One month weigh-in!

So today's the day that marks one month for this lifestyle change!


Week 4 weigh in is here!  Its Friday!!!!  So here it goes....


This week: zero.... :( I dont understand.....


With a total weight loss so far of : 11lbs
week 1: 4lbs
week 2: 6lbs
week 3: 1lb
week 4: 0 lbs
(__34_ LBS TO GO!)..still

i need to start measuring myself... need to find a measuring tape!  I feel better up to 2 miles of running now.  Still doing good eating!  need encouragement!

Success Stories...

PCOS weight loss success stories with Paleo Diet:

http://robbwolf.com/2011/05/30/real-life-testimonial-paleo-for-pcos-infertility/ (warning... contains some bad language)

http://primalgirl.wordpress.com/about/-  this was one that made me decide now is the time to make my own success story!

Fact

Something you have daily- is as addictive as cocaine!!

Addictive as Cocaine, Fructose Fuels Cancer and Obesity as American Diet Staple

Anthony Gucciardi
Infowars.com
November 9, 2011
Fructose, a staple in the diet of many Americans, is continually being pegged by scientific research as a significant player in the development and spread of cancer.
Furthermore, a growing number of studies are finding fructose, and the processed foods in which it is contained, to be as addictive as cocaine.
With highly-popular fructose tied to obesity and cancer growth, is it any wonder that the health of American citizens is in decline?
One new study, published in the Expert Opinion on Therapeutic Targets, analyzed the link between refined sugar consumption and cancer. What the researchers found was that excess fructose consumption can actually damage the body in a number of ways beyond the development of cancer, including:

DNA damage
Inflammation
Altered cellular metabolism
Increased production of free radicals

Research published in the journal Cancer Research reached similar conclusions, finding that the way in which sugar is metabolized stimulates cancer growth. Even more concerning is the fact that the scientists performed the study using cells from one of the deadliest forms of cancer – pancreatic cancer. The researchers reported:

Importantly, fructose and glucose metabolism are quite different … These findings show that cancer cells can readily metabolize fructose to increase proliferation.

As if the carcinogenic nature of fructose wasn’t threatening enough, 50 percent of high-fructose corn syrup has actually been found to contain toxic mercury.
The negative effects of excess fructose – particularly high-fructose corn syrup – are clear, so why would anyone willingly choose to consume heavy amounts of fructose on a daily basis? Well, besides the fact that many individuals are unaware of the adverse health consequences, people are routinely consuming significant amounts of fructose due to it being highly addictive.
Consumers addicted to carcinogenic high-fructose corn syrup
In fact, a large body of research is threatening the structural integrity of the $1 trillion food and beverage industry by revealing just how addictive fructose can be. Food addiction is becoming quite a popular topic in the scientific community, and the results may lead to big changes. This year alone, 28 studies and papers were published on the subject of food addiction, according to a National Library of Medicine database. One such study found that fructose and sucralose are even in the same league as cocaine.

‘The data is so overwhelming the field has to accept it,’ said Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. ‘We are finding tremendous overlap between drugs in the brain and food in the brain.’

Manufacturers of processed foods which contain high amounts of high-fructose corn syrup, fructose, or sucralose are not only endangering the health of consumers, but are also contributing to massive addiction to these health-destroying ingredients. It is very possible that as more research comes out on the manner, a full-fledged consumer backlash will spawn as a result, similar to the uproar seen against tobacco companies after information surfaced linking cigarettes to adverse health reactions.

Week 3 eating chart

Monday: small handfull of cashews, green salad, one small sweet potato

Tuesday: green salad, sugar free/all natural green tea, a few cashews, and 1/2 a zucchini

Wednesday: one cup of tea, went on run 1 of 3, green salad, chicken drumstick on the grill, went swimming

Thursday: small handful of cashews, and 6 blueberries (I was craving something sweet)

Friday: went on run 2 of 3, ate 1/2  a sweet potato, one hamburg patty, and a few mixed nuts

Saturday: went on run 3 of 3, had a few blueberries, did yard work all morning, one hamburg patty, chicken breast, green salad, and 1/2 a small sweet potato

Sunday: 2 eggs,green salad, one hanburg patty, homemade chicken fajita (with a large lettuce leaf instead of tortilla shell)

weigh in 3....

