Tag Archives: weight loss

A Welcome Distraction At The Film Festival (or Loving Second Place)

Posted on March 11, 2015 | 1 comment

I spent most of the weekend busy stressing out about the film festival. There wasn’t much time to think about anything else or to do anything else over those days.

So when I found out that the party to announce the winners of the latest weight loss challenge was going to be announced on Saturday, I knew that it would be impossible for me to go. But I asked the leader of my team in the challenge, Bruce, to send me an email to let me know what happened at the party.

On Saturday, I was running around like crazy trying to get things done so I wasn’t even thinking about missing the party. So when I sat down during one of the screenings to check the dozens of emails and texts that I had missed, I got very excited when I saw that there was one from Bruce.

And here’s what it said:

While I had an idea that I might place in the local challenge, I was not expecting second place!

I got a follow-up email after that one that said that as the second place winner I will get a free month of membership. That’s pretty awesome!

The national challenge winners haven’t been announced yet, but I really doubt that I placed in it. Unless the winner of the local challenge at my location placed first or second and I got fourth. But that seems very unlikely.

I didn’t quite lose my goal of 10% of my body weight, but I was close, But if I did reach that goal, I still would have been in second place. The winner in the local challenge lost something like 15 or 16% of their starting body weight.

But even if I didn’t place at all, I still would be happy with the work that I did over the challenge. I worked out really hard, made sacrifices in my social life (and my sleep) to get in the required workouts each week, and I worked on my diet more than I have in the past. All of these are positive changes that won’t be ending because the challenge is over.

Considering that I didn’t place in the first weight loss challenge and I got second in this challenge, maybe the next challenge will be my turn to place first! And maybe I’ll be updating this post soon if I end up placing in the national challenge!

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Posted in Celebrations, Fitness, Fun Stuff, Weight Loss

Tagged challenge, Orangetheory, weight loss, winner

Short Workout Week (or Finding Ways To Fit It All In)

Posted on March 2, 2015 | Comments Off

Even though I got 3 workouts in this past week, it feels like I had a mini-week of workouts. That might be because I usually workout on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (and sometimes Saturday). But due to lots of scheduling issues (including work and a trip), I had to fit all my workouts in during the beginning of the week.

My first workout of the week was on Sunday. This was actually my first Sunday workout. I didn’t think that it would feel odd to me since I work out on Saturdays, but I really felt a difference in a Sunday workout versus a weekday or Saturday one.

A lot of the difference was in timing it all out. I had to eat something pre-workout, have my workout, shower, eat lunch, and then head out to the Oscar Party. I wanted to make sure that I ate enough that I wasn’t starving at the party, but not too much so that I could enjoy some food there.

I managed to get through my workout fine and took a post-workout selfie to remember how hard I worked that day.

My Monday workout was a bit tough for me. It was the second workout in a row for me (which is still a bit challenging) and it was an early workout because I had my Disneyland afternoon/evening ahead. I also knew that at Disneyland, I usually walk between 5-10 miles, so I didn’t want to be too exhausted after the workout.

I had some issues during that workout (and at Disneyland later) with some pretty significant hip pain. I know that I’m pushing myself farther than I ever thought I could go (and probably more than my hip surgeon thought I could do as well), and sometimes I will just have to deal with the pain.

My final workout of the week was on Wednesday. It was also my day to weigh in for the end of the National Weight Loss Challenge. I had a goal of losing 10% of my body weight in those 6 weeks. I was about 2 pounds away from that goal, so I’m not too upset. I doubt I will win the national part of the challenge, but maybe I’ll place. And I feel good about my chances of placing in the challenge for the studio that I go to. I guess I’ll have to wait a little while to find out what happens.

The workout had 6 blocks in it, 3 of them being on the treadmill. And all the treadmill blocks were spent most of the time at a high incline (between 10-15%). I’m really getting better at the incline work and my base pace at 4% incline is starting to feel like a flat road for me. I think that will really help in my next 5K race where the road is really flat. Maybe it will feel like a downhill road then entire time.

