Eleven Pounds Lighter

Well after one month of eating 2000 cals a day (more or less depending on the time of the month..if you get my meaning) I have lost 11 pounds in 26 days. I think that is pretty awesome. My clothes are fitting better, I am in better spirits, and I must admit, I am getting excited to see at what point my English Skinny jeans will fit once again. I don't have some master goal weight in mind. I caught a few minutes of the Biggest Loser last night and it is astonishing to think that at this moment in time there is someone in the World who is starving to death and there is someone else eating themselves to death. How such extremes can exist is unimaginable. I didn't think this post would get all philosophical but oh well! I have been craving an adventure (oh my..this is quite a tangent now). I feel like packing my bags and heading abroad. I have traveled more than most in my young life but wanderlust doesn't get less over time, it increases in strength. Well, like all creatures of this planet, I am a work in progress. As they say in Bikram, be kind to others, be kind to yourself, Namaste. Good night folks. Imagine my body with eleven one pound bags of twizzlers strapped on the side...crazy! No wonder running has been easier, I threw out eleven one pound bags of twizzlers on the side of the road before I took off!! haha.

Portion Control and Organic Living

It's not rocket science. In fact, it's pretty easy once you get yourself a handy dandy measuring cup set. The truth of the matter is food packs a punch when you aren't practicing good portion control. I have now almost lost ten pounds (my official weigh in is tomorrow morning). I haven't starved myself once. I have eaten a variety of foods and to be completely honest, when I am on the rag, even Culver's kid sized custard finds its way into my food journal. The key is variety. The key is measuring that granola you want to put on top of your yogurt. It's about knowing exactly what it is you are putting inside of your body. I could go into the ins and outs of organic foods, but consider this, if your body is our car, and garbage can make it run but so can clean foods, why wouldn't you pick clean foods? (cost. unavailable where I live. maybe someday.) The truth is THERE IS NO EXCUSE. I am sorry, but I will say no to going out to dinner, I will say no to getting drinks after work, I will wait for movies to come to Netflix, and I will pass on all non-essential purchase (with the occasional splurge here and there) but the one item that I refuse to negotiate on is eating organic produce, organic dairy, and organic meats. When I look around me and see the high rates of mental illness, of autism, of countless other diseases, I must ask myself, perhaps it's the food we are eating. I am no scientist, in fact, I truly can't support any of the statements I have made (unless I did some research..but I am just to lazy after work and yoga). But what I do have is my woman's intuition, and it tells me that what I eat is important, what I put in as my fuel matters, and that chemicals, corn, and sugars were not meant to be the primary ingredients in my food, rather products forced into everything to make big business (corn and sugar) make more money by putting it into everything we eat. It's ignorant to not research food. Ok, I will get off my soapbox now. I can't change what you put in your mouth, but hopefully through example, you will begin to question what you put into your body, and start to ask questions like "why does my bread have corn syrup in it?"

Captain's Log...I mean..journal entry!

Food journaling really isn't that hard. I would argue that it's a foolproof way of holding yourself accountable to whatever it is you're eating. Every journal entry starts the same. I put the date on top, the times I eat, what I eat, the calories in it, and what exercise I did or didn't do that day. I also put what times I ate, how much sleep I got, the amount of water I drank, and how much stress I was under that day. This post is starting to remind me of the last minute of 20/20 when Andy Rooney starts babbling about random nothings. But I guess what I wanted to say is that food journaling is the critical component. I thought it was about will power, and it's not. The truth of the matter is you really don't want to eat more than you're supposed to...but ignorance is bliss. The food journal takes away all temptation because I can see what I have eaten and I can tell myself and show myself in an empirically valid way that nothing else needs to be eaten that day. Moral of the story, if you want to lose weight, get healthy, and change your life, you need to start food journaling. Now if you want to start increasing your mental health as well then journal journaling doesn't hurt either ;)

Eggs are Excellent

So as I have been watching what I eat, I must say that I am continually shocked at how many ways eggs can be prepared, how filling they are, and let's remember the most important part...tasty! I have been eating eggs in a variety of ways. A hard boiled egg at lunch is a 70 calorie addition that is tasty, filling, and really gives you some energy to get through your afternoon. I had an egg white omelete the other night with some salsa and toast. This morning I stopped at Starbucks and got their reduced fat turkey bacon breakfast sandwich with egg whites on it, and it was AMAZING! So good and so filling. As I am now officially entering week two of my 2000 calorie a day lifestyle there have been some bumps in the road. More specifically, my boyfriend I think is going through dinner mourning. It saddens him that I don't want to eat what he's eating if I don't know what's in it. But he's proud of me too, and while eating different foods at dinner is surprising lonely, it is none the less essential. I refuse to put unknowns into my body any longer. I have been telling everybody I know about my successes, losing seven pounds in one week is truly an accomplishment. But exercise is important too. I will forever thankful toward Bikram Yoga for changing my body and my mind. Yoga is something that has made this journey easier as when you are taking such care of your body you want to take care of what you are putting in your body as well. Anyway this post was supposed to be about eggs and I got sidetracked. Needless to say, this message goes to all the Chickens out there, specifically to all the ones treated humanely at fair trade farms where I get my eggs from, thanks Chickens, I do appreciate your bounty!

Down SEVEN pounds!

Well the official week one tally is in. SHOCKED that I was able to lose SEVEN pound in ONE WEEK by doing yoga four times, eating 2000 calories every day, and drinking a ton of water. I used portion control, didn't let myself get hungry, and made good food choices. I've discovered that if I eat an apple after Yoga I actually don't get ornery and impatient while I am cooking my dinner. So that was a major discovery. The apple is enough to tide me over until I can prepare myself a well portioned, healthy, and food pyramid balanced dinner. I am truly so proud of myself. I think this could be the start of something good. It appears the yoga and portion control are a deadly combination for fat stored extra in the body! What an amazing feeling this is! Very motivating! I will have to keep you posted on future successes!

Bikram Yoga: Great for the Body and Soul

Well I just got home from ninety minutes of Bikram Yoga. Considering that I worked all day and went to the 530pm session I am very proud of myself! It's tough to get motivated sometimes after work. But it's so much easier to get there if I have everything I need packed and ready in the car. It's like I am fine once I get there but in my head it's like "just go home, relax, you deserve to rest on Friday". But you know what? Once you go you feel great; not only about yourself and what you are able to accomplish, but it also makes it easier to watch what your putting inside your body. If our bodies are truly our temples why not take as good of care of them as we can? As I write this the bf is whipping together some black bean dip, we are eating grilled chicken pitas with black bean salsa, and some organic blue chips on the side. While our metabolisms slow down in the evening, it's a Friday night, and I have saved 800 cals for the meal I am about to dig into! See it's now about depriving ourselves from good food, it's about making ourselves the food we want to eat, about knowing exactly what's in that food, and enjoying it! Here's to TGIF, good food, and watching those 2000 cals a day!

Oh Breakfast.

I love breakfast. Seriously, it might just be the best meal of the day. As a couple we do one brunch per week. The breakfasts of my past can no longer be the breakfasts of my future. A new, tasty, more conservative breakfast must emerge. I will have to do some research on this. I want to continue this weekly brunch ritual but I need to know what I am eating. I think I read somewhere that if you are going to eat meat at breakfast your best choice is Canadian Bacon. Further reflection on the topic of breakfast is needed before the weekend brunch presents itself. I will keep you posted on my ultimate breakfast decision!