Getting Caught Back Up!

Whoops.....its been almost a FULL YEAR since my last post.....

My. Bad.

And there's no excuse for it either....except that I just didn't do it.

It seemed like yesterday that I was posting that my 40th birthday had come and gone...(tear)....well...now I am a completely grown adult of "42"...I have been this age for about 3 days now....and so far...so good!

I have recommitted (again and again and again) to my health and wellness...this time using the amazing ladies in my community as group support system (see...Facebook IS good for something!!) and keeping things simple!! (K.I.S.S!!)

June 13....I turned 42....and weighed myself and took measurements (those are numbers that don't really need to be posted at the moment...)

June 16....3 days into 42....and I weighed myself and took measurements......down 1.8lbs and down 4.5 inches!!!!

Whoooo.....Hoo!!! And while I know there will always be ups and downs to this crazy unstable thing we call health and wellness.....I'm putting this one in the "win" column for this week!!

In the next 52 weeks I will (or at least I hope to!) let you in on my tips, tricks and journey as I try to conquer my 40s and although I know I will NEVER regain my pre-pregnancy body (thanks, children....)I'm excited to see what comes of getting back into the "swing of things".

Time to Banish the Buddha Belly!!

Yup...there's the Buddha. And his belly.if I was to put my picture up...there would be some similarities...sigh.

And now for the umpteenth time I am planning my journey down the "highway to health "...where I will make it to the elusive fit destination.

How am I going to do this??!!

A few ways....first I'm using the my fitness pal app...love it, it has changed and proved so much since the last time I used it.

Second...It Works products. 

More to come!!

OCD with my weight loss?

I don't know if anyone is like me.....but I'm fantastic at planning the perfect, no fail outline for working out and eating so that I can lose weight, and feel better.....but I always seem to fail.

A few years ago I completely took meat out my diet, I felt like I needed to...I was constantly run down, and every month I was sick (cold sores and a very high temp for about 2 days)...my body was definitely telling me something. I felt amazing.....no cravings, high energy, the monthly sickness was gone....I could literally feel every single cell in my body thanking me for giving it real, raw (for the most part) food. 

But...like everything else for some reason, I toss it to the side, opting for the "easy" meals ( hot dogs anyone?) that I was throwing at my family. I knew better. I know I knew better....but I didn't do anything about it......until now.

Now....I'm not going to let one wrong choice or moment of weakness derail my plan and focus for a healthy and happy future.

Now....I'm going back to the basics....real food...minimal meat (or at least real, farm grown meat...not the overly, cheap water-filled meats that you can get at any box store/grocery...should those stores even be called a grocery store.......?)

Now.....it's time to take care of myself.....and the rest should take care of itself.

I'm sort of OCD in a way...if it doesn't go exactly to plan, or how I've written it down...then it's garbage....so, that's why I'm not going to focus so much on my food journal (which I know...people tend to be more successful with food journals, being accountable...blah blah) as much as I will be focusing on my workout journal. I don't like to deprive myself of eating....it will just come down to making better choices, having those foods in my house, and even making better meal options for my family.

In the end, I think we'll all win! Know...I know it will be a cold day in hell to think I can get my husband to workout/exercise....but I can get the littles to do it! My youngest already likes to workout with me (when I would workout, in the past.....) and my oldest needs to get a bit more activity going on.....beyond Minecraft....

What started this ball rolling all over again?? It was this fancy gadget...a spiralizer I purchased over Christmas.....used it last night to make zucchini "noodles".....yum.

So needless to say...this morning I woke up feeling great (instead of groggy from a heavy and fat filled dinner) and ready to take on the day!

Stick around to see how things turn out...every week I'll be recapping my week...from food, to mood and exercise and even my starting weight....I'm going to be {over}weight no more!!

New year.....looking for the new me...

Well, it's a new year again...funny how that just creeps up on us every year!

I feel like........garbage.

...mainly because that's all I've been eating lately.....is garbage.

So I'm great at planning my wieght loss journey....just not the greatest at holding myself to it.

Here's hoping!

We'll....I'm 40.

And nowhere near my fitness goal of not being overweight....some days I feel ok with that...but most days I just feel down.

BUT.....I've picked myself up, dusted myself off (for the umpteenth time) and I'm focused on making good changes, great choices and just be healthy (and maybe happy!?) ....that's what it's all about isn't it? Life is like the hokey pokey.....putting yourself in, taking yourself out, putting yourself back in and then shaking it all about......

...I'm putting myself back in and shaking it all about! (More about that later)

I just spent a weekend last month with the BEST bunch of friends a girl can ask for......these ladies have been in my life since high school(and some before that)...we all turned 40 this year and decided to celebrate with a weekend away to celebrate our milestone year (and to celebrate our 25+ years of friendship)...it was totally the thing I needed to recharge my battery and refocus on my goals.