Week 3 weigh in is here!  Its Friday!!!!  So here it goes....

i feel like i worked hard this week... and I've been good with what I ate.... kinda disappointed....

This week: 1 little pound  :(.... bummer


With a total weight loss so far of : 11 lbs
week 1: 4lbs
week 2: 6lbs
week 3: 1lb
(__34_ LBS TO GO!)

but that is still one less pound on my body....

Oh health foods...

ACCOUNTABILITY!
Monday:  1/4 cup of cottage cheese, one hamburg patty, and lettuce salad

Tuesday: 1/4 cup cottage cheese,one cup of coffee, one sm. sweet potato, and a grilled chicken breast

Wednesday: 2 eggs, went on run 1 of 3, one cup of coffee, one third of a banana, green salad, one sausage

Thursday: 1/4 cup of sunflower seeds, cup of coffee, and one glass of orange juice

Friday: 1/2 glass of orange juice, went on run 2 of 3,  2 Tablespoons of cashews, one piece of salami, small piece of cheese, and a hotdog (NO bun)-*hotdogs are something i should stay away from though...

Saturday: one italian sausage, toss salad, and 2 hamburg patties, one cup of coffee (had a family party, made a cake, and didnt eat anything i wasn't supposed to...woohoo!!!)

Sunday: went on run 3 of 3, 2 Tablespoons of cashews, one hot dog no bun, a slice of cheese, green salad, and grilled lamb, went swimming

Week 2 weight in is here!  Its Friday!!!!  So here it goes....

This week: 6 pounds lost!


With a total weight loss so far of : 10lbs!!!!


(35 LBS TO GO!)

Why?

After finishing The Dark Side of Fat Loss: Lessons from the Underground BY: Sean Croxton- It all makes sense to why i never kept up with all my past diets.  I would start maybe loose a pound or two and then give up....It all comes down to your reason to loose weight... ask Why?! 
In the past I would have the ideo to loose weight for prom, wedding, a specific event, or just becasue i thought i needed to.  But when it came down to it- those were all hollow reasons for a diet...and short lived!

In order to stick with a diet... ask yourself "why?" Why are you doing this?  Do you have a BIG ENOUGH why?

So I know now that I have a big enough why!!!....

There it is... my boys... they are my world!  I don't want to miss a thing, and want to be able to hop and run around after my toddler!!! 

There is no other option.... this weight loss is gonna stick and Im sticking to it!!!

random fact..... (are you still craving sugar now?!)

Sugar cravings are often caused by an overgrowth of

fungus in the intestines.

Accountability with what I put in my mouth...

Monday: 1/4 cup of greek yogurt,(one cup of coffee), spinach salad with 1/2 avacado (with lemon juice), 1/4 cup cottage cheese, small hand-full of sunflower seeds, and one tomato ... also worked out with my gymnasts for 1 hr

Tuesday: 1/2 cup of yogurt, one cup of coffee, sliced tomato with ground pepper, a few baby carrots, and one hamburg patty (one mini milestone.... didnt touch the pizza and wings at a party!) :)

Wednesday: sunflower seeds, 1/4cup yogurt, one cup coffee, spinich salad with lemon juice, squash (spaghetti quash that is...) with ground turkey meatballs

Thursday: went on run 1 of 3, cup of coffee, spinach greens with lemon juice

Friday: 2 cups of coffee, one chicken breast (plain and grilled), one small "greens" salad, one sausage, and.... went on run 2 of 3

Saturday: 2 eggs with a tiny bit of broccoli, went on run 3 of 3 this week, one hamburg patty

Sunday: 2 eggs, went swimming and on a walk, some sunflower seeds, one sweet potato, chicken breast, some baby carrots, and lettuce

I want to shout it from the rooftops!

Fridays are my new weigh-in days....  These are the days that I hope will show me why I have been working so hard all week.  So today, my first weigh-in day and I am thrilled.  It hasn't even been a full week, and I lost

  4 POUNDS!!! 

I know some of that can be water weight, but I feel great.  I surprisingly have a ton of energy, find myself chasing my toddler around more and playing more with him by running, hopping, and skipping!  Now im 4 lbs closer to my goal!!!!!

