Yesterday was the first of these days and lovingly called shake day.
Now, just let me say that I have always hated protein powder. It’s the smell that gets to me. But, for dramatic results, I figured I would suffer through a day. I also cheated just a bit and subbed out two meals with real food and supplemented another with a tomato salad.
I only subbed out these meals after very carefully doing all the math and calculating exactly what each meal needed to contain given the macro-nutrient and calorie requirements for the day.
After logging all my food on CalorieCounter.com (my absolute favorite food and exercise logging tool) it turns out that my calories were dead on and my macro-nutrient (protien/carb/fat) ratios were pretty good. My protein was a touch high and my fat a touch low. For my first go at it, I figure this isn’t so bad – there are definitely worse ways the ratios could be out of whack.
In order to keep to my ratios and calorie requirements I carefully portioned and measured to get the exact right amounts and only used foods off the included food lists in my substitutions. My food scale and measuring cups and spoons are earning their keep during this process.
This may sound like a total pain, but really it only takes a few extra seconds to measure out your portions. The calculations and meal planning takes a bit of time, but if you can’t dedicate a little time once every five days for these types of results then you don’t really want it. I don’t mean to be harsh or anything but getting real with our committment is fundemental to our success. This is something I struggle with too, but it just comes down to do you want it bad enough or don’t you. Do you feel your worth it or don’t you?
By the way if you answered no to that question, you should read this.
Ok, so back to protein powder. Like I said, I hated protein powder, but I found one that actually tastes pretty good and has the nutritional requirements that are recommended.
Both Joel (Xtreme Fat Loss Diet) and Isabel (The Diet Solution) highly recommend Prograde supplements and I am sure they are really great, but they are pretty spendy. Now, I am sure they are worth the money, but I am not going to be using protein powder long term as my long term plan recommends always trying for real foods over powders and the Prograde only gets reasonably priced when you do the autoship.
With all this said, I knew that the quality and nutritional suggestions they made were really important so I did my research and found a product that was reasonably priced, tastes great and is made with cold-processed whey protein isolate, natural flavors and is sweetened with Stevia. I feel that this is a quality product and would recommend it. And it is the best tasting protein powder I have had and let’s face it, that is really important.
Jay Robb Whey Protein Powder
Overall, I feel great so far. I have a ton of energy, my mood is good (well except for the afternoon of fast day, but I think I deserved that – hee hee), my muscles are sore and I even think these pants were a tad looser this morning.
Check out The Xtreme Fat Loss Diet
Because of the huge success in the first couple of days, Joel has extended the $30 off promotion for another 48 hours to celebrate.
Celebrate yourself and your accomplishments as well. Have a great day!
After realizing that The Gabriel Method just wasn’t going to be structure enough for me, I went searching for a slightly more structured eating plan that followed the same principles. Where I landed is with Isabel De Los Rios and The Diet Solution.
I have been adjusting the The Diet Solution way of eating and have felt great. The Diet Solution combines sound nutritional advice with customizations for your metabolic type. I am a protein and have found changing what I eat to cater to this has been really beneficial. I feel energyzed and my afternoon slugs have almost dissapeared entirelly. She has taught me to listen to my body for what foods it likes and doesn’t like and this has made a big difference.
Because I had been concentrating for so long on weight loss with a lot of disappointment, I took a break from weight loss being my goal and concentrated on changing over to The Diet Solution way of eating and learning to enjoy exercise and cherishing my time doing so. I have also been concentrating on learning those things about myself that keep me from truly committing and pushing past them.
But now I am really ready to make significant change and I needed a kick start, something to shake up my metabolism and get the system running again, so when she recommended Joel Marion’s Extreme Fat Loss Diet as a way to do just that, I jumped at the chance and am now on day two of my 25 day extreme fat loss program.
It’s the fast day and I just really started getting hungry and it’s about noon, only another 10 hours to go, Ughh. I went to the gym this morning and will do my strength training this afternoon and then I have swim class tonight. Although it is a lot, it is seamlessly working with my schedule so that is great.
