Results as promised!

I stepped on the scale this morning hoping for at the very least no weight gain, and that I did accomplish! I weighed exactly the same as I did yesterday morning-which is consistent with how the entire cleanse went. So in total, I lost 8 pounds during my 7 day cleanse. I've got so say I'm ecstatic that it's over, but I'm equally happy that I did it!

I started my new diet and went back to the gym today. I had a rough workout -nothing more than I usually do, but given I gave up a week at the gym and my body wasn't fueled with protein like usual, it was expected. I still pushed through it and finished a pretty good tri/bi workout ending with 30 minutes of cardio. It felt AMAZING to be back in the gym. I'm so miserable skipping days, so I think that had a lot to do with how moody I was last week too.

I didn't realize this before last night, but the new diet I'm following cuts out carbs and starches with my 2 servings of fruit per day being the majority of the carbs I get daily. This is going to be struggle. I'm not necessarily wanting carbs just yet but I'm sure it'll come! For breakfast I'm allotted one protein/dairy and one fruit. So I had a cup of nonfat yogurt and an apple to start my day. -Surprisingly, I felt really full and actually had to wait a little longer to go to the gym. -More than likely a benefit of the cleanse. For a morning snack I can have one protein/dairy, 1 fruit and 1-2 veggies. I had this after my workout so I made a protein shake with chocolate/peanut butter protein almond milk, kale, and a banana. It was delicious! But I think I'll stick to spinach instead of kale-it just blends better. I do however, love kale in juices just not preferred blended. Below is one of the sweeter juices we loved this summer :)

The rest of my meals (lunch, mid-afternoon snack, and dinner) all consist of protein and veggies. I'll probably have some cottage cheese and some squash/zucchini for lunch, a protein shake for my other snack, and we're having salmon for dinner with some steamed broccoli  and asparagus. Basically when all is said and done, you're plate should have about a quarter of protein on it and 3/4 veggies with this diet. Can't wait to see what weight loss I have this week! So excited for next monday!

The cleanse end!

Finally! Today is day 7 of my veggie cleanse! It has certainly been a week of ups and downs. It's made me even more aware of how bad my food addiction is. I'm so glad I did this for several reasons:

1. I proved to myself that I CAN accomplish anything if I put my mind to it and keep the end game in mind. I usually find a great diet I 'put my mind to' and a week later or less I'm over it. Although this was only over a weeks period its the most dedicated I've ever been.

2. I feel so much better physically! I was skeptical about people saying how they actually did feel better. I thought, well I'm putting less into my body-I'm going to feel so tired! Negative, I feel great. I don't feel so sluggish. I will say the one cup of joe a day isn't for me but I did it. (I'm a coffee junkie so this part felt like it was going to be impossible) I'm not so bloated from eating all of the junk I used to, so I feel more comfortable.

3. My hopes are that this sets me up in the right direction for the actual diet part that comes next (tomorrow morning). As I already said, this was an emotional week for me, why pick my bad habits back up and leave this week all for nothing? I think proving to myself that I could accomplish this detox helps me to believe that instead of viewing this is a fad diet like I usually do, I'll see it as a new lifestyle.  I just need to keep myself motivated and focused.

I remember my friends who've done this detox saying that it got better after day 3, they lied. I struggled through the entire detox. Mind you, I'm a server at Texas Roadhouse and my boyfriend ate frozen pizzas and McDonald's the whole week in front of me so I was surrounded by all of my favorite artery clogging foods. -Which I honestly feel was necessary for me to feel so accomplished. I didn't give in to temptation and I couldn't be any more proud of myself for that alone. Typically, I'm the first one to say I don't feel like making dinner so lets just go grab McDonald's or head out to half off apps at Applebees. I got myself much more acquainted in the kitchen making myself veggie meals. Speaking of, I'll share the recipe that got me by this week. The other girls said they made vegetable soup and ate that most of the week. I attempted that, had 2 bowls and couldn't even stomach smelling it after that. -Thankfully Chris loved it so we didn't have much to waste. I found my love for stir fry-the healthy way!

My TLS coach told me that if after day 3, I felt it was necessary, I could add about 4 oz of lean protein into my dinner meal. (Day 2 I made this without chicken). I can't use oils in this cleanse so I picked up some low-sodium chicken broth as my 'sauteing juice' so to say. I put a little garlic and broth in the pan and heated that up on medium heat until the garlic was browning a bit. I diced up some organic chicken, sprinkled it with Cayenne and let it cook in the pan with a couple dashes of low-sodium soy sauce (that was ok'd by my coach as well). When the chicken was about 3/4 done I started another pan with some chicken broth and sliced green and red peppers and onion. I cooked those for about 5 minutes and added in some squash and zucchini with a little more soy sauce. It was probably 20 minutes cook time total and probably an additional 20 minute prep time but it was delicious! I let Chris have a bite and he admitted that he would've rather had that than the pizza he was munching away on. It is a bit spicy, but that can be adjusted with the amount of cayenne used-or you can just use pepper if you prefer.

I'll reveal the final results tomorrow if I find the time to actually sit down and blog but I can tell you it'll be around 10 pounds. As of this morning, I was down 8 lbs so it'll be similar to that give or take a pound or two.

^This is it in case anybody is wondering what it is I'm doing :)

Detox and Veggies

I've been pushing myself at the gym for about 6 months-steadily working out for 4-5. I've gained a tremendous amount of muscle-all of which I can feel underneath that fat layer that I can't.seem.to.lose. I've pushed harder, I've given up, I've had tears, I've experienced it all. -Except weight loss! 

If someone were to follow me around the gym and do my workout side by side with me, I'm confident that they wouldn't believe that I haven't lost a single pound! I've actually gained weight! I know, I know. Muscle weighs more than fat. But what about that layer?! The one I can't get rid of?! I have the hardest time sticking to a diet. I want chicken wings, pizza, fries, huge steaks, ice cream, burgers, etc etc. I'm finally sick and tired of wasting hours at the gym, so I'm trying something new. 

Yesterday I started a 7 day detox called Nutriclean. Basically I take a few pills in the AM with a fiber mixture I have to drink and I eat 5-6 meals a day with veggies only and 3 servings of fruit per day. I'm nearing the end of day 2 and its all cake and pie...until night comes. The ultra fat kid in me wants to run across the road and get a McDouble -or 3 and some large fries - maybe 2 of those and wash it all down with a nice cold Root Beer. Instead, I have a pot of veggie soup I made last night to hold me over. They say it gets easier after day 3, I'll let you know the truth to that. Right now, I'm not seeing that happening. But I will say, its only 7 days-I won't die. If anything, I'll be so incredibly proud of myself for actually sticking to something diet wise. Nonetheless, I'll be dreaming of red velvet cookies and peanut butter balls tonight, I'm sure. 

New year, fresh blog

I'm hoping 2014 is the most inspirational for me. I think I've got bigger plans for myself than I've even realized. I'm not one of those New Year Resolutioner's, I can't recall the last time I actually made one. If you think about it though, I think whether we like to admit it or not, we've all got one in our head. I really want to get more into writing and actually stick with a blog. How amazing would it be to have one of those blogs that actually got read a few thousand times over every day? I feel like those blogs are based on a single subject and I would probably get bored writing about the same topic over and over. So I guess instead of the fitness blog I originally intended to create, I'll just be writing about my life and thoughts in general. So here's to a new year of writing!