Due to my trip, my next workout won’t be until tomorrow (Tuesday). That means that I will almost have a week off between my last workout and my next one. That scares me a little. Hopefully I don’t lose too much progress or strength during that break. I know I’ll be doing some walking on my trip, but nothing like what I’m used to.

I guess I’ll just have to wait and see how my body reacts to such a long break (and I’ll try to make sure that I don’t have another long break like that in the future).

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Posted in Fitness, Fun Stuff, Health, Weight Loss

Tagged challenge, Orangetheory, strength, weight loss, workout

Fitting Splurges Into My Meals (or How I Need To Eat For Life)

Posted on February 27, 2015 | Comments Off

I’m still getting used to post-cleanse life. It’s tough to find a balance even though I completely understand what I need to do now. But I had some opportunities to test out my new knowledge with some splurges over the past week.

It started on Sunday with the Oscars Party. I ate cleanly and limited my calories before going to the party. I tried to go to the party without being hungry, but I knew I could be there from about 3-10pm, so I’d have to eat at some point. I did make some good choices like cut up veggies. But that wouldn’t be enough to hold me over for the evening.

The traditional thing that Chris and Marie make for their party is queso dip with chips. So I made a small portion of that for me and it was really delicious! By eating so clean and plain normally, things that are different taste more extreme than I’m used to. So less of it filled me up and satisfied me. Beyond that, I stayed with pretty healthy options for the rest of the party. My weight the next day was up a little, but that was to be expected because of sodium.

The next test for me was Disneyland. I ate breakfast and lunch at home (and also did a pre-Disneyland workout at Orangetheory) and brought a snack with me. The only thing I ate at the park was my soup in a bread bowl. No treats or candy for me. And all I drank was water. With my smart choices and all the walking I did, I lost the weight that I had gained from the Oscar Party while at Disneyland and splurging a little.

I also had a minor setback/splurge this past week with some crispy M&Ms. Those are my favorite and they only just came back into stores after being gone for a long time. I didn’t need them, but I had them. But I balanced it out by not eating as much for dinner that night.

I’m also looking at finding more good options for lunch. Now that my lunches can be cooked, I’m exploring what else I can eat while I work (which means that I need it to be ok to eat cold). Right now, I’m loving the quinoa cowboy veggie burgers from Trader Joes. I had one the other day with half an avocado and a banana. This kept me satisfied and full even through my workout!

I’m hoping to not have as many splurges/treats in a normal week. This weekend will be tough because I’m going wine tasting and will be going out for some nice meals. But once I’m back, I will be back to my almost always clean eating. But this is normal life, and I have to learn how to live this way and still continue the right way on my weight loss journey.

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Posted in Food, Fun Stuff, Health, Tough Stuff, Weight Loss

Tagged cleanse, Disneyland, lunch, Oscars, splurge, vegan, vegetarian, weight loss

Finishing Up The Cleanse (or Some Lessons I’ve Learned)

Posted on February 13, 2015 | 2 comments

If you are considering doing this cleanse, Nykki has decided to do another flash sale for my readers! Just go to her website, pick out which cleanse you want to do, and enter the promo code: LOVE

Today is the final day of the cleanse! These 28 days have gone by super quickly, but at the same time it seems like forever ago that I started.

This past week was a breeze compared to the two weeks before. Not having to do any detox drinks or tonics made everything seem so simple. Although it was weird not having to get up all the time during work to take a shot of a tonic. I’m also glad that I’m not drinking orange juice all the time anymore. As much as I love orange juice, I don’t like drinking it all the time. Plus, it’s just extra calories in my day.

While I did make a few new dishes this week, most of my meals were pretty basic. A banana for breakfast, apples with nut butter or veggies and bean dip for lunch, and rice bowls for dinner.

I also made my new favorite meal, sautéed potatoes and onions. It’s not the prettiest dish, but it is so yummy and so filling!

I think after today when I can add dairy back into my life, this dish will be improved by a scoop of greek yogurt (which I prefer over sour cream).

I’ve really loved having all my meals prepared by me so I can make them exactly how I want them. And it’s nice to see so many pretty colors in my fridge.

And my plan is to keep going in a very similar way that I’ve been doing on the cleanse. I am not going to stay vegan. I feel no need for that, and I know that I need more protein in my diet to continue pushing myself in my workouts.

