I did it

I have to say that I never thought that I would be intimidated by a gym.  I have to tell you that I have never been so nervous in my life.  I went during my lunch break and signed up and did all the paperwork, but I didn't workout that day.  I did get this shirt, and I love shirts.

The first afternoon I went to workout, I almost didn't go in.  I was on the phone with Josh and I had all but talked myself out of walking in.  Thankfully Josh talked me into it. I am dumb when it comes to the proper gym etiquette.  I still can't tell you what all of the machines in there are for.  My son, Andrew works out there and has agreed to help his mom out. For this I am thankful!

I have just started my weightlifting program and so far it's going as good as I can expect.  After the first 2  workouts I could barely walk, sit, stand.  I was so sore!  I also had a muscle in my lower back so no more.  The icestorm 2015 has not allowed me to get to the gym this week, but I will be back at it this coming week!

Current Food Faves

I have promised you foods that I eat.  I have some recent favorites that I want to share with you.  I find myself turning to soups a lot for lunch.  Its' quick and easy.  I try and stick with the light ones and those without noodles.  My favorite is the Light Savory Beef Barley Vegetable.

This is my go-to-lunch.  If you are in a hurry this will help you stay on track.  I love that it is not creamy, but has a tomato base.  That helps keep your calories down.  A win, win!

Another of my favorite easy meals is a Whole Wheat Turkey Wrap.  I shop at Kroger for Simple Truth and Simple Truth Organic foods.  Their lunch meats are really good and I like the Oven Roasted Turkey Breast.  I make it with a whole wheat tortilla shell, Simple Truth Oven Roasted Turkey, butter lettuce, grape tomatoes, mild cheddar cheese, and yellow mustard.

Sorry, I forgot to take a picture before I started eating the wrap...oops!  It's very delicious and quick to put together.  Another quick meal that helps keep you on track.

I love salads!  I have a new found love for avocados in my salads.  Cobb Salad is so good and is currently my favorite!  It does take a little more time to make and prep, but it is sooo worth it!  I used hearts of romaine, baked boneless, skinless chicken breast tenderloins, Simple Truth bacon, grape tomatoes, hard boiled cage-free eggs, avocado, blue cheese crumbles, and green onions.  I use Newman's Own Light Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette.

I have found an awesome snack, Larabars.  I found these at Kroger and so far I haven't found a flavor I don't like.  It is made from fruits, nuts and seeds.  Try them, I promise that you will not be disappointed. 

I hope that these help keep you on your path to health and fitness!

Do I Cheat?

I have to say that I LOVE FOOD!  I love it.  The truly Southern foods especially,,,,deep fried and smothered in gravy.  I am not going to say that I will never eat fried foods again, because I will.   I just set up "Cheat Days" so I have something to look forward to.

I started my journey in October and decided to start a journal.  In my journal I write down goals for the month.  One of my first goals was to not eat any of the Halloween candy.  That is very hard for me...I love chocolate.  I was very happy that I stuck to that goal.  I knew that I had written it down and that made me feel like I had to be accountable.

I also set up a "Cheat Day" goal.  I chose to not indulge at Thanksgiving, but to cheat during Christmas. I cooked roasted vegetables for Thanksgiving.  This recipe has become one our new family favorites.  I have posted the recipe at the end of this post.

Did I have temptations during Thanksgiving?  Of course I did!  To be honest, I ate several pecans off the top of some pecan pie, only the pecans and not from a whole piece.  That was my biggest weakness.  I did not gorge myself on food and ended up feeling really good about my self control.

I decided that I wanted to save my first "Cheat Day" for Christmas because that's the food that I was looking forward to the most.  We generally eat appetizers and finger foods instead of a formal meal.  Even though I cheated on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, I didn't go overboard.  I ate small portions that satisfied my craving but at the same time didn't make me feel guilty.  That was until I actually had my first piece of this.....

I ate one piece of this Turtle Cheesecake (which I made) for the next 2 days...which is a total of 3 pieces.  Do I regret it?  No.  I don't make things like this often so I gave in.  I will never claim to be perfect.  So, I don't try and set goals that I know I can't achieve or that are unrealistic.

My next "Cheat Day" is planned for Valentine's Day.  So go ahead...plan your "Cheat Days".  They will give you a goal to work towards.  Write it down,  Be accountable.

Oven Roasted Vegetables

1 large Butternut Squash, peeled, seeded and diced
2 large Sweet Potatoes, peeled and diced
5 Carrots, peeled and diced
3 Golden Potatoes, washed and diced
1 lb Baby Portobellos cleans and sliced
1 lb Brussel sprouts halved
1 large Red Onion sliced
Olive Oil
Salt
Black Pepper

Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 baking sheets with foil. Prep all vegetables as stated above keep them close to the same size for even cooking.  Place in large bowl, and toss in olive oil until lightly coated.  Add salt and black pepper to taste.  Place in a single layer on lined pans and bake for 35-40 mins or until fork tender.

You can add or take away any vegetable you like.  Vegetables will shrink down by about a 1/4.

