DRINK UP!

Yes, I'm starting today's post with the same picture I used last week. Partly because as I wrote last week's post I decided I needed to make the post two separate pieces and the pic was already in place. And it looks yummy.

To help add some fruit into my diet and not bottom out my sugar, I've been adding fresh fruit to my Protein shakes. If I use the strawberry powder I add strawberries. Don't suggest bananas go well - ewww. I'm not a banana person unless I have a taste for a fresh banana or it comes as an ingredient in bread/ muffins.

My husband also has a container of vanilla whey powder. By the time you read this post I will have tried adding other fruits to the vanilla such as peaches, pineapple or blackberries. Not sure how the blackberries will do with the seeds but I'm going to give them a try as soon as they start getting ripe.

Bob has said he would like to give this a shot when he comes home. See if he can kick start his metabolism. I'll add blueberries to his (another one of those fruits I do not like). But I love vegies and finding ones he'll eat is going to be interesting so it's a trade-off.

What fruits would you suggest?
Enjoy the Journey!
Kelly

DETOX UPS AND DOWNS

Yesterday I gave you a rundown of what I'm 'eating' during the week. Today, I want to tell you about how I felt that first week. I think you will be surprised. I was.

My normal work day starts around 7 a.m. I make my single cup of fluffy and spend an hour doing the 'fun' stuff I enjoy but seldom make time for - thus the early hour. I'm up at 6:30 a.m. during the week just so I can get this time in. By the time my coffee is gone, I'm ready to move into work mode. I spend the day using social media to send promos for country music artists, doing cd reviews, transcribing interviews and setting up a appointments for more of the previous two. Somewhere in there I fit writing short articles for magazines and hopefully having enough energy by about 8 p.m. to work on fiction. And all of this is done while multi-tasking household tasks (though don't look too closely at my house at the moment. It's been a long month hehe)

Normally by 3 p.m. I need a nap. Though I push through this only to gain a second wind and work until 10 or 11 p.m.

But here was the really cool part of the new program.
A) I didn't feel like I physically needed EAT something. What I was doing satisfied me. I never felt hungry.
B) I didn't need that afternoon nap. Instead, I could work steadily until around 5. I would do final email checks for the day while fixing supper and usually have the computer shut down by 6 p.m.
C) I felt GREAT!

And I noticed the difference over the weekend. By Sunday afternoon I wanted a nap. I felt tired, sluggish and just out of sorts. And to top it off, I gained 4 pounds! I still strove to watch what I ate, and gave into a craving for a cheeseburger and letting my guard down showed.
I was relieved to be back on program yesterday and already feel the difference. Psychological? Maybe. But does it matter? As long as my body is happy and I feel good then I'm okay with that.

While doing Liquid Detox does limit my food options, I do have a couple of things in store for the return of Recipe Wednesday next week. So stay tuned.

Enjoy the Journey
Kelly

DECISIONS DECISIONS

When I signed in this morning, my plan was to tell you I would be closing out this blog. Mostly because I am just so busy with work (with a new job prospect in the planning stages) that I don't get in here on a regular basis like I want to.

Then I check my stats this morning to see that although no one is leaving comments, people ACTUALLY are reading. Hmmm.

When you view, please leave a comment. Tell me what you do and do not like to see on here. What is helping? What can you do without? Your input is very much appreciated.

While searching for a garden picture on Morgue File to use this morning I came across this precious scene. I instantly thought of my oldest granddaughter. She loves to be in the garden with me. She also knows the fine art of frying green tomato chips (fried green tomatoes but sliced thin and fried crisp). Tootsie Pop lives far from me and my garden tasks just are not the same without her. 

Her favorite thing is fresh blackberries. She can be sitting in the living room playing and declare 'Grandma, I need a snack.' Before I can ask what she wants, she will be up and out the back door, headed for the blackberry patch. My blackberries are in full bloom now and with her so far away, I'll be enjoying snacks for both of us. 

So... what do I do here? I still need to lose weight. My daughter (Tootsie Pop's mom) has done well with various forms of detox to get to a manageable weight. Now she and Tootsie Pop walk almost daily. They are up to 5 miles! Both love to walk and this is good quality time for the two of them.

So I am doing a modified version of her Liquid Detox. Rather than liquids all day for 4-5 days I am doing liquids during the day then a sensible lean meat/ vegi early evening. 

I tried green tea. I just can NOT drink that stuff. So here's how I'm working this plan:

1 - 9 oz cup of fluffy 

1 - 20 oz glass of unsweet tea

1 - protein shake

1 - 20 oz glass of unsweet dieters tea

1 - 4 oz glass of V8 vegetable juice (low sodium)

1 - 20 oz glass of unsweet tea

Lean meat and vegies usually in the form of a stir fry or salad

1 - 20 oz glass of tea

If I need a snack throughout the day or at night I have a cup of jello. I sometimes have a second protein shake at night.

I lost 2 pounds the first week, which is fine since that is a good steady weight loss for long-term.

However, over the weekend I sabotaged myself. Apparently I bought the wrong tea bags and I could not get a glass of tea that was not bitter. If I ate out, I could get good unsweet tea. I also knew I'd be eating out so figured that would be my 'weekend'.  

Two things happened..... and I'll tell you about those tomorrow - promise ;-)

In the mean time

Enjoy the Journey!