Back to Square One

So...I think that I was over zealous that first day with Ugi and really wasn't smart.  I felt so terrible for the rest of that day and all of yesterday that I think that I'm so very out of shape that I'm not even up to doing that workout.  So after thinking about it for awhile what I am going to do is follow the food part and to Jillian Michael's workout to work my body up to Ugi...yep I'm that out of shape.  Pretty pathetic hey!  >_<
Well...I refuse to remain as pathetic...so that is my solution. :)

Ugi Week 1 Day 1

Well today I started a new fitness routine. I started doing Ugi Fit. It's a great program and I'm excited to do it. It's a fitness and eating program :). I am doing both. I still have weight to lose (a fair bit actually!) and so...off we go!

This morning was my first go at it and I have to say at the end I was discouraged to see just to see how out of shape I actually am. I mean I know I'm out of shape but I guess I didn't realize just how out of shape until this morning. I had to modify some of the exercises and I just wasn't even able to do others...ugh (that word is so close to ugi but with such a different meaning, eh!) Hopefully in 6 weeks I will be saying ugi!!! instead of ugh and be well on my way to achieving my goal.

For the eating part today (so far) I have eaten (all organic):

breakfast: a kale, tomato egg white omelet, with a whole grain slice of toast with almond butter on it, coffee sweetened with vanilla cream stevia and coconut milk, and a portion of yogurt

lunch: tuna with pickles, celery, and tomato on a celery stalk and a slice of whole grain bread.

and my plan for supper will be something along the lines of: chicken breast, quinoa, and broccoli.

I had 2 tbsp of Udo's oil (which is actually made by Flora who produces all their stuff just over the border 20 minutes from us) and disgustingly enough I think it pretty much went right through me (TMI, I know!). I think next time I'll make it into a salad dressing or something.

So off to a stellar start...I think I will try and update this every day for this one...just for kicks...just to let you know how I'm doing and to keep my self accountable...to myself ;-). Perhaps I'll get a picture up in the next few days.

Disease-Proof Your Child: Feeding Kids Right by Joel Fuhrman, M.D.

So I've been reading :). It's something I love to do. I am a reading fiend.  It's relaxing to me and, depending on what I'm reading, informative too! Bonus!  Relaxing and not a time waster!  This book was recommended to me by a friend. Lately, I've been ordering in books from my local library. That way if the book is just alright I will have gotten to read it without having to spend money and I don't have to keep it. If it's a "keeper" I can go out and purchase it.  It's a win win situation. It's a situation that my husband is quite pleased with as well!  Because let's face it...books can be expensive and when you're an avid reader it's VERY expensive! So I've learned that I don't need to buy every book I come across no matter how much I like the smell of new books!
Anyway! Back to the purpose of this post...this book! It's phenomenal! I am really enjoying reading it. It's very informative as to the whys and I'm a why girl so...I love this book. :). This one is a "keeper".  It has a recipe section in the back and I just tried the smoothy recipe on my girls and they gobbled it up.  We're going to try more on them...we'll let you know how it goes.
The author has written some other books and you can find out about it here at Dr. Fuhrman's web sight.  He has a lot of link attached on the side that have great information as well.  Here is one of them. It's a web sight to motivate kids to eat in a more healthy way. 

Craving Sugar?

Since this last HCG round has ended I couldn't get enough of sugar...well at least I craved it like crazy. I can't have it on maintenance. MAN was I craving something with sugar...especially chocolate....something fierce!  So I started reading on-line because I would have some chocolate and it wouldn't go away. If anything it only intensified!  So I started reading...and I came across lots of postings from naturopathic sorts that mentioned that if you're craving sugar or chocolate you are low on essential oils etc.  and you need Flax Seed Oil and Omega-3's .  They said if I started taking them that within 3 days my cravings would go away!
So...I tried it! And IT SO WORKED!  I haven't been craving sweets at all. In fact when I ate sweets it kind of repulsed me.  Now don't get me wrong I still like my sweets but I am liking different kinds of sweets (like fruit) these days.
It was an interesting experiment for me and I am thrilled with the results.

Half Way to My Goal!!!!

