Day 85 - 23 Lbs Down (217)

Just want to get today's loss on the record.  I weigh in tomorrow at the gym.  Their scale is higher than mine at home, so I hope, hope, hope I am below 220 on that scale tomorrow, too (not that it matters, because it's all relative--but I just want it.  :-))

I talked to Dustin about feeling like my loss is just way too slow for the way I'm eating and the amount of work (/exercise) I'm doing.  He thinks I'm not eating often enough during the day.  So I'm working on having a little protein and some kind of veggie every three hours at a minimum. 

I bought yet ANOTHER step counter yesterday at WalMart.  Didn't realize it wasn't wireless--no wonder it was  only $25.  But that's ok--I just want something that will accurately count my steps; don't NEED it to be wireless.

Found another inspirational person online yesterday:  "Healthy Habit Lady".  Her signature line is "Make Champion Choices".  Think I'm gonna adopt that.  In fact, I made a sign with the saying on it to put on the fridge yesterday.  Says it all, doesn't it?

Day 74 - 21 Pounds Down! (219)

Whoo hoo--I've managed to stay under 220 for several days now, so I guess it's official!

Every time I do a post with the number of days and the amount I've lost, it renews my hope.  I don't realize until I do that I'm losing a pound about every 3.5 days--which is exactly the speed at which "they" say we should lose to make our weight loss sustainable--about 2 lbs/week.

Latest assignment from my trainer:  Aim to get at least 8 hours of sleep 90% of the time.

I've already made these past assignments habitual, about 90% of the time:

• No diet Coke (or other foods/drinks containing fake sweeteners)
• Drink water, water, water (but not after 7pm, so my sleep isn't disrupted)
• Take high dose of high-quality fish oil & a multivitamin daily
• At each meal, eat 1 palm-sized portion of protein & 2 fistfuls of veggies
• Try to increase weekly the number of steps I walk every day, aiming to hit 10K
• DON'T QUIT!

That last one turns out to be SO important.  So many times I've started this process and made good progress, only to quit because I "feel skinny", or think "I've got this"--and then I slip slowly back into my old poor habits.

If I can just keep doing what I'm doing, good things can happen this year.

I'm starting to even get excited about the possibilities of doing new and different things--like maybe biking to work in the future, or even running a 5K someday, instead of walking.  (I did mention doing the Couch-to-5K program to Dustin at our last session.  He said I'm better off to try to increase the speed at which I can walk distances rather than trying to run, especially at this point in the process.  Running really doesn't do more for a person's health than brisk walking--especially when they have knee issues.  That was good to hear, as I've never really enjoyed running.)

I bought my 3rd FitBit this month, the "Zip".  I don't really like it; I have to tap it several times to see my step count, and it hasn't been very reliable/accurate.  On Tuesday I had an hour-long training session at the gym, including lots of walking; then I went to the grocery store for a "big shop"; then I picked my husband up at the airport and even walked up and down the waiting area many times to kill some time until his plane got in.  But when I got home and checked my steps, it said EIGHT!!  GAAAAAH!  Dumb thing.  I wish my original FitBit Ultra hadn't stopped working.  :-(  

Just wanted to update this so I could see/record my progress.  So far, so good!

Oh, and I've decided on a reward for myself to work toward.  Once I lose 75 lbs (and notice I didn't say IF), I think I'll get myself the newest iPhone.  It's about time. 

Day 31 - 12 Pounds Down! (228)

Wow, I'm so glad I didn't wait until the new year to start again.  I've already lost 12 pounds!!  And it hasn't even been that painful.

Latest advice from Dustin is to add 1 palm-sized serving of protein to EVERY meal, in addition to the 2 "fistfuls" of green veggies.  I plan to eat this stuff FIRST; then if I still feel like other stuff, I'm free to have more.  I suspect the protein and veggies will take away my appetite for anything else ... clever, huh?  ;-)

I had to cancel my first training session of this week due to a work crisis.  But I got my 2nd one in yesterday, and I have another on Friday.

Happy New Year!!  Let's make it a GREAT one!

Day 24 (229)

Wow, I had planned on updating this blog much more frequently!  I guess life has been getting in the way.

But I've been plugging away.  Even went on vacation to NYC for 5 days and STILL managed to lose 2 lbs that week.

I'm so glad I kept track of when I started (again).  It always feels like I've been "trying" forEVER, but as of today I'm down 11 lbs in just 24 days.  That's not bad!

Still going to the gym at least twice a week.  Dustin's told me a few more stories.  This week's was about a guy who felt really rich and happy because he owned lots and lots of land.  One day a visitor came and asked if he had any diamonds.  He said no.  The visitor said "well, then, you're not very wealthy."