So....that being said, my fitness plan is set, I'm not going to put too much focus on my meals (which I do want to get back to plant based meals)

Here's to Monday! 

The nitty gritty starts....

Things are going great...for the most part;)

I am human after all....right!?
That, and my sense of will power is close to NONE....ugh.

Thanksgiving I put being "vegan" to the side (though not too far to the side...the veggies still took up a HUGE portion of my plate) and made room for meat.
I'll be honest...this was the first Thanksgiving that after eating I didn't feel my stomach coming out of my body....and I think it's because of how I've been eating for the majority of the week.

Again, I'll say I'm about 80/20 when it comes to being plant based with my diet.

Here is a rundown of what I would like to have as a "typical" day for me: I tend to or I feel I need to eat every 2 hrs....only small "meals", if you can call them that..for me I find it helps to keep my energy level up...I try not to ever "be" hungry, because that's when I make poor choices in foods.

Morning: I wake up around 5am to make hubby's lunch (and in case I've forgotten to unpack my kids lunches from the day before, so I can get their ice packs into the freezer)...at this time I have a glass of water with lemon in it....if I'm cold, I'll warm up the water...I've also started adding ginger in as well...here's why:

Ginger: activates blood circulation in your body and improves overall radiance but also helps improve the tone of your skin!  It’s really refreshing and ginger is great to help fight off colds as well. Fresh ginger contains something called gingerol, which possesses anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties, which aids in healthy cellular activity in the gastrointestinal tract, so make sure you are putting fresh ginger root in your water!
Lemon juice: contains high levels of potassium and vitamin C. A strong antioxidant, lemon juice is also a mild diuretic, so adding lemons to your drinking water can help support your liver and kidneys in their natural job of flushing out toxins.

Breakfast: Most mornings it's a shake (plant based....mostly Vega brand...LOVE the vanilla almond one, especially with frozen cherries, it's like drinking cake batter..) with a cup of unsweetened almond milk and whatever frozen fruit I have on hand.

Other times (when I'm in a cereal kind of mood and if it's in the cupboard) I'll have a bowl of GoGo Quinoa cereal (in cocoa flavour) with almond milk, nuts (like almonds or walnuts) and fresh fruit. But I don't have this too often...just like commercial cereals it has lots of sugar (I usually only do a 1/2 c serving)...but it's yummy (and wheat and gluten free)

I like having the options I guess.

Snacks: I have a few snacks during the day....they range from almonds with 1/2 apple, walnuts with 2 tangerines, hemp protein shake (mostly after a workout or at the end of the day), "trail mix" (raw nuts with goji berries and unsweetened coconut), and right now I'm just starting to experiment with roasted chickpeas..

Lunch: salad...I say salad but it's more like a big bowl of whatever raw veggies are in my fridge that day...and I add in hemp seeds and pumpkin seeds for my fats and protein (did you know that Hemp is a complete protein source, meaning it contains all 10 amino acids that the body requires, as well, it's a great source of omega-3 and omega-6...hemp also contains Edestin, an amino acid specific to hemp, that has been considered an integral part of our DNA which then makes hemp seeds the closest plant source to our own human amino acid profile...interesting isn't it!?)
...I've also been getting into making my own dressing...just made my own creamy ranch using soaked cashews as the "cream" base...it was really good (I'll put the recipe on here soon!)

Dinner: This is where I usually have some meat (if I'm feeling like it)...or I just do a quick stir fry and add in hemp seeds again, sesame seeds (which are a great source of calcium!!) or if I have had time during the day, to try out any vegan recipes that I happen to come across (right now I'm into making "patties"...zucchini and chickpea to be exact...kind of my "meat" on my plate...)

To get more food ideas, I tend to go to my "books"...right now they are "Whole foods to Thrive", "The Thrive Diet" and "Crazy Sexy Kitchen"...and Pinterest is always a good place to find things;)








.....AND....now here's where for "the most part" comes in....(BIG sigh here)...and maybe my extreme (and ever lasting?) AH-HA moment!

For the past month...I've been eating like CRAP. And it's showing...actually it's amazing that it's showing so quickly and how....WARNING...picture isn't that appealing...be careful.

When I first went "vegan" and decided to go all vegged-out and processed food free....amazing things happened....
* the extreme redness in my cheeks went away (meaning the inflammation in my body was disappearing), my skin tone and colour evened out with this as well (many people commented on how "glowy" my skin was!)....minimal makeup was needed.
* my extreme dry skin disappeared (especially on my feet...which were TERRIBLE...and I'm an aesthetician to boot!)...
* my hair did amazing things (was shiny, easy to manage...I have very curly hair..)
* and the pain that I experienced on a daily basis...whether it was a headache, joint pain, back pain etc...went AWAY. swear. on. my. life.

then....I started eating meat/highly processed foods again....the redness in my face came back (and increased my use of more foundation and concealer!! ugh..)....my dry skin has reappeared...strange, but only my right foot has thick dry skin on it (remember I warned you about the picture...it's posted way at the bottom, so if you don't want to see, you don't have to....you're welcome!)....and my hair has completely revolted against me (and the "Grey Family" has invited more friends to join them on my head...lovely)...and headaches became a daily thing.