But I’m not going to go crazy starting tomorrow either. For a while, I said that my plan was to eat a steak on my first non-cleanse day. I’ve pretty much changed my mind on that. I will be going to a very nice steakhouse in 2 weeks with my mom and sister-in-law, and I think I can wait until then to eat a steak.

I still have about 2 weeks left in the Orangetheory weight loss challenge. And while I don’t believe that I could win the national challenge, I think that I might be able to place in it and maybe even win the local challenge. So the idea of going crazy with food right away isn’t appealing to me.

I’ve also had some “ah-ha” moments while on this cleanse (mental clarity is one of the effects of doing this cleanse). I realized that obviously I don’t have to live the rest of my life with these food restrictions. But if I keep these restrictions (or something similar to these restrictions) at home, that means I can go out and splurge on meals without it having as much of an effect on me. In the past, I’ve allowed myself cheat meals and treats at home. I really think I need to limit those and make my cheat meals out. That way there is only one serving and I don’t have to deal with any leftovers at home.

This may seem like a silly or stupid realization, but as someone who has always been all or nothing, it’s a big deal. I’m hoping that I will be able to maintain this new mindset, and with the new mindset I will continue to see results.

It’s so funny how much I learned from this cleansing process. When I went into it, I mainly did it for the weight loss (and I did lose a good amount of weight). But I really gained so much more out of it that I never could have expected.

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Posted in Food, Fun Stuff, Health, Weight Loss

Tagged cleanse, detox, diet, food, meal planning, vegan, vegetarian, weight loss

Black Bean Dip (or Another Super Easy Dip Recipe!)

Posted on February 12, 2015 | Comments Off

2 recipe posts in one week! Who have I become?!?

All joking aside, I needed to find another recipe that would work for my lunches. While I’ve been happy with apples and nut butter or a salad for a while, I’m looking for other options. It didn’t help that my salad the other day was ruined by almost all the vegetables having gone bad (I have no idea how that happened).

So I was trying to think of what else I could do with uncooked veggies or fruit (since that is what I eat for lunches on the cleanse). I love having dips with veggies, but most of them have ingredients that I cannot have like dairy. And while having guacamole would be amazing, I needed something with more protein.

So I did some searching on Pinterest and found this black bean dip that seemed super easy to make! It’s from Edible Perspective and it is super yummy! I might even make this when I am making dips to bring to Thanksgiving!

Super Easy (and Vegan) Black Bean Dip

What You Need:

1 garlic clove, peeled

1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed

3 tablespoons of water

2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon lime juice

1/2 teaspoon of cumin

1/4-1/2 teaspoon of salt and pepper (I had to skip this because salt and pepper are not allowed on the cleanse)

1/8 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

smoked paprika (optional)

What To Do:

In a food processor, pulse the garlic clove until it’s finely chopped.

Add all the other ingredients and blend until smooth. Taste and add salt/pepper/cayenne if needed.

Refrigerate and enjoy!

Seriously, that’s it! It really does need the salt and it’s a little bland without it. But after this week is over I can add salt back into my diet.

I’ve seen a lot of other recipes online for black bean dip that have salsa added to it, but I don’t know if I’ll do that. But I do like the idea of adding things like onion, tomatoes, and red pepper into this mix. Again, something to try when I made this again (which will probably be this weekend!).

I ate this dip for lunch yesterday with some carrots and celery. Celery is a new vegetable in my life lately. I hated it raw for so long, but I forced myself to try it again. And with this dip (or nut butter), it isn’t so bad.

I love that I’m discovering new recipes that are cleanse-friendly but also something that I can see myself making even when the cleanse is all done. It makes me think that I can keep up the weight loss that I’ve experienced on the cleanse (although most likely not at the same speed) even after I’m done. The more healthy options I know how to make myself, the better!

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Posted in Food, Fun Stuff, Health, Weight Loss

Tagged cleanse, food, recipe, vegan, vegetarian, weight loss

The End Of The Cleanse Tonics (or Time To Start The Transition Back)

Posted on February 6, 2015 | Comments Off

It’s almost the end of the 3rd week of the cleanse! As this post goes up, I have just today left on the 3rd week. Then I go back to a schedule very similar to the first week, which means no more tonics or detox drinks.

