If you are just starting to follow along on my new and improved weight loss journey, I recommend starting with these posts from last year first so you can see how it all began (any text that is highlighted orange is a clickable link) – Coming Clean Post Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 7 Week 8 Weeks 9-12 Week 13 Week 14 Week 16 Week 17 Also, make sure you are following along on Instagram, as a lot of the day to day stuff will take place there.
CLICK HERE TO GO BACK TO WEEK 2…
Starting Date: 8/29/16
Starting Weight: 281 lbs
Current Weight: 269.5 lbs
Pounds Lost: 11.5
Goal Weight: 180
Goal Date: 8/27/17
Height: 5′ 9″
I lost one pound over the past week, bringing my two week total to 11.5 pounds. Notice that I did not say “only one pound”? A loss is a loss in my book and I am heading in the right direction. I am not surprised though, as my period came on Sunday night. I knew that the scale was not really going to tip in my favor. I am committed to this process and to making lasting change this time around. As I said in Week 1, I am not going to do progress pictures every week this time around. I will weigh in each week and take new progress pictures every 2-3 weeks. I want to make success as easy as possible. For me, that means putting as little pressure on myself as possible. I can’t be so rigid about documenting every last thing or I will burn myself out FAST! Last week I had trouble finding the words to sum up how I was feeling each day. That NEVER happens. I always have words. I think I was just too busy spending quality time with myself and with those that I love. I was too busy living life to document it all. Thankfully I still snapped a lot of pictures, so last week turned into more of a photo diary. Last year when I was going through this process, I would have let that make me feel really guilty and like I wasn’t living up to my promise of “perfection”. Isn’t that the strangest thing? Feeling guilty over not documenting my journey and having something to say every day? Guilt creeps into the strangest places, at the most inopportune times. Letting go of guilt and setting myself free is one of my main priorities right now. I have joked in the past that I should be Catholic with all the guilt I carry around. Here’s to changing that!
MONDAY 9/12/16
(Source)
Daily Gratitude:
Today I am thankful for friends with non-conventional schedules that are able to get together for longs walks at random on weekdays. I never mind walking alone, but it is always fun to have a friend along.
Daily Reflection:
I’ve been thinking a lot about realistic expectations. I am seeing a disturbing trend in the Peace Love and Low Carb Friends Group where people are saying things like “I only lost 5 pounds last week” or “I’ve only lost 3 pounds in 2 days” I used to type out a comment to each one, congratulating them on their success and reminding them not to be so hard on themselves. But lets be realistic and put these numbers into perspective shall we? 5 pounds a week would amount to 260 pounds lost in a year. 260!! I cringe when I hear people say that they only lost 2 pounds in a week. You know what? That is healthy, realistic, and achievable weight loss. Slow and steady gives your body the best chances of rebounding after a big loss. 2 pounds a week would still be 104 pounds lost in a year. A year goes by in the blink of an eye. Seriously! I am sitting here typing this post one year later after starting all over with my “I’m a healthy living blogger with a secret…” post. A whole year went by. If I had stuck with it and maintained 2 pounds a week, I wouldn’t be sitting here typing this post right now. 2 pounds a week is amazing. YOU are amazing. Stop doubting yourself.
Self Care Check-In:
With it being my super awesome lady time of the month, I needed a little extra emotional support today. The closer I creep up on 40, the more my cycle messes with my emotions. I can always tell when my period is coming because I am less grounded, quicker to fly off the handle, more prone to making mountains out of mole hills and can get a little bit of “Chicken Little Syndrome”. A quick glance at the calendar and it all makes sense. Then I just remind myself not to trust my emotions for the next few days. I have really learned to help keep all of that at bay by adding in a little extra emotional support in the form of essential oils during this super fun time of the month. You can learn more about the ways I have used essential oils to support me emotionally in my Facebook Group – Here
White Angelica – Increases and stengthens the aura around the body to bring a renewed sense of strength and protection, creating a feeling of wholeness in the realm of one’s own spirituality. Its frequency neutralizes negative energy and gives a feeling of security. It is calming and helps to balance emotions and get rid of negative feelings and emotion. It also provides a feeling of comfort and safety.
Harmony – This blend promotes physical and emotional healing by creating a harmonic balance for the energy centers of the body. It brings us into harmony with all things, people, and cycles of life. It is beneficial in reducing stress, amplifying well being, and dissipating feelings of discord. It is also uplifting and elevating to the mind, creating a positive attitude.
Joy – This blend is a terrific emotional oil. It helps to lift the spirits and is great for a mood boost. It produces an uplifting, freeing feeling. I typically start each day with a drop over my heart.
Release – I like to call this the “Let it Go” blend. It helps to release anger and emotional distress to create a feeling of well being. It helps open the sub-conscious mind through pineal stimulation to release deep-seated trauma. It is one of the most powerful of the emotionally supporting essential oil blends. In most cases I will apply this at night time as it has been known to make me crease I process through emotions.
