The whole 30 revelation

Today is day 21 of the whole 30 plan for me, and I'm certain I am going to finish it this time. If you're not familiar with this program, I'll give you the basics of it. The idea is to change your diet to one consisting of whole and natural foods. That means saying goodbye to sugar (except that is nuts and fruits, but they should be limited) grains, legumes (beans of any kind,) and the big one for me; dairy.
The whole 30 plan is filled with easy days and very, very hard days, especially in the first 15 days. Headaches, mood swings, and bloating to name the most apparent for me. There were days that I really REALLY just wanted to eat a slice of pizza with my family, have a chocolate muffin with my ladies at MOPS, or grab a dunkin iced coffee on my way to church or the grocery store. However, I pushed through, and not without the help of a handful of friends who are doing this program with me, giving me even more ideas that they are discovering for making whole foods amazing!

I just wanted to name a few things that I've learned from this program. Partly as a way to inform friends of mine who are considering the whole 30, and partly as a way to document for myself what it's done for me, so I can look back on this if I ever fall completely off the wagon again. These amazing things are happening with my body. My clothes are fitting better, I've got a lot of energy (most days) and even my focus has improved! But I want to talk about how this program has changed the way I think about food.

1. I've learned that I do in fact, have self control. Something that I've done, and I'm sure a lot of us have done, is eaten food because it was there, available to me. Namely at meetings, birthday parties, anywhere that sells and serves food. Why not try a little, or a lot, of everything, until I left with pains in my stomach, full and ready to burst? Because, how is that a good feeling? Eating food means pleasure for so many people, including me. I felt pleasure every Friday when I ate half of a buffalo chicken stromboli slathered in ranch dressing. That pleasure was short lived. Sometimes followed by the pain of feeling full, or the pain of feeling empty because I knew what I had just put into my body was not healthy and not good for it. Now however, I know that I can drive by a dunkin donuts without stopping in, and say no to the sugary sweets at MOPS, and to the 2nd hamburger at a birthday party. Now, that is not to say that at the end of this program I won't still get a coffee, have a cookie, or eat a plate of food at a party. What it means is, that I won't overindulge just because it is available to me. If I can say no to it completely, I can say no to overindulgence. This I'm hoping will also continue to do wonders on my binge eating habits. I "binged" 3 times in the last 21 days, and when I say binged it was on an extra serving of veggies or a meal I'd made, always whole 30. I'm not perfect after all. I've learned to control my mindless eating habits which leads me to my next revelation.

2. I've learned what food as a form of pleasure really is for me. Like I said above, pleasurable eating meant junk food. The cheesiest, greasiest junk food. I never had much of a sweet tooth but savory foods were my enemy. Cheesesteak, tacos, wings, pizza, all very delicious foods, and also foods I can live without or change. I made homemade taco seasoning last night, and had taco salad. Ground beef, taco seasoning, over a bed of cauliflower rice, mixed with avocado and tomatoes. It was delicious and I was very happy to discover that I could have my comfort food without hurting my body. Tonight I'm having a sweet potato stuffed with buffalo chicken and topped with homemade whole 30 ranch dressing which tastes amazing! I enjoy food more now. I don't just scarf things down because I WANT to eat. I wait until I'm hungry, I cook the meal that I planned, and I enjoy food so much more because it has a purpose to fuel my body, and it really does taste delicious. I've had some food fails, like the first chili recipe I tried, and the cauliflower chowder I made. They were pretty terrible. The second chili recipe I made was amazing, and so were most of the other foods I've had.

3. Meal planning. This is an important step in a successful whole 30. My family will eat some of the dinners I make, but usually the kids have cereal in the morning and grains with their lunch, so I have a chart and each day is split into 9 squares. My 3 meals, the kids 3 meals, and because Tim works a different schedule and doesn't have a microwave at work anymore, his 3 meals. Sounds like a lot but like I said most of the time, we eat the same dinner. I've also learned that it's ok to make my kids eat leftovers. I can make a lasagna and feed Tim and the kids for two days with that. One less meal I have to make. I'm also making a bigger effort to feed my kids healthier as well by trying to buy less fish sticks and chicken nuggets, and when I do, using them as something on the side as opposed to the staple of a meal. It's been fun coming up with new ways to enjoy whole foods.

