New Habits, New Beginnings

It has been said, it takes 21 days to make or break a habit. 

Since being diagnosed with ovarian cancer, I have had many challenges, one of which has been losing weight.  Before, I would just diet a little and somehow manage my weight.  I will admit as I get older, it is harder to manage.  I read this article the other day about weight gain during or after menopause.  Yes it is not enough that you have cancer, can't have kids, but now menopause.  Well, the article was pretty enlightening. Basically, I could diet all day long, but my body reacts completely different.  It would be a viscous cycle leaving me frustrated and probably over weight.  So in an effort to not lose hope, I looked at my options.

I did some research on various things.  The biggest thing I wanted to do was lose weight without eating a lot of processed foods.  I want to eat as healthy and natural as I can.  I just need some guidance.  So I start thinking if this has been done before...and I know it has.  Several things came to my mind.  One person I thought of was Bethenny Frankel from Bravo's 'Housewives of New York' and 'Bethenny Ever After'.  I love Bethenny.  I think it is because she is everything I want to be minus the TV personality.  My dream job would be a motivational speaker and I have had that dream for almost 15 years...it is what I had my eyes set on during the brief time I spent in college (another story, another day).  I was once told 'if there is something you want to do in life and you admire someone else who is doing it, you should interview that person'.  In doing so, you find out the ins and outs from a professional of that field.  Well, I don't think I will be interviewing Bethenny any time soon, but what I am doing is reading her books, etc.  I am currently reading one of her books, Naturally Thin.  It's OK if you want to laugh.  In this book, she basically talks about losing weight as a mind set...a life change.  Yeh, I have heard that before too but I have never had to put into motion.

Not to put all my eggs in one basket, I also turned to Google and found this site for recipes:  http://whatscookingamerica.net/RecipeIndexDiet.htm.  My sister also sent me a 30 day cleansing program using natural foods and includes recipes.  In addition, I bought this book 'Eat This, Not That'.  In order for me to make a change in my eating habits, I have to show myself what is in the foods that I crave.  EYE OPENER!! 

Sounds easy enough, right?  Wrong.  We have become people used to convenience.  When you attempt to eat more natural and organic foods, you stop going to fast food restaurants...restaurants in general.  If you do go out to eat, you choose wisely.  I am trying to look up the nutritional charts for our choice restaurants prior to going so I know what to order.  At home, we are learning to cook everything in advance.  We are pretty spontaneous people, so this is a challenge in itself.  And I have to say that we only started this as I went in to week 2 of this challenge...as I learned from the mistakes of week 1.  So what I am attempting to do in an effort to hold myself accountable of this life change will be to post here once a week a recollection of the previous week.  I will share with you what I ate (the highs and the lows), recipes and my weekly weigh in.  I know...my weigh in...YIKES!

These are my goals:
-Eat Healthy while losing weight and eventually getting to a life style change in order to maintain a healthy weight.. 
-Don't starve JJ.

Start weight:  164.6                              Goal Weight:  130

Exercise Accountability:  3 - 5k races over the next 2 months

Week in review:
Day 1
Breakfast:  1.5 scrambled egg with 1 cup chopped ham, 1 slice American Cheese, 1 slice wheat toast and 1 20 oz Diet Mtn Dew.  Lunch: left over oven fried sesame chicken and deviled cauliflower (recipes found on link above), 2 small pieces of Dove milk chocolate, 3 small sweet tarts, 1 stick of 5 gum and 17 ounces of SkinnyGirl Cleanse and Restore (mixed with water). Dinner: Roasted Red Snapper with Lime Salsa, 1/2 sweet potato with 2 slices of butter and Cinnamon sugar, 1 serving of steamed broccoli with 1 slice of butter (mixed between 3 servings).  2 glasses of Cabernet Sauvignon, 1 10 ounce glass of whole milk.
No exercise for today.

Day 2
Breakfast:  1 pck instant original grits with 1 slice of double fiber wheat toast with organic peanut butter spread thinly on top and 1 20 ounce Diet Mtn Dew.  Lunch:  Leftover fish and 1/2 sweet potato and broccoli.  Fun Size pack of Peanut M&M's, 1 small dark chocolate Dove candy.  1 packet Cleanse and Restore mixed with 18 ounce water.  Dinner:  Zataran's New Orleans style Red Beans and Rice with Polska Kielbasa, 10 ounces sweet tea (decaf), 1 stick 5 gum.  Total water for the day 33 ounces.

Exercise:  photo shoot for musical...up and down stairs for about 1 hour.

