Friday, September 30, 2011

A little late!

I weighed in yesterday 2 pounds lighter!
Hurray for lost weight!

Keep eating right
Keep exercising!

I'm off to watch the BYU game while I do the eliptical!

Have a great night!

Coming next week will be my first set of transformation pictures.
Gotta make this 4th week my best!

Love, Syd

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Peace

In April of 1991, because of the weakened state of President Ezra Taft Benson, Thomas S. Monson was asked to give a few thoughts on behalf of the beloved prophet of the time. A war in the middle-east had just ended, but the prophet then (Benson), as well as the man who would become prophet several years following (Monson) still felt prompted to share this inspired message about peace.

Today we read this talk in institute. Now more than ever, people in the world we live in are fighting for peace. I wish we could all understand that this is the way we will find it!

Quotes Thomas S. Monson:
President Benson has stated: “The price of peace is righteousness. Men and nations may loudly proclaim, ‘Peace, peace,’ but there shall be no peace until individuals nurture in their souls those principles of personal purity, integrity, and character which foster the development of peace. Peace cannot be imposed. It must come from the lives and hearts of men. There is no other way.” 

(The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1988, p. 703.)

President Benson has urged: “If we would advance in holiness—increase in favor with God—nothing can take the place of prayer. … Give prayer—daily prayer, secret prayer—a foremost place in your lives. Let no day pass without it. Communion with the Almighty has been a source of strength, inspiration, and enlightenment through the world’s history to men and women who have shaped the destinies of individuals and nations for good. 

(God, Family, Country: Our Three Great Loyalties, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1974, p. 8.)

I hope that we all can increase our own efforts of establishing peace in the world! "The price of peace is righteousness." May we make personal purity, integrity, and righteous character big parts of the people we are. Only then will we see peace within the society we live.

Here is the talk I am referring to: http://lds.org/ensign/1991/05/the-power-of-prayer?lang=eng
Read it. It is fantastic!

Love you all!

Sydney

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Week 3: Happy happy day!

Hi, my name is Sydney Tittle, and today I am experiencing some serious internal giddyness. 
giddyness is not a word.
But that is okay because this is my blog.
And people make up words all the time.
So there.

Anyways, sorry for the ramblings. Let me tell you about my day.
Because I am guessing that it is for that very reason that you are reading my blog.
Okay... so maybe you aren't....
But bear with me, because days like these make people terribly happy.
Especially little bouncy blonde girls like me.

This week I was about only 80% dedicated to the new lifestyle habits I am trying to get into.

And that is why I woke this morning to the nagging anxiety of weigh in day. 

'Oh dear,' I thought. 

Nevertheless I pushed all nagging feelings aside and decided to begin the day with MORNING scripture study in my Book of Mormon.

And that my friends, was Good Idea! #1.

The regular happenings of Thursday morning were carried out and then I was OFF to Institute.
and BOOM.

Good Idea! #2... Yesss I was on a roll.

Now you are starting to get the picture...
Good Idea! #3 came today when the dashing young fellow came and sat next to me in institute (for the 3rd time in a row...) I said hi. hahah Weak sauce... I know. But nevertheless, I was still a good idea.

My day went on and with the advancing of the day the anxiety of the weigh in creeped back into my mind. 

'Oh dear,' I thought... again. ha

Long story short, I went in, talked to Dan, weighed in, and then BOOM. 
I had lost weight!


 [TWO] [POINT] [EIGHT] Pounds! 

So BASICALLY I feel like a champion.
I learned my lesson though. 
I'd rather go into a weigh in confident that I had done all that I can.
I'd rather go in there and be able to tell Dan that I "behaved" as he likes to call it.

Anyways, I am giddy. Because I am taking control of my life. I feel so great! 
Here's another tip for WEEK 2:

GET MOVING!

Now, coming from a girl who hates exercise...(hopefully the more I do it the more I will love it..)
EXERCISE can be fun.
Running can be SO boring and mundane and... hard. haha
and that is definitely why I don't like it.
The A.D.D. gets the best of me. 
(If you like running, I am sorry... to each his own, right?)

Go Rollerblading! for about 30-40 minutes (Don't kill yourself, just nice and easy low heart rate stuff)
Why don't you have to kill yourself?... well because with the healthy food you are eating.. you don't want to burn it too fast, you want to just take this nice and easy or you will hit a wall and plateau with your weightloss.

Don't have rollerblades?... find something you love to do and do it! Even if it is making a playlist on http://www.grooveshark.com and dancing around for twenty minutes in your living room, office, bedroom, dormroom kitchen... just get your groove on and have a good time!

