As I creep ever so quickly to my one year anniversary of changing to a low carb, no sugar lifestyle, I have learned many things... Here is an account of the 10 things that I think about most often.
1. The number on the scale can truly mess with your focus.
In the beginning, as the numbers start to fall off, it is so exciting! It makes it easy to stick with a plan. You start seeing changes, others start seeing changes, it is a high! As it becomes a slower drop of pounds, frustration can easily step in. Also those little thoughts of 'just a little bit, just one' start to appear. I have done so good, I can slip a little. Repeat after me, I AM NOT A DOG. I do not need to reward myself with food. Seriously, is this really a reward? No, I am actually hurting myself when I do that. Geez, common sense... would you reward an alcoholic with a beer? No, so why give a food addict food? For a well educated woman, I can be pretty dumb sometimes.
2. Eggs are an amazing food.
Oh my. I feel sorry for people that don't like or are allergic to this amazing, versatile, cheap food. When I need to jump start, focus, refocus, whatever, eggs are my go-to meal. They are full of protein, low in calories and practically carb free. I start every day with my eggs, they are an easy snack and they are a filling dinner. I love knowing I can fry them up with butter! Something that was so taboo for so long is actually important to have.
I also found Egglettes. Those 'seen on tv' things are sometimes not worth their price, but I love this find. Hard boiled eggs are my lunch and easy snack. But, I hate peeling the darn little things. I either miss a sliver of a shell or half of my egg is stuck to the shell and thrown away. What a waste. With Egglettes, you crack the raw egg and pour the contents into the little container, then boil the egg in the container. Pop them out and they are ready to eat. No muss, no fuss. My mom can make a perfect hard boiled egg, unfortunately, that is not a skill she passed on to me. I have found the Egglettes save me frustration, and let's be honest, less stress is always a plus.
3. Water is essential.
Striving for your weight in water can be a huge challenge. Especially at a higher weight. Running to the bathroom, even though you get more steps, is kind of a pain. Depending on the job you have, some bosses might frown upon going to the bathroom every 30 minutes. In my case, teachers have to have a bladder of steel. Luckily, the bathroom is right outside of my classroom so it is easy to get the kids started on a task and sneak out without them knowing I have even gone.
Then there is that timing thing. Gotta get all of that water in early in the day, or you are up nineteen times during the night. Need to be weary of long trips too... is there a rest stop, how much longer will it take to get there if I have to pee all of the time?? Airports, forget about it!
With all of the negatives, why do it!!?? Flushing toxins, full feeling in your belly, great skin, and the list goes on!! I don't think I have had a zit since I started getting all of my water!! I was fortunate not to have acne problems anyway, but my skin really does glow. I really have to remember to chug it down before meals. It helps fill you up faster so you don't have as many calories. If you change nothing else, start with upping the water.
4. The kitchen is more important than the gym.
Exercise is for health, not weight loss. I could spend all day exercising, but if I stop off and get a double cheeseburger, fries and wash it down with a shake, everything I worked off, I just put back on and then some. The basic math is: calories in have to be less than calories out in order to lose weight. If you focus on the portions, calories, carbs, sugars, but never go to a gym, you will lose weight. I am total proof of that!
However, in order to tone the muscles (which helps boost metabolism) and raise your heart rate, you need some type of physical activity. You don't need to kill yourself in a gym to do it. Shoot for 10,000 steps a day. 5 minutes here and there during the day really add up. Walking to the bathroom alone if you get your water in must be an added 600 steps! I started doing little things: walking around my house while something was in the microwave, parking a little further away, shopping a little longer by walking up and down all of the aisles (self control to NOT buy more stuff was needed), taking the dog/kids for a walk, walking to get the mail instead of pulling up to the mailbox, walking the hallway at work during 5-10 minutes of my lunch break. All of those little activities join together to get the steps.
The scale is not the end all be all in this life of ours. But I know if it doesn't move, it is because of one of 3 reasons: 1. I didn't eat right, 2. I didn't get my water, 3. I didn't get my steps in. I can go back and look at my Fitbit history and prove that! Days I am under 6000 steps, I didn't lose. I didn't have enough activity to counter even the best food days. Like I said, exercise is not needed for weight loss, but again calories in vs. calories out.
