Week #1

Hey Friends:

So, today was a successful eating day. I was intentional about meal prepping last night and I stuck to the plan. Usually when I leave work,  I like to stop by McDonald's and grab me a small to medium fry. On today, when I got in my car I wanted to stop badly but I purposely put an apple inside of my book bag, so I started snacking on that while I was driving home.

I must say that when I reached my home and realized that I made it home with out spending money and eating anything bad, I was so so happy! Tonight for dinner I had a small slice of salmon, some grilled cabbage and a half of sweet potatoe. My goodness, this food was so yummy and I appreciate my honey for making this for my on yesterday so that I can have it for the week.

Look at me all meal prepped for the week, I felt very good to grab my tray and eat breakfast, lunch and an afternoon snack that was already prepared in a container. Last night before getting in the shower I decided to weigh myself to start this week off. I was surprised to see that I dropped another size. That makes me excited, but as I looked through past post on my blog I see that I was as low as 208 and 209. So, until I get under those numbers I won't feel as accomplished as I want to. However, I am thrilled about my goal of being under 200 pounds by the end of this year. I am definitely more focused than I have been in a long while. On this Thursday I think that I am scheduled for accountability with my doctor, so I will definitely share how that appointment goes.

Sunday night's weight, I guess I will keep up my intentional eating so that I can see additional results. Lately, I have been watching the Forks Over Knives documentary and I see so many people have been able to eliminate their meds through having a healthy diet. I am so hopeful that I can report that sometime in the near future.

The AMAZING Start Over

During the month of August, I went in for a medical appointment and my blood pressure was 177/124. My Physician became very concerned and suggested that I meet with a Primary Care Physician ASAP. I was embarrassed and sad at the same time. I was embarrassed because my doctor was asking me what was going on and I thought that all was well with me. I was sad because I knew that I was about to be placed on medications. I have never been an individual that takes medications, in fact my kids and I have not had any medications at this entire year. We are Young Living Oil users and that has really been a blessing in and through our home. Towards the end of this appointment I was scheduled to see a Primary Care who diagnosed me with Hypertension and prescribed medications. :(

During the follow-up appointment with my OB physician, he shared with me that I was overweight. He mentioned that he has a weight loss program and for me to think about being apart of it. He used my height and age to determine the size that I should be. During my appointment, I learned that I was fifty pounds overweight. I was so sad and I wanted to walk out of the office with a big jacket to cover my body. My Physician provided me advice on the importance of portion control. I heard him, but I was really bummed out during this visit so it really did not stick. I committed to starting his weight loss program and had to go back and see him in two weeks.

As of September 1st, I started feeling horrible about myself. I started gorging on sweets, I lacked motivation to workout and my life was really becoming unmanageable in the area of health. I knew that I had an appointment to see my physician again, so I worked out the week before. Then, the week before the appointment I made sure to workout as well. As soon as I arrived to the office, the nurse took me in the back to weigh in. I had gone from 222 at the first visit to 223 at the second one. I was so bummed out and I really felt like making an excuse as to why I needed to leave. Then, his nurse took my blood pressure and it was 176/118. So, here we are again, overweight and another horrible blood pressure reading. The doctor was very calm and possibly because he knew that I had was seeing another doctor (across the hall) and I had been prescribed meds that I was taking. He told his nurse that he would like for her to take it again later on in the appointment. She did and it had gone down significant, it was 134/103.

During this meeting, he discussed that we were going to get me down under 200 pounds by the end of this year. Then, he shared techniques that could help to get me there. He mentioned the importance of portion control and how I don't need to clean my plate each time that I eat. He encouraged kids meals for the smaller portions, lots of water and he shared that weight loss is more about foods going into the body rather than working out. he explained that he was not against me working out, but he strongly suggested that I work on my diet for now. I received his information really well and I left his office feeling very motivated. He told me that his expectation was for me to lose about two pounds at the most, but he feels that I will lose more than that. I was glad that he had faith in me, but I knew that I had to change my eating habits.

I got on the scale and this is what I saw, I was unhappy but I wanted to start documenting this journey. As you can tell on previous posts, I've been a lot smaller than I am now. However, this is where I am and I don't like it...I won't began to discuss my frustration with taking the medications every day. Not only did I get on the scale, but I started moving towards meal planning. Usually, I am in a rush in the mornings but since August my mornings are pretty slow. Therefore, I have time to prepare for my day/week without distractions.

