Skip to main content

So, I Did a Thing...

I made the mistake of doing a 3-day cleanse. I got what I paid for, I lost some weight and I stuck to the strict diet for 72 hours. I also got more than I paid for: lessons. Some good. Some bad. Overall, I will not be putting myself through another cleanse.

I learned that sleep is important and I will commit to giving myself a nap 3 days a week while my kiddos nap. I am an early riser and have not been prioritizing sleep for myself as well as I do for my littles.

I learned that I do enjoy vegetables and I will spend more time making creative sides and snacks of them instead of reaching for packaged items first (or primarily).

I learned that I do not like celery or cucumbers. I can tolerate celery in smoothies, but I do not like eating it by itself or with almond butter.

I do not really like almond butter. It's peanut butter or nothing! HA!

I am far too dependent upon coffee. Prior to said cleanse, I was consuming somewhere between 150 and 350mg of caffeine per day. Since discovering that 1 tall Starbucks or 1 medium Panera black coffee are 175 to 300mg of caffeine, respectively, I don't feel so bad; however, I will stick to 1 cup of regular coffee or 1 pre-workout drink (depending on my workout) everyday (or skip the caffeine altogether on days without a hard workout or big plans).

If I am too ashamed or embarrassed to post about what I am doing in my HSM community forums, than I should probably not do it. I shared my cleanse on my last day (even though I had been considering it for several weeks), when I was feeling resentful of the low amount of calories that I was consuming. I was quite bitter and a little frustrated with myself (and that box of instructions).

I learned, also, that I actually miss tracking my food in My Fitness Pal. Sometimes, I need a break from the numbers, but I forget that the numbers are on my side. I was still tracking using the Beachbody containers (which I still loves and gives me a fun visual of what I'm consuming), but I just miss seeing the Macro break down every once in a while. (I also don't prefer a low-fat diet, which is what the container system does for calorie intake breakdowns).

I am happy to have a community that is supportive, even when I make mistakes that we all are working to fight against: quick fixes. After chatting with my family about it this morning, I realized that a 30lb weight gain during pregnancy is not bad (it's actually pretty normal).

Considering I had lost about 80lbs prior to pregnancy, I take care of 3 kiddos under the age of 4 everyday; 1 is fully potty trained and can write her name, the 2nd is working through the process of potty training and can write the letter A (as well as lots of squiggly lines and circles), and the 3rd is 3.5 months, loves to laugh and rolls over both ways; I think I'm doing pretty well. I am still operating on a 55lb weight loss, and know that if I work consistently on my habits, I can get back to where I was.

I am praising God for sustaining me through the challenges of parenting, losing weight, managing our home, and striving to thrive in my marriage. Life is tough, but He's got me.


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Goals, Expectations, and Hitting Refresh

These past few weeks have been difficult to get on a plan and to be self-controlled. I ha ve found myself over-indulging with food, slacking in my work, and losing focus on my goals. Then I realized this week that it is because I have too many of them; which actually translates, "I have no goals at all." Have you ever sat down, made a to-do list, stared at it with overwhelming stress and anxiety, promptly set the list aside and then did nothing? Well, that's what having too may goals is. My focus is scattered, I cannot see progress in anything, I am frustrated by the sinking feeling of defeat and then I simply give up. Earlier this week, I realized the foundation of my problem and hit the reset button. After sitting down and spending some cleansing time in prayer and Bible reading, I made the most cleansing decision I have practiced in weeks: I deleted everything from my Google calendar. As I clicked, "Are you sure you want to delete this calendar, this action c...
Post a Comment
Read more

Reflecting on Progress Over Guilting Lack of Perfection

It has been about a week and I have been back on My Fitness Pal now. Great timing, right? Just before a baby shower on Saturday, an impromptu pre-Memorial Day dinner party at a friend's place and then Memorial Day, complete with picnic! Needless to say, I have been over my calorie budget each day since Friday. I do not regret it, I am not punishing myself for my choices, I am not feeling gross or completely out of line in my numbers or my decisions. I have maintained (as a matter of fact, I stepped on the scale this morning and was down 1 pound) and I am still waking up with relatively high energy levels - likely because I have been getting more sleep with the evening routine hubby and I have agreed to. How do I plan to move forward? I am working on adjusting our evening order of events, so that hubby and I are prioritizing our evening workout instead of skipping it once we sit down. I am taking a baby step in pre-tracking my food, without putting too much pressure on the eve...
2 comments
Read more

Calorie Counting, Honest Tracking, and a Break from the Numbers

Babies at the park, whom I am capable of keeping up with For the past 6 months, I have been eating at a caloric deficit and tracking my calories on My Fitness Pal. It is a handy little app in which I can keep a recipe box, my meals are tracked and it remembers my frequently used items. I am also able to keep a close eye on my macros, and this has kept my simple carbohydrate intake in check, as I have drastically limited these and the majority of my carbs have been fruits, vegetables, and multigrain/whole grain light breads. Keeping an eye on these things has helped me to increase my protein intake and keep me better filled throughout the day. By default, this is limiting binges, grazing, and general overeating because the satiation from the protein combined with the satisfaction of my exercise have kept my success rate high! Cue last Thursday. A refreshing morning ritual that keeps me sane throughout the day Early in the week, I had decided that Friday I would not be trac...
Post a Comment
Read more