Day 21 = 3 weeks completed!

Today closed out week 3 for us! That means 1 WEEK MORE + 2 Days! Is next Friday really our last day? Wow!

So my clothes have been fitting more loosely! It's fantastic! The other day, I wore a pair of jeans that I haven't worn in almost 2 years! I'm able to fit in to clothes that moved out to Colorado from Michigan with us that I haven't fit in since we moved!

Today I ran 3 miles in 31 minutes at the gym and I climbed 36 floors of stairs on the StairMaster in 10 minutes. When we came home, I hopped in the shower after transferring Isaac from his carseat to his crib. He usually falls asleep in the car on the way home from the Y.

I've gotten used to him sleeping about 2 hours in the morning which gives me plenty of time to shower and then have a little quiet to myself before Isaac wakes up for lunch. Today that didn't happen. He was crying when I came out of the shower. Well...turns out he's teething again! I know he's been working on his top teeth for a while, and for weeks we've been saying they're about ready to break through. Hasn't happened yet.

Isaac has been sleeping really well at night, but today was a rough one. He was very crabby! So we'll see how he sleeps tonight. It could be a difficult night...

Made chili for dinner, and I was too lazy to take a pic of it. It's one of our favorite chili recipes and is also detox-friendly! However, today I substituted ground turkey for the ground beef, and that worked out great!

Nick was so kind to help put a salad together to go with dinner and cut up some carrots and oranges. He even cleaned up after dinner which was an added bonus!

Tomorrow is 'weigh in' day for us! So stay tuned and look for tomorrow's post where I will reveal our weight loss results after 3 full weeks!

Day 20 - Lessons Learned

Wow! Day 20 is here! Time is really flying now and this detox will be over in a snap! We're still looking forward to adding dairy, gluten, coffee, and a little sugar back in to our diet, but it isn't very difficult to avoid those things these days.

I find it's when I allow myself to get hungry that I really crave the things I'm not suppose to have! Isn't that funny? You'd think I'd just be hungry enough to eat anything, but it's when I have an uncomfortable rumbling in my tummy that I want cookies or a big juicy hamburger!

So if I feel a little bit of hunger come on, I try to drink a bottle of water or eat a piece of fruit or some carrots or cucumbers and that really helps. But if I try to ignore my hunger, I get really grumpy and throw a little pity party for myself because I can't have a cookie.

Something else I've noticed too and I don't know if it's just me or if there is something to this....but I have noticed it's on warmer sunny days that I desire sweets. Any thoughts? I haven't figured that one out yet! Or maybe... it's because I like to get out and about on those sunshiny days, and when I'm out and about I like to 'treat' myself to things like Auntie Anne's pretzels, a Sonic cherry limeade during Happy Hour, some fro yo from Yo Yogurt, or a frappuccino from Starbucks. Yeah. I think I've just had a breakthrough!

When it's cold, I just want to stay home. And since we've removed any temptations from our sight and reach here, it's really easy to avoid giving in while at home. So when we've finished our detox, I'm going to have to really take this to heart and make sure I don't splurge on the calories and spur of the moment 'treats' because it is only going to get warmer and warmer as we go into summer.

Today was a cold day, and I think it helped make this day on the detox pretty easy! And being cold, it was also a good day to try another new recipe: Black Bean Vegetable Soup. 10 more days to go!

Day 19 - Beginning the week with a BANG!

I really didn't want to go to the Y when I woke up this morning. We had such a busy weekend, and I just wanted a day to relax. But Nick put a little pressure on me and asked me if I would later regret not going. So I went. And I'm so glad I did!

Today, I ran 4 miles! Yes, that's right - 4 MILES! And I didn't walk at all until after I had run those 4 miles. I was ready to be done after 3 miles, but I so wanted to reach a new 'milestone'...ha ha (pun intended)! I did slow my pace a bit after 3 miles, then I sped up as I was feeling comfortable. It felt so GOOD!

