Ups and downs

Since my last post, my weight was all over the board! It was never lower than 155, but at night it was up to 158.5! My thyroid meds have been adjusted and I'm guessing that had a little to do with my changes in weight. I was also really ridiculously busy and most likely didn't drink enough water on a daily basis and didn't "hit it hard" like I said I would! So my hubby and I talked about doing another raw/green cleanse this coming week! I have my 15 year highschool reunion coming up the day after Thanksgiving, and I sure would like to look good for it. Actually, more important than that, I want to feel good...back to my old self (pre crazy thyroid stuff)!! I promise to post again on Sunday to give you the gameplan for my next cleanse! I'd love any encouragement you want to send my way! Thank you!! And I hope you are doing well on whatever journey you are on.Whether it be weight or something entirely different, I'd love to be able to encourage you somehow!

Down one more!

So happy to be down one more pound! I'm going to hit it hard this week to see if I can drop at least two more by next Monday. I'll post my strategy tonight! UPDATE: Life got in the way...I'll be posting my strategy sometime "soon"!

Slow and steady

Well, it has been a little while since my last post, but I have slowly been dropping a half pound here and a half pound there! And I'm glad to report that I am now down a total of 20 pounds from my high water mark of 177! I started this blog at 170, so I've lost 13 since 7/10/11!
It has not been all downhill. Some days I wake up and I'm a pound or 3 up, but most likely it is always due to water weight...ie. I had too much salty food and/or didn't consume enough water the day before. It is funny how that works. If you drink more water you retain less water! Making sure you drink at VERY minimum 8 - 8oz glasses of water each day is essential to healthy weight loss.
So, I've been having some thoughts on perspective lately and I will try to post on that real soon!
I can tell you I am thrilled to be headed into the holiday "eating season" 20 pounds down. This will give me just the motivation I need to keep plugging away and not succumb to overeating of Halloween candy, Thanksgiving goodies, and Christmas yummieness! How great will it be to see January 1st, 2012 almost at my goal weight...INSTEAD of just starting!
I hope some of this may help you find just the motivation you need to start becoming a healthier you!

ahhhh so excited...150's here I come!

THRILLED!

Too bad you can't see me jumping around in this picture, but I am just thrilled beyond belief! It has been far too long since I've seen the 150's and I couldn't be happier to even be on the highest end!

It's working! All my effort is paying off! I've been exercising at least 3 times per week. I've been eating at least 51% (a little more than half) raw fruits and vegetables each day. I've been starting myself off each day with a healthy meal (a green smoothie or homemade granola with fat free plain greek yogurt and strawberries or 2 scrambled eggs with a slice of whole wheat toast and fruit)...then lunch is something like a can of tuna with 1 T light mayo and an apple cubed up (all mixed together) or black beans with cheese and a medium sized salad and dinner has been something simple 1 protein (4-6 oz), 2 veggies, 1 unrefined carb (like a baked potato or quinoa etc.) and 1 fruit (as "dessert")! Then when I have a snack, I am choosing something unprocessed, like a handful of almonds, some celery with homemade peanut butter, 1 small salad, a plate of tomatoes and avocado...etc. For me, much of the key to this process has been KEEPING IT SIMPLE! My birthday is September 20th and I am hoping to see 155 by that date! I know that is kind of a lofty goal, as I have been on the 1 pound per week track, but I am going to work out hard, stay consistent with my eating and pray! :)

By the way, sorry for the delay in posting, but I just started on the 18th homeschooling my daughter for the first time! It has been great, but certainly has kept me busy! Now I think we are getting into our groove! :)

Down another lub!

So, it may not seem like much, but yesterday I hoped on the scale to find that I was down another half pound and then this morning, the other half pound was gone!!! Totaling another ONE pound lost! What this means to me is that I am one step closer to seeing the 150's! It has been far too long since I have seen them! So, I'm still 31 pounds away from my goal, but keeping in mind that my high was 177 and now I'm 161...I'm THRILLED!
What am I doing you might ask?
Well, it's nothing complicated and I'm not being overly rigid, but I am making healthy choices.
I'm making sure that over half (even just 51%) of what I consume everyday is fresh raw fruits and vegetables! It's not too tough...just look at your plate and make sure that a little more than half is something colorful and fresh! Also, it's important that you don't just eat fruit and forget about the veggies, because to your body the fruit is still a "sugar". Yes, it is good for you, but too much of it can slow down your results.
Also, I am avoiding highly processed foods! There are lots of different definitions for "processed food", but for me that means if there are more than 5 ingredients in something or if I couldn't spell the ingredients in a spelling bee, then I don't eat it! So, now I'm paying more attention to the ingredients label on packages! For example, I wanted to make my own homemade peanut butter and saw that you needed 1 ingredient to do so: unsalted dry roasted peanuts. I went to the store and picked up a jar of Planters peanuts (thinking it was a good name brand) and was horrified when I turned the jar around to look at the label! Seriously people...these are just NUTS...why on earth does all that other junk need to be in there??? MSG? Yeast? Gelatin? ahhhh... (Peanuts, salt, sugar, cornstarch, monosodium glutamate, corn syrup solids, torula yeast, gelatin, paprika, onion and garlic powders, spices, natural flavor.)

