What a difference a week makes!

I am into my first week of Power 90 3/4.  If you are wondering what that is, it is my workout routine.  Yes, I workout too!  It is the food that has made all the difference.  The biggest problem is I love food and I used to hate exercise.  After 3 years of steady workouts I have come to tolerate workouts and even maybe like them a bit.  I love the afterglow, that's what keeps me coming back for more.  I digress, this is about the food.  I have cooked a bit more this week and kept a bit of food in the fridge.  I have been able to start to trust myself with a few things in the house.  This is progress not perfection.  It is working.  The part this week is that the feelings after 8 weeks are erupting and exploding like a volcano.  They pass and I understand that because I spent so much time eating I spent less time facing my life.  At least my emotional life.  I really didn't know I had an emotional life but I guess we all do.  I look back and realize that in the past when I have lost weight, I denied my emotions until I started gaining the weight back.  Food can be very numbing.  The last few days I've cried a bit, got mad a bit and let it go.  Today I'm smiling again because my emotions didn't win and I let them pass through me like a bad case of salmonella.  My food consumption actually went down and now I am happier and lighter.  Just let the emotions be and don't take comfort in the food if this happens to you.  Comfort food is an oxymoron.  Food cannot sustain comfort.  If you take comfort in a plate of mac and cheese, that comfort is short lived followed by remorse, regret, self-hatred and a bigger waistline.  How comforting is that?  Not very much.

Here's the skinny on my food!

I called my blog It's All About The Food and now lets get down to the nitty gritty of how I go about my daily planning of  meals.  I am single so right off the bat that shows that how I plan meals can be and should be different from men or women with families and kids. I don't have to stock my fridge. Now that was a big revelation for me.  One day I realized I wasn't cooking for a family of 5 like my mom or 7 like my grandmother.  I didn't need to stock a pantry or cook huge portions and then freeze later.  I was actually a family of One, uno, solo, solitary blah, blah, blah. One!! I got it and that set me on my path to sane shopping, cooking and eating...for one. I put away my cookbooks that all were geared toward a minimum of 2 people.  I put away all my huge pots and pans, stacks of dishes, cups, plates etc. I haven't been to Costco since.  Here is what has been working for me.  I shop everyday.  I know very European.  I feel very Parisian, though I'm not.  I am an American mutt (half german, half italian). I now know most of the names of all the workers at my local Trader Joe's, occasionally I go to Ralph's.  I like TJ's mostly because they have small pre-packaged salads most of them low calorie, especially if you don't use the dressings.  I get lots of variety.  They even have a few hot meals that work for one person as well.  My calorie goal everyday is between 1300 and 1500 calories.  I stay in that range most days.  Once in a while it goes a little over.  I have lost 15lbs this way.  Total weight loss in 2 yrs is 35lbs.  It sometimes is hard not to buy the oversized bag of spinach or the big bag of frozen chicken breasts.  Once you taste a fresh chicken breast or piece of salmon from the butcher you will never go back.  Mostly I eat my pre-packaged salads with some extra spinach.  However last Saturday I was craving salmon.  So I went to the local fish market bought a fresh piece of salmon and some fresh brussel sprouts.  Cooked it, ate it, no leftovers.  It was delish!!!! I buy only what I need. I no longer stock 6 months worth of toilet paper either. I have taken hold and I now shop by the adage "Less is More".  I don't live in the jungle. There are stores around every corner.  I can buy as I need. It's okay. I won't starve if I don't buy 2 boxes of cereal.  One will do until it's gone.  Then if I am done with cereal for awhile it doesn't sit in my house.  Less is More!!! Try it. I feel so much lighter not just weight wise.  As well, I meet more people.  When someone sees you buy 2 salads, one peach, one banana and a small thing of muffins...Hmmm!!! She must be single.  They talk to you.  They engage you.  Life is alot more interesting.

Week Two of My Blog and Week 8 of my challenge

It is week 8 of my challenge to get fit, get healthy and keep my eye on the prize. On week 8, I am at a size 8.  Not bad since last year at the time I was busting out of my size 12's.  Even though I exercised 6 days out of 7, I kept fudging on my food. Okay it was a alot more than fudging.  Yum fudge but I digress.  Back on point.  The reason I started this blog was to pull myself out of my denial.  My mom used to say if you ate everthing that was healthy for you, you would weigh 400 lbs.  I think she may have been right.  The way this whole 90 day challenge started was that after 2 years of working out almost everyday with rest days and rest weeks I still was not at my goal.  I had lost 25lbs and gained 17lbs back.  I finally realized it was all about the food.  It didn't matter that I had stopped eating junk food, processed food, and  fried foods or that  I ate mostly veggies, complex carbs, lean protein and whole grains.  I was still not anywhere near where I wanted to be.  I found a calorie calculator and it estimated that at 1500 calories a day I could be at my goal weight by December 2010.  That seemed a real possibility to me so I set this challenge in place.  Here I am 8 weeks later into my Gap Cargo Pants size 8.  I feel great and exercising doesn't seem like such a chore because I am reaching my goals.  I am becoming leaner and stronger by the day.  I will talk about the food specifics next time.  It's yoga class tonight and I don't want to be late.  I will start posting pictures too.

Day One of My Blog Regarding Week 7 of My Committment

This blog is all about my committment regarding my decision to change my life in 90 days or less.  I have lost 10 lbs and I can tell I've gained muscle in the last 7 weeks.  I call my blog It's all about the Food.  Of all the diets, exercise, meditating and praying I have done regarding my fluctuating waistline over the last 20 years of my life, it's the food that gets me every time.  There is no denying it.  If I could sew my mouth shut I would never have to diet but then I would faint and die and that doesn't seem like a good option.  So here I am again. I have been working out for 3 years, continuously for the last 2 years with a 9 month break in between because of a neck injury.  I have learned how to eat finally after all these years.  My secret: eat less, move more.  I think I heard that somewhere.  Yep, I know I did.  I think it was in third grade health class.  No matter when I heard it first.  It was true then and it's true now.  There is no secret to looking like Kate Moss or Holly Hunter.  Okay well maybe there is a secret to looking like Holly Hunter have you seen her abs.  My, my, my I want those abs.  So I've put aside all my labels, all my fat clothes have been sent away.  Everything I own either fits or is a bit snug and I have one pair of jeans that are a size 9 from about 1988.  Now I have to say I can now after 7 weeks fit into my size 8 gap cargo pants but they are way bigger then those 9 jeans from the 80's.  There is all the proof I need that the capitalists are against me.  In order to make money clothes designers started making all there sizes bigger over the years. This mean's those size 9 jeans are probably about a size 4 now.  So what would I have done if I had stayed a size 3 all these years.  I would probably have no clothes to wear.  Well I feel better, NOT!!! In case you were wondering I've also seen SUPERSIZE ME.  It is a total must for anyone wanting to battle the bulge.  Now that said, what did I eat today you may ask.  I ate whatever I wanted.  I wanted to eat like I always planned to eat when I became lean and strong.  Well now I eat that way anyway.  I had an organic bran blueberry muffin with coffee/almond milk/truvia for breakfast, snack Peanut Butter and an apple, Lunch: Turkey and Swiss on whole grain thin bread mustard no mayo, Snack: Luna Bar Caramel Nut..YUMMMy!! Dinner: Turkey with BBQ Sauce lettuce and tomato on the side and a small bag of popped chips.  Lots of water.  I mean lots especially with ice.  I love ice!!!