5. Fatgirl Mentality.
This is the number one killer! Years of bad habits, bad thoughts, bad, bad, bad! Those ugly thoughts creep in to sabotage you. You sabotage you!! It is hard to take old habits and negativity and turn them around. Old habits are easy, you know it, you lived it, it's just easy. However, it didn't really work out well in the long run, now did it? Going back to the bad habits gets the same bad results. You have to change your mind to change your body. I honestly battle my mind more than the food. Once you break the physical addiction and shrink the stomach, your body can do it. It is your mind you have to fight!
Fatgirl mentality also effects what you see in the mirror. I may be down 70ish pounds, but I still see the old me. I have a hard time seeing the changed me! Just when I start on a positive, start recognizing the new girl, fatgirl mentality tries to take over. It is a battle against myself!
6. Food prep is key.
You have to have a plan for success. You have to follow the plan. You can't go willy nilly into this. You have to be ready for the week, have foods that support your goals ready. There are very few low carb/sugar free foods that you can just pop in the microwave and ready in minutes. But, if you plan ahead, you can have foods in the freezer to pop in easy. The hardest time to stay on target is when I am having to look for food because I don't have anything ready to go. Bad choices are so much easier than cooking good choices.
Find casseroles, meats, foods that you can cook a lot at one time. Portion those out and have them ready for the week. I keep at least one week of casseroles in the freezer at all times. Our busy lives don't need to be an excuse to grab something that will not help you reach your goals. Avoid the drive-thru and go to your own freezer for something tasty to stick to your plan.
Not sure what to make, where to start? Check out the one week plan I made for a family member. It focuses on 1600 calories, under 20 grams of carbs and sugar. It can be tweaked to go higher or lower on the numbers. Most of the recipes can be found in this blog.
7. Extra skin is a b1tch.
As if having fat everywhere wasn't bad enough, once you lose the weight you are stuck with sagging, extra skin. Easy excuse for fatgirl mentality to try to sabotage. You have a couple of choices, accept and love yourself the way you are (the best option) or cover up, hide, and live in embarrassment. I have tried very hard to accept myself they way I am. I have tried to see my loose skin as a trophy for getting rid of the fat. I will never look like a model, some of this skin is going to shrink up, but I have had this skin stretched out for so long, it is happy being the way it is.
Don't hide because of your weight or your body. You are YOU, you are LOVED, and you are AMAZING!! The ones that love you will love you no matter what. The ones that don't, well, who cares?!?!? Haters will hate for any reason, not worth wasting time or energy on them. Get out, do things, take pictures, your kids and family want to see you at any shape and size.
8. Sleep.
The quiet saboteur! Stress, kids, sickness, job, spouse, money, activities, house, you name it. Life can be crazy!! All of those things sneak into your bedroom at night, and just when you start to fall asleep that brain starts thinking. Yep, back to being wide awake! It is hard to think straight, make good choices or even function when you are tired! Sleep deprivation has the same effects as being drunk.
With that said, I think back to college days. After a long night of drinking, what is the first thing you did when you got home from the bar??? Pop in a pizza and munch on cookie dough! Yep, an old habit that starts sounding good when you are too tired to care anymore! Well, the only cure... step away from the kitchen and go back to bed!! 7-8 hours a night is vital!! Hard to do most nights, but you really do need it!!
9. Support is so important.
Positive people, positive results. It is easier to eat healthy and make good choices when everyone at your house and all of your friends are on the same page. Hard to stay focused when people around you are unhealthy. Nothing worse than watching your family enjoy a chocolate shake and you are sitting there with nothing. Make sure to have a great bunch of people that support you, encourage you, and always have your back!! When temptation hits, get ahold of that support team to talk you off of the ledge!!
At the hardest times, I have had so many help me out. Join a facebook page (one day at a time. sugar and carb free is an awesome one), join a weight loss challenge group, or go to your tribe. The tribe is your circle of closest friends that always have your back.
10. This is HARD.
Giving up sugar and carbs ain't for sissies!! It is hard. It is inconvenient. It is a lot of work. Any positive lifestyle change/healthy plan is a daily battle against yourself, temptation, old habits, saboteurs, fatgirl mentality and a drive- thru society! You have to decide what you want more out of life... a healthy, long, life with a few inconveniences OR an unhealthy, unhappy, shorter life with ease. I don't know about you, but I know what I want. It is not easy getting what I want, nothing worth having is. It is a life long, day to day, sometimes minute to minute fight. It honestly is the fight of your life!! It is so worth it! One day at a time...
