Today marks the start of my 4th week on weight watchers. I have now lost 20 pounds!! I am so excited to see the numbers on the scale go down. My all around goal is to be healthy and happy. My first goal is taking this new journey with my body one day at a time. My long term goal is to lose 200 pounds and try to have a baby in 2 years. I want to do this slow and steady. I do not want to have skin surgery. It scares me to have any kind of surgery.

Whats a Reboot?

 

 

Today I am feeling pretty sprightly. I woke up energized because I finally slept through an entire night! So thankful that I am on the mend. I have a few friends who have messaged me and told me that they are looking into doing the juice fast too. My biggest advice is to do your research first. Watch the documentary "Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead," first before starting the fast. After watching Joe Cross's documentary go to his website - www.rebootwithjoe.com and check out all the information he provides everyone. I am going to share some of his advice on here but please go check out his website for full details.

WHAT IS A REBOOT & WHY DO IT? -

During a Reboot, you’ll commit to consuming only fruit and vegetable juices for a period of time. 3 days, 5 days, 15 days, 30 days? It’s your choice! The goal is to help you break a cycle of an unhealthy lifestyle and simply enhance the quality of your diet by increasing your intake of fruits and vegetables.
The results? Excess weight starts to pour off, your belly starts to flatten, your skin glows, you start to think more clearly, you start controlling a disease naturally rather than depending on medication, and overall you are a happier, healthier person. When you consume only juice, your system is flooded with an abundance of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients that help your body stay strong and vibrant.

WHAT DOES IT DO FOR YOU? - ( www.rebootwithjoe.com/rebooting/why/ )
A Reboot program, followed by a healthy lifestyle helps you:
* Boost the number of fruits and vegetables you consume daily
* Break the cycle of unhealthy eating and crave healthy foods
* Jumpstart a weight loss plan
* Manage a healthy weight
* Lower the risk of life-threatening diseases
* Promote longevity
* Decrease aches and pains in joints and muscles
* Boost your immune system
* Release stored toxins
* Increase energy levels
* Promote beautiful and healthy skin, nails and hair
* Ease digestion by accessing digestive enzymes locked away in whole produce

Other tips that I have found on his website are as follows: (http://www.rebootwithjoe.com/rebooting/rebooting-faqs/ )
* 80% veggies and 20% fruits
* Most of the plans aim for 1200-1800 calories a day
* Drink juice 4-6 times per day, 16-20 ounces for each juice
* When juicing and storing - store for 24-48 hours in the fridge (72 hours is maximum)
- store it in an airtight container, preferably glass but BPA-Free plastic works too
- you can also freeze it - 7-10 days of freezing

The boys and I are prepping ourselves to do a full 15 day juice fast. When we do begin this I will keep you all updated on how it goes for me. I am super excited to see what happens and I am already happy with the results of drinking the juice now.
This is adventure is awesome and I feel better each and every day (when I am not battling an ear infection of course). I sleep better, I wake up feeling better, I have a better attitude, and my eating habits are changing for the better.



Starting Off Small

Sorry I have been sick for the past few days. But "I'm Back!!" haha. I got the ear plague we call an earache or ear infection. More or less complete misery.

I wanted to talk about bad days & goals. Having a bad day usually makes me think of being derailed off my track or completely not giving a care in the world - despite all the hard work you have put into yourself so far.
Guess what...we all will have bad days. We will all want to give up and not give a flipping care in the world anymore. This is when you will need to remember the number one reason why you started this journey. Is that (insert weakness here _______ ) worth taking a few steps back? Seriously every day, every hour, every minute needs to be taken with caution and love. Taking small steps towards your future goals will be so much more easier to handle than taking full reigns and running full throttle for the end.

For example here are a few of my food goals as of right now:
1) No Caffeine
2) No Eating after 8pm
3) No Dairy
4) No Processed Foods
5) Drinks Lot of WATER!!

