Mister

At work the other day I had an unexpected connection with one of our patients. I asked if anything had changed in his health history, and he said that he had lost 40lbs this year. Naturally, I asked how, of which he responded by telling me he used a fitness calorie tracker online to start watching what he eats. (He used myfitnesspal.com!) He said that he didn't realize how much he was eating until he started tracking it, and was suprised to see how quickly it added up for him. He stayed on track, and now no longer has to take his cholesterol medicine, and is not at risk for diabetes. In fact, the day that I met him, he woke up and weighed 201 that morning and therefore was only one pound away from his original goal!
The meeting with him inspired me to believe that even if I was 65 I could put my mind to a goal- and with hard work, could accomplish it! Our bodies are so much more capable that what we give them credit for.
Thanks, mister for inspiring me, and I was so happy to meet you on the last day that you are in the 200s!

Your Not-So-Typical Before/After Post

Ugh. I'll cut to the chase- ever since I got back from my friend's wedding, I've been letting myself slack. I certainly haven't given up, or even come close... I just think I lost a little motivation for two reasons:

1: I'm pretty certain I'll no longer make my goal of under 200 by January 1st
2: I no longer have a huge event (a wedding) to tone for.

So, in an effort to be honest with myself and accountable to you who are reading this, I'm going to do some before and afters... comparing my habits now to last month's habits.

Before: Didn't eat one candy from the stash at work.
After: I'll let myself have about 5 or 6 a day. Those stupid "minis" add up.

Before: Cardio three times a week, lifting twice a week
After: Cardio twice a week, lifting maybe once....

Before: Sweets three times a week
After: Sweets every day

Before: No bread, hardly any flour products
After: Just ordered grilled chicken linguini from OCharley's, and I had a roll. I also have been eating some toast or something every once in a while.

Before: Lots of water
After: Some water, lots of coffee

Before: No eating after dinner
After: Snack after dinner if I can't help myself

Before: Big, healthy breakfast
After: Maybe a McMuffin?

I'm not making huge changes that completely throw away what I've accomplished, but all those little changes or exceptions are not allowing me to lose any substantial weight this month. Check out my weight log for the last 30 days. Can't get past 216, and it's pretty obvious why.

November 2011: Before & Afters

I finally took some more before/after pictures, and had another cool moment to go along with it..... 

Tonight I carried that jug in from our van and thought, hey! I should....

Yes, I weighed it.

Any guesses? 

44.8 lbs! 

Never again do I want to carry that jug around all day. 

I decided to snap a picture (remember my last a-ha picture with the 20lb dumbbell??) of that milestone weight loss that I've finally jumped over- 50lbs!

I Want to Remember

Today a friend's little 10 year old boy saw me today and whispered to his mom, "Wow! She has lost a lot of weight!"

Inspiring.

Be Excited.

I have another friend who's inspired me and her story is coming soon!

Changes

Wowzah.
It's been a while, but I feel even closer to my goal than ever before! I'm a mere 18lbs away from my 2012 goal- under 200lbs! I couldn't be more motivated.
Since I broke off the training with Lydia, I've developed some healthy habits of my own, of which I think are really helping me kick it in gear.

Breakdown:

• As mentioned in an earlier post, I'm not eating bread. I'll have the occasional small taste of something, but I'm specifically cutting out as much of gluten as possible. In the month of October, I made it through the end with only eating bread twice. Piece of cake. (Ha, figuratively!) Of course at times I wanted it, but it was really much easier than I thought it would be. 
• I've been working out about 4-5 times per week- and included in that, I'm lifting about 1-2 times, but I'm mainly focusing on low-impact cardio machines to help me burn calories. I really enjoy the rowing machine and this elliptical-like machine. I can do some high intensity at night and wake up the next morning without my heels or knees hurting. That's huge! 
• I found that the high intensity:low intensity intervals on the cardio machines produce the best results in weight loss. It's like doing sprint/jog intervals--without the impact on my joints! For example, tonight I did the elliptical as follows: 1 minute of the machines highest settings and then 1 minute of a mid-range setting, repeating for 30 minutes. I burned 500 calories, and my heart rate averaged around 155 the whole time. 
• I'm really noticing the difference in my appearance. I actually didn't even recognize myself in the mirror at Macy's one night. I mean, I was looking right at myself, but I still have a different mental picture of what I look like. Exciting stuff!
• I'm trying to eat my heavy foods before 6 or 7pm. And by heavy I mean meats and other healthy fats. 
• I won't go into much detail, but I've noticed a difference in my digestive tract.
• At night, I'm trying to focus more on how I feel. Do I feel tight? bloated? light? energized? exhausted? And then I ask myself why? Did I exercise? eat bad? eat good? After recognizing this, I let myself get on the scale and normally have a pretty good idea of the numbers that will appear. 
• It seems normal, but my body weight throughout the day does not fluctuate as much as it did earlier. In May, my weight would fluctuate about 4 lbs from morning to night, gaining as the time goes by. Today, my weight has fluctuated about 1.5lbs from this morning to 8pm. Interesting. 

