Starting May 25th

[Guest bfree11]

Day 67 (of healthy eating)

 

Breakfast: Plain Siggi yogurt, a few berries, 2 eggs, black coffee

Lunch: salad with chicken, avocado, veggies, nuts & seeds, balsamic & oil, kombucha

Dinner: spaghetti squash, chicken, broccoli, tomato sauce, onions, garlic, red kale, tbsp goat cheese

Exercise: Power Flow Yoga

 

Big non-scale victory today! I went to the DMV to become an official Floridian, and when I handed over my passport, I did a double take at the picture on my passport from 2009. Man, do I look different now! It's a little weird for me though because I've been losing my weight very very slowly in chunks for about 6 years now. In 2009, I went from 260 lb to around 200 lb, spent a few years around 200 lb, moved down to 185 lb, spent a few years at 185 lb, and now I'm in the low 170s, hopefully getting close to the 160s shortly. My passport picture was definitely at my highest weight, but I haven't been that heavy in so many years, so it's not as exciting as it would be if I had major weight loss changes since I started this particular journey 67 days ago. 

 

However, my friend helped me see something kind of powerful about my weight loss journey. Notice that my weight kept going down in phases, but never once did it go back up. I never "gained it all back" or anything. I've either been losing or maintaining for the past 6 years. That tells me that I will be okay once I get to my maintenance phase because apparently I'm already kind of a pro at it. I ate pretty healthy over the past 6 years (way healthier than before) and got into exercising, but I still had plenty of cheat meals, which is why I maintained without losing for so long. It's been interesting losing the weight slowly in phases, rather than just all at once. It's exciting to finally be in the home stretch! 

 

I've got another date tomorrow. This guy looks like he's going to be a lot more attractive than the last guy, which makes me really nervous. For the date earlier this week, I felt confident and pretty. But for this date, since he's really handsome (I think!), all of my "fat girl" insecurities are flaring up. I am just so worried that when he sees me, he will me disappointed with how overweight I am, especially since I've told him how into health and fitness I am. I worry that my pictures may not show exactly how big I actually am! These worries really get to me because there is some truth to them. I am technically overweight still, even though I've made progress, and he might not like that. I'm still going to go and be brave because who knows what will happen, and it will be good for me. 

[Guest bfree11]

So after I brew the kombucha like normal, I put into flip top jars and put real fruit/herbs in there. For lemon I put a little lemon juice and pieces of the rind but only the yellow part not the white pith underneath or it will be bitter. I'll chop strawberries and other fruit up small and tuck it in, for the mint I left it as leaves and I minced the ginger. Its a guessing game on how much you put in. I put enough to coat the bottom of my bottle, poured the kombucha over it, and let it sit for 3 days, burping the bottles once a day so they don't explode, and then I put them in the fridge.

COOL! Thank you! There's a local kombucha brewer in my town that I buy from, but I really want to try making it on my own!

[Higgles]

Don't let his percieved attractiveness scare you off. First.. you'll meet some duds before you find someone good, while that may be annoying, you'll learn something from every one of them. Second... don't go into thinking that he's that superficial. My husband is a good 30 pounds lighter than me and is a stick... and he'll always be that way even if I lose all the weight I should. Sometimes it makes me so uncomfortable to be heavier than he is, but although he supports me in my weight loss journey, its never actually been a problem for him. So focus on your fitness journey as it applies to you being healthy and happy because weight loss just comes along with it, and let him see your personality.

 

Ok for brewing your own kombucha.... go to KombuchaKamp.com or join the kombucha kamp online group. I started with one of their scobys and brought a 1 gallon glass jar from amazon to start, however I really recommend buying two jars because scobys  multiply fast and you'll need a place to put your leftovers. You'll also want to buy good containers, some people use mason jars (which i have a ton of) but i liek the flip top bottles for venting. I also just purchased 2-1/2 gallon jars for the 2nd flavored ferment. I wrote yesterday that I put the fruit in the jars and then put the kombucha in, which a lot of people do. But someone suggested putting flavors in the half gallon jars... then adding the brewed Kombucha (this should split the brew between the 2 containers) and after about 3 days in there strain and put into the flip top jars or smaller mason jars, this helps things from being chunky when going to drink. I'm currently not brewing any until I get my new jars because I now have two scobys and only need one for brewing so I need to wait until my second container gets here, yay!

[Higgles]

So, I'm one of those overly organized people. I have lists to keep track of my lists, and my husband calls me crazy but it makes me feel together. I recently downloaded this app called Evernote... its apparently super popular but I never heard of it until now, and I can't believe that because it is AMAZING! I moved all my random notes into this app, I have it on my phone, my home computer, and I can pull up the website at work and it all syncs together.

 

Anyway, I bring this up because I've been listing recently to make my food life easier. A lot of times when I go off track I tend to blame my husband because he does the grocery shopping and cooking, even though I know only I am responsible for my choices and I could help out the matter more than I currently do. So I spent some time breaking down how I would like to eat, and what are the common reasons I break away from these habits. So this is what I just did:

 

1- I made a full month rotation of healthy meals broken down by week so I don't get bored. First I listed every meal that we've deemed healthy but actually enjoy. I then broke down a week rotation plan, like red meat 1x, pork 2x, fish 1x, chicken 3x (mainly bc we have WAY more chicken recipes than anything else, we won't do fish for leftovers so we only do it on Friday, blah blah blah). So then I fit the meals into this formula and came up with 4 weeks worth of meals. I also have a list of meals that I want to try but haven't yet, and I found space for those too. My ultimate goal would be to have a 5-6 week rotation plan so we really never feel like we're having the same meals. BUT this whole thing is flexible enough, we can easily trade in a special occasion meal, or a night out, who cares? I'm not planning on being super rigid with what we make, but the overall problem I was having was Sunday night I spent forever figuring out what meals we wanted, then finding all the links for the recipes, I used to make the grocery lists myself but now my husband makes them. It was a lot of wasted time, and I would forget about some recipes so some things we made ALL The time, and others we haven't had for months.

 

2.  I then categorized all these recipes into pinterest, so I completely redid my entire pinterest catalogue. I have groups for "chicken, pork, beef, seafood, vegetarian faves, side dishes, sauces, and snacks/desserts, and recipes to try." I also deleted all the unhealthy pins that I know I should never make. (I'll caveat that with, I left a crap ton of unhealthy desserts in there, but any main dishes are gone! Because honestly.. how many times was I baking unhealthy desserts? My husband will tell you ZERO!). I mainly reorganized the Pinterest to make my husband use it, so now I can give him a weeks worth of meals, and he can easily find the recipes without me resending him the same links all the time. I downloaded the pinterest app on his ipad and this weekend we walked through what I need him to do, he rolled his eyes but I really think it will be time consuming.

 

3. I think made a basic shopping list for him, I'm sure this sounds ridiculous, but because we go shopping 2x a week I feel like I'm constantly starting from scratch and figuring out what we have and what we need. This is now more like a checklist, so he can see what we need and if we already have it, take it off the list. At the top is everything for salads, (lettuce, toppings, etc), and then what I need for breakfasts. Since he goes shopping on Tues/Fri I broke it down by literally what I need for the week or weekend. Since I do the same breakfast  all the time, I don't need to worry about variety, and I even made side lists for say the weekends we spend out of town... that's always been my biggest downfall. We go out of town, get home Sunday night, so on Monday morning we have no food and I have no breakfasts already made, so I would go get something junky... now I don't have any excuse. So I put how many eggs and what veggies I want him to get, so again, I'm not making the same list every week, its already made!

