Much Better

I felt so much better last night - I had SO much more energy. I was hoping the energy would eventually come to me. I figure there are 4 key points to this whole lifestyle change that I have had to overcome.
1- Waking up earlier. Instead of waking up at 6:30 we are waking up at 5:30. It was hard at first and there will be days that I won't want to get up out of bed but having Kris next to me motivates me to hurry and get up before he does hehe.
2- Working out. Working out can be hard, right now it is kicking my butt and today seemed harder but it is going faster. Some days I am just not motivated to try very hard. The first day I felt sick, my teeth hurt and I had no fun but I am not pushing myself that hard, there is no reason to get sick and be in pain. Now I take the workout slower, at my own pace, do what I can, I try to push myself some but I have issues with cardio. I just bought a pilates DVD that I want to try with Summer and I need something to take with me on vacation in two weeks.
3- Eating Less. It is hard to change your diet. The hardest part in the beginning is the amount, eating about 1/3 to 2/3's less can be really hard. By day 1 I was ready to quit but it helped to read other blogs about some people I know who are trying to save starving people in Africa - Darfur. Those people are hungry, I am not.
4- Energy. I have had some issues with energy, it comes in waves, some days I have more than others. For a while I had almost none, not to mention I am tired at night because I am getting up so early.
Overcoming those 4 things can be done and I know I will feel better soon.

What day am I on?

I just can't keep the days straight anymore, maybe that is a good thing. I felt bad about losing my hunger pains but maybe they are just gone. I have a new nagging problem - energy. Working out and eating healthy is suppose to give a person more energy but I haven't found mine yet. I don't know why, I can only assume I might be eating too little - but seriously, could I be eating too less? Today I am going to eat a tad bit more to see, even though I feel like I am eating enough and I no longer feel hunger pains. I actually was surprised when I stepped on the scale today and saw I had lost another whole pound. I have lost 3.5 pounds since last Monday, I really didn't think I would really lose so much weight as fast as I have. My breakfast was the same, 1/2 banana and a bowl of rice krispies and 1% milk, my morning snack (which comes up in 4 minutes) is peanuts but I added a few more. I bought some veggies to have with lunch, a piece of bread with peanut butter and honey. I have yogurt again for my afternoon snack, maybe I will add a few peanuts. Dinner tonight will be breakfast, scrambled eggs, cheese and bacon - yes I said bacon. Two pieces, I have to get rid of it or it will go bad. I might even have half a piece of toast. It all sounds like enough to me - so we will see how I feel tomorrow. It could still be the adjustment to waking up early.

Day 8

I am actually starting to wonder where the hunger pains are. I am eating about the same, maybe a bit more breakfast in the morning, but the hunger pains are gone now. I guess they were suppose to go away but they were comforting knowing I was eating less. I hope I am still eating less, it seems like it but it can be hard to tell. Today I had a 1/2 banana for breakfast with my rice krispies. Maybe I am adding too much cereal and milk? For my morning snack I had a few peanuts again, I think 5 almonds and 10 peanuts. For lunch I had a piece of wheat bread with peanut butter and a few squirts of honey - I was really craving honey, and some broccoli and carrots steamed with garlic. I didn't realize the veggies had added seasonings, I hate when they do that. For my afternoon snack I will have yogurt again and for dinner I am making chicken plain, well salt pepper and lemon juice and asparagus and another vegetable Summer can eat. I have to come up with a better lunch, actually as long as I can incorporate a vegetable I am ok with bread I guess. Eggs would be a better breakfast, scrambled with salsa and a banana, maybe I can do that and cut out the rice krispies and just have a small glass of milk. Anyway rambling about food, at least I don't feel at all like I am deprived, I have no weird food cravings errr wait last night while falling asleep I was salivating thinking about McDonald's french fries. I actually imagined myself walking into a McDonald's asking to taste 4-5 fries to see if they were fresh and of course not ordering more, just to be able to taste a few. I can taste the yummy salt on the crunchy fry, then I wondered if I was craving salt, so I imagined eating salt and yuck nope I didn't just want salt, I wanted to fry to go with it. I fell asleep and woke up without strange food dreams luckily. Waking up is getting easier too, I know I am awake before the alarm even goes off. I have plenty of energy in the morning, the work out is so much easier now. I can tell a difference in just a week. I am happy with the results, oh and not that I am weighing daily but I have lost 2.5 pounds still but I feel so much smaller already.