The point is, get off your tush and have a good time... and then get on blogspot after and pass it off for exercise. 

(No, exercise will not always be this easy... but if you are anything like me... you need somewhere to begin!)

Any questions?... ask!

Thanks again for the support friends!

Love, Sydney

P.S. this is my song for the day...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDxhugRKZ8g
Listen to it if you wanna have a good time.

P.P.S. I don't think I put enough emphasis on that cute kid in my institute class. He is terribly handsome! Something in my stomach starts doing jumping jacks the past 3 times he has sat next to me. Now, I have just got to learn how to talk to the kid...that and how to stop saying stupid things that make my face turn bright red..... ugh. 

HAVE A GOOD DAY!






Thursday, September 15, 2011

Week 2: Find Joy in the Journey

Today began the wonderful week 2 of my 24 week journey working with Dan. 
So far, it has been GREAT! I'm starting to feel so much better about my body, not because it looks so good after one week... But because I am so proud of myself for sticking in there and working my way toward a more healthy lifestyle!!

As I jumped on the scale today at Dan's office, I was excited to see how many pounds I had lost in just the first week.

RESULTS.... Drumroll please...


THREE POUNDS!!
The even better part about it was that 2.4 of those pounds were fat mass! That means I must be doing something right! I am losing FAT FAT FAT! And I couldn't feel happier about it.

Now, at the end of every week... I will relay my success.
I will also reveal what I have been eating (You know, In case you want to come along with me on this journey... which I think you TOTALLY should! It feels so great to eat healthy! No matter who you are and how skinny you may be!)

You must realize though, that these menus are specifically tailored to my likes and dislikes. My calorie intake is also something that was set very personal to what my body needs...My advice would be to take the information I give you and do what you may with it.

You must ALSO realize that all of our bodies are different, what works for one... MAY not work as well for another... the key to this process is FIGURING out your body and what HEALTHY steps it takes you get your body to move.

Here's a quick sketch of the menu...I would recommend this to anyone! I has been great for me so far!

Meal 1- GOODMORNING! You wake up and within an hour you MUST eat breakfast. It is, after all, the most important meal of the day! Here's what I typically eat:

100 Calories worth of Cereal (Nothing too sugary i.e. captain crunch, fruity pebbles, reese's puff, etc.)
Put enough milk over the cereal to get it wet, eat, and then dump out the remaining milk.
feel free to also put a half a banana with it... I do something a little different though.

As a part of breakfast you also typically get the option of either an egg or a protein drink. Since I am not a fan of eating eggs plain, I take my 1/2 of banana allotted to breakfast-time and put it in a blender with my one scoop of 100% Whey Chocolate protein powder (from costco) and blend it in with a little bit of water and ice, and voila! 

You have a chocolate shake that doesn't taste too bad. (You'll get used to it... Its PACKED with protein!)

TWO to THREE Hours Later!

Meal 2- It's actually more like a snack, really.

100 Calories worth of Crackers or Pretzels (Wheat thins, triscuits, those good healthy kinds!)
String cheese (yum!)
and a small apple!

TWO to THREE Hours Later!

Meal 3- LUNCH TIME!

Sandwich:
Lettuce
tomato (if you like them.. I don't.)
Mustard
One slice of Provolone cheese (smells like bum... but tastes pretty good.)
two slices of bread

100 Calories worth of any baked chips! (The Kettle Brand is really yummy.)

TWO to THREE Hours Later!

Meal 4- Snacking again!

One Yogurt - Activia Light Brand if you can
10 Almonds (YUM) (You can have the tasty smokehouse kind if you'd like!)
and a Fruit!

TWO to THREE Hours Later!

Meal 5- Dinnertime! 

Dan put on my meal list a specific thing to eat...
Rice, Chicken and Veggies.

BUT because he wants to teach me how to be human and not eat the same thing everyday, and because he knows that I have family and I frequently eat dinner with them, and because he realizes that my age group of people like to go out on weekends, because people my age (even if they don't) SHOULD be going on dates... ha... he wants me to know how to change this meal depending on where I am going and what I am doing.

Here are a few tips.
First of all, he told me...
If you are on a date with some cute guy, lets say he takes you to five guys... For heavens sake! Eat a burger! It wont kill you! Get the smallest burger available and then only eat as many fries as the size of your fist!

