It's Day 30!

Okay, I am going to post my weight. Do not freak out! 

Right now, I am (rhymes with) complicated and my monthly is about to start.

However, I must confess, that I have overindulged just a tad, 

but I am going to dial back and maintain.

Hmm...lemon juice and some warm raisins should fix it.

So here it is:

IKR?! 

I am walking about 6 miles per week. I am about to bump that up to 10 or more

in a week to maintain, before adding Zumba.

Last day to post April 3. 

After that date, I will change my focus.

Ultimate Fail

Back up and roll over me. 

So I read the book:

.

The author mentioned "listening to your body." Umm...I did not, so

now I have to back up and start over. 

I will be juicing more over the next week and making smoothies.

As a benefit of my mistake, you will get some of my smoothie recipes.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

1/2 cup blueberries (frozen)

1    cup spinach 

1/2 banana (cold)

2     tbsp sunflower seed butter

Enough almond milk to make smooth

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

1 cup strawberries (frozen)

1 cup spinach

1/2 banana (cold)

1 tbsp sunflower seed butter

Enough almond milk to make smooth

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

I watched the video of Ms. Douglin talking about eating soft foods (mainly vegetables and fruit), smoothies, and juice. 

My problem, even though I was eating small amounts, I did not listen to my body. 

My digestive system was/is having some difficulty. 

Mirror Talk: Ma'am, ma'am, calm down - you will be back to regular food in 9 days. Okay? 

           Me: Okay.

           Yes, I answered. 

Take care yawl!

It's Day 25!

So the last couple of days I have been eating:

~sautéed spinach

~spicy hummus

~refried beans

~fish

~roasted egg plant

~roasted zucchini 

Yesterday, I had a very small slice of this:

(smaller than the middle right piece)

Wild Mushroom and Black Truffle Flatbread

with Mozzarella Cheese

I also ate corn on the cob and mac and cheese.

The above may seem like a lot, but it was throughout the day and in small quantities.

Now for the reason we are all here -

 126 lbs

(Don't you just love the scale? I got it from my Secret Santa 2014!, 

IKR?! I laughed out loud and thanked whoever it was, then put it to good use.)

Started working out yesterday, yippee! And drinking more plain water in between meals. 

I posed in the mirror this morning. I am so looking forward to a tighter body. 

I hope everyone is as or more successful as I have been. Even though I had more hiccups along the way, this time, I am so happy and relieved that I have accomplished another important goal.

It's Day 24

The Stats

Beginning weight:  147.8 lbs

Ending weight:      124.1 lbs

Weight loss:            23.7 lbs

I'm relieved yet bummed. 

I am in 

The weight loss challenge I was a part of was with a group of

coworkers. 

Since I no longer work with them, several of them thought 

I had an advantage so they voted to

me. 

Bummer, as I took steps not to have the advantage, by not working out much at all.

So, even though I am down to 124 lbs, I am a bit flabby. Ewww...right?! 

Skinny fat is not cool at all, so I am ending my fast a little early, again bummed, so

that I can 

I am a snug size six / loose size eight. The next time I do this, I will definitely do more light lifting 

and kettle bells to stay toned in hopes of retaining more muscle weight.

Stopping the Fast

I am using the advice of 

so that I will have a successful transition from my fast. Still drinking juice daily, while

incorporating some soft foods and smoothies, it should take me 10 days. 

Good luck to you all that may be reading this, I will be posting to the rebootwithjoe website 

as well.

During my transition, I will be doing the kettle bell and dumbbell All Out Effort work on YouTube, 

so good. (Search it, it's a short yet intense workout session)

Goals:

~Maintain my weight between 124 lbs to 129 lbs. 

~Ramp up my workout routine after the AOE Workout Session

  (will be doing Zumba, Brazilian But Lift, Insanity, and Yoga in that order, from April through September. ~After all that; yoga, lifting, and walking/ jogging will be my mainstays.)

~Continue to eat clean and add more vegetarian dishes

~Drink more lemon water

~Do my next juice fast within three months.

Finally, I will still post my weights on day 25, 30, and 33. 

Because I am still bummed.

P.S. The 124 lbs is from Sunday.

Great News

I am over the slump.

I have to tell you, I was tempted to give up several times. 

This is the year I lay it all down.

 Last year I was on track, but lost momentum.

March of 2014, I went down to 136 lbs, but I did not have a plan after the fast.

No more giving up.

Yoda was right. Try is an "honest" lie, because we give ourselves a way out.

Now, if you do your best and do not make it, than you did your best, 'nough said.

I will wait to post my weight on day 25.

It's Day 20!

Yeppers! 

So, I have good news and bad news.

Good news, I am still juicing. Bad news, I am still on the plateau.

You know the saying, "confession is good for the soul"? 

I think that is overrated, I say, "change is even better."

So, I have cheated two times during this fast and as a result had two setbacks. This

last setback was a little worse. I went from 126.6 to 130 lbs.

