What a difference a year makes!

I'm wishing myself a very HAPPY ANNIVERSARY this month.  I'll share with you in a later post more about my story but just to give you a taste; last year I was unemployed, broke(n), depressed, and pretty much living in a pit of sorrow and self-pity.  The photo grid above shows pictures of me last summer (top row) and this summer (bottom two most recent).  Was my change drastic?  YES!  Maybe not drastic with the weight loss but definitely drastic with my LIFE!  I did a total bullshit makeover.  I got up, moved across the country and told myself I'M GONNA MAKE THIS WORK!

And guess what?  It did!  I might have gone through hell to get here but it's all worth it because now all I taste is victory juice from my P.I.M.P cup! So I'm raising my glass high because it's champagne and caviar dreams for me baby!

I just completed my first 5 weeks of Focus T25! I only have 5 more weeks to go and then I'm done!  I can't believe I'm already half way through.  Feeling so motivated and overall just excited about the great things to come.  Goals start out like that, a step at a time and then before you know it...complete.


By the way, have you checked out my FREE E-BOOK? It's called "Greens on the Side" and will help you get started with your weight loss goals in just 5 easy steps.  Check it out!

Vegan Challenge - the first 5 days

So I started my vegan challenge on 8/15, taking baby steps to ween off of certain things like dairy (yogurt and cheese) and meat.  I've already been living a semi-vegetarian lifestyle, only eating meat once in a while, so the transition for the vegan challenge hasn't been that extreme.  One thing I did notice was that I am definitely more aware of what I put in my body and what I'm buying.  I find myself checking ingredients, to make sure they are up to the vegan standards, as much as possible.  It really makes you stop and think about what you're consuming, and how much more careful you have to be when you're on stricter dietary regimes (whether for health or religious purposes).   However, being that I am just starting out I give myself some leeway to stray once in a while, but above all sticking with healthy options.  I really want to make this work.

So Thursday I started out good with some oatmeal and soy milk, as well as a granola bar.  For lunch I did have a vegetable panini but it did have cheese.  I had a plumb and nuts for snacks, and then Japanese fried rice from Trader Joe's for dinner (so good!).  After dinner I had a tall glass of Vanilla Shakeology.  Friday I had the same breakfast.  For lunch I had some Ezekial bread with peanut butter and a plumb.  I usually keep an extra granola bar with me in case I get hungry on the way home after work.  Dinner was left over fried rice and Shakeo, I also had some grapes.  Saturday I had some granola with soy milk, then I had an Indian meatless dish with naan bread for lunch (so good!). It was a frozen dinner from Trader Joe's, but it was not vegan (contained butter).   I had an apple, some coffee, and grapes throughout the day, and then for dinner I had my Shakeo.  I found myself not as hungry on Saturday.  Sunday was a different story.  I started out good with breakfast (granola cereal with soy milk), lunch I had another Indian dish (this time vegan). A little later throughout the day I was watching "Pulp Fiction" for the first time.  When Sam Jackson took a bite of that cheeseburger, my mouth watered.  I was dying for a cheeseburger; nice and juicy.  And since I live close to a Jack in the Box I could have made it happen...but I didn't!  I was tempted but I didn't give in.

I was super proud of myself!  I'm not gonna lie, I still dream about that cheeseburger, but like I said I'm more determined than ever to get to where I want with my health.  Monday started out with granola cereal with soy, I then went on a whirlwind of errands so when I came back I quickly fried up some vegetable potstickers.  I was starving, I don't even know if they were vegan or not put they were delicious!  I then had a cup of coffee.  I snacked on some pita chips and grapes.  For dinner had some Jap fried rice and fried up 2 eggs (not vegan I know, but I didn't want to eat the rice plain).

