weekly weigh-in

Well, I am down 1.6 lbs this week. I am very happy with that loss considering the weeks I have had previously. This way of eating seems to be working for me. It is a healthy way of feeling satisfied and I am loving some of the meals I have come up with. Last night I had rice with corn, mushrooms and tomatoes and beans and zucchini and some spices and it was really yummy and satisfying.

Thoughts

I have been struggling. Mostly because I am trying to balance my diet with an extremely tight budget and living in a small town that has very limited variety available. But I have decided that I need to get back to basics. I need to quit trying to figure out new ways of doing this and just cut it back to it's simplest form and what worked for me. And basically that was:

- no added fat
- no sugar (sugar gives me cravings and makes me overeat)
- no meat or animal products.

That's it. As simple as that. I can do that. So, this morning I posted all the recipes I had planned on posting that didn't fit into that mold. I need to get back at this as best I can. It is good for me, it makes me feel healthier and I deserve to feel good and lose weight.

As for my weigh-in this week, I am pretending not to notice that being sick has made me overeat like crazy and that I am actually up five pounds this week, while I cough and hack and wheeze myself silly.

Vegan Changes

Starting on this vegan way of eating has been a real learning process for me. I have been researching and reading and as I do I realize there are things I can change (and have) to make my vegan food better. I learned that tofu is soooo much better if it is browned (yuummmmy!) and I learned that mushrooms take longer to cook than onions and will retain more of their mushroom flavor if you cook them up to the point that they are releasing their juices before adding onions. I am learning new recipes, finding a new normal and having fun doing it. The best thing is that I am getting my energy back, I am finding myself singing while I work, being silly with my girls, being more energetic and finding even more improvements in my body! If this is what being vegan does to me, I am so glad I made the change!

Detox

I am detoxing myself. I am going to get healthy. I need to be at my best for my girls and if it takes a few days of discomfort, I will do this. I am giving up coffee and I am going vegan (instead of vegetarian). I have been collecting recipes to make this easier for myself. And after I get the house organized from this move, I will start using the treadmill that my neighbour has given me free use of.

Reality Bites (and it sags too)

I have been off the wagon for this move. I just couldn't manage the budget and the time and for days I lived on Halloween goodies and coffee. So, while I haven't gained weight, I haven't lost either. I have been feeling bad about that but there it is.

Then I settled into the house and decided to luxuriate in the lovely big bath in the main bathroom with the lovely large mirror. Now, over the years, mirrors have evaporated in my house in direct proportion to my weight going up. I didn't want to see the damage I was doing.

As I have lost weight, I felt better about myself. I went from only extra large maternity clothes fitting, to size 24 stretchy clothes fitting, to size 15 jeans fitting. I was feeling pretty good about my bad old self. Then I got my bath. I got undressed, looked into the mirror and was shocked. On top of the not to bad legs, was the most hideous, gelatinous, cellulite riddled, saggy mess I have ever seen. I was horrified. I am still horrified. It was awful to see. I was happy in my misguided, delusion that I was looking pretty good in my new skinny jeans. I was feeling good about how I looked when I saw a man flirt with me at the coffee shop. But with this quick glance (after all who wants to stare at that reality for longer than that??) I fell thud on my large saggy but in the world absolute truth.

I can only hope that I can get to the weight I am aiming for and that when I get there, I look better than I do now.

Weekly weigh-in

I was so sick this week, I forgot to post my weigh-in. I am down 1 lbs this week for a total lost of 25 lbs. Considering the completely miserable week I have had, I will take one pound down!

Weekly weigh-in

I am down 4 lbs this week!! That means I have lost 20 lbs since July 23!! I am feeling great and really proud of myself! Woohoo! Good week this week!

thoughts

My best friend brought over some clothes that I thought I wouldn't fit into yet and I did! I was really excited. I went down to my stash of clothes I used to be able to wear and went through them and was thrilled to find out that there were some things in there that I can wear.

I got my hair cut yesterday. I just had layers put it, but I like how it looks and falls. I just like feeling good about myself again. I like that even Princess Belle notices how much happier and more fun I am now.

thoughts

I am getting so close to my first mini-goal (20 lbs lost) on my weight-loss plan that I find myself adding a few more things to get healthy. I am trying (ONCE AGAIN) to cut out caffeine and I am trying to cut back on my sodium intake. I have been using this wonderful site Calorie Counters to track my calories and my nutrition and one thing that I have found is that my sodium intake is really high and it doesn't even count the salt I add later that I didn't write in. I am thinking of buying sodium reduced products and finding others ways to reduce my salt intake.

One side-effect of my cutting back on caffeine is that I have had a headache the last few days. I am trying to switch to herbal teas. I found one mint tea that I really like. I have started filling my coffee perk up with hot water and leaving the water hot so that I can make a tea just as quickly as I used to make a coffee when I have a few moments to relax.

Weekly weigh-in

I had a great week this week!!! I lost 7.2 lbs this week!!!! I am so glad. I like the way I am doing this now. Eating a healthy, low fat vegetarian diet but tracking my calories too, is working for me. I NEVER crave meat. I will occasionally crave a high fat food, but it is always a vegetarian food. Tim Horton's bagels, strawberry frozen yogurt, potato chips, that sort of thing. I am so glad that I am sticking with this.

