Healthy Living – Page 11

8 Weeks, No Sugar Challenge: Week 1

My first week is in the books! It was a tough, tough week. Detoxing from sugar is hard and takes a lot of willpower and dedication. But I got through it. I powered through the cravings, the constant hunger, and the headaches and came out on top. Granted, I only did it for five days before my cheat day on Saturday but this upcoming week I’ll have to make it seven days before allowing myself to loosen my restrictions so it’ll be a real test of my dedication!

One of the biggest things I noticed this week was how much of a learning process this will be. Every week, I know I’ll discover something new to try or a lesson to be learned. I know I’ll have slip-ups and make mistakes. But I also know if I am trying my best, I will always succeed.

This week’s lesson: Eat more complex carbs!

I spent most of the week hungry and not ever feeling totally full. I don’t like this feeling. I am not doing this challenge to be unhealthy in any way, so I know I need to figure out ways to fill up without reaching for sugary alternatives. What is amazing to me is that when I was feeling full, it was never a true feeling of being totally fueled up. It was a sugar high that gave me a false sense of fullness. I’m not a nutritionist, so all that could be totally made up in my mind but it makes sense to me. All those snacks I was eating before were chock full of sugar, giving me a feeling of fullness and energy that were not true sources of fuel and energy. Interesting.

Another thing I did wrong was while I took out all of my sugary, overprocessed foods (such as oatmeal – and no, not the healthy kind. I don’t like the healthy kind. I like the sugary junk -, cookies, soda, snack bars, etc.), I didn’t really replace it with anything. Sure, I usually had an afternoon snack of carrots and hummus or pretzels, but my breakfast was no longer filling me up and my lunch wasn’t doing a great job either. So I took to the best place to get advice nowadays: Twitter. Through the advice of my lovely (much healthier than me) friends, I realized my problem was I wasn’t eating enough complex carbs. Carbs are what is going to fill me up. Fruit is a good alternative but it never fills me up for very long. I need something that will stick to my stomach and give me the true sources of fuel and energy I have been lacking for most of my life.

My plan for this upcoming week is to fill up my diet with more complex carbs, as well as fruits as I’ve been doing, to keep the hunger away. I would say that was my biggest issue this week and it will be interesting to see how that helps me. I also really need to find a good alternative for an after-dinner snack. I don’t always want one, but it’s always nice to have something around, just in case hunger hits after dinner. (Any suggestions? Aside from fruit!)

And now for the results from my first week! Super excited to share:

	Starting Weight/Inches (taken on 3/18/12)	Current Weight/Inches (taken on 3/24/12)	Total Loss
Weight:	154.4 lbs	151.2 lbs	3.2 lbs
Left Arm:	13 in.	13 in.	0 in.
Right Arm:	12 in.	12 in.	0 in.
Chest:	37 in.	37 in.	0 in.
Waist:	39 in.	38 in.	1 in.
Hips:	36 in.	35.5 in.	-.5 in.
Left Thigh:	22.5 in.	22 in.	-.5 in.
Right Thigh:	23 in.	22 in.	-1 in.

A pretty darn good week, if you ask me! Now, I know my body went into shock mode this week, I spent the majority of the week hungry, and some of it is water weight but who cares? 3.2 pounds lost is 3.2 pounds lost! I am celebrating! And a total of 3 inches lost over my body? Sure, maybe my measurements were kooky last week but again, who cares? I am celebrating!

What kept me the most motivated was knowing I had to write my post on this for the upcoming week. I am not lying when I say I probably would have quit (or cheated!) had I not had this accountability. Blogging can be a magical thing! It was probably the biggest factor (that, and the support of everyone as I tweeted/Facebooked about all my struggles) in helping me stay motivated.

Next week, I’m hoping to say sayonara to the 150s because I don’t ever want to see that number again in regard to my weight. For a girl who’s five-two, that’s a scary big number. And I’d also like to shout out to my mom who lost FIVE POUNDS this week. I swear, this woman loses impressive amounts of weight just by cutting out sugar. She’s very close to her goal weight, which I know she’ll reach way before the wedding.

Categories: Healthy Living

8 Weeks, No Sugar Challenge

Today marks the first day of what I hope is a life-changing 8 weeks. Today, I start my no-sugar challenge. Doing a no-sugar challenge has been rolling through my mind for the past few weeks now. Seven weeks from now, I’m going to be a bridesmaid in my brother’s wedding. A week after that, I’m going on a cruise. Two big events and I want to look my best in both.