Anyway, Isabel sent an email out this morning saying that she has put together a video to support people in keeping to her well defined healthy eating habits while still be able to complete the 25 day Extreme Fat Loss Diet. I am so excited about this. She is going to talk about how to manage the different eating styles and how to enjoy the cheat day while still keeping away from harmful chemicals, bad fats and other things that are just generally unhealthy.
Because of this, I wanted to share The Diet Solution with you a little early so that anyone interested could take full advantage of the extra personalization and coaching that Isabel is offering to people who follow The Diet Solution. I believe that these two programs combined are a powerful match and will produce amazing results for me and you as well.
Here are both the Products for you to take a look at.
Joel is still offering $30 off during the pre-sale, but this will end in the next day or so.
This is an audio/video presentation so make sure you have your speakers on :)
In order to access the special support video, I had to email my Extreme Fat Loss Diet receipt to The Diet Solution and they will send out a link to the video when it is available later this week. If you have any problems with the process, just let me know and maybe I can help facilitate.
Update: Once you have purchased both products, email your receipt for Extreme Fat Loss to info@thedietsolutionprogram.com with “Joel’s Bonus” in the subject line. This will sign you up to receive Isabel’s coaching for the Extreme Fat Loss Diet.
Jon taught me to look at more than just the food an exercise and I understand more clearly the mental sides of things. It also led me in the right direction to find the information I needed.
I also learned that I need more structure. At least when starting out, I need to be told what to do and when. I need a plan that I can look at and see what is coming next and not think too many steps ahead. I get overwhelmed by the big picture and then give up because it looks too daunting.
With that bit of knowledge I went to work on that stuff and just kept improving my diet and reading and reading about metabolism and the mind body connection. I also concentrated on working out to feel good and improve my fitness level for my triathlon this summer. I have been running (something I swore I would never be able to do again), biking and have just started swim classes. The swim classes rock and I would totally recommend taking an adult swim class for anyone who is looking to get into swimming for fitness. I have only been to two classes and my crawl and back stroke are already completely transformed.
I have also made major breakthroughs on the psychological side and am glad to say that I have finally made the mental shift. I can see the thin and fit me and can’t wait to get there. And let me just tell you, what I thought was standing in my way had nothing to do with it. I dug deep and with the help of my therapist have cleared away some serious stuff.
I found this picture of myself from when I was 21. I had just met my husband and was in the best shape of my life. I had just come off of a summer as the horseback riding director at a girl scout camp where I had hiked about 8 miles a day and spent the majority of my day on horseback or running around an arena teaching others on there horses. I lifted saddles and hay bales and swam across the lake and back twice a week. I had never been so active, or so confident. This is an image of myself that I can get behind.
That image is now taped to my head board so that I see her/me right before I go to sleep and first thing when I wake up.
I am very excited about this mental shift and what it means for me finally getting some results. With that in mind, I am starting a brand new program next week that is going to really give my body an Xtreme shake up. I think this is just what my body needs right now. I have also chosen a long-term program that I am really happy with that I will continue with once the shake up is complete.
I look forward to sharing more information about both these programs with you.
To be perfectly honest, I have been in a bit of a creative slump lately and also busier than usual. But even more than that, a little discouraged and embarrassed that I don’t have amazing transformative weight loss results to share. I never set out to blog about weight loss, it was just one of the many things in my life I was working on and therefore writing about. It kinda took off though and LOTS of people started coming to read about my journey.
Although I was excited that my blog was getting readership and it felt good that people were interested in what I had to say, exposing your insecurities and weaknesses is a vulnerable place to be and when the results didn’t come, the urge to belittle myself became really strong and the fear of failure took over. Then, when I took on some new business and became a founder in a technology startup, the time just seemed to pass and it was easier to ignore. Work provided the perfect excuse not only to stop sharing, but also to be wishy washy about my commitment.
With all this said, I have actually made quite a bit of progress on the weight loss front even if it doesn’t include those fantastic “after” pictures. I have come to terms with the fact that it isn’t going to be easy for me to lose the weight this time and that there isn’t going to be a secret that fixes everything.
