Renewed Strength

I have to say I'm pretty proud. For the last month I've been struggling to reach past this plateau. As you recall I reached 256.8 and stayed there at the very start of September. I've tried really hard to eat well but have been so stressed out it just wasn't happening.


On Friday I realized I had gotten down to 260, through the whole month I was about 263-265, seeing this drop got me motivated. Saturday morning I came in to work to see parts of the office reorganized, after 2 Symply Magic I felt very energized and decided to "fix" the rest of the office. After rearranging a few things and running around like a mad woman I oddly didn't feel phased. Saturday night I stepped on the scale and was amazed, I was down to 256.2. Yes I struggled this month, Yes I should be farther along, but I'm back on track and that's what matters right?!


Also of note this weekend, I decided to clean out my closet. I wanted to make sure any clothes I have that are too big don't find a way to weasel into my heart and hide in there. That's just asking for a relapse! 


Since I started this journey I really couldn't tell a difference in my body. Yes my clothes felt loose, but I couldn't fit comfortably into smaller sizes. With jeans my waist area stayed tight and my thigh area got very loose. I thought that was just because I was wearing them all day. Turns out I'm losing all my weight at my knees (weird right?). I have this fantastic pair of pregnancy pants (never been pregnant just very comfy in the waist), very cute. Since they day I bought them I couldn't fit in them, don't ask why I bought them, wishful thinking? My thighs were always too big and I couldn't get them up all the way. 


This weekend that all changed, I saw the jeans and with my renewed sense of self decided what the heck right? I slid the jeans on and OMG they fit! It absolutely amazed me, they fit perfectly! I then decided I was going to try on the shorts I bought this summer that never fit correctly because I have wide hips, amazingly they fit as well. 


I am literally on a high today, it's nice to see that I really am changing my body, that I am getting ahead, slowly but surely.

Homemade Beef Stew

Last week I cooked up some Homemade Beef Stew and actually took pictures and wrote down what i used. YAY me! So just in case you're curious, here's how you can cook a good lunch for a week and still have it taste delicious. You'll notice I'm not really big into measuring things, just make it to your taste. I also don't like things like onions or whole tomatoes, but I love the flavor things like that add, just not the texture. To each their own!


HomeMade Beef Stew
A little Butter
1 Package Stew Meat
Carrots
Beef Broth
1 Can Campbell's Condensed Tomato Soup

Seasoning:
Basil Leaves
Black Pepper
A little Salt
Garlic Powder



With the lid off take a bit of butter and coat the bottom of a large pot, warm over medium-high heat.

Season meat lightly with pepper and salt. Brown the meat 3 - 5 minutes, the best way to do this is to brown half of it then remove it from the pot and brown the other half.

After the meat is browned add the carrots, garlic powder (seasoned to taste) and any other veggies or seasoning you would like.

Saute a few more minutes and add beef broth and condensed tomato soup. There should be enough liquid to cover all ingredients by about 3/4 an inch.

Add Basil and a little more pepper, bring to boil, cover, reduce heat. Cook until carrots are tender and liquids have thickened.


Enjoy!

Paleo All The Way

Laetly I've been pretty good about food. I haven't ate out much and I haven't had many carbs. But I'm still having them... and sugar... 


My friend Charlie just lost 10 pounds in one month by cutting out carbs and living an active lifestyle! I'm feeling inspired today, so I've decided to take the challenge.


I've noticed recently, since I've been limiting my carbs, that when I do have carbs, I don't feel very well. In fact I forgot my omelet muffins this morning and had oatmeal instead, trust me my stomach isn't enjoying oatmeal anymore.


It's hard to fathom a life completely without carbs. No pasta, no pizza, no cookies and certainly no oatmeal. I have the tendency to relapse to things I enjoy, mostly because they make me feel better for about 10 minutes. To keep myself accountable (and finally move past the 261.2 that I've been sitting at for a few weeks) I'll keep track of all the yummy recipes I come up with and you can enjoy them as well! 

I've Struggled

I seem to get in these ruts where I neglect my blog and myself. Over the last few weeks I haven't felt motivated for well, anything. I've started to get back on track but I really haven't gotten into a steady routine yet.


Over the weekend I went on a cooking spree.

Making The Same Mistakes

Really isn't acceptable anymore. Falling into old habits is ruining any progress I make. Meeting a goal doesn't mean I get to have ice cream. It means I get to check off a box, relax for a day and stick with it. Seriously this is driving me CRAZY!


I've been thinking a lot lately about my future. I know that if I don't get myself healthy I'll never have that life I want.

Dairy...

Dairy really isn't included in a Paleo diet, but I love cheese and milk! What's a girl to do you ask?


