 |
| Yesterday's lunch. That's a sweet potato. |
So after I posed my question about what to blog about, I got a few comments with questions and ideas. The next few posts will answer those queries. First off I want to report that although I feel a difference in my clothes, I was curious enough to step on the scale a day early to learn that...I have not lost any weight. In fact, I gained a half a pound. So right now my weight sits at 166 pounds. Although I feel smaller, the scale tells a different story.
Then I realized that although I have cut all nuts out of my life (except for natural peanut butter on long run days) and most fruit, I haven't been keeping track because I no longer food journal. I haven't kept a food journal in about six months. Food journaling is KEY for losing weight. At least it was for me. I kept a food journal for the 14 months it took me to lose 125 pounds, and I should know better than to have stopped, even on maintenance. Complacency is a dangerous place to be. And that is exactly what I have been.
So I have been keeping a food journal and posting it on my Facebook page with pics of my meals and deets about my exercise. Feel free to head on over if you're at all curious about what I eat day to day and what my exercise regime looks like. It's pretty mundane and boring but it's also keeping me accountable right now. By posting what I ate this weekend, I know for sure that I need to cut out the wine and the fruit. I can handle them both fine when I'm on maintenance, but not when I'm looking to lose 15 pounds.
 |
| What I wore to the baby shower/kegger. |
I did a lot of socializing this weekend. I had a baby shower to attend which was a kegger/BBQ, a birthday party with Julien, and I hosted a BBQ. Lots of people, lots of food. But other than some fruit and wine, I stayed on plan. Hubby had a disastrous Paleo cheat yesterday. He basically went whole hog and ate and drank whatever he wanted. I was impressed that he still ran today. Didn't think he'd make it after 5 drafts from the keg yesterday!
Spikella asked me about what motivated me and kept me motivated to lose weight.
You're such an inspiration to me... I guess i'd just like to know how you stay and stayed motivated. I've embarked on the journey once before, lost 65 lbs and 3 years later I'm right back where I started. :(
Awaiting my first appointment to go back to Dr. Poon but I really don't want to fail this time.
Anyhow, what kept you motivated? and more importantly, how did you avoid tempting foods that live in the house with you? (mom of 3 boys here :s )
Well Spikella, your three boys should be motivation enough. I had my "a-ha" moment two years ago this month down in Williamsburg, Virginia during a family vacation. Julien, who was three at the time, wanted me to go on rides with him at Busch Gardens and I was too big to go with him. It made me so sad to have him think I was rejecting him when in truth, I couldn't fit on the rides. I vowed then that I would get healthy because I wanted to be the best mother I could to him and model a good lifestyle to him. I couldn't very well tell him not to embark on certain eating habits if I wasn't practicing what I was preaching.
Anytime I felt like deviating from my new lifestyle, I kept Julien front in center in my conscience. I had to do this for myself and my health, but I had to do it for him to. I promised him I'd go on rides with him the following summer and I was not going to let my little boy down. It was not easy, but it was much harder being morbidly obese. I chose my hard and I chose to stay on the road to good health.
My husband did not get on the health bandwagon until very recently. I have always had, and still do, have foods in my house that I deem off limits. Julien is not Paleo. He eats pretty good, but he still gets his "treats" on the weekend (ie: a handful of plain chips or cheesies). And he likes his pasta and sauce and pizza like his Nonna makes. I still make these things for him. The only advice I can offer on avoiding tempting foods is DO NOT CHEAT. The longer you keep processed carbs and sugar out of your diet, the easier it becomes to resist them.
The cleaner you eat, the better it is. I thought it would be difficult for me to give up dairy, all grains, sweeteners and legumes when I switched to Paleo. Once you have followed a program like Dr. Poon's for so long, these things become easier to resist. I still have cream in my coffee, and natural peanut butter on long run days, and gummies and gels on long run days, but other than that my shopping cart is made up of single ingredient purchases (lean protein, vegetables, fruit). The longer you stay on your eating regime, the easier it becomes until it is just routine. My eating is pretty boring and I think about food differently now than I used to. Food fuels me so I can function and most importantly, run! It's no longer entertainment for me, and I don't use food for comfort. In order to be successful in any diet program, you must change your relationship with food. I was a yo-yo dieter for years and it was because I never changed my lifestyle. I just dieted, lost weight, then went back to my old eating habits.
 |
| Ya, I know I look hawt with the sweat dripping from my chin. Just finished my 10K LSD this morning. |
I've worked hard at maintaining. I run five days a week and I eat clean. I plan, plan, plan. It is a major key to my success. Losing weight at almost 300 pounds was hard, but it's harder now. What motivates me now is running. I want to become the best runner I can be so I have to get leaner which will make me faster. That's important to me and I can't imagine not running at this point in my life.
The only way you are going to fail this time Spikella is if you are not ready to make the commitment to changing your lifestyle. So many times I hear people say they want to lose weight but don't want to give up the foods that have made them unhealthy. Bottom line is you have to be ready to overhaul your entire life which means diet and exercise. And you have to stick to it. It's not going to work for you unless you are ready to make that commitment to yourself. I think you are worth it, do you?
 |
| My recovery meal after my 10K this morning. That is sweet potato again. |
