2016!

This last year has just flown by and I happily got on the scale this morning knowing without any doubt that I would weigh less than I did this time last year!  I'm 22.2# lighter than this time last year but all of that has mainly happened in the last 4 months while participating in a DietBet.  I'm a big believer that once you find your motivator you can do anything.  In some ways I'm embarrassed that my motivator is money - not necessarily getting more (although that's nice) but not throwing away what I have is the stronger pull.  I'll console myself in the knowledge that being frugal is an admirable quality.  Well, that and the fact that I'm getting healthier every day and able to wear clothes that had been relegated to the back of the closet for years.  If it takes something like DietBet to keep me on track, then so be it!

We are going on vacation soon to DisneyWorld and Universal Studios!!  We are definitely foodies so the opportunity to eat at such unique restaurants is not something we are going to pass up.  I fully expect to gain a bit while we are there although I'm hoping that all the walking in the parks will counteract a bit of that and I don't plan to go on a crazy feeding frenzy by any means but I will also not be depriving myself of things I really want.  So...between now and then the hubby and I are ramping up our juicing.  Yesterday was our first full day of juicing (well...that and the glass of champagne we had at midnight) and I won't lie it was a little difficult given all the little extras we've been indulging in.  However, when I weighed in this morning I'm right back where I was before Christmas so I guess the damage wasn't as bad as I had expected.

I've also not been as good about getting in my 10,000 steps per day as I used to be so I need to be more diligent about that.  I'm not really thinking about those steps as aiding my weight loss so much as helping me to become healthier and increase my endurance.  My hubby is a half a foot taller than me so when we go hiking I'm taking more steps than he is and sometimes I have a hard time keeping up.  I'd really like to be able to keep up and not slow him down.  Speaking of hiking - I was surprised on Christmas morning when my hubby brought me a wrapped present.  This year we pooled our money and bought a PS4 so there weren't going to be any wrapped presents to each other under the tree.  This one was extra special because it was actually from his mom.  She gifted me her amazing hiking stick!  I have been looking for one just like it since I used hers while we were visiting them this summer.  The hubby and I went on a long hike in the Smokies and she let me borrow her stick.  It fit my height perfectly and the circumference was absolutely spot on for my hand.  It gave me confidence when I was navigating declines and the extra help my knees needed when climbing up.  I'm really excited to use it this summer!

My health goals for 2016 include continuing to lose weight and to make it the norm rather than the exception that I hit 10,000 steps per day.  I feel really confident I will be back here next year at this time with success!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

I can't believe I was the winner this week on the DietBet token weigh in drawing!  I'm not one of those naturally lucky people so winning anything at all is a huge excitement.  I won a $75 gift card to UnderArmour and I should have my selected items before Christmas.

I've been sort of lax about getting on the treadmill and getting my 10,000 steps in.  Maybe the new workout clothes I ordered will spur me on.  I replaced my Fitbit with a Garmin Vivofit that I earned through my health insurance plan.  I like that it has a digital readout that tells me how many steps I've taken and how many I have to get to my goal for the day.  However, I let it set my goal for me so the goal has been around 7,000 steps a day.  Most days I've met that goal but since I had been doing 10,000 previously I sort of feel like I'm cheating. *blush*

I've been doing pretty good with weigh ins and have hit a number this morning that I haven't hit since I got back from my honeymoon in 2013.  This is completely due to juicing!  Thank you Joe Cross for finding a solution and then sharing it with others!  My husband and I have been juicing in between other events we have going on so we haven't been doing it exactly like Joe did but this is what works for our lives.  We are going to do mainly juice until Christmas and then ease up a little bit when my son comes over for Christmas with us.  Then we will go back on the program until we leave next year for our fabulous DisneyWorld/Universal Studios trip!!  I'm turning 50 in 2016 so that is the trip I picked out to celebrate.  I know, I know, I'm such a kid!  I wanted to get to One-derland before the trip but I don't think I'll make it.  But...as soon as I do I will definitely be posting about it here!!

In the meantime - here's the recipe to my favorite juice - this makes four servings:

1 Pineapple
8 Oranges (I prefer juicing oranges but can't always find them)
6 Apples (Fuji's are my favorite)
14 Carrots

Juice all these ingredients together - it takes 3 rounds in the pitcher on my Breville.  Sometimes I also use my inversion blender to add in 4 bananas.  Other times the hubby and I eat a whole banana each while we are drinking our juice.  My hubby prefers a green juice I make so I'll share that recipe in a future post.

Still Juicing!

I can't believe it's been so incredibly long since I've posted here!  We are still juicing but have been intermingling regular meals here and there.  It's been working out really well and I'm down a total of 12# since we started juicing on October 18th and 20.2# since I started my DietBet on September 7th. I'm completely pleased with my progress!  I haven't been this weight since 2013 just before I got married.

What really amazes me is that I've been able to do this even while traveling a couple times and eating with abandon at Thanksgiving!  The juicing has been very instrumental in helping me recover quickly when I have special occasions.  In the past I would go on a business trip and gain a couple pounds but never lose it again.  Then the next trip or special occasion would come up and before I knew it I had gained 30#!!

We have a trip to Florida coming up and I'm hoping to lose another 10# before we leave and that will take me to what I weighed when I got married.  Speaking of weight...I'll need to lose another 15# after I hit my wedding weight to weigh what my driver's license says I weigh.  Isn't it funny how I listed that weight because I thought it was a normal (read - non-embarassing) weight?  However, my next big goal after that is another 25# lighter and I feel very confident that I can meet it!  My DL expires in 2018 - would it be awful to go in and get a new one once I meet goal weight just so the number is right? lol

Juicing - Day 24

We have been doing pretty good with juicing!  We did end up buying a new juicer so I guess my first piece of advice is to buy the best juicer you can right off the bat.  We bought the Breville BJE820XL Juice Fountain Duo Dual Disc Juicer from Amazon.  We haven't used the smoothie disc yet but I plan on trying it out later this week.

