Loving Earl with an E - Earle AR

The Taste Of Fat!

These last eight weeks, I, my Aunts, my Female Cousins, and my Niece have engaged in a weight loss challenge.  My youngest aunt has shared meal plans and preparations, informative videos, and pdfs… to keep us on the right track.  Having my family just a photo, emoji or text message away has been awesome, and it is my hope we continue with our weight loss management endeavors together. 

Now, let me tell you what I have discovered on my own.  Early on, during the second week of this eight week challenge I realize, I have two food addictions…

1.Salt

2. Butter aka Fat.

Lowering my caloric intake wasn’t the problem, prior to this challenge I ate once a day without exercise, twice a day with exercise. However, we are told to rev-up our metabolism and to keep it going all day we must eat several times a day, breakfast, lunch, dinner, and two small snacks in between. This is a problem for me… Anytime I eat prior to 1pm I subsequently eat all day long… and not just a few calories, but hundreds of calories.  And I cannot turn off the cravings. As well, I cannot consume an abundance of carbohydrates, because again I cannot turn off the cravings; and by mid-night, I need a sleep aid just to shut myself down. 

What works of me if FAT!!! With a full fat diet, I can eat two meals a day with one snack and feel satiated.  No cravings, no hunger pains, no sleep aids, and I can exercise without exhaustion. On day’s I ate full fat meals, I could perform 3 hours in the pool. On days of low-fat or none fat meals, I crashed and burned, and my pool time was shortened to 1.5 hours. 

Once I understood my need for Fat, I began researching Fat as a dietary need and thus stumbled upon a few medical articles touting Fat a necessity in combating obesity.  It has long been thought there were only five taste senses “sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami (savory).”  Fat is now labeled the sixth taste sense.  If you ask me Fat is the Umami, the Savory, which science speaks of. 

Now that I understand my need for Fat, I have began experimenting with healthier fats, avocado, walnut, coconut butter, coconut milk and coconut oil. These have become my go-to sources for Fat, and although I rely mostly on these, I have not completely loosed my goats butter, it tastes sooo good melted over popcorn… LOL.   A tasty meal now has a pinch of salt, a pinch of sweet, a squeeze of sour, a hint of bitter and an tablespoon of fat.  And great news, it is working.

In this eight-week challenge, I lost 8 lbs and 2.5 inches on my waist line, with a very noticeable difference when wearing my clothes…  This time I am honestly enjoying the journey to a healthier happier ME!!!

Bon Appetit

SistaSistaSister

Word For Today: Mean It!

We make promises to others and work diligently to keep them. However, we make promises to ourselves and then give ourselves permission to break them.  How can we claim to love ourselves if we consistently disavowal the agreements we make with ourselves? The most important thing about claiming to love oneself… Is Meaning It.   SistaSistaSister

Weight Loss Challenge Week 5 (Calorie Burn Estimates)

Before 211                                        Present 205

FitWatch.com estimates and recommendations

My total Calorie Needs at 205lbs are 2510 per-day

My estimated Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) 1620 calories burned doing nothing..

BMR

The amount of energy (in the form of calories) that the body needs to function while resting for 24 hours is known as the basal metabolic rate, or BMR. This number of calories reflects how much energy your body requires to support vital body functions if, hypothetically, you were resting in bed for an entire day.  

Ø  Meaning I was consuming 890 calories more than my body burned in a day.

For a 30% weight loss, the recommended calorie intake is 1757 calories per-day

For an aggressive weight loss, the recommended calorie intake is 1510 calories per-day

Using an activity calculator below are Calorie Burn Calculations for 205lbs @ 5’7

      1)      Water Aerobics 1.5 hours =                                          586

      2)      Water Aerobics 2.0 hours=                                           781

      3)      Walking 3.0mph 1.0 hours=                                          322

      4)      Light Weight Training 45mins=                                    220

Summary

By continuing my present schedule of water aerobics twice daily M-W-F and incorporating Light Weight Training Tuesday’s and Thursday’s, as well as a Brisk Walk every Saturday and Sunday, it is estimated I will use 5185 calories to complete these activities. In addition, considering my body burns 1620 calories in a day without activity, to maintain vital body functions, my weekly calorie burn now totals 6805. 

