Getting organized

I haven't posted since October. Have been struggling but mainly sticking to REAL food. 
I eat meat, fish, eggs and veggies. No fruit. 
I also some cheeses in moderation in try to limit to 1-2oz a day, I eat cream cheese, mozzarella, ricotta, brie, cheese stick, baby bell. 
Until few days ago I would have 1 tbs cream in my afternoon decaf coffee but I think I'll stop. I don't think it's helping me. 
I also suspect the cheese might not sit well with me. I'll have to experiment with it. I'll take it off and then introduce again. 
I would like to be more organized, systematic and responsible. 

In the past few days I have discovered a whole world of bloggers who lost weight, kept it off and keep blogging. It is EXTREMELY inspiring. 
I also think it will be meditative and enable me to self retrospect if I can blog daily or at least bi-weekly myself. 

In the past month I took a hiatus from exercising. My Fit Bit Flex battery needed charging, I put it in the charger and never put it back. In the meanwhile I also had some arguments with DH and felt down, I stopped exercising and never put the FitBit back on. 
Well, today I am bouncing back finally. 

DIY Paleo Medifast weight loss plan

I have the plan and doing it with few hickups. Time for adjustments. I do need to implement some self control.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner are easy, morning  and afternoon snack are a little less easy. I am following way too many Paleo blogs and they all have amazing tempting recipes. I need to get myself into diet/weight loss mentality and STOP making treats. I will from now on, unsubscribe from all these blogs and FB pages, buy yogurts and stick to one low Glycimic fruit a day. Morning snack: yogurt with blueberries or apple or oatmeal if I eat eggs for breakfast and afternoon snack protein shake. Need to come up with more snack ideas. Drink tea. Start walking again. I am on moving haiatus for now. Also, smaller protein portion for dinner. I suspect that second cup of coffee in the morning curbs my appetite so i'll check this theory in the comjng days.
I gave been craving chocolate and allowing myself 3 small very small dark chocolate portions. This has to change.

My do it yourself weight loss plan - Paleo with Medifast principals

After trying to follow Paleo weight loss recommendations and taking Amino Acids like L-Tyrosine, L-Carnitine, Niacine, B100 complex and more I only had more cravings, felt more tired in the morning and didn't do to well. I tried IF once. The after math is 10lbs gain after wanting to drop 5lbs.

So I did some thinking and decided tobstick with what has proven tovwork for me in the past year. Medifast. I am relying on the principals, eat every 2.5-3 hours, low carb, protein, fat. I am going to include low glycimic fruit and will also include dark chocolate.
Will make sure to move. Jogging doesn't seem to be doing good for me. I have cravings and weakness. I will walkband make sure to do T-Tapp. I am aiming for 5-6 days a week. Prefer to walk 7 days a week but so far hasn't done it. Small steps. Establish food first then tackle movement.

Since I now have 15lbs to drop I am aiming for 3-4 months, so by my 45th birthday in March 2014 i will be at a healthy ideal weight and fat. That will be my birthday gift to myself.

I started logging my food again on MyFitnessPal yesterday, had a good day, ate 6 meals didn't crave and didn't get super hungry.

Want to eat

Yesterday I jogged. I haven't learned that jogging requires something additional in terms of food.
Today I ate in the morning, but didn't have meat/fish. I had 1 egg for my protein but seems like it wasn't enough as by 11 I was munching and losing control.

I wonder how should I change my nutition? Have more protein and or fat on days when I run? Make sure I have 20g protein in my breakfast? Have more fat? In what form?

Permanent Change

I have been away and didn't blog for a couple of weeks. During this time I had to settle in. One of the main things I've learned in life is that during transition and change I tend to think it's not a big deal but it is. It takes time for me, my body, my psychology to settle in. Even when I think I am not doing much physically, my body still goes through change and has to adjust. Just like when I started C25K training in June and didn't think I was doing much when my body was sending me signals, I did it again this month. 

I have started eating differently and changed my workout to T-Tapp. I had a big reaction in form of crazy cravings. I've gained 8 pounds but in the past few days realized that I am going through an adjustment. Some of them are water gain since I've already dropped 3 pounds in 3 days. 

My main focus is on getting myself moving. Muscle burns calories in rest state (while fat doesn't of course ;-) ), I want to gain muscle. I bought a fat analyzer. I am at about 30% fat and BMI of 24. Which is probably ok but I would like to be at 24-25% fat. I have taken my body measures and will measure again in a week. T-Tapp states that typical results are in body measurement reduction, they do not weight. I will measure myself on Friday. I am already feeling my butt muscles since I do the Hoe Downs twice a day and do the Basic Workout 6 times a week. Now that I am stronger I would like to start the more advanced exercise 2-3 times a week (I also want some variety in my exercise). I din the Hoe Downs really good at getting my heart rate going and eliminating craving/appetite. I make sure to do them in the evening, an hour after dinner so that I don't crave an evening snack. I really don't want to eat before going to bed. I eat a very hearty good dinner around 7 pm and try to get to bed around 10pm, my body doesn't really need anything to eat, it needs rest. 

