HFXBiggestLoser

I think that I need to become more organized. It sounds so plain and simple, but I am sure that although it does not directly play a part in my weight loss, I believe that there are elements in my disorganization that lead to my weight retention.

I have a hard time organizing my time, so I have found that I eat out a lot and as a result I am not eating as healthy as I should be. When I realized that I needed to cut back on eating out, I turned to buying healthy lunches instead, but now I am spending far too much on food. If I was more organized I would be able to plan out my meals and eat more “efficiently” so I need to find a way to organize myself.

I have read a number of online articles involving organization and how to work on the issue, but if anyone has any suggestions on steps to take, I would greatly appreciate it!

I only completed one full day of detox. I will be starting it again on Thursday though.

I am very surprised with the results I gained from the one day. I feel that my body is processing the food I eat better, it could be all in my mind, but that is okay with me, that just means that I will be able to do it for longer the next time. It is very hard to deal with all the cravings that come from not eating. I have been told that the cravings eventually do go away.

The nice thing about the “Lemon Detox” is that you can do it in a number of different ways and no matter what way you choose you will see results. I am thinking that from Thursday until Tuesday I will do the “relaxed version” of the detox. This allows you to eat a healthy lunch, but you replace your breakfast and dinner with the drink and you follow the rest of the guidelines. Then if I have survived that process, I will move into a full detox on Tuesday until Saturday. Maybe this will allow me to feel fewer cravings for the foods I should not have.

Hope everyone is doing well with their weight loss!

While I was doing further research on colon cleansing, I discovered a regime called the “Lemon Detox.” It turns out that Beyonce went on the detox prior to doing the movie Dream Girls and she was able to lose around 22 pounds. While it is awesome to think that I might be able to lose 22 pounds, I am not holding my breath. I actually decided that I would go on this detox for a couple of reasons. I think that in order to lose weight I need to get my body back to the “start.” This program claims that it will allow the body to dispel a large amount of the toxins currently in my body and will allow my body to do a reboot on all systems. People claim that it will help strengthen the hair, nails, improve your metabolism and allow for your body to utilize more of the nutrients in the foods that you eat after the detox period.

I have tried to detox before, but I have found that the fruit juice fast and the water fast have been hard to stick to. All of the products used in the “Lemon Detox” are natural but, as we all know, that does not always mean that the program is safe. As I was looking through the ingredients there was mention of using a laxative tea. What I gather from internet sources is that senna, generally the main ingredient in the teas, caused concern with the FDA, however, the FDA later found that senna was only dangerous when used improperly. When used as directed it generally does not pose a threat.

In order to purchase the ingredients for the detox I had to go to a local natural product store, and while there, I decided that I would try a couple of natural personal care products to compliment the detox. I figure that there is no real point in putting more chemicals near my body if I am trying to clear them all out. I picked up a body wash, Face cleaner, toner and a face mask and I also picked up a natural deodorant. I used the face mask this morning and the toner and cleaner both this morning and last night. I already see a difference in my face, which is awesome! I should mention that I also used a flannel cloth to clean my face, which I have never done before, but it is quite nice and it may be making the extra difference.

I started the Detox last night and am going through a million cravings. It is not overly hard so far, but of course this is only the first day. In the morning the first thing I had to do was a sea salt and water flush. It was very hard to get through drinking a liter of salt water. I think that I will try adding some lemon to it tomorrow to see if it will disguise the flavor a bit. It is suggested that if you are not able to get through the flush that you should drink another cup of the laxative tea, but I think that I would like to stick to only drinking it once a day.

Since I am doing this detox to clean my body, I have begun to wonder about natural foods and what the best way to eat, so that I can try to maintain a toxin free me. I know all about the food groups and what I need to do to stay healthy; it is just trying to stay focused on choosing the right foods. Should a person only eat natural, organic foods? What foods actually put toxins in our bodies? Even when we eat fruit and veggies from the grocery store, are we just putting chemicals into our bodies from the sprays that the growers put on to protect the crop? Is it fine to continue to eat the non-organic foods and just detox every three months?

If anyone has any opinions or advice, I would love to hear from you!

Cheers!

I have found that I have become interested in reading articles on different topics involving weight loss and how to change ones lifestyle. But I have found it difficult to determine what information is tried, tested and proven to work for all and what information comes from extremist who have found something that works for them but, for the most part, the general population would find that it harms them in some way or just plain does not work. For example, I heard that colon cleansing is an awesome way to lose a bit of weight, and once you have gone through the process you feel better, and will have lots of energy. There seems to be many different thoughts on the process and how to do it. Some say that you should just increase the amount of fiber in your diet and that coupled with a very healthy diet will cause the cleansing affect. But after further research, the “very healthy diet” is all natural and very expensive to follow. Others swear by natural products that have been manufactured for the sole purpose of cleansing the colon such as Colonix and Oxy-Powder. Then the final school of thought is that there is no need to do anything for the colon.