 

This sounds so dorky, but I've been wanting to do this for awhile and I finally sat down and committed myself and it wasn't that bad. I'll post my pinterest name tomorrow bc I don't remember it right now, if you want to see what the heck I'm talking about.

 

Have a great weekend!

[Guest bfree11]

Day 68 (of healthy eating)

 

Breakfast: Vanilla Siggis yogurt, berries, 2 eggs, black coffee

Lunch: salad with chicken, avocado, veggies, nuts & seeds, balsamic & oil, kombucha

After Work Drink: glass of red wine

Dinner: Plain Siggis yogurt

Date Night Drinks: 1 glass of red wine, 1 gin and tonic

Exercise: Rest Day

 

 

I woke up this morning and stepped on the scale and saw that I was either 2 or 3 lb down, (I forget!) in less than a week! I'm officially 171 lb, very exciting. I think some of the tweaks I made are helping. A little less fat and red meat is working for me.

 

Work got a little stressful at the end of the day, so a few coworkers and I gravitated toward the closest bar and had a drink. Nutritionally speaking, it wasn't the best idea, since I knew I was going out for drinks later in the night already, but it was really relaxing and nice to have a drink with my coworkers. I don't regret it and it's definitely not something that happens regularly.

 

I had to run home and rush to get ready for my date, which left no time for dinner! I wasn't about to eat something stupid like fast food or anything, so I looked in my fridge for the fastest thing I could find, which was another yogurt. Sometimes life happens and things don't go as planned. I thought I'd have more time to prepare dinner, it didn't work out that way, oh well. 

 

I started my date with a glass of wine and then after several hours in, my stomach was growling and I decided to order a gin & tonic, hoping it would fill me up a bit from the sugar in the tonic. 3 drinks in one day is a lot for me and definitely not part of the lifestyle that I want to be living. The date itself went alright. He was nice and wasn't at all scared off by what I look like in person, so none of my fears came true. Phew. We're going on another date on Sunday!

[Guest bfree11]

Day 68 (of healthy eating)

 

Breakfast: Vanilla Siggis yogurt, berries, 2 eggs, black coffee

Lunch: salad with chicken, avocado, veggies, nuts & seeds, balsamic & oil, kombucha

After Work Drink: glass of red wine

Dinner: Plain Siggis yogurt

Date Night Drinks: 1 glass of red wine, 1 gin and tonic

Exercise: Rest Day

 

 

I woke up this morning and stepped on the scale and saw that I was either 2 or 3 lb down, (I forget!) in less than a week! I'm officially 171 lb, very exciting. I think some of the tweaks I made are helping. A little less fat and red meat is working for me.

 

Work got a little stressful at the end of the day, so a few coworkers and I gravitated toward the closest bar and had a drink. Nutritionally speaking, it wasn't the best idea, since I knew I was going out for drinks later in the night already, but it was really relaxing and nice to have a drink with my coworkers. I don't regret it and it's definitely not something that happens regularly.

 

I had to run home and rush to get ready for my date, which left no time for dinner! I wasn't about to eat something stupid like fast food or anything, so I looked in my fridge for the fastest thing I could find, which was another yogurt. Sometimes life happens and things don't go as planned. I thought I'd have more time to prepare dinner, it didn't work out that way, oh well. 

 

I started my date with a glass of wine and then after several hours in, my stomach was growling and I decided to order a gin & tonic, hoping it would fill me up a bit from the sugar in the tonic. 3 drinks in one day is a lot for me and definitely not part of the lifestyle that I want to be living. The date itself went alright. He was nice and wasn't at all scared off by what I look like in person, so none of my fears came true. Phew. We're going on another date on Sunday!

[Guest bfree11]

Day 69 (of healthy eating)

 

Breakfast: handful of nuts and black berries, black coffee

Lunch: spinach salad with grilled chicken, unsweetened iced tea

Dinner: grilled chicken, broccolini

Exercise: rest day 

 

When I woke up this morning, I had to quickly get ready and drive down to visit some family for the day about an hour away. I had no yogurt left and no time to make eggs. I knew we were going out for lunch as soon as I got there, so I just grabbed nuts and berries and hit the road. I was starving at lunch because I only had a yogurt for dinner the night before plus a light breakfast today.

 

I woke up pretty late this morning because I was out so late last night on my date. The way I felt when I woke up reminded me how much I hate drinking and staying out late. Going on this date totally messed up my healthy routine. I do want to start dating, but my health is the most important thing to me right now. I'm really starting to see how important it is to me to date someone who has a healthy lifestyle. My cousin, who I visited today, is really into clean eating and we eat very similarly. We both asked the same questions at restaurants and it was so nice to spend the day with someone who gets it. It's hard for me to be on a date and watch the guy eat pizza and junk food because it means that we have such fundamentally different views on nutrition. I hope there's a healthy guy out there for me. 

 

People always say that it's so hard to find healthy things to eat at restaurants. Not true. Tonight, I saw chicken on the menu and I saw broccolini on the menu somewhere else. Even though it wasn't on the menu, I asked them to grill me a piece of chicken and put broccolini on the side and they did it no problem. I love leaving a restaurant and not feeling uncomfortably full and ashamed of my choices. 

 

I went bowling today with my cousins. I hadn't been in years and I never learned proper technique. I was horrible at it! One of my cousins was trying so hard to teach me technique, and I noticed all of these negative thoughts going through my head whenever it was my turn. I would think things like, "I'm so fat. If I was thinner I'd be better at bowling. They're probably looking at me and thinking about how fat I am. I bet I look stupid when I throw the ball." I'm glad I caught myself having these thoughts so that I can reflect on it and work on it. I think sports generally make me feel insecure because I didn't grow up playing sports and was always overweight and sedentary. I need to start giving myself permission to try some of the things that I never wanted to do in the past because I thought I was "too fat."

[Guest bfree11]

Day 69 (of healthy eating)

 

Breakfast: handful of nuts and black berries, black coffee

Lunch: spinach salad with grilled chicken, unsweetened iced tea

Dinner: grilled chicken, broccolini

Exercise: rest day 

 

When I woke up this morning, I had to quickly get ready and drive down to visit some family for the day about an hour away. I had no yogurt left and no time to make eggs. I knew we were going out for lunch as soon as I got there, so I just grabbed nuts and berries and hit the road. I was starving at lunch because I only had a yogurt for dinner the night before plus a light breakfast today.

 

I woke up pretty late this morning because I was out so late last night on my date. The way I felt when I woke up reminded me how much I hate drinking and staying out late. Going on this date totally messed up my healthy routine. I do want to start dating, but my health is the most important thing to me right now. I'm really starting to see how important it is to me to date someone who has a healthy lifestyle. My cousin, who I visited today, is really into clean eating and we eat very similarly. We both asked the same questions at restaurants and it was so nice to spend the day with someone who gets it. It's hard for me to be on a date and watch the guy eat pizza and junk food because it means that we have such fundamentally different views on nutrition. I hope there's a healthy guy out there for me. 

