Life Style Changes ... 15 days in

Two weeks into the new life and yes I have changed. You wouldn't think so much could change in such a short time but I am walking around and FEELING the difference!

I am going to try and start taking pictures of myself every weekend to track the progress.

The hardest part for me is finding something new to eat so I am not eating the same ole thing every day. It's fine when you're a kid and you love the same meal for lunch but sometimes as adults we want a variety.

What I think I am going to try this next week is pre making my food today (Sunday). I am thinking of baking 4 chicken breast and then adding a 1/3 cup of rice, peas, carrots and maybe some eggs and mixing it all together in a Tupperware and eating that for lunch. This would be in place of the current lunch I bring.

My current lunch consists of:
2 Slices of gluten free bread
1 teaspoon of organic peanut butter
1 teaspoon of raspberry preservative
1/2 cup carrots
3 tablespoons of organic peanut butter
1 serving of fruit (Grapes, Banana, or Apple)
1 String Cheese
This comes to just under 500 calories for lunch a day

My breakfast is either 1/3 cup of oatmeal or 3 eggs and diced turkey. So calories at breakfast never exceed 250.

I think my problem may be I am not eating enough. When you add in dinner that is never more than 600 calories unless I eat out. But even at Taco Cabana my dish was only 610 calories.

Who knows. Guess we will see once I plateau if maybe I need to up it some.

I am really excited about this new life style choice though. I really do feel a lot better mentally and physically. And seeing the inches shed off of your body and the weight vanish doesn't make this a bad thing at all :)

Here is a pic of me on the 8th and a pic of me on the 15th. I am going to attempt to wear the same outfit in each picture

January 8th 2017

January 8th 2017

January 15th 2017

January 15th 2017

LIfe Style Changes ... 10 Days In

It has been ten days since I cut out processed sugar and went 100% gluten free and I really can tell a difference. Here is what I have experienced ... the good and the bad.

Pros -
I sleep a lot better, like a lot. I am not as restless and I feel like my sleep is deeper than it used to be. I wake up feeling revived a lot easier than before.

My pants ... fit better. I took measurements on Sunday and I have already lost inches and pounds! My hips lost 5%! Can you believe it!! And my right leg for some reason, haha.

I feel better, like all around. I know that I am taking in the proper foods and I can feel my body feeling better. I don't feel as swollen (that is because of no gluten) and it has really helped my eyes.

My thyroid eye disease isn't acting up near as bad in the mornings as it had been. My eyes were swelling in the morning and that made my vision blurry or it gave me bad headaches, that hasn't happened since like Jan 4th!

My daughter says her TMJ has started hurting a lot less (just as a side note...)

Cons -
I am super tired. I am told by my husband this will wear off, and it better! But keeping my eyes open is KILLING me some days. It is like UGHHHH I need a nap!

I go to the bathroom constantly! I feel like it must be ever 30 minutes! But I am trying to consume 100 ounces of water a day so logic would tell you that you need to use the bathroom more ... I suppose.

There is no getting around it, almost every meal every day, every week is made at home. The convenience of fast food or going out to dinner has to stop for every. Meal except one cheat day a week.

That cheat day OH MY GOD I felt so yuck afterwards it was like it wasn't even worth cheating!!! UGH. So note to self, no more cheating.

All in all clearly the pros outweigh the cons and we will continue the life style changes for the next year. This all feels like good progress.

Next week we are going to work on adding in some walking I think. Kick start my pounds to be shed by increasing my hear rate more.

The Life Style Change .. Money a real motivater

New Year New Choices, right?

Lead by Example. I'll teach her to be proud of
herself by showing her Mom can be that too

That is how a lot of people start out their year. Of course everything is began with good intentions but who keeps it up or who achieves their desired results, that is the question.

This year my family is no different, we set goals. Again not resolutions ... You see, my daughter's TMJ doctor told her she can't have hard foods, candies or soda's anymore. She was devastated. So being the supportive mother that I am I told her I would give up Dr Pepper with her (I don't really eat candy so it wasn't an issue.) Then my son is getting braces in a few days and he won't be able to eat his favorite candies anymore either. And obviously we have to maintain a pretty gluten free life style because of my health.

So after talking with my hubby we decided, 2017 our family would be Gluten Free and Processed Sugar free. Which means ... life is gonna be hell for a while!

All 4 of us made a pact that we would start January 1 and we would do this for each other and with each other. My son and I need to trim down, my daughter needs her jaw to not hurt and my hubby is just crazy about wanting to continue to lose. He looks like he already has lost half a person! (He has been doing this for about a year now)

Let me tell you about yesterday ... day 3 of the life style .... it was so awful. I swear it was like the hardest thing in the world to keep my eyes open. I was worried I would fall asleep driving! It was crazy. The hubby listened to someone on a podcast who says sugar addiction is as bad as heroine. Gez it was a bad day. Not only did my stomach not feel well but the headache was horrid and again it was the worst chore trying to stay awake. I only got about 4 hours sleep the night before because I just couldn't get comfortable. It was a nightmare.

I went to sleep at like 9:30ish, I would have to check my Fitbit to be exact, but I woke up at 4:05 this morning. Over 6 hours of peaceful sleep according to the ole sleep tracker. Thank god. And more importantly I do not feel like I need to sleep non stop.

Now what I find so weird is, I didn't eat unhealthy to begin with. Because my hubby was already doing this life style everything I cooked at home and bought is pretty much sugar free anyway ... it was just the Dr Peppers. I would have about 1 drink from Mc Donald's a day. Which didn't seem like a lot because it would last me all morning and that was it. So in reality that is what I am cutting out ... Dr Pepper.

But the way I feel today compared to the way I felt the past two days ... I can see a real difference.

Now I was chatting with one of my besties yesterday and she is working on her life style choices as well. And she made the comment ... we should put money on it ... so now ... we have a $200 bet. From today's weigh in / measurements to April 1st deadline follow up ... whoever loses the most in inches and percent combined will with the 200.

I have never in my life made a bet of that much money before ... this is a huge thing for me.

But I want to be healthy ... I want to get to a weight that I am proud of. I want to keep feeling good for my family. And I want to make sure I am around for a very long time.

So I am putting myself out there ... I am giving myself real accountability. I have 3 months to shape up. I have 3 months to make this 'diet' a real life style and to make it worth it for my family and kids.

As of this morning I am down 3 pounds from Jan 1. One pound a day. I can do this. I can keep it up. I will conquer this goal.

And I will not be ashamed of myself. How can I teach my kids to be proud of themselves if there are parts of me I can't be proud of?

So there we have it ... $200 is on the line along with my health. Who's with me on this challenge? Anyone? Let's do it together and see how much we can improve our lives in 3 short months...