The landowner decided to sell his land and travel around the world, searching for diamonds.  He searched for years to no avail, and died a poor man.

Meanwhile, the same visitor one day decided to visit the person who had bought the land years ago from the original owner.  When the visitor walked into the home, first thing he saw was a giant rock sitting on the shelf.  "Wow!" he said.  "Where did you get such a HUGE diamond?!!"

The man who now owned the land said "You mean this here rock?  I got it down in the creek over the hill where my son plays.  There are lots of em down there." 

If only the first man had realized that he really WAS rich, and not gone off searching for something else because of something someone said.

The moral of the story:  We ALL have diamonds inside of us.  We just have to find/see them.  And we can't let others discourage us from that.  So keep on working, because your diamond is right inside, and it WILL show eventually.

There were a couple more stories that I didn't write down, and I must REALLY be getting old because I remembered them yesterday but darned if anything comes to mind right now.  :-(

Day 6 - Three Feet From Gold

I had THREE sessions with my trainer this past week.  I feel better already--no kidding!  I was able to walk up and down our basement stairs today without holding the railing at all, which is new since I've become pretty dependent on the railing since having my knees replaced over 2 years ago.  Not sure if I just felt inspired to TRY today because I feel stronger in my mind, or if I really am--but who cares, right?  It's an exciting non-scale victory!

Speaking of scales, I can't wait to weigh in at the gym on Monday. I think I'm gonna have a pretty good loss.  Last time I weighed there, I was 238.8!

Today was a good day food-wise.  I had a turkey and cranberry sauce sandwich for lunch (just coffee with coconut oil for breakfast--my own version of "bulletproof"); and I made a beautiful NutriBlast for dinner:  spinach, pineapple spears, cherry tomatoes, cucumber slices, apple & pear slices, a little plain yogurt, lots of pumpkin seeds, cinnamon, and apple juice.  Delicious.

I also got on my recumbent bike, put some good bouncy music in my headphones (think "All About That Bass" and "All Jacked Up"), and did 15 minutes.  I started on Level 6 resistance and had it cranked up to Level 12 for the whole last song--yee haw!  That hurt so good.  :-)

The title of this post refers to the story Dustin told me at our last session on Friday.  It's about a guy who went digging for gold, found some, but got discouraged and gave up when the vein he'd been working on trailed off then disappeared completely after a couple of days.  Turns out that if he'd just kept digging for 3 more feet, he'd have struck a huge deposit that would have made him rich.

There's a really inspiring book named Three Feet From Gold; I've read it.  It was interesting to hear the story in the context of making myself stronger AND losing this extra weight.  Another great lesson.  Thanks, Dustin.  :-)

Day 3

Today I had a beautiful NutriBlast for breakfast.  It consisted of:

• spinach
• cherry tomatoes
• pineapple spears
• apple slices
• pumpkin seeds
• cinnamon
• turmeric
• spirulina
• apple juice

For lunch/dinner I had a mug of homemade beef stew with vegetables.

For this evening I made some waldorf salad (apples, raisins, walnuts, mayo).

I got my fish oil in and have been doing well with my water.

No exercise yet today, but I will get on the recumbent bike or the treadmill before the day is over.  I'm sore ALL over from my workouts on Monday (upper body) and Tuesday (lower body) with Dustin.

Day 2 (of December 2014) - I'm Back in the Saddle ...

Wow--I haven't posted to this blog since before my Carribbean cruise this Spring.

The cruise was excellent.  My behavior since then has NOT been.  My weight climbed over 240 lbs once again.

But I'm back in the saddle.  I purchased 24 hours of personal training at the gym next to my office, AND the gym credited me with 3 of the 5 hours I had left from my last purchase, which "expired".  (I had bought them in 2011, so I can't blame them for saying they were expired, I suppose.)  So I have 27 hours, which I'll most likely split up into 54 half-hour sessions.  At 2-3x/week, that'll have me at the gym regularly--and focused, and working hard--for somewhere between 4 and 6 months!!!  I can definitely make some real progress in that timeframe.

I'm excited to be back on the straight(er) and narrow(er).  My trainer, Dustin, seems awesome so far.  He's very young, very fit, and very encouraging. 

After each session so far, he's sat down and told me a little story, to give me some food for thought once I leave the gym and go out to face all the temptations in the world.  I wanted to get these down so I have a place to come if I forget them--or if I waver in my resolve, which I've always done in past attempts to change my lifestyle.