We have been juicing the majority of our meals but eating full meals every few days.  We are both feeling great!  I've lost 10# and the hubby has lost more than that - he can't remember off the top of his head right now.  Isn't that crazy how us girls can tell you to the tenth of a pound exactly how much we've lost?!?  Or maybe that's just me and I obsess about it too much!  I'm absolutely thrilled with how the weight is coming off.  In the past I would be lucky to lose a pound a week and I'm averaging almost .5# per day and I feel fantastic.  The first few days were rough but I think that was mainly the caffeine withdrawals.  There are some juices that we absolutely don't like but we have found a couple that are real winners.  Here are the recipes for the two we really like - this makes two servings each:

Green Citrus (Green Juice)
4 Oranges
4 Apples (I like to use Fujis)
4 Handfuls Spinach

Orange Dreamsicle (Orange Juice)
1 Pineapple
2 Oranges
3 Apples
6-8 Carrots

ps...the hubby found his weight loss - 13.1# as of October 31st.  He did have to go out of town for a week last week so he wasn't able to juice much and he hasn't weighed himself yet.  He looks thinner to me!!

Time to Reboot!

Hubby and I watched Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead on Netflix last week and it really resonated with us both.  So...we went to Whole Foods today and spent our son's inheritance on lots of good organic produce and tomorrow we start!  Here's what our kitchen looks like now!

It was quite the chore to get everything to fit - yikes!  This is just 8 days worth of produce and I don't think I could have fit anymore than that.  We are planning to do the 15 day juice fast to start and then see how we feel about lengthening it.  We both take allergy meds and have some digestion issues as well. We are hoping that through this fast we are able to get those allergies under control and alleviate those digestion issues.  The research I have done is really promising that the ailments we suffer from don't have to be addressed with pills.  It would also be great if we lost a little bit of weight along the way!  We've been doing well eating mainly South Beach phase 2 foods but I think the fast will take it up a notch and shake our bodies up which is great since I am still in my DietBet - I won the last round by the way!!

Tonight I went ahead and made our breakfast for tomorrow and Monday.  It doesn't look like much but it smells amazing!!  It's called Apple-Berry Bake and it consists of 4 Fuji apples cored and chopped, 2 cups of strawberries that I sliced in half, about a cup of home dehydrated raisins, 2 teaspoons of cinnamon, and 1 teaspoon of nutmeg.  I covered it with foil and baked it in a 375 degree oven for 45 minutes.  This will serve us breakfast tomorrow and Monday.

We have five days of eating and juicing and then it will be 10 days of juice only after that.  I'm really excited to get to day four since that is when everyone says it starts getting easier and you experience loads of energy.  I can't lie though - the lack of coffee is going to be brutal those first few days!!  I feel for my husband dealing with me.  Luckily I've already started cutting back to one cup a day for the last week or so.  I'm still not looking forward to that part.

Ok...off to finish my last glass of wine for quite some time I think!!  But...wine is made from grapes so doesn't that make it a fruit?  ;-)

Time for a DietBet!

Have you heard about DietBet?  I was looking for a way to create some motivation to get back on track and I think this might be the way.  I signed up for two bets - one is a one month group led by Danni from The Biggest Loser and the other is run by DietBet and is a multi-phase contest that goes over the next six months.

Here's the link to Danni's bet which starts tomorrow and the goal is to lose 4% of your body weight within the month:  http://diet.bt/j1iasU

Here's the link to the six month competition which officially starts tomorrow - this one is tiered over the next six months with a final goal of a 10% loss:  http://diet.bt/KgNGk0

I hate to throw away money so my odds are very good that I will keep up with this!  Now to go put on my airport attire, jump on the scale (yikes!), and take my pictures!!

C25K Week 2 Day 2

Ok...so why was this day so much harder than the day before?  I actually remembered to turn on the fan so I wasn't as hot and I was wearing my correct running shoes.  I had tried some other shoes the day before and they are definitely NOT the right ones.  I'm starting to wonder if finding the perfect pair of running shoes is even possible.  My next big purchase is going to be good running shoes that are fit by a professional.  I wonder if it was due to the fact that I wasn't wearing my compression capris but just some Wallyworld special workout capris.  I really could feel all those bits and bobs moving while I was running.  That made me extra grateful for the treadmill!  I'd hate to be doing that in public!!

Today I was wanting to quit 10 minutes in and just had to push myself to do the entire 30 minute program.  My chest was hurting, my legs were hurting, and I was sweating up a storm.  Just crazy how one day is so different than another.  Oh well, I'm just proud of myself for finishing.

My next few runs will be at sea level since I will be traveling for work.  The place I'm staying is super nice and even has "chilled towels" in the fitness center.  I'm not exactly sure what that means but it sounds schmancy-dancy!!  One more day of week 2 and then it will be time for the 3 minute runs!  Yikes!!  I know I can do this because I got further than this just a few months ago.

My eating plan this coming week is lots of salads and a fair bit of walking.  My weight has been pretty steady for the last few months and that is not my goal.  I need to kick things in gear if I'm going to meet my goal of reaching my goal weight by my 50th birthday.  I have about 10 months to do it.  That means I need to lose about 5# per month.  I think that's really doable.