So what's next for me? Well, day 31 will definitely call for an iced coffee on my way to Hershey, and how sweet of a reward that will be! I'm going to keep going with my meal planning this way, however. I read about rewarding yourself without planning it. I'm not going to say things like "on this day I'll have a cheat meal, or a cheat day." I'm going to continue to eat whole foods as often as now, but with the occasional slice of cake or plate of wings here and there. I'll probably fall back into old habits again and again throughout my life as well, but doing the best I can will have to be enough.

60 Before 30- Six months down.

In 15 days I will be 29 years old. When I was 27 I told myself I was not going to spend the rest of my 20's overweight. For a woman who is 5'3 overweight is anything over 130 pounds. So after all, I will likely be overweight for the rest of my 20's. However, I have a chance to make a change and be in the best shape of my life when I reach 30 years of age. I've been blessed with three beautiful, healthy children. After three births, and the beginning of this year, I weighed 195 pounds. Yikes! This set my goal weight loss at 65 pounds. Not as catchy so I'm calling it my 60 before 30. Get it?

So here I am, one-third of the way through it. The first two months were great, as the weight fell off. After that, motivation and good eating habits became a struggle to maintain. I was fairly consistent with my exercise, at the very least I was walking to reach 10,000 steps almost every day. However, exercise is nothing without healthy eating habits. Some months, I lost only about a pound. It was discouraging at times but it was forward progress and although there were times that I slacked off, I never gave up.

I'd like to share a little about the tools I used for the first six months. In January, I accidentally stumbled upon www.skinnymom.com and the Skinny Mom 21 Day Shred. I liked this meal plan because it included grocery lists, every recipe, and even dinners for at least four to feed an entire family. The food was delicious and there was no work counting calories or coming up with meals to make. I did three rounds of this, and they weren't all perfect but it worked well. I also used the great FREE workouts from the Skinny Mom YouTube channel. The creator of Skinny Mom, Brooke Griffin, also released this fantastic cookbook this year, skinny suppers. I'm telling you, the food is amazing and healthy! You can check out the 21 Day Shred here.

I've also been getting in shape by running on a regular basis. When my family moved in 2013 I stopped running. Oh how I missed it! I'm so glad to be back into it, and I'm currently training to run a 10k sometime in the fall. I consistently run 3 miles 2-3 times a week. I wake up at 5am before the kids get up and before my husband goes to bed. It's not always fun, I don't always want to do it. However, I found that if I want to get myself into shape, I find the time, and sacrifice an extra hour of sleep for the health of my body. It's so worth it!

I'm trying something new for the next phase of my journey. My very dear friend Bethany sent me a 21 Day Fix system in the mail last week. Today marks a new place and a new plan. I enjoyed the 21 Day Shred, however, trying different plans keeps me interested and vastly increases my knowledge of healthy eating as well as introduces me to an even larger variety of healthy foods and recipes. I'm excited for this new plan and ready for today, which is day one.

Now, onto my six month results which I am so excited about! I'm continuing to track my progress on a chart on my refrigerator every month. When I stepped on the scale this morning I could have cried....

That's a total weight loss of 27.9 pounds in six months. And yes, that .1 pound drives me crazy, I would have loved an even 28 pounds but I'm completely thrilled with the progress I made. I've also been tracking my measurements I won't type them all out this time, but I'm happy to say my total inches lost is 19.5! Below are some progress photos. January, March, and July. Also it's summer so I have the bonus of a tan now!

I've thoroughly been enjoying this time in my life so far, and I encourage anyone to jump on the wagon with me. I'd love to have friends and family share this with me. If you're inspired but struggling to feel motivated or encouraged talk to me and I'll do my best to help how I can!

Focus on the feeling- Day 54

This is what someone said to me when I shared my weight loss pictures with them.

I'm going to put the scale aside right now and reflect on what I'm feeling.

I have more energy-
I used to sit on the couch most of the day. Unless I was cleaning I was sitting. Now I'm wrestling with my kids for exercise (they love that) and I've made small changes like instead of the couch I sit on the floor and stretch to improve my flexibility.

I don't crave sugar and junk food-
Ok well SOMETIMES I could really go for a cheeseburger. Hey, I'm human.

I had a major accomplishment this month-
I put on a pair of jeans! I haven't put on a pair of jeans in at least a year. None of them fit me. Only one pair fits me now but it's one more than what fit me 56 days ago when I started this thing.

