Sunday, January 8, 2017

Losing It....The Hard Way


So I have lost 2.6 pounds my first week back on THM and quite honestly, I haven't done a full day on THM yet. Oh no....I have lost all of this on another kind of diet called.....The Stomach Flu or as I like to call it,  Losing It....the Hard Way, and no.....I do NOT recommend it. Quite frankly I am surprised that after being as sick as I was this week, that I didn't lose all my weight and hit my goal in one fell swoop. Okay, maybe that is a bit of an exaggeration, but there is definitely no food left inside me after the week I have had...(sorry for the TMI). 

Well, it is January and usually every January I suffer through some illness that throws me off....mind, body and soul. Why should this year be any different? Actually, I think that if I had not taken my THM hiatus for several months and had stayed on plan this whole time, I might not have gotten this or at least not to the extent I did. Why? Because the entire time I was 100% on-plan I simply didn't get sick. My migraines even almost went away. I was nourishing my body and keeping healthy foods in it which was in turn giving me the energy I needed to sustain my health.

Several times when I was on-plan, I started to feel as if I might be coming down with something. Immediately I began drinking the Singing Canary twice per day and making sure that I was eating plenty of protein and my green veggies such as broccoli and spinach and I simply never got sick. Now though....I've been sick!!!!!

Today thankfully, I do feel better. I will take the 2.6 pound loss even though it was a default loss and I will not let still not feeling 100% derail me. FYI: Did you know that getting sick during a weight loss plan can derail you or even completely throw you off plan and make you quit? It's true, because as you start eating again, your on-plan foods may not sound good or even taste good, therefore you drift off into comfort food and foods that "historically" make you feel better. Before you know it, Sprite, Gatorade, pudding, Popsicles and mashed potatoes, become burgers, fries and tacos. Trust me, I know of what I speak and traditionally, cold and flu season have not been my best times to try to stay loyal to any kind of healthy eating. This year though, I hope to break that pattern.

Yes, it might be tea, sprouted bread toast and chicken broth still for a day or two, but I am determined that the moment eggs, bacon, veggies and my beloved fauxtatoes (broccoli, cauliflower mashed as potatoes) can be handled on my stomach, then I will be back on plan.

Here's hoping that the rest of you are having a healthy January. Till next time....Happy Sunday!

Monday, January 2, 2017

And I'm Baaack!



Annnnd I'm baaaaack!

Sigh..........

Life, the holidays, blah blah blah. It all left me feeling bleh bleh bleh. Since October, I could feel the pounds creeping back and all the hard work I had put into losing falling to the wayside. This year though, I did not fall into a tizzy, nor did I start self loathing. In fact, I really didn't sweat it because this year I know something that I didn't know for sure last year. This year I know that I CAN lose the weight and when I finally put my mind to it.....I WILL lose the weight.

Guess what.....I've put my mind to it and I am back!!!!

Ladies and any gentlemen reading, I have learned that through Trim Healthy Mama, absolutely anyone can lose weight and be healthy. I also know that THM is a committed life style change that is not just weight loss but also a change of body, mind and soul. Never have I felt more in tune with my body or my health than I did when I was eating right and taking care of myself and exercising. So many of the issues I had had prior to THM suddenly reversed themselves. My acid re-flux was all but gone, the pain in my feet and legs was gone and I had tons of energy, slept well and simply felt good all over. I realized that I had really turned a corner though when all the changes suddenly were no longer about how I looked, but instead had become about how I felt. I really felt good.

So why stop? Because I am human and a creature of many years of bad habits. I had some really sudden and dramatic changes in my life and as good as I thought my coping skills had become, some things only cheesecake can calm. Then it became that I was simply too tired and warn out from drama to cook, so fast food trickled back into my diet and then finally, the holidays came and I said %&*$ it and I gave in to every bad eating habit I had ever had.

Sadly, there was no joy or comfort in the nefarious "comfort" foods I succumbed to. In fact, there was much discomfort as my acid re-flux came back with a vengeance....usually about 2 a.m., causing me to wake up choking and gasping and in tremendous burning pain. Then there was the hands and feet swelling from the evil sugar that I was ingesting on a daily basis, not to mention the continuous stomach discomfort and constant lethargy that comes from eating a crap diet. I also was back to the pain in my feet and legs. Then of course there was my face rounding out again and my clothes getting tighter by the day. The real problem was....I couldn't gain too much weight, because I had thrown out all of my really large size clothes, so if I got any bigger, I was going to be down to a bathrobe and a pair of sweats with a hole in the butt. Yes....it was time. 

At Christmas, I decided that I was giving myself until New Years Eve to eat whatever, but New Years Day...the bad habits would be tamed. Funny thing was, giving myself that permission kind of turned me around. Between Christmas and NYE, I was already eating back about 60% THM. The other funny thing.....there was no worry or doubt in my mind that starting 1-1-17 that I wouldn't be 100% back on plan and stick with it. 1) I knew I had done it and could do it again and 2) My body was ready for it and food to be friends again.

Yesterday I stepped on the scales. It was the one thing I was really NOT looking forward to, but I knew that I had to be honest with myself and face up to what I had done these last few months. As expected, the number wasn't pretty, but I also wasn't having to start back from my heaviest weight either. I had gained, much more than I would have liked, but it was fixable. I was fixable.

Being back, I feel better emotionally and I know the physical is not far behind. I know that once again I am in control of my food and not the other way around.

I can't speak for anyone else and I am not here to tell anyone how to live their life or change their life. All I am doing is telling you what my truth is and my truth is.....THM works and I am baaaaack!

Happy New Year everyone!!!!!