This has to be a lifestyle change.

This HAS to be a lifestyle change. It has to be. There is no other choice if I want to lose weight and keep it off. When someone asks if I want to go grab a bite to eat, I have to say no. I can't do drive-thrus anymore. They have killed my progress entirely.

I was down to 193.6. Was. Then I went on a two day splurge and gained most of the weight back. I'm back up over 200. How did that happen!? It's so depressing. Which makes me want to eat. Which, right now, be proud, I'm not doing.

Bah!

Anyway, I went and joined a different gym this past weekend. Why? They offer classes and childcare! My plan is to go at least 5 days/week this month. I'd like to go 6/week, but we'll see.

Yesterday I did a class called Body Pump. It was my first class there, and can I ask, WHY didn't someone slap me?! I'm so out of shape it isn't even funny, and I went and did a fool thing like take a class called Body Pump?!?! I have a severe case of jelly legs!

Today, in an effort to stretch out my poor muscles, I took my first ever Yoga class. Wow! I loved it. Can't wait to try it when I'm not sore and tired! Should be great. Tomorrow...well, I was planning on taking a Zumba class tomorrow morning, but depending on how I feel, that may not be able to happen. Dancing around on these sore legs would not be fun.

So, here's to you. And my lunch, whenever it comes. Cheers!

Liz

A healthy food rant.

Today would have been Day 4 sans caffeine, however, this morning I decided to start taking the Green Tea capsules again. I started eating a lot more once I quit taking them. Whether its because I wasn't taking them, or the fact that I'm a little stressed out, I don't know. But either way, I decided to start again.

Still not going to drink any caffeine though. No soda OR sweet tea! Its hard, but I know it'll be worth it!

Yesterday I went grocery shopping and, not for the first time, realized how dang expensive it is to eat healthy! I tell you, I am positively torn! Between buying good, healthy foods and snacks and saving money! Normally, I spend approx. $90 on groceries for 2 weeks. I thought there would be a drastic difference this pay day, since my hubby is in training and won't be home at all. I was sure that I'd have like, a $40 grocery bill. WRONG! Now, I didn't spend too much, only $70- something, but still!

I mean, I didn't buy any junk food! None! I bought avocados (a dollar a piece!), melon, lots of fruit, some good juice, and some almonds, for snacks. It's so much cheaper to just buy a bag of chips, or some crackers!

Anyway...so that was my little rant. Hopefully I'll start losing weight again, with taking the capsules. Here's hoping.

Liz

A decision

I wrote last week about how I had gone to the doctor and the verdict was super high BP and a fast heart rate (106). I know this is very likely caused by the fact that I'm overweight. Well, I've been paying attention to my body this week, and they are right about the heart rate thing all right.

Sometimes I'll just be sitting still, or laying in bed, and I can feel my heart rate accelerate. Not good. As I was laying in bed last night I came to the conclusion that I need to get off of caffeine. Seriously.

Now, I'm not a caffeine addict. I promise. In fact, I don't drink coffee, I rarely drink tea when it isn't freezing outside, and I have whittled myself off of soda almost completely. However, there are some times, no matter what I try, that I just find myself needing a soda. A Mt Dew. Dr Pepper. My old friends...Yesterday was one of those days.

Anyway, I was laying in bed last night, and could feel my heart rate/pulse speed up and down, up and down...(its really, really quite scary...) and I decided that I'm done. Ix-nay on the affine-cay. No joke.

Now..one thing that this effects? My green tea pills. They do have some caffeine in them. So I'm going to have a trial period of say...a week, where I don't take the pills and see how I do weight-wise. Hopefully I won't backslide and start snacking and eating like a friggin' pig.

And hopefully my trip to the Doc today give me some insight, if you will, on what to do. Hopefully they'll give me some medication to help lower my blood pressure. Hopefully I won't have to sit at the pharmacy for too long.

I'm feeling very hopeful today.

I'll update later.

Liz

An update

A good bit has happened since I posted last. For starters, I've been on the receiving end of really, really awful headaches for upwards of nine months now. Well, I finally decided that, as I get sometimes 5-6 headaches a week, it was time to go to the doctor. They took me in, and told me that I have high blood pressure. Like, bad. 150/81 bad. And my heart rate is really high as well.

So they put me on a water pill for a week, took some blood, and we'll see what happens. I go back this week to see if I need to go on an actual blood pressure medication. They think it may be the cause of my migraines. If its not...well then we see what happens next.

On a weight note...I'm down to 195! YAY! I've told so many people about this green tea stuff its not even funny. I love it. :)
(also, my blood pressure could very, very likely be high because of my weight...)
Anyway, time to go. Have a house to clean. Have a good one

Liz

A Correction, and a Verdict.

Ok, so I know I just posted, but I was thinking about what I said, and wanted to throw something else out there.

Green tea? Yes, it works. However, I firmly believe that I'm not losing weight ONLY because of the capsules. I've changed my diet pretty drastically. Snacking? Nope. My 'snack' during the day is sometimes a hard-boiled egg. But I'm usually not snacking at all.

Sometimes I have popcorn at night, while watching a movie or reading a book, but that's it. No more cheez-its *insert sob*, no ice cream, no candy, no soda...its hard, but worth it. After all...Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels! :)

BTW...verdict on the Cabbage Fat Burning Soup? Its actually really, really, really good! If you like veggies, I'd definitely recommend giving this a try!!!

Liz

A loss, and Cabbage Soup.

Down again, woot! (Thank you, green tea!)

I'm down to 198! *YES!* -insert little happy dance-

Ok, so yep. I'm still losing weight! Which is awesome...anyways. Cabbage Soup.

I found this recipe online, on my very favorite cooking website, http://www.allrecipes.com/. It has a recipe for everything. I use it almost daily. Anyways, I was browsing...something. I don't even remember what anymore, when I came across a recipe called Cabbage Fat Burning Soup. Naturally, I had to look at it.

Basically, its a veggie soup, with tons of different vegetables in it, with a tomato base. It actually sounded pretty good (to a veggie lover like me...my hubby is a different matter entirely). So I scrolled down and read some reviews. One lady said she had been making this for her boyfriend for 3 months, and he only eats it once a day, having a small breakfast of whatever he wants, and a small sandwich for lunch, with this soup for dinner, and he had lost over 50 lbs!

Another woman said that she checked with a local hospital, and they confirmed that this is what they feed overweight patients who need to lose weight prior to a surgery.

Worth a try, if you ask me!

Its nothing to make, not really...and it does smell good! I figure that, even if I only eat one bowl a day...at only 90 calories/serving, that's pretty good!

I'll include the recipe, just in case there are any other freaky, veggie soup- lovers out there!

-5 carrots, chopped

-3 onions, chopped

-2 (16 oz) cans whole, peeled tomatoes

-1 lg head cabbage, chopped

-1 pkg dry onion soup mix

-1 (15 oz) can cut green beans (I omitted these...hubby won't even think about trying it if there are green beans...)

-2 qts tomato juice

-2 green bell peppers, diced

-10 stalks celery, chopped

-1 (14 oz) can beef broth

Place vegetables in stock pot. Add beef broth, tomato juice, and enough water to cover the vegetables. Simmer until vegetables are tender. May be stored in refrigerator for several days.

See? Easy Peasy. :)

I'll let you know how it tastes!

Liz

Down to...

Down to 200! Woot!

I know I was much lighter a while ago...but vacations make it really hard to keep your weight down! (So does stress...)

Thats all for now!

Liz