TEAM EmMarah

Hey Kids, Mara here.

Hi bloggie! This is Em and I wanna apologize to you for not being responsible the past week in updating you. :( Both Mara and I had just been crazy busy with our school and sometimes I had to work after classes plus there's some personal stuff going on in my life right now and I can't stay focus. I am sorry once again. (:

Don't worry bloggie, I am back now, I had the full day to myself and just took a lil break from my reading so I can update everyone.

Ok. September is almost over and it's time for me to update everyone about the SEPTEMBER CHALLENGE I had that's open to everyone who wanted to join the weight loss challenge.

I FAILED!

Hey guys! Sorry for the late post, but yes, I, Mara, am here.

I was going to post Friday but I wanted to give Em's post its time to shine so I waited a little. But yay! Here I am.

Been hecka busy lately. I now have at least one exam every week. I actually have one tomorrow. I'm so overwhelmed and there's just so much going on that I'm actually feeling down and not so posty. But fear not! I will NOT let my emotions wreak havoc on my journey with whoever's with me and Em in this, be it one guy/girl, five, seven, who knows, right?

First things first, I am sad to announce that I am dropping out of the September challenge =\ I know, it's a disgrace/etc. It's not like I'm scarfing down sweet munchies as I type but from here on 'til the end of the sem I'd be pretty much stressed and I need a sweet treat every now and then to keep me going. Don't worry, I take things in moderation so I'll be alright :) Right now, I'm just going through a tough time is all and I don't want to be unfair by saying "I ate one _____" but I'm still going again and again.

Second of all. HOT DAYUM SOY MILK IS MAKING ME FAT :(( Sure it has health benefits, sure, but it doesn't do good with weight loss, pssh.

Next, I want to go through a detox diet. I'll be frank. And if you don't like TMI (too much info) stuff, then skip this entry. Go on. Click the red X.

Here's another chance.

And another.

Still with me?

You sure?

You can walk away.

Okay if you're here still then here's the thing. I've mentioned that I have problems with digestion, right? Weeeeell, thing is, I don't really have awesome bowel movements. I don't have them enough. Normally one would have it daily but me? Nope, not really. That's prolly one of the reasons I'm this way =\ And it's not good.

That being said, I think I srsly need a detox diet.

The problem?

I don't know much about them yet. Right now I can't do much research but I prolly will after my exam and get back to you guys on Wednesday :)

What's important for me to do now?

• Know what to eat
• Know how much to eat
• Know what I could/couldn't do (like exert to much effort since I'd be on low cal stuff/whatever or maybe I have to be near the bathroom a lot)
• Know what's SAFE
• Know what would work for me and my digestion for the LONG TERM.

Let's eat healthy food!

Hi everyone! Em here on a Thursday night. ;)

Yes. This was supposed to be an entry for yesterday but I was really tired and senseless so I talked to Mara if I could skip and instead do the entry today.

Yay! I'm here now and ready to talk about EATING the RIGHT food.

I do my own research and I even watch Dr. Oz and The Doctors about their tips on people on a diet and how to be healthy. Yesterday, I did my grocery shopping and I kept in mind of the food that are tempting but not healthy. What are those?

Dr. Oz’s List of 5 Foods to Keep Out of Your Grocery Cart:

1. Simple Sugars and Carbs (like Ice Cream)

Simple sugars and simple carbohydrates cause blood sugar imbalances. You have a burst of initial energy, but this energy high lapses very quickly and you be even more tired. Plus, who wants to wear this on our hips… like Gillian said, we don’t want to look like watermelons, we want to look like pears! So skip the junk food, pastries, pies, cookies and cakes!

2. Meats High in Nitrates & Saturated Fats (like Salami, Bacon, & Sausage)

Processed meats have added nitrates, which is a food additive that is linked to stomach cancer and degenerative diseases. Plus it will add fat to you and your whole family! So try to eat chicken and turkey instead. The gentleman on the show said that he even lost 100 pounds by not eating these types of foods for a year!

3. Ingredients You Can’t Pronounce (like Cheese Puffs)

Have you ever looked at the ingredient list on a food item you are about to buy? Quite often the list of ingredients will have all types of things you can’t pronounce or have never heard of. If you need a chemistry course to read the ingredients, there is a problem! Besides, Gillian says these cause gas and burping.

4. Fake Healthy Foods (like Low Fat Cookies)

Fake healthy foods are what companies use to trick us! The food company’s marketing department knows the trigger words that make us think something is good for us like “low fat,” but did you know that when they say “low fat” they usually make up for it by adding tons of sugar. You won’t feel satisfied when you eat these foods and you will still have constant hunger.

5. Canned Foods High in Sodium (like Canned Soups)

Canned foods that are high in sodium are bad for your arteries and blood pressure, and generally they wreak havoc on your body. Dr. Oz said that most people shouldn’t have over 2300 mg of sodium, and if you are African American or elderly then you should have even less. If Americans can cut out 1200 mg of salt per day, we could save 100,000 lives from strokes and heart attacks.

[source: Dr. Oz’s List of 5 Foods to Keep Out of Your Grocery Cart]

And what did I buy from the grocery store?

I hate long weekends, special occasions, holidays, etc.

Hello everyone! This is Em on a Friday night. ;)

How are you guys doing today?How was school and/or work all week? School started for me and it's ok -- so far. Well, you guys know how school could get pretty stressful from all the deadlines to beat and exams right? Yes. So far, I am not tempted yet to shave my head bald from the stress and pressure around me. haha And as for my part time job? I restricted myself on my availability, it sucks about not getting that much hours as I used to, but school is way more important right?

Ok.

