First Day

Today is my first day on the Isagenix program and I am cranky, hungry and caffeine deprived! Just being honest. I am crossing my fingers that this is all because I am getting used to a new program and in a few days my body will be adjusted. It takes a while to rid my body of all of the delicious preservatives and junk I have built up and this is my body's way of punishing me--I am certain! Here is the lowdown so far:

In the morning I drink this juice called Ionix Supreme. It is basically liquid vitamins and packed full of nutrients--so good for my body. It does, however, taste terrible. There is no identified "flavor" but it is something like a Flintstone vitamin dunked in prune juice with a burning aftertaste of hangover vomit. I have been assured that I will get used to it, so I am holding out hope that it begins to taste like a pizza dipped in beer with a beajoulais-village aftertaste.
On the bright side, I get to treat myself to two shakes for breakfast and lunch and they taste amazing! Well, the vanilla one is amazing...the chocolate needed to be stirred a little more, so I am calling it operator error.
I also tried an oatmeal, cranberry "cookie" type thing that was pretty decent. It had all the taste of something decadent, but that suspect texture that most fiber filled healthy foods do. I have eaten worse (see Ionix Supreme) though, so I was pretty pleased overall.

I was also given a great website http://busygirlhealthylife.com/
to find great recipes for my non liquid meal. I can't wait to try a few of them, so stay tuned for my trials and errors!!

Quick and Easy

Perfect way to get off of the couch during commercials! I am going to try to do this 3 days a week when I am catching up on my TV shows. You can do it too!

Getting Past Bad Decisions

So, you ate a cupcake for breakfast......what happens now? Admittedly this is the exact situation I found myself in this morning. Sometimes we make bad choices, but it is important that those choices do not lead us on a slippery slope down a highway of guilt. Luckily I had committed to doing the Buddy Walk for Down Syndrome this morning, so I took my cupcake eating ass and got some exercise. Also in my favor is that the one mile walk was actually three! I am not deluded enough to think that it negated my pumpkin cupcake with cream cheese frosting, but it was a step in the right direction.

Delicious discovery this week: Trader Joe's turkey corn dogs. At least two nights a week I am on the go from 7am-9pm and I need something quick to keep me going. These are perfect, only have 80 calories and taste great microwaved.

Weight Loss to date 10 pounds!

Let's keep on trucking.

The First Line of Defense

As my dad always reminds me, calories in, calories out. I have been dealing with a number of foot/knee issues lately and haven't been able to enjoy my regular workout schedule. This, however, shouldn't stop me from being able to lose weight and enjoy a healthy lifestyle. When it is hard to get to the gym, or injury makes it unwise there is still the matter of making healthy eating choices on your side.
Today I want to talk about substitution. I have tried many alternatives to the food I love so much like turkey bacon and Greek yogurt, but I always go back to my old standby because IMO the alternatives leave something to be desired. I have been busy Pinning a lot of recipes on Pinterest to keep me excited about cooking healthy and avoiding restaurants and fast food, but have only tested a few so far. I have learned that while I don't care for turkey bacon, turkey sausage is rather tasty and makes a nice breakfast sandwich when I need a little extra. I have also found that adding a tablespoon of slivered almonds to a serving of plain oatmeal not only makes it taste better, but it keeps me fuller longer. Lastly, I have found many successes with substituting mashed, whipped and crushed cauliflower for a lot of the carbohydrate choices I am trying to avoid (mashed potatoes anyone...). I was skeptical when I started collecting recipes, but I have tried a few and they did not disappoint. My favorite being the Weight Watchers Cauliflower Poppers Recipe:
 
http://www.weightwatchers.com/food/rcp/RecipePage.aspx?recipeId=99541

Enjoy!
Later this week I will share some of the other recipe ideas I have collected and my experiences with using Pinterest as a weight loss helper!

Weight Loss to date = 6 pounds

Criminal

I've been a BAD, BAD girl. It has been nearly a year since my last post and I have completely fallen off the wagon. There is, however, good news....I am ready to start over on my weight loss journey and hopefully this time I will suck less at it. So, let's reset the counter back:

Day 1:
Pounds Lost: 0
Motivation Tank: Full
Tonight's Activity: Yoga
Soundtrack: Eye of the Tiger





  
I hope to have bi-weekly updates with what I am doing, what I am cooking and, of course, what I am listening to while I whittle my way back down to fighting weight. As always, watch for tips, tricks and plenty of sarcasm.

Send me your recipes, motivation, and kicks in the ass!                                                                                                                                                                         

The Benchmarks of Success

Hello dear friends.  I am back on the wagon.
In my years of attempting to lose weight I have used many different benchmarks to measure my success.  The numbers on the scale, the size of my pants, the fact that said pants are no longer leaving permanent stitch marks on my skin...all useful tools to determine my success.  This week I reached a major milestone.  I can officially paint my toenails without shortness of breath or suffocation.  Ladies (and maybe some men) you know what I am talking about.  You can no longer go on flaunting the two specks of polish that remain on your toes, yet you can't afford to schlep to the nail salon, so it is time for an at home job.  You try to put your foot up on the toilet, then the side of the bathtub, maybe you sit down and try to put your feet up on the coffee table but the angle never changes.  In addition to the loss of flexibility you are prone to as you get on in years, there is more around the middle and in that scrunched up position, lurched over your toes you can kiss easy breathing good-bye. Tonight I got ready, picked out my color (Kinky in Helsinki if you must know) and took a deep breath.  Instead of spending 10 minutes on various angles, moving my elbow back and forth around my knee I just jumped right in there and got the job done.  Now I can spend the rest of my evening admiring my lovely toes.  So you see, just when you get to the point of frustration with watching what you are eating and trying to exercise, another thing comes along to help keep you on track.  When you are struggling just think about how far you've come and what you are enjoying now.  Hopefully it will help to keep you motivated. 

Where Have You Been

I know I have been neglecting this blog, but I aim to return to the world of blogging!  While I haven't been back I have still been trucking away on my goals and to date I have lost 26 pounds since I started this whole adventure. 
Becky Day 1:

Becky Today
I am almost down to one chin and feeling great!  I hope to keep up the progress.  Look for more exciting updates in the week to come.