At the 5lbs. Mark :)

Well, I wasn't sure what today's weigh-in would be like since I didn't drink my diuretic tea yesterday, but I was pleasantly surprised to be down .5lbs from yesterday morning! :) I'm just about down 5lbs now (I've been using two different scales, so it's a bit confusing!). I'm quite pleased with myself...I just want to hurry up and drop a substantial amount of weight so I can start wearing nice outfits again and fitting into those illusive jeans that I haven't been able to squeeze over my thighs in years! But, I have to have faith and patience, and trust that I will get there if I just keep sticking to this!

My cold feels MUCH better after I sweated it out yesterday. I don't have the headache, bad taste in my mouth, heavy head, and stiff neck anymore but I DO have a sore throat now. So, I'm going to gargle some Organic Apple Cider vinegar and hopefully that does the trick! I'm excited that the sweating method seems to have worked, how simple! AND drug-free. :)

Breakfast: 1 piece of buttered whole wheat toast and 2 hard boiled eggs
Supplements: Spirulina and organic women's multi-vitamin

That's all I've had so far, but I must admit I'm back in bed. :-\ It's a cold windy day here in NY and I'm off today, so it's hard to get motivated! I have a hair appt @ 2pm which I'm VERY excited for. My roots are terribly overgrown and it also makes me feel so good when I get my highlights done. :) So that's what I'll be doing today for myself!

Then at 5:30pm I work with a disabled young man in his apartment teaching him how to cook. Then the rest of the evening I'll be spending at my boyfriend's apartment. Which I'm looking forward to. I want to avoid having to find a snack while I'm there, and hearing his comments though, so I'm going to bring a grilled chicken breast in a Ziploc bag! hahaha I'm also going to stop at Cold Stone and get this low-fat frozen yogurt w/fruit mixed in as a treat for us. I'm going to check the calories of it online in a minute. I think I need to start tracking my calories. Anyone know of a good website? I want one that automatically knows the calorie count for foods...I couldn't be bothered looking up the individual calories for everything!

I still haven't done yoga yet, as part of my 3x's a week requirement. But I still have tomorrow and the following days, right? :)

Okay, that's all for now I guess. If I type anymore then I'll REALLY be rambling!

Be Well,
Ava

Another Pound and The Law of Attraction

First, I'm very excited to receive a blog award from my ONE follower, thefatchickweigh.blogspot.com LOL but I'm excited nontheless, THANK YOU! (I'm having problems with inserting links)

I'm supposed to name 10 things that make me happy:
1-my friends
2-my family
3-my boyfriend
4-going to school for acupuncture/oriental medicine
5-snow
6-sunshine
7-holidays
8-an outfit that fits well and look good
9-compliments :)
10-the overall good health of myself and those close to me

Now I'm supposed to give it to 10 other people, but I don't follow that many, yet :-\ But here's a few that I like:
getpastthemoment.blogspot.com
blossoming-me.blogspot.com
learningtobeless.blogspot.com
http://krystros.blogspot.com

Now onto today's post. I woke up and weighed-in on Wii Fit and it says I was down another .7lbs. yay! I'm worried that I'm losing too much water weight by drinking so much Dandelion Root tea everday, so today I didn't drink any (plus it makes me very tired) so we'll see what the weigh-in is like tomorrow. I didn't do too badly eating today:
Breakfast: Organic Flaxgrain cereal with whole milk
Lunch: grilled chicken with 1c whole wheat pasta and tomato sauce
Dinner: I slept thru dinner and was late to class and craving ice cream. So I got a VERY SMALL chocolate non-fat, no sugar added treat. :)
Snack: was starving just now and didn't even feel like writing so I had 2 pieces of whole wheat toast with butter and jelly...not that greatest but it tasted delightful and I ate so little today I think it's okay.

