Day 10 - 21

Yikes. I didn't realize how long it had been since I had posted. Sorry guys. It's been a busy of couple weeks.

Last weekend, I had a few cheats. They weren't anything major, like ice cream, or cookies, but regardless, they didn't follow the plan. I'm not going to go back and list everything I've eaten for the last 12 days, but I'll list a few of my cheats:

-Last Friday I had 3 glasses of wine
-Saturday I had a gin and club
-Sunday: a whiskey and ginger, a glass of wine, and a taco salad with ranch dressing and sour cream
-Monday: Bacon, homefries, and Chinese food
- And over the course of the last week I've had a bite of nachos, a couple chips, a couple fries, and a a piece of candy

I think part of the reason I haven't posted was I was ashamed of my cheats.  If I had just had one of those items, and kept the rest of my diet consistent, it wouldn't be so bad, but that's a long list of cheats :( Since last weekend, I've done pretty well. I've been packing my lunches, and sticking to it. Although, I only made it to the gym twice last week. It wasn't open Monday because of the holiday, I went Tuesday, Wednesday I forgot a sports bra (and anybody who knows me, knows what a bad idea working out without a sports bra is for me), went Thursday, and then didn't go Friday because I was supposed to work at the bar. The last two days though I've been doing some things at home, like lunges, squats, bicep curls, lateral lifts and a few other things to give myself some exercise.

I feel as though I haven't made any progress yet. Mexico is little over two months away, and I feel like I've taken two steps back. I think it's time to step it up at the gym. I need to do more strength training, and go more often. No more excuses.

Day 8/9

   I've really been trying to get to this every day, but some days I just can't make it. So here's how my past two days have been:

Yesterday morning I woke up feeling much better about myself. I put on an outfit, and actually felt good in it. The rest of my day went pretty well too. Here's what yesterday looked like:

Breakfast:
Oatmeal with blueberries and cinnamon
3 eggs scrambled

Snack 1:
Apples and pb

Lunch:
Veggie soup
Greek yogurt with pears

Snack 2:
Hummus and cucumbers

pre-workout:
Banana

workout:
45 min on treadmill (ran about a mile, walked a bit, then ran a little more)
hour of yoga

post-workout:
choc protein shake

Dinner:
Mahi mahi, spinach, and mixed veggies


I was pretty happy with my day yesterday. I was especially proud of myself for still making it to the gym, even though I only got about 4.5 hours of sleep the night before.

Today was a decent day too. Although I didn't make it to the gym. I was exhausted, and I forgot my sports bra :( But here's what my day looked like:

Breakfast:
Oatmeal and berries
3 eggs scrambled

Snack 1:
Cottage cheese and berries
Almonds

Lunch:
Veggie Soup

Snack 2:
Celery and pb

Dinner:
Stuffed chicken (spinach, carrots, onions, garlic and cottage cheese)
Spinach
Mixed veggies

I'm starting to see a difference. It's ever so slight, but I've noticed my clothes are starting to fit a bit better. My dad also commented that my face looked thinner. I can't wait to see how I look/feel after a few weeks!!

Hypoglycemia

After my incident the other morning, where I nearly passed out in a meeting, I started doing some research on hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia is a condition where your blood sugar is really low, usually below 70mg/dL. I've suspected for a long time that I was hypoglycemic, but have never been officially diagnosed. (This is something I'm going to take up with my doctor). I often find that if I go a couple hours without eating I get lethargic and cranky, and sometimes it gets to the point where I feel like I'm going to pass out, like the other day. I start to get really hot, and clammy, and then my vision gets blurry.

 The worst it has ever gotten was when I was 16. I was a cheerleader for our highschool football team. It was our first home game of the season. I remember eating breakfast around 9 or so. I had to be at practice at 10, for a game that started at 1. During that time I had nothing to eat. The weather was beautiful, but hot. It was like 90 degrees out. We were standing on the sidelines, which is what we did when we weren't cheering. We just stood there in formation, watching the boys. I felt myself starting to get really hot, and clammy, and then my vision started getting blurry. I wanted to sit down, but we weren't allowed to sit, so I tried to just push through. Next thing I knew, I couldn't see anything. My vision went completely black. I turned to my friend Cat and said, "Cat, I can't see anything". She chuckled and was like "yeah right", but then she looked into my eyes and could see that something was wrong. She immediately got someones attention. They carefully guided me over to the bleachers and helped me sit in the shade. Someone brought me some water, and some food. Within a few minutes I started to feel better, but I was so embarrassed. I didn't want to make a big scene, and I didn't like all the attention. So now whenever I start to get that feeling, I try to sit down.