I really have not minded the detox drinks at all. The stuff I put into them have pretty much no flavor, so they just taste like the orange juice I put in it. The tonics, on the other hand, have extremely strong flavors. Maybe if I loved those strong flavors, it would have been a bit easier. But I managed to drink all the tonics without having issues by holding my nose (therefore not being able to taste them).

While of course I’m loving the weight that I’ve lost so far, I’m even enjoying the other results I’m getting more. I’m having an easier time falling asleep and I have had more energy in the morning. And I’m experience a mental clarity that I don’t know I’ve ever had before. It’s almost like I had smeared glasses on before and now they are clean. Things just seem so obvious and simple to me now when before I might get overwhelmed by them.

I’ve been able to be more proactive in getting things done including errands and chores I’ve been putting off and scheduling doctor’s appointments that I’ve been worried about. I already have an appointment with a new potential hip surgeon next month and I’m working on meeting with a doctor regarding the new medication for binge eating.

I’m also loving that my groceries have been much cheaper than usual. I think that this is due to the lack of dairy and meat, so the reduced price won’t last forever. But if I reduce the meat/dairy that I bring back into my life (or at least into the thing that I cook at home), I can keep my weekly grocery spending down. But as an example, this week, I spent just over $30 on groceries for the entire week! I used to spend closer to $80!

Plus, my grocery cart looks so nice and colorful now!

I do eat pretty repetitive foods (I guess that would be a food rut), but I’m not bored with them yet. And I did make my hash brown like potatoes with onions the other night. Potatoes are allowed on the cleanse but only in limited amounts. So I’ll probably make this again next week, but I can’t make it again this week.

Now that I’m going to start the transition phase for the next week, I’m planning ahead to what I want to eat when I’m done with the cleanse. I’m going to work really hard to maintain the cleanse plan for next week, but it might be a bit tough.

I will be going to an event on Monday evening where I really can’t bring my own food. I’m hoping to eat an early dinner and maybe I won’t get hungry there. And I’m supposed to start my new temp job next week which will have me at work during dinner time for Tuesday and Thursday. So I can see potential issues coming up for me, but I’m hoping that I’ve learned enough by now that I will be able to get through them with few issues. The event on Monday is a one-time thing and the temp job is supposed to only last 2 or 3 weeks. Then I’m back to my usual schedule.

I’m getting excited to being able to add back in some foods that I’ve missed (like eggs, cheese, and Greek yogurt), but I’m also excited to see how closely I can maintain my plan as it is now since I’m getting such great results!

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Posted in Food, Fun Stuff, Health, Weight Loss

Tagged cleanse, detox, diet, food, weight loss

Almost Halfway Through The Cleanse (or Bring On The Tonics And Detox Drinks!)

Posted on January 30, 2015 | 1 comment

The second week of Nykki’s Cleanse is definitely more intense than the first week. When you are not doing the 28 day group cleanse, the cleanse is only 14 days. So the 2nd and 3rd weeks are the “real” cleanse while the 1st and 4th weeks are transition weeks.

Starting on the first day of the 2nd week, I incorporated the tonics into my schedule. There are 2 tonics for the cleanse. A liver tonic that you take in the morning and afternoon and a bowel tonic that you take at night. Both of these can be mixed with either water or juice. Since I was pretty sure that the tonics weren’t going to taste delicious, I chose to mix them with orange juice.

I basically do the tonics as a shot and hold my nose so I don’t taste them. The liver tonic tastes better than the bowel tonic, so I’m grateful that I only have to take the bowel tonic once a day.

To be totally honest, the taste of the tonics are so strong, that I questioned if I could really do them for the full 14 days. But I sucked it up and I’m so glad that I did!

I don’t know if it’s the tonics, the clean eating, or a combination of both; but my skin is looking so much better than it has in a long time! Also, before I started the cleanse, people said that while on it you experience mental clarity. At first, I was a little skeptical about that, but doing this has really cleared by head and allowed me to focus on what I need. A lot of the voices in my head (or the voice of my stomach in my head) are gone. I’m not thinking about what’s for dinner or what treat I can have. I’m focused on the here and now.