That's that and let's move forward to my exciting news for everyone. I have TWO EXCITING NEWS! Are you guys ready?

hmm, remember the SEPTEMBER CHALLENGE? Where in the whole month of September I will try to completely eliminate my bad sugar and too much sodium intake? I posted that entry Monday night and it's been 4 days since then and 5 days since I last weighed in and to be honest, the challenge is pretty tough. I still get tempted to run to the convenience store and grab a chocolate bar, but I'm not gonna do that, I am taking the challenge and I am gonna be healthy! The exciting news you might be wondering? I weighed myself today and I LOST 2lbs! I am really happy that even despite of the lack of exercise and sweating for the past 2 weeks, I still lost 4lbs in total.

That is the first good news, and the second exciting or more like interesting news I have for everyone is this blogger.

Heya Guys, Mara here.

Hello everyone! This is Em on a Monday night. ;)

I just got home from work and today is my turn with our baby for some updates so before I go to bed, I am inviting everyone to join the SEPTEMBER CHALLENGE!

What exactly is the SEPTEMBER CHALLENGE? I actually got the idea from one of Dr. Oz's episode where he challenged a lady to totally eliminate sweets for 28 days. The lady succeeded! She documented everything from day 1 up to day 28 where she had to be on the show to see Dr. Oz again for the 28 day challenge results. The lady did lost some weight (6 lbs.) and lost 4 inches off of her belly. After seeing the show, I was inspired and challenged to do the same, eliminate bad sugar and too much sodium!

Are you guys up to the challenge?Come on! Let's all try and start to be healthy! In 4 weeks we could lose up to 6 lbs and that is just from eliminating sugar and sodium alone! That's 6 lbs less than losing nothing right?With eating right and exercise, 6 lbs isn't the only amount of weight we'll lose in a month. Let's all be part of the challenge!

My goals in 4 weeks?

• Chocolates, no matter how tempting they are, they'll be crossed out of my shopping list.
• Be nutritional label obsess! Canned foods are very high in sodium so next time I go out and do my grocery, I'll make sure my canned items are low in sodium.
• FROZEN FOODS NO NO! Frozen foods are the easiest way to satisfy hunger, just pop it in the microwave and it's ready in less than 5 minutes. Some people say frozen foods in general is not bad for you, it's the salt and preservatives we should watch out for. How about I totally ignore the freezer aisle?I don't wanna really spend an hour reading each labels when I could go to the meat department and buy meat or poultry and just cook it? Yeah, that's a better idea and it's healthier.

I will set myself on 3 goals for now, I want to take this challenge one step at a time. I want to make sure I am following the rules I imposed on myself.

I am gonna ask again, ARE YOU UP TO THE CHALLENGE? Let's see in a month if I succeeded or not. And if you guys have any suggestions or comments please please *puppy eyes* do let us know! We don't bite. ;) Mara and I are open to any ideas and suggestions so please do not hesitate to approach us.

Here are the different ways on how to contact us

Email:
teamemmarah@gmail.com

you can also leave us some comments here on blogger or interact with us thru our chatbox which is on the right hand side of this page.

Like us on facebook, just search for Team EmMarah

and

we also have twitter accounts
Team EmMarah (http://twitter.com/TeamEmMarah)
Emmaleigh (http://twitter.com/IamEmmaleigh)
Mara (http://twitter.com/belikewhat)

There are a lot of ways to contact us and interact with us, please don't be intimidated! We are here to win it!

Happy dieting everyone!

I'll see all of you again on Friday with my update (my grocery shopping etc etc).

love,
Em

How's everyone?How's the diet going?Well, if you ask me, I was doing pretty good, NOT until I was away on vacation for a week.

Vacation is tough if you're on a diet.

Why?

1. HASSLE - If you're traveling by land, your compartment is loaded with your suitcases already and jamming a cooler with your week long supply of food isn't possible. If you're traveling by plane, it sucks too because are you seriously gonna carry a cooler around?
2. ROTTEN - your food gets moldy, especially produce, they turn brown-ish in colour even if it's still good to eat before the best date, you just won't have the appetite.

The vacation was enjoyable, involved a lot of walking and eating too! Anyways, vacation's over and the day after we got back, I can't even look at my weighing scale. I knew I gained some pounds back.

Since I've started my diet now a month ago, my weighing scale and I became friends. I manage to say hi and goodbye to it 3-4 times a week. Since after the vacation, I only get to say hi and goodbye to it twice and the first one, I didn't like what it said about my weight.

IT SAID I GAINED back the 10 POUNDS I lost.

I'm like shocked and speechless and was about to cry. There is no way I gained 10 pounds in a week. I was so down that I spent half an hour after I weighed myself in thinking what the heck did I eat when I was away to gain back the pounds I lost for the whole month of August in JUST A WEEK?

And this morning tho, I weighed in again and realized that I only gained 3 lbs, that's all. PMS was to blame for adding 7 pounds that almost got me depressed.

argh WATER WEIGHT!!!

Seriously, good thing I felt a lil bit of cramps when I weighed myself 3 days after the vacation then I remember I'm gonna have my period and water retention is normal. Since then, I've cut down on salt intake and I am hydrating myself well. It's not really necessary for me to say this, but I'm gonna say it anways, I got my period yesterday and for about a week now I am trying to get back on my diet, hydrating myself well and cutting down on my sodium and it did helped a lot with my water retention dilemma. Now, I'm cleared that the extra 7 pounds was water weight.

My scale and I are friends again and I am gonna say hi to it again on Friday. If you're experiencing water retention too and it's most common in us women especially a week before our period, just remember to drink more water and cut back on your sodium intake. [read more about how to stop water retention here].