Good Intentions ...

Been so long since I've had a chance to blog ... guess following through on my new year resolutions is taking more time than I thought it would. Change tends to do that.

I'm sticking with our new eating plan and am starting to see some pounds come off -- 3 to be exact. I know ... it doesn't sound like much (hubby has lost 10 already!) but I know myself and that weight doesn't release willingly from my body so I guess I should be thrilled with the progress. I am ... honestly ... I just wish it was more.

I'm proud to say that I'm still off sugar and dairy ... actually, we haven't had bread in this house for almost 3 weeks. We have realized that the best way to not be tempted to eat stuff we shouldn't is to not have it around! (Such a revelation I know!) So there just aren't any cookies or chips or ice cream or donuts in this house.

We haven't had beef in a couple weeks either. We are trying to drastically limit that and stick with chicken and turkey. Our latest food to go is potatos. We decided they are just too starchy and they're now on the "limited" list as well.

Let's see. I've tried a couple new soup recipes and had some success with that. Will post those soon.

Exercise! I'm sticking with it. Most days I get in a 2 mile DVD with Leslie Sansone. I'm planning to up that in the next week now that I'm pretty well "broken in" ... it's been a question of a time crunch as well. I'm trying to accomplish a lot of things in a limited number of hours each day. Let's face it -- it's not too hard to let exercise fall down a notch or two. LOL.

And I've kept very busy on my business project, hench the time crunch. I'm spending most of my time working on getting that ready to launch. It's taking me more time than I expected (I should know to always allow twice as much time as you think something will take!) and don't know if I'll make my self-imposed February 1st launch, but I've decided that it's just a target and the point is to get there. It's nice to have a goal date but the world won't end if I'm not quite ready at that point. I'm finding there is a lot more research that I need to do than I expected and well, I'd just rather do things right than try to fix things later.

The house is a mess and not really up to my standards (which aren't all that high to begin with!) and I sense that hubby is biting his tongue a bit about my projects being strewn all through the house. I'm trying to get organized as I work through all this. It's been a bit of a challenge trying to get organized and figure out where my best work station is going to be. I'm hoping that will just all kind of work itself out :)

Well, it's 1 a.m. and I think my pillow is calling to me. More updates soon.

So Far, So Good ...

The new eating plan started on Monday and I'm happy to say that so far, so good! I've stuck with it, eaten only healthy food (no sugar!!!) in reasonable portions, reduced the amount of Diet Pepsi I normally drink (the goal there is to wean myself off it and I'm down to one bottle a day!)and I've exercised every day.

Whew! It might not seem like such a big deal but I've struggled with following this eating plan in the past. I think the difference now is I have the support AND partnership of my sweet husband! He's on board and the two of us are determined to be accountable to each other and do our best to take off excess weight.

We have some motivation -- we are planning a trip to Las Vegas in April and the friends we're going with have both recently lost weight and are encouraging us to do the same because they feel so great. And we would really like to be more active this summer -- we'd like to get back into biking and hiking. And this area is just perfect for kayaking, something we've both always wanted to try. However, none of these activities are much fun if you're overweight and don't have the fitness and stamina to keep going.

I'm working towards my career goals as well but am taking it slowly and trying to get the house organized a bit more. I've realized I need to get on a cleaning schedule as well so I have some planning ahead of me to figure out how to fit everything in.

It amazes me how much energy it takes to stay focused on eating right, making time for exercise, and planning it all. I'm hoping (seriously) that this gets easier and just becomes routine within a few weeks.

Off to chop veggies for tonight's stir fry!

Ready, Set, GO!

It is Monday. It is the first Monday of the new year. And for the past couple of days I've been getting ready.

I am set.

And that means it's time to GO!

Yes, I have officially kicked off my new healthy eating plan and lifestyle. I'm excited -- in fact I woke up several times during the night thinking about it. I've been reading blogs and looking at recipes, I've been getting some needed motivation and pumping up my hubby to be excited about this too.

I got up and did a weigh in. Sigh. I reminded myself that I've got to start somewhere. And honestly? I'm down a few pounds from a week or so ago (although I don't know how it happened!) so I really can't complain. Still -- I have a long way to go.

I exercised this morning and on the Fast Walk with Leslie Sansone DVD she talked to a couple women who had lost a lot of weight -- one lost 65 pounds in 7 1/2 months. One lost 100 pounds ... the third had lost 110 (the first 100 in 9 months!) I know they weren't just exercising. They were making healthy food choices and most importantly -- they were sticking to it!

I came out in the kitchen and was pleased to find that their wasn't any bread. There weren't any cookies or potato chips in the pantry. The Christmas candy is gone (well -- there are a few pieces left in a box of Russell Stover's but I'm tossing them) and so are the bagels from the weekend.

There is no junk in the fridge. We have apples, oranges, and bananas. I just made a delicious green smoothie (banana, strawberries, blueberries, and spinach) that I'm drinking while I type this. But the big news is ...

I threw out an entire pan of brownies (and I didn't even sneak a taste before I dumped them in the garbage!)

Now that's progress.

I'm off to grab a shower and then cut up veggies and do some menu planning. I have a "to do" list a mile long that will hopefully keep me out of the kitchen but with the huge salad I'm planning for lunch, I don't think snacking is going to be a problem!

Be on the lookout for some of the new recipes I'm going to be trying and my weekly menu plans!

Thinking About Yoga ...

I've often thought about trying yoga. I've read so many articles where it was *briefly* mentioned as part of some very slim and totally fit person's fitness regimen and wondered if there was more to it than just exercise for days when you need a break from the really physical stuff.

I've  also considered it *thin person* exercise ... you have to be thin and agile to be able to stretch and bend and move around like yoga demands right?

(Image courtesy of Google Images)

Apparently I've got it all wrong.

I was checking out a recipe posted at Simply Real Food (yes, the post for Roasted Corn and Poblano Pizza which I won't be making because all the dairy in it will just take me over the edge but oh, it looks so yummy!!!) and I scrolled down a bit and saw a post about yoga for weight loss.

I have to admit the opening comments about yoga being great to reduce stress, which produces cortisol which leads to weight gain caught my eye. It made sense.

So I continued on ... well ... I'm not going to rewrite the whole post ... check it out ... yoga for weight loss.

I'm thinking maybe I should pull out a few of those yoga DVDs and VHS tapes (yep -- I still have a VCR and tapes ... why throw them away when they can still be used? I've started watching some of my old favorite movies that I have on VHS while working out on my elliptical machine!) that I've been holding on to for all these years waiting to get thin enough to give them a try. And maybe I'll give them a try even though I'm not thin (YET!)

And now, back to Simply Real Food to see what other real food recipes Chanelle might have lurking about in her archives!