After finishing my run, I was on such a high! I felt like I could conquer the world! But then it didn't take long until I was ready to crash. The rest of the day has been a challenge because I've been so tired.

One important lesson to take away from detoxifying and trying to lose weight...it's a LOT harder to lose weight than it is to gain weight! Hopefully I'll be thinking about this after another 11 days and when I want to take a big bite out of a chocolate chunk cookie!

So I tried a new recipe tonight in the crockpot called Winter Squash and White Bean Stew and it actually turned out really good! It had a nice sweet flavor to it, but no sugar in it! Nick and I both thought it was a keeper. As Nick said, "I'd give it 2 smiley faces out of 3" on the smiley face scale. So we'll probably have this again sometime.

So with a 4-mile run this morning and a new recipe for dinner this evening, I'd say I've started this week with a BANG! Hopefully I won't wear myself out before Friday...

Day 18 - A Happy Easter!

Today is Easter, and Nick and I didn't eat a single jelly bean, we didn't eat a marshmallow Peep, or a Cadbury Creme Egg, but that's not what Easter is all about anyway!

We spent the morning and afternoon with some of Nick's family. We went to his parents' church and heard them sing in the choir for their Easter Cantata. Then we all had lunch together!

I will say we were close to declining the invitation to be with family today due to our detox. We didn't want to be a burden on anyone, but we also didn't want to cheat on our commitment to this 30-day program. When Nick's parents said they were willing to 'jump through the hoops' in having food we could eat, we were more than willing to accept their invitation to join them today on Easter Sunday! 

It is so nice when not only your spouse or immediate family is supportive of your decision to try to live a healthier lifestyle and lose weight, but when your extended family is also supportive of your goals and sensitive to your needs...wow!

I thought it was so sweet when Nick's mom texted me and asked for a copy of our detox program so she could make sure the food she would be preparing for today would fall under the guidelines we've been following! And as we were filling our plates at lunch today, she assured us that there was no sugar (or other ingredients we've been avoiding) in the seasonings and dishes that were before us. We had grilled chicken, a veggie stir fry, sweet potatoes, and fruit.

There were rolls and butter and dessert, but no one flashed it in front of our faces or taunted us for not having any. It did look delicious, but it was so easy to pass up when surrounded by an understanding family who is on our side! So I just want to say THANK YOU to all of them for making our Easter Sunday a relaxing and enjoyable one! 

Only 12 more days of detox, baby! And with such a great support team, I have no doubt we will see the rest of this detox through! 

Day 17 - Jambalaya Disaster!

Really the only 'exciting' detox-related part of the day was late this afternoon and this evening when dinner turned into a disaster!

I could talk about the wonderful time we had with Isaac at the park, how he loved swinging, going down the slides, and how he tried eating the playground sand for the first time...

But you know, fun at the park could be an exciting part of any normal day!















Hopefully, the process of making dinner won't start becoming as 'exciting' as it was tonight...

I had in mind to try a new recipe tonight for dinner: Turkey Jambalaya!

It sounded delish and it didn't look too hard to make. Reading the recipe, I saw that it called for uncooked long grain rice. Since I've had a few meals flop in the past due to not cooking the rice beforehand, I thought I would go ahead and cook it up at the same time we were eating lunch. I thought, 'This will ensure that the rice will get tender through and dinner won't take as long as the recipe says if the rice is already cooked.' 

However, Nick overheard me talking to myself about cooking up the rice beforehand and he convinced me that it would be best to just follow the recipe...'OK....'

So I looked at the recipe and counted back to figure out when I needed to put dinner on so we could eat in time. After I got the dish all together on the stovetop, boiled it, and turned it down to simmer for 40-45 minutes, I decided to take another look at the recipe and read some reviews.

It wasn't long before I began to worry about our dinner and fearing that it wouldn't turn out since I read several reviews about the rice not getting tender. I even read that someone said they should have cooked the rice beforehand! Oh dear!