So....seeing how I can visibly notice the difference between how I feel when I'm eating "vegan" versus how I feel when I'm eating "non-vegan"....you'd think it would be an EASY decision on how to resume my dietary lifestyle.....but it isn't...everyday is going to be some sort of struggle...our "world" isn't equipped for healthy eating...you can see junk food everywhere you look...when I'm watching the morning news, commercials for Wendy's hamburger combos are on...really!!?? At 7am there needs to be a Wendy's commercial?

Anyhow....it will be a long (and I think frustrating) road...but if it means I feel good...my body is getting what it needs, and if I can ignore those strong cravings....then it should be ok.



Ok...now...here's the picture of the bottom of my foot....sorry.

Happy health~

plant based diet....aka Vegan.

so...I'm contemplating a change......a change in the way that I eat, and eventually maybe even the way my family eats.
for awhile know I've been looking into plant-based eating/raw foods....and for a girl that grew up on a dairy farm-I never thought I'd see the day.

I've always had some sort of animal on my plate, and I've always been told it's good for me.....but is it?

there are so many reasons to avoid animal consumption...the main ones being personal and environmental health. the animals we have available to eat now are not the same as years ago....evolution of the food chain....but does it really benefit us in the long run? big food companies have invested large sums of money in R&D in the hopes to produce inexpensive foods but still sell them at a high cost....bottom line is profit...and those big companies want it ALL!

in a nutshell they have found cheaper ingredients that aren't only void of any necessary nutrition for the human body...but these ingredients have the ability to trigger cravings in our body....almost mimicking the same effects as most hard drugs.

sickening isn't it?
....and what's even more disturbing....most of the meat we ingest is rotting inside your body as it's waiting to be digested! yum...?

now...don't get me wrong....i love steak, bbq chicken and ham at Easter...it's what i grew up on (especially being in a dairy farm) and what we perceive as "normal".

I'm trying to change my state of normal....I'm sure it will be a very hard thing to do....withdrawals from sugary and processed foods are much like withdrawals from drug dependency...headaches, low will power, irritable and so on....especially since I'm a "food addict"

a little while ago i watched a documentary called " Fat, sick and nearly Dead"...a man decided to document his journey from being fat,sick and nearly dead into a slim,healthy person....he did this thru juicing...for 60 days he did nothing but juice his "food". i was so inspired, i grabbed out my blender that had been gathering dust in the cupboard and went at it....though i only did it for 5 days....it was amazing......I was honestly impressed!

my skin looked better,clearer...i had energy....and the best thing wad i didn't have any major withdrawal symptoms that i thought i would have by only juicing.

people are kind of scared with juicing/vegan concept....
how do you get enough protein? simple...all veggies and even fruit contain protein....honest they do !
spinach contains 49% protein in a serving!....it's just plant protein instead of animal based...and this protein is much easier for your body to break down.

am I getting too much sugar? Yes and No. The sugars I'm getting are pure, unaltered sugar in it's natural state("white" sugar is bleached..)...but my juices are mainly veggie based...the fruit is just to add sweetness to the drink so it will be more palatable..
what about the fiber? I get fiber too....the "juicer" I use is a juicer/blender combo...so I still get some of the pulp into my juice...plus, I do eat other food...just going to be decreasing the processed kind...

The post above was one I started in the spring....I was sluggish, overweight (still am;) and feeling awful because of my food choices.

I would say that for a good portion of the summer, I remained a steadfast "vegan" (about 80/20)....for most/all of the day I would eat a full plant based menu...quinoa, greens, juices, salads, almonds, etc...but then once I started making my family dinner (which usually comprised of meat with veggies and such) I caved and had meat.
What I notice though, is that after the meat dinner...I am sluggish, tired and my tongue has a weird fuzzy feeling to it (honest!) and I usually have a headache......after my plant based meals...I wasn't "full", but I wasn't hungry, I had a ton of energy, my head was clear and I just overall felt great.


BUT...then WHY....when I know all this information about plant eating and how it makes me feel.....DO I GIVE IN AND EAT TERRIBLE! ugh....(as I sit in a chip and ice cream coma...yup, that's right)

So...for the MONTH of October I am going to try to go 100% VEGAN! Yup....I'll be going 31 days without eating meat, meat products, dairy, eggs (which is OK b/c 2 out of the 4 of the people in my house can't even EAT eggs due to allergies..)...luckily my family loves fruits and veggies, so the only thing I'll have to steer clear of is their dinner....

So....yet AGAIN I'm going to try and keep up with "tracking" my progress, with posts here at least twice a week!!
~happy (vegan) health~

Do you have any questions or thoughts about being Vegan?