Personal Goal Update

Okay here it is! The Big Update!

At the end of October and the beginning of November, I had my weight at 171.0 lbs.

So now I have lost 19 lbs since I started my lifestyle change in August 2013.

I am on track to be at or near my goal weight (140 lbs) by my designated goal time period (June 2014).

So here is what I have been doing to assist in my continual weight loss. I started a new job the last week of September and right before I started that, my new juicer arrived. I set it up and after watching another documentary called "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead", (available on Netflix) I decided to try a alternative version of the juicing regime that he partook in.

From the movie website - fatsickandnearlydead.com

The main concept of the documentary was that he was not eating anything. He was juicing the whole 60 days and getting blood tests every 10 days. He was allowed to drink water and juice from fresh vegetables and some fruits. It was a novel concept and I liked the idea so I made a modification and started juicing for breakfast and lunch to work around my new work schedule, 10:15-3:15 pm. 

So I started by keeping my wake up time at 7 am a little later than my previous job. Get up, put on work out clothes, got to the kitchen and drink my cup of hot water, fresh squeezed lemon juice & cayenne pepper, exercise for 30-45 minutes. Then I jump in the shower, get dressed, personal care, and head to the kitchen.

Then I grab veggies for juicing. I usually grab a cucumber, carrot, lettuce leaves, spinach, parsley, tomato, apple or pear, lime, all washed and juiced, followed by a little coconut water to help clean out the machine. 

From Kris Carr's Website - krisscarr.com 

I then stir the juice and pour it into one of the following containers: 

an 8 oz glass

a 16 oz glass water bottle with dark rubber cover

a 16 oz metal water bottle

a 64 oz insulated glass pitcher.

I usually pour a portion into the glass to drink before I leave, then the rest into one of the water bottles. If I made too much, then the rest goes in the pitcher and into my fridge. Since I use a slower juicer it will keep for up to 2 days. I don't ever let the juice sit that long. I will drink that first thing the following day and make new juice to take with me. Then either before I leave work or on the way home I drink the other 8-16 oz of juice. 

Then I eat dinner, like I regularly would. I make a note not to eat dinner before 5 pm. And in my normal routine I do not eat after 8:30pm, with few exceptions.

I was kind of cool to watch my wight go down and step on the scale each morning and note the half pound or more that came off. To feel my pants loose around my waist, of which a few used to be uncomfortably tight. It is really cool to see how my body is adjusting with the extra skin and then see it disappear. 

The best part is the feeling. I feel much more aware and energized than before. I have not had any digestive issues since starting this regimen. I do not know how much longer I will continue to do this. I am looking into what I may substitute in for breakfast and lunch that are healthy alternatives. I am not convinced that I can switch back just yet. I want to make sure that what I do choose is healthy and not going to reverse my current success. 

Good Health!!

Halloween Candy Switch Witch

Does the idea of your children or you family eating all of that sugar that comes from the trick-or-treating scare you or make you sick?

Here is a possible solution:

Introducing the

Switch Witch

Her other names also include The Candy Fairy and The Great Pumpkin

She is cousins with the Tooth Fairy and lives on the dark side of the moon. Her and her black cat trade out gifts to all the children who give her their candy. Your children can choose to eat and keep a couple of pieces but the more that they give up the bigger and better the gift in exchange. They can write her a note to go with the candy requesting their preferred gift and leave the candy at the front door.

This is the newer thing that parents are now doing to limit the amount of sugar and other chemicals that their children and families consume related to this holiday.

In relation to this, here are some links as to what to do with the candy besides throwing it away. I hate to waste food, even if most of the candy isn't "real" food, but you know what I mean.

Holloween Buy Back

Look up a local dentist to send your children's candy to our troops.

Opertation Gratitude

Or if there are not dentists local to you, send it to this warehouse that will send it on to the troops.

Happy Halloween!!

Just in Time for the Holidays...

In my area, we have had a Frost Warning but not frost yet. We are expected to go below freezing overnight come Wednesday. So most of the Farmer Markets in my area are gone or will be very soon.

Some of the things that I have found most difficult to find during this season are places to purchase healthy meats, dairy and eggs, especially as we get closer to Winter. It is important to get meat that is pastured/free range and grass fed, as well as hormone and antibiotic free. They are healthier animals and therefore, healthier for us to eat.

So I decided to share some of the options that I have found available to help everyone out with the foot work. List below are a couple of the sights for both TURKEYs for Thanksgiving and BEEF, as they are coming into butcher season. I will post about the Dairy and Eggs later.

Turkey options:

Most locations will let you select the size based on a pound range. Otherwise it can be prepared the same as any other Turkey.

CSA Local Harvest 

CSA stands for Consumer Supported Agriculture

Type in your zip code or select Shipping Only so that you can get the Turkey location you want.

More about the other benefits of this website to come.

Honored Prairie

You can pick up at one of their sites listed here

OR

You can ship it to any location listed on the map in orange or yellow below:

They have a limited range as they are trying to get you your Turkey, Beef or other meats in a timely manner so that they are fresh and healthier to eat.

Beef options:

Most options are Whole Beef, Half Beef, Quarter Beef and select cuts. A whole beef can weigh around 700lbs, which is hanging weight. Here is a typical selection from a Quarter Beef:
4 chuck roasts, 1 English cut, 1 pot roast, 6 rib steaks, 6 T-bone steaks, 2 Porterhouse steaks, 3 sirloin steaks, 1 flank steak, 3 short ribs, 2 rump roasts, 2 top round roasts, 2 stew beef and 45 lbs ground beef

CSA Local Harvest

CSA stands for Consumer Supported Agriculture

Type in your zip code or select Shipping Only so that you can get the Beef location you want

American Farmers Network

This place clearly ships the meat to you, wherever you might live.