 

People always say that it's so hard to find healthy things to eat at restaurants. Not true. Tonight, I saw chicken on the menu and I saw broccolini on the menu somewhere else. Even though it wasn't on the menu, I asked them to grill me a piece of chicken and put broccolini on the side and they did it no problem. I love leaving a restaurant and not feeling uncomfortably full and ashamed of my choices. 

 

I went bowling today with my cousins. I hadn't been in years and I never learned proper technique. I was horrible at it! One of my cousins was trying so hard to teach me technique, and I noticed all of these negative thoughts going through my head whenever it was my turn. I would think things like, "I'm so fat. If I was thinner I'd be better at bowling. They're probably looking at me and thinking about how fat I am. I bet I look stupid when I throw the ball." I'm glad I caught myself having these thoughts so that I can reflect on it and work on it. I think sports generally make me feel insecure because I didn't grow up playing sports and was always overweight and sedentary. I need to start giving myself permission to try some of the things that I never wanted to do in the past because I thought I was "too fat."

[Guest bfree11]

So, I'm one of those overly organized people. I have lists to keep track of my lists, and my husband calls me crazy but it makes me feel together. I recently downloaded this app called Evernote... its apparently super popular but I never heard of it until now, and I can't believe that because it is AMAZING! I moved all my random notes into this app, I have it on my phone, my home computer, and I can pull up the website at work and it all syncs together.

 

Anyway, I bring this up because I've been listing recently to make my food life easier. A lot of times when I go off track I tend to blame my husband because he does the grocery shopping and cooking, even though I know only I am responsible for my choices and I could help out the matter more than I currently do. So I spent some time breaking down how I would like to eat, and what are the common reasons I break away from these habits. So this is what I just did:

 

1- I made a full month rotation of healthy meals broken down by week so I don't get bored. First I listed every meal that we've deemed healthy but actually enjoy. I then broke down a week rotation plan, like red meat 1x, pork 2x, fish 1x, chicken 3x (mainly bc we have WAY more chicken recipes than anything else, we won't do fish for leftovers so we only do it on Friday, blah blah blah). So then I fit the meals into this formula and came up with 4 weeks worth of meals. I also have a list of meals that I want to try but haven't yet, and I found space for those too. My ultimate goal would be to have a 5-6 week rotation plan so we really never feel like we're having the same meals. BUT this whole thing is flexible enough, we can easily trade in a special occasion meal, or a night out, who cares? I'm not planning on being super rigid with what we make, but the overall problem I was having was Sunday night I spent forever figuring out what meals we wanted, then finding all the links for the recipes, I used to make the grocery lists myself but now my husband makes them. It was a lot of wasted time, and I would forget about some recipes so some things we made ALL The time, and others we haven't had for months.

 

2.  I then categorized all these recipes into pinterest, so I completely redid my entire pinterest catalogue. I have groups for "chicken, pork, beef, seafood, vegetarian faves, side dishes, sauces, and snacks/desserts, and recipes to try." I also deleted all the unhealthy pins that I know I should never make. (I'll caveat that with, I left a crap ton of unhealthy desserts in there, but any main dishes are gone! Because honestly.. how many times was I baking unhealthy desserts? My husband will tell you ZERO!). I mainly reorganized the Pinterest to make my husband use it, so now I can give him a weeks worth of meals, and he can easily find the recipes without me resending him the same links all the time. I downloaded the pinterest app on his ipad and this weekend we walked through what I need him to do, he rolled his eyes but I really think it will be time consuming.

 

3. I think made a basic shopping list for him, I'm sure this sounds ridiculous, but because we go shopping 2x a week I feel like I'm constantly starting from scratch and figuring out what we have and what we need. This is now more like a checklist, so he can see what we need and if we already have it, take it off the list. At the top is everything for salads, (lettuce, toppings, etc), and then what I need for breakfasts. Since he goes shopping on Tues/Fri I broke it down by literally what I need for the week or weekend. Since I do the same breakfast  all the time, I don't need to worry about variety, and I even made side lists for say the weekends we spend out of town... that's always been my biggest downfall. We go out of town, get home Sunday night, so on Monday morning we have no food and I have no breakfasts already made, so I would go get something junky... now I don't have any excuse. So I put how many eggs and what veggies I want him to get, so again, I'm not making the same list every week, its already made!

 

This sounds so dorky, but I've been wanting to do this for awhile and I finally sat down and committed myself and it wasn't that bad. I'll post my pinterest name tomorrow bc I don't remember it right now, if you want to see what the heck I'm talking about.

 

Have a great weekend!

That's so awesome!!! I love lists and organization too. Such a good plan! I can't wait to check out your pinterest. I never use it, but I probably should! My username is: rebeccafreedman i think!

[Guest bfree11]

Day 70 (of healthy eating)

 

Breakfast: 2 eggs, kale, onions, sprinkle of goat cheese, orange bell pepper

Lunch: apple, almond butter, 1/2 kombucha

Dinner: tofu stirfry with purple cauliflower, broccoli, red cabbage, carrots, red kale, tofu, coconut aminos, pine nuts, sprinkle of goat cheese, 1/2 kombucha

Exercise: rest day (I messed up my back bowling yesterday, so I took it easy today)

 

I stepped on the scale this morning, knowing that I was taking a huge risk, because if I didn't like the number on the scale I could potentially become pretty miserable. The scale said 169.4 lb. That means I'm technically in the 160s, which has not been the case since like 5th grade! That's almost 5 lb lost in about a week.

 

Changes I made:

I didn't have any red meat

skin on chicken

only 1/4-1/2 avocado a day

no vegetables at breakfast

less nuts

added a little goat cheese

added a yogurt once a day

 

Since this has seemed to speed up my weight loss, I'm going to stick to this. I'm also going to try to get out of bed and run a few mornings this week in addition to my yoga practice. I think it's important to do a variety of different types of exercise. Man, I just can't wait to see where I'm at in a few months! I feel like I'm in a really good place with my relationship with food right now. I rarely think about junk food and even when I do, I don't feel tempted by it. I love fueling my body with the good stuff! 

 

That's all I've got for today. Just looking forward to another clean week and hopefully some more weight loss progress!

[Guest bfree11]

Day 70 (of healthy eating)

 

Breakfast: 2 eggs, kale, onions, sprinkle of goat cheese, orange bell pepper

Lunch: apple, almond butter, 1/2 kombucha

Dinner: tofu stirfry with purple cauliflower, broccoli, red cabbage, carrots, red kale, tofu, coconut aminos, pine nuts, sprinkle of goat cheese, 1/2 kombucha

Exercise: rest day (I messed up my back bowling yesterday, so I took it easy today)

 

I stepped on the scale this morning, knowing that I was taking a huge risk, because if I didn't like the number on the scale I could potentially become pretty miserable. The scale said 169.4 lb. That means I'm technically in the 160s, which has not been the case since like 5th grade! That's almost 5 lb lost in about a week.

 

Changes I made:

I didn't have any red meat

skin on chicken

only 1/4-1/2 avocado a day

no vegetables at breakfast

less nuts

added a little goat cheese

added a yogurt once a day

 

Since this has seemed to speed up my weight loss, I'm going to stick to this. I'm also going to try to get out of bed and run a few mornings this week in addition to my yoga practice. I think it's important to do a variety of different types of exercise. Man, I just can't wait to see where I'm at in a few months! I feel like I'm in a really good place with my relationship with food right now. I rarely think about junk food and even when I do, I don't feel tempted by it. I love fueling my body with the good stuff! 

