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...

I can't believe it's Wednesday already. I was hoping for it to be Friday at least, but I'm still in the throes of round two.  Yesterday started out alright, though I didn't have my grapefruit and didn't end up eating anything else to replace it. Then finally when lunch rolled around, I was too busy. By the time I was ready to eat, my boss had asked me to go to lunch with him and our other boss. I thought it might be something important and work related, so I thought it was in my best interest to go.  Unfortunately I was wrong and it was a group lunch. However, we were going somewhere that I knew had decently healthy food options, even if it wasn't tuna on bread. I ordered my lettuce wraps and only ate about half. I figured that was going to be fairly close to the calorie content of the lunch I was supposed to have. Then when work finally wrapped up, I had to eat a quick dinner since we were hosting family game night at my place! I had steak again, w...

Hello again! The 4 days off have been completed. My goal was to have a total loss of 5 pounds over the seven days.  And it happened! WOOOOO! It was a really good weekend, with lots of friends, familiy, and even food. I ate moderately and worked out plenty, since I had decided to do at least two activities on my diet days off. It was fun and really easy to keep a closer eye on the foods, though I didn't always make the best choices. I probably could have kept it all off if I had tried harder, but for my first round, I'm really satisfied.

Fast food is tasty. It is easy. It is fast. It is convenient.  It is not healthy, or nutritious, or fresh. It is greasy. I think I had my last fast fast food yesterday. I don't want to eat it again for as long as possible, and only certain restaurants/menu items. I had greasy pizza and some fries last night and it was not pleasant or even remotely worth it. My body hated me afterward. And as unpleasant as it was, it wasn't the first time that I put myself through it for a quick and easy meal. And the stupid thing was, it wasn't even necessarily cheap. The burgers my group got were all at least $5 each, and that didn't include the fries or drinks. They were fairly big, but they were also greasy and sloppy and unimpressive.  To be fair, eating out twice probably made it worse, but the truth is that fast food, no matter how many times you have it, isn't good for you. If you haven't seen Fast Food Nation , then I really recommend it. It's fascinating to ...

As of today, 3 days after I completed the first round of the 3 Day Diet, I have a net 5 weight loss. That is my goal for every 4 days off that I do this, to lose a total of 5 pounds in the 7 days (3 diet, 4 off). So far, I'm on track and I hope to stay that way.  This weekend went really well overall for the healthier eating and maintaining the weight I'd lost.  Friday was my first day off and I went to Chipotle with some work friends! I love eating out and they have a really good salad option. My boyfriend and I had talked about me going out the night before and we calculated the calories at their website . Which honestly, is a really cool feature. So I only had about 550-600 calories when I went out to lunch. That is such a small amount for a fast food restaurant, eating out in general, and a hearty, well balanced meal that really hits the spot. That night my boyfriend and I went to get a free doughnut! It was National Doughnut day or something, so we went to pick one u...

Good MORNING! So the results are in! But before I get to them, I want to summarize the whole experience. Overall, this is a really satisfying, easy diet. It is convenient and quick. It fills you up with a variety of foods, all with different nutritional pluses and there is plenty of sweet, meat, and crunchiness for everyone's needs!  It is only 3 days long, so the commitment isn't hard, even for the commitment-phobes out there. Plus, it has ICE CREAM!! How can you go wrong? Even the bad stuff isn't that bad, or only for a meal or two. The next time or two I do it (because I will do it again), then I'll be tweaking it just a little. Chicken here instead of tuna, or replacing a meal with one from the day before. I will see how  well it works and post my results as well.  After you finish the 3 day part, you have 4 other days until you can do it again. Which honestly makes a ton of sense. Even though you may not be feeling hungry, your body isn't meant ...

Finish line in sight! :) Breakfast was pretty good, although when I looked at it, even after the previous days of eating so little, it looked pretty meager.  It was crackers and cheese and apples. I've seen my grandma eat this a lot lately, she's all alone now and doesn't like to cook for herself, so I totally understand why this would be easy and fairly nutritious! It just doesn't seem like a lot at first... Black coffee or tea with Equal or Sweet & Low 5 regular saltine crackers 2 oz. cheddar cheese 1 apple Let me tell you, this is actually a pretty hearty meal! It's so yummy and cheese and crackers always go together. And of course, so do cheese and apples. I really enjoyed it. Protein, and cheesy and crunch and crack. It is a little odd to eat as a breakfast, though it is filling. For lunch, another one of those hard boiled egg things. It was another great meal! 1 hardboiled egg 1 slice toast Black coffee or tea with Equ...

