Change

I tried out the yoga studio near my house the other night on a first class free pass and really liked it. Very relaxing. The class was late, 8:15-9:15 but that was nice because I was all relaxed and ready for bed when I got home. I am not very flexible at all, especially compared to others in the class, but over time, hopefully that will change, everything does.

When I first began practicing intermittent fasting, it was so new and so foreign, to me and to those around me. My biggest struggles were with what others around me thought about what I was doing. Today in the lunch room of my office, my co-worker was planning a lunch out of the office for next week. She asked me, "When is your long fasting day again?" She was trying to plan it for a day when I could join in. Her question was said in a way that was no big deal and just an accepted fact that this is how I eat. There were about 10 others in the room at the time and not one person started questioning me or seemed shocked at all.

Everyone has accepted it for what it is. They all see that it has worked for me and I am happy. It has been over a year now since I started this lifestyle and I can say that it has been completely accepted by me and by those who know me. It feels really good.

Now I just need to get to the next level. I have about 30 more pounds to release. The key is smaller portions, I am trying. I think I am getting better but I am not there yet. The yoga should help too.

I will get there...one step at a time!

Plateau Hell

Still in Plateau Hell...But, I am not getting discouraged. Sticking to my schedule...

I start yoga today...thinking if I like this studio that I will go twice a week. I have been doing a bit better with overeating during my eating window. I had one day on the weekend where I ate way too much but the rest of the week was good and this week so far has been good too.

I bought a bathing suit the other day! I can't believe I had the courage to do that. We are going to Vegas soon so I need to be pool ready and I have no bathing suits that are even close to fitting me anymore. It took a while but I finally settled on a two piece suit. But I wasn't brave enough yet to go full bikini, so I got one that has a tank top instead. Looks good, I'm looking forward to soaking up the sun!

Wish me luck on finding a way out of this dreaded plateau! Hopefully yoga will be a good step in the right direction...

Sticking to it

I am sticking to it in more ways than one...Sticking to my 169-170ish weight...Sticking to my schedule...

Keeping my schedule with intermittent fasting but realizing that it isn't helping me get past this terrible plateau. I haven't moved at all for weeks and weeks...I know I eat too much in my eating window. I am trying HARD to make that stop. I have been better, but not good enough yet.

I need to eat smaller portion sizes. I have small successes when I manage to just eat what I brought to work, which is probably still too much, but no trips to the coffee shop for snacks and no trips to the vending machine...I call that a success. I also call it a success when I don't eat even though I am full, which doesn't happen often enough.

What I want to get to is a place where I only eat a little, enough, feel comfortable and satisfied - then STOP. Today, so far I am not too bad, I had a salad, some pasta with chicken and a granola bar. I still have some fruit with me that I would usually eat whether I was hungry or not because my window was about to close but I don't want to do that today.

I am going to make a commitment to having smaller portions, control my snacking and have nothing when I am NOT HUNGRY!

I know that I won't get off this plateau unless I make another change in the amount of food that I eat. I need to do this if I want to get rid of that last 30 pounds. I also want to start doing yoga regularly. My work pays a wellness fund for any activity that we want to do, so I think I will get a pass at a yoga studio and try to go two times per week.

Hopefully I can do it and these changes will finally get the scale moving again!!! UUUUGGGG!

Intermittent fasting on the road

Fasting on the road went really well. There was one day that I had two meals but other than that I was on track. The RV trip was really fun and it was so great to spend time with my best friend!

I am having a late break fast today because it is my brother-in-law's birthday today and we are going out for a celebratory dinner at our favorite Greek food place. yummy!

I stayed the same weight over my vacation. I hope I can find a way through this plateau!!

Road Trip

I am going on a road trip this Thursday with my best friend. She lives in Austin Texas and so we see eachother less than I would like. We usually visit eachother around the same time each year so we end up spending a lot of time together once a year.

This year I am meeting up with her in San Francisco where she will be on the last leg of her big road trip with her brother from Austin to Vancouver in his new HUGE RV. He purchased it in Austin and is driving it back to his home in Vancouver and so my friend hitched a ride with him to come home and visit her friends and family. She left the kids at home with her hubby and so it will be so great to have the one on one bonding time with her this weekend.

I know that I will have no trouble at all sticking to intermittent fasting while travelling. I have done it successfully in the past. I know that I need to switch my eating window to evenings when I am on vacation so I will be eating dinners only during this trip.

I am really excited to see her and see her reaction to my weight loss. I haven't seen her in a year and so she will certainly see a big difference.

In April we are going to Vegas for a few days and then flying from Vegas over to Texas to have another 5 day visit with my best friend...so like I said, we spend a lot of time together, once per year.

I'm a Junkie

Thank you all SO much for all the comments and support on my previous post. I love getting all the tips from you guys. I will definitely give them a go. I have tried calorie counting which really does help, but I find it difficult to do all the time because it is time consuming and a bit tricky so I usually give up. But I really should just try to do a loose calorie count. It keeps me in check, and I find myself editing what I planned to eat for that day a bit when I count up how much it is.

I really like the coffee idea too. I don't drink coffee but I love tea, so I will try having a tea just before I eat, that idea seems like such a no brainer, why didn't I think about that before?!

I have a food addiction, I am sure. That is what got me here in the first place. When I go to break my fast I actually start shaking as I prepare my meal because I am so anxious to eat it. I need to just calm down and take a moment, I think drinking the tea first could help with that.

My carb addiction is obvious. I have always eaten only carbs. I used to be MUCH worse though, eating only white foods, a co-worker even recently told me that when I started at the office, she actually told her family that a girl had begun working with her who only ate white food. I would have a sandwich with white bread, cream cheese and turkey breast, chips, cookies and a banana almost every day for lunch. And that was after I had a bagel and cream cheese for breakfast. Dinners would be pasta, or rice, or potato...all white...

Since then I have really improved but my carb addiction is not cured and I do believe that it is a strong force as to why I am always binging. I can only reduce little by little in that area though, I want to try to be better at that. I don't think I will ever be a carb free person but I certainly need to open up my options more.

What we feed our children is so important. I don't have kids, but when I was a child, our household was filled with processed sugary foods. It is cheap, it is easy. My mom was a single mom with two children who worked full time. There was no time or money to make fresh, healthy food every day, and I don't think we fully understood the consequences to eating that way at the time.

A co-worker of mine grew up on a farm where fresh vegetables and protein were the base of their meals, sweets were a RARE treat. She really doesn't like all that processed food and doesn't understand why anyone else does. I really wish I was like that but I think I got hooked on the "drug" of processed foods early and so it is a really hard thing to break.

One step at a time, one day at a time. I will beat this!

Why can't I STOP!?

I can fast for 48 hours once a week.

I can fast for 19 hours once a day.

But for some reason I can't stop eating when I start! Why can't I just STOP!? I have so much self control the rest of the time. Amazing self control, according to those around me. But when I eat; I eat and eat and eat.

Today I ate my lunch, a salad and spaghetti. Then I had a bag of chips, then some nuts, then a granola bar and then a fruit salad. I am SO FULL, I feel awful, stuffed, uncomfortable and sleepy. And yet, I still want more.

Even though I am so full, I am SICK, my mind is still asking for more. While I am sitting here suffering because my stomach hurts, I am thinking that I really want a donut (what is wrong with me?!) It makes no sense to me. I try to fix it but this one thing seems to always be a problem. I want to STOP!

Thank goodness for intermittent fasting! No wonder I was so big, I used to eat like this all day everyday!