But more than that, I need to feel proud of myself. There are areas of my life that are flourishing and areas of my life that are not. My health is one of those latter areas. I had big plans for my health in 2012 (after all, it is the word I want to embody this year) and the fact that I’m not achieving any of the goals I set out for myself is the biggest cause of this funk I’ve been under. It’s disappointing and frustrating. And I’m just really over these feelings. I’m done with feeling sorry for myself. I can give you every excuse in the book for why I haven’t lost weight or been able to stick to a healthy eating regimen but I won’t. I have to stop the excuses and start doing what I need to do to get the body (and lifestyle) I am craving.

The next 8 weeks are going to be tough for me. I don’t deal well with change and adhering to a sugar-free lifestyle will be difficult. But change is almost always necessary. In my case, it is completely necessary. As I stepped on the scale yesterday morning, as I completed my measurements to show myself where I am starting from, I know I have to tackle this head-first. I’ve been slipping back into old habits and nothing is changing. I feel worse than ever about the body that stares back at me. On the exercise front, I am flourishing, but on the eating front, I am back-tracking.

It’s time to get serious about my health and realize that I am not treating my body the way it needs to be treated. And sooner or later, that will all catch up to me.

I’ve set some parameters for these next 8 weeks, to give myself static goals to attain, as well as set me up to succeed:

I am not going completely sugar-free. At least for the first few weeks of this challenge, I will allow foods that have 5g or less of sugar in a serving. I may tighten up my restrictions further into the challenge but for now, I know this will help my body in major ways.
Fresh fruits and veggies are not off-limits. Fruit is notoriously sugary, but it’s good sugar. A cup of grapes has 24g in itself! That said, I do want to stay away from fruits that have more sugar than those that don’t. (On the flip side, a cup of apples has 13g of sugar while strawberries have 7g.)
I am allowing myself one cheat day a week. Say what you want about cheat days, but I don’t think I could do this without knowing once a week, I can loosen my restrictions. This doesn’t mean I’m going to go crazy, eating an entire sleeve of Thin Mint cookies and a 2-liter of soda. It means, I may allow myself to have a soda with dinner, and a treat afterward.
I will be weighing and measuring myself weekly. For this phase of my healthy living journey, I need to pay better attention to what’s happening with my body. It’s never good to put your whole self-worth in what you’re doing from what the scale tells you, but I do want to see results from this. If I put in the hard work and effort, I want to be able to see that.
My weight goal is to lose 16 pounds over the next 8 weeks. That is 2 pounds a week, which is more than the average but again, this isn’t simply cutting down my calories but also cutting out sugar and soda.
I would also like to lose 14 inches around my body. Another major goal, but this is a major challenge. I think I can do it.

More than anything, though, I want to be able to do this challenge and not give up. Eight weeks is a long time and by writing it down here, I know I will have the accountability I need to stick to it. I have two major events to work towards and I want to feel proud of my body in both instances. Simply put, I want to feel better about myself. And I think this challenge is exactly what I need to do that.

And now, for my first measurements.

Weight (as of 3/18/12):	154.4 lbs
Left Arm (as of 3/18/12):	13 in
Right Arm (as of 3/18/12):	12 in
Chest (as of 3/18/12):	37 in
Waist (as of 3/18/12):	39 in
Hips (as of 3/18/12):	36 in
Left Thigh (as of 3/18/12):	22.5 in
Right Thigh (as of 3/18/12):	23 in

Here we go! I am about to embark on a life-changing eight weeks. I have the mantras locked and loaded for when things get tough and the best part of the whole challenge is that my mom is doing it with me so we’ll have each other for support. And, of course, if you have any advice or yummy snack/meal ideas, throw them my way. I am all ears.

Categories: Healthy Living

Weekly Weigh-In {3}

This week was mentally tough. I had many, many thoughts of simply skipping my weigh-in. I’ve been on plan for less than 2 weeks and I’m already contemplating these things.

The funny thing is, I was doing great with my eating and exercise. I was in control, I was counting, and I was kicking my soda habit in the face. Yet, a single whisper of skipping weigh-in and letting myself cheat until the new week started kept grabbing hold of my mind and hanging on. At first, thinking about it made me happy. I could eat what I wanted! I could gorge! Woo! And then? Then the guilt set in. The disappointment. The beating myself up. And I realized that staying on plan makes me happier in the long run than cheating.

Not a new concept. But in the past, I could usually shove the guilt part aside and focus on the happy part of my brain. Now, I couldn’t get the fact that this was not how I wanted my mind to think anymore. I didn’t want to focus on “being good until weigh-in day”. I wanted to focus on being healthy just because. I had to keep telling myself, over and over again: “This is not about weigh-in day. This is about a healthy lifestyle.”