First was a story about a guy whose dream it had always been to walk a tightrope over the Grand Canyon.  Long story short, he finally got the chance--and when he did it, he also pushed a wheelbarrow full of bricks across the wire!

As he neared the other side of the canyon, people were so sure he wasn't going to make it that they were covering their children's eyes, so the kids wouldn't see him fall.

But as he got closer to the end, he suddenly shoved the wheelbarrow full of bricks the last few feet and then did a flip and a somersault off the wire to finish!

A reporter was waiting to interview this gentleman after his feat.  After they'd chatted awhile, the high-wire artist asked the reporter, "Do you believe I can make it back to the other side?"  The reported responded, "Sure, I just saw you do it--I think you can do it again." 

The artist asked "You think I can--but do you BELIEVE I can do it?"  Again the reporter replied, "Yes, I do."

"Good", said the artist.  "Then climb into my wheelbarrow."

And THAT is the difference between thinking you can do something and BELIEVING you can.  :-)  Good one, huh? 

The neat thing about that story is that I had just last week purchased a bracelet I thought might be helpful when I look down at it.  It's inscribed "she believed she could, so she did". 

Today's story explained the saying emblazoned across the back of Dustin's t-shirt--"Into the Roar".  Here's a link to a blog post about it:  Blog Post - Run Into the Roar.  It has to do with how lions hunt gazelle in the jungle.  Give it a read; it's just a paragraph.  :-)

The basic idea is that when you fear something, the best thing to do is run directly toward it.  If you fear you can't lift that heavy weight, or do those 10 more reps, or run that extra half mile--GO FOR IT!  You might just surprise yourself--and think how GOOD it will feel when you accomplish it!

Dustin is also giving me one "assignment" to focus on every week or so--he doesn't want me trying to "fix my eating" yet.  So far he's had me:

• Stop drinking everything except for water - ESPECIALLY diet soda!  The water is easy; not drinking diet soda is hard (but gets easier the longer I've been off it).
• Start taking a megadose of fish oil daily.  He said we'll back off on this after a couple of weeks.
• Increase the number of minutes it takes me to eat each meal.  Putting the utensil down after every bite and chewing thoroughly helps with this.

I understand his logic.  We're working on one small change at a time--not trying to change EVERYTHING AT ONCE, like I usually do.  That's been successful in the short run, at times, but it has never been sustainable.  So I'm gonna give it a good run, and really try to make these things become second nature.

One more thing before I finish this post:  I want to record how I've done food-wise since the start of December (ie, yesterday), when I decided to at least stop eating as foolishly as I have been. 

Today I had:

• Cup of coffee with coconut oil, a dash of half & half, and 1 tsp sugar
• 2-egg omelette loaded with mushrooms, spinach, and 1/2 slice of (processed) cheese
• Small banana
• Small bag of kettlecorn with sea salt/dark chocolate drizzle (700 calories--WHOOPS!)
• One cup of "veggie goulash" (squash/peppers/onions/mushrooms/hamburg/tomato sauce)

I felt good about today--although I don't think I can buy that popcorn again.  I thought I could eat just 1 serving, but ... I was wrong.  (The bag was 5 ounces/5 servings.)

Yesterday I had 2 Ensure High-Protein shakes and a big green salad with roasted chicken and oil & vinegar dressing, from Chicken Charlie's (no bread).  YUM!! 

OK--now I'm caught up.  I'll try to update regularly from now on.

Improving My "Bottom Line"

OK, it's time for a reckoning/detox/reboot/do-over/mulligan/JUST DO IT!  I'm going on a cruise in 4 weeks.  I had to buy a bathing suit with a nice long skirt on it, like an old lady, just because I don't like my ... "bottom line", let's call it.

Tomorrow is Monday.  Everyone knows the best day to start a new lifestyle is on a Monday, right? (said with tongue firmly in cheek, of course--Monday isn't the best time to start--right NOW is.)

But I choose tomorrow.

There are 3 full weeks left in March starting tomorrow.  So I'm giving myself these 3 weeks/21 days to do REALLY GOOD THINGS for my body and my health.

The plan is to focus all my eating on veggies, fruits, and some clean protein when needed.

My NutriBullet will come in real handy for making nice NutriBlasts first thing in the morning, packed with veggies and fruit.

Then at lunch I'll have a nice salad with some of my homemade Orange Cashew dressing, that I got from Dr. Joel Fuhrman's site.  Nice and clean--no added sugar, salt, or preservatives.

In the evening, I'll have either another NutriBlast or/and some cottage cheese, chicken, or eggs.  Those are my protein sources of choice for the next 3 weeks.