Day 3
Breakfast:  1 pck instant original grits with 1 slice of double fiber wheat toast with organic peanut butter spread thinly on top and 1 20 ounce Diet Mtn Dew. Lunch:  Chef Salad from McAlister's Deli with Light Ranch and a 32 ounce diet coke.  1 fun size pack regular M&M's, 1 small Dove Dark chocolate.  Dinner (work event at Maggiano's):  I had 1 piece of Salmon with sauteed spinach, 1 braised beef ravioli, literally a bite of chicken Parmesan, spoonful of Caesar salad, spoonful of their chopped salad, a spoonful of some veggie pasta.  I had 3 glasses of Merlot.  1 40 calorie Fudge Popsicle

Day 4
Breakfast:  1 pck instant original grits with 1 slice of double fiber wheat toast with organic peanut butter spread thinly on top and 1 20 ounce Diet Mtn Dew. Lunch:  Earthfare buffet: some kind of fish I had never heard of, steamed cabbage, 6 ounce prime rib, 2 slices of stuffed yellow squash.  1 cleanse and restore mixed with about 18 ounces of water refilled twice...so about 36 ounces of water.  1 fun size snickers and 1 fun size of plain M&M's.  Another 20 ounce Diet Mtn Dew.  Dinner:  plate of pulled pork from Midwood Smokehouse with a side of creamed corn.  I only ate about 1/2 of the BBQ and did not finish my corn either.  I had 1 Old Mecklenburg draft beer and 1 bottled Cheerwine.

Exercise:  Ran for about 15 minutes, walked 20 minutes.

Day 5
Do you ever have those days when you don't want to think about what you ate? 
Breakfast:  1/2 egg McMuffin and about 32 ounce Cheerwine. Lunch:  Blackened Mahi Mahi with a side of fresh fruit from Cabo Fish Taco.   I did not eat my tortilla. I probably had about 4 diet cokes there...nice.  Dinner:  chips and salsa and chips with queso and chips with guacamole from Don Pedro's with a small margarita (which was anything but).  I ordered dinner but was surprising full from the chips I had eaten.  So I packaged dinner to go.  I drank 1 diet coke at the restaurant and about 8 sips from a Cherry Coke at the movie theatre (shocking...I did not order snacks at the theatre).

Day 6
A breakfast taco made up of scrambled eggs, sausage, sour cream, homemade salsa and cheese on a flour tortilla 10 ounce sweet tea.  Lunch:  1 can of Campbells' cream of chicken and mushroom soup mixed with a handful of crackers.  1/2 of a 16 ounce Diet Mtn Dew.  Dinner:  Chicken Fajita Salad (recipe below) and 1 10 ounce glass of whole milk. 1 glass of Cabernet Sauvignon. I stick of 5 gum.  I 40 calorie Fudge Popsicle.

Exercise:  Ran 20 minutes, walked 15 minutes.

Day 7
Breakfast:  1 pck instant original grits with 1 slice of double fiber wheat toast with organic peanut butter spread thinly on top and 1 20 ounce Diet Mtn Dew.  Lunch:  Left over Chicken Fajita Salad, 1 packet of Cleanse and Restore mixed with about 20 ounces of water...twice. Dinner:  Cider Brine Pork Chops and oven baked Onions with stuffed spinach and feta cheese (recipe on the link above).  1 40 calorie fudge Popsicle.

Exercise: Ran for about 17 minutes, walked for 17 minutes

Results of Week 1:  lost 2 pounds:):):)!!!!

Chicken Fajita Salad
1 tbsp olive oil
• ¾ cup sliced onions
• 1 lb skinless chicken breast
• ½ tsp cumin
• 2 tsp oregano
• 1 cup chopped bell peppers
•  red leaf lettuce
• 1–2 tomatoes
• 1 avocado

Add olive oil to a skillet. Heat over medium. Add sliced onions, sauté until soft. Add the chicken, cut into strips. Add the cumin and oregano, sauté, tossing often. Add the bell peppers when the chicken has browned.

Wash and shred the lettuce. Add the tomatoes, toss. Serve the salad on two plates, top with the chicken fajita mix. Add the sliced avocado.

If you are taking this to work, assemble the salad into a container with a lid. Save some of the fajita mix for leftovers, use only ¼ to ⅓ of the chicken sauté for each of the salads you prepare.

 I want to throw a disclaimer in here that I am not endorsing these books, web-sites, products.  I am only mentioning them because it is what I have decdided to do for myself.  You should decide for yourself what is right for you and your body.