A month ago I had been reading The Secret, and it says that if you want to lose weight, then stop focusing on how fat you are and instead picture yourself at your dream weight. It says your body and your universe don't know the difference between "I want to be fat" and "I DON'T want to be fat"...all's it hears is "fat" so your body and your surroundings make it feasible for you to be fat. I really do believe in this because during the time I was my thinnest (10 years ago, in HS...ugh, has it been that long?) I used to daydream all the time about being thin, and having lots of boyfriends, etc. And, sure enough, I had a ton of friends and plenty of date offers and I was pretty damn thin! So that's what I've been trying to do now, plus it's a blast imagining all the things I can do once I'm not held back by my self-consciousness. I'm not obese or anything, I'm 5'11" so being over 200lbs it's still spread out fairly well over my body. It's more of a mental thing for me...but of course I have my physical limitations as well.

For example, my girlfriends and I are meeting up with two guys we used to go to college with for dinner and drinks. Strictly platonic, plus I have a wonderful boyfriend, so I'm not worried about trying to date these guys or anything...but I'm embarrassed to go because I'm a good 30lbs heavier than the last time they saw me. :( It makes me not even want to go. Infact, I seem to want to avoid all social situations due to my weight, yet I always have so much fun when I do go. SO, I will go, of course, but I'll certainly be downing some drinks to help drown my self-consciousness! Pathetic. Can't wait to be at a weight where I'm proud to show myself off. I used to be "hot"! I'll get there, I'll get there...

Today I felt like I had a cold coming on, so I sat in my personal infrared sauna to try and sweat it out. That's what Chinese Medicine says to do, if you catch it in the first stages. I'm not sure if I sweated enough (I'm always naturally warm as it is, so to sit in a sauana is complete torture for me)...but I'm hoping it works anyway. I may try again in the morning if I still don't feel great. But that's what I did today to make myself feel good. I'm not sure what tomorrow's will be!

It's pretty late here in NY. 12:30am...so I should get to bed. I'm excited to see what the scale says tomorrow after not drinking the diuretic tea today. Hopefully I won't be overly disappointed. I don't want to dehydrate myself. I did that once with this tea. I drank it all week long then drank alcohol friday and saturday night and I had shoot pains in my back...enough to make my dad take me to the ER. While in the waiting room, it subsided and I realized I must be dehydrated. I begged to go back home, and I did thankfully, before I was embarrassed infront of the doctor for being so dehydrated. So I need to be more careful this time around. Tomorrow will be water, water, water! Lemon water, actually. I learned in my nutrition class it has a list of health benefits and is very cleansing for the body. Plus, it's actually my favorite beverage, so that works for me!

Anyway, I'm rambling now. I hope everyone is doing the best they can, at this very moment. :)

Be Well,
Ava
Days: 12 Pounds: -4

Wendy's, UGH!

I caved...I had a 5 hour break between classes last night and I drove all around looking for what I wanted/could eat. I'm on a very limited budget and the chicken on whole wheat bread I had brought didn't cut it. After passing "okay" options like Panera, Chipotle (I didn't stop b/c those meals are at least $10)...I settled on Wendy's. I got the Single Burger meal, with medium fries and a medium regular coke (which is HORRENDOUS for my hypoglycemia!!!). I regretted it immediately after eating it. I need to plan better for tomorrow. Bring better options so I don't have to buy food while I'm at school. I'm so disappointed in myself I wasn't even going to blog about it, but I had to. I also didn't feel great physically afterwards either, which was to be expected. Well, tomorrow's a new day I guess!

As soon as I got home from class, I took my organic multi-vitamin, drank spirulina in water, brewed 3 quarts of dandelion root/blueberry tea with agave for today, plus whole wheat pasta with olive oil and garlic for lunch/dinner and baked chick peas with sea salt for a snack...only to oversleep this morning and miss my 8:30am class. :( I guess I needed the sleep though. Well, I certainly have enough time to prepare myself for the rest of the day as my next class doesn't start until 2:30pm...and its YOGA!

I soooo desperately want to be a slim, sleek yogi...but I'm soooo NOT. I look like a fat and sweaty mess during the poses when no one, and I mean NO ONE, else is sweating :( I've been promising myself I'll practice at home, b/c that's all it takes to be good at yoga, is practice, but I haven't yet. Although, now that I've cleaned my room I'm more motivated to do it in this space. So that's my goal for this week is do practice yoga 3 times before next week's class.