This is what works for me. Everyone's different, and we all have different motivators. I'm so blessed to have the opportunities available to work towards a life goal of mine, and I couldn't be more excited. 

Four Goals

Oh my!

It's been a while, but no worries. I've still been up and at 'em with my health.

First, I should note that last week was an all-time high for me. In fact, higher than ANY OTHER WEEK yet! I lost five pounds and I'm certain I know why. In addition to my efforts that are in place, I decided to tack on four goals last week:

1. No bread

2. Walk 2 miles over my lunch break

3. Stop eating after dinner

4. Only 3 sweets a week 

I'm telling you, those pounds were just shedding off! I literally was nervous that the success might be at an unhealthy rate... but I think I was just surprising myself. I am on my second week of no bread, which is going ok. 10 days in I gave in and had a grilled cheese. Gr. But I'm back on track and will continue to reach my goals! On the 15th of this month, I'm going to try to cut out gluten. Whew! That will be hard, for sure!!!! But I'm determined. I've proved to myself that I am capable of a lot more than what I give my body credit for, and there's no stopping me now.

Swimming

I just checked off one of my short-term goals for 2012: swimming!
I really have never swam for exercise before, and quite admittedly, I had no idea where to start. I found a website for swimming beginners and jotted down a routine for me to begin with this morning.
Got to the pool and jumped right in the last lane. AH! I had no idea it was 9ft deep! I was expecting my toes to touch the bottom, and had a minor panic attack when they didn't. (I've got a fear of large bodies of water, but normally pools are ok!) My lane was right next to the diving area, and I made the mistake of looking to my left, which was a dark, lurk-y, deep water and the drain probably sucked little children down it. Freaked me out.
I quickly jumped out and "went to the bathroom" and found a different lane. Whew. My heart was already racing. I got a paddle board and started kicking my legs as fast as possible. After a few times around, I moved on to breast stroke, and quickly found out I'm pretty horrible at it. I wanted to be able to swim gracefully like everyone else in the 20 lanes surrounding me, but most of the time while doing freestyle, I felt like a drowning duck-- couldn't get the whole breathing pattern down.
I walked out of the aquatic center having swam a total of 850m, which was 100 past my goal for that day. I feel like a got a work out, but I certainly need some guidance for next time.
Here's hoping.

October

I'm going to try my best to make October my best month yet! And by best, I mean the most strict in regards to nutrition/exercise. Here's my goals:
1. No bread the entire month!
2. On October 15, I'd like to start with no gluten for a while, too.
3. No eating after dinner
4. Swim once a week

September: Before/After

Finally another update! 

I think next time I'll include the beginning pic, a middle pic, and recent. That might give perspective. Nevertheless: 

Before: 268

Now: 228

Fitness & Nutrition: Week 30

Monday:

Fitness- did this three times in my basement

30 jumping jacks
5 burpees
20 squats
30 crunches
10 standing calf raises
30 mountain climbers
10 pushups
5 tricep dips
20 lunges
5 burpees
30 vertical leg crunches
15 squats
40 russian twists
20 mountain climbers
30 second plank

Tuesday:

Fitness:

16 mile bike ride- 1.5 hours

20 four count hello dollies

20 four count scissor kicks

20 crunches

Wednesday:

Nutrition:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/hyazvac?date=2012-09-19

Fitness:

Arms and Shoulders

Thursday:

Nutrition:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/hyazvac?date=2012-09-20

