Juicing...Not as Bad as I Thought

Good morning!  I am struggling with a sinus infection so staying home today to try and recover.  This morning I hopped on the scale and I am officially down to 212.8 lbs.  The lowest weight I have been at since my post-op weigh in back in 2012.

I have been reading and watching documentaries on juicing and debating the pros and cons of trying it.  In the end, I bit the bullet and bought a $99 juicer (no sense going all crazy with a top of the line one in the beginning) and picked up some extra vegetables and fruit.  This morning I made a ginger shot.

Ginger Shot
1/2 apple
3/4" ginger root

It wasn't too bad and it is supposed to help with allergies.  It really is just a small shot of juice.

After that, I decided to really try a "juice-juice".  I had a couple handfuls of spinach, 2 1/2 apples and 3 carrots.  Overall, it wasn't bad.  I could drink it without grimacing and after 15 minutes, I felt pretty full.

Even with buying my extra vegetables and fruit, I was able to keep my weekly budget for food to $70 this week.  Of course, I am cooking just for myself, but eating healthy is not cheap as we all know.  This week I am incorporating black beans in to my lunch and dinner meals.  Black beans are cheap and go a long way.  I am also using some Ezekiel bread that has been in my freezer for a while to serve as my morning snack with a tablespoon of almond butter.

I'll let you know how this week goes.  Hopefully, next Sunday I can be slow 210!

"Nothing happens until something moves." ~ A. Einstein

Ain't that the truth!  When I sat on my couch eating ice cream and lamenting about being fat nothing changed in my life.  I had to get up and move purposely towards what I wanted.  Losing weight doesn't happen for the passive.

You must be active!

Not just in moving your body, which is obviously necessary, but in making choices in everyday things to be different than you were the day before.  I can't look at my life and say I'm on a diet.  Diets don't work and they're temporary.  I am changing the way I eat because I don't want the things I ate before.  All they got me was fat!

I don't just want to sit on my couch every night.  Now I go to the gym and I move.  Tonight I experienced my first exercise induced high.  There I was, sweating like a dog and feeling absolutely on top of the world.  Never thought my life could be like this.

I love it.  I love my life!

Making Progress

Today I weighed in at 215.4 lbs.  That is 31.4 lbs dropped since January.  During the last 10 months, I have had successes, stalls and back pedaling.  Between July (where I was at my lowest of 213 lbs) and September, I had gained 11lbs.  I have nearly worked all of that off and am on pace for a goal of being 199 lbs or less by Christmas.

Being healthy takes a lot of discipline.  I have to be on top of my eating and exercise all the time or I slip back into bad habits.  I shop on Saturdays so I know exactly what is going to go in my mouth for every meal for the next 7 days.  Doing this is making me successful.  Going to the gym 6 days a week is making me successful.  I am losing weight.

It is hard, but it is so worth it.  Yesterday, I could tell how much smaller I was while on the elliptical.  The shirt that used to be so tight on me is a lot looser.  What a great feeling!

Once I hit 210 I am going to post another picture.  Only a few pounds to go!!!

Dealing with Injuries

So two weeks ago, I lost a pound and the last week I gained a pound.  That was a bit frustrating.

I am not going to let this derail me though.  Yesterday, I bought and prepped my food for the next 7 days.  High in protein, fiber and complex carbs.  If I prep, I am more likely to eat right the whole week.

My only problem now is that I have aggravated my Achilles tendon in my right foot. This means changing up my cardio, adding in new stretches and ice.  I hate when my body isn't able to do something.  It is hard enough to lose weight, I don't want to affect anything by not being able to workout.

Hope I can get past this soon.

Secrets to Weight Loss: Working Out, Eating Right and Sticky Notes

I am trying to stay on the path to healthiness and it is more difficult than ever.  In July, I got down to 214 lbs, my lowest to date.  Then I pulled back on the amount I was working out, I cheated more than I should when it came to dietary choices and before I knew it, I packed on 11 lbs.

It is so frustrating how quickly I can get off track.  Also, I just hate that you can gain weight way faster than lose it.  How unfair is that!

So three weeks ago, I signed back up for personal training twice a week and hitting the gym for cardio four times a week.  No more spur of the moment meal choices for me.  Each week I carefully plan out my meals and shop accordingly.  I still have a sweet tooth so I found an awesome healthy recipe, Vegan Raw Cookie Dough.  Its not really cookie dough, but it tastes just like it!  It is made up of chick peas, almond butter and dark chocolate chips.  I have a tablespoon or two with an apple for an afternoon snack.

With all this effort, I am down 7 lbs.  So besides working out regularly and eating right, what is my other motivation?