I should be around 118 lbs right now but, as of today, my weight is 

Not bad, considering my self sabotage last week.

Okay, I am going to put on my responsible hat and plod on, plod on, plod on.

Not to self, no more self sabotaging behavior.

 

I may post this several times before the weight loss challenge ends.

Focus - drink more green juices and less sweet potatoe carrot over the next 10 days. 

Recap: I've lost (roughly) 20 lbs during the challenge and down 11 lbs since I started juicing

on the 1st of March. 

I will back on day 25 or before for my weight update or an antidote.

Encouragement

I have hit a plateau in my weight loss efforts.

Pla·teau

plaˈtō/

noun

1. 2. 

   a state of little or no change following a period of activity or progress.

   "the peace process had reached a plateau"

   synonyms:

   quiescent period; More

   
   

   

   
   

   I am tempted to get depressed, but I have decided to push onward by

   rehearsing personal victories.

   
   

   I made these decisions at the end of last year.

   
   

   1) to lose 30 plus pounds 

   2) make lifestyle changes to maintain my health

   3) stop focusing on changing others and change myself

   4) embrace minimalism

   5) get out of petty debt

   6) make a decision about where to go to finish my degree

   
   

   So, what did I let go of:

   
   

   Weight - Unhealthy Lifestyle - Others - Clutter - Debt - Indecision 

   
   

   What are you willing to let go of, in order to move forward?

   You can win and you will when, when you decide.

   
   

   

   
   

   For me - strength training and walking. 

   
   

Juice Juice Juice

So today was a big prep / juice day. 

Can you say, "ti-red"?

I am pooped, I fizzled out by the fifth juice.

In the pic there is a 

green lemonade - kale, green apple and lemon

sweet potatoe carrot - Hmm...sweet potatoe, carrot, dash of nutmeg, 

and 1/2 tsp to 1 tsp of cinnamon

and beetini - beet, grapefruit, and green apple

The green and the red are in the 101 Juice Book - Joe Cross

The orange, I found online.

So tomorrow, I have to finish. 

On the menu: apple-carrot-celery

                      green apple-celery-spinach-kiwi

                      cucumber-apple-celery

I found the juicing books help, but I like to put my spin on many of the recipes.

                      

Uh Oh It's Day

That's right people, Day 15! 

Um, so remember I said, I would share my successes and

failures? 

Well, I had a fail. I succumbed to food. Not only was it a bad

idea, it has set me several days. 

I am still the same weight that I was Friday. Which leads me to,

how will I transition to solids after the juice fast?

I found Carla Douglin's book on transitioning from a full on juice fast to solids.

Since I had two failures in the space of a week, I needed a guide

on this entire process.

What Keeps Me Going?

I'd like to say money, as I am in a weight loss challenge. 

And while money is a great motivator, it is not the end all.

For those who know me, know that I will only bet on something, 

if I truly believe that I will win.

If and when I bet on me, I will do everything within my power to win.

However, I will not resort to anything untoward or illegal in order

to win.

Before starting this contest, I asked, what are we allowed to do? 

We agreed, no pills but we could juice or use other other combinations

of workouts to win. 

One participant said, he did not care what anyone did. Huh?! He's won

weight loss challenges in the past and can go the distance.

This is my second weight loss challenge.

So, what's keeping me going? 

Faith, Hope, and Love

Faith - I believe that I can do this. 

Hope - I have envisioned myself fit and healthy for years (if you look over this blog you will

see my "failures" over the years).

Love - I love myself enough to change a decade plus of poor choices and bad habits.

This time I am taking steps to stay committed. I am on the rebootwithjoe site reading 

encouraging posts. I am blogging about my journey, successes and failures. And 

finally, I am watching, listening and reading about people who have had documented success

in juicing.

 This lady right here, Carla Douglin, of Raw Raw Life

has been a great inspiration to me. Even though the videos are from last year and previous years,

the knowledge she shares is priceless. 

Look up her info: just search raw raw life

She gives invaluable information on how to break the fast.

(I do not have her permission to post this, but as I am not profiting from this post, I think it is okay.)

How Could I Let This Day Go By Without

Coffee and Pi

I am a bit of a geek and an information freak. 

So I love the fact that it's 3/14/15 today.

I saw this this morning and thought, why do I not know this?

Seriously?! As an avid coffee drinker, who probably should

not touch the stuff (that's another post).

Anyway, Happy Pi Day to you and yours!

Determining Frame Size And Body Weight

So many of you may know this, but I did not.

                   small  med  large

Drat! I have a small frame.

The range is pretty tight, so my goal is to fall in the

range where I am comfortable, as I am planning on lifting and 

yoga to stay strong and limber.

There are other more accurate methods out there. I liked

this one for it's simplicity.

Good Cheat Bad Cheat IDK?

     If you feel like eating something, it's on you

A-dult! The only bummer is, you only have yourself 

to blame.