(I am keeping a tracker of everything i eat and drink, I will post it on Sunday when its been a full week!

The Dark Side of Fat Loss

A friend sent me the link for a e-book called "The Dark Side of Fat Loss, Lessons from the Underground" by: Sean Croxton

I have found it very interesting so far and helps explain what my body is going through with insulin resistance and how to break out of that cycle!  Here are just a few facts i found helpful!

symptoms of insulin resistance

• General fatigue, especially after meals

• Difficulty losing weight

• Always hungry

• Need for sweets after meals

• Cravings for sweets are not satisfied by eating them

• Frequent urination

• Waist circumference equal to or greater than hips

• Excessive thirst

• Irritability and anger when going too long between meals

Because excess sugar in the blood—the technical term is blood glucose—is actually quite toxic. When glucose is too high, it can slowly wear down and damage cells throughout your body including your brain cells, eye cells, kidney cells, blood vessels, red blood cells, and more.

Knowing what you know about leptin resistance, you can probably guess how insulin resistance works. However, this time it’s not your brain that becomes deaf, dumb, and blind to the hormonal call but rather your liver and muscle cells. By consuming an inappropriate diet as well as the contributing factors listed on page 40, your liver and muscles eventually put chewing gum in their keyholes. Denied access to its receptors, insulin can no longer effectively bind and carry out its job of clearing glucose from the blood. This is really bad news for the rest of your cells, as they slowly drown in a sea of destructive sugar.

To make matters worse, elevated insulin gives

rise to inflammation, which triggers the release

of more cortisol. One of cortisol’s main duties is

to increase blood sugar. That’s the last thing you

want! With even more sugar being dumped into

the bloodstream, a vicious cycle ensues.

And you get fatter.

the consequences of excess insulin

• Insulin impairs fatty acid metabolism, keeping you from burning fat.

• In men, insulin increases estrogen by way of upregulating the hormone aromatase, which

converts testosterone to estradiol (estrogen). Men with elevated estrogen tend to hold fat on the chest, hips, and thighs.

• In women, insulin increases testosterone, which may lead to Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), a condition that causes excess hair growth and infertility.

• Insulin impairs liver detoxification. As you will learn in Chapter 9, the liver is a key player in

thyroid function as well as metabolizing and removing excess hormones from the body.

• Insulin stimulates interleukin-6 (IL-6), an inflammatory substance known to damage the body

in many ways. Inflammation is involved in most, if not all, disease processes.

Caloric restriction will never defeat hormonal physiology dating back over 2 million years.

It’s not about the calories. It’s about standing up to the resistance. Insulin and leptin resistance, that is. Balancing blood sugar and becoming more insulin sensitive through diet, lifestyle modification, and removing hidden stressors will turn OFF fat-storing LPL and turn ON fat- burning HSL and glucagon. Eating more of the right foods will turn UP your thyroid and relight your metabolic fire so you can keep the pounds off for good.

Just Eat Real Food.

In other words, eat like your ancestors.

•

Whole, unprocessed, and unrefined

•

Pasture-raised and wild

• Local, seasonal, and organic

really simple rules for

choosing real foods

•

If it wasn’t here 10,000 years ago, don’t eat it.

•

If it’s in the media, it’s probably bad for you.

•

If you can’t pronounce the ingredients, don’t eat it.

•

If your great-grandmother didn’t eat it, you

probably shouldn’t either.

•

If it comes in a box or bag, don’t eat it.

•

If your dog won’t eat it, you shouldn’t either.

•

If it doesn’t rot or spoil, don’t eat it.

• If it’s been sprayed with chemicals, don’t eat it.

The ultimate woman's confession...

My  new journey begins now.  This takes a lot for me to come forward and say this has to end.  I am done being a fat, out of shape mom, wife, and friend.  I have struggled with my weight for about 6 years now.  With many diet and exercise programs time and time again.  Some seemed to help a little but I would quickly gain the weight back. 