WOOO! Day TWO is over! It went just as well as day one, though I had some serious concerns for the later part of the day. Breakfast- piece of cake! I LOVE fried eggs, and this egg meal was no restrictions on how you cooked it! I used a little non-stick spray, salt, pepper and a breakfast from heaven was created :) 1 egg 1 slice of toast 1/2 banana It was really yummy and easy! I loved it. And of course it was filling. Eggs are like the super food of the WORLD. I am always so satisfied after I eat one. Especially on toast, with a banana. For lunch, I was seriously apprehensive. I DO NOT eat hard boiled eggs. They really gross me out. Too many summer barbecues with them left out for hours. I get really weird about perishables left out for too long and eating them. I can't do it.  BUT, I said I was going to stick to this whole diet. So, I will. Even if it kills me. 1 cup cottage cheese or 2 oz cheddar cheese 1 hard boiled egg 5 regular saltine/soda cra...

I've finished all of day ONE! YAY! I won't be weighing myself each day, at least not the first time. I don't want to get discouraged or over excited. I want to just see what the overall results are, and then to tweak and weigh each day if I do it again. For breakfast, you get the following: Black coffee or tea with Equal or Sweet & Low 1/2 grapefruit or juice 1 slice toast with 1 tablespoon peanut butter And this is what it looked like!  It was actually quite filling and fairly satisfying, though I still don't like grapefruit. And I need a grapefruit spoon. I skipped the coffee/tea to start and went with water, since I'm not crazily addicted to caffeine at this point.  I started to get hungry around lunch time, so I was definitely ready to munch when the time came! 1/2 cup of tuna 1 slice toast Black coffee or tea with Equal or Sweet & Low It definitely doesn't look very appetizing, and it isn't re...

I realize that this is a "fad diet". But I'm going to try it. It's only for 3 days for one thing. If it doesn't work, ok. If it does, then I can use it as a tool to kickstart my weight loss and/or metabolism and then continue eating my healthier eating habits to continue losing weight.  UPDATE: Here is the link to my RESULTS :)  The diet is as follows (with no exceptions or substitutions supposedly, although there are multiple versions of the 3 day diet):  Day 1 Breakfast Black coffee or tea with Stevia 1/2 grapefruit or juice 1 slice toast with 1 tablespoon peanut butter Lunch 1/2 cup of tuna 1 slice toast Black coffee or tea with Stevia Dinner 3 ounces of lean meat or chicken (any kind) 1 cup green beans 1/2 banana 1 apple 1 cup regular vanilla ice cream Day 2 Breakfast 1 egg 1 slice of toast 1/2 banana Lunch 1 cup cottage cheese or 2 oz cheddar cheese 1 hard boiled egg 5 regular saltine/soda crackers Dinner 2 beef/turkey hot dogs 1 cup broccoli 1/2 cup c...

I've been making progress on having a healthier lifestyle. I've cut back drastically on eating junk food as a whole, choosing fruit and healthier snacks instead of potato chips. No soda. Less pizza. I eat at the office more instead of going out to lunch, which is great both for my gut and my wallet. I've been walking and swimming and climbing stairs. Unfortunately, I haven't seen any progress in losing weight. Maybe it's that I'm still snacking in general. Maybe it's that I have a bf and now we eat hearty meals which probably have way more calories than I need. I think it's time to take a little more drastic approach. My mom recommended one, so we will start with that.

Hi! If you found this blog-COOL! I'm writing this to learn from my mistakes, to train my body and mind to be stronger, make healthier choices and get in shape. It's been a long journey for me, and I'm not the only one in my family struggling with weight issues. Growing up, most of my family has been overweight or obese (mostly on the obese side unfortunately). While I was young and in elementary school, I was also thin and healthy! It was cool, I could climb around and wedge myself in tiny places. It made everything more fun.  Luckily as a little kid, I wasn't overweight.  But once I hit middle school, I ballooned! I gained probably 20+ pounds. Which was a lot for me back then. I realized a year or two ago what probably happened, in addition to the raging middle schooler hormones, new friends and less healthy/balanced school meals. When I had been in elementary school, I had walked a mile uphill and a mile downhill every day. I stopped once I went to middle schoo...