I like too that I am changing my mindset. I am no longer telling myself that I am eating a vegetarian diet. I tell myself I am a vegetarian who is on a diet. No matter how my diet changes, I need to be aware that a vegetarian lifestyle just makes me feel better.

fun find

I had a great day yesterday. I found out that I can get a thin-crust, cheeseless, veggie pizza from a local pizza place. So when we came upon a little extra money and Prince Charming and the kids wanted to order greasy, calorie laden chicken for supper, I refrained. Instead, I ordered a thin-crust, cheeseless, veggie pizza. I fully expected to see a weight gain this morning, but I was wonderfully surprised to see that the scales were kind to me this morning and instead of seeing a gain, I saw a little loss.

I am so glad that I am finding ways of making my way of eating workable in my life.

yummy meals

Had a good day. For lunch I mixed up a concoction of tomato, cucumber, black beans, a little leftover long grain rice, and a little Jalapeno peppers. It was really good over a bed of lettuce and in a vegan whole grain wrap too.

For supper, I cooked some potato, poured creamed corn and vegetable broth and some seasoning over it and it was pretty yummy too. I tasted a little like a corn chowder.

Yummy!!

Last night I was late having supper. I couldn't think of what to eat. So I went out to the store and treated myself. I bought some vegan, low fat, whole grain buns and some veggies and came home and made myself a wonderful veggie sub! It was out of this world! I have all the same stuff down stairs and there is a good chance I will have one for breakfast this morning too.

Anyone who says being a vegan is a deprivation diet, just isn't trying. There are so many wondeful foods out there to enjoy if you just open your eyes and your mind.

I can feel that my body is enjoying this change back to the way I should be eating. I am feeling better and I am willing to bet that this week I will even show a loss on the scales.

Motivated

Well, I did good yesterday, I stuck to my eating plan, I exercised twice. It is only 9:30 am and already this morning I got up and did two menu plans and shopping lists, one for me and one for my family. I am feeling motivated right now. And seeing as how it is a lovely morning, I am going to go downstairs and have a cup of herbal tea.

Lovely Day

The girls and I did a Pilate's morning video this morning. It was fun and I love the feeling of stretching out all the kinks.

I am back on the wagon and doing the best I can to get healthy. I just need to feel good again and I always feel my best when I am eating a low fat vegetarian diet.

I am weaning myself off of coffee again. I am allowing myself one cup in the morning (to avoid the withdrawal headaches) and then I have herbal teas the rest of the day. I am so glad to be getting healthy again. I need it, my weight is abominable, my joints are sore, my back hurts, I have headaches and I even seem to have developed sleep apnea. Since getting pregnant and having my little one, my weight has been out of control, but NO MORE, I am in charge of this ship and I intend to set a healthier course!

Fun

I found more healthy stuff here in town! I am so excited to be able to get things to make this a more varied and fun diet! I love trying new things. My daughter's one reaction was, "and that's why you make different food for us, right Momma?"

I started my Walking Away The Pounds video again. Both Princess Belle and Princess Magpie joined in. They were excited to try, although Princess Magpie was a typical two year old and got upset when she couldn't balance and do some parts. You haven't lived until you have watched your two year old try to stretch out and breath to a video! LOL

struggling but still here

I have so much going on right now, weightloss has really been an uphill battle, but I am still here and still battling. When (if??) my life gets more settled, this will all be easier but with everything so up in the air and with everything being so busy it is hard to keep my eyes on the prize.

Weekly weigh-in

I meant to post this yesterday, but I forgot. Sorry. I did well this week. Certainly much better than the previous week. After all my trips into town last week, I didn't even weigh in, I knew it would be bad and depressing and I didn't want to face the scales. But yesterday when I weighed in, I was 6.2 lbs lighter than I was at my last weigh-in! Woohoo! I am going to do this. A little at a time, one slip back and then two big steps forward, I will get to where I want to be.

I guess my routine of having regular foods I eat so that there is no thinking involved is working for me. When I get bored, I can change it up, but for now it is working for me.

Good Week

I am doing good this week. I haven't had any slip-ups at all. I do find I have fallen into a bit of a rut with regards to what I am eating, but then that is probably good because it makes it easy to plan my meals, it makes it easy to get groceries and I am not wasting time and money on things I won't like.

I bake potatoes about 10 at a time and keep them in the fridge for future meals. I make big pots of soup and keep eating it until I am done. Sometimes I will have it over the potatoes, sometimes I will have it over rice and sometimes I will have it by itself. I like the baked potatoes by themselves, cut up and roasted again in the oven, or with creamed corn. My favorite snacks are plain rice cakes, smoothies or if I am really hungry, oatmeal with fruit and applesauce.

I am interested to see how I do tomorrow at my weigh-in considering the rough end I had to last week.

Failure to plan is planning to fail

My diet is going well. I am sticking to it and feeling good. My favorite snack is fruit smoothies. Yummy! I am making soup for my lunch and supper today.

I am really trying to be strict about my fat intake and I can feel a difference. I will admit that two of the days I was out last week, I didn't do as well, but I was back at it as soon as I got home and I have been back at it ever since.

I made the decision that when I am planning on going out, I have to plan for my food and snacks better. I have low blood sugar, I can't wait until my sugar drops and then try to make a rational decision on what I am going to eat. So from now on, when I am going out, I am taking some snacks with me, I am planning ahead on where and when I am going to eat.

Failure to plan is after all planning to fail!