The secret formula----

What if I told you I have the secret formula to weight loss and health?  Everyone who has ever struggled with weight has wished there was a magic pill we could take to fix it. We fool our selves into believing we are healthy even though over weight. We've tried several diets work outs and sure we'll lose some but we gain it back and nothing seems sustainable over long periods of time. In my previous blog post Here, I explain why that isn't all your fault. We are programed to believe that losing weight should be simple, quick and easy.

The secret formula:

One of my favorite Thomas Edison quotes is: "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." Our health is something so important, to everyone but us.  I have put off the importance of my health for years. Telling myself it's not that bad or I don't have time to do anything about it.  I would then try to do something and I would get a personal trainer but not willing to give up my food. My logic was always well if I am now working out I can continue to eat the way I was before I was working out and so I should lose some weight.  Or join WW and use all my weekly points on treats and my favorite foods and find myself not losing weight ,even though I am staying with in my weekly point allowance. And I would be frustrated that the craving for junk food never seemed to go away.  Always finding the loop holes, always convincing myself it is not working and it is not my fault I am doing everything I am suppose to do.  Well here is the truth bomb: We are in this situation because we don't want to do the work to get out of it.  The first and most important part of the secret formula is WORK.  With out the willingness to put in the work needed we will not succeed.  This is one of the main things I've learned in less than two weeks on the 21 day fix program with beachbody is that it takes work.

And with that work comes another important part and that is TIME. I actually cook all the time and cooking means doing dishes ALL THE TIME. Meal prep takes allot of time and effort. And before all the meal prep can happen I have to make time to meal plan for the week. I also now work out everyday, this too takes time and effort.

This is becoming my new normal but I still think to my self THIS SUCKS! LOL!!  It takes so much work and lots of effort to create a heathy life style.  But if we are honest when we say we don't have extra time to meal prep or cook, we are only lying to ourselves.  Take away your TV time, Facebook time, pinterest time and you'll probably find more time than you even need.  It is amazing how much time we waste sitting on our butts in the name of needing to chill or unwind from our day.  This is one of the main reason I have not succeeded in weight loss for such a long time. I wasn't putting the required time and effort into the process. I was always cutting corners, I didn't want to give up my favorite foods because it wasn't fair.  I wanted quick and easy. If you are not willing to make time by taking the time from somewhere else, the changes you want will never happen. To work out I give up 30 minutes a day. My Friday nights while I sit I also meal plan and make grocery lists. Saturdays now no longer include sleeping in so I can beat crowds to the grocery stores and Sundays are no longer just Church and chill, Sundays are Church and meal prep day. After meal prep is done I can chill.

Which brings me to Nutrition.  We need to measure/track our or food and keep our portion size under control and eat REAL FOOD! If we don't eat real food, we will constantly feel drawn to processed easy foods.  We need to give our bodies the vitamins and nutrition it needs to operate at it's best.  Many diet programs out there offer quick easy meals that supply you with vitamins but my friends it is still quick, easy and processed foods.  Like I said in my other blog post if we don't learn how to feed ourselves the nutrition we need and learn to set aside the time to cook real/clean whole foods. We will always be drawn to food that is quick and easy, and when the mail man is no longer delivering your food to your door where will you turn to for quick and easy food? In America that leads use right back to the all mighty fast food drive thru.  Now don't get me wrong I LOVE me french fries! YUM! But I have accepted that I am not in a place right now where I am able to eat that in moderation.  I believe that moderation is the key to long term success but until I can control my habits I am not able to allow these items in my diet until I no longer crave them.

Now that we've taken care of your food to fuel you body correctly, for weight loss we need to burn that fuel and then some. We need to move. The next part of the formula is Exercise.  I put this after nutrition because you can not out exercise a bad diet.  While people might not want to hear this, you can be skinny and unhealthy. Thin/skinny does NOT mean healthy.  Some are blessed with a great metabolism and can eat what ever they want and are thin. But with out exercise they are still at risk of many diseases. Exercise also is the best way to fight anxiety, depression and high blood pressure.  But for people like me who are over weight the exercise will also help me lose the weight, gain muscle, and, once I reach a healthy weight, it will help me continue to maintain that healthy weight.  Right now my heart works much harder than it should because I am larger than I should be. My heart is made to provide my body with the oxygen and blood flow it needs but for my body when at a healthy weight. So being over weight is a strain on my heart. It is why I have high blood pressure.  In just one round of the 21 day fix I witnessed my resting heart rate get better. With my Fitbit Charge HR I was able to watch as my heart spent less time working hard and being in the "fat burning zone". In the beginning even just sitting talking my heart rate would be slightly elevated. Now I actually have to get up a move to get my heart rate into that zone.

Accountability is another part of this formula.  It is something else I have this time that I have not had in a long time.  My Hubby is doing this with me. He is also working out every day, we are eating the same meals at home and at work.  Don't get me wrong my husband has always been very supportive but if I asked him to pick up Taco Time on the way home from work he would.   This time we are in this together. If I asked him to pick up fast food on the way home from work he now says no.  You add that and my accountability group for beachbody and I have accountability up the wazoo! You need that someone to keep you on track. Someone working towards the same goal.  It needs to be someone that isn't going to let it slide if you had a bad day and don't want to work out. They need to be the one encourage you to still work out.  Not the ones feeling bad for you and say well just make sure to work out twice as hard tomorrow. NO! We need that push to make us better and keep us accountable.  You can have the friend that will always feel sorry for you when you have a bad day but if they are the kind that will say lets go out for ice cream, they are not the person you are looking for as an accountability partner.  Find someone who is ready, find someone that you are not able to talk into taking a day off and that won't try to talk you into a day off.  If you can't find one person join an accountability group. With a whole group of like minded people working towards similar goals.  It is very motivating when you check your phone in the morning and see people are already posting they are done with their work outs before you've even gotten out of bed. You want to be able to post that sweaty selfie too. It stirs up that fear of missing out feeling in you that you want to see results like them so it helps you lace up your shoes and work out even on the days you really don't want too.

