Okay, So I haven't blogged in years, and never seriously. But my dear roommate came up with this idea, and I figured, "why not?"
So to begin, well I suppose the story behind it would be helpful. In May, my sister in law had a graduation I attended. I have never been fond of being in front of a camera, but when it comes to family, I don't argue. It's a give and take I suppose. I take pictures of them, so of course I must allow them their fun of taking some of me.
I have discovered mirrors lie. I have always been overweight, and for the past few years I kept thinking, I'll do something about it, eventually. When I would get ready for the day, the mirror, though not my favorite, still hid the fact I had become very unhealthy. It was at the graduation, when I looked upon pictures my aunt had taken, that reality hit me. Eventually needs to be now.
June came around with a new roommate (not Lindsey at this point). I personally like to cook, and have perfected the recipes I favored growing up. But I was getting bored with the same old, same old, and when I didn't feel like cooking, I would get something quick and easy. Sometimes this would be going out to eat, fast food, or microwavable junk. When Breanna moved in, we agreed to try something new together.
On a day off, I decided to look up recipes and food plans. What was healthy. I had heard people talk about detoxing the system, i had heard people talk about how healthy organic and natural food was, I had heard people say how bad everything, or most everything was from the store. The prospect of eating healthy (nasty) food, wasn't appealing. But there had to be a way.
After spending all day on the couch, researching. I found a video that stated three main principles I knew, just hadn't thought about. It also went into detail about specific foods and why they were healthy or unhealthy. I then looked up recipes, and mapped out when I ate and why. I found that I ate when I was really hungry or bored. In both scenarios I didn't want to spend time cooking. So to solve that issue, I pre-made meals for a week and put them in the freezer as well as boiled a dozen eggs. When hunger gnawed at me, I ate an egg and cooked. I drank water and nothing else for a week and then started slowly drinking tea again. Instead of sugar substitutes I got organic and natural sugar from the Co-op, along with honey and agave nectar. I stopped eating anything processed when it was in my control and made everything. I started all this when I was 252lbs.
It is now Nov and I weigh in at 215. For the past month and a half I have stayed in between 210 and 220. I knew my plateau would come, and I don't like it. I have fallen off the wagon and eaten junk, (primarily when the monthly curse of women surfaces) but I always get back on. I haven't really gotten into exercising, giving myself a plethora of excuses.
This all leads me to now, the end of the first day and the beginning of the second. My friend Jennie, from Washington, heard from several of her co-workers about a food plan they followed for four days. It's a specific menu that needs to be followed to the letter. What it does is boosts the metabolism. The foods you eat cancel each other out and requires your body you used the calories/energy pre-stored in your body (i.e. fat) for energy, while also providing you with protein, vitamins, and fiber. Each lady lost anywhere between 10-20 lbs in that four day period. When it was over, a month later Jennie heard them talking about it, they had kept the weight off. It wasn't just water weight.
Now when I hear things like this, I am very skeptical. There are so many scams out there that just want you to spend money. What's different about this, is everything on the menu comes straight from the super market. Jennie wanted me to do this with her, and for various reasons neither of us has tried it yet. I woke up two mornings ago and realized I was again slipping back into excuses. So to jump start my previous healthy eating life style, I decided to try this out.
The first day wasn't bad. I wasn't hungry, and the few times I was and it wasn't time to eat the next course, a simple glass of water or tea sufficed. When I went to bed, I was content. The challenge comes when the invites to join others for coffee or dinner come up. The thing I cling to is, this is only four days, and I have only three left. Cookies are great, so are cakes, and mocha's and everything else. But once I have splurged and given in, it last only a few minutes, and once the item consumed is gone I realize I didn't follow the plan. Keeping this in mind, I was able to resist, sipping on water and tea. And at the end of 4 days, if I have not received the results others have, well it was only four days and I can still figure out how to move forward.
Another thing to keep in mind is the question, "Why do I want to lose weight?" It used to be a very vain reason. And in all honesty, there is still some vanity in there, however, I have come to love who I am, and I have come to discover what things I love to do that give me the greatest joy. I am an active girl. That is challenging when a small hike up the street with a friend leaves you breathless. Another is simply, I want to be healthy. I don't like the side effects of being overweight, the physical, the mental, and the emotional.
So for others trying to go down this road, Keep on keeping on. It is worth it, it is possible, and it doesn't have to be painful. Healthy food CAN be tasty, and you don't have to feel guilty when eating. It's become a fun thing to do between friends and I. We cook a unique, tasty, HEALTHY meal and talk about it. How we can improve it, what we like or dislike.
With this, I must head to work.
Happy Cooking!!!
Andrea
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