Day 4

Why I want to be healthy:


I want to live long for my children
I don't want to go to doctors
I want to have energy
I want to have joy
I want to feel like I am fulfilling a purpose
I want to feel like I am being obedient
I want to be a role model
I don't want to feel imprisoned by food

And there's probably many more reasons as I peel back my feelings, fears, and emotions!  I can make the choice today to stay on track - AND NOT BEAT MYSELF UP!

I may have struggled yesterday but today is a new day and I am SO ready to be on a cleansing week next week!  My main goal is to do a 3 day liquid fast and stick to it next week.  I really want to build my strength of self control before going into next week so I can be successful!!!

Redo day 2

I'm going through the 28 day challenge a few days later and this is my day 2

Yesterday was great!!  I enjoyed all my meals (they were repeats from the 21 day challenge) and I did modify the breakfast....instead of just orange juice I added a pomegranate to the juice!  SO YUMMY!!!

Today I am looking forward to my meals and also getting some exercise!  I'm going to do my new yoga DVD and take the kids on a nice long walk!

Journaling thoughts:  Things I'm grateful for and happiness

I am SO thankful for my health so far.  I've never had major health issues except for weight gain and I'm ready to step into this next chapter in my life of being overly conscious of what I put into my body.  I'm thankful for the blessings of raising my children and staying home.  I'm thankful for my piano students and opportunities to sew for others!  I'm thankful for my best friend Natalie and her accountability and friendship as we get healthy together!

I do choose happiness today in all that I do!  I thank the Lord that he has given us a beautiful day to be together and make the most of our time with family and friends!  Thank you Jesus for another day of life!

November 1st

There are so many wonderful and inspiring raw food supporters!  I'm glad to be a part of the 21 day and 28 day challenges at the Garden Diet!

Yesterday was a crapshoot.  I ate meatballs, candy, cookies, etc.  It was like I couldn't stop myself.  GRRRRRRRR

This is seriously a life style CHANGE that needs to happen and I need to be accountable in order to see results not just in my weight but in my HEALTH from now on.  And my prayer is also that my hubby will want to give up the bad stuff in his diet.  I don't care if he wants to eat cooked food but I really wish he would stop drinking so much soda and processed foods. :(

Off to go juice!  I also would like to start taking the journaling and happiness exercises seriously!

Day 21

Day 1

Day 21

I made it!  I had ups and downs, moments of weakness and I was far from perfect but with the diet changes I was able to lose 9 pounds!  I started at 200 (boo!!!) and I'm now at 191!  I can't wait to get into the 180s and lower!!!  The 28 day challenge starts tomorrow and I'm looking forward to more success and health!

Blogger won't let me upload my video so here's the link!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVokiswlRc0

Day 18

So....... I haven't disappeared! :)

We went on vacation and I feel like I'm getting back in the groove.  So far 7 pounds have been released and I decided the last few days of the 21 day cleanse would be a juice fast.  I want to "reboot" before starting the 28 day challenge and feel like I can be successful since there are no more vacation or parties to attend the next few days!

I notice that doing something like a juice fast for a few days also helps my cravings.  I don't get hungry as often and I feel proud of myself for resisting temptation!  Like tonight - the family went out to our favorite Mexican restaurant but I took my green juice along with me and I surprised myself with how easy it was to stay strong!  Yay!  Go me!

Here's a pic of me tonight -I love how pronounced my jaw line is becoming!

Day 8

Our journal exercise for the day:  Emotional Brain Training! http://JoyFoodsDiet.com

- I feel angry that... honestly, I don't feel like I have a lot of anger.  If anything, I could be angry at media and the news when it contradicts with my beliefs

- I feel sad that... my dad is sick
- I feel afraid that... I will have to take care of my parents
- I feel guilty that... I feel afraid of above mentioned
- I feel grateful that... my family is healthy and blessed.
- I feel happy that... I get to go on vacation and I'm doing well on the cleanse!
- I feel secure that... my marriage is strong
- I feel proud that... my kids are smart!

Day 7

Day 6 thoughts

I am majorly detoxing today..... all I want to do is sleep!
Also, I noticed when I was walking this morning that a pain came back to my top left leg.  I seem to detox in this area - it has gone away with colonics so I think a call into my friend Sarah Moore is due.

Cravings are gone - lightness is here!

My skin has more elasticity - of course I did notice this after I took a 3 hour nap! haha!

I had a large glass of carrot juice, walked for 30 minutes and then took a 3 hour nap.  I'm about to go make a green smoothie and have fun with the family! :)

my gift to myself!

Yay!!!  I would have loved to get the Vitamix but that's just not in the budget right now.  I've heard good things about the Ninja!  Excited to try it!

(this is my affiliate link - if you purchase through my link I will earn a small percentage of the sale!)