Here are my small goals as of right now:
1) Lose 2-3 lbs a week
2) Walk 1-2 miles at night
3) Get my wedding ring back on

Future Goals I want to complete:
1) Lose 170 lbs
2) Try to have a baby
3) Be active outside - walking, swimming, snorkeling, kayaking, mountain biking, running, etc...
4) Be Happy & in Love with myself

We will all slip up every now and again. It's all about how we pick ourselves back up and continue to fight. Have a support team and if you don't, contact me! I will be there for you. I know what it is like to give up on yourself and to lose complete faith in my ability to take care of myself. I am so grateful for my husband and close friends who love and support me. If it wasn't for them I seriously wouldn't be doing this blog or even talking about changing my future for the better. Find someone that you can trust and know that they will stand by you and tell you NO when it is needed most.

I leave you with a challenge today. Find one person and ask them to be your supporter in your new lifestyle change. Then I want you to write down five small goals and five big future goals. Place them on your bathroom mirror or better yet on your fridge! You can even write them in a journal. Somewhere you will see them often. We will have bad days and those small notes to yourself can also make a difference. Believe in yourself, Love yourself, and always remember you are Beautiful!!



Faith

 

 

One of my favorite scripture verses is Philippians 4:13. I read this verse often because it gives me so much strength. It has brought me so much joy and so many blessings. It's all about trusting Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in your own personal life. I enjoy my drive to work in the mornings because that is my time to let God know whats up in my world. Even though I know he knows whats happening - He still wants to hear us talk to him. It all comes down to Faith. Do you have Faith in your Heavenly Father and our brother Jesus Christ the redeemer? I know that if I am faithful God will pick me up when I fall or fail. I know that He will be there to hear me talk, scream, cry, laugh, love, etc... Without Him I wouldn't have Faith that I could change my inner me.

 

 

 

I know that I was put here in Sarasota for a reason and I'm slowly finding out different reasons to that madness. Moving to Florida in 2008 was an act of Faith for Alen and I. It sounded crazy to most of our close friends and family but to us it felt right. We were following God on this journey as we still are now. I am grateful for the knowledge and love that I have for our Heavenly Father. He knows us well and sometimes we may question that reasoning. But for most there is a reason for everything. I know that I am not alone even in my darkest periods of my life, God had a hand in everything. I trust Him, I adore Him, I respect Him and I love Him.   



 



 

Important Lessons



Rule # 1 - Never ever ever go to the grocery store hungry!! We made that mistake last night. I almost had a complete melt down in the middle of the walmart grocery center. It took all of my will power to not grab everything off the shelves and put it in my cart. I walked pasted each isle and thought "oh that sounds good" & "would it be worth it to cheat one day"... the answer is NO!! Turn around and Run Away!! Over the years of reading about different diets and you'd think I would remember to prepare myself for the grocery store. We had to go buy fruits and veggies for our juices and a few things for dinner. I can say that it is so much easier sticking to the perimeters of the store when you only need fruits and veggies but when you need eggs at the back of the store - then you have to walk by all the processed sugary yumminess that your brain is screaming for. One point Alen stopped me in the middle of the aisle and said, "I am proud of you and I love you"... just to distract me. Of course my brain wants to retaliate at that comment but in reality it meant the world to me. Alen and Matt have been such a strong source in keeping me away from choosing bad. They have faithfully made the juices or smoothies and have made dinner every night so I am not in the kitchen trying to make anything unhealthy.
The best way that I see fit to keep away from the processed foods is to go to a fresh market or farm stand. We love to go to Yoder's Fresh Market. All (well most) of their fruits and veggies are grown in and around Florida. Their prices on everything is perfect and we always walk out of there spending less that forty dollars.



 
As for exercise, since I know someone is wondering what I am up to. We have been walking every night. Once I lose a little more weight then we are going to try jogging. I have been working on strengthening my lower half since all I do is sit at a desk all day for work. So I will keep you posted as I go on what we decide to start doing. As for now I am taking it one day at a time and walking.
 

