Week 12: November 4-10

Well, we've reached the end of the FB eat clean and get fit challenge.  I am no longer on an exercise program but I am getting purposeful movement through playing at the park, walking or biking the neighborhood, and keeping up with house and yard work.  I am no longer tracking calories but am conscious of my portion sizes, I read nutrition labels, and I am making smart choices and healthy modifications to my favorite foods.  I haven't given up anything I love - my morning latte, an occasional cookie or chocolate, mac n cheese, pasta, sweet tea (half sugar), even an occasional regular soda!  I enjoy the foods I eat and never feel like I am dieting.  I have even conquered emotional eating!  Bonus:  I have reached 164.5lbs!   I logged 168 back on Sept 8 then didn't lose any weight until Oct 21 when I finally reached 167.  In the last two weeks I have lost another 2.5 lbs! I don't know why it's taken so long or why these 2.5 lbs have been so effortless but I'll take it!  2.5 more lbs until I reach my first goal! Maybe the 3 day cleanse will get me on my way!  I'll post my meals soon...

Superfood Slimdown

Last week, The View did a segment with Dr. Lindsey Duncan, a naturopathic nutritionist.  He says that these superfoods make it extremely difficult to NOT lose weight:

Caralluma Fimbriata is a plant (cactus) used India in times of famine.  You can take this in a capsult form.  It stimulates a signal to the hypothalumus to tell your brain and body "I'm not hungry".

Raw Green Coffee Beans from South America has chlorogenic acid which stops the body from absorbing sugar in the bloodstream.  Skinny Coffee can be found in grocery stores or you can take capsule form.

From Africa, the Moringa tree tea or capsules gives the body energy.  Plus it has lots of iron, protein, and calcium.  Drink this and your bloodsugar goes down and your energy goes up!

Raspberry Ketones (in capsule form) are the "great fat liberator".  Body builders use this to lose the last 5lbs.  This causes fats to be released into the body and the body burns it as energy.   
      
And then of course, Dr. Oz recommends an Indonesian plant, Garcinia Cambogia (HCA), to burn fat.  One viewer suggested Citrimax Plus Chromium at the Vitamine Shoppe - Garcinia Cambogia Extract(Citrimax)(Fruit Rind) 1500 Mg Standardized To 50% (-) Hydroxycitric Acid (Hca) 750 Mg -- plus Chromium(Chromax)(As Chromium Picolinate) 200 Mcg.  The HCA extract works by blocking fat (actually inhibiting an enzyme that turns carbs into fat) and suppresses the appetite by increasing serotonin levels.     

Weeks 9-11 (Oct 14 - Nov 3)

While I've fallen off the blogging wagon, I have held tight on the diet and exercise wagon.  In the last 2 weeks I have logged just 7 miles or 14,000 extra steps between walking, playing at the park, running around with my clients, and cleaning the house but some is better than none!  I've done well with eating, including avoiding emotional binging through a tough patch.  AND I've finally reached 166 lbs - 1 lb less than my actual pre-pregnancy weight!  I still have 4 lbs to go for my first goal (162 lbs) which is what I weighed entering the 2nd trimester after 1st trimester morning sickness and nausea.  Thanksgiving is going to be tough but I refuse to gain back this weight!   I've already started researching healthier options to the traditional dishes that my family enjoys.  Happy halloween and wish me luck so that I don't overindulge on all this candy that my daughter will be bringing home tomorrow night!

My next challenge before Thanksgiving is kind of a 3 day detox - taking the Shakeology cleanse idea to a more manageable level.  Green smoothies with added protein and fiber for breakfast and lunch, fruit and veggie snacks, and salad with chicken or fish for dinner.  Plus no added sugars or dairy.  I think my biggest challenge will be skipping my morning latte!  I also need to really crack down on water intake and give green tea another try.  If it works, I just might try it again AFTER Thanksgiving to purge my system after overindulging!  I won't even begin to kid myself that this won't happen - I'm southern and my mom and I both love to cook and eat!

Dr. Oz's Miracle Products

Coconut oil - eat fat to lose fat!  Use it on your skin and hair too.  Replace butter with coconut oil on your morning toast, use it in your pan in place of regular oil, or use it to make popcorn. This healthy fat helps keep you full for longer.  It also gives you instant energy and fires up your metabolism.  AND it isn't stored as FAT in your body - most of it is burned off!  Look for virgin coconut oil and avoid partially hydrogenated ingredients.