MF was a really good program that taught me healthy eating habit and got me moving. There are 2 bad habits that MF doesn't address in my humble opinion. Night snack and sweet tooth. With the 6 meals a day we all love our night snack before bed. The big variety of sweet and chocolaty items keeps us all in the sweet habit. 

One option is of course to keep using the meal replacements, so you limit the intake but since I opted out in favor of natural foods I decided to address both these habits and change them. 

So for the past few weeks I have been making sure to not eat after dinner. The Hoe Downs are very helpful as well as herbal tea and just plain water. 

I have also reduced my coffee intake to 1 in the morning. No more decaff in the afternoon and usually no second cup of coffee. I believe it is an appetite stimulant for me. 

I am also doing the 21 Day Sugar Detox. Basically no sweets. I do allow myself a square of 90% or higher chocolate square once or twice a week but now don't really need it. I have a few recipes for treats that are made with coconut butter, almond butter, coconut oil and unsweetened cocoa powder. That does it for me. I do use green banana in pancakes (pumpkin ones so far), muffins and yesterday made a avocado, banana, coconut milk and unsweetened cocoa powder mouse. I eat one small green apple most days. That's it. I must say I do not have cravings since I've started this detox. I am not tempted and do not have crazy appetite. 

So what do I eat you might ask? 

I have to cook A LOT! I try to plan it and am working on making my menu easier. Because I have a family to feed and want my kids to eat healthy I don't see how I can reduce my cooking workload. 

On Monday I did a cooking party. I made Salmon Cakes http://balancedbites.com/2010/12/easy-recipe-grain-free-salmon-cakes.html that lasted me until today, I had them for breakfast with zucchini carrot quiche from the book Practical Paleo half tomatoe and about quarter avocado. 

I also had Pumpkin Pancakes, although I had only 2 of them, my kids gobbled all the rest of the batch. http://balancedbites.com/2012/10/easy-recipe-pumpkin-pancakes-from-practical-paleo.html 

I usually do not feel hungry after such a breakfast until lunch when I have some protein with veggies. like coleslaw or broccoli slaw with tahini instead of mayo. I have started making my own mayo although I don't make it very often. I do prefer tahini http://www.elanaspantry.com/sesame-dip/ I don't use the sesame seeds in the end and I do add parsley and dill.  

I eat plenty of vegetables, whatever I can fit on my plate ;-) green beans, this week I discovered french mini carrots at TJ in the frozen section. Made them with ghee and 21 seasoning. Yum. 

I eat squash few times a week, now that it's season. 

In the afternoon I do need a snack, usually around 4 pm. I have a hard boiled egg, salmon jerkey (I keep looking for jerkey without sugar and soy but it is hard, there are few Paleo options but they are pricey and I am not sure I will go there. It's easy to make but takes hours in the oven on low heat or required dehydrator which I do not want to purchase), smoked salmon, green apple with 10 almonds or macadamia nuts, a little but coconut flakes, sometimes dark chocolate square or chocolate almond butter cup http://balancedbites.com/2011/10/chocolate-almond-butter-cups.html

That usually keeps me until dinner when I have more protein and veggies, what we call L&G only I eat more greens.

I've added more fat to my diet. Healthy fat like butter, macadamia nut oil, coconut oil, coconut butter, flax oil. 

I make sure to drink A LOT!!!! 

I realized that all water that has artificial sweetener or citric acid is not good for me. My body is so clean now that every little artificial ingredient upsets and creates a reaction, usually craving for sweet or food. I am not drinking Propel Zero or Ice Water. Just sticking to Hint, TJ bubbly water with lime/lemon and Crystal. I drink a lot of green tea before 4pm and in the afternoon herbal decaf tea and water. 

another good habit I picked up on MF. 

I think I am finally getting settled in my new eating habits. 

Need to make sure to move. I do the T-Tapp workout almost dauly but don't do my 10K steps daily and I would like to focus on this. Making sure I meet the 10K steps daily goal 7 days a week. I noticed that when I get lax about it, usually on Saturday I tend to slack off, so my goal is to make sure I walk daily. It translates to just 30 minutes of walk a day since without it I get to about 6-7k steps. I started walking to the produce store in the morning when my husband takes the girls to school. It's about a 1/2 hour walk and I have a purpose, I buy few things, not too much so it's not heavy for me to carry, I take my backpack with me, and just move. 

Well, this is it for today I will try to keep blogging on a regular basis.

