Just sitting around and bored out of my mind. I got to thinking about December. As a project manager, in June, we start focusing on the end of the year and what needs to be done in 2014. That got me thinking about my personal goals. Why is December so important to me? It's the end of the year. It's holds major holidays (mine being Christmas) and my husbands birthday (Christmas Day). It's cold. I could go on and on. But the thing that made Christmas time miserable for me last year was that I was unhealthy, unhappy, and super self-conscious! I've been struggling all year with my weight-loss journey. Having a hormone imbalance/PCOS-whatever makes things really hard. I was so unhappy last year that I didn't want to take a family Christmas picture for Christmas cards! And any pictures I did take were head shots, sitting & holding pillows or hiding behind someone else. I want to take pictures again. More like, enjoy being photogenic. I want to take pictures with my husband and my four legged fur baby and be content with where I am with my body. I don't want to be worried about how big my butt is or if my belly/back rolls are showing. Most people use vacation or summer as motivation. And it's good until your vacation has come and gone. Then everyone is so concerned with New Years' Resolutions that they waste time and money on crappy weight loss antics. Those resolutions hardly ever make it past January. You have to really want it to get it. Not focus on a date or thing to begin losing weight.
My goal is to be comfortable with my body by the time Christmas pictures need to be taken (probably November). I'm not sticking a number on it because a number is useless. You lose and gain so much that the number isn't an accurate measurement. I would use inches but I don't have a good estimate for that. So, I will go with pant sizes. I am still in a 14. Have been all year. It's just more comfortable now. My goal is to be in a 10-12 by Christmas. Those where the jeans I wore through college. I have big hips so I will never be a 2-4. I might be lucky to wear an 8 but I've never worn an 8 (that I can remember). So, I'm taking it one pant size at a time. Levi's brand (because I still own the size 12 Levi's I wore in high school and those were my fat jeans) will be the sizes I go by. I believe it's the 515 (don't hold me to that)? I will be so happy to fit back into those jeans (they made my butt look great).
SO... Christmas... You're mine. Watch out, I'm coming for you. And Thanksgiving, I'll be thankful but I won't show it by eating the food I'm thankful for. I will be donating a majority of food to the hungry and only keeping the healthy stuff. Keeping it clean like Jesus, the Nazarene! I think I need to make a t-shirt! ;)
5/6/13 (Monday morning) was a killer workout! But I had so much fun! I burned 575 calories in the 1.5 hours I was at the gym working out. I started out with 15 minutes on the Total Body Elliptical Trainer. I went on to stretch and do some basic core workouts. Then I met up with Jessica (my AWESOME personal trainer) and got my butt kicked! We did free-weight routine today which was a mix of upper & lower body exercises. A variety of squats & lunges with curls & extensions at the same time! Talking about boosting my heart rate! And I looked like a doofus and was laughing the entire time to keep for saying other choice words. lol. It was strenuous to say the least. Then my semi-sadistic personal trainer (not really - inside joke) decided to introduce me to the StairMaster (more like reintroduce - It's been almost 2 years since I've seen one). I had a 15 minute workout set on random (crazy of me to agree with Jessica). But, I really enjoyed it. Plus, I had all of these little old men come up to me and congratulate me for working hard. Kind of annoying because I'm one who keeps to myself during cardio but it was nice.
Later that night, I was dancing around the house to my Fast & Furious Pandora station (mix of latin artists, hip-hop & dubstep). I wish I had my HRM for that one. ;) Acting a fool and having a blast. Haven't felt that energetic in a long time. But a few hours later (after I settled down), I literally crawled into bed. I was so sore & stiff. I knew without a doubt it was going to take a long time to wake up the next morning (it did... all 15 minutes of slowly moving toward the edge of the bed. LOL). But, again, I enjoyed it. I'm alive and I can endure it. I'm pushing my body to it's limits at the gym and feeling the rewards when I get home. I feel better, more energetic & less depressed. I can focus (even though I still have headaches) and get work done. I just wish I could wake up early. That's still my biggest problem. The fatigue is still there in the mornings. I can get up to meet my personal trainer but no other time. I've got to figure that one out.
A friend of mine wrote me a post on Facebook today. She wrote:
"So I've been keeping up with your fitness blog, congrats on the weightloss!! I just wanted to tell you that for the past month, minus 2 or 3 cheat days, I have completely given up bread. Here is a great article about why you should. I thought you might find it very interesting. Keep up the great work girl!!"
Naturally, this made my day!!! I've cut out all bread products for the past month. And, as previously mentioned in an earlier post, I ate a Subway sandwich once after about 3 weeks of no bread... And I felt like CRAP. I totally believe every word of it. I do believe you need grains in your diet in order to fully metabolize and rid toxins from your body. But there are many other grains to get fiber from. You can get fiber from veggies and fruit too! Yes, I will miss eating a turkey sandwich on wheat but I'd rather miss out on a sandwich than miss out on a healthy body.
A few things Dr. Mark Hyman mentioned that caught my attention are three important ways wheat can cause problems (Read article for more details):
- It contains a Super Starch -- amylopectin A that is super fattening.
- It contains a form of Super Gluten that is super-inflammatory.
- It contains forms of a Super Drug that is super-addictive and makes you crave and eat more.
I'm not so sure about gluten-free lifestyles yet. I still have more to learn from them. Until then, I will continue on my no bread, no processed food, no sugary drinks lifestyle.
