Day 8- honesty Time

Ok so apparently I don't know how many days are in a week and today would be the start of week 2 not yesterday.  I have lost 2 pounds total.  maybe more.  the picture I started with was me at 170.  but here is my list of being honest.

I started this 30 day challenge at 172. so I am back to where I was with the picture posted seven days ago

I have failed miserably in counting calories.  no excuses, I just did not do it

Today I ate horrible.  I did not give myself time to eat.  I made the major grocery shopping trip and my breakfast/lunch was a bag of kettle cooked chips.  Then I did not eat until dinner.  It happens.

I need to drink more water.  No excuses there either, I just haven't.

My reasons for being honest are so people reading this can be encouraged that sometimes people mess up but to be encouraged to not give up. I desire to inspire and encourage others. Tomorrow starts a new day with a fridge full of good healthy choices and new recipes to try.  I have a roasted red pepper just waiting for me to put on my sandwich with some mushrooms and goat cheese melted to perfection for lunch.  Roasted red peppers are oh so tasty.  I also have bananas waiting to be topped with peanut butter and then dipped in my melted vegan chocolate chips to be frozen to perfection and ate without one bit of guilt.  There is also coconut milk ice cream waiting as well.

Yay to new mercies and new days.  I also ran today and ran faster than I did on Sunday.  picture tomorrow  I promise.  For now sleepytime tea  :)

Day 6

Today I start running for 25 minutes.  It is a good thing I love running.   We ll i should say jogging.  I run slow but I run.  Yesterday i did not track calories.  I have a pretty good handle on portions and such so it was no biggie but today I will be back on track with that.  I have menus planned for the next two weeks for dinner and will be sharing those.  Also tomorrow is the weekly picture update.  Some things I make this week will be for the family and some things I will change around for me for a healthier less calorie option that will still be yummy.  Today of course is Sunday...this means chicken wings  :)

Day 5

The scale once again is my friend.  I ran 3 times this week.  I am slowly building myself up to running for thirty minutes.  This week I ran for 20 min.  I always do 5 min warm-up and cool down walk.  Tomorrow I will start running every other day for 25 min and then the week after I will run every other day for 30 min.    After that I will work on building up running faster.  MY ultimate goal is to run a 5k in 30 min.  When I get back to running for 30 min I will most likely be running 2 miles in 30 min.   These are the goals I have.  I will also be making sure that I have a deficit of 300 calories at the end of every day starting tomorrow.  This week on the day I did not run I did Zumba and Yoga.  That Yoga made muscles work I never knew I had.  MY arms hurt.  But in a good way.  I really like Denise Austin, even when he voice annoys me. This is what I use :

It works and feels good. That is all that matters.

Day 4

Pressing on.  This is when it gets hard.  This is when the sugar cravings kick in and I would love to eat big bowls of ice cream, hundreds of oreos, and big fat juicy cheeseburgers with french fries throughout the weekend and say "Monday I will start over." But I won't  However, I can indulge a little.  I still breastfeed.  it has advantages.  One of them being having to make sure I eat 300-500 calories than normal to maintain milk supply.  Because breastfeeding burns 300-500 calories.  Seriously.  motivation enough to keep doing it when it becomes difficult.  but I digress  SO here is a picture of me :

