How it's going...

Well, I'm at the end of day 2 of my 7 Days of Whole Foods "challenge."

Yesterday was going quite well until I realized that my veggie and tuna wrap was not going to last me from 5:00 to 11:00pm. On my way home from work I stopped and got some vegetarian sushi, which I don't imagine is a whole food.

And again, today, I found myself to be hungry after lunch, so I made a veggie and tuna wrap, and then after dinner I had some granola. So overall, I haven't stuck to the plan perfectly, but virtually everything that's gone into my body the last two days has been healthy, which is the goal here.

Above you can see a picture of my dinner tonight, and also the "before" picture of lunch. The ingredients in that pasta? Durum whole grain whole wheat flour. I was impressed. Also, now I have some leftover salmon for my lunch salad tomorrow!

So far I've learned: I will buy fresh salmon more often and I'll also buy whole grain pasta all the time now.

Tomorrow poses a bit of a challenge. On the menu for dinner is ground turkey, brown rice and roasted broccoli. The problem is that I'm going to grandma's to play cards after work and so I'll be dependent on the food she makes for dinner. I know that I'll make good choices, but I don't imagine they'll be whole food choices. Maybe, to combat this issue I will throw another day onto the challenge. We'll see.

Alright folks, that's all for tonight.

7 Days of Whole Foods

Yesterday I decided that I would challenge myself and try to eat mostly whole foods for 1 week.

What's a whole food? Well, the Google dictionary defines it as: Food that has been processed or refined as little as possible and is free from additives or other artificial substances. So there you have it.

I decided to go all out and virtually plan every meal for the next 7 days. I can't figure out how to post an entire Word document in a blog post, so you can find my meal plan in plain text at the bottom of this post.

Something important to realize is that I'm not counting calories in the next week, because I believe that calorie counting is really not something one can keep up long term. It's just not realistic. The main objective of this week is to reintroduce a lot of good, healthy things to my body. I've been eating a lot of junk lately and I really want to feel clean inside by next week. Also, a few pounds of weight loss wouldn't hurt.

Whole food grocery haul Above you can see a picture of what I bought today in preparation of 7 Days of Whole Foods. Things like eggs, salmon and avocado are somewhat rare to my diet. I have been accustomed to convenience food lately; pizza pops, kraft dinner, frozen chicken strips, etc. I'm going to eliminate these things this week, and maybe I'll forget all about them! (In a perfect world.) I spent a total of $70, so $10 a day for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I have spent less weekly before, but that's because a package of Mr. Noodles is only like $.39. My meals won't be extravagant, but they should be pretty good. (Notice the chocolate.)  Alright, wish me luck on this one. I've impressed myself before with my willpower, but not in the last year and a half. I'm a little scared about showing up to work tomorrow and not buying a coffee and an oat bar... but some almonds will have to do! Follow-up to come. Meal Plan: Thursday, Jan 17th (Day 1) Breakfast: ·         2 hard-boiled eggs ·         1 serving of fruit Lunch: ·         Whole wheat pb&j sandwich ·         1 serving of veggies ·         1 handful of roasted almonds Dinner: ·         Whole wheat wrap with lettuce, cucumber, avocado, tuna ·         Some dark chocolate Friday, Jan 18th (Day 2) Breakfast: ·         1 bowl of good cereal and some almond milk ·         1 piece of fruit Lunch: ·         Whole wheat pasta with zucchini, mushrooms, olive oil, garlic Dinner: ·         Some salmon ·         Roasted broccoli and nugget potatoes Saturday, Jan 19th (Day 3) Breakfast: ·         2 hard-boiled eggs ·         1 piece of fruit Lunch: ·         Salad with cranberries and almonds ·         Some pretzels Dinner: ·         Brown rice with ground turkey and cranberries ·         Roasted broccoli and carrots Sunday, Jan 20th (Day 4) Breakfast: ·         1 bowl of good cereal and some almond milk ·         1 serving of fruit Lunch: ·         Whole wheat pb&j sandwich ·         1 serving of veggies ·         1 handful of roasted almonds Dinner: ·         Salad with tuna ·         1 serving of fruit ·         Some dark chocolate Monday, Jan 21st (Day 5) Breakfast: ·         2 hard-boiled eggs ·         1 serving of fruit Lunch: ·         Whole wheat wrap with lettuce, cucumbers, avocado and tuna ·         Some pretzels Dinner: ·         Whole wheat pasta with zucchini, mushrooms, olive oil, garlic ·         Some dark chocolate Tuesday, Jan 22nd (Day 6) Breakfast: ·         1 bowl of good cereal and some almond milk ·         1 serving of fruit Lunch: ·         Whole wheat pb&j sandwich ·         1 serving of veggies ·         1 handful of roasted almonds Dinner: ·         Whole wheat wrap with lettuce, cucumber, avocado and tuna ·         Some dark chocolate  Wednesday, Jan 23rd (Day 7) Breakfast: ·         2 hard-boiled eggs ·         1 serving of fruit Lunch: ·         Brown rice with ground turkey and cranberries ·         Roasted broccoli and carrots Dinner: ·         Whole wheat pb&j sandwich ·         1 serving of veggies ·         1 handful of roasted almonds ·         1 serving of fruit

Some progress pictures.