Fitness:
2 miles on elliptical, resistance @ 15-17
20 scissor kicks
20 knee tucks
:45 plank
1 mile run, 1 mile walk

Friday:

Nutrition:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/hyazvac?date=2012-09-21

Fitness:

Saturday:

Nutrition:

Fitness:

Sunday:

Nutrition:

Fitness:

I'm overall happy with my efforts this week. Friday-Sunday was very difficult for me to find any time to exercise, as my friend was visiting from out of town. I don't think that should be an excuse...and we did go on a few walks/hikes together, but I think for next time I should plan ahead for exercise.
But for my first week without a trainer, I feel happy about my accomplishments.



Full Fat, Please.

The more I read about nutrition, the more I have faith in the natural, full-fat foods. You know, like meats, cheeses, eggs, raw milk, nuts, veggies, and fruits. I had a meal the other day that many dieters would NEVER consider eating: A piece of toast, topped with a fried egg, fresh mozzerella, and avecado, followed with a glass of raw milk. It was delicious, satisfying, and certainly nutritious. Sadly, I think a lot of Americans have this viewpoint that has been skewed by the FDA about low fat foods being the healthiest foods available, and the only ones you can eat to lose weight. I hope to consolidate what I've learned and share my viewpoint in detail some day. But for now, I'm sticking with the real stuff.

Bike Rides and Picnic Tables

I went on a really long bike ride recently and realized how much I enjoy exercising now. I mean, it's not like I love it and look forward to it like I would going to a concert or something. Ha! So I guess it's the mental and physical feeling that is so pleasing. I got half way done with my bike ride, sat on a picnic table, bathed in the sun for a while, and then did some ab workouts. Since when do I do ab workouts on a bike ride!? I then hopped back on my bike and rode for another hour. No, I don't have time to do cardio exercise like that every day, but when I do get the chance, I really, really enjoy it. It's such a good feeling to (know your alive....?) know that I'm making a choice to be healthy, and that if I keep up the work on all sides, I will continue to see results and restore my body to a healthy state.

BMI

Yes, I understand that I'm overweight and am working towards healthy Hannah, but doesn't this seem a bit extreme? I don't trust BMI calculators, and neither should you. There's too many factors it doesn't account for.



And I'm pretty sure a healthy Hannah isn't going to be at 125lbs

 

 

Potatoes

Today marks a pretty significant point in my weight loss journey.... I've lost 40 lbs!

You know, like 4 sacks of potatoes....

Trainer-less

After 29 weeks, I'm saying goodbye to the luxury of a personal trainer. I thought about it for a long time before I made the decision, but I knew that I would need to move on by myself eventually, and it just seemed like a good transition time. When I first signed on with her at NFPT, we started with a 12 week contract and eventually kept going because we saw great results. Now, I've absorbed a wealth of knowledge about weight lifting, cardio, and nutrition, and I'm ready to soar on my own wings. Or at least I'm hoping something like that works out.

So what's my plan?

Well, I still want to keep up with lifting weights, and I have a membership at the gym at Purdue, so that should help. They have a TON of equipment and it's in a fairly convenient location. I have the training schedule that I used from NFPT and hope to knock out the weights as often as possible. I have to admit, I will really miss the motivation and the accountability that Lydia provided. Not to mention her help with proper form! Ah, her role in my weight loss has been priceless and I know there will be a huge void as I transition. I'm thankful that we're friends and I'll still see her around Lafayette!!!!

So I guess I'm excited and nervous all at once. I have confidence that I can do this on my own, and really, there's nothing on my mind that even hints at quitting or or giving up.

Fighting

I've been fighting ALL DAY to resist that bowl of chocolates in the back room.......

5K: Hornet Hustle

After the Zoo Run Run, I decided to sign up for the Hornet Hustle 5K with my friend Megan. Despite her athletic self, she had never participated in one, and I thought it would be fun to get out there with her! She started running every morning, and I quickly knew that she would fly right by me on race day.

Personally I had 3 goals for this one:
1) Run it in under 30 minutes
2) And/or beat my last race day time which was 33:16
3) Run the whole race without stopping to walk

I geared up for the race as much as possible, by running different courses around town. I honestly enjoy running quite a bit now, but I know it's not the greatest cardio exercise for my body type-- my knees and heels normally are sore after I'm finished so I try to only run once or twice a week.