If you read that last paragraph and thought that I must be crazy, I don’t blame you. Reading people talk like that before I started this made me think that they must be crazy. But I’m shocked that it’s true!

The tonics are still not my favorite thing to drink, but they’ve become bearable and I’m getting through them.

The next thing that was added to my schedule this week was the detox drink.

This was added in the middle of the week and I drink it once right now first thing in the morning. Again, it can be mixed with water or juice. Since I don’t want it to taste bad, I’m mixing it with juice (I’m getting more sugar in my diet than I’m used to, but it’s “good” sugar and I’m staying in my calorie range).

The first time I drank this, I was super nervous. But it was actually delicious! The psyllium husks have no taste at all and the bentonite either has no taste or the orange juice covers it up nicely!

For right now, I’m only doing the detox drink once a day, but soon it will be upped to twice a day. But I’m not worried about that (at least not yet).

Overall, I’m super happy how week 2 went on the cleanse. I’m not really feeling hungry and most of my cravings are gone. The only craving I really have left is for more protein, but I know that that will be the first thing that I add back into my diet. As far as other foods that I used to eat, I’m now thinking twice about a lot of them. I have lots of food stored in my fridge and freezer that I’m questioning if I want to keep in the house anymore. Like bread for example. I used to eat toast every morning, but now I think I’ll be fine with fruit and eggs. No toast needed. So I might toss out the bread that I have in the freezer. This doesn’t mean that I won’t eat bread again. It just means that I don’t think I need/want to keep it in my house.

But a fridge/freezer clean out hasn’t happened yet. I think I’m going to work on that next week. For now, I’m just so happy that this cleanse came into my life and I chose to take advantage of the opportunity!

Quick Update: Because so many of you contacted me about Nykki’s Cleanse, Nykki decided to do a sale today and tomorrow (so ending on January 31st) for all readers of Finding My Inner Bombshell! Just go to the website, pick your cleanse, and enter the promo code: BOMBSHELL . That will get you $50 off! I hope you guys get the cleanse and have as amazing of an experience as I’ve had so far!

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Posted in Food, Fun Stuff, Health, Weight Loss

Tagged cleanse, craving, detox, food, weight loss

My Fit Foods (or Looking At Some Post Cleanse Options)

Posted on January 29, 2015 | 3 comments

Now that I’m almost half way through the cleanse, I’m starting to think about what I’m going to be eating post-cleanse. While I’m going to do a small splurge, I do want to maintain a healthier lifestyle and keeping the majority of my diet fruits and vegetables.

So when I was invited to My Fit Foods in West Hollywood for a tour and hear more about their plan, I jumped at the chance!

This particular location of My Fit Foods (they have several locations in a couple of different states) is pretty close to my house and I’ve passed it when driving around town probably a few hundred times (I guess I pass it twice a week on average). But this was the first time that I ventured inside.

I was greeted right away by Chelsey who is one of the nutrition coaches at the West Hollywood location. She told me how My Fit Foods was started by a personal trainer who wanted to make sure that his clients were going to see results from the work that they did inside the gym and outside the gym. So he created My Fit Foods to help his clients eat right and get the right balance of nutrients to help them maximize their workouts (and their results!).

My Fit Foods is a meal service that has options for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. People can pre-order several days worth of food or they can come into the store and buy what they need and want.

Everything that they have is fully cooked (no need to heat it up unless you want your meal to be hot) and they have lots of dietary restrictions that they can accommodate (like gluten-free, dairy free, vegetarian, Paleo, and low-sodium). And the food is good in your fridge for 4-5 days, so you can have several days of meals in your fridge and ready to go.

Chelsey explained that when most people get started at My Fit Foods, they take part in their 21 day challenge. In the 21 day challenge, you get paired up with a nutritional coach like Chelsey and they create a meal plan for you. These plans can be customized to your tastes and dietary restrictions. I got a change to check out some of the 21 day plans, and they look amazing! They have lots of different food options for each meal (all the dinners look super incredible and delicious so I can’t pick a favorite!). During the 21 day challenge, you come into My Fit Foods about twice a week and they have all the foods that you need for the coming days ready for you to take home!