As of today I am half way to my goal!! I've lost 44 lbs...well technically I have one more pound to be half way but close enough to be pleased :D.  Woohoooo. I've come a long way and have a long way to go. But it's encouraging!
This round went really well until I got sick and took those cough drops...but really I think it was my drops. I gained 5 lbs! If it had been the cough drops I would have just plateaued for a few days. I didn't cheat once, I did everything exactly the same.  But when I opened my new bottle of drops I started going down in weight again ever so slowly. Anyway, that was not fun.  I put a call in to the naturopath and explained and they said they hadn't heard of anyone else having problems like that.  But they are replacing the bottle.   Yay!
My husband started a half round. Today is his first day of the 500 calories.  I am on day 29 of 40.  I have not lost as much as I would have liked too so far what with all that trouble for 2 WEEKS! 2 weeks is a long time when you're only going for 40 days.  But it is what it is.
Also another thing I have been having trouble with is hair loss.  I have started taking biotin (a B7) that is supposed to help with that...we'll see. It's a bit disconcerting. I've always had lots of hair and it's supposed to grow back no problem. So we'll see.
Other than that it's been good. :).
I am down 4 to 5 clothing sizes now depending on the brand.  The inches are falling away.  It's fun :).
Oh another thing I have to comment on...people don't really notice your weightloss until you've lost 40 lbs. It was that way for me, my husband, and my friend.  Or maybe they're afraid to comment...but regardless...that's an interesting observation! :D

Cough Drops? Really?

I am in Round 2 So far I have lost 40 lbs total. It's GREAT!  I was losing weight like a bullet train this round when all of a sudden I GAINED 3 lbs! 3 lbs! That's a lot. And the only thing I could think of is I have a cold and I bought some "sugar free" cough drops and forgot to read that ingredient list! BIG MISTAKE! May I re-emphasize that...BIG MISTAKE! Oh and I took liquid Claritin because I was having trouble breathing due to allergies AND the cold.  As I was swallowing I thought to me-self..."wonder if there is sugar in here?" YEP there was...last ingredient. And then I read the ingredient list on the cough drops... aspartame AND sorbitol (which is another word for sugar!)No sugar indeed! So then I decided to go on Youtube and see if anyone on the HCG diet had experienced the same thing...sure enough and with the exact same cough drops!
It just goes to show ya...this is a science that cannot be messed with even when you're sick and not thinking straight...ya gotta be on your game!
And by the way...I gained 3 lbs yesterday and only lost .4 today.  I had been losing a pound or more a day! Grrrrrrrrrrrr and double Grrrrrrr all over cough drops that really didn't work that well to begin with.
LESSON LEARNED!

Maintenance

So I've really been enjoying maintenance!  And I'm under my last drop day weight by 2 lbs :D.
Three fun things that I've experienced on maintenance are this:
1) I went clothes shopping for Easter and I got a smaller size of clothing off of the rack thinking that it should be about the correct size because I didn't actually know what size I was...but I was a little concerned that it would be too small...IT WAS TOO BIG! :D So I went down 3 sizes in my first round :D.
2) We moved and in that I sorted through both my husband and my clothing!  We tried on every piece of clothing we owned...and SO MUCH of it was swimming on us.  It was super fun.
3) I have had a big box of clothes that I have kept of clothes that used to fit me.  I kept the classy stuff that never goes out of style.  Anyway, went to try them all on and found that 75% of them either fit me or were too big! :D YAY.

We have really worked at changing our eating patterns and you know what I've been noticing on maintenance?
1) I crave things like an apple and cheese for a snack. I used to be a real bread and pasta kind of girl.  I also love raisins, pecans, and chocolate chips for a snack (all organic and the nuts raw of course :D)
2) yesterday was my daughter's birthday and I had a bite of cake...didn't even taste that good to me...and I really didn't like the sugar.
3) we really really notice when we don't eat organic.  Even the kids notice. Their tummies don't like it.
4) I've been making a smoothie every morning out of coconut milk (my new fav), whole orange (minus skin), carrot, kale, and a frozen berry (raspberry, strawberry, blueberry, and/or blackberry) mmmmmmm SO GOOD!
5) I have always stayed far away from dairy products.  My body does not like them so much. However, I have been trying raw cheeses and organic cheeses, yogurt, cream cheese, cottage cheese, and cream for my coffee. Not one problem  In fact my body LOVES them.
6) I have noticed that if I eat organic...I mean bread, meat, cheese (nothing low fat)...as long as it's organic...I do not gain any weight...I even lose some. However, if I eat the same items only not organic I gain weight like it's going out of style.
7) not to push the whole organic thing but I never used to eat apples because they made me sick to my stomach not I eat organic apples all the time and kind of crave them even.  It really is a very interesting thing.

We both feel so good! I've been walking the dog at the dog park twice a day and loving it.  I can feel that my stride is stronger and I don't get tired as easily.  I have way more energy.
Really...it's all good. Well worth it.
My perspective on food has changed too. Don't get me wrong...Food still HAS to taste good or there is not point in eating it but I have broadened my tastes and I eat less food but much better quality food and really enjoy what I'm eating.
Have you ever noticed that when you are full food doesn't actually taste good. And since I'm eating food that my body recognizes as food the cravings are not there.  LOVE IT!