On a slightly happy note, the scale said I didn't gain any weight (no thanks to that Wendy's excursion). I did eat it at 5pm and didn't have a single thing to eat afterwards, so I'm hoping I somehow evened it out. Today will be better, it has to be!

The thing I did for today to make myself feel good was to prepare my meals and tea last night so I wasn't rushed today AND I used those Kinoki foot detox pads. And EWWW were they gross this morning! It's controversial if they're actually pulling toxins out or if its the oils from your feet mixing with the herbs in pad and turning it black...but this morning they were completely black and GOOEY. I'll try them out for the rest of the week. :)

UPDATE!!!! I got onto wii fit and it says i'm down .9lbs from yesterday, so I'll take that! That makes my total thus far:
Days: 11 Pounds: -3lbs.

Be Well,
Ava :)

The Scale Finally Budged!

I excitedly hopped on the scale first thing this morning, and I dropped the 3lbs. it had shown i gained the other day plus another pound! So I'm down 4lbs from yesterday, which I assume is water weight, but I'll take it! I think the tea I had been drinking wasn't actually Dandelion Root (I had removed it from it's box a year ago and kept it in a Ziploc bag for carrying convenience). I'm pretty sure it was actually Yerba Mate tea. But anyway, I went to the health food store yesterday and bought Blueberry Tea and Dandelion Root (both great for supporting your adrenal glands/hypoglycemia)...and BOY DID I PEE! I also didn't even eat very much yesterday and didn't really have much cravings! YAY! Controlling my blood sugar has been a BLESSING! No overpowering cravings...I feel so FREED! I'm actually going to take a pause from writing this to weigh in on my Wii Fit and make a batch of Dandelion/Blueberry Iced Tea...

Okay, so Wii Fit agrees with the scale :-D I'm happy but overall that's only a final loss of 2lbs in 9 days... :( I still feel like it's so much more, I don't get it. BUT, it's still a loss and that's with very little to no exercise so I can't complain. Has anyone tried Wii Fit Plus? It's only $20 since I already have the balance board but I'm wondering if it's worth it? The Original Wii Fit wasn't all that fun but I do like to use it to track my weight over a long period of time, plus it has a password lock so I don't have to worry about anyone seeing my embarrassing weight. :( I also saw My Fitness Coach 2 for Wii and that they give you meal suggestions and recipes based on your diet needs. I tried to look up if it has low glycemic meals but can't seem to find the answer on the web.

Yesterday I tried the Spirulina salad (lettuce, olive oil, sea salt, sprinkled with Spirulina)...it was okay but it really grossed me out eating it just because the spirulina is SOOO GREEN. I think from now on I'll just mix it with some liquids and down it that way. Spirulina has wonderful health benefits and is a great supplement for hypoglycemia. :)

I also need to be better taking my multi-vitamin...I seem to slack on it over the weekend. Yesterday I was successful in organizing and cleaning my room...it really does make you feel better inside to have a clean environment. Plus, now I have room to do some pilates and yoga in here. Have I mentioned how much it sucks living at home at 27 years of age??? New York is just too expensive for someone who's a full-time student. Heck, it's too expensive for a full-time worker as well! But I don't think I could ever leave this state for good. :)

I've been trying to "follow" other blogs and leave comments...which has been fun and I've also been hoping it'd generate some followers of my own, but no such luck yet. :( This would be a lot more helpful if I knew I was actually talking to someone. Oh well...

Now, for a little venting...My boyfriend is wonderful and supportive and also naturally THIN! He's in good shape but has a lot of IBS type issues. So, because of that, he's been following The South Beach Diet (which is pretty much the same as the diet I'm having). When I tell him "I had A BITE of my brother's burger, then made myself a salad" he tries to make me feel guilty for having that single bite. Like I can't control myself at all. So last night, we were both hungry and I munched on some nuts and he made himself a toasted bagel with butter! So I gave him the same annoying questioning he gives me "Why? WHY would you have that bagel if you know it won't make you feel great? WHY?" and I could tell he got annoyed and said "well I have no other options" (which wasn't true, he was just too lazy to cook something real. Then he had the nerve to comment on how many nuts I was eating! I may just stop talking to him at all about dieting...I hate when people add their two cents sometimes, ya know? Anyone else get frustrated? I'm an adult, I know the consequences of every action I take...and I see NO HARM in having a bite (and I do mean that literally, it was one single bite) of a food that's tempting me as long as it stops there and I make myself my real meal. Argh!