 

That's all I've got for today. Just looking forward to another clean week and hopefully some more weight loss progress!

[Higgles]

I'm glad you're finding a good balance!

 

One of the changes that I would like to make this week is to go back to tracking everything I'm eating like I did when I was actually on the Whole 30. I stopped doing that and in turn I think I have been holding myself less accountable. This is my first day back in my normal office working normal hours, so I'm super excited, yay! I like having a routine. However, I haven't worked out in like 3 weeks since I was on that odd schedule so I woke up this morning to do an upper body weight routine. It felt great getting back into it, but omg when my alarm went off I thought I was going to die, I really thought about snoozing and skipping the workout but I told myself how much more sleep am I really going to get? Also, I usually justify skipping my workout by telling myself that because I hit snooze I'm running behind and I'll be late, and this morning I thought, nah I can make up the time, and I did and I'm glad!

 

I tried to find you on pinterest but I don't think it was you, mine is hmhigley, same as my instagram. I'm going to try to make my instagram into an accountability tool, not taking pictures of all my food per say, but trying to take photos when I work out as a motivator, we'll see how it goes and if it annoys the crap out of everyone who is following me, which isn't much because I'm behind the times and only DL'd instagram about a month ago, lol.

[Guest bfree11]

Day 71 (of healthy eating)

 

Breakfast: Siggis yogurt mixed berry flavor, 2 eggs, black coffee

Lunch: salad with chicken, 1/2 avocado, teaspoon of nuts and seeds, veggies, balsamic & olive oil, kombucha

Dinner: leftover tofu stir-fry, apple, 1 tbsp almond butter, 1/2 kombucha

Exercise: Hot Yoga

 

I had every intention on stepping up my game and going for a morning run, until I learned that it was a hurricane outside and all the streets were flooded! It was a crazy storm. People were riding canoes and paddle boards on the streets. So, needless to say, I skipped my morning run. Instead, I decided to weigh myself for the second day in a row, which sounds excessive, but I was just so curious if the day before had been a fluke. The scale said 169.4 the other morning, but that was after a few days where I skipped meals or ate really lightly, so I thought this morning would give me a more realistic snapshot of my weight loss progress since I ate normal meals yesterday. I know I've talked about how damaging the scale can be, but let's be real here, I have weight to lose and I want to see if I'm losing it! Well, the scale said 168 today. That's 6 lb in about a week. I'll take it! Unbelievable! 

 

My clothes continue to be way too big and various body parts feel smaller. This is the part of the weight loss journey when I become unstoppable. I'm seeing and feeling progress and I'm in an awesome rhythm. I'm completely motivated and can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I think 30 lb or so and I'll be in a really good place. My friend at work who struggles with her weight said, "it's not fair" or something like that when I told her about my weight loss today. I literally laughed out loud because we were in the middle of lunch and I was eating a salad and everyone else, including her, was eating crap. I pointed down to my salad and said, "oh it's fair, you have to put hard work in to get results!" That shut her up. 

 

When I got to yoga, I was so excited to move my body and exercise, since it had been 3 days of nothing. I tweaked my back bowling Saturday, so I really tried to take it easy over the weekend. When I put on my workout clothes, I noticed how loose they were. My first thought was, "well maybe they're just stretching out from being used and washed so many times." My mind naturally goes to a place where it refuses to give myself credit. I'm working on that! I mastered two poses today that I never was able to do before, Crow and Shoulder Stand. I couldn't believe it! I'm just feeling more confident and brave. There are many things that I'm nowhere near able to do, but I feel confident that I can get there someday! I love feeling strong!

[Guest bfree11]

Day 71 (of healthy eating)

 

Breakfast: Siggis yogurt mixed berry flavor, 2 eggs, black coffee

Lunch: salad with chicken, 1/2 avocado, teaspoon of nuts and seeds, veggies, balsamic & olive oil, kombucha

Dinner: leftover tofu stir-fry, apple, 1 tbsp almond butter, 1/2 kombucha

Exercise: Hot Yoga

 

I had every intention on stepping up my game and going for a morning run, until I learned that it was a hurricane outside and all the streets were flooded! It was a crazy storm. People were riding canoes and paddle boards on the streets. So, needless to say, I skipped my morning run. Instead, I decided to weigh myself for the second day in a row, which sounds excessive, but I was just so curious if the day before had been a fluke. The scale said 169.4 the other morning, but that was after a few days where I skipped meals or ate really lightly, so I thought this morning would give me a more realistic snapshot of my weight loss progress since I ate normal meals yesterday. I know I've talked about how damaging the scale can be, but let's be real here, I have weight to lose and I want to see if I'm losing it! Well, the scale said 168 today. That's 6 lb in about a week. I'll take it! Unbelievable! 

 

My clothes continue to be way too big and various body parts feel smaller. This is the part of the weight loss journey when I become unstoppable. I'm seeing and feeling progress and I'm in an awesome rhythm. I'm completely motivated and can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I think 30 lb or so and I'll be in a really good place. My friend at work who struggles with her weight said, "it's not fair" or something like that when I told her about my weight loss today. I literally laughed out loud because we were in the middle of lunch and I was eating a salad and everyone else, including her, was eating crap. I pointed down to my salad and said, "oh it's fair, you have to put hard work in to get results!" That shut her up. 

 

When I got to yoga, I was so excited to move my body and exercise, since it had been 3 days of nothing. I tweaked my back bowling Saturday, so I really tried to take it easy over the weekend. When I put on my workout clothes, I noticed how loose they were. My first thought was, "well maybe they're just stretching out from being used and washed so many times." My mind naturally goes to a place where it refuses to give myself credit. I'm working on that! I mastered two poses today that I never was able to do before, Crow and Shoulder Stand. I couldn't believe it! I'm just feeling more confident and brave. There are many things that I'm nowhere near able to do, but I feel confident that I can get there someday! I love feeling strong!

[Guest bfree11]

I'm glad you're finding a good balance!

 

One of the changes that I would like to make this week is to go back to tracking everything I'm eating like I did when I was actually on the Whole 30. I stopped doing that and in turn I think I have been holding myself less accountable. This is my first day back in my normal office working normal hours, so I'm super excited, yay! I like having a routine. However, I haven't worked out in like 3 weeks since I was on that odd schedule so I woke up this morning to do an upper body weight routine. It felt great getting back into it, but omg when my alarm went off I thought I was going to die, I really thought about snoozing and skipping the workout but I told myself how much more sleep am I really going to get? Also, I usually justify skipping my workout by telling myself that because I hit snooze I'm running behind and I'll be late, and this morning I thought, nah I can make up the time, and I did and I'm glad!

 

I tried to find you on pinterest but I don't think it was you, mine is hmhigley, same as my instagram. I'm going to try to make my instagram into an accountability tool, not taking pictures of all my food per say, but trying to take photos when I work out as a motivator, we'll see how it goes and if it annoys the crap out of everyone who is following me, which isn't much because I'm behind the times and only DL'd instagram about a month ago, lol.

Found you on pinterest and instagram! I'm bfree11 on instagram. I do the same thing with my instagram and no one has been annoyed, if anything, they've asked me for advice. During my Whole 30, I posted 1 picture everyday, which you see as you scroll though my instagram. I think it's so motivating! Also, so proud of you for getting out of bed and working out this morning! I'm going to think of you when my alarm goes off in the morning for a run!