It’s so simple for people to follow! I’ve done a meal delivery service before in college and for the first few days it was awesome. But because the service had so few options, after a few days, my meals were repeating themselves! I quickly got tired of the same few things rotating through. But when I looked at the 21 day challenge menu, while you might get some things twice within the 21 days, there is enough variety available to not repeat things every week!

After customers complete the 21 day challenge, most of them continue to order their foods from My Fit Foods. They can create their own meal plan or have guidance from a nutritional coach. But it is completely customizable and you do not have to order all of your meals from them if you know that there are a few days where you don’t need dinner (for example).

And for people who just need an occasional meal (so you don’t get delivery food that you regret), you can walk right into a My Fit Foods and pick up a single meal. They even have microwaves and tables there so you can eat inside if you don’t want to bring it home (or if you are having it as a lunch and don’t want to eat at work).

Finally, Chelsey showed me some of the supplements that they have available. I’m learning more and more about supplements now that I’m doing the cleanse, and what I think is awesome about the ones at My Fit Foods is that they are packets that contain everything you need (no need to purchase 5 or 6 different bottles).

It was so awesome to get to go into My Fit Foods and sit down with Chelsey to learn all about it. They are definitely going on my list of good and fast choices that I can make if I’m not able to cook for myself. It’s so much better for me to run in there and grab a lunch than for me to get some fast food. And I need to be looking at smarter choices from now on if I want to continue the path that I’m going on. And it looks like My Fit Foods will fit into that plan perfectly!

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Posted in Fitness, Food, Fun Stuff, Health, Weight Loss

Tagged food, health issues, meal planning, meals, weight loss

Week One On The Cleanse (or Temporarily Vegan)

Posted on January 23, 2015 | 3 comments

Today is the last day of the first week of Nykki’s Cleanse. This first week was all about eating good, healthy, clean foods. The tonics and other cleansing supplements will be starting tomorrow (I’m a little nervous on how my body will react, but super excited too!).

The food plan for each day this week was pretty much the same. And the foods that we can eat each day are the same. Basically, the “allowed” foods are fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, and whole grains like brown rice and quinoa (no processed whole grains like bread allowed). Any meat, dairy, processed foods, salt, and canned foods aren’t allowed.

So basically I’m vegan right now. I’ve gone vegetarian briefly in the past and I know that it’s not right for me. This is the first time that I will be vegan for a decent amount of time (28 days). And while I know that after the cleanse I will add animal products back into my diet (I’m really missing egg whites and greek yogurt right now), I’m intrigued to see how my body reacts with them.

I hate to admit this, but I’m a little boring in my food choices right now. I’m eating very similar things every breakfast, similar things every lunch, and similar things every dinner. But that’s what I’ve gotten used to with bulk cooking and I’m fine with that.

But even though my meals are similar from day-to-day, I’m loving them because by eliminating so many foods from my diet I’ve been spending this past week rediscovering foods that I love. And in some cases, I’m learning how to cook them on my own for the first time!

My meals have been looking pretty beautiful this week.

I’m also rediscovering how much food I really need to eat each day. It’s ok to be hungry sometimes and I have to teach myself that. I’m eating less than I have, and while I have moments of hunger sometimes, I’m not feeling sick or lightheaded really.

I’m also learning how to not snack. Snacking is something that I’ve had issues with in the past. And more recently, I’ve been eating a snack right after work on the days that I workout. Those snacks are usually pretty small and healthy (like a banana), but sometimes I eat more than that. And while it hasn’t affected my workouts, it does affect the total calorie count for my day. I can’t completely eliminate snacking pre-workout (I need the energy and calories especially now when my protein intake is lower than it has been in the past), but I’m trying to limit those snacks. And I’m avoiding snacks altogether on days that I don’t workout. I’m getting enough calories in for the day (even though it’s lower than normal) and I don’t need them.

One of the most helpful things that I’ve found with this cleanse is that Nykki has set up a private FB group for all of us who are doing this 28 day program. We can share how we are feeling and share recipes and ideas with each other. I’ve talked on here in the past about how much I love having a community around me when I’m working on my weight loss, and the FB group has been perfect.