Day 1-3

Day 1
Food:  grapefruit for breakfast, raw tabbouleh for lunch, and jicama/guac for dinner.  My weakness was in the kids eating cheezits for a snack and I had several handfuls.  I'm not beating myself up but will work hard at being more self controlled.
Exercise:  10 minutes of yoga, walking 30 minutes, evening stretches

Day 2
Food:  Apple and grapefruit for breakfast, several glasses of kombucha through the day, greens and beet salad for lunch, kale and salsa for dinner.  At 10:00 I was starving and ended up eating 2 bowls of cereal with almond milk.  I think the best thing for me when I feel like that is just to go to bed.
Exercise:  I really didn't get anything in for exercise this day.
Thoughts:  When I feel that desire to eat and snack at night I should just go to bed!!!!  Also, the journaling exercise today asked what are our fears?  That is a big question that I could fit into different categories.  Of course my biggest fear is having one of my children die.  I don't know a mother that wouldn't list that as their top fear of their life.  I have had friends experience this and it is just heartbreaking and beyond tragic.  I don't see a relation to how that fear fits in to my eating and diet but if I were to talk about a fear that is related I would say having a disease because I'm not eating right would be my biggest fear.  I want to make good choices and feel great for my family!!!  I need more energy!

Day 3

my intro to 21 days

21 day fall cleanse

I did it!!!  I signed up for the 21 day fall cleanse and 28 days raw program!!!
Click here

It starts Monday - I am downloading and printing everything off right now..... the cool thing is that Storm and Jinjee give a refund if you keep a journal, review, and post pictures of your transformation!!!

I have a ton going on in my life (kids, piano, sewing) but I have been so convicted the past several months about my health.  I need to be better about my food and activity choices!!!  I can't wait to start!

Yay 1st week!

What an encouragement to step on the scale and see a 3 pound weight loss!

 I also measured and I'm down 1" in hips, 2" in waist and 2" in bust!

Here's what I've been doing:

• Wake up - drink 20-30oz lemon water and green coffee bean extract 
• Do some exercises - wii Just Dance or Biggest Loser cardio 
• Take Shaklee multivitamin with breakfast 
• Watch what I eat at lunch and dinner 
•  I also have taken walks twice this week at night. 

 For food, there are times that I've had more than what I should for portion control. I know that portions have always been a real struggle with me. I admit, I've opened a bag of chips and finished them in a day. It might turn out to be a snack, and another snack and hour later, and so on!!!! I want to focus this week on my portions. Hopefully when I write my next post I can successfully say I've gone a week with meeting this expectation! Here's a great food portion graphic:

Water, water, water!

I've been drinking a BUNCH of water the past few days and I've noticed a huge difference in my skin!  It has more of a glow than normal and looks healthier!  I've also had a lot of fresh juice but I can tell an improvement in my health from just the water that I've been drinking! :)

I did cave today and drink a cup of coffee - since I haven't had any the past few days I had a headache all day.  I'll have to gradually step back from that habit.  It's amazing that I usually only have 1 cup of coffee a day but even cutting one glass out I still have caffeine withdraws!

I'm looking forward to watching Biggest Loser next week and starting our 90 day challenge!  I'll try to post a favorite recipe or two each week!  Right now the main workouts that I've been doing are the Just Dance 4 dances!  They are lots of fun but I know I'm going to have to add in some more intense cardio and weight training to get the weight to come off.  I guess I'm considering these first few days of January a prelude to the hard core dieting and working out that I want to do!

Here's to a new me in 2013! *raising my glass of water*

Miracle Home Remedy

Miracle Home Remedy 


We were visiting with a friend last month and he told us about this remedy he's been doing for a while.  His mother-in-law is a nurse and into a lot of alternative health products and she gave him the recipe!  I'm excited to try it out - he's had great sucess with his own health.....not just from this little elixir but also from making great lifestyle changes.

Here are the ingredients - just blend them all in a blender!
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup raw honey
8 cloves garlic

Store the liquid in a glass jar and cover.  Put in the refrigerator for 5 days to allow the foam to settle.

Funny story - our friend had mentioned this recipe to another couple and when it was made, the lady mistook the "clove" of garlic to mean "bulb" of garlic and put 8 BULBS in the blender with the ACV and honey!!!!  They were up ALL NIGHT when they took it with hot sweats and bathroom trips and knew something must not be right!!!  Our friend got a huge laugh out of that one!!!

Background

My 90 day challenge doesn't officially begin until January 7th but I am starting NOW with all my habits to hopefully establish some healthy trends in my daily life. In 2006 I lost about 40 pounds on a raw food diet and I was so successful and well read on the benefits of vegan eating. I always gravitate back to that time when I try to "diet" to lose weight but I've never been as successful. Now I have 2 kids!!!!! I don't expect myself to be as rigid as I once was simply because I don't feel like I have the time to prepare all the gourmet raw food that I used to. I do hope to try some new recipes though as well as revisit some of the favorites. On of the raw food authors I follow really preaches how important it is to give up the bad foods. We will heal ourselves if we STOP eating the processed foods that are so prevalent in our society. Cutting these foods out is better than adding all the extra health foods and elixirs!! So, I am starting NOW!!!! I have already had my morning water, some ACV and a green smoothie! Now, I'm going to go get my dance on for 30 minutes!!! Time to burn some of the Christmas weight off! :)