Chia seeds - expands in your stomach to keep you full!  Look for whole or raw chia seeds.  Take 2 Tbsp after breakfast and lunch.  Find it at healthfood stores.

Tart cherry juice - provides natural melatonin to end insomnia!  Helps release serotonin when you are stressed.  Great for interrupted sleep or not sleeping long enough.  Look for Montmorency.  Drink 8oz per day or 1oz of concentrate mixed with 7 oz water or 1/4 cup dried tart cherries.

BB (beauty balm) cream - 5 products in 1!  Primer, foundation, moisturizer, sunblock, anti-aging serum.  Look for vitamins A and C, hyaluronic acid, and sunscreen in the ingredients.  Find it in drugstores.

Week 8 (Oct 7-13): A New Exercise Goal

I have a new exercise goal!  I needed a new exercise wagon to hitch a ride on, so here it is:  Over the next 12 months I will log 625 miles or 1.25 million extra steps.  For the first 3 months, I will log on average 1 mile or roughly 2000 steps daily (based on the average person's stride of 2.5 feet).  That's 84 miles by new year's day!  For the next 3 months, 1.5 miles or 3000 extra steps daily (133 miles total).  For the next 3 months, 2 miles or 4000 extra steps daily (180 miles). And for the final 3 months, 2.5 miles or 5000 extra steps (228 miles).  I came up with this idea for 2 reasons: 1. Biking or walking around the nieghborhood is an activity I am more likely to keep up long term and 2. I can count basically any activity using my step count - if the weather is bad and I choose a workout video, or if I have errands/chores to do, or if I just go to the park with my daughter.  Coincidentally, if I walk all 625 miles I will burn approximately 62500 calories which will equate to about 18 lbs - exactly the weight I have left to lose!  Wish me luck!

Week 7: Overwhelmed with Information

By now, we all know about "organic" and have our own opinions over whether we find organic beneficial or not.  Maybe we buy organic milk and apples but we don't worry about our melons, potatoes, or eggs.  Whatever your opinion, we all know that organic is expensive and sometimes that is the bottom line.  Sometimes we just buy fresh produce and say that's better than no produce at all.  I'm on THAT bandwagon.  BUT, we also grow some of our own veggies in our very own pesticide-free backyard garden.  That's how we make organic affordable for our family.  Now, something we know less about is GMOs (genetically modified or engineered organisms and foods).  It's something I'm beginning to research.  So far, I'm finding myself highly overwhelmed by all the information, or lack thereof as GMOs are not labeled on any products.  The only way to know if a product is GMO free is if you see the Non-GMO Project label which indicates that a product is verified as GMO free.  Problem?  I don't even recognize the brands that are listed on the Non-GMO Project website.  Which means that we have no foods in our entire house that are recognized as GMO-free.  What is this stuff doing to our bodies?  Nevermind it is making us fat and bloated, but it may be causing liver damage and even cancer as evidenced in rat studies.  I'm finding myself full of anxiety about what I'm putting in my body and what I'm feeding my family.  I'm also finding myself feeling defeated because we can't possibly eat organic or even GMO-free without breaking the bank.  What hurts most?  The products advertised to us as "healthy" options for our kids - Chex and Kix cereal for example - are on the list of products containing GMOs.  We are willingly feeding this stuff to our kids and we think we are doing something good for them.  I'm nearly in tears.  I don't often get on the bandwagon of becoming scared of these kinds of thing but THIS scares me. 

More to come...  

Week 6 (Sept 25-Oct 1) - Hanging on by a Thread

I'm barely hanging on.  A couple weeks off and I feel like I'm starting over - needing to detox from all the bad foods, feeling dehydrated from being out of the routine of guzzling my water post workout, procrastinating getting any exercise.  Truthfully, I haven't put any real effort into exercise lately.  I'm moving my body but I'm not getting much purposeful exercise and definitely not getting my heart rate up.  I'm keeping up with some of my healthy habits.  I have been continuing to shop the farmer's market and keeping healthy foods nearby, eating a healthful breakfast and lunch, and keeping my water bottle with me at all times.  I have to remember to reinforce myself for those positive steps and stop punishing myself for all the other stuff.  Any effort is a step in the right direction.  I check the scale tomorrow and I dread seeing the number.  Will it be up?  No change?  Certainly not down.  Deep breath... 

Tomorrow starts a new week and I've got to get back on track - this thread I'm hanging on by is about to snap!