it back then? Um, NO! Perhaps I would have if she had gotten me some pink grapefruit, I don't know, but I was not really interested in eating this pucker-up fruit for breakfast.

After thinking about it at the beginning of the week I had my hubby grab some from the store. I have been enjoying half a grapefruit with my eggs and veggies for breakfast. I have got to tell you, I am really enjoying it. I am also thrilled to have found out that it really does have some great benefits and can help you lose weight.  

Here are some of the reason I found, over at 3 Fat Chicks on a Diet, that Grapefruit helps you to lose weight.

• Grapefruit is high in enzymes that burn fat.
• Grapefruit has a high water content.
• Additionally, it is low in sodium.

There are other health benefits to grapefruit.

• Like green tea, grapefruit helps in cancer prevention. 
• Additionally, grapefruit can help lower cholesterol.
• It enhances immunity against infections. 
• There are quite a few more benefits to eating grapefruit or drinking it's juice. If you would like to see them I would recommend following the link above. As a quick note, it was mentioned in the article that grapefruit can have a negative effect if you are on prescription drugs. 

So glad I have started adding both the grapefruit and green tea back in my diet. 

Fighting the Fat with Plus Size Bloggers

My weight loss journey has had so many ups and downs in the past.  Definitely having the three children so close together has contributed to my weight gain.  I never really lost the weight between babies.  So the numbers on the scale continued to climb.  After Amelia was born I remember we got the Wii Fit and I was the one in the family using it the most.  But I would work out and just not be losing the weight.  I wish I had known some of the information I now know from reading the information on Plus Size Bloggers.  Vera has shared so much information with us this month to help us "fight the fat."  

I have yet to implement everything I have read.  Some of which I will not do, not because I don't believe it will work but I just can't.  Specifically, even if it would help my metabolism, I can not eat hot peppers and will not eat ginger, ick.  

But there is so much more that has helped me this month.  I have to say these tips probably helped me make the 10 pound goal and I can't wait to add some more of the ideas this month while I try to shrink in inches.  Vera packed so much information into her February 10th post New Report: "Easy Fat Burning."   Head on over to read all the information she shares.  

Some of these things I was already doing.  I have been trying to drink 8 cups of water a day for a while now.  I actually am taking my husband's advice to drink two cups before each meal.  Definitely helps keep me from overeating during the meals.  You know, you tell your kids not to drink all their drink before they eat or they will fill themselves up and not have room for the meal. Yep, makes sense.  That leaves one cup of water in the morning while I am exercising and one close to bed time.  In the report it is recommended not to drink, but I just need that last drink.  Maybe this month I will try to have the last glass of water earlier.  Thing is, it is recommended not to have it before bed because of it disturbing your sleep to have to use the bathroom.  My sleep is disturbed because of my daughter anyhow.  Not the baby as you may be thinking .  It is actually Tabitha, my 4 year old, who is waking up in the middle of the night either to go potty and then needs help with pjs, or with bad dreams.  That is why I haven't been too concerned with drinking the water right before bed.  

The other benefit I am getting from water is that when I get a temptation for something while I am in the kitchen cooking I will pour myself the water instead.  I find I wasn't really hungry after all.

I have mentioned already in a blog post that another big help has been the green tea.  Not only is green tea mentioned several times in the Easy Fat Burning Report, but Vera gave green tea its very own post on February 9th, that I have already linked too.  Who would know that a simple tea would help burn fat because of thermogenic properties.  I can testify to the appetite suppressant properties and the diuretic properties.  I thought for sure I wouldn't be able to drink it because of the caffeine.  I get so shaky, but it doesn't keep me awake.  The first night I thought I wasn't going to be able to continue to drink it.  Since then, no problem.  I am contemplating adding a second cup to see how it helps me this month.  If I have a reaction I will take it as a sign to stay with the one cup that is already helping me.  I mean, 10 pounds in one month! I am thrilled.

I believe the other metabolism booster that has really helped is the muscle I have been building.  I had upped my intensity on the WiiFit while doing my stepping by adding the little hand weights.  I also have used them during my DVD workout.  With all the arm raises on that DVD I have sure been strengthening my arms, and I have had weak arms all my life.  Vera mentions in her post that more muscle will help burn calories even when  resting and sleeping.  With my hurt foot I haven't been able to exercise at the same intensity as I was enjoying a couple of weeks ago.  Yet I still am losing weight at the lower intensity.  Obviously my metabolism has been boosted.  