So back to hypoglycemia. I've been doing some research, and a lot of what I've found is that the type of lifestyle I've switched to is actually recommended for hypoglycemics. The reason is that a person with hypoglycemia actually crashes after having a lot of sugar. Sugar is the biggest thing that I have cut out since I started my clean eating. Research also recommends eating plenty of fresh fruits and veggies, whole grains, and getting plenty of protein. It also recommends eating on a regular basis (every 2-3 hours) so my blood sugar doesn't drop. All of which I'm trying to do. Granted, I did have that spell the other day, but that was just a result of not eating enough. But the foods I'm eating should actually make me feel better. I've always wondered why I was always so tired, and felt the need to sleep for 12 hours a night, and lacked so much motivation. I think that sugar may be the culprit. It was making me crash, more-so than it might a normal person.

The more I learn about the lifestyle change that I'm making, the more I realize what a good decision it is. There are SO many benefits to choosing a clean eating lifestyle. Our bodies crave it. It helps our bodies function the way they are supposed to. I'm starting to believe that so many of the health problems we have in this country derive from not just a poor diet, but from not eating things from nature, the way nature intended.

Day 7

Today was my first day back at the bar since I've started my clean eating. I wasn't sure how it was going to go, because when we're busy back there sometimes it can be hard to eat. But I packed my lunch, and just tried to take a bite of things as I went along. I was very tempted to eat some candy that a regular had brought in (there was a huge bag of starbursts! yum!). But I stuck to, and only at what I brought!

Here's what my day looked like:

Breakfast:
Oatmeal with berries & cinnamon
3 eggs scrambled (trying to add more protein to my morning)
Chocolate protein shake

Snack 1:
Greek yogurt with berries

Lunch:
Salad with grilled chicken and italian dressing

Snack 2:
Apples and pb

Dinner:
Leftover steak, asparagus and butternut squash

I also probably drank about two gallons of water. Lol. I bring a water bottle to work and constantly fill it up. It's much easier behind the bar than at the office to stay hydrated.

Although my eating was right on track today, I had kind of a rough day. After work I came home and tried to pick out an outfit for tomorrow. Everything I tried on I hated, and I realized it's because I'm not happy with how I look. I don't like the way my clothes lay. I don't feel pretty, sexy or confident in anything. I'm usually not this down on myself, but tonight I just wasn't feeling it. After trying on several outfits I finally gave up and decided I would pick out something in the morning, when I'll hopefully be feeling a little bit better about myself. But that's part of the reason I'm doing this, I'm trying to make a healthier, happier me. I know it's going to take some time, and a lot of hard work, and I'm excited for the journey.

Day 6

Today was a complete failure, and it was all a result of my failure to plan. I stayed at Kevin's last night, and didn't think to bring anything for breakfast. We stayed in bed all morning (which was lovely), but at about 11am I started to get a terrible headache, and it only got worse. All week I've been eating breakfast at about 7am, and a snack at 10, so my body was expecting to eat a decent amount of food at this point. I had a banana in my purse so I ate that, but it didn't help. I ended up resorting to a bowl of cinnamon toast crunch, which went against all the rules, but I had to eat. :/

So here's what my failed day looked like....

Breakfast:
Banana
OJ
Cinnamon toast crunch

Lunch:
Zucchini italiano

Snack:
Greek yogurt and berries
Banana

I also had an alcoholic beverage. I figured since I'd already fucked up the day pretty bad, what was one drink?

The positive from this day though was I was able to make it grocery shopping and plan out next week, and I made a huge pot of vegetable soup (ended up making 5 quarts!) So instead of salad I'll be eating nice hot veggie soup all next week :) Yay!

Day 4/5

Yesterday was a pretty good day. I stuck to my food, and made it to the gym. I tried Pilates for the first time.  It was rough! But I loved it. Here was my day yesterday:

Breakfast:
Oatmeal, blueberries & cinnamon

Snack 1:
Greek yogurt with pears

Lunch:
Tomato tuna salad
Hard boiled eggs
Cottage cheese and berries

Snack 2:
Pistachios

Preworkout:
Banana

Workout:
15 min on treadmill
Hr of Pilates

Post-workout:
Chocolate protein shake

Dinner:
Steak and mixed veggies

Today was a little tougher. Still stuck to the food, but couldn't go to the gym. Around 10am I was in a meeting and got really dizzy, really hot, clammy and my vision got really blurry. I almost passed out. So I went to the physician on campus and she said my blood sugar was low, and not to work out today :( I should have just gone Weds! Anyway,  so apparently I need to eat more, especially in the am. I'm thinking I need to eat more protein and fat to my breakfast to fill me up, so I'm thinking I'm going to add eggs to my routine in the am.

Here's what today looked like:

Breakfast:
Oatmeal with blueberries & cinnamon
Protein shake

Snack 1:
Cottage cheese and berries

Lunch:
Salad with chicken and Italian dressing
Apples with pb

Snack 2:
Leftover veggies and banana

Dinner:
Steak with asparagus and butternut squash

Snack 3:
Hardboiled eggs
V8 fusion drink (I read the label very carefully before buying it)

Day 3

Last night I slept like crap. Couldn't fall asleep because I was too hot, and then woke up at 3am thinking it was time to get up for work :/ Needless to say, this made today a little rough.

