Day 2 of 9 Day Detox

I had a challenging day yesterday. I did good with the eating, I ate my intended fruits and veggies and drank 48oz's of water. I did my early morning oil pulling and drank 1oz of LimuPlus. What I didn't do was my 30 minutes of walking. It's not that I didn't have the time, I pretty much chose not to.

I feel that I pretty much went through a withdrawel stage last night. I've noticed when I used to binge eat it was usually around dinner time or late at night. I would snack on high-calorie food, eating chips, chocolate, drinking soda, etc. I had this urge last night to go raid the fridge. I can't explain it. But I was consciously aware that my mind basically was debating as to whether or not I should go get something to eat ( other than fruit or vegetables ). Seriously, I was even coming up with justifications or reasons why I should. Like, "it won't hurt, you can always get back on track tomorrow" or "you deserve it, you've been doing good so far... no one will know". That reminds me of the definition that I heard about excuses, which is; Excuses is a well planned lie. So that's what I felt that I was doing at the time. I was coming up with the reasoning or the excuse before taking the action so I can justify my behavior. It was interesting and i'm happy to say that I did not give in to the temptation. I could have easily, but it was also easy not to. I'm a victor!

So the thing is, if you can do something once... you can do it again. And I definitely feel that when I get these urges to eat from my list of no-no's I will know how to resist. Normally in the past I would have gave in and then feel guilty afterwards. I no longer want to return to those bad habits. Habits are developed over time, and by me removing my old habits and replacing them with new habits that will serve me and assist with me reaching my goal weight. I noticed also that once I distracted myself from thinking that I needed/deserved something sweet or salty... the urges disappeared. I was on a training soon after that episode and afterwards I was no longer wanting to eat.

My goals for today is to get my 30 minutes of walking in. I'm also going to continue having my fruits and veggies and drink 64oz's of water. I'm thinking about investing in some excercize equiptment to help me with excercizing at home. Maybe some dumbells or one of those excercize balls. I will also continue doing my oil pulling and drinking my 2oz's of LimuPlus.

Day 1 of my detox

I decided to do a 9 day detox. The nine-day first phase of the diet is a time for me to eat primarily fruits and vegetables, to allow my body to cleanse itself of impurities and toxins and 2 liters of water everyday. Dr. Ian has this detox included in his book "Fat Smash". I will follow it for the first stage and basically take it from there and customize it to something that I feel will suit me best. I'm not focused on that right now. I'm just going to focus on getting to Day 9, one day at a time.

I'm so proud of myself! I actually went did good with my eating. I was surprised that I didn't have much of a craving. All that water somehow didn't leave any room for tempted food. For lunch I had a mango 16oz of water and a cup of grapes and that alone pretty much had me stuffed. And I remember thinking... are you serious?

I walked for 30 minutes today. So I got my excercize in. WooHoo! I wanted to also do my Taebo, but it was getting late. That's ok.

During my 9 days I will be drinking 2 ounces of Limu Plus daily. I love to drink it about 15mins before my work-outs because it actually helps energize me and i'm not so worned out during and afterwards. I am also oil pulling.

One day at a time...

Lol.

I just laugh at myself when I come back to posting and noticing the gaps between my latest entries. At least it's progress. I feel that I am at a different place now in my weight releasing journey than where I was when I "tried" to release weight previously. I can't really explain it, but I know what i'm feeling. Now, I am not going to set expectations on myself. I will still set goals and set out to acheive them. If I acheive them, good. And if I don't, that's ok too. But the whole point is to never give up until I have reached my desired goal weight.

I'm in the process of reading "The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle. And what I am getting out of the book is that we shouldn't live in a place of regrets, when looking back at the past. Neither should we focus on the future because it's pretty much an illusion. Although the anticipation of getting to where we going is there, we are basically not "present" in what we are doing today... right NOW. Anyways, it's insightful so far. I relate alot of what he talks about in his book to my personal life, especially my journey to health and wellness. So for me it's all about taking it one day at a time. And that's how we all eventually get to our destination. But it pretty much started to sink in ... i'm really starting to "get it".

Getting back on track -- Take 2

I can't believe it's been almost a month since my last entry in this blog.

So what's new?

Nothing at all. Same ole habits, got sidetracked again, had some things going on and I really didn't care or pay attention to the fact that I was in the process of releasing weight.

Just moved to a new town. So that means new people to meet, new surroundings and environment. I love that we have a view of a lake from our patio and now I have the chance to go on a somewhat nature walk!

I did go to the gym yesterday! Yes, and I really enjoyed it. I was planning on going all day today and I will be doing just that right after I finish this entry. I just had my supper and I wanted to wait before getting on the eliptical machine. My water intake can use some increasing and I would like to also increase my fruits and veggies.

Once again I am getting back on track. It's funny how I say these things over and over again. What a bad habit of not following through with what I start. Anyways, I am FOR REAL this time. I will release this weight and be under the 200lbs mark by December 31st 2007. Mark my words...

So the two important words that I need to focus on is CONSISTENCY and DETERMINATION. I really need to have a desire of wanting to release this weight in order to be determined and motivated enough to go out there and do something. I still can't believe it's been a month. Do you know how much progress that I could have had if I was consistantly doing my excercises and eating right between July 11th and August 9th?