Let me give you a little background…. Growing up I was very active in many sports-Soccer, gymnastics, dance, and cheerleading.  You name a night of the week and I was at one maybe 2 practices a night.  I could run without batting an eye at least 4 miles before the heavy breathing began.  I went off to college at the weight of 120lbs.  I didn’t gain the “freshman 15”… it was more of the loose 15 lbs that year (thanks to my awesome roommates help).  I was down to 105lbs and my size 3 jeans were loose.  Don’t get me wrong I have never been stick thin.  But at 5 foot 1” I was short and far from being “thick”.  I have a body shape with very little “good curves”… I don’t have a butt, don’t have any hip definition… large chest.  I’m me… I love who I am and who God has made me.  I know it’s not what’s on the outside, but what’s on the inside that counts… and God is still working on me.  But I know that my body is a temple and I want to live a life that’s healthy and live long for my wonderful husband and son.  Christ has transformed my life and now it’s time to take care of the body He gave me. 

I got married after my 4^th year of college.  The weight seemed to come on fast.  I was up to the weight of 135 on our wedding day.  I was less active and eating what I pleased.  Quickly after getting married we were like any other newlywed couple where money was tight… we were both still college students and we lived on the cheap mac and cheese/ramen noodles.  I thought that’s what was causing me to pack on the lbs quickly… and I’m sure it had something to do with it.  But we wanted a family and that didn’t come easy to us.  After much testing, we found out I had severe PCOS (Poly-Cycstic Ovarian Syndrome).  This is basically a condition where many cysts are formed in the ovaries that causes a blockage of estrogen and insulin resistance/spikes.  It has many symptoms… infertility, irregular periods, adult acne, WEIGHT GAIN, cramps, bloating, and many more…  This does make it very difficult to loose weight and keep it off.  BUT does NOT make it impossible.  Through the 3 years of infertility treatments and adoption journey I struggled with what I would call “no-baby depression”.  Sounds silly… but it was a real thing.  I was in tears… no sobbing most nights. Crying out to God with questions and even possible anger on that journey.  Little did I know that God was working in our lives and had the most perfect plan for our family.  Good thing He does the planning and not us right?!  We ended up adopting the most perfect, adorable, handsome, hilarious, smiley, wonderful little boy.  I am the most thankful mommy in the world (at least I think so!) 

Throughout this my husband has been so supportive.  He has helped me with the many different diet and exercise plans.  Loved me with all my sizes.  And never thought anything different about me.  He continues to love me more and more everyday… and with that I am sooo Thankful and blessed to be called his wife.  But over the years of marriage and this new life of our little family of 3… PCOS has gotten the best of me, and the old comfort foods have found their way to fat. 

I was good for 4 months with the PALEO diet/ life change.  I was eating healthy foods that were non-processed.  I would watch what I ate, and stuck to the diet (except a few days)… my husband was right there besides me… We were doing great and felt great!  But then with my sons severe food allergies…many of the main foods we ate (eggs, nuts, ect.) we ate we could no longer have in our house.  If we even cooked eggs in the house my son would have a reaction.  So we ended up getting off that diet since we didn’t know what else to do.

I am nervous to post this… but I have seen a number I have never wanted to see on the scales.  I am topping out at the weight of 170lbs…AND I don’t want to see this number any more.  Time to get back down to where I am healthy, where I can run without being out of breath, where I feel better, and I can be a wife and mom for a very long time.  My weight is unhealthy.  I carry most of my excess weight around my mid-section… as many of you know this is the danger section.  It leads to many health risks…and I could even be considered pre-diabetic.  I am only 5’1” at 25 years old.  I ask myself how did this happen… looking back I can see the patterns.  But this is why I am laying it all out and exposing “the sacred women secret” my weight.  I need your help… I need your support… I need your accountability… I want to lay it all out and show my exercise and food charts on a regular basis.  I need tips from those who are good with nutrition.  Food craving tips, exercise tips.  And even though I know this will happen slowly, I want to record the weight loss. 

Now is the time… this time next year the scale will read something drastically different.  I am in this for the long haul.  I have begun running at least 3 times a week… on the other days trying to at least get out for a walk of do some exercise in my house.  I have cut out all breads, grains, white sugars, starches, and processed garbage out of my diet.  No more making excuses… no more being this size… a healthier me is in the near future…. All I ask for is for people to keep me accountable… for my friends to be there when I seem weak.  This is a real thing…. And for those to help with nutrition suggestions.