Healthy Life, Healthy Mind

Alright. No more excuses! No more procrastination. No more giving up! I am determined to become healthier this summer!! This means shedding around 30 pounds and continuing to eat well and exercise harder. I have been seeing a nutritionist for quite some time now and I feel we have finally figured out what is going to work for me. This has taken so long because I refused to “diet” per se but want to change my lifestyle to eating healthier ALL the time not just until the weight drops. I know I can lose weight on diets…I’ve done it before. This was not, and is not my ultimate goal however. With that being said, I have decided to give my body a jump start by following a series of strict diets while working my way back into my normal eating habits. I feel it was very important for me to learn how to eat healthy before tackling a strict diet so that when the diet is over I can resume eating healthy while dropping and eventually maintaining my new lower weight.

I began with a 72 hour fruit/protein powder cleanse. I’m not really sure if this cleansed me as I did not have um…bathroom issues as everyone said I was going to. This was the first time in my life I have ever gone more than 24 hours without eating actual food though. I know that fruit is indeed food but it’s mostly liquid. I was only drinking water or water mixed with protein powder and fruit…nothing else. This was actually easier than I thought it would be but still difficult in it’s own right. I continued to workout 2 of those 3 days. I was able to drop around 5 pounds but I knew it would come back over the weekend. The point of the cleanse was not to lose weight but to rid my body of nastiness! Mission accomplished…I think.

Step two began this week on Tuesday. Now I am eating only vegetables (preferably green ones) and lean meats as well as a protein drink here and there, mainly for hydration purposes- I add a scoop of protein powder to about 2 cups of water each. I am still allowing myself a cup of sweetened coffee in the morning but that’s the only treat I get. I will follow this until Saturday evening when I will treat myself to a healthy meal that is more than just meat and veggies. And perhaps an adult beverage or two.

Sunday I will be back on this veggie/meat plan but adding in a piece of fruit and a healthy carb once a day (like brown rice or yams). In order to do this, I will reduce my meat intake so my overall portions stay the same. This is often times what people forget to do when they add carbs back in. You must take away something else so you don’t overeat! After a full week (at least 5 days) of this I should be ready to start incorporating all the other healthy foods I’ve grown to love. I should be down some serious weight by then and I will feel motivated to stay on track!

I have always been pretty good about exercising but I have recently found two new types of exercise (and possibly a third) to motivate and push me harder than I have been pushed before. I run in the hot evening sun for about 35 minutes, 3 times a week. In addition to that, I am joining a running group that will meet every Saturday morning from this Saturday until December to prepare for a half marathon that I will run in January. This will be quite the challenge for me as I am no good at running! I have bad feet, back problems, and just don’t go very fast. This will also motivate me to drink less on the weekends as I will not be going out on Friday nights since I have to be at the park at 6am every Saturday.

I have also taken a liking to Bikram yoga. For those of you who don’t know what this is…it’s basically yoga in a hellish environment. The temperature is around 105 degrees and 40% humidity. It is a VERY INTENSE 90 minutes! I love pushing myself though and this does it all right! I have only attended 3 classes so far but look forward to continuing to go to improve not only my flexibility but weight control as well.

And the third thing is…I am looking at getting back into boxing. I used to belong to a boxing gym for just over 3 years and LOVED it. It became too expensive and too inconvenient however, and I had to give it up. One of the instructors from the gym I used to belong to just opened his own boxing studio and I’m going to go check it out. I hope it’s not too expensive and that the classes will work with my already busy schedule. Because in addition to all of this madness, I also try to work out at a regular gym 5 times a week!

You would think I would be a toothpick with all this effort and dedication but I have learned that becoming healthy is a very slow and long process. It is also a very difficult process that takes a lot of dedication and determination. I believe I have finally reached that point in my life where I’m ready to fully embrace this life challenge. I want to be healthy in mind, body, and spirit and I will achieve this! Can’t wait to finally feel at peace and continue to maintain this way of living.