So, what will you do today to make yourself feel good? Today I'm going to re-paint my nails and finish up the last touches of organizing my room. Oh, also, I'm thinking about purchasing a netbook? Any thoughts or opinions? My laptop died and I've been borrowing my brother's, but I'd like to just have my own. I think a netbook would fit my needs (I only really go the internet and write a paper or two). Plus, it being so small it'd be easily transported back and forth to school. And they're a heck of a lot cheaper!

My Totals:
9 days down. 2 lbs down.

Iced Tea, Blogging and HIGH SCHOOL???

Good Morning All :) (ha, I don't think I even have a single reader yet, but I'll just pretend....)

I woke up feeling more refreshed than I have in awhile. This is my 4th day in a row of trying to maintain my blood sugar and being on a low Glycemic diet, and I have no doubt that's what the cause behind my great mood is! I stepped on the scale this morning (even though I said I wouldn't for another week) and I'm the same I was 6 days ago...BUT I've just started my "cycle" and I tend to retain water during this time, so I'm not too disappointed.

Last night around midnight I was so full of energy and in good spirits I found myself DANCING while brushing my teeth! I started thinking how I haven't felt this great since High School (which is a good 10 years and 80lbs ago!). I felt like I wanted to dress up, put on music and dance around my room like I used to! Over the past few years, my friends and I have talked about "what did we do way back when we didn't drink alcohol? We had so much fun and barely even drank!". These days we find ourselves out of options, and when we DO think of something we always drink thinking it'll make it more fun. In High School, I used to have these "Parties for 1" in my room. I'd dress up in my nicest clothes, hair and make-up done and all, blast music and just dance...imagining I was at some great party or a club that I wasn't old enough to get into yet. Don't get me wrong, I went to plenty of REAL parties as well, but this is what I did when I had some free time alone. I NEVER find myself wanting to do that these days...mostly for lack of energy. Last night, I would have if it wasn't already creeping onto 1am and if my clothes fit! :( But it was just more motivation to keep at this and get back down to a weight where I feel good about myself when I'm dressed up. These days I just wear clothes that hide my fat the best and make me feel the most comfortable. Which is sad and pathetic.

Next, I NEED to tell you all about my new favorite gadget. It's an Iced Tea maker made by Mr. Coffee. This it the model I have...I didn't even know they had other models but I got this one at K-Mart for only $20. http://www.mrcoffee.com/Product.aspx?pid=6105
It can take loose tea or tea bags and you can brew 5-7 tea bags at a time...even adding in lemon or your sweetener and it brews about 3 quarts right into the pitcher. Then you just add ice or stick it in the fridge and you have fresh, healthy iced waiting for you whenever you want it. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT! I've been making Dandelion Root Tea because it's good for supporting your Adrenal Glands (an issue I have, especially with hypoglycemics) and it's also great at getting rid of extra water weight and bloating for your time of the month. ;) I add lemon slices and agave (it's a low glycemic sweetener) and I feel sooooooo good after drinking it. Seems to be curbing my appetite as well (I guess the agave is providing some glucose!). I've been telling everyone who I think will care, even just a little. Maybe it could be the good thing you do for yourself today? And for only $20, why not? :)

Next, Blogging! This has been such a great outlet for me and it really helps to keep me motivated. Even though I'm pretty sure I don't have a single reader, I still feel like "someone" is holding me responsible to this new way of eating and I don't want to let "them" down. Plus, I get to vent and blab all I want!

Today is off to a good start. Had slow-cooked oatmeal and Dandelion iced tea for breakfast. :) Lunch will probably be my whole wheat pasta with garlic and olive oil and dinner is still up in the air, as are my snacks throughout the day. I also plan to do pilates today and maybe even yoga. I prefer to do Winsor Pilates as they've worked well for me in the past. I have to dvd's: "Buns and Thighs" and her "Ab Workout". They're both great, not that difficult to do and I definitely notice results within a week or two. My soccer season is only 2 months away, I need to start exercising as well as losing this weight. I will begin running soon as well, I promise! Aside from pilates/yoga, I decided to clean up this place to make me feel better about myself. Including the inside of my car. I always feel more organized and clean internally when my external environment is clean and in order. What will YOU do today?

