Thursday, December 30, 2010

Easy Come, Hard Go

Why is it SO hard to lose weight and SO easy to gain!? Over the holidays I have been eating too much and drinking more than normal, and a few of my eating windows have been extended. I realize now that eating lunch while on vacation doesn't work for me. I then just end up munching until 9 or 10 at night because we meet up with friends or socialize with a glass of wine.

So, for the remainder of my holiday I will just stick to dinners. Then my eating window can include the wine and the socializing with no issues. The scale has crept up and I find it SO frustrating that so much work goes into losing a few pounds but eat outside my window for a couple of nights and BOOM back on in a heartbeat. The scale read 173.5 this morning. ARRRRRGGGG! It wasn't long ago that I was down to 164.5. Almost 10 Lbs on in a flash.

I am not going to stress too much about it though because I have my new plan in place for the new year and I know that will help me drop that extra pretty quick. And if I just stick to dinners from now on, hopefully that will start me back in the right direction from here on out.

Nobody's perfect, we all just have to do our best.

Monday, December 27, 2010

Fasting through the holidays

Well, I made it through the holidays (well almost, I am still on vacation) and did pretty well. On Christmas Eve I ate like a mad woman but within the window. WOW did I eat a lot of sugar. I think I had a sugar hangover in the morning. Then Christmas Day I had already decided to have two meals because we had two places to be. I ate lots again that day...it didn't feel very good eating all day. I am really not used to that, which is a good thing because I am much happier with one meal a day.

I weighed in after all of this food and I was only up 2Lbs. Up yes, but not as up as I was worried I would be. Today I weighed in and am exactly the same, so that is good. I will be on a break from all day fasts until January. There are so many social events during this time of year that it is too difficult to fit them in so I will just stick with my regular eating window and 19 hour fasts until January.

In January I am planning to take it to the next level. It will be one year since I began this journey and I am more than half way to my goal. I plan to incorporate some techniques from various sources. Of course I will continue with intermittent fasting and all day fasts once or twice a week. I will also continue with my workouts following along with the Venus Index building my ideal body under the excess fat I still have to lose. (I have completed the first four weeks of the program and have another eight weeks to go.)

The additions I plan to add in January are

1. I am going to remove dairy and wheat from my diet for one month. I have seen a naturopath and am seeking help with some digestive issues I have had ever since I had my gaul bladder removed 5 years ago. They strongly suggest cutting out wheat and dairy for a short time and then adding it back in slowly to determine if I have any allergies or sensitivities in that area. I struggled with this decision a bit because I really don't like the idea of depriving myself of anything, but, it is only for one month and if it helps me feel better then I am willing to try it.

I hope that I can make it as painless as possible replacing my pasta and bread with other brands that don't use wheat and using goat products instead of cow products throughout the process. I do see their point that the wheat and dairy products we all consume so much of are highly modified and genetically altered and the body has a hard time processing them. I am also going to follow their advice on a few supplements mainly a supplement that will help me digest my food better and a very strong probiotic. There are a few procedures that they do that I am going to try as well, including acupuncture. We will see how it goes.

2. I am going to follow the Gabriel Method. I have read his book and I found it to be a very interesting and logical approach. It makes so much sense to me. I have found ways to lower my body weight but I haven't fixed what was wrong in my mind that got me here in the first place. I hope that the methods he recommends will help cure me of my over eating and issues with food and body image.

I am hopeful with all of these techniques working together that I will reach my goal in 2011! Not only that, I hope to be a much healthier version of myself, aside from my outward appearance I want to look great on the inside too.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Merry Christmas!!

Today is my last day at work before my Christmas Vacation of 12 wonderful days off to enjoy family and friends. There will also be lots of food around I'm sure. I know I will probably eat more than I want to but for the first time I feel calm and worry free about it all.

I know that I will have no trouble continuing to fast the way I always do during the holidays.

I know that if I eat the yummy treats that are around at Christmas time I will eat them guilt free because I will be eating them in my eating window.

I know that I will have no trouble getting back on schedule with the regular good for me meals that I always eat once the Christmas treats are gone.

I know that the scale will continue to move down as it has since I first began.

With all of this knowledge I can calmly move forward towards my vacation with no worries that the treats will consume me as I consume them. Intermittent fasting has given me freedom.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!! Talk to you in the New Year when it will be my one year anniversary of beginning this journey.

Changes

Almost one year ago, (Since January 1st) I began intermittent fasting. Since then I have on occasion eaten outside my window on a Friday after work, having some wine and snacks with friends. Other than that, I have had no issue with sticking to my schedule. I have never eaten more than one meal per day. This has NEVER happened to me before. I have never been able to stick to any new diet plan or lifestyle change or eating routine before. This has truly been a transformation for me in so many ways.

I eat healthier now. Before intermittent fasting I would have:

Breakfast
Bagel and cream cheese

Mid morning snack
Blueberry Muffin or Pastry

Lunch
Sandwich with white bread, chicken slices, mustard and cream cheese
Chips or crackers
Granola bar or cookies
Maybe a banana or some other seasonal fruit

Snack
Chips or
Chocolate or
Candy or all of the above

Dinner
Pasta or
Chicken & Rice with carrots or
Pizza or
Chinese Food or
Occasional Healthy dinner

Dessert
Cookies or
Ice Cream or
Granola Bar or
Chocolate etc...

Snack
Two pieces of toast with peanut butter and jelly or Cereal

This was a pretty typical diet for me and I rarely strayed from this menu. I hardly ever ate a vegetable unless it was a caesar salad or something like that.