Sticky notes.

I have them on my fridge, walls, and doors.  They are filled with reminders of things to avoid, things to strive for and goals achieved.  If I don't have constant reminders....I just fall off the wagon.

One area that I am just really struggling with is the scale.  My trainer has asked me to only weigh in once a week.  Before last Friday, I was weighing myself every day and now I am constantly worried.  What if my eating isn't as on track as I think it is?  What if I am not working out hard enough?  What if the scale tells me that all my work is for nought this week?  I wonder if this is what goes through the mind of people struggling with anorexia and bulimia?  If I'm not hyper focused on losing weight, I don't do what I need to do, but when I am, I am completely panicked about weighing in.

I don't know how to combat that.

I'm Still Around!

It has been a full two months since I last posted.  I warned you that I was flaky!  Since I staggered through the tulips, I have packed up and moved into my new home, learned how to use a lawn mower and experienced the not so great joy of weeding.  Yesterday, I discovered I have a mole in my yard and now have to figure out how to deal with that.

As far as healthy living and my weight go, there have been many ups and downs.  On a good note, I have dropped 7 inches in my waist and hips and hit 33 pounds lost.  On a bad note, these last couple of weeks I did not go to the gym like I should nor ate healthy so my weight has climbed up a bit.  It is hard when you get in a funk to break out of it.  I did meal plan today and bought all the necessary ingredients so my eating should be on track this week.  The plan tomorrow is to get into work early so I can head out and hit the gym before my hair appointment and then go to the movies.

So here's to a good week!  On the same note, I was gifted a beautiful grill from my office on the occasion of purchasing my first house and one of my co-workers will be stopping by for a steak dinner on Tuesday.  I will be making steak (of course), spinach and strawberry salad and for my co-worker, a chocolate peanut butter pie.

Trotting...Staggering through the Tulips

Today I completed my first 5K in over two years and I did much better than that previous first attempt.  That time dead last, I got lost and was so far behind that only my friend was left waiting for me.

This go round, I came in 340th out of 432 people.  Not fabulous, but definitely not last!  I completed it in 50:24 with a pace of 16:16/mile.  The goal was to run two of the three miles, but it ending up being more like 1 1/2 miles of jogging and 1 1/2 miles of walking.  Apparently I have quite a bit of work to do, my jogging pace became so slow that at one point a group of walkers passed me.

What do I have to show for my efforts?  A love neon orange, long-sleeve running shirt that I nearly drown in (usually sizes run small for things like this, but not today) and a love blister on the bottom of my foot the size of a nickel.  Next week I compete in a 10K.  I hope to run some, but I have a feeling I will be walking a majority of it.  Still, it is good to get active.

Weight loss update:  Officially down 24.8 lbs (happy dance time).

Current goal:  Lose a total of 30 lbs by April 30th (just 5.2 lbs to go!).

Dealing with the Mundane

I am about nine weeks into my journey now.  The excitement is beginning to wane and eating right seems like such a chore.  Where did my motivation go???  I have to get my priorities realigned and keep pressing ahead.  The problem with trying to change your life is that you can never stop.

This is a fight to the death.  Either I fight back against obesity or I lose my chance at a healthy life.

I have been good and logging my food and exercise everyday in the Lose It! app and trying to keep up on the message boards.  Support is so important and I have got a small group of folks that are facing similar challenges as me, but we are determined to spur one another on.

In two weeks, I run my first 5K, hoping I don't collapse halfway through.  I will let you know how it goes!

On the Verge

Yesterday, my I officially hit a 22 pound weight loss.  That means I am just one pound away from having less than 100 pounds to lose.  That is such a huge milestone for me.  I see myself differently after just a few weeks, clothes that were too tight are loose and people see a difference too.  Just 26 pounds until I hit One-derland and that seemed so off before.

It is amazing when you can achieve something that didn't seem entirely possible when you started.  I knew I had to lose weight, but seeing myself eight weeks later, I can't believe how far I have come.

Picture Time!

So I wanted to share a couple of pictures from the last few weeks.  The first one is from 11 days ago.  I am wearing a shirt that is still too small, but I am going to try on every ten pounds I lose to see changes with it.  I was at 235 pounds then.  The picture to the right was taken this morning and I weighed in at 228 pounds.  I think I look a bit smaller.

 

Here is a bit of a progression of my progress thus far.  I can see some small changes.

Dealing with Setbacks

Well, I have been struggling a bit the last week.  I have gained and lost the same three pounds and it is really annoying me.  I am okay with a simple plateau, but the constant fluctuation really gets to me.  Now the reason I am having issues is not a mystery.  I got off track on my eating and now I am paying the price.