(um just a personal note: it's hard to be honest with myself and say that I enjoy running, when before I wouldn't ever consider even a small chance that I could enjoy it...)

Megan and I before!

Anyways, back to race day. It was great to have Megan in sight for a while, but then I lost her and had to start playing this mental game... telling myself that my hard breathing was not a sign that I should slow down, and that I knew my body could do so much more than I give it credit for. Along the way, I tried to distract myself with the sights, smells, and people around me. I played yo yo with these two adorable girls that were probably 1/3 my age but were pretty motivating. I kept telling them "great job!" when I would run past them, even though inside I was like "Oh my! I better be able to keep up with a ten year old!" Also, it was great to see me and Megan's husband along the way, cheering us on. What support!

On the last mile, there just so happened to be more hills, and I was contemplating walking for a bit. On the way up the first hill, a girl passed me who would become my pace setter. She was jogging a bit faster than I normally would, but I really wanted to knock out all my goals! I followed her all the way home and tried not to let more than 5 feet come in-between us.

I finished the race at 30:55, and I didn't stop to walk once. I was pretty proud of myself! I really hope to finish under thirty the next race, but now I'm just going to keep exercising!!!

Way to go, Megan!  She got 2nd in our age group, finishing at 26:02!!!!

It's Not About the Numbers...

But let's be honest: they sometimes help motivate!

Here's a little graph of the weight per month that I've lost. Pretty interesting, and motivating- that is, to up the annie!

Inspiration: Frank Yazvac

Welcome to my first of many inspiration posts. Pretty self explanatory, but I think it's good to notice those in your life who are good role models for your journey or even just encouraging to you.

Frank is my sweet brother in law that I've had the priveledge knowing for the last five years. He's a super talented musician, great dad, sweet husband, and now even more of an inspiration to me. Last year he started to take a step towards changing his lifestyle by cutting out all carbonated drinks out of his diet. For anyone that's had any sort of food addiction, you can relate to how hard it would be to rid yourself of that sort of vice. Really, I think he'd been drinking them every day for years. His next step towards health that I noticed was at Easter this year when he told me he had started to count calories by using an app on his new smartphone. The next time I saw him at a restaraunt couple months later, he had lost over 30 lbs. You could certainly tell, and I noticed every detail of his meal that he chose: A salad, minus the cheese and croutons, and dressing on the side, with water to drink.

Fast forward a few months to my last connection with him, which was earlier this month ago at a family outing. In walked a younger, healthier, happier Frank who has lost 62 lbs and looked fantastic! I especially noticed the pride in his mom's eyes when she saw her son... so happy for him! Of course, I started talking to him about his weight loss, and he told me that he's still limiting his calories and is now exercising every day-waking up at 4:30 am to run around the local High School's track. I was with the fam for two days, and every morning I witnessed him staying true (even on vacation!) by waking up before everyone and exercising. I also noticed what he ordered that night when we went out to eat-- water with a veggie burger. Not the Frank I knew a year ago!

Way to go, Franky. Way to beat the odds. People make excuses every day that you are now conquring. They say they don't have time. They don't have money. That they want to spend all their free time with the kids. That they're the only ones working in the family. They don't have a gym. They don't have a personal trainer. Way to beat all those excuses down the drain and take control of your health! I'm proud of you and you're certainly an inspiration to me!

Left: 2009                         Right: July 2012! 

Note To Self

I was on a jog last night and was thinking about my rough day (nutritionally speaking)...and an old, scary thought came to mind: "Well, thank goodness I'm exercising since I ate so bad today."

Oh my.

I realized that last year I would think like that all the time! I would make deals with myself... saying that if I ate bad, it would be ok since I was regularly exercising. Or saying...well, if I want that dessert, I shouldn't eat much for dinner so that it would even out.

During my jog, I made a mental block. I don't want to think like that any more! I want to eat healthy. All the time. I don't want to make bets or deals with myself that will, in the end, result in failure.

So... note to self:

I'm exercising to become healthy and maintain a healthy body. I'm researching, purchasing, and preparing nutritious food to fuel my body so that together, I can lead a healthy lifestyle.

Goals#2: Revised

I've had these plotted out for a while now... truth!