     My go to cheat is;

 and .

     So good. I am not recommending that any one else should do this. 

My monthly is on and I am going to be okay with the above. 

Oops...

In the post on day 10, I said I would post my findings on 

weight loss and percentage of fat vs muscle.

I was not able to locate one article that I was really 

excited about ( you'd think I would have book marked it),

but I did find a close second:

(IPad snapshot)

I read many articles several months ago, before and

at the beginning of the journey. In an effort to educate myself, 

and to give me ammunition to fight me when/if at any time 

I would want to give up.

It's Friday, My Normal Weigh In Day

TGIF!

Still excited, still losing. I had about two plateau days,

as I did not stay on track.

Posting wt loss on Fridays and on days, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and 33

(the last day).

Here is my current wt:

Next Friday, the number should be 120 or less.

There will be several challenges ahead. 

     1) working back up to solids

     2) the boatload of clothes I have to get rid of (thank God 

        for used clothing stores)

     3) being content at a size 4 - 6

     4) not being vain about the change (hey, I am human)

Okay, I will be back on day 15.

Before I go, here is a salad I've been salivating over on Pinterest

Day 10 Weigh In

I

Hi Yawl!

It's day 10! 

Okay recap, here is my weight at the beginning of the challenge January 2:

And here is my current weight:

I have a crazy goal of 107.8 lbs. 

Seems far fetched, but women lose muscle at a larger percentage than men,

So, I will gain back (maybe) five to ten pounds by June. 

In my next post, I will disclose my findings regarding muscle vs fat, 

juicing, and the importance of having a plan after the fast. 

Oh, I forgot to post a disclaimer: 

I am not a dietician or a doctor, the information posted here

is my own opinion, findings, and posts of my weight loss journey. 

As with any plan, please consult your dietician or doctor before following any program.

First Fail

So Friday I was "rhymes with" complicated. 

As I so wisely decided to eat veggies and salmon after a tiring

trek.

EPIC 

!

Note to self, don't do that again. 

I had to take a stool softener. Ewe...they are slowly working, but I have been 

just this side of miserable. 

This misadventure has put me off food until the end of my fast. 

On the flip side, I am down 1.2 pounds. Yes people, I am officially in the 20's club,

just barely, but still in.

Day 6 of the JF holla!

Okay it's 

 OMG, how I would love an espresso.

Howdy y'all, it's super early, but I have a lot to do today as 

.

I am posting yesterday's weight -

Even though this is fantastic, I will be weighing myself in an hour and 

may post again. Explanation: yesterday I went on a moderate walk, about 2 miles. 

You would have thought I was dying, the way I looked walking up that hill, Lol! 

So, upon returning home, I thought I deserved a little treat. So I ate this

Now, mind you, I only ate enough to feed a child and chewed thoroughly,

but my body did not like it. So I'm (rhymes with) complicated.

(Oh, BTW, I grabbed all of the pics, sans the weight one, from Google, the salmon 

one was a bit tough, I had to go to the site and for that, I have to give street credit:

www.paulwhartonstyle.com)

What Day Is It?

So, today is day 5, but I am going to move it back to 

day 4 to match the day of the month.

I will be posting my weight on Friday or Saturday of each week.

But quickly, I tried this awesome recipe today. 

Mmm...it's Carrot Apple and Celery

4 Carrots

1 Apple (green or red)

2 Ribs of Celery

Juice and enjoy.

Reference for picture of the food on the left and recipe: 

http://thehealthyfamilyandhome.com/carrot-apple-and-celery-juice/

Beginning of Day 4

So I was not going to post today, but I weighed myself

and, well look for yourself;

Crazy, huh? I know.

So, yesterday I did a combination of infusion water; ginger and lemon, Recharge Orange Sports

Drink and V8 Low Sodium

To the V8 I added -

1 tbsp of lemon juice and 

10 dashes of Franks red hotsauce to 172mls (2 of the little cans).

TTFN - will post at the end of the week.

The Start of Day 3

So, I did dream about sandwiches.

Crazy, right?!

I think it was a combination of starting the fast,

sitting in a conference, and visuals over the

weekend.

My dream was about 

Jimmy Johns! 

Okay, so Saturday I was on my way to H-Mart to pick up some

Asian goods, when a JJ's delivery guy crossed my path.

I won't go into details, but it was "freakish", get it, wink-wink.

My weight loss is minimal as I did not do much;

Tada!

I know from experience, the weight will drop faster, once I include more

activities into my day.

In this journey, I will be shedding bad habits as well as weight.

Words are powerful, but actions are better. Write your story one page (day) at a time.

Remember, the previous pages are already written and unlike an actual manuscript, those

pages can not be edited. 

I will be posting at least weekly if not more, sharing recipes, antidotes, weigh-ins, and finally successes

and failures. 

My struggle is as real to me as yours is to you. I wish you joy and success.

Selah