Starting Fresh
It has been an uphill battle for me but I won’t stop or give up! So Version 2010 is about to start! I have moved to a new site-foodilogical.com. Come on over there! Sueellen
A Change of Lifestyle
Well it’s definitely been a while since I posted here! My life sometimes seems to go non stop, leaving me with very little time for “me” time. But tonight I am taking some time for me and it sure feels great.
I am not going to say it’s been easy since my last post in August; that month was filled with challenges and stress and vacationing and although I thought I was making good choices when on vacation…………umm turned out to be not so good choices. The one thing that I have noticed over the past six months was the amount of times I would have upset stomachs or be running to the bathroom after eating any kind of meats. It didn’t matter if it was chicken, steak, pork – it all ended up with the same results and I was really starting to feel crappy from it (no pun intended!)
So while I was on vacation I did some reading up and decided that I really wanted to try the vegetarian lifestyle. I have never been a big meat eater and so I didn’t feel that it would be a big change or that I would feel like I was missing anything. And as it turns out – my instinct was right. I made the decision to stop eating meat on September 1st and haven’t looked back.
I have lost 18 pounds, have more energy than ever and can’t believe the amount of food choices that I have. It’s funny, I now bring with me brocoli and dip for an afternoon snack at work. I can honestly say that I am not missing eating meat and the best news of all – my blood sugars are doing great and I am so thrilled with that happening.
I have lost so far 110 pounds and it feels great; so what is different now? When I first started on this journey I ate what I was told to eat by Weight Watchers. I didn’t read labels, I counted points. I realize now that I did need that for the first 110 pounds but for this 2nd 110 pounds I want to be in control. And guess what – I am in control. I am making conscious decisions about what I want to eat, I am ensuring that I am getting the right amount of carbs and proteins and vitamins. I am experimenting with foods that I never thought that I would eat and the big shocker is – I like them! Edamame – OMG I love it! Snap peas – like candy to me. I am experimenting and trying new vegetarian recipes and am having fun doing it!
So, I guess the saying you can’t teach an old dog new tricks isn’t always right – because this old dog has some new tricks up her sleeve! You just watch me go!
A Hard Lesson Learned
Well, as you can see I haven’t written anything online since April. I really thought that I had this whole “weight loss” routine down pat. I had lost a lot of weight and figured I could branch out on my own; so I dropped out of Weight watchers and stopped writing here. Lets take a look how I have done since leaving all my comfort zones:
May – was able to lose 8 pounds in the month but noticed that I wasn’t quite as committed as I had once been at the gym. So, switched over to a new gym, hired a personal trainer and bought the gym’s diet plan (which cost me a hefty $500.00 but promised to have me eating healthier and losing the weight quickly). The diet plan came in a beautiful binder but lets just say that I have yet to crack that binder open to see what it is all about.
June - didn’t get on the scale at all this month, not a good thing to do. Sadly though the whole trainer issue hasn’t worked out for me so far. The first trainer I got ended up cancelling alot, apparently she had some panic attack issues! Just my luck right! My second trainer I thought might work out but when my training sessions were more about her and not about me I knew that she wasn’t the one for me. I also found I really didn’t like this branch of the gym but luckily my plan allows for me to go to any branch across Canada! So I decided to try one of the gyms that was closer to my office – nope didn’t like that one so off I went to try another one. Nope, didn’t feel comfortable there so just stopped going for a few weeks. I also called and put my personal training on hold until I could wrap my head around it all.
End of June/ Beginning of July – found out that I really like the gym that is a bit farther from home but I felt like I found my “home” again. I started working out again and went three to four times a week. Was eating really clean, getting in lots of protein and really feeling good again about myself! But then the third week of July hubby got diagnosed with skin cancer and I stopped going to the gym for all the wrong reasons. Instead of looking at the gym as a place to workout my worries and stress I instead turned to the old standby – food and lots of it. I had no one to fall back on like when I used to go to the Weight Watchers meetings and I had no personal trainer to urge me on. So what do I do – I eat more because I feel sorry for myself.
August – well my scale stopped working around the first week in July so I wasn’t able to even get an idea of how my weight was doing even if I wanted to do that, which at this point I didn’t care. For the past three weeks I didn’t care much – I admit that I have been on an eating binge. Chips, ice cream, chocolate, mcdonalds, anything I could get my hands on and I ate it. I am not proud of what I did but I also know that I recognized that I was eatinng out of control much sooner than I have done in the past. That makes me feel good. So I decided to make some changes again – I had rejoined weight watchers online at the end of June but it just sat there – paid for but not used. So I logged back in there yesterday to start tracking my food again and also to start tracking my weight again. I also went out today and bought a new scale – it was time but I have to admit I was scared. So, I got on the scale and overall since I left weight watchers in April/May I have gained back 20 pounds!
So I have learned a hard lesson and one that I didn’t want to admit to myself – I can’t do this on my own yet and maybe I never will be able to but that’s ok. I have learned that it’s ok to lean on others to get to where I need to be; that point of being healthy and weighing much less than I do now.
So, I may have lost 100 pounds so far but I have a long way to go and will keep going with the help of others – because you know what – it’s ok to let your guard down and ask for that help.
Until tomorrow!
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Trying out a new plugin to post from my cellphone. I definitely need to get back into regular posting and being able to post on the go will be helpful!