This time I broke them up in three categories, as follows:

Short term:

• Learn how to swim for exercise
• Complete the Rossville 5K (and I've thought, perhaps, that maybe I'll try doing one 5K each month, and at each one trying to beat my time on the previous.... hm. maybe.)
• Complete the Steps to Life 5K (and you should, too! It's cheap and donations are for a GREAT cause!)
• Learn how to do the rowing machine with correct form
• Get in the 220's by September 1st

Ongoing: 

• Yoga once a week 
• Cross train for cardio three times a week 
• Blog a minimum of once a week 
• Fun a new friend to trail run with once a month
• Find, try, and post successful recipes
• Limit sugar intake to around 30-40g per day
• Drink 64oz of water, and at least 1/2 of that before lunch

Long Term (well, by the end of 2012)

• Under 200lbs by new year's eve????
• Coordinate a family 5K
• Research more about nutrition's impact on weight loss
• Throw out the birth control!
• Prepare, prepare, prepare for Christmas & Thanksgiving holiday eating (start new trends in healthy holiday meals????) 
• Finish a 5K in under 30 minutes

Pictures: Week 23

29 lbs lost!!! 

It's Been A Rocky Road.....

For REAL.

Check out those mountains, plateaus, and valleys...

 

40 Grams

Today I woke up feeling extra motivated to eat well. Specifically, I wanted to eat less sugar- to the tune of no more than 40 grams.

I've resisted the chocolate cupboard here at work (yes, I can't believe they have one either.) today and I specifically packed food that I thought wouldn't have a whole lot of sugar.

Well, now I've just gotten done entering in everything that I ate thus far, and I'm already 18 grams over!!! Urg! There's so much sugar in our society's food.

5K: 2011 | 2012

I started training for my first 5K in March of 2011. I hadn't been running at all, and really wanted to incorporate exercise into my weight loss journey. I found a 8 week workout plan online that would take me from running 1/4 mile up to 3.1 miles.

Our race day came on May 7, 2011 and I was all too nervous. My dear friend Hope was running her first 5K right along side of me, but I knew she would pass me up right away. My goal was to finish in (prepare yourself!) under 40 minutes. Yep. I hadn't accomplished that time yet, but I thought it was possible. In fact, I hadn't even run 3.1 miles up to race day. 

I got out there on a beautiful morning and ran my heart out. I'll never forget rounding that last bend and seeing my husband out there practically jumping up and down saying "Hurry babe! You're going to make it in under 40!!!!" WOW! What a rush of adrenaline. I finished in 63rd place, in 39:15. I was so so so so happy! I made my goal! 

(((the difference in our faces makes me laugh so hard!)))

Fast forward 14 months and here we are today! I've accomplished one of my long-term goals. I just got home from finishing my second 5K and had a blast! I got to run it with another friend, Katie (it was her first race!!!), and a few ladies from work. 

What are my feelings? Wow. I'm feeling so different in comparison to last year. I feel faster. Stronger. I've got more endurance. Probably more motivation. I've lost stinking 25lbs since then too, which is crazy inspiring. There's no way I'd want to run today's race with two- ten pound dumbbells in my hands. That weight is shed and lost forever. 

While I didn't make my goal time today, I'm still really happy I competed. My final time was 33:16, knocking off 6 minutes from last year I would have liked to finish in under 30 minutes, but I honestly didn't do great on my first mile. There were probably 300 people competing, and I couldn't run my normal pace in the beginning. But, nevertheless, I'm proud to say that I finished the race, and want to give all praise to the Lord. He has blessed me with wonderful encouragers in my life and I couldn't be more thankful!

Shoulda Known...

....that my time was here and I would start craving.
....that I'd let myself give in if I kept inviting temptation.
....that he'd give in, too.
....that I'd feel bloated.
....that it would drag me down and make me feel fat.
....that it would stop me from accomplishing my weekly goals.
....that it wouldn't be satisfying after the fact.
....that I'd regret it.

First Day Ever

The past 5 days have unusually been much easier than normal when it comes to my nutritional goals. In fact, today was the first day ever that I've had trouble reaching my required caloric intake! Healthy food is so satisfying.