I hardly exercised in the second half of February. Those darn steps put me put for two days and then I got sick, and then it rained for days. Excuses excuses! I admit it! But now it's time to get back out there!

I finished one round of the 21 day shred! Tim did it with me and I'm so proud of him. He was brave enough to just eat whatever I made for him, even when he didn't like it. And it paid off, he lost 11 pounds in 3 weeks! I'll get to my results shortly.

We are now starting round 2 of the 21 day shred.

This March I will focus on my running. I ran for over half of 2013 and was up to almost 6 miles. We moved into our home and I just stopped. I never did get to run an official race. This year however I plan to run my first 5k and 10k before the end of May. (Maybe we'll talk about a half marathon later.....maybe)

I'm trying not to focus too much on my goal for the end of all this, partly because this will never really end. I want to enjoy each phase, think about each pound I work to lose, focus on how I feel in the moment. Enough stalling. These are not my shred results. I'll tell you I lost 5.8 pounds in 3 weeks but my actual goals are monthly so here is what I've accomplished in the month of February:

Weight: -7.4
Neck: -0
Arm: -.25
Bust: -.5
Waist: -.5
Hips: -0
Thigh: -.5
Calf: -0

Total for the year:
Inches: 10.75 inches
Weight Loss: 16.2 pounds

January 5th, February 8th, February 29th

I am deeply ashamed of January 5th. I've been back and forth for 4 hours trying to decide if I should share these. Upon reflection though, as embarrassed as I am, the way I look, miserable and unhappy, is exactly how I felt that night. I looked in the mirror and said "I can't live like this" and decided it would be the last time I looked like this. That should be documented.  I carried 3 babies, my body has done incredible things, and even though I'm not creating life, I'm realizing the incredible things my body can do beyond that.

I went from starting 10 pounds over my pre-baby number 3 weight to 6.2 pounds under it! I haven't seen the 170's in over a year *doing my happy dance*
If you're reading this I hope it inspires you, and if you're looking for support in your own journey I'd love to talk to you about it!

It's the little things- 1 month down

Previously when I was trying to lose weight I'd try a thing or two which would lead to temporary success. This time I'm using as many tools as I can to keep me motivated month after month.
I titled this "The little things" because aside from eating right and exercising, there are little motivators I'm using to keep me pushing forward.

1. Photos
I took photos of myself on day one. Unflattering, tight clothed, straight up "this is what you look like" photos. I also look at them frequently. Not only has that helped me but when I took pictures again 2 weeks in, WOW! It certainly doesn't matter what the scale says, it's what your body shows.

2. Take measurements
I had to take a step back from the scale. Especially because it's digital to 1/10th of a pound and fluctuates every day. Measurement show results!

3. Accountability
This chart is in my face every time I'm in the kitchen. It says "you will do this all year, and you will not let those numbers go up month to month."
 

So here it is. One month of hard work and commitment has brought me here:
Weight: -8.8 lbs
Neck: -1 in.
Arm: -.5 in.
Bust: -2.5 in.
Waist: -2 in.
Hips: -2
Thigh: -0
Calf: -.5 in.
Total inches lost: 8.5!

There is also a significant difference in my photos but again, not ready to share ;)

My goal for this month, and every month until the end of the year, is to lose 5lbs. It's not a lot, it's a slow moving process, but I know if I try to lose too much too fast I set myself up for failure in two ways. I could end up crash dieting which only shows short term success, or I could give up because I'm not hitting goals that were unrealistic anyway.
On February 8th I begin a program called the 21 day shred via www.skinnymom.com Regularly the plan is $49.00 but there is a special limited time (I'm going to call it a STEAL) going on right now. If you buy her cookbook, which is half the price of the shred, you'll get the plan for free! Also you end up with all these great recipes to try for your family that are healthy but DELIOUSIOUS! My husband has loved every one of them so far and my picky toddlers have, well, liked most of them, which is a big deal in itself! Anyway click here to find the special offer! There is plenty of time to get ready for it if you want to do this with me!
I also decided not to renew my gym membership this month and I will instead do the home workout videos from skinny mom and start running again! I've come up with a workout schedule for myself

Monday: Run
Tuesday: Ladder 10 workout (this will make you feel awesome!)
Wednesday: Run
Thursday: Slow workout, muscle build and tone
Friday: Run
Saturday: Ladder 10 workout
Sunday: Slow workout, muscle build and tone

 I'm only just starting out again, I haven't run in over 2 years, so it's really just walking with short running intervals for now. When I used to run, I couldn't believe how much I ended up loving it and you could too just give it a chance! If you want to run with me, come out and run with me!

