Here, let me start from the beginning and explain.
My MAIN Personal Challenge:
Get into better shape and lose this extra weight
We have all been there done, done that... right? You try and eat right, exercise, diet, supplements, count calories, energy drinks/pills - you name it, you've done it... right?
Well not me. Nope, I have not done it all. Not even close to it actually.
I have exercised some at times. I have counted calories some at other times. However, I have never dieted, used supplements, completely ate right, taken metabolism boosters or anything along those lines.
Why? Well why should I? In my mind I have been eating just fine. I am not an over eater. I dont over indulge frequently on my meals/desserts. Actually, I usually don't even eat that much in one days time. I am mindful of what I eat. I don't do diets because I have zero desire to starve myself or eat nasty food. I don't take anything that is going to make my heart race a million miles a minute - simply because I don't like that feeling. Oh and did I forget to mention I hate exercising? Exercising bores me to death.
At the end of the day I still have a big problem though. I am over weight and out of shape.
Now I do have a good excuse on why I added so much weight. I believe a lot of people do actually have a good reason. Personally my added weight is the result of a surgery that I just took forever to heal from. This surgery kept me from doing anything for almost 6 months. Anything that resembled exercise was completely nixed for awhile. Since this surgery was done in my stomach area that made it just that much worse. Then when you add on everything that happened after that the weight came on insanely easy.
The thing is though - even though I can validate as to why I am in this predicament. I cannot validate why I have not gotten myself out of it.
So here I am 34, out of shape, over weight and truthfully lazy when it comes to working out.
Some Smaller Challenges
Distance. Cost. Timing.
So now that I am ready to do something (again). I started running into a couple of other challenges.
We live almost 20min away from the closest gym. I am just not interested in driving a 45min round trip + gas + a monthly fee to a gym just to go do something I hate - exercise. Especially by myself. Not happening.
There is also the issue the places I have found that I am interested in - don't have anything at the times I need them or they cost an arm and a leg.
Ugh. More challenges.
There always seems to be a reason or an excuse on why I can't make it better. However, I am praying and I am hoping that I have found what works for ME.
If It Works For You - DO IT!
August 26th I started the Body By Vi 90 Day Weight Loss Challenge. I have been hearing about this stuff forever. I have also been looking into doing it for months. I have researched it, talked to people that have taken it and have heard tons of success stories. I honestly wasn't sold on anything until today. (I'll explain why later).
Before I started my 90 Day Challenge I had lots of cream with some coffee in the mornings and during the school year I rarely eat breakfast or lunch. Im either not hungry, busy or I forget. I just snack here and there. Then I would have a decent size dinner. Sometimes healthy - sometimes not. I rarely drank water. Actually I didnt drink much of anything during the day. Im just not a thirsty person. In my mind I should be losing weight. Im not putting enough in to gain weight... or so I thought.
First off. I am totally not writing this to sell this to anyone. This is completely to share my experience of weight loss. I am also writing this to keep as a diary for me personally and have just decided to share it with the world :)
Skeptical: I have been just that - skeptical. How can drinking two shakes a day help me lose weight? Well I have found that it won't. Goes against everything they are selling right? Here the thing, the shakes HELP you in your weight loss. You still need to eat right and watch your calorie intake. It is not a miracle shake. But it can help create that weight loss miracle if done correctly.
Ingredients: I am not hip on all the ingredients in the shake. Why? Well its as my husband says - if you cannot pronounce all the ingredients or there is more then a few listed - you shouldn't eat it. Well that would be nice if I was to the point I could do that and honestly I am not sure that I ever will be. However I looked at it like this. I am trying to better myself. When I am snacking I am intaking things that are pretty bad to my system. Not to mention the fat and calorie intake. So I ask myself again... why wouldn't I replace my crappy snacks with something that is HELPING me in my weight loss? Good question, right?
Cost: Back in the day $99 for a months worth of breakfast and lunches would make sense. But since I don't really eat out anymore during the day I had a hard time coming to terms with that dollar amount. I am very frugal and a tight wad with extra things like this. But if I look at all my other options in financial terms... this really is a good deal if it helps me.
Commitment and Time: Yikes. This also rolls into the skeptical and cost areas. I am skeptical if I can do it for 90 days and I dont want to waste $99 for three months by not following through with it. Plus I. Love. Food. I really do. I didn't want to lose my lunch and breakfasts on the weekends with the family. Honestly Im not a huge fan of shakes either. Who has time to think up of all these shakes? Ugh.