And I did it. Even though I didn’t track from Sunday – Wednesday, I still remained on plan. I ate healthy, didn’t overindulge, and kept up my exercise routine. For me, it’s a big step in acknowledging this is my new life. It’s not my life for this week. It’s not my life until I get to my goal weight. It’s my life forever. Some people can’t look that far into the future. They have to just focus one day at a time. For me, I think it’s because I’ve been doing it for so long and making up so many excuses that I have to put my focus not just on the here and now, but also how I want to feel when I go on my cruise in May. By the end of 2012. Five years from now.

I don’t want to still be struggling with my weight five years from now.

I need to remain focused on the fact that this is not something I’m doing for a few months or for some destination. I am doing this for the rest of my life. It can be overwhelming to think in these terms, but I’ve discovered it is motivation for me to keep going.

Starting Weight (1/11/12): 157.0 lbs
Current Weight (1/25/12): 154.2 lbs
Weight Lost This Week: 1.0 lbs
Total Weight Lost: 2.8 lbs

Categories: Healthy Living

Weekly Weigh-In {2}

I have had many “first weeks” when it comes to committing to a healthier lifestyle. I never feel too confident in my abilities because I can’t seem to let go of all the times I have been on plan for a while, but then I fall off when it all becomes too much. And I know until I can release my past attempts and focus on the here and now, this battle will not be won. It’s something I’m working on.

I had a good week, especially since the weekend was spent in playoff glory where unhealthy food and snacks abounded. But the sweet thing about Weight Watchers is that nothing is off-limits. I can eat whatever I want – as long as I account for it. I saved up my weekly points and used the majority of it on the weekend. And I kept everything within reason. I didn’t overindulge but I didn’t deprive myself. I’m actually quite proud of how in control I managed to stay this week.

My goal for January for “Twelve Changes” is to start drinking more water. Ultimately, I want to eliminate Coke from my diet (not completely, but drastically reduce it). Some days, this is an incredibly hard change and I struggle so much with giving in to my craving to have a soda. Other days, it’s easy as pie. More and more, I see myself getting into the mindset where my life doesn’t revolve around when I’m going to get my next soda. I have slipped a few times and I’m still usually ordering a soda with my meal when I eat out (but I try to throw it away when my meal is over, if I get something to go). But the truth is? I’m getting better. It’s going to be a long process and I’m making changes to my lifestyle that are going to last for longer than simply January. I can’t say I’m following the plan I set for myself to a tee, but I’m learning and I’m trying my best. Sure, I could do better but that’s what the next two weeks are about. Take what I learned in the first half of the month and apply it to the second. I plan on exceeding my expectations, thankyouverymuch.

Starting Weight (1/11/12): 157.0 lbs
Current Weight (1/18/12): 155.2 lbs
Weight Lost This Week: 1.8 lbs
Total Weight Lost: 1.8 lbs

Categories: Healthy Living

Weekly Weigh-In {1}

I have debated a lot about whether or not I want to bring back my weekly weigh-in posts. On the one hand, they are good for me to process what’s been happening with my weight loss, get advice and support, and have a place to document this journey. On the other, it puts a lot of pressure on me to lose good amounts of weight every week. I want to “impress” you guys with my incredible weight loss, which is a very slippery slope.

But I finally decided I’m going to blog about it. Because it’s more helpful than not and I saw my weight journey start to fall apart once I stopped blogging regularly about my weekly weigh-ins. So they are back. (Yay?)

I know we all have our own ways of losing weight and no way is really better than the other. Whether you count calories, points, or just try to clean up your eating, we have to follow the plan that works best for our bodies and minds. For me, that is Weight Watchers. WW is a plan that works — when you do it right. When you follow the plan and don’t cheat yourself. WW offers more than just a simple weight loss plan, it offers support, community, and a place to measure your growth. I have been to a lot of different WW meetings and leaders and right now, my current Leader is one of my favorites. I think it’s so key to have someone with you who’s been through the journey and knows what it takes to lose weight and keep it off.

Weight Watchers works for me. I’m not limited in anything I can eat. And while I can get caught up in the “this week is shot. I’ll just skip weigh-in and get back on track next week” mentality, I know it’s up to ME to make this plan work. It’s up to me to take those 8 Healthy Guidelines and make them a part of my everyday lifestyle. A healthy lifestyle is something I want for the rest of my life. There is no timeline on it, no end date. It’s something I have to do for the rest of my life and I know I have what it takes to put in the hard work needed to get me to my ultimate goal.

Starting Weight: 157.0 lbs