It won't be easy, but I've enlisted the help of a buddy who I can contact when the night-eating urge strikes.  Eating at night is my biggest downfall by far--especially carby crap.

So wish me luck, and strength.  I'll post a new start-over weight in the morning.  I need to do better; I want to do better; and I'm determined to do better.  I CAN DO THIS!!!


How 'bout you?

March 6, 2014 (226.5)

I've been dicking around since November--blasting, then binge eating, then doing nothing special, then more blasting (mostly mornings) and more stress eating (mostly at night)--and on and on.

And it's gotten me nowhere, of course.  Except still feeling sick and tired of feeling sick and tired.  And preparing to go on a cruise in 28 days with a huge gut and a very large "backyard", shall we say.  Oy.

Listened to a PBS special last night by Dr. Joel Fuhrman.  He got me thinking again about eating for health instead of living to eat.

I've often thought I could eat salads and more veggies if I could dress them with something good that didn't cancel out all their health benefits by being loaded with sugar, salt, and what have you.

Dr. Fuhrman has some YUMMY-sounding salad dressing recipes on his site.  They're made with things like cashews, oranges, and nuts.

So I've written down a couple of those recipes for my grocery shopping trip later today.  Going to see if having a good, "approved" salad dressing helps.  I know one thing--it makes me actually look forward to eating a salad, so that's good!

Then just because I didn't feel like eating crap for breakfast today (like the chocolate chip oatmeal walnut cookies I made "for my husband" twice this past week), I fished some good stuff out of the fridge and made myself a really interesting NutriBlast.

It's got tons of spinach (the large cup, packed halfway), about half a cup of shredded carrots, and part of a huge tomato I paid way too much for so I didn't want to waste it even though I'm not a big fan.  Plus I filled it halfway with organic tart cherry juice and the rest of the way with unsweetened apple juice and added some turmeric and a couple dashes of cinnamon.

It came out beet-colored and actually tastes delicious.

Day 90 - I've Gained Some Back (221)

First off, yup, I've gained back 3 pounds since my last post 2 weeks ago.   Hmmm--now that I've written that, think there could be any correlation?  My guess is there's no cause-and-effect relationship between lack of posts and weight gain, but rather a tendency to avoid blogging when I'm not "doing my best work", shall we say.

Excuse #1:  Work has been hell for the past couple of weeks--overwhelmed, with stress level through the roof.

Excuse #2:  Had a huge fight with a family member that upset me for days.

But those are just that--EXCUSES.  Truth is, I just decided to eat a lot of pizza and ice cream over the last couple of weeks.  I didn't want to; I tried not to; but I fell back into my old pattern of cravings, night eating, etc, and just went with it.  Probably I just felt sorry for myself and said to heck with it.

I also tried something else that probably wasn't wise during this time.  I tried a "diet", I guess you could say--the "Fast Diet".  The one where you eat 500 calories on Monday and Thursday, and eat "normally" on the other 5 days.  My not-even-fat cousin is doing this and  has lost 24 lbs in about the same time I've been working at this.  So I thought I'd mix it up a bit and give that a shot, along with 'Blasting.

You're supposed to eat a HEALTHY 500 calories on those days.  Cousin K has things like pepper strips, a small piece of chicken, carrots, a light yogurt, etc.

I basically white-knuckled it through the first Monday, but I didn't make wise choices.  I think I had a cup of hot chocolate with spray whipped cream and a cup of hot cider for the first 2 "meals" of the day.  Then I ate way too many pumpkin seeds (those suckers have a lot of calories!)

So I was at about 600 calories by the time hubby went to bed that evening.  And then ...?  Out came that damned Friendly's chocolate almond chip ice cream--AND I sat down with THE CONTAINER.

So my foray into the "Fast Diet" did nothing for me except remind me that I'm not good at that kind of restriction--especially when I'm already stressed.  (Ahem--isn't that 4-letter word "d-i-e-t" right in the name of that plan, anyway?  Shouldn't that have been a tipoff--hmmmmmm?)

I didn't even try to do it on Thursday.

Anyway, that gives you an idea of how the past 2 weeks has gone.  Pizza, ice cream, Halloween candy.  Although I *am* pleased that I (a) only bought one bag of candy for Halloween; (b) left it in the cupboard out of sight until it was time for goblins to start knocking; and (c) only succumbed to it THAT night.  I had just a few pieces--could have been worse!--but that helped me get where I am today, which is back up 3 pounds from my low.