1. The number on the scale can truly mess with your focus.
In the beginning, as the numbers start to fall off, it is so exciting! It makes it easy to stick with a plan. You start seeing changes, others start seeing changes, it is a high! As it becomes a slower drop of pounds, frustration can easily step in. Also those little thoughts of 'just a little bit, just one' start to appear. I have done so good, I can slip a little. Repeat after me, I AM NOT A DOG. I do not need to reward myself with food. Seriously, is this really a reward? No, I am actually hurting myself when I do that. Geez, common sense... would you reward an alcoholic with a beer? No, so why give a food addict food? For a well educated woman, I can be pretty dumb sometimes.
 |
| Cheesecake |
2. Eggs are an amazing food.
Oh my. I feel sorry for people that don't like or are allergic to this amazing, versatile, cheap food. When I need to jump start, focus, refocus, whatever, eggs are my go-to meal. They are full of protein, low in calories and practically carb free. I start every day with my eggs, they are an easy snack and they are a filling dinner. I love knowing I can fry them up with butter! Something that was so taboo for so long is actually important to have.
I also found Egglettes. Those 'seen on tv' things are sometimes not worth their price, but I love this find. Hard boiled eggs are my lunch and easy snack. But, I hate peeling the darn little things. I either miss a sliver of a shell or half of my egg is stuck to the shell and thrown away. What a waste. With Egglettes, you crack the raw egg and pour the contents into the little container, then boil the egg in the container. Pop them out and they are ready to eat. No muss, no fuss. My mom can make a perfect hard boiled egg, unfortunately, that is not a skill she passed on to me. I have found the Egglettes save me frustration, and let's be honest, less stress is always a plus.
 |
| Egglette Hard Boiled Eggs |
3. Water is essential.
Striving for your weight in water can be a huge challenge. Especially at a higher weight. Running to the bathroom, even though you get more steps, is kind of a pain. Depending on the job you have, some bosses might frown upon going to the bathroom every 30 minutes. In my case, teachers have to have a bladder of steel. Luckily, the bathroom is right outside of my classroom so it is easy to get the kids started on a task and sneak out without them knowing I have even gone.
Then there is that timing thing. Gotta get all of that water in early in the day, or you are up nineteen times during the night. Need to be weary of long trips too... is there a rest stop, how much longer will it take to get there if I have to pee all of the time?? Airports, forget about it!
With all of the negatives, why do it!!?? Flushing toxins, full feeling in your belly, great skin, and the list goes on!! I don't think I have had a zit since I started getting all of my water!! I was fortunate not to have acne problems anyway, but my skin really does glow. I really have to remember to chug it down before meals. It helps fill you up faster so you don't have as many calories. If you change nothing else, start with upping the water.
 |
| Cheese Omelet |
4. The kitchen is more important than the gym.
Exercise is for health, not weight loss. I could spend all day exercising, but if I stop off and get a double cheeseburger, fries and wash it down with a shake, everything I worked off, I just put back on and then some. The basic math is: calories in have to be less than calories out in order to lose weight. If you focus on the portions, calories, carbs, sugars, but never go to a gym, you will lose weight. I am total proof of that!
However, in order to tone the muscles (which helps boost metabolism) and raise your heart rate, you need some type of physical activity. You don't need to kill yourself in a gym to do it. Shoot for 10,000 steps a day. 5 minutes here and there during the day really add up. Walking to the bathroom alone if you get your water in must be an added 600 steps! I started doing little things: walking around my house while something was in the microwave, parking a little further away, shopping a little longer by walking up and down all of the aisles (self control to NOT buy more stuff was needed), taking the dog/kids for a walk, walking to get the mail instead of pulling up to the mailbox, walking the hallway at work during 5-10 minutes of my lunch break. All of those little activities join together to get the steps.
The scale is not the end all be all in this life of ours. But I know if it doesn't move, it is because of one of 3 reasons: 1. I didn't eat right, 2. I didn't get my water, 3. I didn't get my steps in. I can go back and look at my Fitbit history and prove that! Days I am under 6000 steps, I didn't lose. I didn't have enough activity to counter even the best food days. Like I said, exercise is not needed for weight loss, but again calories in vs. calories out.
 |
| A little bit of a change |
5. Fatgirl Mentality.
This is the number one killer! Years of bad habits, bad thoughts, bad, bad, bad! Those ugly thoughts creep in to sabotage you. You sabotage you!! It is hard to take old habits and negativity and turn them around. Old habits are easy, you know it, you lived it, it's just easy. However, it didn't really work out well in the long run, now did it? Going back to the bad habits gets the same bad results. You have to change your mind to change your body. I honestly battle my mind more than the food. Once you break the physical addiction and shrink the stomach, your body can do it. It is your mind you have to fight!
