Weight Loss Update

We have all been there, and I love me some meat, but it has to stop! 

There is so much activity going on in my little world on the homestead. My dreams have come true... on Monday, Ginger helped me move three of her horses onto the field next to my house. Giselle, Raven and Ellie are very busy eating grass not more then 15' from me at this very moment.

I will talk about all that later though. I was looking through some old posts, and realized that at a certain point I started to juice to eat well. I wrote about how I doubted myself in keeping to the "diet".

Well, I just wanted to brag that YES, I still do green juice at least three times a week, and I still make my homemade granola and eat it for breakfast with my yogurt, and I still eat three small meals a day.

However, I did break a few times with some old habits. When the warm weather hit us I instantly wanted a cold beer. Seeing as I have spent two summers pregnant I missed the freedom of letting loose and that tingly feeling of relaxation.... with a beer.

 I demanded that the hubster go out and get me some.... and then old habits came knocking at my door, and soon I was drinking three beers a night. Not bad but not good either, seeing as I used to polish off a whole bottle of Pinot Grigio a night. On top of the beer drinking... I added another dirty habit. Eating a ton of meat.

With summer, comes grilling. We bought a grill and I was out grilling our dinner every night. Cheeseburgers, Chicken, Grilled Veggies, Pork Chops, and Hot dogs. Everyday of the week. I was in heaven... till I started to feel like total shit.

It started a week ago... I was cranky, emotional, and my stomach hurt. I also had occasional small nagging headaches and was very tired all the time. It was too much to handle. I also noticed that I had a small black hair on my cheek. It always grows back when I pluck it... but I noticed that since I went Vegetarian it stopped growing. The minute I went back to meat, it grew back in a week. What does this tell you? I'm not lying.  The only thing that changed was my diet.

I got on the scale and noticed that I had gained four pounds. That was enough to convince me that these small luxuries I had added were doing me no good. I missed my energy, and sanity.

I went back to being a vegetarian. This whole week I have avoided the meat, and have been juicing when I start to lose my energy. I got on the scale this morning and have lost 3 pounds in a week. I love my body. Not many woman can say that.... but my body is like a Honda. It takes a beating but if you treat it well it will run forever. Put a little octane booster in it, and it runs like a porshe.

Anyway, I know many women right now are battling their weight. They go on extreme diets, and cleanses. They fight with themselves over food. I believe the key to weight loss is to catch yourself before  things get out of control. Be aware of what your body is telling you. I could have easily let my drinking get out of control along with my burger fetish, but because I am in tune with my body and listen to it, I made changes; and my body quickly responded to it.

This is the key to being healthy. Be mindful of what you are eating, thoughtful about how your feeling, and aware of the consequences of filling your mouth with glutenous items. Drink and eat only what the earth has made for you. Water, Fruits, Vegetables, Nuts and Grains. Try to avoid machine processed foods.

Also, Don't go on a diet. Just eat real food in small portions, not that crap from a bag or meal in a can.

Here is my meal plan for today:

Breakfast:
1 cup Green Juice
1 cup Homemade Granola
3 Tablespoons of Greek Vanilla Yogurt
1 cup of Coffee
1 Banana

Lunch:
Sandwich of some sort in a wrap with spinach, cheese, avocado, tomato,
or
Veggie Burger in a wrap with some mustard, pickle, spinach, cheese.
Quart of Water
1 cup of Green Juice

Snack:
Pecans
Apple
Small handful of Dried Cranberries
Walnuts

Dinner:
Salad with Olive oil Vinaigrette
Vegetable Lasagna Pasta: Wacky Vegetable Mac, Cut up Asparagus, Peppers, half cup of  grated Mozzarella Cheese, Half cup of Tomato Sauce, and Dash of Bread Crumbs. All melted together into a gooey delicious mess.
1 cup Green Juice
Quart of Water


Dessert: Frozen Banana Puree, or 2- 5 Dark Chocolate Chip Morsels.

Anyway, as you can see, I'm not holding back from eating. I eat a ton, and it has taste.
I also have to think back to when I had a job and sat on my ass for the better part of the day in air conditioning while listening to soothing music. Now I sit down for maybe about an hour a day, and the other part is spent chasing kids, changing diapers, feeding chickens, gardening, cleaning, washing, vacuuming, trudging up and down the stairs to get stuff, riding, and teaching.

I'm very active.... doing useful things...
I don't lift weights, or run on a tread mill.... to me those things are silly and useless.

 Although... one day I'm sure I will be running from zombies, so maybe I should be able to run a good mile at a full sprint while hurdling hedges and climbing walls....with two kids in tow. Nah... even then I would just stick my family on horseback and we could just gallop away to freedom.

I may be the most efficient person in the world.

And by the way. Not to brag, but this morning I weighed 113 pounds, and I am 5'5".
 My goal is 110. Which is what I weighed 5 years ago when I met the hubster. When I became pregnant with Watts I weighed 116 lbs. When I was fully pregnant with Watts and James I was 155 lbs. I never had a weight problem to begin with... but getting back to 110 is proving to be a challenge and I kinda do it because I'm bored and like a challenge....

Its all bad.

