So its the end of week #1...
On Monday of last week Ricky and I officially began our journey to a healthier lifestyle. However, the craziness began several days before. Last Saturday, Ricky and I went to Body Slam to weigh in and take our body measurements. Unfortunately, they also took our "before" photos to use as a comparison at the end of this adventure. Fortunately for you I am sparing you the pain of viewing these photos, although I will reconsider allowing you to view them in a few months. The weigh in went smoothly, but it made me realize I actually had an extra 10 pounds that I need to lose to achieve my goal. Although it seems like a great deal more, when you already want to lose 70 pounds, an extra 10 isn't going to matter too much.
After the weigh in, we immediately went to Barnes & Noble to pick up a few cookbooks and journals to track our eating habits. Unfortunately, the books were just the start of the realization that our world was about to drastically change. We were told that we needed to remove the items from our pantry that did not fit our plan. After about an hour of organizing our pantry dwindled down to 3 items. Three items... What??? Now, I know what you are thinking... 'What crazy diet are you trying that required you to get rid of everything. To be honest its not as bad as you may think. Our diet consists of fresh fruits and vegetables, all natural products and the elimination of overly processed foods (processed sugars and enriched flours). Basically we are eating fresh foods instead of boxed foods. After the pantry raid and in that short period of time, it became clear why we were struggling with our weight in the first place. Fresh foods typically go bad in our house before we get a chance to eat them. Once we cleaned out our pantry, we took a trip to Whole Foods and Publix to replenish our food supply.
The first week has been an incredible struggle for me because so much of the ready made foods do not fit the new diet. So much of the foods have a great deal of sugar and are not overly fresh. I find that I have to make a conscious effort to prep my food beforehand and get up a couple minutes early to pack my lunch. However, we have had dinner at home almost every night this week and have saved a considerable amount of money by not going out. We even had friends over on Wednesday for vegetable lasagna which was incredibly delicious... I even ate leftovers. We are looking forward to new recipes this week.
This week of detox was not quite as pleasant as the food selections. My body was definitely not used to eating fresh foods and products that are actually healthy for it, so I had several exhausting and irritable days where I just wanted to break down and quit. Fortunately, I have a great support system that has been putting up with me and I managed to work my way through. I am starting to get my energy back and I am managing to deal with the eating schedule a little more easily. I have been craving all of the crap food I have been eating for the past few months, but I have not given in yet.
Aside from the food adjustments, our exercise regiment is changing drastically. Since we have decided to run the Princess Half Marathon in February, we are not only working out at Boot Camp, but we will be strength training twice a week and cross training in preparation for the race. BUT.. we are realistic in our goals. We are slowly adding the different elements to the program. For the first week, Ricky and I decided to focus primarily on Boot Camp. We have not been exercising and to assume that we could manage 6 days a week from the get go is a bit much. We have Boot Camp Mon-Wed-Fri every week and let me tell you, it kicked my butt. Not only was I attempting to expel all of the water in my body in the form of sweat, but I was in the middle of a muscle pain nightmare. My body was not going to let me forget that I was out of shape. Unfortunately, this was just Monday. I didn't know how I was going to survive Wednesday but I knew I had to. Fortunately, Wednesday went very smoothly, and although I am still out of shape, my confidence is building.
I do feel slightly bad about the fact that I had to miss Boot Camp on Friday (because I had committed to working the Edgewater Football Game... which we won 14-13 over Apopka..), but it is something that I had to do. Fortunately, I wont have to miss another night until October (when I am working another Edgewater Football game).
Now that the first week is over, Ricky and I are going to add in our strength training. Since we have Boot Camp Mon-Wed-Fri we are going to do strength training twice a week on Tues-Thur. The strength training will be combined with cross training for our running prep at the beginning of week #3. We have a good and fairly practical goal and I am looking forward to continuing the process.
So far this has endeavor can be classified as an adventure and I am looking forward to continuing the journey. I will also be participating in the Biggest Loser competition at school again this year with the hope that I will produce a better showing than last year.
*Sorry for the long post, but its been a long......long.... long week!
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