 



Rule # 2- Don't weight yourself everyday...you will drive yourself Crazy if you do. The best thing that I have noticed and liked so far is to measure myself every 2-3 weeks. Please I know it can be embarrassing to have someone help you measure but I suggest having someone do the measurements so you can get an accurate measurement each time. I have weighed myself in the beginning and I will weigh myself here and there through this process. I have decided to wait and tell everyone my start weight and let you all know how much I have lost in the end. So it's a mystery!!

 



One Step At A Time

For the past few days my cravings have been driving my mind crazy. I can literally tell myself that I am full and that I don't need anymore food.  But my mind keeps telling me that I haven't had enough food and that I need carbs. Last night while reading on my nook and talking to the guys about my cravings, I had a thought spring forth into my ever so swirling brain. Instead of gripping, whining, complaining, etc... I will write about it. I have had a few people ask me to write about my experience going forward, so here I am!

The guys and myself have been juicing for 20 days now. In the beginning I felt like I stepped out of a plane and swirled about with no control. When I finally realized that - 1 you can't just dive into juicing and 2- you need to do a little more research into what I was getting myself & the guys into - I finally felt like I stopped whirling about. Reboot with Joe Cross and his movie "Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead" on netflix opened my eyes to what I could do to change my life around. I encourage everyone I talk with to watch this movie. You can even watch it online from his website. http://fatsickandnearlydead.com/  His website has so many self helps and a lot of guidance. He provides recipes for juices and food. He also provides exercising guides/plans. When I finally made the committment we ordered his 101 Jucie Recipe Book http://shop.rebootwithjoe.com/products/101-juice-recipes-book and luckily Matt's mom had a juicer that she is letting us use. Most of the recipes that we have tried so far are really great. The biggest battle I faced at the beginning was the ominous "green" juice. What was I getting myself into??? When I took the first sip of the juice we made it truly tasted refreshing and tasted like something I have never had before. The recipe we used that day was the Green Lemonade. Now that we have been doing it for a little while, we have started experimenting with making our own juices. It is fun and rewarding all at the same time.

I don't crave sweets anymore - unless I see them. The only thing that I have truly have been struggling with is wanting those bad carbs. I drive by restuarants and dream about eating their yummy food. I know that isn't very effective in changing the way that I think about the food. I am slowly getting there okay? "Patience is a virtue" and I keep telling myself that. Taking this new adventure one step at a time is the only way that I can get through this rough stage.

A New Day - A New Start

Many people have told me that 27 is the best year of the 20's. I have been telling myself that this is the year that I am going to change my life around. We began this journey January 2nd. With the help of my husband and my close friend Matt, we have begun a journey following the Reboot with Joe Cross. You may be asking yourself, what is the Reboot. Well it's simple, we are juicing our vegetables and fruits 3 times a day & eating one whole meal that has plenty of good protein and veggies. As of today 1/20/14 I have lost an inch off of my stomach and almost 5 pounds. I am choosing to measure my body in inches instead of weighing myself. I feel that I will be more successful in losing the inches at first over the weight. My biggest goal with that is to not obess over the numbers!! Of course starting off something so life changing doesn't mean you won't have any hiccups along the way. Yes I have slipped ate chocolate here and there or tried to eat macaroni & cheese while no one was looking. It truly is a mind game with ones self. For example- yesterday when the guys left for church I ran to kitchen to make myself something to eat - anything I could get my hands on, which happened to be Kraft Macaroni & Cheese (spongebob noodles). Right before the guys left I kept telling myself that I will behave and not eat anything. I kept telling myself that it was all in my mind. Well it became a battle with inside my brain. But guess what, I ate a few spoonfuls and decided that I wasn't going to hide it. That way I would be held accountable for my actions. Suprisingly I didn't eat very much of it and ended up throwing most of it away.
I know that each day is a new day to renew what I committed myself too. I am proud to say that I haven't had any caffeine since the 2nd and I don't even crave soda/caffeince anymore. It feels great to be over those certain cravings.
I know that the only way that I will conquer this battle is to take it one day at a time. I have a great support system through my husband and close friends. I am so greatful that I am not doing this on my own. Each day it gets a little easier.