Because of this diet I was constantly exhausted. I didn't realize it, I just knew that I was always tired. That meant that when I got home from work, all I had energy to do was to watch TV and sit on the couch. I used to record around 12 hours of TV per week. PLUS, I would just watch what was on sometimes and also mindlessly flick channels, sometimes for over an hour, never finding anything to watch but continuing to flick, flick, flick...I also couldn't stand the idea of exercise. I was way too tired for that.

Since I began intermittent fasting so much has changed. The interesting part is that none of it has changed because I MADE myself do it or because I made a conscious effort for any of it to happen. It was all just a bi-product of intermittent fasting.

I had more energy. Because of this, sitting in front of the TV no longer appealed to me, it seemed boring and I always seemed to find something else to do, suddenly I was living a much more active life, taking classes and spending time with friends, doing things around the house and blogging.

I started to CRAVE healthy food. I didn't make myself eat salad or good fats or try to avoid all the wheat I used to eat. My body just had the opportunity to assess what it really needed during my fasted state, so it was able to tell me, I need nutrients! Since my body can't actually talk to me, it told me what it needed in the form of cravings. I was now CRAVING salad, fruit, avocado, nuts, seeds & protein. Not to say that I never crave the bad things but now I also crave the good things which is new to me.

I started to WANT to exercise. SHOCKER! I used to tell my husband that when I was thin before, that I liked exercise. He never believed it because all he saw was the tired me. The one who would rather die than workout. Now, I enjoy my workouts and I do them because I want to not because someone else thinks I should. (I still don't really like cardio, but I am sure I will get there eventually).

I started feeling better. My bloating and unhappiness had subsided. I am much calmer and easier to get along with. I just feel happier now.

I started looking better. My healthy eating had a positive effect on my looks. Yes, I had lost weight, which helps, but I also got rid of chronic acne that I had endured since puberty hit. My hair became more shiny and healthy, my eyes where shining. Everyone I knew was telling me that I was GLOWING. So TRUE. Check out this before pick to see what I mean. Not the healthiest looking person.

Intermittent fasting has truly CHANGED MY LIFE.


Wednesday, December 15, 2010

How it's going

Well, things are still up...So weird. But I am sticking to it and keeping it up. Today I am doing an all day fast as we have a work lunch tomorrow. I have been keeping to my schedule of two long 38-48 hour fasts per week and the regular 19 hours per day. I have also been doing weights 3 times per week for three weeks straight now.

My weight has really stumped me lately:

On Nov. 29th I was at my lowest at 164.6 and then it all of a sudden jumped to 170.9 on Dec 5th.

After that it was:

170.9
170.1
169.6
168.0
168.2
169.2
168.5
170.4
168.0
168.1
168.7

So my body is definitely fighting against that big drop from 167 to 164 at the end of November. But I'm sure if I just keep at it, all will go back to normal and continue downward again. So sucks though since I had hit that 50 Lb mark only to jump right back above the line again. We'll see how it goes.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Still up!

SO weird! I was down to 164.5 at one point and sticking there for a few days...Then one morning I weighed in and the scale said 177!!! HUH? I thought it had to be a fluke...

It did kind of go back down a bit a few days later but I am still sitting at 168-169...SO FRUSTRATING!!! I am trying to be patient though...

On a more positive note, yesterday was SUCH a great day at work. I did a presentation in front of my entire office (80 people)! I have never presented anything before in my life so I was a bit nervous but it went really well and I got lots of compliments afterwards.

One of my co-workers told me that she had a hard time listening to what I was saying because I looked so HOT! She said that other people in the office were commenting on how good I looked to her too. Such a good feeling. I do see most of these people every day but some had come in from out east and I hadn't seen them in a while so I got lots of good responses from them on my weight loss.

Our President did his presentation and it was so inspiring. He has such a genuine excitement for our company and our industry and it is infectious. I work for a company that sells cruises for all the big cruise companies, and business has never been better even despite the recession. We are really blessed.

After the presentation we all opened up secret santa presents and then went off to a nearby restaurant for our annual Christmas Party. It was really fun! So nice to be part of such a great work team. We really are like a family and I am so grateful for that.

Today is moving day in the office, I am packing up my tiny cubical and moving over to a much bigger and more efficient work space that they have been kind enough to create for me and my co-worker. My space will be double come Monday morning, thank goodness!

So even though I am a bit frustrated with the weight loss numbers, I am still having lots of non-scale victories this week so that definitely helps. Still keeping up the weight training and have been following the Venus Index three times a week...and loving it. My fasting has been on target and so I am just going to keep on, keeping on and hope that the scale shows me a number that I am more happy with soon!

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Going UP?

Oh man! Up 4Lbs in almost a week! URGGGG! I hate these fluctuations. I know they are normal and I have them all the time and they eventually go away but it still makes me nervous when I see that number...

I have been sticking to my plan, have been consistent with adding in an extra long fast during the week for a total of two 38-48 hour fast per week. I have also been sticking to my weight training. Following the Venus Index workout routine three times per week.

BUT, seeing the numbers go up on the scale. I had two days this week though were I did overeat in my eating window...which is also normal for me, but I shouldn't do it. I do want to get rid of that issue in my life. I am working on it.

Another kind of intimate detail that I hope you all don't mind that I share is that I regularly have several days where I am not regular if you know what I mean...So hopefully that is the culprit? I'm thinking of going to a naturopath for a little advice on that...

So, I just have to be patient, keep doing what I am doing and wait it out and hopefully all things will balance out again in a couple of days. Wish me luck!

Exercise vs Diet

Another great article on why exercise alone is no way to lose weight. Thanks to Goal Is Thin for this article link!


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