Here's a few pics of what I've been eating:

I was inspired by my friends Amber and Lydia to make this tasty dish! I threw together the following: 

Shredded chicken

Avecado

Grape tomatoes

Corn

Black beans

A spoon full of salsa

And it was so nice to have a healthy, satisfying dinner! 

This product has been my source of protein for the last month or two. My friend Magdalen sells Arbonne products- which I've come to love. This is THE BEST protein powder I've tried, made from 3 key ingredients- rice, pea, and cranberry extracts. It's super smooth and one serving has 20g of protein. Let me know if you'd like to order! 

Goals #1: Review.

I thought that maybe a step to making new goals would be to review my old ones...

Short-term goals:

• Make weekly goals and share with Lydia to help me stay accountable-Well, I certainly share goals with Lyd, but now on a weekly basis. In fact, I'm not sure I have short-term weekly goals that change each week. 
• Weigh 235 by mid-June-Didn't happen, but I'm close- the lowest I've weighed is 243. 
• Find cardio exercises that I enjoy (possibly biking outdoors, zumba, yoga, or hiking) CHA CHING! Yes, I indeed accomplished this. I love trail runs and yoga! 
• Bike to work as often as possible- Yeah.... not so much. The doc's don't really love a sweaty receptionist. 
• Bike to NFPT as often as possible As much as possible. Well, yes, when I had the chance, I think I did. 
• Journal my journey on blogger at least once a week- Yes, on average, I think this was accomplished! And might I add that I enjoy it. Looking back is a certain motivation for me. 
• Work on curbing/decreasing my food intake by: eating more raw veggies, juicing, portion control, and controlling special occasion meals (that last one is my vice....) I do eat more veggies (thanks to hummus), and my appetite has curbed immensely. Pretty excited about that. 
• Research & study! The more I know, the easier it is for me to say no! Yes! I love to continue to study and research. 

Goals with Lydia:

• Push and stretch me beyond what I think my capabilities are Heck yes. 
• Find exercises that target areas of my body that need focus. Yes. 
• Learn more about food from her (and her influence's) perspective. Yes! Thanks for being willing to share!
• Keep me accountable to my goals (for both workouts and diet). Sure thing. Never be afraid to ask me!

Long-term goals:

• Reach my target weight by June of 2013 (means an average weight loss of 1 1/2 lbs per week!) Well, my average weight loss per week was 1.25, which is good, but not my goal. BUT. I'm trying not to focus so much. More later on this. 
• Compete in a race? Well, not yet. But this was long-term for a reason! 
• Find an enjoyable cardio workout during the winter (swimming indoors?) Winter's just around the corner. 
• Find a work-out buddy for accountability and encouragement. I think I've found many! I have an accountability group online, and I really do feel blessed to have so many people around me who care. A huge thanks to Amy, Courtney, Amber, Lydia, Hope, Steffen, Mom and Pa, and my sweet in-laws! 
• Possibly go gluten-free? Welp...

Week 20!

Feeling better already! I took 2.5 weeks off (well, the last week I was on vaca and kinda did some cardio stuff) and I feel like I'm now back on schedule. I'm now doing a different kind of routine-- instead of the low-weight-high-rep ratio, I'm doing the high-weight-low-rep ratio. Kinda intimidated me to dive into, but after the first week I am definitely on board! It's nice to feel that shock to my muscles again.

I also have to reset my goals...but I'm kinda drawing a blank. I want them to be specific, yet attainable. One goal that I've already set and met is that I now have a membership at the Purdue rec center as of today! I think that will really help me to accomplish my cardio on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Lately it's just been too blasted hot to get outside, and even if I have motivation, I don't think it's actually safe to step out in that heat. At 2:30 today when I got off work, it was 109 degrees!

Crazy that 20 weeks have gone by......

Ketchup

I'm not really sure if there's a definite reason as to why I haven't been updating this blog for the past month. I had a lot of time to think about what I should post, but I guess I never felt motivated to do so. There weren't any drastic improvements during the month of June or really even any days where I felt like I was doing my absolute best to accomplish my goals here. Admittedly, I think a huge part of that was because I wasn't seeing any results on the scale every day. (Funny how those last two sentences are so heavily cause & effect!) 