Here is a photo from my meal planing while starting the #21dayfix. I started this on September 1st, by the second week I was so tired of carrying all of these items in bags etc to my job. So, I started thinking about how I could modify this plan and ensure that I was getting all that I need in my body as well.  So, I decided to take three containers to work and having my breakfast prior to leaving in the mornings. While being intentional about my meals and really trying to focus on eating half of things and drinking lots of water, I am starting to shed a little.

I have gone from 223 down to 218, this is by not gorging on so many sweets. When I ran out of my favorite Jalapeno chips, I did not buy another bag. Also, for the entire month of September, I have only had water to drink aside from a few Shakeology/Smoothies to replace meals. Although, I am no where near I want to be it feels like the goal of getting under 200 is attainable. So, I was trying to think about how I could modify things for next week. My goal is to try to do away with all bad sugars (if there is a such thing), I plan to try to only eat natural sugars, For instance, I plan to fill the house with fruit for the up coming week so that I can snack on them and try to stay away from things that are bad for me and stopping me from getting my healthy life back.

So, on Sunday evening I will return with a posts that should contain photos and a break down of my feelings about this week. This will be difficult for me because I love sweets/sugars and I get it from my family. The norm in my house while growing up as a child was to eat lots and lots of sweets. To this day my grandparents enjoy cakes, pies and more. I do as well, but I also want to live a long & healthy life with my children.

Did I mentioned that I restarted my gym membership on today, well I did and I am ecstatic about that. I have wanted to re-join for quite some time but, financially I had to wait until the right time. The time has arrived and I will be back in the gym on Sunday or Monday...or both days. I am not going on tomorrow because, I plan to participate in a Zumbathon from 10a-1p. That is so exciting for me, so I get to dance until I can't dance anymore on tomorrow and I am so excited about the sweat, the energy and excitement coming my way.

Wishing everyone a super weekend, thanks for allowing me to share where I have been and what has been going on in my life over the last few months. While things have not been great, I am looking forward to finishing this year strong. CHEERS~

Still Plant-Strong

Hello:

So, I am quite sure that you have not hear from me in about two weeks. However, I am happy to report that I am hanging in here. I have been out of town an unable to post like I' like to on a regular basis. But, I am hanging in here an trying to do the best that I can.
During March I ha a very bad scare with high levels of hypertension. I ha really prepared to die because it was extremely high and I did not know how to bring it own. When I went to my doctor, she prescribe me medication and I was not happy about that at all. So, mentally I needed to find a plan that would help me to cure myself. I have done a large amount of research while on this Eat to Live journey. One thing that I am feeling secure about is, healthy foods heals. So, I started a strick vegan lifestyle in June and I really started feeling different after week three. Then, I started running an actually felt great while doing it. When I returned to the doctor on this past Friday my levels were low and I was own ten pounds. I am quite sure that I can come down lower than that if I stop completely dibbling an dabbling with the pasteurized sugars. I have made a mental commitment to push away for thirty days to see what the outcome will be. So, I will keep you posted on my  journey with out NO pasteurized sugars. I think that I want to break into a bad cry, just while saying that.
As of today, I am 206 pounds. I believe that in thirty days that I could be 196, let's see what happens. I will be sure to keep you posted. Wishing everyone a Happy Sunday!!

Day 21-Plant Based

Well today is day 21 and I would like to say I feel much lighter. My waist seems to have shrunk, but of course I still have quite a ways to go. So when I weighed myself I was a little disappointed because I expected to be smaller than last week (largely). I have really worked out hard this week, getting my sweat on and for five out of the seven days this week. My expectation was to continue to workout during the weekend, but that did not work out for me. So, I am going to have to really get after it in the morning. I feel so much better while working out, I sleep well at night and it's easier to wake up in the mornings.

I am definitely more focused on what I put in my mouth so that I am not making constant poor choices. Overall, things are going well and it is my goal to continue to get my eating habits very crisp. Overall, I have eaten 85% vegan and my goal is to become 100%. I am excited about the next month and how I can continue to focus even harder on this healthy lifestyle.