I'm excited to see what results February brings!

 

7 day natural food meal plan for around $50

I promised myself I would not spend the rest of my 20's not loving myself.
That was almost a year ago and since then I've gained 10 pounds. Of course, I had a baby in that time, but now our precious girl is 2 months old and I'm still +10 of my pre-baby weight. I'm miserable.
My husband, who is so awesome, and so tired of listening to me come down on myself (this man still tells me I'm gorgeous, can't figure that one out but I'm glad he thinks so) back to my sentence, is supporting me by getting me a gym membership, and taking care of the kids when I go. He is also eating dinners with a healthy twist and telling me he likes them. Although I know he misses real bacon and ground beef in his diet.

Today is the 1st day of a better life. And now I'm writing about it and sharing it with you, my friends and family, so I pretty much have to be committed to it.

I'm trying a 7 day natural foods meal plan. A fruit and veggie smoothie detox wouldn't be appropriate because I'm nursing. I came up with my own plan. I have no idea if it's going to work. I'll update this post daily with a list of food I consumed. I went shopping this morning and I'm ready to go.

I'm even going to share my weight with you today.

This is my number. I'm not hiding behind strategic selfies or maternity clothing (yes, still!) I'm also tracking my measurements and have taken what I hope to be the before photos but I'm not ready to share those right now. We'll see how this goes!

SEVEN DAY NATURAL FOOD MEAT PLAN

Everything is measured except fruits and vegetables,
I just eat however much of those I want

Day one:

Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs

Lunch: 4 oz swiss cheese, whole kiwi, baby carrots

Dinner: Grilled salmon, steamed broccoli, salad

Snacks: Grapes and 3 oz of mixed unsalted nuts

Day two:
Breakfast: skipped. Horrible migrane this morning. Would have been 2 hard boiled eggs and some strawberries
Lunch: 4 oz white cheddar cheese, baby carrots
Dinner: Cajun seasoned 4 oz grilled chicken breast, mushrooms sautéed in olive oil, steamed broccoli
Snacks: 3 oz mixed unsalted nuts,  hard boiled egg, tomato seasoned with all natural sea salt grinder

Day three: 
Breakfast: Two hard boiled eggs, strawberries
Lunch: 4 oz monterey jack cheese, baked mushrooms, grapes

Dinner: 4 oz grilled chickem, mushrooms and broccoli sautéed in olive oil with natural sea salt

Snack: 3 oz nuts, carrots, 4 oz swiss cheese

Day four: 

Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs

Lunch: 4 oz white cheddar cheese

Dinner: Grilled salmon with fresh lemon, grapes

Snacks: 3 oz nuts, hard boiled egg

Day five:

Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs

Lunch: 4 oz jack cheese, cup of fresh fruit

Dinner: 6 oz grilled chicken, sautéed mushrooms and green bell peppers

Snacks: hard boiled egg, 3 oz of nuts

(I slipped today and had some banana bread and hot pockets.) Oops!

Day six:

Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs, banana

Lunch: 6 oz cheddar cheese

Dinner: Grilled chicken with sautéed bell pepper and mushroom

Snacks: 3 oz nuts, hard boiled egg

Day seven:

Spent so much time re organizing my kitchen that I hardly ate

Breakfast: skipped

Lunch: 6 oz cheddar cheese

Dinner: Grilled salmon with fresh lemon, broccoli cheese rice (I realize the rice isn't natural but it is the last day and all I had left. 

Snacks: hard boiled egg

Add in 30-40 minutes of cardio 5 of the 7 days

Morning of day 8!!!!

I'm actually glad this week is over. It was very difficult. I have a great meal plan for this next week that has more variety but is still healthy. My new number after 7 days is:

Pounds lost: 5.8! I'm very excited about this it means I lost almost a full pound a day. Who knows, maybe I could have done better without a few moments of weakness throughout the week but I'm not perfect and I still did pretty well. 