For most of us, when we don't see results, we slowly start moving back to where we started... looking for some satisfaction. We tell ourselves that we deserve to cheat for the weekend, because we've worked so hard and it won't really make a difference anyways. I listened to voices come back and tell me that I'll always be overweight and could never be health, and that it's all my fault. I slowly started eating for pleasure instead of fuel for my body. UH! This makes me angry just typing this! But this is good... I mean, sucks that I have to continually go through this, but it's good that I'm realizing the pain and dedication it is to set myself apart from what America thinks is a clean-eating, healthy person. (I have this huge picture of Jared from Subway in my head.) Looking back, I realize that I have a greater desire to become healthy with each year that goes by. And even now, month to month, I can see the affects of what I've been learning. In fact, I have a specific, first-hand encounter! Read on. 

From February to the end of May, according to my results, I had lost 20lbs of fat and gained 1.5 lb of muscle. Cool. At that measurement in May, my trainer told me I should up my caloric intake as well as my daily dose of protein. I took heed to her suggestion (Sounded great! More food!) but was kinda unsure on how my body would react. 

Well, by mid-June, it was time to once again do some calculations with my weight loss. In just a few weeks, I gained EIGHT pounds of muscle!!! How crazy! I also brought my total weight loss up to 25lbs as well. I am now 1/3 of the way to my goal weight! This was perfect timing for me to find out this news, because like I said earlier, I wasn't seeing any change on the scale, and was really starting to lose motivation.

So, here are some pictures that I took about 3 weeks ago. The physical difference is encouraging, and certainly a motivation to never go back!

Reminder

I can't forget to look at the big picture.

Fruit: The Data

So I use myfitnesspal as much as possible to track what I'm eating. Well, sometimes. But maybe I should back this up a bit. Through this whole process I've been trying to reduce the sugar intake I have each and every day. Sometimes I have 3-4 times as much as the daily recommended dose I'm supposed to have, which is a huge reason I'm not shedding as much weight now. To help this, I decided to throw in all the fruits that I eat into myfitnesspal.com and see what I'm consuming. Sure, I should be doing this every day, but lately I've been getting in a routine of only tracking what I think is bad so I can see how many calories it's worth. That being said, fruit wouldn't normally fall under that category.  I always knew that some fruits were high in sugar, but MAN! this really helped me gain perspective. Just ONE OUNCE of raisins have 2/3 the amount of sugar I'm supposed to be consuming in an entire day! This investigation certainly helped me realize what's good and what's not so good. Take a look!

	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Chol	Sugar
Grapefruit - Grapefruit, 1 med. grapefruit (256g)	70	21	0	2	0	7
Strawberries - Raw, 1 cup, halves	49	12	0	1	0	7
Apples - Raw, with skin, 1 medium (2-3/4" dia) (approx 3 per lb)	72	19	0	0	0	14
Bananas - Raw, 1 medium (7" to 7-7/8" long)	105	27	0	1	0	14
Oranges - Raw, navels, 1 fruit (2-7/8" dia)	69	18	0	1	0	12
Fresh - Bluberries, 1/4 cup	20	11	0	1	0	7
Blackberries - Raw, 0.25 cup	15	3	0	1	0	2
D'anjou Pears - Green D'anjou Pear, 166 g Medium pear	100	25	0	1	0	16
Pineapple - Raw, all varieties, 1 cup, diced	74	20	0	1	0	14
Watermelon - Raw, 1 cup, diced	46	11	0	1	0	9
Melons - Cantaloupe, raw, 1 cup, cubes	54	13	0	1	0	13
Melons - Honeydew, raw, 1 cup, diced (approx 20 pieces per cup)	61	15	0	1	0	14
Sun Maid - Raisin 1 oz Box, 28.3 g	90	22	0	1	0	20
Generic - Grapes, All Types, 20 med, 120g	68	18	1	1	0	15
Fruit - Kiwi Fruit, 1 Kiwi	50	12	1	1	0	8
Plums - Raw, 1 fruit (2-1/8" dia)	30	8	0	0	0	7
Peaches - Raw, 1 medium (2-1/2" dia) (approx 4 per lb)	38	9	0	1	0	8
Mangos - Raw, 1 fruit without refuse	135	35	1	1	0	31

And while we're on the subject, you should check out this artist. I recently discovered Sucre, and instantly fell in love!