Luck Be A Lady

So in my quest to finally get healthy and lose all the excess fat on my personage I realized a couple of things. When I jump on a band wagon I go whole hog. I am obsessive so I can become obnoxious. I realized that people need to find their way to their rock bottom on their own. I can't keep telling them how great I'm feeling or that I've lost almost 15 lbs and it's because I started this amazing program.  I also discovered some people are jealous. Some of these people aren't necessarily sabotaging me but they are very loud with their silence.  Others are critical of the program for one reason or another. I'm not worried that it will slow me down. I am a freaking freight train when it comes to something I believe in. No one can stop me from succeeding except myself. I do have a firm belief in God so I know I have faith on my side to help me believe in myself. It is interesting to see the resistance now that I'm on 'that' side. I was one of thos...

So while I am on a very restricted diet (low carb, no dairy, NO sugar) I have become hyper aware of how strong certain foods and chemicals affect us. I am amazed first and foremost at how I am not craving sugar or diet soda. I was never one of those people who could have 'just one' cookie or 'just a bite' of that dessert. God help me, if brownies were made I was eating a third of the pan in one sitting!  It's not the chocolate we're craving here, it's the sugar. Our pancreas (well, more specifically MY pancreas) has been working overtime for years. I was pre-diabetic (what a stupid term) for a while but I did nothing to curb my sugar consumption. How could I? Sugar is an addictive substance. Hey drug dealers, don't use heroin, coke or meth to get people under your control. Use sugar instead! It's just as addictive AND it causes people to get fat, sick and die! Yeah, I know.... a little too much.  I'm not saying I don't love sugar because ...

Yeah, it's pre-season for football but I really do love baseball and it's getting to the dog days of summer and the World Series so whatev...... ;-) But my reference is one about my personal feelings. I've always been really hard on myself. I have always felt that the 'prize' was always just within reach but my short arms are constantly just a little too short. I've had LOTS of great things in my life, don't get me wrong but you know how it is to "covet thy neighbors' goods." right? I hit a milestone birthday and it feels like this has been my year to dig deep and learn who I really am and what makes me tick. I have made mental pros/cons lists about me and I knew it would be time to start figuring out how to be a happier and healthier me so the 'rest' of my life would be one of quality and not of chaos (which tends to follow me - and only because I let it!). I finally had my own 'come to Jesus' meeting with myself about my...

I decided to start writing a separate blog about my diet journey with Ideal Protein. Still using Blogger but it'll just be a different page. This way I can use my normal blog for all subjects and people can choose whether or not to read about diet struggles. I am really proud of myself. It's not been super difficult to do this diet thank goodness. I haven't cheated in 12 days and I'm still going strong. I will openly admit that the last couple of days I've felt hungrier so I've tried to drink more water when that happens. Sometimes, the hunger goes away. Sometimes, it doesn't but on those bad days I usually start a project and my hunger usually quiets down for at least an hour. Yesterday, I chose to actually move on to the next meal or snack to get my stomach to just stop bothering me. I am having a hunger moment as I type, mainly because I was working in the yard and I expended a lot of energy. I really should eat dinner right now but I can't. Oh we...

I felt a real urge to write even though I only have minutes before I have to dash out to the dentist (YUCK x 10) for a teeth cleaning which in my case requires novacaine and serious 'planing' from the dental hygenist. I can't remember, but I might be getting a cavity filled today as well.  Gross! Oh well... if I have had one health problem haunting me my entire life, it is my teeth. I guess that's better than lots of other things!  At least we're working towards complete preventative maintenance. It'll get there at some point! Brief update about the diet: I'm holding strong and finding out all kinds of things about myself. I am up to a 9.2 lbs loss according to my digital scale but won't consider it official until I weigh in this coming Saturday at the office. Still, if it is correct I'm happy!  A loss this early is mostly water but it's water I was holding onto. I know it would probably have shown more but I had to take my last meal (technical...

Just making myself very accountable here.... I tend to get very gung ho when I start a project, i.e., hobby, class, diet, workout, show, etc. I have lots of plans and hopes at the beginning of these ventures which I'm totally happy about since it shows I am more of an optimist than I give myself credit for. I just get concerned because I always say "I'm going to do 'this" and then my inherent nature is to give up, get distracted, take on too much so I'm too tired, etc., etc.  You know the drill, right?  I do take on too much stuff. Even now, I am a walking billboard for taking on too much. My mind needs to be on so many projects - why can't I say NO to some of them?  Ugh...... Anyway, I'm really planning to stick this new lifestyle & diet out for the rest of my life. I cannot believe how my cravings for sugar are gone. Granted, the pre-packaged items that come on the diet include sweets (including the yummy chocolate caramel nut bar I had this ...

So I made a serious decision about my health since I've got jaw surgery coming up within the next 2-6 months (depends on my orthodontist's okay). Mark and I tried Nutrisystem last summer and we both managed to lose about 10-16 lbs (my max was 13 at one point). The food really stinks by the way. I don't care what anyone says.  After 3 months, we both hit the wall. We joined the Y in hopes of exercising and getting some more poundage off. I checked into Ideal Protein while we were deciding whether or not to proceed with Nutrisystem and while I felt the medical science part of it was sound it just seemed to pricey for us.  Well, fast forward a year: we dropped the Y because we just weren't using it and it was a huge financial drain when Mark wasn't working and while I managed to cook at home to save big bucks (which I did!) it really affected our weight. I gained everything I had lost plus 4 more pounds! I'm telling you, being this overweight just p...