Well I've cut out most dairy. I've reduced my intake of milk and have started putting cheese on less things. Yesterday when I was at the grocery story I thought, 'hey, yogurt is really yummy and healthy. I'll get a few of those'


AH WRONG ANSWER. I had about three bites this morning and it upset my stomach. I've been pretty OK with light shredded cheese on my salad and some milk every now and again. I think the richness of the yogurt pretty much ruined it for me. So if anyone wants some yogurt I've got several containers in my fridge now. Feel free to come save me, otherwise they are being tossed out =(

Utter Shock

Just wanted to drop everyone a line and let you know I'm completely shocked and ecstatic! I weighed in this morning at 258.4 pounds. I have now officially lost over 30 pounds and kept it off, and I'm in the 250s!


Seeing the weight drop and seeing a change in my body has definitely inspired me to keep at it. Every morning I take my Symply Magic and drink a glass of water. I probably eat more food now than I did before! I never feel hungry and I haven't started working out yet.


The key to my workout room is apparently fixed, so YAY for being able to use the workout room. Still trying to get my TV and Cabinet to my place. I can only imagine the results I'm going to have when everything comes together!

The Good Life...

Wow it has been a REALLY long time since I've posted on here. Life has been crazy busy with work. Lots of overtime and not enough me time. I've discovered my key fob doesn't work for my workout room, and I've not been home when the rental office has been open so I haven't been able to get that corrected. There is a really nice workout room in the other building so I'm hoping I am allowed access to that. I still don't have my tv so no Insanity or Turbofire for me.

I've basically failed on everything I said I wanted to do haha. I've been eating only partly paleo and haven't worked out but I've stayed steady at 264.4 (literally every day last week the scale read that haha)

I Don't Want to be Kirstie Alley

Don't get me wrong, Kirstie Alley is beautiful, especially for being 60. I just don't want to continue to struggle with my weight until I'm 60. I think every other year Kirstie is either struggling with her weight or has found some new magic wonderful program that works for her. Maybe the issue isn't the type of diet she is doing, but the fact that she looks at it as a diet.


Losing weight shouldn't just be for 30 days or until you reach your goal weight. It should be a lifestyle change. Obviously what you're doing now, isn't working.

I'm too Picky

This weekend sure was interesting. At least on the Paleo front that is. I managed to completely F Up on Saturday. I don't recall what breakfast was (was there breakfast?) and Lunch was definitely not good. Turkey sub from Jimmy Johns? And did I mention the fam and I had pizza for dinner?! So let's just say weekends are my weakness. 


Sunday I believe breakfast was a leftover slice of pizza. Man I feel like I'm in college. But even in college I ate better than this. Maybe that's because in college there is a chef there to cook for you?

First Paleo Experience... Overwhelming!

Yesterday was pay day and my fridge wanted some love, so I went down to Cub Foods to stock up. Since I'm trying to go Paleo I had done some poking around about what to get. I found some shopping lists and core foods from Robb Wolf and headed off on what I hoped would be a successful shopping trip.

This is normally what happens. I grab a cart and go down every aisle. I normally grab things that are easy to make in large quantities so I don't have to cook ALL the time. Mac n Cheese, Viola Meals, Sandwich materials, Cereal, Milk, Pizza, etc. Can you see the pattern? Every single thing I listed has some form of carbs in it.

With the Paleo plan you want to avoid carbs for many reasons. I wont get into that hear, Robb Wolf does an amazing job of explaining everything. So I literally had to erase everything I knew about food.

Told You I'd Do It...

After a crazy weekend of amazing moving fun, being sick and extreme weather, I've gotten back to 261! Totally NOT in a healthy way.


Thursday night I felt a cold/congestion starting. As I was folding clothes on the living room floor talking to Mike I just knew something bad was going to happen. I found it harder to hold the conversation as it became harder to breathe. That night I woke up every hour on the hour, I couldn't breathe, my throat felt like it was closed. By the time it was really time to wake up I was exhausted, I hadn't slept well, couldn't speak or breathe and had a long day ahead of me. Did I mention I work in a call center? I'm fairly certain I get paid to talk all day. Thankfully my 90-day intro period was over and i had sick time, so I took that and started moving. I'd move a few things in and feel my heart racing and I'd be gasping for air. I had to take long breaks. This wasn't because I am fat kids, I have NO idea what I was sick with but it was not fun!

Focus? What Focus?!

This has been the week from *ahem*, yea worst week in a while. Not necessarily with my diet, ok with my diet; but also everything else that could go wrong, basically did.


- Not eating right? Check
- Car Issues? Check
- Fearing for my life? Check (see #2)
- Being completely stressed out? CHECK


As many of you know (and by many I mean the 5 whole people who possibly read this) I move tomorrow. YAY FOR MOVING! I'm excited to move but at the same time I DESPISE moving. No Really, despise, seriously.


I'm 98% packed and ready to go, so the anxiety doesn't come from not being ready to move.