I definitely need to learn about more fast vegan options to heat up/fry up, whatever, because cooking is not really my thing.  I'd rather have something easily accessible.  Pretty much I have to treat my new way of living similarly to how I was eating before, in the sense that it has to be easy, quick, satisfying, and accessible.  The minute things get too overwhelming or hard, I would quit it.  So as long as I keep finding more vegan options for frozen foods/snacks, I'll be good. I'll do more research!

I don't see myself being full vegan long-term, but I can see myself leading a semi-vegan lifestyle.  I will keep you posted!

By the way, for you vegans out there, what are some good "fast food"/prepared/frozen options?  I usually shop at local supermarkets, Trader Joe's, and Wholefoods.  I'm in San Diego by the way, in case you have specific locations to recommend.  Let me know, and thanks!

By the way, have you checked out my FREE E-BOOK? It's called "Greens on the Side" and will help you get started with your weight loss goals in just 5 easy steps.  Check it out!

Going Vegan

Hola everyone!  I've been going back and forth for a while about Veganism.  I can give up meat, no problem (I'm not a big meat eater anyway), I don't drink milk (only soy/nut based), cheese is a bit of a problem for me; I don't have it often but I love pizza.  I also love Greek yogurt and Kefir.  I think I can work myself up to 90% Vegan only because I use honey to sweeten (I rarely use sugar and I'm not a big fan of how Agave nectar tastes) and don't see myself giving that up, or giving up yogurt.

About 3 years ago I was seeing a holistic nutritionist on a regular basis, and together we discovered some things which had adverse effects on my body and were sabotaging my weight loss.  Some were the "usual suspects" such as processed foods, white sugar, white bread and pastas, and the biggest of all MILK!  I was such a "dairy queen" back in the day! My eating habits were also having a negative impact on my body and spirit.  My biggest go-to foods were: pizza, cheeseburger deluxe, bacon egg and cheese sandwich on a roll, and a big bowl of cereal with 1% milk (sometimes 2%).  I drank soda with everything, put extra sugar and salt on everything, and ate a ton of candy.  Not only was I gaining weight, but I had a hard time having sustained energy and often felt dead inside.  What is it like to feel dead inside?  It feels like you're stuck in a deep pit of sorrow with no hope of getting out.  My brother (who eats wayy better than me) once told me "You feel dead inside because you eat dead foods.  Once you start eating whole, live foods you'll be more connected with nature and feel more alive again".  Isn't that deep?  I never thought about it that way, and I guess that's the biggest problem when it comes to your relationship with food; sometimes you just don't think about what you're putting inside your body!  I know I wasn't.  I wasn't making informed decisions about the type of energy I was putting into my body.  That's what food is at the end of the day; energy!

So while I've come a LOOONG way with my eating habits and intake, I still have more to go.  I still get bad cravings, I still binge, and most importantly I'm not losing weight like I want to be.  I am working hard and eating as best as I can most of the time, but the weight just isn't coming up.  I can be very hard with myself, but I believe, at least for me, food is my biggest obstacle on this weight loss journey.  Exercise is about 30% of what will help me lose weight, the other 70% will be from what I eat and how I eat.  So that is why I am taking my relationship with food up another notch and aiming to go Vegan.  I am going to slowly ween myself off of non-vegan foods such as meat and dairy, and slowly adopt the lifestyle.  I will keep you posted!  Here is a picture of my Trader Joe's haul:

I got some soy milk, Ezekial bread (which I've been told is awesome, so I'm excited to try), frozen dinners (Indian and Japanese), oatmeal, peanut butter, fruits, pita chips, and cereal bars, among other things.

I cook occasionally, mostly I buy frozen foods.  I LOVE most of the selections at Trader Joe's.  However I'll try to prepare more foods according to a Vegan meal plan.  I found some great ones on Oprah.com (a Vegan starter kit) and on Peeta.org. 

Do you guys have any tips for going Vegan?

By the way, have you checked out my FREE E-BOOK? It's called "Greens on the Side" and will help you get started with your weight loss goals in just 5 easy steps.  Check it out!