I haven’t technically had any slip ups yet. I did sample about a teaspoon of ice cream at the Local Ice event (my friend who was there guessed that it was less than a teaspoon). But beyond that, I have been following all of the instructions exactly as they were written.

And I’m sure that you are all wondering about my weight loss this week. Yes, I have lost weight. I don’t share specific numbers on here but I will share with you what my goal is. Technically, this is my goal for the national weight loss challenge at Orangetheory, but that is only 2 more weeks than the 28 day cleanse. I want to lose 10% of my weight. There are tons of articles about how losing 10% of your body weight does so much good for you. And I like that goal. And so far, the amount that I have lost on the cleanse makes it seem like that goal will be achieved.

I’m starting week 2 tomorrow. Weeks 2 and 3 are the most intense weeks that include a few detox drinks and tonics. I’ll update you again next Friday to let you know how it goes!

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Posted in Food, Fun Stuff, Health, Weight Loss

Tagged cleanse, cooking, detox, food, weight loss

Starting The Year With A Lot Of Transformation (or Who Will I Be By Next Year?)

Posted on January 15, 2015 | 4 comments

I’ve been doing a lot of transformational work in the beginning of this year. I wasn’t expecting this all to happen at the beginning of the year (that’s a little cliché for me), but the timing of it all just happened to all be in January.

The first transformational thing I have been working on is increasing my workout days. This was something that was planned in my goals for 2015. Now I’m just making sure that I’m doing what I set out to do. I’m tracking all my workouts in a simple calendar checklist app, and I’m on pace to meet my monthly goal right now (it’s way too easy to think that I’m on pace to meet my yearly goal).

The only minor setback I’ve encountered is that there are so many people who want to go to Orangetheory now that if I don’t set up my classes over a week in advance, I run the risk of being put on the waitlist! That happened to me for this Saturday. I wanted to add the noon workout to my schedule and asked if I could get in that class when I was working out on Monday. The class was booked and there was only 1 spot left on the waitlist! I’m still on the waitlist now and hopefully I can get into the class. If not, I’ll have to add another workout to next week.

I’m also starting another Orangetheory Weight Loss Challenge this week. It starts on Friday and this time, it’s a national weight loss challenge so there will be people from all the Orangetheorys around the country participating. There is a lot of money for the winners, but I’m just going into it thinking of it as a personal challenge. I looked at how much weight some of the past winners have lost and for me to equal that I would have to lose weight at a very unhealthy rate for me. Some of the winners had lost over 25% of their starting weight! That’s just not realistic for me.

Then, continuing on my cooking trend, I’ve got my 4 week cleanse coming up. I just got the materials for it and while most of it seems very simple for me to do (lots of fruits and veggies), part of the cleanse is to spend the 4 weeks cutting out dairy, meat, and processed food like bread. I can probably cut dairy without missing it at all. But I’ve gotten very used to having peanut butter on toast for breakfasts and having chicken or pork with my dinner. Fortunately, the cleanse comes with a bunch of recipe ideas so I will be taking advantage of those (and posting my favorites on here!).

Then yesterday, I saw a bunch of my friends posting on various social media sites about the Money Love Challenge. I checked it out and within minutes of reading what it is all about, I signed up. It’s a free 21 day challenge (it started yesterday so it’s not too late to sign up) to help get in control of your financial situation.

This is something that I totally need in my life. Every year I say that I’m going to get rid of more and more of my credit card debt. While I’ve brought it down, it’s not nearly as low as I’d like it to be already. And I want to see how much I can bring it down in 2015. Hopefully by doing this challenge, I will be inspired to find ways to accomplish that goal.

This is a lot of change at one time, but all of these things pretty much came organically to me and I chose to do them. I’m excited to see what the next few weeks and months bring to me!

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Posted in Fitness, Food, Fun Stuff, Health, Saving, Tough Stuff, Weight Loss

Tagged cooking, credit card, debt, food, money, transformation, weight loss

Tag Archives: weight loss

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Starting The Year With A Lot Of Transformation (or Who Will I Be By Next Year?)

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