Saturday, I was at a basketball tournament all day.  I pre-planned my meals, but when purchasing them at the grocery store I failed to do a quality check.  The salads were not okay and I ended up eating nothing more than a gluten-free cupcake (one of my athletes was celebrating a birthday).  The next day, I went out to breakfast and ate eggs, bacon, hash browns (evil white potatoes) and sourdough toast.  Way more than I need to eat for breakfast any day of the week.  For Sunday dinner I ate teriyaki chicken and rice (also a no-no).  Then on Monday, I ate a small blizzard and it was really good, but oh so bad for me.

I am back on track now.  Got my planned snacks/meals and am hitting the gym.  It takes time to recover from a misstep, but the important thing is to not give up.  Life happens and tomorrow is a new day.

Another Milestone Achieved

Today, I am officially out of the 230s!  In five weeks I have dropped nearly 18 pounds and it feels great.  I survived Valentine's Day, which is a single gal's most dreaded holiday.  Nothing worse than the oh so well meaning people that gaze upon you sorrowfully and say, "maybe next year you will have someone".  It is as if being single is a disease.

But enough of that nonsense, I am doing so well on my journey to health and that is great!

Achieving the Unthinkable

I didn't go to the gym for five days.  We had a snow storm and I couldn't make it off my street, much less to the gym.  Mind you, this epic snow storm brought a meager four inches to my area, but to us it might as well have been four feet.

So I didn't purposely skip the gym, but I that is the thing that really bothered me.  It was that I missed going to the gym.

I missed it.

I have never been upset about not being able to go to the gym.  In fact, there were many days I revealed in coming up with clever (or not so clever) reasons to avoid the gym.  This attitude change is something quite miraculous.  I like working out.  I like challenging myself.  It is one thing to go and get stronger, but to change how I think about it is something I didn't think was achievable so early on in my journey.  Five weeks in and I am down fourteen pounds and loving the gym.

What did you do that amazed yourself this week?

Managing Obstacles

Four weeks and fourteen pounds down!  It is great to see my weight dropping and it certainly helps me to keep motivated.  That being said this week has been very tough.  We had snow on Thursday, which threw the entire area into a state of panic.  My client lunch was cancelled and I didn't have a back up plan.  Adding to the issue, my boss bought the whole office pizza and that is not on my list of okay things to eat.  Thankfully, I caught a ride with a co-worker that went to pick up the pizza and grabbed a chicken salad from Subway.

Thanks to the snow, it took me three hours to get home and I only live ten miles from my job.  By the time I got home, I was stressed and wanted to eat some carbs.  I didn't, I ate my planned dinner and held out on temptation.  Sticking to a schedule is easy when everything goes according to plan.  It is when things start to go awry that you really have to remember what you are working towards.

Obstacles will always arise.  The key is to know that they are not insurmountable.  You can work through them or around them, but they don't have to derail your efforts.

Three Weeks In...

So three weeks into this new lifestyle and the improvements are massive!  I have dropped 11.8 pounds, my BMI is down 1.4, my pants fit nice and I can get through a whole personal training session without having to stop in the middle of a set to recoup.  These things are great and really help to keep me motivated, but there are still hard days.

Yesterday was potluck day at work (usually happens once a quarter).  Those dreaded potlucks filled with so many yummy and fattening foods.  They were devised with the sole intent to torment people trying to stick to healthy eating habits!

I was prepared though and brought something to share and something for myself.  I had a salad with chicken and then reviewed the two tables of food.  Most of it consisted of pasta, bread, white potatoes and desserts (chocolate cake, red velvet cookies, etc).  All of which are on my not to eat list this month.  So I found a chicken and black bean soup someone made and some fresh berries and added that to my lunch (it was a pitiful 180 calories before I did this).  I ate, mingled and when temptation got strong, I cleaned up my dishes and went back to my desk.  Those items would have tasted great, but I am trying to set new habits for myself and it is way too early in the game to allow a little cheat here and there.

Not that I don't have splurges mind you.  My current one is a bit cheesy, but I really like it and look forward to it.  So on Fridays (which is tomorrow, yay!), I have a Chai Tea Latte.  It is made from a Keurig Vue cup and only has 60 calories, but I am not drinking any sweeteners so this is a treat.  I love the taste and for now it works.  Once I am more confident in my meal planning, I can add in some more things; for instance, bread in some form will reappear in my diet (but not after lunch).

So that is me this week.  Super Bowl Sunday is quickly approaching and I am looking to avoid any fumbles in my eating plans that day (I had to go for a football pun!).