I have learned so much about nutrition and am reading some great materials, of which I will go into detail about later. I am reading about nutrition and metabolism and most importantly for me is the emotional part. Not only do I have pretty significant body image issues to get over but I have come to a place where I no longer believe I can do it and unfortunately that is rearing it’s head not only in my health but other parts of my life as well. I am finding it very difficult to summon the emotional commitment to make changes in my life and this is my number one issue to address at this point.
I have a nutrition and meal plan that I am very happy with and that is working well for me. In the last few weeks, I have lost a net of 4 pounds, but more importantly I have lost 2 inches off my waist and I know some off my hips and thighs as well because my pants are all looser.
I signed up for the Trek Women’s Triathlon in Seattle in September as a goal for my workouts. I have discovered that I need quite a bit of structure in order to feel comfortable and that a big goal is a good motivator for me. I am enjoying running and am excited to purchase a bike in a few weeks.
Although I am a strong swimmer and so don’t have the typical fears of the swimming portion, the thought of going to the pool and swimming in a lane with other people is very scary for me (not really sure why), and so I haven’t been there yet. Our local pool offers a masters swim/triathlon training class, so I really don’t have any excuse other than the fear block is kicking in big time.
I am still using many of the principles of The Gabriel Method as the advice is very sound, I just needed a little more structure and as Jon suggests some help with the emotional pieces. I still highly recommend this book and the information it contains. I still follow the basic principles, I just didn’t find enough structure for my personal needs and so have combined it with other information in the hopes of landing on something that works and is sustainable.
This is still a work in progress for me and now that I have broken the seal, so to speak, I hope to be able to share with you some of the materials and information I am learning as well as continued updates on my personal progress.
Stay tuned and good luck on your own journeys.
This isn’t to say that I don’t think about smoking or see someone smoking and wish I could have one, because I do. I almost see this as a plus. I know so many people who quit that can’t stand to be around anyone who smokes or smell cigarettes at all. I actually enjoy the smell of cigarettes, like the comfort of an old friend and I can happily stand and talk with people smoking. And, even though it smells good and sounds like a great idea, I have no problems just saying “No thanks, I don’t smoke”.
This didn’t happen exactly overnight, but almost. There was a time or two at the very beginning where I was out and drinking with friends where I caved and had a smoke. But, I regretted it and it didn’t even really do anything for me and I had no problem never having another.
If you are still a smoker then you are probably thinking right now that I must have been a casual smoker or just be one of those people that can just turn it off. This couldn’t be farther from the truth.
I became a smoker when I was fifteen years old. This is not when I started experimenting or casualy smoking, this is when I became a smoker. I would say that I smoked on average about 1/2 a pack a day when I started out and I peaked at about 1 1/2 packs a day, which I sustained for many years. After college, I cut back down to a 1/2 pack a day and kept at that for many more years. Overall, I was a smoker for close to 20 years.
I tried to quit many times and not once was successful for any significant period of time. The only time I went more than a couple of weeks was when I was pregnant and that was only because it was for my child and not me. I had a tremendous amount of shame associated with being a smoker and was really motivated to quit, but I also loved it and cherished the process and the time and the act of smoking. I loved smoking and deep down I’m not sure I really wanted to quit, but I knew that I had to – for me and for my kids.
But I had no idea how I was possibly going to make it happen. I was scared that I would never be able to kick it for good and that every day for the rest of my life I would deal with wanting to have a smoke.
Then I heard about this book. I had heard of people who had had success with it and then I read many of the gazillion reviews on Amazon and said why not try one more thing. I really didn’t think it was going to work, nothing had before.
So I read it and then I read it again and that was it. I was no longer a smoker.
Sounds crazy, I know. But it works.
What book you ask?
The Easy Way to Stop Smoking
by Allen Carr
This book helped me to quit smoking for good without withdrawal or regret. I am so happy to be free of such a huge burden.
Do understand that there is no method here or new information. Don’t look for the magic pill. Just read the book and do what it says. That’s it.
