Day 1, cleanse phase

I made it through day one! The morning felt great. I drank my fiber/spark combo and took my probiotics with ease.
For breakfast  I ate 2 egg whites n a yolk, whole grain toast and tomato slices.

Snack was pb2 with an apple

Lunch I had romaine n spinach salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, chicken and balsamic vinaigrette.

I under estimated the amount of fruit I was going to eat. I plan to go to sams today to get more.

Snacks were grapes, berries, whole grain crackers.

Dinner was a chicken breast with berries.

I drank almost a gallon of water!!
The afternoon was the hardest I felt tired, cranky and slight headache. I was confused on what to eat. I hope today goes better. I woke up with a headache. Heading to Sam's Club today.

Hope I'm losing something! This is hard.

Advocare Cleanse

A friend of mine sells advocare and is hosting a 24 day challenge this month. I am going to start earlier than the group because I have vacation at the end of may. So I ordered the cleanse kit which is the first 10 days all clean eating. No dairy. You drink fiber drink, take probiotics and drink Spark in place of coffee or soda. The cleanse phase is to detox your body and flush out all the toxins. I didn't buy the whole kit but I got more spark and some burpless fish oil capsules:) along with the cleanse pack. I'm excited bit nervous to make such a change. Just gonna take it a day at a time. I ordered a swim suit for lap pool at my gym so I can get my exercise in during the week. I have some great..or not so great.. before pics from last week. yikes!! Gotta go prep my food n measure. I will be posting daily. Wish me luck!

Ciao.

Fitting in

All ive ever wanted in life is to fit in. I never felt like I was wanted by my parents. I was passed around family members as a child because my mother was too sick to be a mom. I made my way through life with a lot of help but I always thought once I made it. Once I broke the cycle I would be worthy I would be good enough for my mom to love. I showed up on my end of the deal but she's still missing in action. I moved away to start fresh to be detached enough to get healthy and sober. I wanted to be a role model for my sisters n brother. I wanted to be their rock since I knew mom would fail. I thought I will finish college and get a job and be here to help them. Maybe I will get the love once I give it. I will do work to be worthy. I am no closer to them. I long for a bond and a relationship but I guess they are content to not have one with me. Only each other. So now I pour my heart into my kids which I've had no direction. I watch loving parents and take cues from friends parents as how to be a mom. I know I screw up but I hope it's a normal dysfunction. Much better than the life I had as a child. Yet ,now that I am here. The age and the point where I should fit in.I should be reaping the love. I still feel lacking. I don't fit where I came from and my past keeps me separate from those I live life alongside. I feel like a lemon car with a fresh coat of paint. Chugging along and looks like it belongs but is all broken under the hood. I shake my fist at the heavens in moments of weakness and wonder why!? What is the point of this pain. This separation? I hear God speak you aren't made to fit in. You are made to stand out! Your square edges have been sanded down and made you a round peg. You have this life because you are strong enough to live it.  You have always been worthy. I have always loved you from the moment I made you.

Week 2 Results

I am so happy to be done with my two week starting plan. I went to the gym this morning and it was great. I had red cheeks when I left and my feet feel like they could fall off. Lol.

I've lost five lbs so far and 20 inches off my body!

1" off bra band
2" off my bust
7" off my waist!
.5" off my hips
4.5" off left leg
3.5" off right leg
1.5" off right arm

Looking forward to more inches to come off :)

Checking in

I just want to check in and document how awesome I did in week one. I stuck with my diet and stayed at or under 1500 calories. I allowed myself a cheat day per dr. Suggestion and I feel like a pregnant cow. I ate so much sugar! I cannot wait to get back to business tomorrow.

At one point I think I was eating just because I could! Not because I was hungry. I made myself eat the rest of my chocolate bunny even when my body was telling me to stop. I just can't trust myself to not eat it if its here. I don't think I need a whole cheat day. Im too extreme with it. I think a meal is going to be a better fit.