It occurs to me that 218 was a mere 2 lbs away from a full TEN PERCENT of my original body weight.  I was  t-h-i-s  c-l-o-s-e!

But that's ok.  I also did my second official, timed 5K walk today.  That inspired me to get going again.

More on that tomorrow.  :-)

Day 76 - Still Going Strong (218)

Yesterday I walked a little over 3 miles, from my house to my mom's.  It took me 65 minutes.

I had done that same walk back in July, and it took 90 minutes!

Wow--that's a 25-minute reduction in total time in 3 months!  Whoo hoo!

I've signed up for another 5K walk taking place on 11/2/13.  That's why I wanted to do this little test again.  If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you already know that I did my first 5K walk, put on by the "Biggest Loser" organization, back in July 2013.  That was about 2 weeks before I decided to get my act together and try to get healthier.

Walking to Mom's one time the weekend before the July walk was pretty much all the training I did for that first one, believe it or not.  And the night before the walk, using the excuse that I needed to "carbo load", I actually ATE AN ENTIRE PINT OF BEN & JERRY'S!  Sheesh.  I knew it was stupid; but I wanted to do it, so I did.  Lucky I was able to drag myself around Killington Mountain for 3.2 miles after that. 

That also helps explain why I look like a small buffalo in the photos from that walk.  :-)  See my blog posts from August for those photos.

Anyway, here's what I saw on the scale THIS morning ... [drum roll, please ...] :

That's right--I'm now down 22 pounds in just 76 days!  It's kinda hard to believe, but I'm THRILLED.

Day 71 - Bread and Salt Bombs - Ugh.

Last night I saw a container of noodle soup that I'd made for my husband while he was sick over the weekend still sitting in our fridge as I was poking around looking for dinner.

So as to "not waste it", I decided that instead of  'blasting my dinner, I'd have some of that soup--AND a couple slices of a nice Tuscan Boule (that's a fancy bread, in case you didn't recognize it) with butter.

UGH!

That was a typical meal for me in the recent past, except that often instead of a slice or two of bread, I'd have the whole loaf.  After all, they're small.  :-)

I need to remember the next time I have such a brilliant idea how GROSS I'll feel afterward.  I can't believe how many years I spent eating like that, yet not making the connection between that and my huge, bloated belly, my aching joints, and the fact that I usually felt like a piece of crap in general.  Actually, I think I just didn't *want* to make that connection.  Eating that crap was my solace after a stressful day at work.  Whenever anything was eating me, I'd eat crap.

This morning, I woke up with a salt/bread hangover.  I didn't even pig out--I had one bowl of that (nasty, salty, packaged, processed-beyond-belief) noodle soup and just the 2 slices of bread.  And I felt ok about it because I *planned* consciously to eat it, and I ate normal portions.  But that didn't matter--I still felt awful afterward and this morning.

I guess I've started training this ol' bod to crave better treatment.  That's a big victory!

I got up today determined to (a) remember this lesson, and (b) go right back to eating the GOOD stuff.  So here's what I made for breakfast:

Mmmmmmm ... chock-full o' goodness!

Isn't it beautiful before it blends?

The end result

Recipe:

• Spinach - 1 C
• Cherry tomatoes - 8
• Zucchini - 4 slices
• Orange - 1/2
• Bartlett pear (1)
• Pineapple - 1 spear
• Sunflower seeds - 1T
• Chlorella - 1/2 t
• Apple juice to max line
•  Frozen red grapes just to make it colder

I try to get at least 3 veggies into every morning 'Blast.  It's no trouble at all getting the fruits in.  And I always try to either add a protein source (hemp seeds, chia seeds, maca powder, sunflower seeds, etc) or eat something in addition to the NutriBlast to get the protein and some good fat in, like a hard-boiled egg or a slice of turkey.

This was the first time I've used Chlorella.  My sister recommended it after reading about its benefits.  Just 1 teaspoon is all you need.

After that great start, I had 2 slices of turkey breast on half a flax whole wheat lavash bread spread with avocado for lunch.  I snacked on pumpkin seeds.

Then for dinner I made an orange-themed 'Blast that I'd looked forward all day.  I had visions of creamsicles dancing in my head.  I put in:

• Oikos Orange Greek Yogurt
• 1 orange
• 1/2 orange bell pepper
• 5 grape tomatoes
• Baby carrots
• 1 spear pineapple
•  1/2 T maca powder
• Almond milk, unsweetened, to the Max line

When I tasted it, though, instead of a creamsicle, it tasted like tomatoes and carrots.  So I added a whole Bartlett pear and a handful of frozen grapes.