Fat Is My Enemy

Now that I'm moving I've decided that a balanced diet really needs to be established. I'll have plenty of space in my fridge to stock up on whatever food I need, and a whole kitchen to cook my heart out.


I find it very difficult to change my diet because I LOVE food. I'm a picky eater so I don't really like trying new things, but the things I do like, probably aren't very good for me... and I probably eat to much of them  =(

Ahhh 25 pounds!

Today was weigh in day! I've lost another 1.3 pounds, not a whole lot but considering I'm not really doing anything I'll take it (Yep EPIC FAIL in the exercise department). With work being so busy I haven't had the true ambition to work out per se.


Sunday I spent the day playing with the dogs and eventually swimming. I was really good about my food intake for Independence day which is HARD considering how much i LOVE BBQ food haha. Monday was spent hanging out at home before heading out to Lake Minnetonka for fireworks. If you're from Minnesota you're very much aware of the fact that the fireworks off Lake Minnetonka are fantastic. Anyone with money living on the lake shoots off their own before hand, almost like a little battle from one side of the lake to the other. Plus there are smaller towns along the lake that do their own that you can see. Once it's completely dark you're in for the best show of the night. Amazing fireworks over the lake on a barge and the ending is phenomenal. Seriously. Totally worth the three quarters of a mile walk to the edge of the lake from where we parked and the chaos that ensued to get home.

Sometimes The Scale Doesn't Matter

Sometimes you try really hard and nothing seems to change. You push, you pull, you stomp your feet and you're left standing several steps from where you were just a moment ago. No matter how hard you try you can't seem to reach that goal. Weight loss is like dragging a huge boulder down a never ending road to no where. Except slowly, the boulder becomes a smaller boulder, then a rock and eventually a pebble; and then no where becomes exactly where you want to be. 

Modification

For someone my size, intense exercise is often difficult and can be disheartening when you can't keep up. I know I don't have the stamina like the people in the Insanity videos, but I stick with it and push myself. I may not keep up, and I may not do it perfect, but I go as hard as I can for as long as I can and finish the workout. It's ok to modify a workout to what works for you. Don't be afraid to change something so you can keep up.

You Can't Argue With Results!

I started diet magic two weeks ago today. I weighed myself this morning and I'm down to 271.5 pounds. I really feel amazing! I have great energy and sometimes have to remind myself to eat because I'm not having food cravings.


This feeling is something completely new to me. I grew up with Coca-Cola and Little Debbies on a day to day basis. As well as a bowl of ice cream every night before bed. My downfall has always been my love of sweets and food in general. I attribute this to the constant barrage of sweets at my grandparents and my grandma's fried chicken. It's a craving that is very hard to avoid and can ruin ANY diet. You can work hard all week, lose three pounds and gain it all back in a day because of soda and sweets.

Birthday Weekend Success!

Summer weekends can be very difficult to live through when you struggle with over eating. BBQs, celebrations, ice cream to cool down. It all adds up. Since this last weekend was my birthday, I was very worried I'd gain back what I had already lost. That seems to be what always happens. I'd have a great week, lose a couple pounds, and come Monday I had gained it all back.

This year it was a little different. I actually LOST two more pounds! I'm now down almost 15 pounds and I had to buy new pants because my other ones were too big.

I stuck to the Diet Magic all weekend. Woke up early, took my Diet Magic, ate a good breakfast and kept my metabolism up with small snacks and a good lunch and dinner. I never once felt over-full or even hungry. I drank as much water as I could and I felt great!

mmm...muffins

Working in a call center can be quite challenging. You sit at a desk all day and you are bound to snack on things that are not very good for you. Especially if you are lucky like me and sit right behind the table people put snacks on. It's a temptation that I've been lucky enough to avoid.


Instead I start every day with instant oatmeal and maybe some fruit. Right now i am very hooked on the BetterOats brand and absolutely LOVE the mmm...muffins Maple Streusel instant oatmeal with flax. It tastes delicious and is only 160 calories. They come in convenient pouches that you can use to measure the water you need and they cook in about 2 minutes. I can come to work, make my oatmeal and have a great start to my day without a lot of fuss.


Check out their website, find them in a store and enjoy. They have plenty of different flavors available, some with  only 100 calories, add some fruit and you've got a healthy, quick breakfast.

the Start of Diet Magic

After many months of working and not focusing on myself I've come to a better place. I'm happier and not worried about what people say and think.

Over the last month or so I've lost 11.4 pounds and kept it off. Simply by eating a little better and having more food. Yes I said more. I have oatmeal in the morning, a snack, lunch, another snack and then dinner. They are smaller meals but it keeps me feeling full all day. I also drink about 2 liters of water every day which also helps curb cravings.

Today is my first day trying Diet Magic, a new product by Symmetry. I absolutely LOVE all of their other products, and I personally know many of the people who have had success with this product. I'm absolutely AMAZED at the results they have had!