Honored Prairie

See above

Grassland Graze

Located in Liberty Township, OH

They have a great page that shows the different cuts and where they come from on the cow, pictured below.

The great thing about their page is that when you select any section of the cuts listed above, it will explain what type of cuts you get and what it is good for making with that meat. Example: Short Plate: Excellent for Fajitas.

White Clover Farm

Located in Hillsboro, OH

They also have a great page that show the different distinct cuts from a cow

They have an order form right on their page. The down side is they are out of Whole Beef options for this year. But Half and Quarter Beef options are available.

Make sure to plan and prepare your fridge or freezer for the needed space for the beef. It will take up a lot of space. I have rarely ordered even a Quarter of Beef without sharing or splitting it with someone in my family or friends at work.

Despite the availability and the quantity that some of these options provide, please be aware that eating beef more than 4 times a week is not recommended. I will get more detailed about this in future posts.

Otherwise, Happy Hunting!

Belayed Update, needless to say...

Sorry for the delay in posts. That goal of mine to blog more often hasn't worked out too well. As with most people, life has been pretty busy.

Matt and I have been applying to jobs like mad men, as well as taking more foster care classes, to prepare for our re-certification coming up in November. We have also been making adjustments to the way we live and who we spend time with. Matt started a new job in Aug and I started a new on in Sept. Sadly they are both part time, but mine pays pretty well, as I get the same per paycheck that I did when work 40hrs at the bank compared to the 25hrs a week now.

Here is my update regarding my lifestyle.

I started this new lifestyle a bit on the lazy side, as I don't always do the exercises every day, more like 3 times a week verses 5. I started paying more attention to what I was eating and how I made my food. I started eating more salads and juicing daily verses once or twice a week. At the beginning of Aug, I was 193 lbs. At the end Aug I was 187 lbs. At middle of Sept I was 181 lbs. NOW I am 177 lbs.

I can't say that isn't progress over the course of 9 weeks.

It helps that I am exercising more regularly now in the mornings since I get up at 7am without thinking since I used to get up between 5:30 and 6am previously, but now I make my mornings more productive.

I look forward to breaking the 177 weight as the weeks go on. 

I will say one thing that may or may not be affecting my loss of weight, but I don't always eat the food I should. I occasionally have a glass of wine or go out to dinner with friends. But I do think about it differently. 

I ordered a side of asparagus  a side of sweet potato fries, no sugar and a small salad as a meal for $10. I was satisfied and happy with my meal as I didn't stray too far from what I should eat and with how reasonably priced it was.

Lastly, I have been trying a new thing for the past 2 weeks and will see how it works. I will tell you all more about it once I determine the results.

In the Begining

It might be the middle of the year and my husband may be unemployed and I may even be working in a job that I am starting to resent as I continue to look for a different job that I can appreciate.

But I am making changes. And if willing, you can follow that journey if you like.

About 1 week ago my husband and I started working out 5 times a week. Monday, Wednesday and Friday we use a Calisthenics Exercise routine. Then for Tuesday and Thursday we aim for HIIT by doing DDR or running up and down the stairs. On the weekends we usually have plans with freinds but usually we spend the mornings working on our house and wind up doing NEAT. Works well for us.

Don’t you just wish that was you or your significant other?

Around that same time I started following a couple of the habits that www.foodbabe.com listed here (1, 2, 3, 4 & 5).

Rules 1 and 3 were easy to undertake. Adding in a morning routine with the drink and paying attention to when I last eat, if not scheduling desert around 8 so that I am done at 8:30pm

Lemon and Cayenne are not as bad as one might imagine.

The 12 hrs is easy once you start to watch the clock the night before.

For Rule 4 I went out of my way to by a second hand juicer off craigslist for cheap.

I find juicing fun.

Rule 5 is feasible in moderation as trying to budget on one income is very difficult. I offset shopping at the local Earthfare with the organic produce at a local farm and Kroger.

I found the website for Earthfare easy to navigate. They also take multiple coupons in a single transaction.

Rule 2 is probably the hardest one to conquer. I am sticking with fruit and honey for my sweet tooth, but trying to avoid all of the different versions of sugar is very hard.



Look at this list of names. It is overwhelming.



Barley malt, Beet sugar, Brown sugar, Buttered syrup, Cane juice crystals, Cane sugar, Caramel, Corn syrup, Corn syrup solids, Confectioner’s sugar, Carob syrup, Castor sugar, Date sugar, Demerara sugar, Dextran, Dextrose, Diastatic malt, Diatase, Ethyl maltol, Fructose, Fruit juice, Fruit juice concentrate, Galactose, Glucose, Glucose solids, Golden sugar, Golden syrup, Grape sugar, High-fructose corn syrup, Honey, Icing sugar, Invert sugar, Lactose, Maltodextrin, Maltose, Malt syrup, Maple syrup, Molasses, Muscovado sugar, Panocha, Raw sugar, Refiner’s syrup, Rice syrup, Sorbitol, Sorghum syrup, Sucrose, Sugar, Treacle, Turbinado sugar, Yellow sugar

I also keep doing what I can to use up what is in my home that has already been purchased and save up to by the better options in the future.

Lastly, I started to dedicate myself to a blog. Why?

I believe that I am more likely to stick with my diet and exercise if I talk to an audience about it. I also want to see if all of this study that I have been seeing, hearing, and what not, has any merit.

Is it possible for me to get healthier and in shape just by eating healthy?

Is it actually better to eat more raw food than cooked?

Are vitamin supplements good for you?

When is the best time to take them?

I want to know more and to do that it is going to take time. I want you to be my observers as I make myself and my husband lab rats. Feel free to join me in my adventure, as I will begin my quest to find the answers about food and health.

Later!