[Higgles]

Day 2 in a row of waking up and working out! Today was a run day... I have a trail pretty close to my house so I jumped on that and ran 15 minutes out and then turned around. I find that when I run on a track I'll cut my workouts short because I get bored, but when I'm running on a trail however far you go, you still have to get home! This trail goes by peoples farms so I get to see cows in the morning and that makes me happy. I'll admit that running by myself can be kind of intimidating. I'm always very aware of my surroundings and only wear one headphone in, but I'm still thinking of getting some pepper spray just in case.

 

Today I am wearing a smaller uniform to work, and I'm pretty stoked about it. About 4 years ago, I lost some weight and was able to get into a smaller size uniform, and I was stoked. However, I decided to keep the old uniforms, packed away to help transition into maternity wear should I ever need it one day.  My previous job was an aide to my boss so it was long hours and I would skip workouts and eventually I barely fit into the uniform I was wearing and I looked awful. When I moved I realized that it was better to wear a uniform that fit rather than one I'm squeezing into... so I pulled the old bigger uniforms out and I've worn that from November until yesterday. This one is still a bit tight, but not like it was last October. This will also serve as a reminder to not snack during the day. I do need some new uniforms as the colors start to fade so I'm glad I have an opportunity to buy them in this size and be safe with that.

 

I'm glad you had that reaction to your friend... like, when I think "unfair" I think of my husband who is a stick and can snack all day long. I would never look at people who work for their body and think its unfair, because I know darn well I have not put in the same level of effort. You've been very open with your work over the past 60 days, its not like you've been doing this a week, so I would be so mad if someone said its not fair that I lost weight that I needed to lose and was working so hard on losing and being healthy. I hope that at some point she'll follow in your footsteps or at least try to make healthy changes.

 

I have popped on the scale a lot lately too, I told myself this morning practically the same thing, I just want to make sure yesterday was correct. I'm going to try to hold myself accountable to do it only once a week again as otherwise I'll do it everyday. I also find that when I weigh myself too often I justify gains... oh I had a hard workout so it must effect it, oh its that time, oh I already had some coffee, etc etc, and so it can start to creep up as odd as that sounds. But if I weigh myself once a week and I see a gain I'm like oh crap that's up from last week, I need to kick my butt! But maybe that's just me...

[JwUK]

bfree11, higgles - your posts continue to provide inspiration and the reality of life and food!  Higgles, after reading your post on your organisation and rules I had a good think about what my 'rules' have become since the end of the May and the end of my first whole30:  

 

I have the themes of eggs for breakfast, fish for lunch and meat for dinner (I find this remarkably freeing rather than restrictive!) 

 

I buy meat and fish in bulk and then veg every 1-2 days and aim to have something left over from each meal to use in the next one e.g. yesterday evening I cooked four chicken breasts and a large tomato casserole (halved cherry tomatoes, spring onions, mushrooms and red peppers with a couple of handful of olives) and had one chicken breast with half the casserole and a baked sweet potato and then had the rest of the casserole with meal one this morning to save the meal all being all from scratch.   I'll have the chicken for meal three this evening but with different veggies that I can then use for something tomorrow.

 

A month or two before I started the whole 30 I gave myself a rule of no food after 7pm which I've largely carried through the last four-five months and i find this helps me to sleep better and I'm surprised by how organised I can be to pack up some food to take with me if would mean the difference between eating and not eating a third meal! 

 

I've felt really pleased to have found the Whole30 as a mechanism for eating, regulating my food intake and managing my energy. Each time I've had one of my 7-8 poor-ish food day since I finished the first one (and reintroduction) at the beginning of July I've returned to a whole30-type-day with a sense of calm and good memories that this feels good to eat this way.  

 

I don't know if either of you have read this three-part blog post from Melissa Hartwig that talks about what she eats and her overall Whole30 lifestyle?  I found it in a forum discussion last week and it has been immensely helpful to set a context for how long this might all take to truly embed it as a way of life and what form that could be, in the long-term, taking account of plans, determination, stress and "real life". 

 

http://whole30.com/2014/05/dear-melissa-eat-part-1/

 

Thanks again for writing about your continued focus, the ups and downs of life and how they affect food and working with looser and smaller clothes.  Yay for smaller clothes!

 

Things take time but then there comes a small victory that feels huge and gives you a big thrill.  Last Monday I wore a dress that I bought for my sons Christening FIVE years ago.  It didn't fit then and I've not been able to do up the zip at any point I've owned it until a week ago when I could not only do up the zip but also wore it for a whole, long day working in London.   It is a lovely dress, I felt like I was walking on air all day and I spent the whole day smiling!  I think I'll be equally pleased to find a point when the dress is too big for me and happily hand it on knowing that it was a 'milestone dress'!  I also have a pair of trousers that I bought on our honeymoon fifteen years ago that I think of as my 'barometer' trousers that I've kept through thick and thin over the past decade and a half.  They have fitted, been too big (for a very short period about 11 years ago!) and for much of the last decade have been too small but they are not back to fitting again.  I've no intention of wearing them outside any time soon, just keeping them in the drawer as a barometer of how I'm doing that has nothing to do with the scales.

 

I've been carrying two mottos with me for the last few months:

 

"this time next year you'll wish you'd started today"

 

and

 

"discipline is just choosing between what you want now and what you want most".  

 

We plough on towards what we want most starting today!

[Guest bfree11]

Day 72 (of healthy eating)

 

Breakfast: Siggis yogurt strawberry flavor, 2 eggs, broccoli & cauliflower, black coffee

Lunch: salad with chicken, 1/2 avocado, teaspoon of nuts and seeds, veggies, balsamic & olive oil, kombucha (only ate 1/2 of salad. wasn't hungry and stomach let weir)

Dinner: leftover tofu stir-fry, nectarine, 1/2 kombucha

Exercise: AM: run PM: Power Flow Yoga

 

I started my morning off with a "run." It was very hard to get out of bed, especially because I knew I'd be getting a workout in tonight at yoga, but I really want to incorporate running to work on endurance. In an effort not to use up the workout pants that I wear to yoga, I decided to try running in SHORTS. This was huge for me because my thighs rub against each other and I thought it would be really uncomfortable. First of all, the shorts I chose used to be skin tight and now they fit normally, so that was exciting. Second, running in them wasn't too bad. The part near my inner thighs kept riding up, but besides it looking unattractive, it didn't mess with my run. 

 

I walked .34 mi to warm up, then started running. It wasn't so bad for the first like .22 mi, I was running a 10:40 pace and feeling good. Then the humidity punched me in the face. I wanted to give up so badly. I kept looking down at my watch every 2 seconds to see how much distance I had covered. My pace slowed down a full minute, to 11:40. I didn't allow myself to stop and walk until I hit the one mile mark. It was miserably hard. I hit one mile at 11:37. My lungs were killing me, I had awful cramps, and I seriously thought I was going to puke. It was so hot and I have only run one other time in the past 72 days. It's really sad, because a year ago, when I was almost 20 lb heavier, I was running 5Ks without walking at all. It just goes to show, if you don't use it, you lose it and that it's not just about the number on the scale.  