Day 7

In 7 days I have lost 2 pounds but I feel like I am shrinking. It is not about the weight loss, it can't be because if it is all about weight then as soon as I lose the weight I will fail. I am not on a diet because diet's never work, I am eating healthy. I am eating so much less and so much healthier. My portion sizes are so small and I eat two or three snacks a day to help. I am getting active, I work out each morning and did you know mornings are the best time to work out? When you work out in the morning your body will burn fat because you haven't eaten in so long. I am walking further to my car, parking further, and just generally trying to stay active. The hunger pains are all but gone except when it is close to time to eating again. I am still tired but I have already adjusted to waking up an hour earlier, my body is awake again before the alarm clock. I did sacrifice an hour at night, I am going to bed around 9:00 because I am so tired. I have moments of complete exhaustion but I was also menstruating last week and that could have been why. Eventually I will have more energy, probably in another week - but I feel like the worse is over, I made it past the hardest week and it looks good from here!

Day 5

Last night I had a wonderful dinner - grilled steak and steamed broccoli. I had an entire filet minon and quite a bit of broccoli yet about 30 minutes later the hunger pains returned and stayed until I went to bed. I know I wasn't hungry, they were there because it was Friday night and normally I had something yummy, like ice cream. I almost caved into the craving, it was so bad last night. I caught myself thinking eating healthy is stupid, who cares if you are fat and unhealthy, everyone else is eating what they want - but luckily I resisted and I know it will get easier with time.
Today Kris, Summer and I woke up and ate our healthy breakfast and headed to a state park close to home. It was beautiful, it has 2 ponds and it was not very hot. We spent an hour walking around just looking at everything so we did get moving. Then we went to a park and had our morning snacks, a few peanuts for me. Summer enjoyed swinging and sliding. Next stop on the journey is lunch. I can only think a few hours ahead, the day is split into meals and snacks now. Eventually this will become second nature but for now I have to really think about it. I am not sure what I am going to have for lunch, maybe 1/2 sandwich and some fruit, that sounds good.

Steak for Dinner

I am hungry right now, well not really hungry but I have hunger pains, not bad. I had 1/2 a pb&j sandwich on wheat bread and 4 almonds. For my afternoon snack I had 4 almonds and 10 peanuts. I am not real worried because we are having grilled steak and veggies for dinner and I can't wait!

Day 4

Day 4 of working out and eating less/healthy food is going great. The constant hunger pains are finally gone and the tiredness is easing up. I realized I can't do this to loose weight because I will fail like last time. When we lost all the weight last time, which was our goal, we relaxed and here we are again, so this time I am just doing it as a lifestyle change - losing weight will be one of the benefits, as will the extra energy. I started at 141.5 pounds 3 days ago when I weighed, today I was 140.5. I don't expect much weight loss, with all the muscle building and weight repositioning I will notice the pants getting looser and that will be the test. Yesterday we went grocery shopping and bought our weekly healthier meals. I decided it would be easier to eat the same 7 meals each week of course making the portions smaller. Lots of veggies and protein at dinner, chicken, pork chops, beef stew, spaghetti, grilled steak, tuna melts and a free night to just pick at whatever we can find. This is going to save us a ton of money - we won't be eating fast food 3 to 4 times a week anymore. Working out this morning was easier, I also started multi vitamins. I am still really tired at night, I have been going to bed around 9:00 but that will balance itself out. Today I had a small bowl of rice krispies, 1% milk and 1/2 a banana for breakfast, a glass of hot tea, for snacks I will have a few peanuts/almonds and yogurt, lunch will be honey wheat bread with pb, maybe jelly and maybe a veggie, dinner tonight is 1 little steak and grilled veggies, or pork chops cooked on the stove with salt/pepper and a veggie if Kris doesn't feel like grilling.