Changing My Shopping Habits

I remember watching a presentation on PBS (you know all the cool kids watch PBS, right?) where author Michael Pollan was talking about his book, The Omnivore's Dilemma.  He talked about how bad processed food is and that when he goes to the grocery store he only shops the perimeter of the store because that is where the fruits, vegetables, meat and dairy are located.  I can remember that I thought it was a cool idea, but totally unrealistic.  How could you not have cereal, pasta, soda and Easy Mac (well, I could avoid that, but I know people that love it)?

Today, I am starting my third week of healthy eating and guess what!  I am shopping just the perimeter of the store.  I buy just vegetables, fruits, meats, dairy (Greek yogurt and cheese) and eggs.  Lots of eggs.  Today, I bought two dozen eggs for this week.  Now, you are probably thinking that I am going to drop dead of a heart attack in a day or two, but I eat primarily egg whites and very few yolks.  Last week, I made a dozen frittatas which contained 8 egg whites and two egg yolks and they served as my lunches at work.

I didn't think I could do it, but I can.  I can make healthy, filling and tasty meals without adding in a ton of processed food.  Instead of mayonnaise, I used a teaspoon of olive oil and two tablespoons of lemon juice to mix up my tuna salad. It tastes great!  One thing that this type of lifestyle is that it does require effort.  Hamburger Helper is easy, fast food is easy, but real food takes a bit more effort.  So how do I deal?

I meal plan on Saturday so I have a game plan for Sunday.  Then after church, I go to the grocery store with list in hand and buy everything I need for the week.  As a single gal, I can keep it down to around $70 a week.  Then I go home and the work begins.  I wash, chop and bag my veggies that will go in salads.  I cook or roast veggies and bag those for lunches and dinners.  Then I season and cook my meat.  This makes the rest of the week so much easier.  I have planned each of my days and I know what I need to eat and all I have to do is grab it and go.   It took more effort on Sunday, but it pays off later and helps prevent me from making "convenience decisions" when it comes to eating.

Promises I Made to Myself

I promised myself I would start eating better.  This is how I started.

People make promises to themselves every day.

"Today, I will go to the gym."
"I will not eat fast food."
"I will not eat an entire pint of Ben 'n Jerry's in one sitting."

The list goes on.  The problem is that we so often break our promises.  I wrote "Do NOT eat fast food" on a sticky note and posted it in my car.  As I sat and ate my Double Quarter Pounder, I would look at the note and tell myself, "next time".  At any given time in the last 6 months, you could have found 2-3 empty fast food bags from 3 different places.  I am sick of breaking promises!  I finally had everything align, my desire for change, my willingness to commit and the internal drive to achieve success.

Today marks two weeks since I last ate fast food.  Some days it was a challenge because (1) I am on the road a lot and fast food is convenient and (2) I really love french fries.  As a child, I wanted french fries for breakfast (as an adult I totally did that on weekends).  The problem is that french fries and the burger that most often accompanies it really like me too.  They succeeded in adding nearly 15 lbs to my frame in four months.  French fries are not worth that, so they had to go.

Ten months ago, I stopped drinking soda and even though I still occasionally dream about having one, my life is better off without it.  I am down to  1/2 to 1 cup of black coffee and up to 60-80 ounces of water a day.  I had no idea water could make you feel so good!  I thought reducing my caffeine intake would be brutal (10 months ago with soda, it was), but dropping from 5-6 cups of coffee with creamer has been a breeze.

Another Blog Attempt

This is not my first blog.

It is in fact my fourth blog.  My first blog chronicled my trip from Virginia to Washington and then moped along for about another year and was finally put down.  The second one was all about book and movie reviews.  I think it last three months.  Then came blog number three.  That was on getting my finances in order and becoming a fiscally responsible person, which lasted maybe two weeks.  So if we look at my past blogging history, this one here will be DOA within a week.

But this blog is not about things I have talked about in the past.  This one is about getting healthy.  Life in the fat lane basically sucks and I want to change that.  I have forums I post in on Lose It! (a fabulous app for tracking just about everything one needs to track when trying to get healthy) to get motivation.  This place is more about accountability to myself.  Promises I need to remember, truths I need to hear and a place to reflect on achievements along the way.

So this is me:  5ft 2 1/2 in and 240lbs

How am I going to get healthy?  Going to the gym four or more times a week (two of which I work out with a personal trainer), eat right (I will get into what that is another day) and stay focused.  The last one is key.  It is why all my other blogs failed.  I didn't keep my attention on them because they weren't that important.  This is critical for me and I cannot let this get swept to the side.