Well, I did set a mini goal for myself. I want to lose 5lbs by August 18th. And a total of 10lbs for the month! And of course under 200lbs by December 31st. My daily goals are to excercize at least 45minutes a day, drink plenty of water and eat healthly and in moderation. I KNOW I CAN, I KNOW I CAN.

I'm off to go work-out now...

Getting back on track

It's been awhile since I last updated, but I am back in the game. I got a little sidetracked and I am going to continue what I started. This is not going to be easy. I probraly gained a couple of pounds... I think I will wait a month from now before I weigh myself.

I still have a problem with being consistant, excercizing, and emotional eating. I let myself go and started eating junk food again and drinking soda and eating chocolate. But I can not continue this way. I am tired of going in circles and not getting anywhere.

For the next week. I will walk at least 30 minutes a day. Drink plenty of water. Record all of my food intake and excercizing. And 30 minutes of cardio 5 days a week.

Shaq's Big Challenge

There is a new television show out and I am very much interested in it. Why? Because it has to do with health and wellness and about childhood obesity. The name of this show is Shaq's Big Challenge and yes it was founded by Shaquille O'neil the basketball star. Shaq is on the mission of helping getting the word out about childhood obesity and its rising numbers and health concern. And he is starting out with these 6 children. All of them attends middle school in Broward County, Fl. For the next 6 months these kids are going to be trained by a team of experts that Shaq rounded up and their goal is to change these kids lives and set them on a new and healthier path.

I like this show because I feel that it will show people how serious this epidemic is becoming. I have to say that alot of adults who are overweight didn't get there in their adulthoods but it may have started looooong before when they were younger from many years of bad eating habits and lack of physical activities. I myself was always big for my age. I was not "overweight" until I was about 15/16 but I was still on the plus size. I can remember having low self-confidence and even comforting myself with food at times when I was younger. People, especially adults will make comments about my weight which made me feel bad because to me I wasn't that big.

There were a couple of these children you can tell who were not very content with their weight and the fact that they were teased about it also. Just looking at their faces and body language you can see the lack of confidence in theirselves and the sorrows that they felt. Some of these parents were taking the blame for their childrens weight. I personally feel that the parents do have a responsibility in helping their childrens to maintain an active and healthy lifestyle. I really don't care if the child throws a fit or a tantrum because you don't let them eat junk food or all the fast food they want because it taste good and that's all they want to eat. Since you're the parent, and you're the one with the money and do the shopping... you kind of have a say as to what you allow to be sitting in the pantry and in the refrigerator (at least that is what I think).

Introduction to the participants of Shaq's Big Challenge

Starting from left to right we have:

Walter, age 14, weighs 285 lbs. at the start of the show.
Walter, who spends almost five hours a day playing video games, dreams of creating his own video games someday. He admits he has "not been very active" but promises he will stick with the program until the end. Walter's favorite food is a pizza burrito.

Chris, age 11, weighs 206 lbs. at the start of the show.
Chris plays on a baseball team and dreams of becoming a professional ball player one day. He loves big family dinners featuring his mother's homemade Cuban dishes. As his father says, in the Cuban culture, "if you are thin you aren't doing well."

James, age 11, weighs 182 lbs. at the start of the show.
James doesn't think he is overweight, but admits to loving fast food. His favorite meal is a "fryburger" — a hamburger with French fries on top, which he calls "flamingly delicious."

Kit, age 14, weighs 263 lbs. at the start of the show.
Kit is a talented artist and has been a bit sheltered by her parents. While she has never been able to do a push-up in her life, Kit is always the first to offer encouragement and friendship to the other kids in the program.

Kevin, age 13, weighs 230 lbs. at the start of the show.
Kevin is very close to his father, who is his biggest motivator. He is very competitive and thrives in a team environment. Kevin was able to do six push-ups at the beginning of the program, more than any of the other kids.

Ariel, age 14, weighs 211 lbs. at the start of the show.
Ariel is very optimistic about her decision to lose weight, and is excited to have the opportunity to be a part of the program. Like many of us, Ariel is a "comfort eater" in times of stress.

I will be updating and commenting about this show through-out the season. I am looking forward to watching these children transform their lives and their families as well. And I pray that it sends out a significant message to the families out there who are dealing with this problem in their own household. I hope America and the government choose to do something about it before it's too late.

To watch Shaq's Big Challenge online Click Here!

5 Pounds of Fat

I did it again. I ate more than I should have last night after my emotions go the best of me. I do not feel guilty... more like responsible for my actions. I don't know why at the time I feel that I can't help or control myself but really I can. I chose to ignore those voices that we're telling me that I should stop. I did feel bad after words... I wanted to turn back the hands of time and do it all over again.

Life in itself is an up and down cycle so dealing with lifes curve balls with food will get me no where. A while back I was watching a television show and a nutritionist or a doctor was holding a replica of what 5 lbs of fat looks like. I searched around and I found a video clipping of what it looks like below...




I can't believe that 5 pounds is that much. It's kind of disgusting when I think about my body carrying so much of these extra 5lbs. What a visual?