3 months down - The Real work begins

                         Historically the third month of any new healthy eating plan has been my hardest.  This is when it gets hard.  The enthusiasm has waned and temptation reigns supreme.  This time around was no exception, I hit a wall.  But where I have failed before and given up this time I chose to pick myself up and power through.  In the process I learned a lot about myself.  I have really been analyzing my thoughts and actions and what causes me to make the choices I do.  I realize how detrimental having a "diet" mentality is.  But it is so hard to break that mentality.  It's kind of ingrained into you after so many diets and/or diet attempts.  I know that diets only work in the temporary.  If you change what you are doing to lose weight but then you go back to your old ways after your done losing guess what happens...you gain it back.  Sometimes with some extra weight in tow.  Of course I have heard the whole "lifestyle change over diet" before.  But to be honest I never embraced it.  Truly trying to change your approach to eating is hard, very very hard.  I love the Trim Healthy Mama plan but being a naturally picky eater I do not always love all of the food.  There are tons of good food choices that I do enjoy but if I am being honest there is quite a bit I don't care for.  I'm not a veggie eater and I love bread and potatoes, those are my biggest vices.  Admitting that does not change the facts that I need to change my mentality.  Rather it enforces that concept.  This is why I believe having a year long commitment is good, it keeps me motivated because I do not want to fail.  But more than that I am striving to change my ingrained food behaviors.  Trial by fire sometimes let me tell you.  I am battling myself right now almost daily.  In a way I'm glad that this happened, my eating off  plan when I did.  Because it has forced me not to just blindly choose the right choices but to really examine the why.  Plus I need to break that diet mentality.  It is diet mentality to say "Oh well I blew it this meal so I might as well eat bad all day."  It is diet mentality to punish yourself and /or berate yourself for choosing to eat something off plan.  In the real world you will have good reason to eat off plan.  It is your choice and you need to remember that.  You are not in slavery to food.  You have the option to eat whatever you choose.  You just need to make an informed non guilt ridden decision on what is the best choice for you at this moment.  If you can learn to walk in the food freedom this knowledge brings I believe lifelong success is attainable!  This truth propels me forward, I will break my bad behaviors and embrace a healthier view on food.  I will not feel guilty if I choose a not so healthy option on occasion.  I will eat on plan the majority of the time and continue learning about myself and growing while I'm shrinking.  Speaking of shrinking.  Even in the midst of a turmoil filled March I still lost 4.8 pounds putting my total at 20 pounds gone forever!  I am beyond thrilled and excited to continue on this lifelong journey.  I hit my goal of 10,000 or more steps a day 16 days of March according to my fitbit, however my fitbit was broke for about a week until I got a new band and I still walked on my treadmill so it was probably about 20 days.  Thanks for reading and supporting me, I so much appreciate it!

One Month Down, Eleven More to Go

    I should have actually written this 7 days ago but my life is crazy and I just have not had time.  My apologies.  I successfully completed my first whole month 100% on plan.  No lie the first week was tough.  I was hit by all kind of withdrawal systems but I powered through and the the next few weeks went much better.  Not weighing myself was tougher than I though it would be but I resisted and I am glad that I did.  My official weight loss for the month is 10 pounds!  I also measured myself and I lost an inch on almost every part of my body except my waist where I lost two!  WooHoo!  I am feeling very good about those results.  I did no exercising the first week but amped up my efforts to get my 10,000 steps daily and I did 21 days out of January.  My best day was 14,937 steps!  I hope to continue that this month but do even better.  I love eating the THM way, there is so much good food and I'm rarely hungry.  I get to eat chocolate every day and that makes me happy.  I do have those rough times on occasion where I feel frustrated and just want to grab a bag of chips and a Dr Pepper but thankfully those moments are in the minority.  I am still hoping fervently that doing this for a solid year will result in a change of desire and tastes for me.  Making this commitment and taking it as seriously as I have has helped me tremendously.  There are several times that I could have cheated and rationalized it but I did not because I committed to NO cheats and I do not want to fail my challenge.  This first week of February has been tough on me as I have been feeling a little under the weather and that causes me to want to cut corners and just slack off but I'm trying hard not to.  So there is my update.  Powering on! 

Day 1 of a Sugar Free Life

Happy New Year!  2018 has arrived!  I am excited for this new year and hopeful for the changes I want to inflict.  A couple of months ago in the midst of my busiest season of life I made a decision.  I decided that 2018 would be my year to kick the sugar habit once and for all.  I realize that I have an addiction and I do not want to be a slave to sugar any longer.  I know myself well and I realize that it's not enough to just "start over again."  I have to have a plan and I can not let myself just float along doing the same things I've always done but expecting a different result.  I realize that I give myself way too much leeway and that usually ends with a gradual decline until its a full out flop.  I have prayerfully cried out to God for help in this matter and I truly feel that he has directed me to proceed.  So, I am committing to an entire year of staying 100% on plan with Trim Healthy Mama.  NO cheating at all, including holidays and birthdays, vacations or special occasions.  My hope is that an entire year will break me of my food addictions and then allow me to find a balance for real life.  I am dusting off my seldomly used blog to help aid me in this journey.  I intend to post monthly during this year to give me accountability and a place to reflect.  I also hope that I might be a help to anyone else who might ever attempt something like this.  To start with I want to clearly post all of my health goals for this year. 
1. Staying 100% on THM plan - Crossovers and "personal choice" products are allowed with discretion.
2. I will hit 10,000 steps daily on my fitbit
3. I will deliberately exercise a minimum of 4 days a week.
4. I will drink LOTS of water daily
5. I will take my Juice Plus gummies daily
6. Go to bed earlier
7. Participate in reading encouraging books and participating in studies to help me understand and overcome my issues with food.
I know that this will not be easy, especially at the beginning.  But I am determined.  I will be 43 years old in April and I have put this off long enough.  I have several issues I would like to see improved by this change.  Many do not know this but I was recently diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and even with two prescription drugs I take twice daily I still live with a lot of pain and swelling, particularly in my hands.  I am hopeful that this lifestyle will help alleviate that pain.  I have for many years now suffered from chronic fatigue which I think is amplified by the RA as that has caused me to be anemic as well.  I'm pretty much ALWAYS tired.  I have to push myself through the day every day and so many things get left undone because I just do not have the energy to do them.  I pray this new lifestyle will help that as well.  I need to be more present with my kids and that's almost impossible with my current limitations.  I am only 5 pounds away from being at my all time highest weight.  I take a prilosec every day to control my acid re-flux.  I suffer from sinus pressure and headaches pretty much daily.  I feel sick more often than I feel well.  I state all of this not to give myself excuses or to get sympathy but to establish my starting off place.  I have another health issue I'm facing that I don't think is related to my diet but I will post it here to be thorough.  I have a nodule and a cyst on my thyroid that my doctor is concerned about.  I already had one biopsy done in November but they were not able to get enough cells to test so I will have to repeat the procedure in a couple of months after my thyroid has healed from the first procedure.  I am choosing not to worry about this and that is one of the reasons I have not told many people about it.  It is in God's hands.  I want to also add how happy I am that my husband has chosen to take on this year long challenge with me.  He is in worst shape than me health wise with type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, sleep apnea and gout.  He is morbidly obese and in so much need of change.  I pray that I can help him achieve his goals this year as well.  So, that is it, the starting place has been established and we proceed into this new year with excitement and hopes and dreams for a healthier future!  Thanks for joining me!