Day 2

Here we are at day 2 so far..last whole foods eaten on Friday night at 6pm. Doing good so far, not to say this has been a piece of cake..mmm cake. Saturday I had to make 2 trips to the grocery store because I need to grab a few more things. That was certainly a challenge for me, I forced myself to stay up front in the fruits and veggies only so I wouldn't be tempted by anything I saw. Last night we were out running errands (I had packed 2 of my juices so I had plenty of nutrients for myself) but the person with me wanted Culvers. Rather than let that into the vehicle I just sat outside while she went in to eat her meal.

There are times my mind does dwell on what I could be having and what I think I want. But this is a mental thing as much as a physical one. I won't say that I am not hungry because there is a level of hunger there but I am not sure if this is true hunger or just what my mind is telling me. It certianly does not help that I am smelling chicken and rice right now...and being reminded that THEY have to eat and I CHOOSE to do this....yeah not helping...

It is a challenge at home, being the only one doing this detox. The smells of food cooking and then being asked to cook something is difficult. Sometimes I wonder if this was a good idea.

But when I start to wonder that I just remind myself that this is only for 7 days - anyone can do anything for 7 days. I can reset my mind and body to make better choices. I CHOOSE to do this. I can do this!

Day 1 begins tomorrow

Tomorrow I begin my juice cleanse, or detox. I am so ready and excited...I also wonder if I will have the ability to stick on the course. I wonder if I will have the mental motivation to overcome my food and sugar addictions/urges.

Here are some of the documentaries that I have been watching:

• Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead
• Hungry For Change
• Forks Over Knives

I also have a list of ones I want to watch yet:

• Tapped
• Killer at Large
• King Corn
• Frankensteer
• Fed Up
• Ingredients
• Food Matters

Just in the last week I have ready 3 books about juicing, diet and sugar addiction. It's eye opening what is in the products that people eat. It's almost scary what is in the food we consider healthy. How many things do we ingest because we have been told we need them when in reality it just lines the pockets of certain groups??

It's amazing when I started talking about what I am doing I found friends of mine that watched the same documentaries and were doing the same cleanse I am doing AT THE SAME TIME!!! It's amazing! 

Get educated!

What are the steps?

Eat eggs, eggs are bad. All protein & no carb. Balanced 40/30/30 plan. What is right? Every diet guru is selling you something, their interpretation of healthy, oh and they are trying to make a buck or two. I get so frustrated with being pulled in so many directions only to feel that I know less than before & I am stuck in the same miserable spot.

A few documentaries found their way to me while being snowed in for storm Draco. Ironically they both spoke of the health benefits of juicing. Now, before you scream in frustration let me share some thoughts. They spoke of always starting a "diet" on Monday & although you were unhealthy on Sunday suddenly Monday you feel deprived. This is me to a T. We start to focus on what we can't have. Rather than retraining our minds to think that we CAN have it, but we CHOOSE not to. Part of the problem is that we do not accept the fact that for days before we were accepting lots of junk into our system without thinking twice, and now we think that chocolate cravings will kill us.

I have come to understand that I am a sugar addict. I have zero actual sugar in my house, I gave up all soda a year ago, how can this be? We. I do eat bread, I have creamer in my coffee, I add flavoring to the 64oz of water I consume a day. I like things sweet. I will never turn down a good cookie, I enjoy frosting on cake, I will secretly pick up something sweet when I stop somewhere alone. That sounds like addict to me.

I never thought I could give up a soda, the chemically altered, drink I was fond of. After all I did like diet soda so that was okay right? Turns out that diet soda is designed to make you want more & actually increases weight!!

To start 2013 off on a good note I am going to embark on my quest to conquer sugar. To begin I am going to do a juicing cleanse. I am starting with 7 days but we will see if I end up doing 14 or even 21 days. This will also be a period of time away from my beloved coffee. I will be honest that scares me more than juicing for a week or more! I know this is part mental and part physical because I need to clean my body & mind of the toxins I have invested for 35 years.

After the cleanse is done I will be back to clean eating again because that makes me feel much better.

I am going around tomorrow to check price/quality/variety of the fruits & veggies. What a great way to kick off the week! I will share my experiences on here & I look forward to a great year ahead!

It's been a while

It's been quite a while since I have posted on here..all the ups and downs have been distracting and sapping my energy. I have been back in karate again and enjoying it...working out quite a few days a week. I love how my education on food and working out is evolving. By surrounding myself with people that know and understand transformation.