What I'm Doing

This is not a phase.  I have made a lifestyle change.  I feel so much better and I didn't realize how bad I felt.  I decided to make this change for me and only me.  Not to fit in an outfit or to please anyone else.  I have read many blogs and generally they all have that Aha Moment.  Mostly it's seeing a picture.  That was what my Aha Moment was.  I of course delete that particular picture.  I still have other pictures from that day,

 This was me at my highest weight...183.6 lbs.  That's a scary number, especially since I never weighed that during my 3 pregnancies!  I decided that I couldn't keep on going.  I had other health issues too.  I went to the internet and starting do some research and came up with a cross between the Paleo Diet and Clean Eating.  I also chose to cut out gluten.  I read several books as well.  I have listed some of them below.

Paleo Beginners Ultimate Survival Guide
Clean Eating Cookbook
Clean Food Diet

Another good source for recipes and meal ideas for me was Pinterest.  I also try and take recipes that I already used and apply the clean eating principles to them.  I keep the gluten to a minimum.  I eat breakfast, lunch and dinner and at least one snack a day.  The most important thing that I do is drink water.  No, sweet tea does not count.  Most people drink over half their daily calories.  These calories are very empty and leave you feeling hungry.  So water is very important.

I lost my first first 18.7 lbs with my diet alone.  I have started walking on the treadmill 5 times a week for a minimum of 3 miles.  I plan on adding weight lifting to my routine.  I don't just go at things blindly so I'm reading a book and doing online research before I start.  I have to know more about what I'm doing for several reasons, 1.) I don't know anything about weight lifting 2.) I don't want to hurt myself and 3.) I don't want to look stupid in the gym...lol  Here is the book that I am reading.

New Rules of Lifting For Women: Lift Like a Man, Look Like a Goddess


I hope that I have answered some of your questions.  I plan on doing another post that has what I eat all next week.

And so it begins...

I am starting this blog to document my fitness journey.  I went back and forth about posting to Facebook or Instagram.  I decided that to kept from flooding my news feed with my progress or "how did you do it" answers, I would keep everyone happy by separating them.  I am not going to promise, at this point, that I will update daily.  I am still trying to find a balance for my duties as wife, mother, full-time job and fitness.  I have had numerous questions about what I'm doing, or eating.  This is the place find all that information out.  I am not a nutrition or fitness expert.  I am simply telling all of you people how I have "done it".  Of course we know that with all things, results may vary...lol

I will start with the post that I put on Facebook that started all of this.

I want to start this post with...I am so proud of myself! I have lost 21.2 pounds since October 20, 2014. I still have 30 more to go to get to a healthy BMI. I have done this the right way, with a clean diet and exercise. Since I gained this weight over the last 3-4 years, I know it won't happen over night so I try and keep positive. I believe that I turned more to food to cope with my dad's illness and death. Food gave me comfort. Now I look at food as fuel and not as a way to fill a void. I read blogs and follow other people that have lost weight the same way. One of them made this statement and I continually remind myself of it. "Having one bad meal won't make you fat. Just like having one healthy meal won't make you skinny". It took many bad choices to get me where I'm at, so it will take more good choices to get me where I want to be.

Of course I never dreamed that I would have 123 Likes and over 40 comments.  Generally my post don't get that much attention, HA!  From these comments I had requests to post what I was eating, what my workouts are.  I have posted some things to my Instagram account, but really at this point I want that account to be private.  I do have an Instagram Badge on this blog, but I must accept your request before you can view my account.  I don't like the stalkers.  So As I said, this is the place to get these burning questions answered.  

As I said in my Facebook post I started to gain my weight...I mean really pack on the pounds when my dad got sick.  Now mind you I had gone through all 3 of my pregnancies and not had any trouble with extra weight or being able to lose what I gained during the pregnancies.  I can't say that I have struggled with my weight all of my life, mainly adulthood.  I really haven't been overweight until recently.  I was a very active teen and when I was in my 20's.  I maintained my weight with minimal effort.  Now this could be due to the fact that I am in my 30's now and I'm told EVERYTHING goes down hill from here.

My dad was diagnosed in June of 2010 with Primary Liver Cancer.  He had a liver resection July 1, 2010.  After recovering from all the complications that came from surgery we had a really good 2011 with him.  On Valentine's Day 2012 he had an episode and we discovered that the cancer had spread all over and into his brain.  We knew when he was diagnosed and were told he was not a transplant candidate that we had little time left.  So we did what all Southerns do, we ate!  Food is comfort in these parts.  Unfortunately my dad lost his battle on August 2, 2012.  I grieved and I ate.  I became less active because during our time we spent with him we would just sit or lay around.  So I just became very lazy.  I slipped into what I would call a slight depression.  

Now I have come to the realization that I can't bring him back.  No matter how much I want him here.  He would want me to carry on.  I need to be more for me, for my family.  So I have decided to get really serious with my overall health.  I know that I don't have a 100 pounds to lose.  Let's just be real people...even 30 pounds or 50 pounds can be just as monumental to some people.  So, no I wouldn't be a contestant on The Biggest Loser, but the struggles are the same for me.  

I will conclude this very long post with a few more pictures.

Summer of 2010

Christmas 2012

October 2014