Learning to be Healthy-Training this Body!

So everyone, from personal experience, I will tell you that if you do this diet you really do need to STICK to it! When I went off it last week, I only lost 4. Granted, that is a pretty good number still. But if you aren't really really good on your off days, you will probably gain it all back.  I did it again this week (Tuesday-Thursday) and I stuck with it. I lost SEVEN (7) pounds again! It was very exciting. And honestly, doing it this time all the way through, was so much easier. I feel like the first two rounds were practice and I found all the sweet spots.  I chewed a lot more gum and sucked on a few sugar-free candies. I had steak for the first night, which is really so good and such a treat. Then throughout the week, if someone offered lunch, I'd decline. If someone offered me something very small, like a bit of their really awesome TORTILLA pizza, then I'd take a little bite. But I didn't have more than LITERALLY a bite of what was offered. It gave me a qu

So my other most recent cooking adventure was to make French Onion Soup! I love this delicious, savory, hearty soup and I was excited to try it at home.  I also thought it would be a good one to work on since it's pretty much idiot proof. You cook the onions down to a beautiful golden brown, add it to broth, throw some herbs around, add bread and cheese and bake. It hardly needs a recipe, though I referenced a few to find out which herbs to put in it, which I still modified. Basically, I was totally in charge of this one. What could go wrong?? First, I started with the onions. Yum! I love onions in all forms. I used the magic mandoline to get them all thin and wonderful. Then because I was lazy and don't really like the giant chunks of onions I get at restaurants, I used scissors (now deemed kitchen scissors) to chop them all up fairly small.  I added them to my pan and drizzled olive oil on them. I decided to stay away from butter since it isn't as good

I will be the first to say that eating vegetables is not my favorite thing. And by "not my favorite", I pretty much mean that I hate them. There are a few exceptions, as there is to everything, but I try to avoid the majority and stick to the three I actually enjoy (asparagus, peas, corn).  However, since life is long and I want it to be longer by being healthy and eating nutritious meals, I better learn to like something else. I decided to try something inspired by the movie Ratatouille and use my newly acquired mandoline .  I used a recipe I found online to make this, though I only used it as reference and to make the sauce. I didn't end up making as much as I could have. I didn't want to make too much and have this warm veggie stuff and just throw it away after all that extra work.  First I prepped the veggies! And with all cooking I do now, I rinse them in a vinegar/water bath. I do a decent sized splash of vinegar and at about half a sink full of wa

This weekend, my sister, brother-in-law, boyfriend and I all participated in a 5k (about 3 miles) called Color Me RAD. Part of the proceeds went to a local charity too, so on top of it being amazingly fun, it was for a good cause. It was a really good experience and totally worth every penny. It wasn't as cheap as some of our local races, but it wasn't timed and it was very very fun. The race started with small non-toxic, gluten free, cornstarch color packets. Then as you walked/ran the course, they had different color stations where they would throw color at you and you'd walk through giant clouds of it. Or they had stations where they would hose you down with colored water! The race started earlier in the day, so it wasn't too hot and everyone had a wonderful time. I've learned that doing walks as motivation to start exercising works really well. They are always fun and if you sign up to do them with other people, you definitely won't be disappointed

I saw this line today and it really hit home. I had been feeling pretty discouraged after only losing 4 pounds on this round of the 3 day diet, and although in all honesty that is really good, I wanted to lose more, be healthier and thinner faster. I wanted to look amazing overnight.  On my way to work today, I walked by a group of men who called me beautiful. Not sexy or hot or cat called or "OHdayummmm"; "beautiful". Which even from a bunch of wannabe street thugs, is a wonderful compliment. It made me feel a lot better and helped me realize that even if I can't get to my goal weight as quickly as I want, I am still beautiful- inside and out.  I'm secure in my identity, regardless of my weight. Whenever I have dieted, I've lost enough weight for my body to feel good again and I've been satisfied, even if it wasn't as much as I should lose to fit in with the popular crowd. I'm able to do the activities I want and still be in shape enoug

I just finished another round of the 3 day diet. I didn't stick to it nearly as well this time as I had originally. I wanted to see where I ended up if I didn't follow it exactly and also, there were social opportunities revolving around food that I didn't want to miss out on too much.  I lost 4 pounds. It's definitely not 7, but it is still more than 1lb a day. If I can keep it all off over the weekend, then I will be satisfied. Though that is definitely the hardest part.  I hope to lose between 15-20 pounds this first month, but I will need to pace myself and not get discouraged.  Which leads me to my next post...