Then, to my relief, Trader Joes came through in the clutch providing me with unsalted dry roasted peanuts with just 2 ingredients...peanuts and oil!

Anyhow, the importance of what I'm saying is you don't know what you are eating unless you look at the label. Do you really want all that extra stuff put into your body, especially when there are better alternatives?
Ok, so I do have to say that it is also important not to become obsessive and drive everyone in your life crazy! I don't push this on anyone else, but I am trying to teach my children to make healthy choices, without depriving them of occasional treats! If we are in someone else's home and they offered my child a snack, I am not going to ask to see the label, in fact I'll probably let them eat it. I never want it to be a case of "my mommy says I can't have it". One processed snack isn't going to "ruin" my kids. It is all about learning to make good choices and it is not worth losing friends or making people feel awkward! Bottom line is that it's not a matter of what my family "can" or "can't" eat, it is a matter of choosing to buy food for our home that is healthy for our bodies!

No Change and Total exposure!

Hey there! No change this week. I guess that is better than an upward change, but I definitely have not been "perfect" in my choices this week either. Nothing terrible, but there were 2 nights (one of which was tonight) that I ate after 7pm and for me that just needs to be the absolute non negotiable. Also, I only ran 2 times last week. I did manage to stay away from any added salt, so that was an accomplishment!!! :)
I am anxious to get my next blood test to see where my levels are with my hypothyroidism! I've had some "symptoms" this week, like feeling cold, and considering it has been in the upper 90's this past week...that is not normal! With approval of my doctor, I'd like to complete another smoothie, raw or fresh juice cleanse. I felt so amazing after I did the first one and it proved to have remarkable results, that were not just loss of water weight or I would have gained it all back by now!!!
One thought for the day...just because you make one bad eating choice, that doesn't mean the rest of the day needs to go down the tubes! In other words, you succumbed to a chocolate chip cookie, a big bowl of ice cream, a bag of chips or even a lack of eating, you can still eat well for the reminder of the day!!! I promise you will feel much better if you say, oops that was one little blip and move on, than if you binge for the rest of the day. Trust me, I've been there! I was there TONIGHT! It all started with not eating a complete enough meal for breakfast, so the remainder of the day I have felt "deprived"...almost like I needed to catch up on the calories that I missed. So, I ate a good dinner...homemade cashew stir-fry and organic texmati brown rice, finished off by some homemade sorbet. That is where I should have quit, but then over the next 3 hours I had some (probably 1/4 cup) dark chocolate covered edamame, then a handful of organic mini cheese crackers, then 1 light string cheese stick, 1 small tomato, 5 pretzels, 1 marshmallow and 1 bowl of cheerios with strawberries/blueberries and skim milk! Holy Crap! That is embarrassing to write! Trust me I didn't think about writing it as I was eating it! Yeesh! Really, that is just gross! Well, I can tell you that if I have to write another episode like that down again it most certainly won't happen...and since that is the purpose of my blog (to hold me accountable) I am going to remember how yucky it made me feel to type this all for the world  (or whoever reads this blog) to see! Totally disgusted with myself! The good news is the other night that I ate late (Friday night), I only ate an egg with cheese, 1 tomato and 1 piece of toast!  Since being diagnosed with hypothyroid 5 weeks ago, I had only had one glass of wine, until Friday night when I had 3, over several hours...but they definitely affected me! So, when we walked back home, I felt like eating something would be wise! It was wise, but what I learned that evening was that if I want to lose this weight badly enough...I can't drink anything at all, because all it will make me do is eat more than I should!
So, that was my week!
Here is to a better week and new goals!
1. Exercise  4 days this week (run-Tues/Thurs & strength training Wed/Fri)
2. Absolutely NO eating after dinner (ie. nothing after 7, except water)
3. Out of my daily 3 meals and 1 or 2 snacks, make sure at least 51% of my intake comes from raw fruits and veggies)

Feel free to check in and hold me accountable!
Are you working on anything new this week, whether your diet or life in general? I'd love to know and help if I can!

A little compliment...

...goes a long way! Tonight while I was out to eat with my family, I ran into a friend that I have not seen since school let out at the beginning of June. Well, she noticed that I had lost weight!!! I can not even begin to explain how great that made me feel! I've been struggling for so long as the weight kept creeping on (partly due to my ridiculous hypothyroid problem that I was unaware of) and trying so hard to get the weight to come off, that hearing one person notice that I looked different was such a huge encouragement to me!! It was far more encouraging than any number on the scale. It was way better than being criticized for a food choice made. And it had a lot more meaning than someone simply saying "good job".  It gave me an added boost! Just what I needed to keep plugging along. It actually made me want to go home and run a few miles...seriously, but it was raining! Oh, and if you don't know me...I hate to run, so that was big!
I can guarantee that tomorrow will be a good day! I'm gonna get my butt out of bed and head downstairs early to get a workout in before the kids get up and maybe even take a run in the evening after my hubby gets home!
So, if you see someone out that looks great...TELL THEM! It could help them get over their next hurdle!
I had not yet worked out this week, but I have stayed away from the salt grinder!
In fact, I had to make a conscious choice to NOT put salt on my tomatoes (which I usually do)...so that was a success!
Now onto more successes and more lubs dropped!!!