I havent had a single second to write my blog today. I normally write this in the morning, but I willingly gave my computer over to the hubster so he could do our tax's. He kept asking me where stuff was filed, and if it wasnt there, it was my fault. I love that game. He is currently yelling at me because I told him that the movie that he was enjoying is total crap. (Train spotting with Ewan McGregor). I have heard good things about it... but I'm not much of a fan of negative movies. It started with him injecting this girl with heroin and in the background is a baby. I don't like that one bit. It makes me want to rip my hair out. He turned it off. I think he does that to make me feel bad. He is a people pleaser. I am not... so I don't care that he is no longer enjoying the movie. I didnt tell him to turn it off, that was of his own free will. So now he is watching "Workaholics" which is a much better show. I quietly think it's funny. We are all much happier now. I just saved us both from a bad night.
Anyway, I think the hubster is addicted to watching anything that makes me feel terrible. If I stick around while he watches TV I have terrible dreams and sleep walk. One time I found myself hovering over James just making sure he was alive. It turned out that he was.

 It's the same with his music selection. It's better since I met him, but at first it was all very angry, lots of yelling. Meanwhile, I'm listening to Bob Marley and hugging trees and talking to my animal friends. I think Ace Ventura is my alter ego even though I despise Jim Carey. He is not funny, funny looking yes... but not funny. I think talking about movies is boring.  I shall stop now.

Anyway, I made veggie pizza the other night using my home made dough. It smelled amazing. I'm a pizza eater.. I have eaten some amazing pizza, this was not one of them. This healthy eating is starting to get to me. I am not enjoying my health bread. I have never liked whole wheat bread.

We made eggplant parm sandos tonight but didn't have rolls, so we used the rest of that pizza dough. It made for a nice roll. It was still too healthy for my taste though. It tasted like the health bread at Subway. I like to splurge on Saturdays with a cheese steak or a pizza or a hoagie. This will be the second weekend that I have gone without a treat. I'm feeling a little moody. It's like going without cake on your birthday. The only upside is that I am losing half a pound a day now. I am now the same weight I was before I got pregnant with my first kid. I havent had any white sugar since January 14th. I havent had a drink of alcohol since around the same time. I would kill for a beer.... The Hubster wont get me any, and I refuse to go to the beer store. I feel like a hick buying it. I like to pour my beer into a glass and sip it slowly like wine... mmm.... its like coffee in the morning , only it's night time. Anyway, instead I have this in my fridge. No beer, but we have cabbage! I love purple cabbage. Did you know that purple vegetables are packed with all sorts of good stuff?

Every Saturday we go to produce junction and get this for the week. This all costs around $30. 

We got this bread from ALDI, it was one of the worst things I have ever put in my mouth (number one on the list is Mango Chutney). I told my mom and dad that it was awesome... just to see their reactions. My mom needed to swish her mouth out after, havent seen her run that fast in a while... My dad on the other hand ate almost half of it saying it was great with cheese. He says the pumpernickle is way better. I will no longer trust his opinion on anything when it comes to taste testing.

Here is my whole wheat dough. Smells great, but tastes like the health bread from Subway.

spinach, kale, basil, broccoli, tomato, red pepper, onion, sauce and cheese.  Before going in the oven.

After. The crust was bleh, and the cheese sucked because I ran out of mozzerella and had to grate up some swiss, which tasted like feet. Overall I would give this pizza a 3 out of 10. You know it's bad when your two year old spits it out.

So this is what I'm eating... and what I really want right now is some crap ( that will make me double over in pain and give me the farts for a few hours) just so my brain can shut off for a second and bask in pleasure. But then I know I will feel terrible... not worth it.

The whole point of this healthy eating was that it was not a diet. I'm going to bed hungry, and feeling angry that my food tastes boring. It doesnt have to be that way. I think it's the lack of meat. I need to find some better vegetarian dishes. 

Harvard School of Public Health » The Nutrition Source » Healthy Eating Plate and Healthy Eating Pyramid

Harvard School of Public Health » The Nutrition Source » Healthy Eating Plate and Healthy Eating Pyramid

 This is a great article about how the food pyramid that we grew up with has changed. My husband and I have been following this chart for the last month and have seen huge improvement in our energy, and weight. We go to Produce Junction once a week and stock up on lots of fruits and vegetables. I make a large salad every night and incorporate nuts and raisins. If you ask anyone that knows me well they will all tell you that my favorite food is pizza and Mcdonalds. Say Goodbye to the old Liz... my new favorite food is eggplant parm and roasted vegetables. YUM! I used to smoke a pack of cigarettes a day and drank a half bottle of wine a night. I ate meat every night. I felt like crap, had depression and was taking Adderall to help me pay attention in school. Now I have two kids, eat three small meals a day with small healthy snacks in between. I start my morning cutting fruits and vegetables to make  green juice with a bowl of freshly made granola and Greek yogurt.  My skin is glowing, and my hair is shiny. I go outside and can smell the horse farm across the lake. I can taste my food. I don't use white sugar or salt and have deleted flavored drinks from my diet all together. I can walk past the cake isle in Shop Rite and I can walk right past the doughnut case in Wawa. (This was hard for me at first seeing as I was addicted to sugar). BUT NO LONGER am I a prisoner. My new food porn is colorful fresh food. Talk about a turn around. Question is, can I keep this up? We will soon see.