The end result was very pretty, but still nothing to write home about.  I guess if I hadn't been expecting it to be sweet, I would have liked it better.  But I still drank it--it was just palatable enough to escape the label "Nasty Blast" that my sisters and I have come up with to describe our "mistakes"!

Day 70 - It's a Family Affair!

Now that my family has seen and heard about the results I'm getting by "Blasting" for the past 70 days, this has become a real family affair!

I'm thrilled that all 3 of my sisters now have NutriBullets--and our 80-year-old mother is showing interest as well.  Oh, and one of my bros-in-law is also enjoying NutriBlasting right along with us.   Gotta love that!

We all have health challenges.  One sister has rheumatoid arthritis; one has narcolepsy and weight issues; and the third has thyroid issues, balance issues, and weight issues.  I personally suffer from insomnia and have been on an anti-depressant of one sort or another for most of the past 30+ years.  Mom has many of the issues that come with aging, plus she struggles with her weight, too.


It's been a blast [pun intended] comparing notes on what we're making, exchanging ideas about how to make our 'Blasts better, and learning about even more good stuff to put in them to help with inflammation, sleep, moodiness, etc.

One HUGE development in my own health, which I attribute at least in part to the fact that I'm now eating as though I *believe* the adage that "food is medicine", is that I stopped taking my antidepressant exactly 10 days ago.  So far, so good!!  I never thought I'd be able to do that; I've tried in the past but never been able to continue for more than a few days. 

Soon I'll be like the people in the NutriBullet infomercial talking about what great changes this sweet little machine made in their lives!

Today I made another beautiful NutriBlast:

  

I found some flaxseed in my cupboard, so I added some of that for the first time.  Other ingredients were:

• Spinach
• Cherry tomatoes
• Pineapple
• Plum
• Orange
• Frozen grapes
• Apple juice

 It tasted as healthy and cheerful as it looks.  :-)

Day 68 - Made It Into the 'Teens!! (219.5)

I nearly fell over when I got on the scale this morning and saw this!:

Sorry to show you my feet again--and so BIG--but WHOO HOO!!!!!  This is crazy!  I honestly wasn't sure I'd ever see the teens again when I started NutriBlasting.

I'm sure glad I took that leap of faith and kept going.

Hope this inspires you to keep going, too.  :-)

Today's morning 'Blast:

• Spinach
• Whole pear
• Pineapple - 3 spears
• Grape tomatoes - 5
• Baby carrots - 5
• Frozen grapes - 8
• Hemp seed - 1T
• Apple juice to the Max line

As usual, looked awful, tasted fresh and yummy!  (I hadn't yet added the grapes in this photo--had to mix it a little and add them after because the cup was so full.)

Day 65 - 19 Pounds Down! (221)

I was thrilled to see THIS on my scale this morning!

It actually even said 220 the first time I got on.  Of course, I didn't believe that, so I did it several more times and it stuck at 221.  I can live with that.  :-) 

That is 8% of my body weight down from my start just 65 days ago!

I'm not doing anything much different--still just 'Blasting as much as possible and walking as much as I can.  Work is crazy busy right now, so I don't have time (or correction--I don't MAKE time) for as long walks as I have in the past, but you do what you can, right?  Gotta make your fitness routine fit into your life, so ... c'est la vie.

Today I made one ugly-looking NutriBlast for breakfast.  It's the first time I've ever added spinach to one of my yogurt-based 'Blasts.  Usually I do what I call either a "veggie-based" one, which is at least 3 vegetables--always with either spinach or kale as the main ingredient--and a fruit or two for sweetness, or a "yogurt-based" one, which is mainly Greek yogurt with lots of fruits added.

Today's NutriBlast contained this:

• 1/2 C Greek yogurt - vanilla & plain mixed in equal parts, to cut the sugar
• 1/2 large Mac apple
• 1 spear fresh pineapple
• 1 large handful baby spinach
• 10 frozen black grapes
• Almond milk (unsweetened) to Max line

Here's the finished product--ugly, right? 

But it was gooooooooooooooooooood. 

I have more news about other family members joining me in a quest for better health, but I need to work.  So I'll write more about that tomorrow.

Happy 'Blasting, everybody! (and please feel free to leave a comment anytime if you enjoy my posts).

Day 54 - Walking Lots and Eating Well (223.5)

Not a lot new to report today, except that it's Day 54 and I'm now down a total of 16.5 pounds--yippee!!!  I'm trying not to focus on the weight loss, but it sure is exciting when it happens.

Did I mention that I went a little insane a few days ago and spent all day eating pumpkin cupcakes?

