Been a minute since I’ve sat down to write. Always have high hopes for it, but my follow-through is pathetic. Maybe this will be the time it sticks, most likely it won’t, but I’ll try!
It’s summer again, the kids have grown. Bean is about to start her senior year and I’m not sure how that happened. Potato is 13, the same age Bean was last time I posted. I am officially the shortest person in the house. And hopefully soon, will be the smallest! Yes, that’s right, I’m on a weight loss journey! Which absolutely no one wants to read about, but I’m going to try to hold myself accountable and therefore I will pretend that I have an audience that will judge me if I fail!
Why now? I’ve been getting steadily larger since the pandemic and generally too lazy to do a darned thing about it. So, why do I think this time is going to be any different? Well, we just got back from vacation (which was wonderful) and I hated that my choices in bathing suits were limited to Maw-Maw suits with boy short bottoms or even worse…skirts! I hated how I looked in the vacation photos, so I avoided being in them. I know, I know. Terrible example of body positivity, right? Except, it’s my body, I get to decide how I want it to be. If some are happy with carrying extra weight and still feel like they look beautiful, more power to them. I am not one of them. I am aware of the fact that what I see in the mirror doesn’t make me happy, less because I don’t feel attractive and more because I look at it and see that I am becoming increasingly unhealthy.
Here’s my overall snapshot from the day we got back from our trip. I’m 5’10.5″ and on Sunday, June 23, I weighed 190 pounds. That puts me at BMI of 26.5 which is firmly in the “overweight” category. My doctors have mentioned it more than once. Obesity runs in my family. And if I don’t start doing something, then it’s just going to get worse. So…that’s why now.
I didn’t wait once we got home. Sunday began my new eating habits which kicked off by cutting sweets and processed sugars. I didn’t realize how much of a headache that withdrawal would cause! It’s official, I’m a sugar addict. Today is the first time in 4 days that I haven’t had a headache! Another thing I noticed is that my feet, which usually hurt when I get up in the morning, did not hurt! Maybe this sugarless lifestyle will lead to a bit less inflammation. One can hope!
Other goals include increasing my protein, fiber and fruits and vegetables, decreasing my carbs, cooking more at home and eating WAY less processed foods. I’ll try to share recipes I come across here so my imaginary audience can enjoy them if they’d like. lol!
My first meal prep attempt was pork carnitas bowls. Actually, pretty darned good! I got the recipe from this page: Meal Prep Carnitas Burrito Bowls | Recipes | MyFitnessPal. I was a little leery of cooking the pork tenderloins in a slow cooker with no liquid added, but the meat turned out very tender (if a tiny bit dry, but there was very little fat in the meat, so go figure). I shredded the meat and added the rest of the seasonings. It tasted very good, even Potato the picky teenager liked it. After that I made some brown rice (messed that up, it was way too sticky) and added cilantro and lime to it. Whipped up the street corn, which I really liked. Subbed feta for the Mexican cheese that I could not find at the store. And then tossed in some black beans. I’ve had these bowls the last two days for lunch and am finding them satisfying and filling. Instead of the lettuce, the first day I cut up some avocado. Today I was in a rush and forgot.
Now, the biggest problem for me is my sweet tooth. Fortunately for me, one of the other moms from our school has a side business making healthy snack bites. She uses all natural ingredients, dates for sweetness, honey instead of sugar, etc. Lots of oats, chia seeds, and other fibery ingredients designed to keep you full and delicious flavors. So far I’ve had her cookie dough, german chocolate, and carrot cake balls. One of those satisfies my cravings. Been super helpful! Her Facebook page is linked here, but if you’re outside of the New Orleans area, dearest imaginary reader, then you are simply out of luck! I also found this recipe: Key Lime Pie “Recovery” Bites | Weight Loss And You. I had regular dates, not medjool. Use medjool! My crust was way too dry and crumbly. For the filling, I did not have the key lime pie flavored protein powder, so I used vanilla and then added two limes’ worth of juice to get the flavor I wanted. Popped them in the freezer and these turned out to be lovely summer treats, even with the wonky crust!
Sweet tooth satisfied!
Breakfasts have been overnight oats from Oats Overnight. I don’t like these packets made as a drink, so I only add 6 ounces of almond milk and eat it with a spoon. The flavors are good and it fills me up. Most of the packets have at least 20 grams of protein, too. If I ever do choose to do them as a drink, I add a tiny bit extra almond milk and throw it in a blender with some ice cubes. The texture otherwise is not my favorite.
Dinner has been fairly light. I made some egg salad and have been having sandwiches for dinner with fruit, a bit of cheese, etc. I did cave a little to the processed foods devil and had some white cheddar habanero Buc-ees nuggets on the side…we all have some vices right?
As of this morning, I’ve lost a bit over 4 pounds. Yes, that’s fast, and yes, I know it’s mostly water weight from cutting out a bunch of sodium, sugars, alcohol, etc, but it’s making me happy! Still have a long way to go until my goal, but here’s my accountability graph to keep me motivated:
I’m not sure if this graphic will update as my spreadsheet changes, but as of today I’m at 12.6% of my goal. I still need to come up with some milestone rewards, but usually, my rewards are either food-based or crafting items…I don’t need either of those, so I need to come up with something new!
