Dec. 6th & 7th

Well, so far my juicing and smoothies has gone fairly well since I started on December 10th. I am down over 15 pounds. I surely have screwed up also, but get back on track about it.
Yesterday I drank juice all day and today, was on the toilet all day. I must have done something right.
Today, I drank more juice and have my bottle of juice ready for tomorrow with cabbage, bell peppers, celery, spinach, kale, ginger and sweet potato :) I will add more spinach throughout tomorrow and blending it.
I watched the movie : Fat Sick & Nearly Dead and it so inspired me. You can view it on youtube and also Netfix.  I am hoping to be inspired enough to just take my veggies and fruit with my blender to my family's on Christmas Eve and overcome the urge to stuff my face. Doing this will certainly empower me to keep going.
My body feels wonderful.. I have also continued to do my steps and try to gain more every day.
See you next time

starting my photo food log

Well, This morning I had a small handfull of multigrain chips with sour cream..

 For brunch I had red, yellow & orange peppers dipped in chipolte, mock potato salad (cauliflower instead of potatoes and 2T of pasta salad. Fruit of pineapple, watermelon, cantaloupe, red grapes.

For dinner, I had a smoothie with all the above mentioned fruit and veggies and one small apple & cucumber

I did not get in as many steps and will make up tomorrow.

Time to start again

Well here we are almost into 2015 and I have not made it far in this journey. I have lost a lot of weight only to have it find me again. So once again, I am trying only sure hoping it will be different. I have always caved into the pit of food as my family has not been very supportive. Awhile ago, I put my foot down and said "NO more!" If you want me to cook, I will cook my way and it will be vegetarian mostly. I do not mind fish, chicken or eggs.  Pasta is my biggest pit fall and I did not put it on my grocery list this month. 
I have been back on track for about 3 weeks now and am down 13 pounds. I have a really good friend on this journey with me and have added walking to it.  I belong to a few good groups on facebook and is rewarding. I am doing mostly veggies and fruit and also blending and juicing. 
What I would like to do is be honest with myself and write down / take photos of everything I eat. I have tried to that before, but when I didn't write it down was because I wanted to ignore it. Perhaps I can do so this time. We will see tomorrow :)

I Made It!

A few months ago, I agreed to do a 2 mile walk for a fund raiser for our local hospital. My 7 yr old daughter also does this walk.  I was not sure I could do it, but wanted to try.
The morning was very cool with the wind. It was cloudy with dark clouds and my daughter and I spotted 1 small clearing.
We met up with 'Gma' and headed for our check in spot at 6:45AM. Then at 7:30 AM, we got on the bus which took us to our starting point. At 8:AM, was when the walk started.
Of course with in minutes, I lost site of all except the 2 I was walking with. I just kept on going and did not lose my pace.  During the past couple of weeks, I had been able to get to the 2 mile walk on the treadmill in about 1 hour.  During the walk, the weather was great..not hot nor cold.
Coming to the 1 mile marker was encouraging and the last couple of blocks were the hardest. I did make it in 59.44 and was pleased. I felt really good about that.
During the ceremony, I felt like a loser when I realized at how fast others did it. I had to think about my journey and how just 6 months ago, I could not walk even 2 blocks.  I made a goal that I will do the walk next year with shorter time. So, in my workouts, I will ready myself to be ready then.  It would be nice to be able to run it, but we will see.

In 6 months, I am only down 30 pounds. There have been times I felt discouraged as it is not going as fast as I would really like, but I still have exceeded my goals.  I still prefer eating vegan but at times I do not. The main thing is that I continue to eat for my health.
The RA is so much better with rarely any pain. My blood sugars are in control and I am feeling so much better.

Hope all is well with the rest of you. When I get pics of my walk, I will post them.

Sarah

What a Work Out

Today, at the club, I ramped up my exercise. U did some equipment and then did the treadmill at 2.2 mph and a #5 incline for 45 minutes. I made it 1 1/2 miles!  I rarely get into a sweat and I was sweaty. I told ecveryone, do not get around my arm pits or it could kill them. After that workout, I did my 45 minutes aerobic class.  When I left there, I just wanted to go to sleep. However; I had grocery shopping to do. My overall attitude is one of satisfaction and I am going to continue to up it.  Good night all..This is a t shirt I made a couple years ago: It says : I had to give up jogging for my health. My thighs rubbing together, kept setting my underwear on fire

Brighter Day:)

Well, today has been a good day for me. Weather was a bit cooler and I got a lot accomplished around the house. I worked out a while. I have started doing the 5 Tibetan Rite exercises as seen on Dr Oz. I cannot do all of them (like the table), but maybe one day I will.  Here is the link to the video. I think you may find it very interesting. : http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/tibetan-rites-practice
Also there are articles about health of the monks that I really enjoyed reading. That link is : http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/tibetan-health-secrets.

I have been going to the club for a couple of months now and am seeing some differences already.  I have more energy which is the best to me. I am seeing inches gone and when I stand in front of the mirror, I see a big difference in my upper torso area.  I have had some areas on my upper thighs where there are bulges along the veins.  These raised areas are almost now non existent.
 I am being inspired to keep going, even though weight loss and smaller sizes are not what I had hoped for. I am trying to stay in my mind frame that this is about HEALTH first and foremost. I have to remember my goal in the beginning was only 4 pounds a month and I have exceeded that by close to double.

This morning I got up and drank a vegetable protein powder with banana. Then for lunch I made this wonderful bowl of salad. There was a bed of spring greens to which I added spinach, tomato, strawberry and topped it with olive oil and lemon juice with ginger. It was very satisfying and for dinner, I had a bowl of soup from last night.  

I am going to ramp up my exercise time at home also. I want to continue to feel good and healthy and build stamina. Tonight, I did not fix dinner for the family. I told them I had soup. I do plan on fixing my family spaghetti once per week and making a meatless meatloaf.

My best friend and I continue to keep each other encouraged on our path. We are each losing weight and inches differently and remain on different eating plans, but continue to share recipes. I am so grateful for her friendship and love her a lot.
Soon, I will add a couple of pictures here.
Happy eating and thanks for visiting.    

A Bit Frustrated

Right now, I am a bit frustrated. I fixed a nice dinner (vegetable soup) I put in carrots, peas, potato, a bit of red beans, cabbage, 1 onion, tomatos, green beans with nice seasonings.  I called the family to eat and was ignored.
 later on, DH came to the kitchen and I asked him if he would like his dinner now. He replied "No, you put tomato and onion in it." Yet, he will eat tomato on  a sandwich and eat green onion.  I only put in 1 small one. He then made himself a can of chili. Then my youngest wanted some, so he made some for her also.
Neither child was interested and in fact, no matter what I fix, they don't eat hardly and go after a can of soup, chili or top ramen.
This did it and I told dh, that tomorrow was our grocery money was coming in and I will buy 60 cans of chili and several cans of soup and packages of hotdogs. If they want something different, he will now have to do the cooking. He said "Why 60 cans?" I just told him that they are going to have to pick out their own food everyday and I was DONE. I may cook them spaghetti once a week.
Basically I am done with it. It has always been this way. All they want is crap.
I must stay on my plan as this is my health.  I guess I'll have to enjoy at least 1 bowl a day of cooked food. I am so still enjoying raw smoothies.