I took my measurements when I started and I can't find the paper I wrote on. But I did remember a few and I noticed I lost a couple inches already around my bust and waist. Veerry niicce. And 1.6 lbs. I'm also on my cycle so hopefully that changes.

I did notice today more headaches and sleepiness and irritation. Could be period or diet. I know I don't like how I feel or even how it really tastes. After I've been eating whole food n fresh fruit all last week the sweet stuff isnt even really sweet. So here's to another week hope my sugar detox isn't too bad. I can't wait to get back in the gym.

Ciao

Day Two

Day 2: I woke up this morning after having a glorious dream about a beautiful buffet of food. Like something out of Narnia or on the Hunger Games train. I am still getting headaches and low energy.
I have been struggling to have only 300 calories at meals so, in an effort to offset my feelings of failure I looked to see what my trusty fitness pal had to say about my calorie intake. They thought I should eat 1500 to lose 2 lbs a week. I think that's perfect! I still aim for 1200 but, if I go over I don't get angry at myself and throw in the towel. Its a little freedom built in for my psyche.

 Still focusing on low carb or no carb foods. I am getting the hang of it but, its still hard to re-train myself and my body. At lunchtime today we had some brats from HyVee. I ate mine bun-less and watched as Nathan ate two huge hunks of carb glory. I was totally jonesin' for that bread! I would have taken even just a morsel or the crumbs but, I refrained. Every time I want to quit and eat a loaf of bread or bake a cake I just remind myself that I lost my choice in eating carbs just as I did in drinking and this is for my own good. I abuse food and use it to numb my emotions and fill my God-sized hole. That is not the purpose of food, I'm sure you know that but, apparently I don't... yet. I am learning.

 I find myself wanting to eat something sugary to make me feel better, especially at night while relaxing while these headaches plague me. I will ask myself if i am hungry or just bored. If I truly am hungry I allow myself some popcorn or fruit. Where in my previous eating habits I would have raided Ethan's lunch snacks and eaten ice cream bars. Progress. I am trying to be easy on myself as I learn and not have hateful self talk. It's all a process.

I don't know how to end my posts. Fin.

Ketosis

What is ketosis?

Normally your body burns carbohydrates for fuel. When you drastically cut carbs, the body goes into a metabolic state called ketosis, and it begins to burn its own fat for fuel.  

When your fat stores become a primary energy source, you may lose weight.

After about 48 hours of this process, the brain starts burning ketones in order to more directly use the energy from the fat stores that are being depended upon, and to reserve the glucose only for its absolute needs, thus avoiding the depletion of the body's protein store in the muscles.

What are ketones?

Ketones are substances that are made when the body breaks down fat for energy. Normally, your body gets the energy it needs from carbohydrate in your diet. But stored fat is broken down and ketones are made if your diet does not contain enough carbohydrate to supply the body with sugar (glucose) for energy or if your body can't use blood sugar (glucose) properly.

This is so interesting to me. I googled 'low-carb diet headaches'  and this is what I discovered.
 It is the WHY of what my chiropractor is having me do. I must admit that today, DAY 1: was very hard. It was a mental difficulty more than anything. I do have a solid will power to stay the course but, these headaches are killing me. I did notice I get them AFTER I eat. usually if I eat fresh fruit then it kicks in. My doc told me fresh fruit was okay to eat since it's a natural carb and not processed.
Guess I just gotta hang in. I feel like today was the hardest day ever and I had low low energy. I am glad I made it through! I did go over my calories a bit because I ate an 8 oz chicken breast for lunch.. thanks Costco! ;-) but, every single thing I put in my body was healthy and low carb that is an accomplishment for me! I feel like I should have lost 20lbs today for all the effort that was required. I hope the weekdays go by faster with a busier schedule of chauffering kiddos around.

I took my measurements today to look back as my weekly progress reports. My doc said that I would notice more in inches than weight at first so, I am really excited to get some results. If it's this hard the rewards should be stellar I figure! Thanks for reading and offering support! It's amazing to hear words of encouragement from friends. Keep 'em coming this is one of the hardest things i've had to do in life.

Much Love.