Here is the scale reading from this morning. I have made it my business to weigh in every Sunday morning. I am hoping for better results during next Sunday. I am traveling during next weekend. So, I may not report in until 7/13 on weight. I will be driving out of town on Sunday and I have to report to my training by 4p. So, I will pop in as often as possible.

Written by,
Passion Jones

Day 14-Plant Based

Hello All:

I started this day feeling pretty  bad, I had a weigh in and I had gained weight rather than losing. I felt upset because I have incorporated a routine to head to the gym and I have tried to be very intentional about my eating all week. However, on Saturday I went to a coworkers home for a get together and I ate a few things that were not within the plant-based category. If you can feel my energy then you know that I was very disappointed. However, I allowed myself a cheat day and I met my water goal for the day. Each day I try to have at least half of my body weight in water. I nailed that today, but I definitely felt that I have to be very strict with myself during this week. For instance, if it is not plant based it will not go in my belly. Also, I purposely purchased a new swim suit so that becomes my evening workout. I have a workout buddy that plans to meet me on the track at 5a and then I will get some swimming in tomorrow evening. I am praying for a successful goal meeting week.

My goals for this week:  To loose, increase water, to refrain from wanting a cheat day and to try salads without salad dressing. I have been using vinegar and olive oil and perhaps I need to refrain from that regimen. While I am not sure, I just want to change my diet and to feel comfortable while doing it. My family and I went to the grocery store store this evening and came out with 80% of produce. I was ecstatic tonight when my kids had grapes and blueberries for snack. I won't tell you that I wanted to run around the house yelling when they both had water as well. I think that each week will become better for us, I cheated today and did not maintain my regimen. But, I am very thankful that tomorrow is a new day that gives me the opportunity to take a stab at it again.
I am excited that my meals this week will include: cabbage, collard greens, zucchini & Spinach... YEA!! I am wishing everyone a super week and I will keep you posted on my progress.

Here was my weigh in today, sad face...but I am not going to be too hard on myself. I have put the appropriate foods in the house and plan to handle myself better during this week. STRICT!!!


PEACE

PJ

Day 10-Plant Based

Hello All:

I wanted to check and share with everyone where I am on my journey. First, I am really being intentional about my eating. I must be honest and say that I have been so tempted to eat a little candy, but I have not done that. Can you believe that, I can't either. But, I provided a training today and I had trays of candy on the end of every table to keep individuals awake during the training.
Anyway, I ate my lunch along with many strawberries and grapes and I kept my composer with the candy. I was looking at my calendar last night and became very excited that I have had an 80% plant based/clean eating diet over three weeks. I felt very proud of myself and I realize that after next week, I would have be steady for an entire month and that makes me so excited. One thing that has rung true is, taking things one day at a time has been so helpful to stay focused on my overall goals.

I have not done any physical activity during this week, so as usual I will get my buns on the trail tomorrow in efforts to keep my body moving. I will also probably go swimming with the kids on tomorrow as well to get two workouts for the day. I am feeling good and not as heavy and full as I was during May. I was tired all of the time and felt HEAVY!! My belly was very large and my three year old thought that I was pregnant. At the end of the day my motivation to become a full-time vegan is to become healthy and to set an example for my kids.
I am hoping that I can continue to loose and my husband become interested in this lifestyle. Overall, things are going well, I will tune in on Friday sometime before I indulge in ladies night.

Have a super evening!

Day 7-Plant Based

Hello:

Since my Miami Heat are going down, I figured that I would reach out to you all for an update. I have done well for the most part, I had something that was not solid plant-based on yesterday and today. However, I have managed to stay active since Saturday morning. I am really enjoying the clean eating, it really allows me to feel light and to wake up so much early. I thought the only method to have a clear mind was to juice, but I see using plants, having beans, seeds and nuts are awesome simulators.

As I close down another week, I have loaded the refrigerator and I am ready for battle during this week. I have all  of the plants and the fruits, not I will get up early in the morning to fix my meals for the day. Below I weighed myself and although I did not loose the amount of pounds that I wanted, I did loose a few ounces. Here below you will see the scale from this morning.

It's looking good, not if I can stay focus and continue to keep my body moving all will be well. I ran this morning then went swimming this evening. Looking forward to doing the same on tomorrow. I don't plan to blog daily as usual, but I am thinking SU, W, F with updates.

Wishing all a  super evening,
PJ