I encourage anyone who wants to quit smoking to read this book. Just click on the link above and check out the amazon reviews and then judge for yourself.
nuu-muu
She is a runner and was completing a half marathon in an old polyester dress that she loves and found really comfortable to run in. She threw it over a pair of shorts and off she went. After several people commented on her dress and asked where she got it, she thought there might be something there.
A lot of hard work later nuu-muu was born. It’s a play on the muu-muu (remember those? LOL). Get it?
Who says you can’t be athletic and girly at the same time. These dresses are made for exercising but are cute cute cute as well.
Well, when she started the business she sent me a dress. I was so excited when it arrived and then absolutely mortified when it didn’t fit. It would barely go over my head and when I did finally get it on, everthing was bulging and horribly horribly wrong.
This had nothing to do with the dress, which is actually very flattering and made for real bodies, even coming in sizes up to XXL. It had everything to do with my denial and the size I should have asked for, but was too embarrassed to.
So, the story goes, it was laundry day and 106 degrees out and I needed something to throw on so I could wash my very limited supply of clothing appropriate for such a heat wave. I look up and there it is, hanging in my closet, just where it has been since the day it arrived. What the hey? and I put it on…
What? It goes over my head. Hmm, a little tight across the boobs, but wait… Where is the bulging? the uncomfortable tightness that made me want to run and hide under the bed until winter? Almost gone. Not perfect, but with a pair of leggings, this pretty little thing just might make an appearance on my next hike and is definitely making the trip to Hawaii.
Can I just say, as a side note, that I hate having big boobs. Having lived with them since I was 10 years old, I can confidently say that if I could have one plastic surgery it would be to remove them. Nothing cute is cut for big boobs. Why anyone above completely flat chested would want to make them any bigger, I simply can not understand. OK, rant complete.
How did this happen? Have you read The Gabriel Method
But the main reason for my absense has been the sickness that has run rampant through our household for the last week. I got a really bad cold at the beginning of the week and then by tuesday Ian was throwing up. As the week went on we both got sicker and sicker. Mine was manageable under normal circumstances, but with him being almost scary sick, I never got the chance to rest and get better and by friday afternoon I was just in tears. I was so damn tired I couldn’t think straight. Thank god my mother arrived later that day and did a really impressive job of knowing exactly what would help me the most and make me feel better. Thank-you Mom!
Ian has never been this ill. He is generally a really healthy kid. I am pretty sure he got rotavirus, a very common childhood illness but it also could have been viral gastroenteritis (although none of the rest of us got sick so I doubt this). It says that almost every child will get rotavirus by the time they are three and that in parts of the world it can be a significant cause of childhood death. Scary and I can see if you didn’t have resources or access to decent healthcare that this could turn into something very significant for many children.
I remember Ada had this when she was about eight months old and both Karli and I got it as well. I have also heard from several friends on their first kids that they have gotten it along with their kids recently. Must be going around. From what I read, you usually will not get it again or if you do it will be very mild. When you do get it again it is often due to a new strain, which would make sense why we get it when we have kids as I am sure the strain has changed since we were kids.
So days of fever and puking and diarhea came and went and Ian aquired one nasty case of diaper rash. Ooh, it was ugly. We tried everything we had left over in the house and nothing was helping and he was experiencing a significant amount of discomfort. Finally I remembered that I had heard someone at a baby shower recently talking about this amazing diaper cream you could get by asking the pharmacy.
Unfortunately I didn’t remember what it was called. So I sent Karli to talk to the pharmacist who looked at him funny and said Uh a lot. But finally she gave him a tub of cream called Calmoseptine
Well, let me tell you, it totally worked. Within 24 hours the rash was really starting to look better and was all but gone in a couple of days.
I’m not sure that this was exactly what was recommended at the baby shower, but I know that I can now fully recommend it.
Mom Tip: Calmoseptine Diaper Rash Ointment
for persistent, severe, and painful diaper rash
At our pharmacy we had to speak with the pharmacist to get this stuff, but it does appear that it is available at amazon