I'm writing this like a blog- most recent stuff on top.

 

12/21/08:

     Adding exercise. Refocusing. Not giving up.

 

12/15/08:

     145 Eeek. The party is over. I took the losses for granted. Time to refocus.

 

12/12/08:

     I'm weighing in somewhere between 143-144. I don't want to be negative, but I'm still not believing this. It's been painless and weightloss should be painful,  right? :-)

 

12/11/08:

     Yeah, so. More of the same. Annnndddd- still not exercising. eek. Time to dig out the pilates dvd and see if my body remembers any of that. Haven't had a banana in days- Hurry up and ripen! The veggie diet is a cakewalk to adjust to, so maybe exercise will be as well?

 

12/10/08:

     Here's what I love about the vegetarian diet: I can eat a huge plateful of veggies. Delicious curry or baked veggies... I could not portion my meals- it would feel like deprivation and that's the worse thing for me. I made a nice tofu curry with green peppers, onions, tomatoes, ginger, curry, red peppers. Served with white rice. That might switch to brown rice someday, once my palette adjusts. And I ate a huge bowl of it- stuffed myself with veggies. If I was eating meat, I'd have to weigh my little portion, buy diet salad dressings... nope not me. That would not work at all.

 

     And my body feels like it's working. Like the internal organs are doing what they should be doing- it's a well oiled machine. kinda. :-)

 

     I appear to be on the short side of 145 now. Hard to tell exactly- my scale isn't digital, but I expect that might be a fluke of some sort. It would surprise me to lose 2# a week, because I'm really not trying. All I'm doing is making adjustments in lifestyle. More water- over 64oz now! And no animal protein. And an increase in veggies. A few more fruits, but they have a lot of sugar, so I'm concentrating on the veggies right now. Tonight- however- I'm making a dinner with meat. I'm hesitant to make drastic changes at once. I think gradual changes that I can live with for the duration of my life are really the only way for me to do this. Worse than not losing weight would be to lose a lot and gain it back because the changes I made are unrealistic. I may not lose the most weight by 2/1, but as long as I continue to make positive changes, I'm good for the long haul.

 

12/9/08:

     Pardon me while I talk to myself: Look. You need to exercise! The weight is coming off, but you gotta build strength! Get that heart into healthy shape! Lose/lift that sagging ass! Move it soldier!! Move it!!!!!!!

 

Weight wise- another one bites the dust!! I don't think I've the front side of 146 in about 3 years, maybe 2... either way, it fucking rocks. (my page, my language...)

 

Added benefit, and unforeseen (is there a spell check on this thing?) My kids are so into this!! They love the food, they love that I'm making these changes... It's awesome. Hubby is happy too, but he's always happy- he's the best. :-)

 

Today, adding the wheatgerm to my morning oatmeal, and a tofu recipe for dinner. Yummy tofu. Oatmeal, tofu, water , you are my friends and I heart you...

 

12/8/08:

     water is my friend.  The quick 2# loss is sticking for today. There's some *ahem* detoxing going on. I'll spare the details, but yeah, I should be thinner. jeez. Glad we had our bathroom redone recently....

 

12/7/08:

     p.m. I feel good. Gotta be the water. I feel light, clean, not sluggish. Very cool. Bought some cukes and lemons today for a little trick I had forgotten: Keep a pitcher of water in the fridge w/ thinly sliced cukes and lemons in it- super refreshing! Probably some vitamins get leached into the water- I would think.

And once again I by-passed the dark chocolate truffles. Good for me.

 

     a.m. Lost 2 pounds from first weigh in, and that was with my jammies on! No way! That was without counting portions or any exercise. That was from just being aware of what I am putting in my mouth, adding more fruits and veggies to my diet, and drinking as much water as I can.  Things are starting to come back to me, like little things really do add up: Walking- parking at the furthest parking place (keeps your car from getting dinged too). And I get more work done at the office because everyone else is working from home, and we have an upstairs- 21 stairs- with a bathroom up there. Increasing your water means you have to pee. A lot!!! So I run up the stairs every time instead of using the bathrooms on the first floor. Bye-bye bloggers butt. And dancing. I love to dance and can put on some R&B and boogie in the kitchen while I cook, and work off a few calories. Just being active and moving in ways I don't typically move makes things fun, interesting, and healthy.

 

And I can't believe I can see results this quickly, but my skin looks healthier? No really, it does. My eyes brighter, my skin doesn't look, um, tired-ish when I woke up.

 

      

12/6/08:

     Water. Lot's of water and oatmeal and banana for a late breakfast, and we went out for an early dinner at a favorite restaurant. I'd been eating Carne Asada here for awhile, but tonight I had Veggie Fajitas- I had forgotten how much I liked them. AND! I passed up dark chocolate truffles- do you have any idea how difficult that was? Do you have any idea how pleased I am with myself?

 

The beginning:

Laying it out there for God and everyone- always the toughest part for me, but in the spirit of sharing...

 

My goal: To cough up 50 bucks to a great charity. It's not about weight loss for me (but that won't stop me from trashing talking!) it's about getting healthy. The weight loss will come naturally as I make healthier changes in my life.

 

Background:

I gained 10 pounds within 3 months of blogging! I sit entirely too much, and my whole body feels like crap because of it. I've lost about 5 lbs just by being more aware of things, but I need to exercise, which I don't. At all. Oh, okay a weekly hour walk with my husband and dog, but that doesn't count. I'm also a breast cancer survivor, so I KNOW this stuff. I know how dangerous it is for me to be lazy, not eat well... I spent years as a vegetarian, toyed with macrobiotics, but that takes a lot of time. Still, I know what I need to be doing, and this group is the motivation I need to do it.

 

My plan:

Vegetarian. Mostly. Animal fat is deadly, and I feel better when I don't eat it. Our kids are both old enough that it will be good for them to knock off on the animal fat and I won't worry so much about their protein intake. Processed food is not a problem for me, as I don't eat a lot of that. I don't eat much fast food. I never acquired a taste for fancy coffee- I just need some focus on what works for me. I actually like tofu. :-) 

 

I'm going to start with breakfast: Oatmeal, and a great shake I'll share with you: One banana, one cup of milk- soy, or your choice, and .5 cup of juice- orange, or I prefer grape, which isn't as sweet as orange, and has some fantastic heart health benefits. From this meal- it's tasty- I've just received some great cholestoral reducing, good carbs, a serving of calcium, important for middle age women, and two servings of fruit! And, most importantly, this is quick and will fill me up for hours so I'm not raiding the frige in an hour or so. Add a multivitamin for the hell of it- never 100% sure if I'm just flushing that down the toilet- and I'm good for the morning.

 

Here's one thing I've found: Once you make these changes, it spills over into other areas of your life. Like everything else, right? :-)

 

12/5:

Water! Oh yeah, forgot about water- how good it is, how good it is for you. So yesterday I got out my trusty 32oz water bottle and filled it twice. Didn't drink all 64oz, probably closer to 55oz, but it's 55oz more than I drank the day before, and I woke up without coughing- getting over a cold that's lingering. I'm happy about that. Food. hmm. well. not what it could have been. Need to work on that. No exercise. Room for improvement.