 

I walked for awhile after this, trying to massage my stomach and back. When I thought about it, I realized that my stomach felt off when I woke up, and I thought I could just "run it off." I used to run into this problem when I ran in the mornings last year. This is total TMI, but I typically need to go to the bathroom when I wake up, but it takes me a few hours and some coffee before it actually happens, I can't just wake up and go. My stomach is kind of uncomfortable in the morning until I go, making running first thing in the morning uncomfortable. Sorry if that's a little gross, but I'm just keeping it real! I actually do much better with evening workouts, even though working out in the morning is "better for you." I ran for 2 more short amounts, maybe .25 mi total, and then walked the rest of the way home, for a total of a 2.68 mi walk/run. 

 

As soon as I walked into work this morning, someone stopped me and told me they could really notice my weight loss, woohoo! My stomach got better throughout the day, but I didn't have much of an appetite and couldn't finish my lunch. I felt good and strong during yoga, stomach back to normal. I asked a few men I'm friendly with how much they weighed today out of curiosity. Being 260 lb at one point, I'm used to weighing more than men, which by the way, is a horrible feeling as a woman. With the exception of one guy I know who said he's in the 150s, I weigh less than most men I know! That feels awesome! One guy looks pretty normal and he said he's 208 lb, the number on the scale is so silly. 

 

I've got October in my head as the time that I think I think I can realistically reach my weight loss goals by. I'm really hoping I keep losing weight at this rate! 

[Guest bfree11]

Day 72 (of healthy eating)

 

Breakfast: Siggis yogurt strawberry flavor, 2 eggs, broccoli & cauliflower, black coffee

Lunch: salad with chicken, 1/2 avocado, teaspoon of nuts and seeds, veggies, balsamic & olive oil, kombucha (only ate 1/2 of salad. wasn't hungry and stomach let weir)

Dinner: leftover tofu stir-fry, nectarine, 1/2 kombucha

Exercise: AM: run PM: Power Flow Yoga

 

I started my morning off with a "run." It was very hard to get out of bed, especially because I knew I'd be getting a workout in tonight at yoga, but I really want to incorporate running to work on endurance. In an effort not to use up the workout pants that I wear to yoga, I decided to try running in SHORTS. This was huge for me because my thighs rub against each other and I thought it would be really uncomfortable. First of all, the shorts I chose used to be skin tight and now they fit normally, so that was exciting. Second, running in them wasn't too bad. The part near my inner thighs kept riding up, but besides it looking unattractive, it didn't mess with my run. 

 

I walked .34 mi to warm up, then started running. It wasn't so bad for the first like .22 mi, I was running a 10:40 pace and feeling good. Then the humidity punched me in the face. I wanted to give up so badly. I kept looking down at my watch every 2 seconds to see how much distance I had covered. My pace slowed down a full minute, to 11:40. I didn't allow myself to stop and walk until I hit the one mile mark. It was miserably hard. I hit one mile at 11:37. My lungs were killing me, I had awful cramps, and I seriously thought I was going to puke. It was so hot and I have only run one other time in the past 72 days. It's really sad, because a year ago, when I was almost 20 lb heavier, I was running 5Ks without walking at all. It just goes to show, if you don't use it, you lose it and that it's not just about the number on the scale. 

 

I walked for awhile after this, trying to massage my stomach and back. When I thought about it, I realized that my stomach felt off when I woke up, and I thought I could just "run it off." I used to run into this problem when I ran in the mornings last year. This is total TMI, but I typically need to go to the bathroom when I wake up, but it takes me a few hours and some coffee before it actually happens, I can't just wake up and go. My stomach is kind of uncomfortable in the morning until I go, making running first thing in the morning uncomfortable. Sorry if that's a little gross, but I'm just keeping it real! I actually do much better with evening workouts, even though working out in the morning is "better for you." I ran for 2 more short amounts, maybe .25 mi total, and then walked the rest of the way home, for a total of a 2.68 mi walk/run. 

 

As soon as I walked into work this morning, someone stopped me and told me they could really notice my weight loss, woohoo! My stomach got better throughout the day, but I didn't have much of an appetite and couldn't finish my lunch. I felt good and strong during yoga, stomach back to normal. I asked a few men I'm friendly with how much they weighed today out of curiosity. Being 260 lb at one point, I'm used to weighing more than men, which by the way, is a horrible feeling as a woman. With the exception of one guy I know who said he's in the 150s, I weigh less than most men I know! That feels awesome! One guy looks pretty normal and he said he's 208 lb, the number on the scale is so silly. 

 

I've got October in my head as the time that I think I think I can realistically reach my weight loss goals by. I'm really hoping I keep losing weight at this rate! 

[Guest bfree11]

bfree11, higgles - your posts continue to provide inspiration and the reality of life and food!  Higgles, after reading your post on your organisation and rules I had a good think about what my 'rules' have become since the end of the May and the end of my first whole30:  

 

I have the themes of eggs for breakfast, fish for lunch and meat for dinner (I find this remarkably freeing rather than restrictive!) 

 

I buy meat and fish in bulk and then veg every 1-2 days and aim to have something left over from each meal to use in the next one e.g. yesterday evening I cooked four chicken breasts and a large tomato casserole (halved cherry tomatoes, spring onions, mushrooms and red peppers with a couple of handful of olives) and had one chicken breast with half the casserole and a baked sweet potato and then had the rest of the casserole with meal one this morning to save the meal all being all from scratch.   I'll have the chicken for meal three this evening but with different veggies that I can then use for something tomorrow.

 

A month or two before I started the whole 30 I gave myself a rule of no food after 7pm which I've largely carried through the last four-five months and i find this helps me to sleep better and I'm surprised by how organised I can be to pack up some food to take with me if would mean the difference between eating and not eating a third meal! 

 

I've felt really pleased to have found the Whole30 as a mechanism for eating, regulating my food intake and managing my energy. Each time I've had one of my 7-8 poor-ish food day since I finished the first one (and reintroduction) at the beginning of July I've returned to a whole30-type-day with a sense of calm and good memories that this feels good to eat this way.  

 

I don't know if either of you have read this three-part blog post from Melissa Hartwig that talks about what she eats and her overall Whole30 lifestyle?  I found it in a forum discussion last week and it has been immensely helpful to set a context for how long this might all take to truly embed it as a way of life and what form that could be, in the long-term, taking account of plans, determination, stress and "real life". 

 

http://whole30.com/2014/05/dear-melissa-eat-part-1/

 

Thanks again for writing about your continued focus, the ups and downs of life and how they affect food and working with looser and smaller clothes.  Yay for smaller clothes!

 

Things take time but then there comes a small victory that feels huge and gives you a big thrill.  Last Monday I wore a dress that I bought for my sons Christening FIVE years ago.  It didn't fit then and I've not been able to do up the zip at any point I've owned it until a week ago when I could not only do up the zip but also wore it for a whole, long day working in London.   It is a lovely dress, I felt like I was walking on air all day and I spent the whole day smiling!  I think I'll be equally pleased to find a point when the dress is too big for me and happily hand it on knowing that it was a 'milestone dress'!  I also have a pair of trousers that I bought on our honeymoon fifteen years ago that I think of as my 'barometer' trousers that I've kept through thick and thin over the past decade and a half.  They have fitted, been too big (for a very short period about 11 years ago!) and for much of the last decade have been too small but they are not back to fitting again.  I've no intention of wearing them outside any time soon, just keeping them in the drawer as a barometer of how I'm doing that has nothing to do with the scales.

 

I've been carrying two mottos with me for the last few months:

 

"this time next year you'll wish you'd started today"

 

and

 

"discipline is just choosing between what you want now and what you want most".  