Yup.  I made a batch of a really simple 2-ingredient recipe for pumpkin muffins I found on Facebook, "for my husband", because he likes baked goods for breakfast.  (Have I also mentioned he weighs about 85 lbs less than me?  Fathead.)  Anyway, this time he didn't want any for some reason.  So he left the whole batch sitting there for ME to face when I got up the next morning.  

Despite my best intentions, I ate those stupid things ALL DAY LONG, one after the other--until I'd consumed TEN OF 'EM!  I was finally able to force myself to squish the very last one into smithereens and bury it in the wastebasket.

By the end of the day, I felt horrible and shaky because I'd eaten nothing but sugar and carbs all day.  That'll teach me.  AND the next morning, I had gained 2.5 lbs, back up to 228.

Since then, I've been more determined than ever to CUT THE CRAP and get back to what worked for me when I first started down this path.

And it worked--ta daaaa!!  Today, the scale said 223.5.  :-)

So here's an example of how I've eaten since The Great Pumpkin Cupcake Debacle:

This baby contains:

• Spinach
• Cherry tomatoes
• Baby carrots
• Half a green pepper
• Fresh pineapple
• Frozen blueberries
• Apple juice for blending

Can't you feel yourself getting healthier just READING those ingredients?  ;-)

Oh--and to top it off, I have 6,752 steps on my FitBit right now.  And today's not quite over!

Day 50 - 15 Pounds Down (225)!

I haven't blogged in awhile because honestly, things are becoming more routine.  My NutriBlasts tend to have combos of  the same basic set of ingredients in them most days.  When you find what works, don't mess with it, right?

Here's today's:

Not a great photo, but it contained:

• Spinach
• Fresh pineapple chunks
• Honeydew melon
• Red grapes
• Orange
• Hemp seeds
• Enough apple juice to blend (NutriBullet requires liquid to generate its "cyclonic action")

I've been trying to put more veggies than fruits in my 'Blasts lately.  Today most of the veggies I had turned out to be less than fresh, so ... more fruit.

Yesterday's had spinach, a whole cucumber, broccoli, bell pepper, orange, and pineapple.  Mmmmmm.

I am now down a total of 15 lbs from my starting weight of 240.  That 15 lbs in 50 days.  I'll take it!

I did realize something last night, though.  I've gotten a little  complacent again.  I've started eating with my husband at dinnertime--including dessert, usually.  I have way less for a meal than I used to, yes.  But I realized that I can't afford to eat like I'm on maintenance until I *am* on maintenance.  In other words, bread and butter, or apple pie, or ice cream, etc, every evening is NOT going to get me where I want to be.

So today I told my husband this (not that he understands--he weighs 140 lbs soaking wet and never gains unless he drinks too much beer) and refocused on eating veggies and fruits and a little protein.

This morning I had that marvelous NutriBlast.  Lunch was a bag of Green Giant Veggies in Cheese Sauce--only 135 calories in the whole huge bag.  Dinner was a big bowl of squash and some red grapes.  Now I'm snacking on walnuts with Ghirardelli 70% Dark Chocolate Chips mixed in.  And I'm getting ready to put the bag away--now!  :-)

There's been a piece of fabulous apple/craisin pie sitting in the microwave allllllll day.  When Mom stopped in to visit, I gave her half of it and saved the other half for DH's dessert.  He had ice cream instead, so it's still in there.  And it's gonna STAY in there!

Because I'm determined.

And why bust my butt taking a good long walk or two every day if I'm gonna come home and stuff my piehole with pie?  (I've reached 5K steps on my FitBit on at least 7 out of the last 10 days--whoo hoo!)

Onward ...

Day 40 - A Walk and a Weigh-In (226)

Today I started the day feeling really lazy because I slept in until 11:30 AM and missed out on a chance to walk with my friends Andie and CK again.  Sheesh.  My sisters have probably all been up about 6 hours by the time I got up--they all have half their day in already!

But oh well.  That's what I did.  Got to sleep til I'm "done"--that's how I do it.  I know if I get up while I'm still feeling sleepy, I won't have a very active day.

But once I got up, I got busy.  First, I weighed myself. 

 Here's what I saw:

(I cut my feet out of the photo this time cuz I need a pedi, ha ha--can't post feet photos without "happy toes"!)

So yeah, that's 14 lbs in 40 days!!  Whoo hoo!  I'm pretty thrilled.  It's SO nice to see that if I just keep doing what I'm doing, all this flab IS going to come off.  And I AM going to keep doing what I'm doing. 

After that exciting weigh-in, I was extra-motivated.  So I had a hard boiled egg and a banana, and then I went for a walk. 