After sifting through the information on the internet, I have determined that I would like to try colon cleansing, but from what I can gather, it is best to use a product such as Oxy-Powder or Colonix with a probiotic. These products seem to be a bit costly so I think that I will hold off until I have my eating habits under control. I feel that in order to get the most out of a cleansing it would be best to wait until I am eating healthy and the junk food I ingest is limited.

So, now that I have made a small goal for myself, which is to reduce the amount of “junk” food I ingest, I did a little research on ways to stop eating the “junk”. In my travels I came across an article that I found very interesting, and I think that it can only be truly appreciated once you have reached the point in your weight loss venture where you have already blamed everyone and everything else and it is time to face the mirror and say “No matter what ails me, and what stands in my way, I control what I put in my mouth.” Trust me when I say that I have only recently arrived to this state of mind and did not realize that I had reached this state until I read the article.

The article I am referencing is titled “Dieting and Weight Loss: The cheapest way to stop eating junk food and start finding your ideal weight again” which I found on www.selfgrowth.com. The article was written by Emmanuel Segui. The excerpts of this article that I found to be truly eye opening are as follows:

-  “You need to take 100% responsibility of the way you eat.”

-  “All change in essence boils down to saying ‘no’ to what you don’t want and ‘Yes’ to  what you do want.”

-  “…each time that you say YES to junk food, you say, subconsciously of course ‘I want to be fat and don’t want to be slim and fit’ even if consciously you really want to be healthy and full of energy.”

- “… Say No! to the junk food. Re-assess the ‘it’s stronger than me’ feeling and once you have it, say No!”

- “… picture yourself as already slim and fit. You already know it is not hard to do it. Now, say a big “YES! That’s what I want!”

I have found that since reading this article, I have been able to fend off an increasing number of cravings. I am 90% percent sure that I am an emotional eater, and in order to win this battle with my weight I have had to turn to my Logical side to see if I can control my emotional side. Since reading this article, when I am craving fast food I tell myself that, “This food has more calories and fat then you should be ingesting in a day.” Then I ask myself, “Do you want to stay at your current weight?” of course the answer is no, so then I ask, “Do you really want to eat this food?” and by the time I play this conversation out, I have generally talked myself out of eating the “junk” food and as a result, I have not eaten any fast food for a week and a half. I have given into my emotional side a few times, and have eaten other forms of “junk” food, but I am taking this one step at a time.

As you may have guessed from the title this is not my first time trying to lose the weight that has been sucking me of my energy and probably damaging my body in one way or another. I heard that keeping a weight loss blog improves the chances of actually achieving a weight loss goal and so here I am typing and hoping that this will help me stay on track.

Since this is the first of my entries I should probably let everyone know my history with my weight. Like many people I have always struggled with my weight. I am a child of the 80’s whose parents did not really instill proper eating habits which I am trying to break now. Throughout my childhood I was able to stay some what fit because I was very active. In my final year in high school, I found it more difficult to maintain status quo however, I still managed to maintain a “healthy” weight. In my first year of University I am happy to say that was able to reach my lowest weight at my current height (ie: since I have been full grown). In my second year at University I took a turn for the worse, of course all of the blame lies on me for not taking action when the pounds started to add on, but I also would like to mention that I did go on Depo Provera, the injected birth control which is known to cause many health issues and on average woman on the birth control tend to gain weight, I read once that woman tend to gain 5 pounds per month. Once I found out about the side affects of the drug, I went off it immediately and decided I needed to lose the weight I had gained. At this point I weighed 225lbs. Over the last three years I have not weighed in over 230lbs but I have not weighed below 215lbs. In the two years post Depo I have finally reached a point where I am able to exercise again, for the first while after I went off Depo I was not able to exercise due to intense pain in my legs which felt like it originated at the bone. But over time it appears that my body has detoxified itself and I am now able to exercise without much pain. I still get shin splints, but I always have.

I am finally ready to tackle changing my lifestyle and I am ready to make changes that will improve my health, life, and teach good habits to my future children. With that said here is where I am today… I joined weight watchers approximately 4 weeks ago and am sad to say that I have only lost 4 pounds. I actually lost 7 in the first three weeks and then in the 4^th week I gained back 3 pounds. I messed up that week in a big way and I think that I have done so this week as well. It is almost as if I have a mental block that does not wish me to get down below 200. I have two days left before I get weighed and I am going to correct some of the mistakes that I made this week by putting in more time at the gym and eating below my point levels.

I cannot let myself get away with making up excuses for why I am not losing weight when I should be putting that energy into losing the weight that I have allowed myself to gain. So goals for today… Drink 2 liters of water, run on the treadmill for 18min, 10min on the rowing machine and 20min on each of the different elliptical machines at the gym.

Thanks for reading and I hope that we all have a great lifestyle changing day with a little bit of weight loss on the side!

Cheers!