Inches lost:

Neck: -.5

Arm: 0

Bust: -3 :( although I can't say if such a huge loss had to do with breastfeeding. I measured this time right after nursing I may not have when I measured the 1st time)

Waist: -1

Hips: -2

Thigh: 0

Calf: 0

6.5 inches all over my body in one week is pretty good I'd say :)

Also my very supportive husband will be home soon with the dunkin iced coffee I've been craving all week. Hey, I deserve it!

Eat less and move more

Last night I caught the 2nd half of a 2 part documentary called fat and back. A woman from the UK who wasn't happy about her tax dollars helping to pay for 5,000 gastric bypass surgeries a year wanted to prove you can lose weight just by eating less and moving more. She gained 43 pounds in 3 months! Completely unhealthy but stay with me I have a point. She then proceeded with her experiment to lose the weight in the same amount of time. No gym, no trainer, no calorie counting. She ate whatever she wanted,  but in small portions. She made sure to walk 10,000 steps a day and exercise 3 times a week. In 3 months she lost 30 pounds.
This woman used a lot of fat shaming. She was very mean and who knows if it was 100% real but regardless of all the things I found messed up about her and her experiment,  I was inspired.  The more I thought about it, the more I realized how little I move in a day. So all the calorie counting I do can't be making much of a difference. So I'm going to keep it simple. Eat less, move more. I don't mean starving myself, I mean portion control. To make sure I'm taking all the steps, and getting my exercise. I'm going to start out with doing 5,000 of my daily steps here:

Right in my own home!

Every hour a timer goes off telling me to walk up, then down my steps 10 times. I was going to do it 20 times but the first time in I realized how out of shape I am and that I need to work up to that.

Eat less, move more.

Day one.

Weight: 182.6

Healthy Eating- The work is worth the reward!

Weight loss is not an uphill battle for me, and it's not a downhill battle either. It is a yo-yo battle. You would think that after 2 years of paying for a gym membership I would have this great body right? Wrong! Why? I was inconsistent! I would go the the gym every day, sometimes twice a day, and count calories for a month, lose 4 pounds, or for two months and lose 8, then I would have ONE DAY when I didn't get around to it, and one day turned into 2 days, and I blinked and 2 days turned into a month! So how much weight did I lose from my start point until now? Probably around 30-40 pounds. Because of my lack of consistency, and adding on all that weight I kept gaining back, I am a whopping 10 pounds lighter than I was when I started two years ago!

It's just sad isn't it? It happens to a lot of us. We pay all this money and sign these contracts and we just don't go to the gym. I'm not going to give you any excuses. I am holding myself accountable 100%. I got lazy, a lot. Now my gym membership is up. Even though I spent the last two years accomplishing less than I desired as far as the scale goes, I gained so much knowledge on how to eat healthier, that I know I can still do this! I'm not ready to give up, and I'm not ready to spend the rest of my 20's overweight. Now that I've shared all that with all of  you, what choice do I have?

Eating healthy isn't just about the calories you take it. It's the sugar, it's the fat, it's the sodium. So it is my mission to meal plan EVERY WEEK and put in the work it takes to be healthy! Here are some of the substitutes I have made in my diet:

1. Fat Free Cheese: Yes, I know it doesn't taste the same, but it has no fat and half the calories and you do get used to it. If you're a person who uses shredded cheese in a lot of your meals, or any at all, this will help!
2. Ground Turkey: I've been doing this one so long it makes me sick to my stomach to eat ground beef. This is one you need to get creative with because it is more bland than beef, however, spices and seasonings are a wonderful thing!
3. Chicken and Beef Broth: I used a lot of this, but even the "lower sodium" broths have hundreds of milligrams of sodium. So instead I buy herbox no-sodium beef and chicken bullion and make my own broth. Just as tasty and so much better for you!
4. Soda, Juice, and Tea: A no brainer here; drink more water! I might have a soda once a week, at the most. I'm glad for that because I have enough trouble with food.
5. Junk Food: Lucky for me I don't have much of a sweet tooth but who doesn't love a good bag of chips when they are available to them? I don't buy them I buy fresh fruit and vegetables instead. I know something like this seems expensive, but if you CUT OUT the junk and REPLACE it with the right stuff, the cost is about the same.

Of course I'm not perfect, of course I make wrong choices, that's why I'm still in this unhealthy body. So now for your reading and hopefully using pleasure, a Recipes and Healthy Living section on my blog. I'll be creating healthy alternatives to unhealthy meals for my benefit and yours. Happy Reading!