192 pounds

Well I should say that used to be me.  I don't even know that person anymore.  I am so different than I was almost three years ago.  That person in that picture had issues never dealt with.  That person had a food addiction.  That person was looking for satisfaction everywhere else but the one place that it can only be given.  Jesus.  That person had addiction issues that just kept switching areas.  It was not until counseling that this was realized.  I finally came to the realization instead of putting on what I needed to which is the bible and satisfaction in Him alone that I was doing it with food. You don't even realize how big you are until you see pictures.  For me the mirror just made me think I am not that heavy.Back in my early 20's I was much thinner.  I was a size 5/6.  than I gave my life to Jesus and felt convicted to quit doing some things.  Well I was putting off good things but then added food.  Chocolate tall cakes and quitting smoking will cause problems. SO I gained.  I rationalized every time I went up a dress size.  Before I knew it  I was a size 14.  Then got pregnant with my first gained the thirty pounds you are supposed to and never lost it.  I stayed a size 16 for years. So this picture started that journey.  It is when I look at pictures I realize how big I was.  the mirror fooled me and I always thought I am not that big.  pictures don't lie people. Of course there were stops along the way.  A pregnancy halted further progress but when I did get pregnant I had lost about 15 pounds so I was on track.  Then I restarted 6 weeks after Charlotte was born.  There have been stops along the way but mostly out of laziness on my part and going  back to old habits.  gaining five pounds would put me back on track but then I would go back.  This is why for the past 7 months I have been stuck at 170.  I no longer have excuses.  I have to work at it.  I always will.  even when I hit my goal, it will be work to stay there but like anything else it will be worth it and at that point I will be able to eat without counting calories because the portion servings will be so in grained in my head I will just know.  Just like with eating gluten free.  I just know 99% of the time what to eat.  For me this journey is not about being skinny, being a size 5, or being obsessed with a being a certain weight.  It is about being healthy.  For me that is what is most important.  All the other things just mentioned will happen because of that choice.

DAy 3

On track.  The good thing with my calorie counter app is it tells me what areas of food I need to eat more and less of.  I have not been eating enough vitamin c.  SO I fixed that this morning with a banana orange smoothie.  YUM YUM. Here is how I made it:

1 banana
1 orange
1 cup of vanilla almond milk
ice

I am starting to feel better, again.  I do this every time I start to eat better.  I feel good then I go somewhere like a party or something and have something I shouldn't and I lose my senses.  I am not saying cheating is bad.  Just when you are like me, it gets out of control and it goes back to old habits.  I don't want to do that.   I think I just need to realize that  just because I indulge a little does not mean I go back to eating everyday the way I was.  I will most likely bog about my testimony tomorrow.  The struggles I have had and why I am on this journey now to get to a healthier weight.

Day 2

There are two loves I can think of at the moment.  pumpkin and technology.  I have a great calorie counter on my Itouch.  No looking up  how many calories in each food.  no wheel to turn to see how many calories.  No book to flip through.  Yup, I am that old.  It is easy peasy.  I look up the food and hit "add to log" and bam calorie counting done.  I am trying to get a deficit of 300-500 calories per week.  this way I will lost 2 pounds a week.  Not only is this safer and makes weight loss more effective but I am breast feeding and if you lose more than that breast milk can become toxic to the baby.  Yup, I did not know that either.  Let me just day that just because one breast feeds does not mean they will lose the weight faster.  I don't fall into any typical category for anything so that does not apply to me/.  So if you are reading this and wondering if you are the only person on the planet who breast feeds and does not lose the weight.  you are not alone.  I also do not lose it once I quit either.  I have to work at it.

My other love is pumpkin.  Pumpkin creamer, pumpkin pie, pumpkin pancakes, and the smell of pumpkin candles.  I have discovered putting pumpkin in my oatmeal.  OH MY WORD!!  yumminess.  It is also good for you.  A little cinnamon and honey.  Good to go.   Which by the way I use honey to use for sweetener.  it may have more calories but it is "God made" so way better than the refined or what I like to call "cancer in a packet".

Today brings Zumba.  I will yell at the TV because it has been months since I have done it.

New Challenge

Today starts a new challenge.   For thirty days I will exercise and count calories every day.  I have an ultimate goal to lose 40 pounds.  There is only one way that this can be done.  eat less and exercise.  I am at a standstill. I am not gaining but I am not losing so I need to change things.  So I will daily count calories to make sure I can male sure I don't eat too much.  I will run every other day.  The days I don't run, I will Zumba or yoga.  I have a great video game for Zumba that I adore.  I have the yoga body burn by Denise Austin that I also love.  If I get bored I found out that Netflix has some exercise programs on it.  Losing weight I am hoping will help with the muscle spasm I have been dealing with for twelve plus years.  So this challenge blog this month will not be very interesting.  It may be boring on some days but I will post pictures and links as to my progress.  I will post links to things I eat and things I do for exercise.  Here is me day 1.  I will post a weekly picture

me at 170