I plan on following this better over the new year. New focus and new determiniation!

Change is a'commin

Okay tonight marks the end of week 4 on the LiveFit program of Jamie Eason. I must say that although I cannot look in a mirror and SEE the changes that are happening but when I look at the scale, or when I tape I can see those changes. The hard part about this program is that in phase 1 there is no cardio during these 4 weeks. The first 4 weeks are focused on eating right and working out by lifting weights. Its amazing to me how many people think that you are going to bulk up and look like the hulk when you lift some weights.
But here I am, about 14 lbs down (weigh in tomorrow morning) and the inches have been going down in multiple places. Hips are down over 2 inches, waist down 2 inches. BRING IT ON!

It pisses me off when people expect that they can just go on a diet and restrict themselves somehow and drop weight fast & then live like that. Sure weight can be dropped quickly, however, if it is not a true lifestyle change then you will still have the same struggles when you get to where you think you should be. It is possible to eat healthy, work out and lose weight without pills and doctors. Just try it, you can do it!

I see progress!

So I am on day 10 of following the Jamie Eason plan and I must say I am loving my workouts each morning and I am seeing results! I am down 10lbs and a couple of inches on hips and waist. This week we went out and purchased a new addition to our home gym which has been phenomenal to work out on. Here is a picture of it, nice and compact and fits wonderful in our basement.
So back to the workout at 430am tomorrow, today was a rest day because of hockey but tomorrow I am hitting legs hard. Bring it on!

Happy Friday!

Well here we are, week 1 of the new year is done and a full week of working out and sticking with clean eating is going well. I am quite impressed with how I feel overall and how strong it makes me mentally. Who knew?! Maybe there is some truth to the idea that our food is poison to our bodies!

I know I was not supposed to but I jumped on the scale yesterday just to see where I was at and I must say that despite the fact that I am eating more now that I ever have during the day I am losing weight and gaining muscle. I am down 4 pounds and feeling strong. For those that want to know what I am doing I am following Jamie Eason's LiveFit it's amazing. The only thing that I do different is that I am eating clean and not following her eating plan to a T- I just need more variety and taste in my food or I think I will go off track easily.

My typical day is waking up at 445am, having a pre-workout drink (new fave is Jack3D) and a piece of Ezekiel bread with all natural peanut butter. Lucky for me my "gym" is in the basement with all the weights and things I would need so I do not have to drive anywhere but I am working out until about 615am then I grab a banana with my protein shake and get ready for work. While getting ready I get my 5 egg whites in with tons of veggies and I am out the door. Then it is simply to eat small meals every 3 hours. For me I find that I am most hungry in the morning so at my 1015 meal I have my turkey balls and then in the afternoon I just have a protein shake at work.

I am feeling really good on the plan so far and enjoying the workout. I think that for me, when I walk into a gym without a plan I get so overwhelmed and not sure what to do so I meander around, spend some time on a treadmill and work a ton of machines without a good idea to what to do. This plan has taught me more about what muscle groups to train and like I said I get to work out at home but there are times that I wish I was in a gym because I could expand on those workouts. For example, I cannot do leg press at home but I do dumbbell squats - works the same but it just feels different.

In 51 days I will be going on a cruise so that is also in the back of my mind, how can I enjoy the food while sticking with my program. At that time I will be heavy into lifting with a huge cario requirement. Fortunately cruise ships these days usually have a good gym so I am planning on using that a lot. My goal is to eat clean for the day and then at dinner I am indulge a little more than normal.

Yesterday I came home to find that my partner not only slipped up a little but sat down and literally ate and entire pizza. Although I was partially jealous because it sure smelled good I was also glad that it wasn't me. It made me feel stronger in my resolve that food is just fuel and although I desire it to taste good I don't need the wrong types of food in my body. I am better without it. So far not having sodas and processed food has not been a problem, sure there have been temptations but this is not a diet. This is a lifestyle and until I get my mind under control I cannot rely on just having a taste every now and then. My now and then turns into a train wreck!

The nice thing about eating clean and healthy is that it makes going out to dinner something that we do not enjoy because of how unhealthy that can be. That being said our first dinner out for the new year will be to Prime Quarter so we can grill our own steak, minus the butter and other things they add, have 1 small potato and a nice salad -minus the awful salad dressing. I am looking forward to it and can't wait to join some friends for a good time.

So...happy friday, make good food choices and get moving!