As we know, we must burn and/or eliminate 3500 calories to lose 1lb.  Therefore, on this schedule it is estimated, I will lose 1.7lbs per week, before Food Calorie Reduction.  Reducing my food calories to 1510 calories per-day, will eliminate an additional 1000 calories a day from my estimated total calorie need. Thus, in seven days I can decrease my present weight by 3.7lbs… INTERESTING!

Is There A Level 5

Is there a level 5...? All my eating is for pleasure, energy, and health, and these last few days recovery from diarrhea. I refuse to buy refined anything and I only eat out by invitation or special occasion. Well with one exception... Shrimp Fried Rice twice a month... And now, I have taught myself how to create my own Shrimp Wild Rice with and Asian flare. But sticking with the above photo, emotional eating in response to stress, I have been guilty. Heck emotional eating due to boredom... or learned behavior. Although when emotionally eating I am merely doubling up on organic Avocado's or an extra handful or two of Walnuts or binge eating Skinny Pop Popcorn. 

It took me a while, but I finally delivered myself from soda. (One day I will tell U the story).  In the meantime when looking for sweet drinks I scarf down GT-Kombucha with Chia seeds, or if money is low, I juice a liter of appleaide and if money is real-low, I make ginger and honey tea. The quality of my food is never and issue I refuse to put certain foods in my house. If I have not researched it and it is canned, boxed or processed, I usually don't purchase it, with the exception of tomato paste and pasta shells, can't make those two myself. Basically, at my core, I am a level 4 eater with a few level 1 tendencies.

Quoting Myself Comfortably

I love my comfort zone...but comfort zones that do not expand overtime, do not foster growth. If you are not growing and expanding within your comfort zone, then challenge yourselves to increase your territory, comfortably. ~Kim RDaniel/SistaSistaSister

Comfortable Within

Comfortable Within RadioBlog Link

Are you more concerned with others perceptions of you? Or… Are your perceptions of yourself defined by you and you alone? Being comfortable within for many is an ever perplexing journey and for others, the journey is seamless and natural.

To be comfortable within, fortifies one’s emotions and behavior, and when met with the stresses of a challenging life, those who are comfortable within are able to remain level headed, confident in their truth and able to summons their ability to overcome.  When one is comfortable within, even while facing unwarranted circumstances, these individuals are capable of remaining mentally and emotionally present and accountable for their choices and actions.

When we are uncomfortable within, we can be regularly afflicted with self-doubt, self-loathing and indecision. When uncomfortable within everything in life can be a challenge due to our indecisiveness; we may melt down oppose to calming down and we tend to seek affirming affirmations from others, outside ourselves.  When we are uncomfortable within we can develop a habit of not defining our boundaries, and when we do not define our boundaries, we leave ourselves open to becoming constant victims of circumstance.

One mechanism I found for knowing and understand one’s self is journaling.  Whether we are Comfortable Within or Uncomfortable Within, being able to pen one’s thoughts, experiences, life-dreams and day-dreams, is an inexpensive and therapeutic means to getting to know oneself.  Below are a few questions to help you get started.

Journal Entry: Learning to become Comfortable Within

Find a place where you can be completely alone, and not influenced by outside forces that can result in feelings of guilt, insecurity, or embarrassment. And… Answer the Questions below, to help you begin to better focus on You.  

• What are your best qualities?
• What nonphysical thing would you like to change or improve about yourself?
• What is your greatest accomplishment at present date? And what makes this your greatest accomplishment?
• What makes you laugh at yourself? Explain in detail.
• What was your life’s most frightening experience? How did you overcome it? Or… How are you dealing with it?
• What was the most empowering moment of your life? How did it make you feel?
• If by some magical ability you became a super hero overnight, what are your superpowers and how would you use them to benefit the world?
• What one thing can you do right now to bring you inner peace and happiness?
• What inspires you to do and be your best?  Do you always present your best efforts? (Answer for the following: Job, Home, School, Family, Friends, Self). How do you know the effort you have given is your best?        

Join me SistaSistaSister, Crystal J and Stephanie Wallace of LAID: (Love And Intimacy for the Disabled) Sunday (January 24 2016) as we explore what it means to be Comfortable Within.