 

We plough on towards what we want most starting today!

This is so helpful and motivating! Thank you for being a part of this journey with us! Congrats on all your amazing work!

[Higgles]

bfree11, higgles - your posts continue to provide inspiration and the reality of life and food!  Higgles, after reading your post on your organisation and rules I had a good think about what my 'rules' have become since the end of the May and the end of my first whole30:  

 

I have the themes of eggs for breakfast, fish for lunch and meat for dinner (I find this remarkably freeing rather than restrictive!) 

 

I buy meat and fish in bulk and then veg every 1-2 days and aim to have something left over from each meal to use in the next one e.g. yesterday evening I cooked four chicken breasts and a large tomato casserole (halved cherry tomatoes, spring onions, mushrooms and red peppers with a couple of handful of olives) and had one chicken breast with half the casserole and a baked sweet potato and then had the rest of the casserole with meal one this morning to save the meal all being all from scratch.   I'll have the chicken for meal three this evening but with different veggies that I can then use for something tomorrow.

 

A month or two before I started the whole 30 I gave myself a rule of no food after 7pm which I've largely carried through the last four-five months and i find this helps me to sleep better and I'm surprised by how organised I can be to pack up some food to take with me if would mean the difference between eating and not eating a third meal! 

 

I've felt really pleased to have found the Whole30 as a mechanism for eating, regulating my food intake and managing my energy. Each time I've had one of my 7-8 poor-ish food day since I finished the first one (and reintroduction) at the beginning of July I've returned to a whole30-type-day with a sense of calm and good memories that this feels good to eat this way.  

 

I don't know if either of you have read this three-part blog post from Melissa Hartwig that talks about what she eats and her overall Whole30 lifestyle?  I found it in a forum discussion last week and it has been immensely helpful to set a context for how long this might all take to truly embed it as a way of life and what form that could be, in the long-term, taking account of plans, determination, stress and "real life". 

 

http://whole30.com/2014/05/dear-melissa-eat-part-1/

 

Thanks again for writing about your continued focus, the ups and downs of life and how they affect food and working with looser and smaller clothes.  Yay for smaller clothes!

 

Things take time but then there comes a small victory that feels huge and gives you a big thrill.  Last Monday I wore a dress that I bought for my sons Christening FIVE years ago.  It didn't fit then and I've not been able to do up the zip at any point I've owned it until a week ago when I could not only do up the zip but also wore it for a whole, long day working in London.   It is a lovely dress, I felt like I was walking on air all day and I spent the whole day smiling!  I think I'll be equally pleased to find a point when the dress is too big for me and happily hand it on knowing that it was a 'milestone dress'!  I also have a pair of trousers that I bought on our honeymoon fifteen years ago that I think of as my 'barometer' trousers that I've kept through thick and thin over the past decade and a half.  They have fitted, been too big (for a very short period about 11 years ago!) and for much of the last decade have been too small but they are not back to fitting again.  I've no intention of wearing them outside any time soon, just keeping them in the drawer as a barometer of how I'm doing that has nothing to do with the scales.

 

I've been carrying two mottos with me for the last few months:

 

"this time next year you'll wish you'd started today"

 

and

 

"discipline is just choosing between what you want now and what you want most".  

 

We plough on towards what we want most starting today!

 

Swimmer,

 

I have read Melissa's post, and I really appreciate that she took the time to do that. I know that people take her word as gospel so she was hesitant because she doesn't want people molding their plans after hers, but it shows that you can be healthy and not be strict Whole-30 every day... like she's not as strict with sugars and she doesn't clarify butter anymore. I especially like this post because she gives the reasoning behind it... like, I don't eat gluten, but she may if its a special occasion but she knows what it will do to her and so she's making the conscious choice at that point.

 

That's awesome that you fit into a "new" dress... I feel like some of my clothes are getting new lives because I stopped wearing them when they got too tight. Thanks for chiming in!

[Guest bfree11]

Day 73 (of healthy eating)

 

Breakfast: coconut siggi yogurt, chia seeds, 2 eggs, black coffee

Lunch: chicken breast, green beans, sweet potato, kombucha

Dinner: chicken"breaded" with almond flour & egg, ketchup & tomato sauce (both with no sugar added), broccoli, purple cauliflower, kombucha

Exercise: Hot Yoga

 

I felt good today. no stomach issues. Switched up my lunch a little because there was a long line at the salad bar. I didn't eat the skin on my chicken and didn't order the yuca fries like I used to. I'm looking forward to going back to salads tomorrow though. I wasn't really sure what my plan for dinner was, but I took chicken out of the freezer the night before. I ended up randomly deciding to make "chicken fingers" and used tomato sauce and ketchup as 2 different dips. It was a fun, exciting meal! Super quick and easy.

 

I wore a skirt to work today that still had the tag on it from like 3 years ago. I bought it thinking I'd lose weight and never did, now it's huge on me! It feels really good to walk around in these loose clothes. It means all the hard work is finally paying off. I feel more confidence when I walk around. I know I need to cool it with the scale, but I just keep seeing progress, so it's been exciting. I was down 2 lb this morning, 166 lb. I checked again tonight after eating and everything and I was 168 lb, which was what I was first thing in the morning on an empty stomach 2 days ago. I know whatever I'm doing is working, so I'm just going to keep doing it and continue to work on trying to chill out with checking the scale so much... I'm just finally getting to the exciting part where the weight is actually coming off, so it's fun to check! Ultimately, the way I look in the mirror is more important to me than the number on the scale though. But almost 20 lb down is pretty sweet. Onward and upward!

 

I thought a little while today about why I'm still doing this... "This" being eating healthy and exercising regularly. Why has it stuck this time after countless failed attempts? Why haven't I gone back to my old ways? Why don't I have bad days where I fall off the wagon and then good days where I try to "be good" all day? Why am I not stuffing my face with a burger and fries like my friend at work and then saying that thin girls have it easy and "it's just not fair?" 

 

It's because of you guys.

 

The key for me has been the fact that I have to share my food intake, behaviors, and feelings with all of you everyday. Without that, I'd be back to my old ways in a heart beat. Putting it out in the world is so much more motivating than writing it in a notebook or recording it in a fitness app on my phone. This community has kept me going. I want to show all of you each day that I can do this and that you can too! There are things that I decide not to eat because I wouldn't want to be stuck having to announce it here and I would feel too guilty if I lied. Writing publicly each day keeps me in check. Also, people at work, friends, and family who are working on their health too have been super motivating. It's been so great to be on this journey with others. It's been extremely educational too! 

 

Also, I don't emotionally eat anymore. I only eat when I'm hungry. If I'm bored, lonely, tired, happy, etc., I don't eat. No snacks when I'm bored has been a huge win for me. That was something that I really struggled with. Now that I don't use food as an emotional aid, food is less important. I like it, and there's at least one thing on my plate at every meal that I'm actually excited about eating, but I don't think about food in between meals and junk food doesn't interest me. Junk food is the enemy. It's what could potentially put me back in the hole I was in. No thanks. Plus, the shame and regret after eating junk really negatively affected how I felt about myself and my worth. It's all connected.