Weight loss from an outside perspective must look pretty fun.

The motivation we see in those on a weight loss journey is inspiring. The progress we see them make is fascinating. The idea of doing it ourselves can even be exciting. Coming from the inside, it's great as well, but along with the excitement of losing weight, comes the fear of gaining it back.

So. Currently I am just below 216 lbs. That marks 29 lbs lost since July. Now let's say that I started actually losing weight in the first week of July, 2012. That was about 25 weeks ago. If we do the math here, that means I lost approximately 1.1 lbs per week, to get where I am today.

Now, I wish I could say that in the past 6 months I have been steadily losing a weekly amount of 1.1 lbs. However, that's not been the case. Some weeks if I worked a lot and didn't feel particularly as hungry as usual, I would lose 2 or 3 lbs. Other times, for instance there were a few weeks after my ex and I broke up, that I gained 5 lbs between weigh-ins. Somehow though, 29 lbs have crept off my body and by God's will (well okay, and mine), they will stay off.

July, 2012 and November, 2012: A difference of 25 lbs.

The pictures above demonstrate many steps in the right direction. In the picture on the left, I am in my mom's house, getting ready to go and take care of those kids that didn't like me. I am wearing an XL shirt, and it's tight. I also look like I'm due for a baby in 8 weeks. In the picture on the right, I am in my new place in Calgary. The same shirt almost has a baggy feel now, and the shorts are comfortably loose. Some good changes!

I really can't wait for the next 29 lbs to come off. Assuming I keep up with the trend I've created, I should be about 20 lbs lighter by July, 2013, and that would bring me into "Onederland" as the dieters call it.

Anyways, I had a piece of that cheesecake today and it wasn't as good as I expected. So is life.

-A.

Today I bought a cheesecake.

You know, I'm not completely off to a bad start.

Six months ago (July, 2012) I was 25 lbs heavier than I am today. I also didn't have a proper job, and I was still living at home with no real ambition. I spent most of my days last summer either in bed surfing the web, or making a measly $60 a day taking care of two kids that hated me. At night, when the hot Okanagan sun slid behind the mountains, I would get into my car and eat. Sometimes I would stop at Tim Horton's and get a bagel, just so I would have something to be chewing on while I drove to a fast food place. One day I literally just went shopping for junk food. A jug of Sunny D, frozen pizza, chocolate... those kinds of things. I got so very lonely sometimes, that the cycle of binge eating followed by intense guilt sufficed as a form of entertainment. I ballooned, last year, to my highest weight ever of 245 lbs. I was successfully the size of two average 18-year-old girls, and only half of one self-esteem wise.

I imagine that my brother's wedding in August, 2012 was a turning point in my weight-story. His now wife had chosen me to be her maid of honour and as honoured as I was, the fat kid within me wanted only to be part of the audience, not the show. The last time I had been dress shopping was for graduation last year, a whopping 40 lbs lighter then. Maid of Honour dress shopping had proven to be a worse experience. I remember standing in the dressing room at The Bay. I didn't have my Spanks on and a bulge was literally seen every where you could look. "I don't know, Mom." I called to my mother who waited outside the stall. "I look fat in everything." And of course, I really did. There's no disillusionment when you weigh twice the size of the average person your age. It's real life fatness. I did end up finding a rather snug-fitting dress that worked. I felt a little pretty in it at the time, but looking back at pictures from the wedding day, I nearly cringe.

My brother's wedding, August 11th, 2012 (Approx. 240 lbs)

After the wedding, my life started moving a little quicker than in the previous months. My dad was staying with us and so my diet remained close to that of a normal person's. No late night binges, no third helpings, just regular-people habits. That seems to happen the more I'm around regular people. After a few weeks of that, followed by moving cities along with my brother and his new wife, I had lost about 10 lbs.

The first 10 lbs is always the easiest. I've lost the first 10 lbs so many times, that I almost don't really count it now. It was when I hit 20 lbs lost back in November 2012 that I really congratulated myself. The funny thing about achieving weight loss, especially if your weight has had a heavy impact on your confidence; the more you lose, the prouder you become, and the prouder you are of yourself, the more you see yourself being able to do. The bigger your dreams become, the less you sit along the sidelines, the more you actually live. And finally, the more you actually live, the less impact your physical body has on your confidence. 

So, essentially, that's my goal here; I would like to get to a point where I'm "out there" doing things that I wouldn't necessarily do on this date, today. I want to create a cycle or doing good > feeling good > doing good > feeling good, etc. How? Well certainly not by counting calories. And definitely not by workout DVD's, because those things all bore me. I don't really even know how I'm going to lose the weight, but I've got faith that I'll make good decisions without having to premeditate too much. 

So here we are. Welcome to my blog "Keen to be Lean in 2013." After years of being ashamed to mention my weight to the people around me, I'm just going to let it all out from here on through. I'm trying to take the shame away, and just work this out on a foundation of personal acceptance. I hope you won't judge me for that. 

Okay, good night.

-A.

P.S. Regarding the title, yes I bought a cheesecake today but I'm not going to eat it all at once (I've just decided.)