I walked for just 30 minutes and did just under 2 miles--probably 1.9.  Whoo hoo again!!  That's a huge increase in pace from what I did in the 5K on July 28th.  That day, we walked 3.2 miles in just over 90 minutes--so just under 30-minute miles.  Today's pace was nearly TWICE as fast!  (I had some good fast music pumping on my iPod and walked to the beat as much as I could--songs like "Boom Boom Pow" and "Baby Got Back"--I'm sure that helped a lot.)  On the way back, I wound down with some good ol' days stuff, like--ready for this?--Bobby Sherman and the Partridge Family!  Ah, memories ...

I didn't have a single NutriBlast today.  I had a small bowl of DH's homemade shepard's pie for dinner and some hummus and red peppers for "dessert". 

Tonight I bought a bag of apples to make my hubby an apple pie, with Craisins, the way he likes it.   And I realized as I was cutting up the apples that I don't have a single qualm about having this pie around this time.  I know I can handle it (well, as long as we keep it in the microwave or the oven--somewhere besides sitting out on the counter where I can cut off a sliver every time I walk by--I haven't changed THAT much yet. ;-)) 

So that's today's report.  Forty days--I haven't stuck with something this long in ages.  It feels good.



 

Day 39 - Still 'Blasting, Waiting for More Weight Loss

This is Day 39 of my adventure in becoming healthier with my NutriBullet.

I haven't lost any weight for what feels like a long time.  But that's ok, because I'm 100% positive that I'm getting a whole lot healthier INside.  Bet my cholesterol isn't 261 anymore!

Today I made a breakfast 'Blast that had FOUR veggies and just ONE fruit in it--wow. I'm getting this!  (That doesn't count the apple juice that I use as my primary liquid, of course.)

Here's what this morning's contained:

• 2 big handfuls of spinach
• 10 sweet petites carrots
• Sliced zucchini (about 1.5")
• 1/4 large red bell pepper
• Frozen black grapes
• 1 T hemp seeds (for protein)
• 1/2C apple juice

They all pretty much look the same now, so I'm not taking photos of every single one anymore.  Here's what they usually look like when they're ready to drink--not appetizing to the eyes, but so good!

 

I had my husband drill a hole in the top of one of the 2 caps that came with the NutriBullet so I could put a straw in it but still keep it covered, for "drinking &" driving.  (One day I took a nasty "monster vomit"-looking drink like this out to my BMW to drink on the way to work.  Since the bottom of the cup is pretty big, it didn't fit tightly into the cupholder.  So of course, I knocked it over before I even got out of our driveway!!)  That was NOT pretty.  So the straw hole makes a huge difference.  I contacted NutriBullet and told them I had an excellent suggestion for an improvement to their product.  Haven't heard anything back from them yet [surprise].

Yesterday and the day before I *did* get photos of my smoothies.  One was all Greek yogurt and fruit; that one came out really pretty pink when it was done.  It had 1C yogurt (half vanilla and half plain, to cut down the sugar content); 4 chunks of fresh pineapple; 1C of fresh strawberries; and about 6 frozen black grapes.

Wednesday (Day 37)'s was similar to today's but had more fruit:  spinach, carrots, orange, pineapple, frozen black grapes, hemp seeds, and apple juice.

My sister Gail bought me a huge tub of black grapes from Costco.  Last night I pulled most of them off the stems, washed 'em, and put them on a cookie sheet in the freezer overnight, to freeze individually.

Now I have a nice big bag full of frozen grapes that I can just pour a bunch out of each morning to cool my NutriBlast and add some nice sweetness to it. 

Day 36 - Freggie Blast for Brunch (228.5)

I got up REALLY late today, so I had "brunch" rather than breakfast.  :-)  Here's what I made:

Recipe:
Big handful of baby spinach
10-12 "sweet petites" carrots
8-10 slices of zucchini
1/4 navel orange
~20 frozen green grapes
1T hemp seeds
~1/2C apple juice

As usual, it looked pretty bad but tasted really good.  Putting in the frozen grapes, and so many, made a HUGE difference in how easy it was to drink--making them colder is a LOT better.  I have to go put some more grapes in the freezer now!

Also, usually I leave my 'Blasts on the base, blending, for maybe a minute.  It occurred to me that doing that whips a lot of air into em, making them sort of frothy.  So today I only blended it for about 15 seconds--long enough to see everything liquefied--and it went down a little easier.  It was thinner--not foamy or frothy like a McDonalds milkshake.

Still learning new things about how to make NutriBlasting better!