 

So if you're on again off again and wishing you could just stick with it, here's what I've found has worked for me:

1. Find rules that work for you and then follow them religiously. For example, yogurt and goat cheese work for me, even though they're not Whole 30 approved, but grains are a food without breaks, so they're out, no exceptions.
2. Only eat when you're hungry. Make your meals bigger if you're hungry too often.
3. Find a form of exercise that doesn't feel like exercise. I recommend a class of some sort, where an instructor designs your workout and you don't need to rely on willpower alone.
4. Get support from the huge community of people out there that are in the same boat as you! You are not alone. 
5. Publicly share you're food choices, behaviors, and progress daily. No exceptions. If you don't have time one day, write about the previous day first thing in the morning and get back on track.
6. Watch every food documentary on Netflix. Junk food isn't even food. It's bad for you, just stop.
7. Think about treating your body with respect. This becomes a chain reaction into a boost in self-esteem and self-worth. 
8. Meal prep on Sundays, or whenever. Just be sure to set yourself up for success, not failure!
9. Try to focus on how nice it feels to be nice to yourself rather than how nice it feels to eat treats and indulge.
10. Take before and after pictures every 30 days! It's so much fun! 

[Guest bfree11]

Day 73 (of healthy eating)

 

Breakfast: coconut siggi yogurt, chia seeds, 2 eggs, black coffee

Lunch: chicken breast, green beans, sweet potato, kombucha

Dinner: chicken"breaded" with almond flour & egg, ketchup & tomato sauce (both with no sugar added), broccoli, purple cauliflower, kombucha

Exercise: Hot Yoga

 

I felt good today. no stomach issues. Switched up my lunch a little because there was a long line at the salad bar. I didn't eat the skin on my chicken and didn't order the yuca fries like I used to. I'm looking forward to going back to salads tomorrow though. I wasn't really sure what my plan for dinner was, but I took chicken out of the freezer the night before. I ended up randomly deciding to make "chicken fingers" and used tomato sauce and ketchup as 2 different dips. It was a fun, exciting meal! Super quick and easy.

 

I wore a skirt to work today that still had the tag on it from like 3 years ago. I bought it thinking I'd lose weight and never did, now it's huge on me! It feels really good to walk around in these loose clothes. It means all the hard work is finally paying off. I feel more confidence when I walk around. I know I need to cool it with the scale, but I just keep seeing progress, so it's been exciting. I was down 2 lb this morning, 166 lb. I checked again tonight after eating and everything and I was 168 lb, which was what I was first thing in the morning on an empty stomach 2 days ago. I know whatever I'm doing is working, so I'm just going to keep doing it and continue to work on trying to chill out with checking the scale so much... I'm just finally getting to the exciting part where the weight is actually coming off, so it's fun to check! Ultimately, the way I look in the mirror is more important to me than the number on the scale though. But almost 20 lb down is pretty sweet. Onward and upward!

 

I thought a little while today about why I'm still doing this... "This" being eating healthy and exercising regularly. Why has it stuck this time after countless failed attempts? Why haven't I gone back to my old ways? Why don't I have bad days where I fall off the wagon and then good days where I try to "be good" all day? Why am I not stuffing my face with a burger and fries like my friend at work and then saying that thin girls have it easy and "it's just not fair?" 

 

It's because of you guys.

 

The key for me has been the fact that I have to share my food intake, behaviors, and feelings with all of you everyday. Without that, I'd be back to my old ways in a heart beat. Putting it out in the world is so much more motivating than writing it in a notebook or recording it in a fitness app on my phone. This community has kept me going. I want to show all of you each day that I can do this and that you can too! There are things that I decide not to eat because I wouldn't want to be stuck having to announce it here and I would feel too guilty if I lied. Writing publicly each day keeps me in check. Also, people at work, friends, and family who are working on their health too have been super motivating. It's been so great to be on this journey with others. It's been extremely educational too! 

 

Also, I don't emotionally eat anymore. I only eat when I'm hungry. If I'm bored, lonely, tired, happy, etc., I don't eat. No snacks when I'm bored has been a huge win for me. That was something that I really struggled with. Now that I don't use food as an emotional aid, food is less important. I like it, and there's at least one thing on my plate at every meal that I'm actually excited about eating, but I don't think about food in between meals and junk food doesn't interest me. Junk food is the enemy. It's what could potentially put me back in the hole I was in. No thanks. Plus, the shame and regret after eating junk really negatively affected how I felt about myself and my worth. It's all connected.

 

So if you're on again off again and wishing you could just stick with it, here's what I've found has worked for me:

1. Find rules that work for you and then follow them religiously. For example, yogurt and goat cheese work for me, even though they're not Whole 30 approved, but grains are a food without breaks, so they're out, no exceptions.
2. Only eat when you're hungry. Make your meals bigger if you're hungry too often.
3. Find a form of exercise that doesn't feel like exercise. I recommend a class of some sort, where an instructor designs your workout and you don't need to rely on willpower alone.
4. Get support from the huge community of people out there that are in the same boat as you! You are not alone. 
5. Publicly share you're food choices, behaviors, and progress daily. No exceptions. If you don't have time one day, write about the previous day first thing in the morning and get back on track.
6. Watch every food documentary on Netflix. Junk food isn't even food. It's bad for you, just stop.
7. Think about treating your body with respect. This becomes a chain reaction into a boost in self-esteem and self-worth. 
8. Meal prep on Sundays, or whenever. Just be sure to set yourself up for success, not failure!
9. Try to focus on how nice it feels to be nice to yourself rather than how nice it feels to eat treats and indulge.
10. Take before and after pictures every 30 days! It's so much fun! 

[macysknits]

I love #9 on this list! I had never thought of this before; what an awesome mindset!

[Guest bfree11]

Day 74 (of healthy eating)

 

Breakfast: Vanilla siggi yogurt, chia seeds, 2 eggs, black coffee

Lunch: salad with chicken,veggies, 1/2 avocado, nuts, seeds, balsamic & olive oil, kombucha

Dinner: leftover almond flour chicken fingers, sugar-free ketchup, kale, cabbage, carrots, 1/2 kombucha

Exercise: Power Flow Yoga (doing so many poses I could never do before!)

 

There was a period of time this afternoon where I was really really bored at work. My coworker, who I often mention, decided she wanted to go get a cookie because she was bored too. I playfully asked her if she was hungry or just eating because she was bored. She said, "cookies aren't for when you're hungry, they're for when you want a cookie." She's right, we don't typically eat desserts when we're hungry, we eat them as a special treat for more emotional reasons. I listened to my body and I didn't feel any sort of hunger. I'm no longer linking boredom and eating. I'm slightly tempted to because it's what I've always done, the more days I get under my belt where I don't partake in emotional eating, the more foreign of a concept it becomes. 

 

My sister reached out to me today to assure me that she'll support me with healthy eating during our upcoming vacation. I've always associated vacation and restaurants with overeating, like I said yesterday. But after talking to her, I really thought about it, and laughed. There's no way in hell I'm giving up that easy. I've been a clean eater for 74 damn days! The only acceptation was my birthday and the junk food I ate made me feel so DISGUSTING that I have no interest in going through it again! I know the kind of meals I eat now. I know how to order in a restaurant. I eat this way because it makes me feel good physically, it's causing me to lose weight, and it's helped me have more respect for myself and my body. A vacation isn't going to end this journey. I won't let it! (and neither will my amazing sister!)

 

Confidence and patience continue to be struggles for me, but I'm self aware and trying to push myself to recognize areas for growth and attitude changes!