The main thing that is sticking in my head right now is the phrase "fight the fat."  It is something I hear everyday when I exercise, because I try to do my rhythm boxing every day on the Wii Fit and one of the encouraging phrases the "trainer" uses is "fight the fat."  I can see myself slugging the fat and know I am winning this battle finally.  I can't wait to see what this month holds. 

Weigh In #4: Plus Size Bloggers Tracking Challenge: 4 Weeks to a Better You

Well, it is time for the final weigh in for February's 4 Weeks to a Better You challenge over at Plus Size Bloggers.   I am going to use my weigh in from yesterday as I know from last month's experience that my weight will be higher today because of it being that time of the month.  I figured it would be alright to use Sunday's weight because I started this challenge by weighing in on Sunday's when I was posting my Get Fit with Wii Fit posts.  I hope nobody feels this is cheating. I definitely noticed that this past couple of days I have been a lot more "nibbly" and it was the same last month.  I had read someone posting about munching during the PMS time of month.  Definitely seeing a pattern here.  And it is not psychological, because I didn't realize it was that time of the month until Saturday.  I am pretty irregular.

Anyway, no pictures this week of the Wii.  I couldn't find my batteries (We have rechargeable batteries and I can have 4 in the balance board while charging the others, but yesterday the one set came up missing.) so I had to use the ones from my camera and Steven's camera.

I have really enjoyed this month of Fighting the Fat over at Plus Size Bloggers.  Not only did I have the accountability, but she really shared some great articles.  I really enjoyed learning about the benefits of drinking green tea. I have added one cup of tea to my afternoon.  Definitely helps keep me away from snacking while waiting for/preparing dinner.  This time of day was definitely a bad time for me.  I also have found that if I am tempted to eat something I can drink a glass of water to help resist the temptation.  I was so happy when I noticed that I was not at all tempted by sweets when I was out shopping today.  Not saying everything in my cart was healthy, but I could look at the candy and just turn away without any sense of desire.

I am debating taking part in a get healthy challenge for the family that was in this current issue of Parents Magazine.  Every week there is just one thing to try to get healthier in the areas of fitness, nutrition, health and happiness.  There are 4 weeks worth of tips in this issue and there will be 4 weeks worth in the next two issues as well, for a total of 12.  I know it is important for the whole family to be healthy.  The girls do already take their turns on the Wii Fit in the mornings.  Usually doing things like the Free Step and Jogging.  Amelia loves to ask for the 2 player jog.  But Tabitha tries other exercises too, like Kung Fu and juggling.  Amelia says she can't do Kung Fu like 100 times a day.  Of course Steven has been participating in Plus Size Bloggers and my hubby gets on the WiiFit when he can.  It's definitely easier if everyone is trying to be healthy than trying to do this solo.

I am still waiting for my foot to feel better so I can get back up to the intensity of exercise I was doing.  Surprisingly, I discovered this morning that it actually hurts less to do my DVD than stepping for half an hour.  So that will become a daily exercise again.  And dancing around to the children's silly music is good exercise too.  I do know that I feel better, both physically and about myself when I get up and exercise in the mornings.

Starting weight Plus Size Bloggers Challenge: 248.2

Previous Weight: 238.5

Today's Weight: 237.7

Weight Loss This Week: .8 pounds

Total Loss Since started Challenge: 10.5 pounds

Total Loss since weight loss journey got serious on December 13th 2010: 24.2

January 12

February 16

I realize these dates don't correspond to the dates of this challenge, here is the latest picture:

Looking forward to next month's challenge

Weigh In #1: Plus Size Bloggers Tracking Challenge: 4 Weeks To A Better YOU!

It is the first weigh in for Plus Size Bloggers Tracking Challenge.  This months theme is "Fighting the Fat."  I found it very interesting that she posted an article on Fat Fighting Foods.  Here are the 7 foods, head on over to the blog to check out the information on each of them:

1. Eggs
2. Dark chocolate
3. Whole grains
4. Bananas
5. Nuts
6. Oranges
7. Sweet Potatoes

I am looking forward to more informative posts while participating in this challenge.

Plus Size Bloggers Starting Weight: 248.2
Plus Size Bloggers Current Weight: 245.2
Total Loss: 3 pounds.