Let's just say, we had the same problem! Oh man! I kept tasting it every so often and the rice was STILL crunchy! I was so frustrated! Nick and I were both getting very grumpy because we were hungry. We munched on fruit. We fed Isaac. We played with Isaac. We bathed Isaac and put him to bed.

FINALLY, the rice was just tender enough to eat. The Turkey Jambalaya had delicious flavor! But it had taken OVER 2 HOURS to cook! That's it! Next time I'm cooking the rice up separately beforehand! And next time Nick said I should listen to my own instinct since I 'have more experience.' Thank you very much! Live and learn! At least it tasted good even if some of the rice still had a little crunch to it...

And our tummies are happy now! Hopefully the rest of the evening will go a little more smoothly...

Day 16 - On the downhill!

It was so nice for Nick to have the day off work today! Our plan was to get up and go to the Y together which would have been awesome since we don't get to go together much. But that didn't end up happening since we didn't set an alarm, Nick had a late night out playing games with some friends, Isaac had a rough time falling asleep, and we all slept in a bit this morning.

So instead, we took it easy. I got a nice long nap while Isaac took one as well. We had lunch, then we went shopping as a family! I tried on a couple pair of pants and it always frustrates me when I'm in between sizes! BOOO! Oh well! Hopefully that will change soon...

We had to cut our shopping short since I planned to go running with a friend. It was the first time I'd run outdoors on the road and sidewalks since Thanksgiving last year! We did a 3 mile loop and did it in just over 34 minutes. Not bad especially considering we walked a bit. AND we had some HUGE hills! I'm really proud of  us for getting out there and doing it!

Nick helped get everything prepped for dinner tonight, and we had omelets! Yum!

Day 15 - HALF WAY!

I see myself standing on top of a mountain right now. I've made the climb up! Now to begin the trek down!

If you've ever hiked a mountain before, you know different muscles are used when you hike down versus when you climbed up. You meet different challenges along the way, and, in my opinion, it's a lot easier to fall when you're going down. Not only is gravity working against you, but you're already tired from the climb up!

On top of the mountain, you're ecstatic that you made it this far - the half way point - and you tell yourself going back down will be a piece of cake! But when you start going down hill, sooner or later you learn it's not as easy as you were thinking it'd be.

I'm thrilled to be half way through our detox program! This is when it should be easy, right? I don't want to give up now because I see the end of the trail at the bottom of the hill! But...I am ready to be done.

Total weight loss for me = 7 lbs
Total weight loss for Nick = 9 lbs

If that's not exciting, I don't know what is! Our clothes are beginning to feel more loose. We feel good!

However, today wasn't a super exciting day. I found a few new recipes for us to try, and I had to go to the grocery store again. We've just been eating so much food! It's hard to keep the fridge stocked! And I was pretty discouraged when I saw how hard all our grocery shopping has been hitting the budget lately... I try to shop sales, but it still adds up really quick!

I think part of the issue is we've been eating our leftovers for lunches while we've been detoxing. Before, we would have a simple sandwich for lunch and use our leftovers for a second dinner. Another thing is that I've bought new spices and cooking oils since we don't have the flexibility to just buy a pre-made marinade for grilling chicken (as most of them have either vinegar, soy, or sugar). So that's a pretty penny too. At least I know we'll use all of this stuff even after we've finished the detox!

Nick made the comment, I think it was last night, that we're probably going to go crazy with eating out after we've completed our detox. I hope not! But honestly, after cooking almost every day for 30 days, I think I'll just be in the habit of it and we'll continue to eat at home mostly...hopefully! Also, I'll have a slew of healthy recipes up my sleeve that I've made and know we like!

Yeah, I may enjoy an ice cream cone every now and then, but already I feel more aware and educated about what is going into my body. And I kinda wonder if that first ice cream cone or cup of coffee after the detox will be mentally challenging for me to actually consume since I haven't had anything like that for what already feels like a VERY long time.

Well, here's to being half way done! 15 more days to go...