Here's what my day looked like:

Breakfast:
Oatmeal with blueberries, cinnamon and fiber

Snack 1:
Apples and pb

Lunch:
Salad with grilled chicken
Cottage cheese with strawberries and blueberries

Snack 2:
Banana

Dinner:
Leftover zucchini italiano
Grilled chicken and butternut squash

So today didn't quite go as planned. The cottage cheese and berries were supposed to be my afternoon snack, and the banana was supposed to be my pre-workout snack. Well as you can see I ate things sooner, and I didn't quite make it to the gym.

 I've noticed that what I'm packing for food isn't quite holding me over, so I end up eating things sooner than I planned. Breakfast is supposed to be the biggest meal, and dinner the smallest. I've decreased my dinner portions, but I don't think I've increased my portions for the earlier part of the day quite enough. This is something I'm going to have to work on in the coming weeks.

As far as the gym goes,  I was torn about going today. As prior mentioned, I didn't sleep well. I also had terrible cramps today (it's great being a woman), plus the sneakers I've been using are too big and are killing my feet! So I decided it was best to take a day off, and get myself some better kicks. I've worked out twice this week, and I still have the next three days. I'm hoping to get at least four workout days in this week. With it being my first week back at the gym, my first week at a new job with a new sleep schedule, my first week doing a new diet AND having mother nature pay a visit, I didn't want to push myself too far. I hope I'm not just coming up with excuses though...

Day 2

So today was a little bit tougher yesterday. I still stuck to my goals, but I had to improvise a little.

Here's what my day looked like:

Breakfast:

Protein pancakes, yogurt, blueberries

So for breakfast I planned on having protein pancakes. These consist of eggs, oatmeal, protein and water. I made up the batter last night so it was ready to go for this morning. For the pancakes I decided to use unflavored protein, instead of the chocolate I've been using. I cooked them up this morning and topped them with whole fat plain greek yogurt, and warmed blueberries. It looked delicious, but the taste...meh. I think this was due to the protein flavor (or lack there of) I used. I'm going to try making them again with the chocolate. I couldn't even finish them, so to make up for what I couldn't eat, I made a half portion chocolate shake.

Snack 1:
Cottage cheese, strawberries and blueberries

Lunch:

So the plan for lunch was tomato tuna salad. What I didn't realize is my manager would be taking me out to lunch. Today was my second and final day of orientation at my new job, and after orientation our managers picked us up and took us out. Fortunately she just took us to the galley (our company's cafeteria) where we could pick out what we wanted. I ended up getting a turkey sandwhich on Rye with lettuce tomato and mustard, a side of carrots, a homemade pickle, and a side of pineapple. All still within the guidelines. WIN.

Snack 2:
Celery sticks and peanut butter

Pre-workout:
Banana

Workout:
2 miles on the treadmill. Combo of running/walking for 30 min.

Post-workout:
Chocolate protein shake

Dinner:
Tomato tuna salad (Didn't have to cook anything because I had already made it for lunch, just ate the leftovers!)


So on top of my meal mishaps, I was a little disappointed in my workout. I had initially planned on running and then doing kickboxing, but I just wasn't up for it. I'm proud of myself for at least getting a workout in, but I wish I had pushed myself a little harder. Oh well. Tomorrow is a new day!

Day 1

So today was my first day of all out clean eating, and I have to say, it went really well! I stuck to my plan and didn't stray, although was very tempted to when yummy looking brownies were put out at lunch! But I reminded myself of my goals.

So here are some bikini pictures I took a couple days ago. Hoping this bikini looks a lot better by the time I go to Mexico!

Here's what my day looked like:

Breakfast:
Oatmeal with frozen blueberries, cinnamon and fiber
Chocolate protein shake (I'm using the brand AMP. It's really delicious, tastes just like a chocolate milkshake!)

Snack 1:
Green apple and natural peanut butter (I found this awesome pb at Wegman's, and it's actually really delicious, I was quite surprised!)

Lunch:
Salad: Baby spinach, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, grilled chicken and good season's dressing (This dressing is great because you just buy the seasoning, and add the oil and vinegar yourself, so it doesn't have all that high fructose corn syrup most dressings have. Overall it has less than 1 g of sugar!)

Snack 2:
Cottage cheese with fresh strawberries and blueberries

Preworkout:
1 Banana

Workout:
Ran 1 mile
One hour of yoga

Post-workout:
Chocolate protein shake

Dinner:
Zucchini Italiano: Browned ground beef, fresh garlic, a whole tomato, and basil served over cooked zucchini and sauteed spinach. It was so delicious!

I know it's only day 1, but I have to say I'm pretty proud of myself, and I was able to eat some really delicious things! And I feel great about myself. I can't wait to see my progress.