Eat All The Foods:
This is my current breakfast obsession. Bacon, pastured eggs and broccoli with cheese sauce. Pretty sure I could eat it all day, every day! YUM! I make a quick cheese sauce simply by adding whatever cheeses I have on hand to a little heavy cream, adding garlic, sea salt and black pepper and heating it in a sauce pan.
As a snack for the last couple of days I have been having roasted almonds with salami and white cheddar. The almonds give that nice crunch that a cracker would provide. It is really satisfying.
Staying Active:
I started my morning off with a nice long walk with my friend Hayley. Starting my day with movement really helps me set a positive tone for the entire day. Walking with a friend is just icing on the low carb, gluten free cake.
If you were following along last year, then you know that Jon bought me an awesome Electra Cruiser bike for my birthday. Well he finally got one as well. We went on a 6 or 7 mile bike ride on a trail we love that is close to our home. So much fun! I love that we can find so many healthy things to do while spending quality time together.
Lots of activity today! I’m kind of addicted to the FitBit challenges. It took me a long time to buy one because I just thought the novelty would wear off really quickly and that it would be a waste of money. I was wrong. It is definitely fueling my competitive side and getting me moving a lot more. I don’t like to lose! This is the model that I have.
TUESDAY 9/13/16
Daily Quote:
“It’s a helluva start, being able to recognize what makes you happy.” – Lucille Ball
Daily Reflection:
I still can’t get over how content I feel in our new home. (That’s our home in the picture above.) I love just being here. I feel a calm wash over me the second I cross through the threshold. I feel settled, joyful and at peace. My home has officially become my happy place. It is truly a home. Everywhere we lived before this was “just a house”. This feels so different for all of us. I see glimpses of the differences in my family every day. I know Jon, the kids and the pups can feel it too. We all have such a sense of pride of ownership. The kids are even keeping their rooms cleaner. The dogs however, still have toys strewn about the house. Jon and I were on a walk the other day and I told him that I finally felt so content that I never wanted to leave this stage in our lives. I like where we are in our marriage. We aren’t perfect but we have a lot of love. I love the age the kids are at. The are funny, smart and independent. I love our new community. We have an amazing close knit group of friends that I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world. Life is good! More reason to work on myself, get in great shape and continue enjoying all that this beautiful life has to offer. Sometimes you don’t realize how out of order your life is until things start falling into order.
Self Care Check-In:
I have really been focusing on getting better quality sleep, sleeping longer and getting into bed earlier. I’ve done a pretty good job this week. My FitBit tracks my sleep patterns and I can look back and see when I was restless and how many times I woke up. It’s pretty eye opening to see. The blue spikes are times when I was restless and the pink spikes are times that I actually woke up. I’ve only been waking up 1-2 times per night. I would love to sleep straight through the night without waking up at all. Time to play around with some different sleepy time diffusing combinations. I used to feel lazy when I would sleep for more than 5 or 6 hours. Boy, did I have it all wrong! Now I sleep as much or as little as my body tells me to. It makes all the difference in my energy levels throughout the day.
Eat All The Foods:
It’s not always fancy around here. Tonight for dinner I ate leftover taco meat with cheese and olives mixed in. A fridge full of healthy foods and that was all that sounded good. Added bonus of not having to cook anything. I was eating my fancy meal while sitting on my bed, surrounded by pups, watching an episode of Bones. In that moment it was perfection. There was no where I’d rather be and nothing I would rather be eating.
I’m pretty sure that I am going to turn into a cheese curd. I am obsessed. I could eat them all day, every day. I seriously just took a break from writing this to snack on some. It’s a good thing that Jon loves me, because I am pretty sure that I always smell like garlic and herbs. Definitely not a romance inducing aroma.
Staying Active:
Today was a crazy active day. I walked almost 16 miles. I went for a long walk with a friend in the morning and then when I got home, I didn’t feel like working so I just walked some more… and more… and more. I have been trying to find the desire to start lifting again. It will come back when it is supposed to. Lately all I want to do is walk, ride my bike and do yoga. This time around I am just doing whatever feels right at the time. I am focusing more on just keeping my body moving, rather than sticking to one program or another. I’m living in the moment and doing whatever feels right at the time.
I love, love, love where we live. It is such a pedestrian friendly area, with trails everywhere. I can walk out my front door and in less than 10 minutes be at the river. This is one of my favorite things about the PNW. Water everywhere.
TUESDAY 9/13/16
“Daily Gratitude:
Today I am incredibly grateful for this amazing Evergreen State of mine. Washington state truly gives you the best of both worlds. Season wise, it feels like two different states, divided by beautiful mountain ranges. East of the mountains gets hot, hot summers and lots of snow in the winter. Here on the west side of the state, things stay pretty mild. We rarely, if ever see snow and our summers have been crazy beautiful over the last few years. P.S. It does not rain nearly as much in Seattle as people think it does. It’s a lie we tell people to keep them away. <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/2/72x72/1f609.png" alt="