Eat to Live not Live to Eat.

How can we not love food? I guess no one will really understand until they are in the situation. The satisfaction that eating could bring. I mean I loved grabbing my favorite things at the grocery store, and I absolutely loved eating out. Yum trying new things and indulging in my favorites, blocking out the noise the stress, and enjoying the happiness and satisfaction of fullness.

I understand.

I swear tomorrow will be different. I said that time and time again. Well I have to eat all this bad food because I mean I am not going to throw it away so I might as well eat this all now or this week and I will start next week when I am done with all this. I could only blame myself for my bad food choices because….. I am the one who does the grocery shopping in my home. Learning what areas to avoid in the supermarket was something super new. I never thought I had trigger when I entered the grocery store I mean yes a few (maybe a lot) of not listed items end up in my cart but those are the ones that made me feel better so I justified it.

I totally understand

Changing my eating habits ultimately meant that I had to do something with my “free time” that is time that keeps me busy enough to not want to eat out of boredom, anger, or being depressed/ sad. Being heavy also meant I totally did not want to spend much time outdoors. Who the heck likes being outside I would think. How the heck do people enjoy sitting at the beach or hiking? These things did not seem fun to me because I was not comfortable doing those things, I would get hot and become annoyed. I just want to eat now and get out of this heat and go home. I found so much comfort in my home. I mean I have my favorite things here my son, my food, my entertainment, and I was comfy. I mean what more could I ask for.

What I had to understand

Being outdoors is actually very stress relieving and can actually bring some calmness into your life. How can I create memories with my son if I am home and unable to run and actively keep up with him if I am not healthy and able to do it? With that said I knew I had to do something because I did not want to make excuses when I had already been doing that for so long and have been not giving this my all-time first priority. My son deserves a mom that can keep up with him and take him on excursions I wanted him to be able to explore the world and not fear being able to keep up. I wanted him to do things that others felt they couldn’t and well I needed to do the same. I had to believe and not lie to myself in order to justify me indulging in toxic foods. Over eating came with so not so grand health conditions that could have been avoided with just eating healthier.

Now I had to understand

I could do this as long as I put my mind to it and make it happen. Only I can do this. Only I can control what I do. And only I could understand how uncomfortable I really was at the end of the night. My health could improve as long as I improved my lifestyle choices. Slow changes had to take place and that started with no more eating out which was hard because it was something I did not have to do and that was cook and wash the dishes after. Well it also came with money being spent that could have been used in other more productive ways and a crap load of calories entering my body and landing in my midsection. Changing my food choices worked positively for my son as well. I did not want him to get to the level that I have. I did not want him to fall in love with food and flavor. I did not want him to rely on food for emotional support. I did not want him to feel his only option is weight-loss surgery.

The dreaded Plateau

Understanding that results do not happen over night is the hardest part of my weight-loss journey. Working out 5/6 days a week for 2-3 hours and yet 0 weight-loss in 6 months. What the heck! The first year was great woo-hoo the weight just shredded / sweated off. Here we are one year later and yet the plateau was killing my motivation but I knew I was not going to let it defeat me. I had to Stop & Listen to my body. It was obviously telling me something. 

Yes it happens. Yes it drove me crazy. Yes I cried. Yes I went harder. Yes I starved myself. Yes I even over ate because the scale was not budging at all; not up nor down! Does it need new batteries? Am I standing on it wrong? Am I meant to stay in the 140's? Is this what my body wants to do? 

It is easy for us to get into a routine and enter a comfort zone. We do not want our body to fall into a routine. I fell into a routine and that's where my plateau came, my body was just burning the needed calories daily and I was not burning any additional calories. So time to kick it up a notch! Ahh the dreaded new workout regimen, the soreness, earlier mornings, longer sessions, and more sweat. 

What's the secret? Honestly there is no secret. It takes a lot of hard work and it also takes patience and dedication. If you are not willing to invest in it 100% you are only going to receive half the results and the plateau will not make it any better. What about dieting? Well what about it. I don't diet so I can not answer any "diet related questions." I have made lifestyle changes in order for this to be a continuous process. I am not looking for a quick fix. I am not trying to take the easy way out either. 

I have no done any detoxes. I have no done any of those "crazy wrap things." I have not taken any supplements or pre-workout shakes. I took a nutrition class to understand the concept of what our body needs and what we need to do naturally to keep it running the healthy way. 

What do you eat? I eat food! Okay so the hard part of getting in shape and kicking this plateau is understanding what is power food and what is unnecessary wasted calories. Since I love eating I do not drink any of my calories. What does that mean? That means I chug water all day long and enjoy that it is 0 calories. I am not a crazed calorie counter however I eat consciously. Water not only helps keep calories down it also detoxifies your skin and it helps your kidneys remove waste which are all added health benefits! If you think water is boring add some fruit, mint, or lemon to it. I try to drink close to a gallon a day which means I have lot's of potty breaks.

Grocery Shopping was something I had to learn not to do unless I had my List. When you have a list that will keep your attention on the task at hand; and not on all the crap that your mind will tell you to grab. I also like to plan what I will eat for the week that way I only grab those items and not anything extra. Additional to my list I grab my pocket planner and start writing down what I will be making for breakfast, lunch and dinner that week.

It's better to plan ahead rather than fail to plan. Beating the dreadful plateau meant that I had to kick it all up a notch and go the extra mile. Giving my body the break and time needed to readjust allowed me to see the scale move in the direction I wanted it too. I did not give up, I did not settle, I did not lose hope, and I only competed with myself. I am my own competition.