-Work- We need to be willing and ready to put the work in that is needed.
-Time- We need to find time in our day to do the things that will move us towards better health
-Nutrition- Real food, right sized proportions, good balance of the right kinds of foods
-Exercise- Move, be active, keep your heart healthy
-Accountability- This is how we stay on track and stop quitting

So while none of this might have been new info to many of you. I offer it as a reminder and a perfect formula.  If you are not finding success in your weight loss or health journey I guarantee you one of these pieces is missing in your formula. If done correctly you will succeed. Make the time, do the work. eat clean, move and make sure you have someone on your side to keep you motivated.

A cold has got me down...

UGH The first week of round 2 my kids and my husband had a nasty cold.  Now week 2 of round too and I have this nasty thing.  It has been lasting for over a week now and it seems to be getting worse. I tried to work out through it but only managed to get 3 work outs in this week. But then my cough started and I couldn't put out the energy for the work outs with out coughing my head off.  And with this I have found myself not cooking as much. Needless to say the last two weeks have been a struggle.  I am still feeling pretty crummy and having to use my inhaler.

The good new sis I am actually missing working out. From not eating perfect I am also feeling the effect non healthy food is having on me.  you add all this together and I miss the hard work that came along with meal planning prepping and working out everyday.  I am looking forward to get back to it!  It had been a while so I just wanted to touch base with everyone. I am still here just dealing with lots of sickness. I'll be very glad when cold and flu season is over.

Round 2, Week 1 and why it is easy to eat off plan....

Lets be honest our diet hasn't been as good as it could be for the last week. Sunday was a little bit of treat day for me completing my first round of the 21 day fix. I had a homemade brownie sundae. And maybe I ate a little off plan for my meals Sunday too. Since then,  I meal prepped and I am able eat healthy and on plan at work but I have been struggling at home. Hubby has come down with the crud that they boys had over the last two weeks. While a few dinners were planned and on our plan but we did also pick up dinner a few nights as well. Along with a few evening snacks that I shouldn't have had.  I have not missed a single day of exercise and feel like I am getting stronger everyday but you can't out exercise a bad diet. So while the scale has not gone up it has not gone down either.

The interesting thing I've noticed this week is that with out fail EVERY TIME I slip back even if just for one meal, I pay for it big time. My heartburn comes back with a vengeance.  I feel all bloated and uncomfortable.  I am still  shocked at how crappy this food makes me feel.  I used to live off this stuff and I think was I really this miserable all the time?

An interesting and loaded question. While I knew I wasn't eating the best or healthy that voice inside your head says but EVERYONE eats this way. And if everyone eats this way it can't be all bad.  Yes I was on high blood pressure meds, yes I was on heart burn meds but I told myself these were things instigated by my weight.  And while my eating too much caused my weight gain I have never blamed the food it's self for anything except just the weight gain.  I know that might sound stupid cause I knew some facts about my diet pop and sugar. And yes obesity is an epidemic in America, so why did my mind constantly tell me that it can't be all bad?  And that ladies and gentlemen is because that is what we are being told.

The fastfood icons preach it from roof tops. See it is ok to eat here we have good options.  As they show the salad with the 563 calorie Big Mac.

The diet industry isn't innocent either!  Here are pics from ads for Nutrisystem, Jenny Craig and Medifast.  Can you tell me two things they all have in common?  

Thing #1:

While each of these are very successful diet programs and have helped lots of people. The real problem I have with them, is the way they advertise. All these programs delude the public to thinking that you don't have to change the way you eat.  Come eat all your carbs and foods you love.  Our problem is we eat to much of the foods we love.  Not to mentioned that these foods are most peoples comfort food. I am an emotional eater and it is how and why I am the weight I am.  While I will say some weight loss programs have sections of there programs that try to deal with emotional eating, I believe it is harder to treat your emotional eating when you are still eating your comfort foods.  I've been emotional eating for so long, that my comfort foods always bring a peaceful calm feeling while eating them, even if I am not upset when I am eating them. 

Thing #2:

These programs try keep the point that: food is and should be fast and easy.  People pick these programs so they don't have to think and they can just grab and eat. While I understand being in that place, I've been there. But what happens when they have to eat real food again and rely on themselves to provide food instead of the mail man delivering it to them? Some programs suggest you never stop getting their foods. Even after your at your goal weight. They suggest you keep your new easy lifestyle and keep buying our prepackaged food.  I have witnessed SEVERAL people who have used these programs, some of them even made it all the way to their goal weight, and I witnessed them gain it most, all or more of it back.  If while losing weight you are taught that food is quick and easy and all you have to do is grab and go. You will still need food to be quick and easy.  In this situation most of America will turn to our trusty old drive thru. While we may start by trying to make good decisions but we soon slip back into the fast food hole.

What if I told you I have the secret formula to weight loss and health?  Everyone who has ever struggled with weight has wished there was a magic pill we could take to fix it. We fool our selves into believing we are healthy even though over weight. We've tried several diets work outs and sure we'll lose some but we gain it back and nothing seems sustainable over long periods of time. In the next couple blog post I will be sharing the secret formula. It isn't much of a secret but it is 100% the truth. But just a heads up: there is no magic pill, there is no magic wrap, there is no magic diet, there is no magic cleanse.......