Here's another easy measuring tip.
Since I am working in portion sizes...here's what I do:

Look at the palm of your hand. That's how much meat you should eat.

now put your hand in a fist... and there you go... amount of carbs you should see on your plate (i.e. rice, potatoes, noodles, etc...)(Boy am I jealous of you people with big hands! haha)

Then have a bunch of those Healthy veggies, especially the dark green ones! (i.e. spinach, green beans, and that's all I can think of at the moment...

TWO to THREE Hours Later!

Meal 6- TREAT!

Treat yourself to a lovely 100 Calorie Skinny Cow Truffle Ice Cream on a stick thing! (YUM!)
Or have your favorite 100 calorie pack of oreos
or 100 calories worth of something you love, I guess!
It's a yummy way to end your day!


Also... Drink water... and lots of it. Nothing too specific. Just drink.

Time for me to jet. Sorry about the LOONNNNG post! 
Thank you for the love!
Thanks for the encouragement! 
In all you do, remember to find joy in the journey... as hard as your day may be... you can still SMILE and look for the GOOD in everything!

Hurray for doing hard things!

Chow!

Friday, September 9, 2011

Week 1: Slow and Steady wins the race (Steps to Change)

My Journey

http://www.thfusa.com/

The Dan Man has taught me a lot in the short time I have known him.
He taught me that this is not a diet, this is a lifestyle change.
As it should be.
For as we all know...diets never last.
But a change in your lifestyle will.

The desire to change is powerful, but even the strongest of desires will die if there is a lack of determination, knowledge, or understanding of the very person we are. More often than not, our life-change will be the hardest thing we will ever have to do... and sometimes we may need to outsource for help.

This very idea is what I truly believe. It can be applied in every aspect of our life. Here are just a few examples:

1. I want to change my physical body, I want to look better.
Well, to understand how to properly do this, you may have to get the help of a trainer, a nutritionist or from reading or from advice from that one girls blog... you know that one who is learning all kinds of tips from a professional?.. yeah that one.

2. I want to change who I have been, I am not happy with where my life is going.
Repentance automatically outsources our savior. But as many of us know, sometimes the biggest of changes of heart need the help of our bishop.

3. I want to know things, I want to gain a higher level of education.
Go to college!

You get what I mean.

As a normal human being there are several junk foods that I absolutely love. The incredible change that you can make in your life though is simply deciding to pick and choose carefully what you will and will not eat right here and now. Phrases such as "I'm going off sugar" "I'm going off chips, brownies, ice cream, diet coke"... or what ever else we think we will never eat again are ridiculous. If you've done this before, you are not stupid... you are actually one of millions who've made this often unsuccessful statement. The very truth of the matter is though... that you will most likely not stick to the fast for the rest of your life...what a boring and quite tasteless life that would be. Why put your body through that?

Instead, lets try and implement what we have learned Now, obviously there are basic necessities in our diet, and I am the furthest from being an expert... But what I do know is that three meals a day is good... that plus three snacks a day is even better. You see, after about 4 hours of going without any food... your body actually goes into a sort of starvation mode and starts burning the things in your body that you don't want to burn i.e. Muscle Mass or something like that... basically what I am trying to say is... eat moderately in all things every 2-3 hours. Moderation takes large doses of self control, something which can be learned and mastered.

Today is the day you can change your life. I know that as you read this you might be thinking... wow, there's that one thing that I could change to make my life better.

Just do it.

Begin your Steps Today
Trust me. Tomorrow, next week, three years from now or whenever you look back. You will be so grateful that you began your JOURNEY today.

 Cheers!

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Just do it: Lose the Weight!

"I need to lose weight..." is such a frequent statement for people throughout the world we live in today.

Such a statement has - quite often - been on this very blog.
Never to have done any good for me.

Today is different though my friends. Very Different.
I have finally sought out the help of a professional.
As many of you know, my Dad and I did a weight loss competition and my reward for winning was to get a gym pass. My mom had heard from a friend about this great company that has helped her to slowly get control of her life... once we caught word of that, the prize quickly changed. 
 

Dan is his name. Dan of Total Health & Fitness -Utah

Today I began a 24 week program with the help of Dan that will change the person I am for the rest of my life. I am so excited for all the experiences I will have.

In New York City several years ago a disaster took place. The Twin Towers fell to the ground leaving several hearts aching and a city blanketed in ashes. In just a few short days America will stand by for just a moment and remember the way we changed that day.
Now, if you were to go to downtown New York City, where the twin towers once stood there is now a monument... Ground Zero was built up again from the ashes into what is now a beautiful place.

Today felt kind of like a Ground Zero for me. This is the beginning of a journey that will leave me forever changed.


I'll do my best to document the journey.
Thank you for the support!