Be Well,
Ava

First Taste of Success!!!

Feeling faint, shaky, dizzy and sweaty are my usual feelings during exercise, even if it's as light as just putting my laundry away!! I've been taking a yoga class for the past 3 weeks, and like usual, I'm standing in my tree pose and the room is turning white and I feel like I'm going to faint. So, I break pose to stand on both feet and try and get myself together again, praying "Please God don't let me faint, please, please, please....". Well, yesterday I did MY BEST to maintain by blood sugar and it worked! I still got hot and sweaty (but that's unfortunately due to me being fat and out of shape!) but I didn't feel shaky or dizzy ONCE! I couldn't believe it. I finally felt NORMAL exercising! My diet wasn't PERFECT yesterday, but it was pretty darn close! Here's what I ate:
Breakfast: Woke up feeling starving so ate Honey Bunches of Oats cereal with whole milk. Not the best glycemically, but at least it wasn't the bagel I wanted to stop and get! Had my Chinese dieter's tea with my blood sugar supplement (Here's the blood sugar supplement I'm taking. I'm not sure if I feel it working yet or not, but I'll continue to at least finish the bottle. http://www.gaiaherbs.com/product.php?id=22 )
Snack: In class I had an organic banana and a vitamin water (they happen to have a very low glycemic index because they use fruit sugar to sweeten it) and took my organic women's multivitamin (shown here: http://www.ulta.com/ulta/browse/productDetail.jsp?skuId=2214011&productId=xlsImpprod1790135&navAction=push&navCount=1&categoryId=cat80068#sku2214031 )
Lunch: a veggie burger, no bun, with 1/2c. of seaweed salad and about 1/2c. chickpea salad....and some pickle chips on the side.
Dinner: a pint of steamed chicken and broccoli with brown rice (I forgot to ask for sauce on the side...ugh.) and I took my B.S. supplement as well.

I felt GREAT throughout the day, until an hour or two after eating that Chinese food. The place didn't seem all that classy, so I'm assuming it was the food. I ended up leaving class early and coming home to lay down.
Breakfast: I woke up feeling great today and have already enjoyed natural oatmeal with walnuts and cranberries and 1Tbsp. organic maple syrup with a glass of lemon water. :)
Snack: 1 Orange with my Chinese dieter's tea and my B.S. supplement. I found myself starving in class, and my stomach was growling so I drank a Vitamin Water (note to self: Eat more oatmeal! I just find it so hard to get down... :-\ )
Lunch: I'm not totally sure of the overall glycemic health but I made about 1 1/2c. whole grain pasta, with a teaspoon of fresh garlic sauteed in 1Tbsp. Olive Oil, a squeeze of a 1/4 slice of fresh lemon and sea salt to taste. And okay, okay, I added a pinch (about a tsp.) of fresh Parmesan cheese. The sauce was so light you could actually taste the little bit of cheese and my gosh was it delicious! :) I scarfed that right down!

My next snack and dinner are yet to be determined, but it's very important for hypoglycemics to eat every 3 hours, something small to keep a steady glucose level (and it's just an overall great diet tip).

So, what are YOU doing today for YOU? Today I bought myself a new nail polish "Commander in Chic" by Sally Hansen...it's very cute! In yoga class yesterday, I was embarrassed to have my toes showing...they have small remnants of red nail polish left over from Christmas! :( Does anyone else find that they slack in personal maintenance when they're overweight? I sometimes feel like I don't deserve to have nice nails or clothes. I have the mindset of "I'm too fat, that's all everyone will notice? What difference does it make if my nails look nice?". But the truth is, it makes ME feel good having my hair done or my nails done and in turn I want to keep taking better and better care of myself. So if you haven't been doing it, please do SOMETHING today to make yourself feel good. My tootsies are drying as I'm typing right now! :)
Be Well!

-Ava