The key to making a new lifestyle work is to view it in a positive manner. Don't think of the things you can't have. Think of what you can have and soon your body will be craving the good foods instead of the bad. I don't want doughnuts or fried chicken. I want yummy grilled chicken and dried cranberries and dark chocolate or carob covered almonds. I want natural and whole foods. I don't miss Sonic Route 44 Vanilla Diet Dr. Pepper or Coke Zero. I crave water and green tea. It's astonishing. This has been the easiest transition I've ever had. With a detox too! I honestly feel better than I have in years. I still have fatigue and all that but I can walk up 4 flights of stairs and not feel like passing out. It takes me seconds to regain my breath instead of minutes. It gave me a little boost of energy instead of making me feel like I needed a nap.
The best part about this lifestyle is my husband participating. He started the detox and lifestyle with me to make it easier on me. He had no intention of sticking with it after the detox is over. He actually likes the food and helps me cook. Once the detox is over, he will cheat a bit I'm sure... mainly with sweet tea. Sweet tea is the least of my worries. Actually, we cheated last night and got a sweet tea from Raising Cane's. OHMYWORD... I hated it. I drank it and it tasted like straight syrup! And the tea left an after taste that was bitter, unlike the green tea which doesn't leave an aftertaste.
Anyways... my motivation for the day: "The only thing between you and your goal is you." Food is no longer a problem. I've found a way to eat that allows me to lose weight without working out. Can you imagine the weight loss possibilities once I start back working out? That's just another step closer to my goal. Now, I just have to figure out the timing and fatigue issue. And that's all me. No excuses. :)
So... Today, my dad asked me a few questions. He first asked me about my weight loss and how much I've lost. I told him that I have lost 12lbs since December and I'm am choosing whole, clean foods. He said he noticed that I lost some weight since my face was thinner. (YAY!!!) He also asked me if I was working out and I replied "No... I'm detoxing and working out could be bad. Haha!" He agreed to say the least. ;) It felt great to get a positive compliment from my dad. I told him my current goal is to be under 200lbs by June (which sounds more reasonable than my goal of being under 160lbs by the end of the year). He was excited to hear that my portion sizes have decreased dramatically and that my snacking is controllable. The fatigue is never ending but I feel lighter and healthier than before. I'm focusing on my food and sleeping patterns. Moving my sleeping patterns to earlier bedtime/earlier wake up is really hard to do. I really want to get to the point where I can wake up at 6AM and workout without sleeping through 3 alarms. I really want to have energy to clean my house in a reasonable amount of time and still be able to cook a hearty meal every day. I want to be able to do something crafty/artsy and be able to spend more than an hour on it every night. All of that being said... here's a bit of motivation for the rest of this week (or until something else pops up in my mind).
To date... I have lost 11 pounds. That doesn't sound like much, but it's awesome to me! I have been struggling with weight for over a year now. I've struggled all of my life but I was able to keep it down until about 2 years ago. It quickly increased (in a matter of months) and the symptoms got worse. But I'm determined to get fit again. Since I made that decision in December and started to act on it in January, I have lost 11lbs. And working on more! ;) I started at 240, out of shape, miserable, depressed, and unhealthy. I reached my 10lb goal on Sunday. My goal for this week was to get below 230lbs. I checked my weight, just checking, and I was 229! It takes time and considering that I haven't fit in a workout this week, I consider that to be a great accomplishment. I was able to lose without a workout! Now just imagine how much more I can lose if I actually do my planned workouts!?!?! My husband is on board with me and he has lost approximately 9lbs in the past 1.5 weeks. (Just from cutting out sweet tea!) If he worked out, he probably could have lost 15lbs!
Now a little motivational picture to get through the rest of the week: I chose this picture because I have a lot of supporters who are pushing for me to succeed. My mom (the "pusher") said she was proud when I told her I lost 10lbs. And she didn't kill the buzz with: "Let's see how much more you can lose" or "Oh wow, 10lbs. I'm waiting for 50lbs before I'm impressed". That makes things a lot easier when the support is positive motivation and not negative interactions that make you feel like your worthless. Good things in, good things out!
I have to admit it... I've been slacking. I spent the weekend with my family. Saturday, I had a fun day with my in-laws. We ate big but I tried to choose wisely. Sunday was rough. I was sick (again) and was having a really bad day. Luckily, my mom cooked a very good meal. We didn't have "dessert" but there were some little goodies lying around. There were no workouts on these days. I was more active, yes, but no deliberate exercising took place. Yesterday was a pretty good day. I had a great breakfast which gave me a good healthy boost. I actually made lunch instead of throwing something in the oven/microwave. I made some tuna salad and deviled eggs. Not exactly super healthy but it's a lot better than lean pockets and breaded chicken! I feel bad because I ended the day with a half of a Cali burger from The Monago Fieldhouse (which is Ah-mazing!) and a red velvet brownie from the Great American Cookie Company. BAD MADDY!!! I succumbed to temptation. I can't take it back so I will have to come to terms with it and move on. I chose the picture above as my motivation because it's true. It takes time to see results. You see the results first but can get down when no one notices. Keep it up. You're family with compliment you first and you may not believe them. But just keep going. People will start to notice... And then, people you haven't seen in years will notice. And it will be grand!!! Keep it up, even if you are hindered by a bad meal or miss a workout. It takes 2 weeks to make a habit and 2 months to break it. So instead of breaking bad habits, focus on creating a new, healthier one. It's less depressing! ;)