Clean eating

Yesterday was a good day. I cleaned up my eating decided that I really wanted to eat clean, i do not want to gain back the weight I lost, i threw away all the large clothes and really like my current size 6 and some size 4 Small size wardrobe.
I cooked healthy new recipes and made cookies with the girls in afternoon.
Did not have cravings. I did feel hungry/weak in afternoon and just had a small portion of my lunch, tilapia and some veggies.
In the evening i had a slight headache and this morning i woke up with a slight headace. I am determined to not misinterpret the message. I don't need sugar, i think it's the sugar hanover headache.

Very bad day

I was not hungry but had to eat. Coconut ice cream and another quest bar. I have to vhange my eating habits. Specifically responding to cravings.
I wonder, should I eat bigger meals?
I made chicjen thighs and I don't like it, perhaps I am not having enough protein and thus looking to snack between meals.
Tomorrow I will have the good breakfast that satisfies me, sufficient protein meat for lunch and fish for dinner.

Trying to lose weight

Not sure why today i am tired and craving chocolate.
Yesterday was a good day, with great energy and eating.
I am not sure why today is different? Not enough sleep? Perhaps the drink I had yesterday that contains sucralose. I think I figured that aspartame in Costco diet iced green tea and propel zero have that affect on me. So now I will stay away. I also have aslught headache now towards afternoon/evening.
I gave in to cravings nibbled on dark chocolate during day, a little bit coconut flakes and macadamia nuts as well as quest protein bar in pm. Not a great day.

I love coconut ....... everything

I have no problems sticking to Paleo foods, I am having a challenging time with eating just 3 meals a day. 

I find myself snacking and grazing on macadamia nuts, coconut flakes, coconut butter about twice a day.

Yesterday night I just had to have a spoonful of coconut ice cream WITH coconut butter, macadamia nuts and coconut flakes. I just had to buy the ice cream at TJ. Since it is in my house I keep thinking about it. 

I also cannot bring myself to exercise  My discipline from last few months is going down the drain. I am not walking the kids to school, am not jogging back and even am not doing the cardio exercise or the T-Tapp. Something is going on with me. 

I AM very obsessed with food.

I follow the blogs and print recipes. I keep myself busy making these recipes but not fast enough. I have so many recipes I'd like to try. Food preparation is taking up most of my time and I know I should organize better but I am currently paralyzed. 
Will see how it all turns out. I know that once I bring myself to exercise things will change. something with my hormones is out of whack. 

Beginning

I started my journey last November when I went on Medifast. I weigh 185lbs and was cranky, tired and frustrated. I had a closet full of clothes, no scratch that, my closet was EXPLODING, yet I always felt I had nothing to wear. I rarely felt good in anything and always tried to cover myself up in long tunics, sweaters and baggy pants. I did not exercise on regular basis and I felt really guilty about it, but never did anything about it. I did go to dance workout class once in a while but never kept going on consistent basis. I started and stopped. I barely walked, drove kids everywhere. In November 2012 I started Medifast. The first few days were hard. I was lying on the couch, irritable, tired and suffered headaches. The food tasted horrible. After about 3 days, it became more tolerable, headaches gone, I had a little more energy, but the food was still bad. Then my coach gave me few tips on how to prepare it and after a couple of weeks things became easier. The pounds started slipping off. Not as fast as I was hoping but at 2 lbs a week it was the right direction. I also started to have more energy. In the evening I was not pooped on the couch any more. I went to bed and did not lie on the couch and watch stupid TV series. I did not blog during that whole time and it is hard to recreate now. I had some better days and some days where I 'cheated' that meant I had more pistachios, almonds or lean and green than I was supposed to, or had an extra Medifast meal, but I never actually ate flour, grain or fruit. I did not measure my lean and green so perhaps I would have lost weight faster if I had smaller portions. I actually had an extra portion of vegetable almost every day as far as I can remember. Fast forward to June 2013, I have lost 60 lbs and started exercising regularly. I've started C25K training and made sure to either jog or walk every day. I got a fitBit and I monitor my daily activity. For a while I tracked my food in My Fitness Pal but I couldn't keep up with it all the time. I am very not obsessive and cannot keep log for a long time. Even with blogging I am not super consistent. Anyway, Starting from Sept 1 I stopped Medifast. I couldn't eat any more of this packaged food. I never liked the idea of eating so much Soy and especially the Soy protein. Someone of the MF forum mentioned Wheat Belly book, I read it and got hooked. Through that book I learned about Maria's Nutrition, her books and her method, I'm in the process of adopting her way of eating and also really like the whole Paleo/Primal concept. I do not want to eat grains. I do not miss them and I know that if I do start eating them I will have problems controlling my portions and my weight will start creeping up again. I really like the natural way of eating. I'd rather make bread from almond or coconut flour. It is much more filling than wheat. So this is where I am at now. Eating Paleo/Primal, meat, fish, eggs and veggies. I still want to lose weight so I will stay away from fruit, dairy and will try really hard to stay away from all nuts. I do love them! I am also startin T-Tapp excercise. So I hope to measure myself today.