Hey There!

Long time no talk, AGAIN! I want to say I've missed blogging, but it isn't entirely true. I think that is because I've been struggling lately with the Eating Clean lifestyle. Come to think of it, I do miss blogging - but what I REALLY miss is having stuff to blog about. When I first started in January - I felt like every post came easy and flew onto the screen. I couldn't wait to make my next post. Now, blogging feels a lot harder. I am not kidding myself - I know it is because of my current situation and mindset. I do like the fact that many people have mentioned to me that they've been looking for blog updates and are disappointed to see that I have not been posting. That's a nice feeling in one way - yet I feel like I am letting the blog readers down, too.

There are many things contributing to this "off the bandwagon" ordeal that I am going through. The major issue is stress. There are a few areas of my life - and my personal home life is NOT one - where I feel immense amounts of stress and depression. I just feel like most days I have been in a pressure cooker all day long. Escaping the madness has been tough and I find myself turning to my old habits for comfort. Not a good thing. Pete's been doing a great job at not letting me give in at home (no pizza, no fast food, no dairy queen) - Thank Goodness.

I have also been struggling because we have not been planning ahead as well. I bought all of the same healthy items at the store but noticed a few days out of the week I "forgot" to pack them. We haven't been grilling up large amounts of chicken either, which was once my main easy staple.

My best friend is coming to visit in July. I have a goal to be 15 - 20 pounds lighter by then. I REALLY REALLY want to get there. Some days I just feel helpless in actually obtaining it. I was so depressed about it a few days ago that I told Pete maybe I should find an eater's 12 step program. He just looked at me like I was insane. For now, I am going to skim through the two books that got me excited in the first place in hopes that my spirit and enthusiasm will be renewed. I am also going to pack my lunches religiously next week.

One positive item of note: I still lost 2 pounds last week. Pete's lost a few more -  his pants are falling off of him now. We're headed to our Group Weightlifting class tonight - I love it! Just gotta get my eating under control again.

Maybe I should take a note from these guys:

Workout Update

Since one of my goals this week is to work out 3 times - I decided to track my workouts here. Pete and I went to our usual weightlifting class last night - OUCH! Afterwards we ran over half a mile (which is tough when your legs already feel like jello). Thursday is that class again. I may do a cardio kickboxing class between now and then. One down, 2 more to go. YES!!

Oh, and I weighed myself again today - looks like I already lost those 2 pounds from this week's weigh in. I have resolved not to weigh anymore until next Monday. We'll see......

Off the Wagon Confessional

Yep, as most of you guys may have guessed, I briefly fell off the Eating Clean wagon. :(  It started about 2 weeks ago when I had a two day offsite meeting at work. The organizer (thanks Molly!) did a really great job at having healthy foods available but I began to splurge a little (a 2 bite brownie, diet coke, etc). Then, at the end of that week I had to fly to Vegas for a funeral. I got off the plane and went straight to In N Out burger. I ate pretty well the rest of that day and the next morning I had egg whites and fruit for breakfast. The hard part was sticking to eating every few hours and I definitely didn't get my water in. Who wants to have to go to the bathroom numerous times on an airline flight?! Not me! My friend Janelle and I went to a 5 star meal at a fancy French restaurant on Saturday night which really put me over the edge.

Once I got back, I had no desire to eat clean. Once again, all I wanted was junk - I felt like I was on a binge. McDonald's burrito for breakfast one day, pizza and m exican food for lunch a few days, definitely not enough water. UGH!!! How quickly I can get out of control. I even had some chocolate a few days at work. I don't know what it is - once I slide off track, it is a slippery downhill slope for me.

This weekend we went to the coast for a mini vacation. Pete advised me that Westport has a small donut shop and they're the best donuts in the WORLD!!! So, we had that for breakfast on Sunday. Then, on the drive home we had hot dogs. Dinner was Thai food. Needless to say, after a month of strict eating clean, our bodies were in full rejection mode. NOT FUN!!!

We both resolved that that binge is over and we have to get back on track. This morning's weigh in just reinforces that fact. In the past 2 weeks - I am UP 5 pounds. Do you know how hard it was for me to lose 5 pounds in the first place? I am so mad at myself! But, the good news is, I know that once I get back on track, those pounds will go away along with some more. Agh - the up's and down's of getting healthy.

I seem to do better when I set goals for myself (duh!). So, this week's goal is to work out 3 times this week, eat clean every day, get my water in, and blog 3 times this week. Did you notice how my blogging tapered off as I fell off the bandwagon, yeah, that's no coincidence.

I will be talking to you soon and keeping you posted.

Long time no talk!

Whew! What a whirlwind past week it has been. Work was insanely busy last week then on Friday morning, I hopped on a plane to Vegas and spent the weekend there. That was difficult for me. I didn't get nearly enough water in, I barely ate 2 meals a day and when I did eat, they weren't as "clean" as I'd hope for. I mean, as much as I tried to justify In-n-Out burger as being clean, we all know that ISN'T the case! I must say, though, that I noticed that I still didn't eat as much and I didn't crave sweets like I had before.

Today is get-back-on-track-and-buckle-down day. I am working out tonight and packing my cooler of 5 small healthy meals for work. It feels good to just jump back in right where I left off.

As for it being weekly weigh-in day, Pete lost a half a pound last week and I GAINED back the three I lost last week. It's a bit of a bummer but to be honest, I expected this to happen because of the trip. It's just more of an incentive to buckle down beginning today.

I am also resolved to get back to journaling more regularly (a.k.a. this blog) - I find it is a tremendous help for me.

Talk to you soon!

Email from Tosca!!!!!

Tosca Reno, the author of Clean Eating finally emailed me back!!! I am so excited!

Weekly Weigh In

Oh glorious day! It has been one month since I began posting to the blog. I've managed to make 27 posts in that time - I am really proud of this blog and how it has already been a big help to me and others I know.

I started out in January with no big lofty goals - just the small goal of losing 5 pounds. I lost the 5 pounds and set another goal of 5 more pounds. About a week ago I started dreaming of how wonderful it would be if I lost 10 pounds in January. Well, I MADE THAT GOAL!!! Today I weighed in 3 pounds lighter. I am just so happy. Not only did I meet my second goal of 5 pounds down but I also lost 10 pounds overall in January. I am over the moon. Pete is down 4.5 pounds this week for a total of 19 pounds! I just can't even believe it. A friend of ours came up to Pete yesterday and told him that he's looking really good - and he is. His belly is shrinking so rapidly.

I am just so proud of what we're accomplishing and all that comes along with it. I am proud that these days I crave water instead of soda or juice and that I actually like to go work out. This life is a much better version than where we were at just one month ago.

They say it only takes 21 days to form new habits. Looks as though our new habit is eating clean and living a healthy lifestyle. This journey is really amazing and I am so thankful for all the support we have.....