Fatgirl mentality also effects what you see in the mirror. I may be down 70ish pounds, but I still see the old me. I have a hard time seeing the changed me! Just when I start on a positive, start recognizing the new girl, fatgirl mentality tries to take over. It is a battle against myself!
 |
| Food prep--chocolate chip mug cake |
6. Food prep is key.
You have to have a plan for success. You have to follow the plan. You can't go willy nilly into this. You have to be ready for the week, have foods that support your goals ready. There are very few low carb/sugar free foods that you can just pop in the microwave and ready in minutes. But, if you plan ahead, you can have foods in the freezer to pop in easy. The hardest time to stay on target is when I am having to look for food because I don't have anything ready to go. Bad choices are so much easier than cooking good choices.
Find casseroles, meats, foods that you can cook a lot at one time. Portion those out and have them ready for the week. I keep at least one week of casseroles in the freezer at all times. Our busy lives don't need to be an excuse to grab something that will not help you reach your goals. Avoid the drive-thru and go to your own freezer for something tasty to stick to your plan.
Not sure what to make, where to start? Check out the one week plan I made for a family member. It focuses on 1600 calories, under 20 grams of carbs and sugar. It can be tweaked to go higher or lower on the numbers. Most of the recipes can be found in this blog.
 |
| Dang extra skin |
As if having fat everywhere wasn't bad enough, once you lose the weight you are stuck with sagging, extra skin. Easy excuse for fatgirl mentality to try to sabotage. You have a couple of choices, accept and love yourself the way you are (the best option) or cover up, hide, and live in embarrassment. I have tried very hard to accept myself they way I am. I have tried to see my loose skin as a trophy for getting rid of the fat. I will never look like a model, some of this skin is going to shrink up, but I have had this skin stretched out for so long, it is happy being the way it is.
Don't hide because of your weight or your body. You are YOU, you are LOVED, and you are AMAZING!! The ones that love you will love you no matter what. The ones that don't, well, who cares?!?!? Haters will hate for any reason, not worth wasting time or energy on them. Get out, do things, take pictures, your kids and family want to see you at any shape and size.
 |
| Easy, one week food plan |
8. Sleep.
The quiet saboteur! Stress, kids, sickness, job, spouse, money, activities, house, you name it. Life can be crazy!! All of those things sneak into your bedroom at night, and just when you start to fall asleep that brain starts thinking. Yep, back to being wide awake! It is hard to think straight, make good choices or even function when you are tired! Sleep deprivation has the same effects as being drunk.
With that said, I think back to college days. After a long night of drinking, what is the first thing you did when you got home from the bar??? Pop in a pizza and munch on cookie dough! Yep, an old habit that starts sounding good when you are too tired to care anymore! Well, the only cure... step away from the kitchen and go back to bed!! 7-8 hours a night is vital!! Hard to do most nights, but you really do need it!!
 |
| ZC Cazzerole |
9. Support is so important.
Positive people, positive results. It is easier to eat healthy and make good choices when everyone at your house and all of your friends are on the same page. Hard to stay focused when people around you are unhealthy. Nothing worse than watching your family enjoy a chocolate shake and you are sitting there with nothing. Make sure to have a great bunch of people that support you, encourage you, and always have your back!! When temptation hits, get ahold of that support team to talk you off of the ledge!!
At the hardest times, I have had so many help me out. Join a facebook page (one day at a time. sugar and carb free is an awesome one), join a weight loss challenge group, or go to your tribe. The tribe is your circle of closest friends that always have your back.
 |
| Down about 70 pounds |
10. This is HARD.
Giving up sugar and carbs ain't for sissies!! It is hard. It is inconvenient. It is a lot of work. Any positive lifestyle change/healthy plan is a daily battle against yourself, temptation, old habits, saboteurs, fatgirl mentality and a drive- thru society! You have to decide what you want more out of life... a healthy, long, life with a few inconveniences OR an unhealthy, unhappy, shorter life with ease. I don't know about you, but I know what I want. It is not easy getting what I want, nothing worth having is. It is a life long, day to day, sometimes minute to minute fight. It honestly is the fight of your life!! It is so worth it! One day at a time...
 |
| Chicken cordons |
Beautifully written Angie. You are amazing
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU!!!
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