My Decision: In the end regardless of all the challenges I seemed to keep finding - I decided to do it. The Pros out weigh the Cons. Plus my health should take a much higher precedence than I have been giving it.
My Current Challenges
Vi Shake - Currently I am doing great with the shake. Its been almost a week and a half and I have not missed one. The first two days was the hardest. Since I have never done protein shakes or anything along those lines, I had a small adjustment period with experimenting with the taste, ingredients and timing. I have found tons of recipes online for various shakes. My favorite is mixing International Delight Light Iced Coffee with that and Almond Milk. Mmmmm. I could do that every shake and I probably would if I didn't keep running out of it.
Lesson Learned: The first few days I was on the shake I all of a sudden felt like I was constantly starving and thirsty. My water intake has become insane. I don't so much feel cotton mouthed as I am just thirsty. That is a GREAT issue to have. The hunger - not so cool. After talking with someone else that takes the Body By Vi I realized I was doing it wrong. Even though I was supplementing my breakfast and lunch with a shake - I was not putting enough calories in my diet. Essentially I was starving myself. Once I figured that out, I started watching my calories and eating smarter. It all came together in the end.
Calories, Low Fat & Sugar Free: I was pretty sure I knew everything about these subjects. Boy was I wrong. The biggest thing Ive learned about calories? I have been STARVING myself of them or GORGING myself with the wrong ones. And it matters.
Lets start with calories. I have counted them before, but evidently I wasn't doing it enough or I was doing it wrong. Holy cow is there some serious calories in just every day food!!!! Breads? Cheeses? Pastas? Pastries? Ugh. ALL MY FAVORITE FOODS!!! Even when you go to get your 'quick fix' at the gas station. Do you know how hard it is to find something that will help with that hunger without it being over 400 calories? Its insane. No wonder our nation is over weight. Once I downloaded an app to help track my calories and started counting EVERYTHING - I realized how even though I didnt eat a lot during the day, the things I DID eat were so very bad for me and were not going to help me in weight loss. So now I try and stay under 1550 calories a day. Its not nearly as hard as I thought it would be. Especially when I add in the right foods.
Low Fat, Sugar Free, Light: Those should all be under false advertisement to some extent. Now I am not saying EVERYTHING that has that labeled is bad, but I am learning a lot of it is. I started looking at ingredients on things labeled like the above and even though it may be true that they are in fact sugar free - do you see what they are replacing it with?? Its stuff worse then whats in the real thing! For instance something I learned today. I LOVE my 90 calorie yogurt. Its Light and Fat Free... Oh but wait.. Theres Aspartame in it??? Ya I think natural sugar is MUCH better than that.
Definition of Aspartame: a very sweet substance used as an artificial sweetener, chiefly in low-calorie products. It is a derivative of aspartic acid and phenylalanine.
As you see there are tons to learn with this.
Exercise: Yep Im doing it. The one thing I hate. I am learning to have a love-hate relationship with it. I decided I wanted to do more than the shake and eat right. I needed to add something. I have a working treadmill here at home just sitting here gathering dust. So I downloaded the Couch to 5K app and started using it. Other than me completing the first day without passing out, the big thing was the amount of CALORIES I lost! AND when I put that information into My Fitness Pal App it showed that I could add more calories to that day!! now that was worth the run :)
Where I am Now: The biggest and greatest news - that has now also made me a believer instead of skeptic is I have officially lost - TEN POUNDS!! Yeah ME!! So what I am doing is working!!
Currently I have my two shakes a day. Sometimes as a meal and other times as a snack. If I eat lunch out or at home I watch the calories. It really is that simple.
I keep healthy snacks at home so I don't eat the wrong ones.
I have decided to have one cheat meal a week. Although I haven't let myself yet. I am happy where I am. I am also coming to terms with the fact that a little ice cream or indulgence now and then wont hurt me or ruin what I am doing. Just as long as I stay on track.
I use my Fitness App to help keep track of my run/walks and calorie intake. Seeing the numbers makes a difference.
Over all I honestly feel so much better and have tons more energy. Just ask my family!
Well if youve managed to make it this far in my ramble - thanks for taking your time to do so. Hopefully I wasn't to negative - but taking care of yourself isnt always that easy. I believe we all have a lot of the same thoughts, fears and challenges. Sometimes it helps to write about them and others to read them.
If you have any questions, comments or want more information on anything I have written about just let me know. You can comment here or email me at irisa.mitchell@gmail.com.
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