only one little pound left...

Around March 20th of this year I was sitting at work thinking about how I really needed to go buy a new pair of jeans as my size 14 were starting to feel a little on the tight side.  I pulled up a photo that one of my co-workers took of me just a few weeks before (they thought they were funny putting a Kyle Bush cut out in my office, as I cannot stand him!).  I thought I looked pretty cute over the winter months.  I got lazy.  Lazy is easy.  Lazy can be fun. Lazy really makes your body feel bad and God, I felt like crap all of the time.

That photo told me another story.  Wow, I had really started packing on the pounds.  I knew why, I'm not stupid -

At that same time that I was contemplating jeans in a size 16 I had a co-worker came into my office showing me her cute new jeans, that she also just purchase in a larger size.  Okay, enough was enough.  I am smart enough to know that I need to take care of myself and this was not good! I had thought of an idea a few nights before so I brought up to my co-worker the idea of doing a summer weight loss challenge for the women in our office (most all of us needed to drop a few lbs), and the challenge was formed!  With the blessing of our bosses we invited all to join us with a $20 entry fee that would go towards the grand prize at the end (July 1st).  March 25th was our first weigh-in an we ended up with a total of six of us joining in (we are a small office).  My start weight was 176.2 (I am 5'10" tall just FYI) and I gave myself a goal of 146.2 (30 lb. weight loss total).  I figure that was a doable number for the amount of time of the challenge.

Next came "How was I going to achieve this?"  I am a firm believer that to lose weight it's 80% diet/20% exercise.  Hummmm...diet...I wasn't going to do some fad diet that I knew I would blow, again, I know better. This is where Netflix came into play and I started watching Forks Over Knifes and Vegucated.  J and I have eaten vegan before, we enjoyed it and it worked well for us.  Watching these films reassured to me that this was the path for me.  Yes, I believe eating plant-strong is right for my body, but I also believe how animals are butchered to feed us is extremely unethical.  I also have issue with processed food that we consume like vultures and wanted to eliminated that from my diet as well.  I love cooking and I knew with staying organized and focused it would be easy to achieve. Vegan - that was the path I was meant to follow.  Not grow my underarm hair out, chain myself to a tree kind of Vegan - just love my body and what I put into it kind of Vegan. I'm a Vegan Chick and proud!

So, I'm in "What about my husband?" I am very lucky that
A. my husband loves to eat healthy
B. needs to be healthy for his job
C. had his physical coming up for work and  knew he needed to change his diet around

These and watching Netflix with me there was no argument, he was in.  He will tell you he is Plant-Strong, he's in it for the health value.

I strongly suggest that once you decide to eat plant-strong you REMOVE all the junk from your kitchen.  You don't need it any more.  Also arm yourself with recipes, and the kind that you look at and say, "Hey, I know what all of the ingredients are in this!" kind.  Start simple.

Okay, diet - Check!

Exercise - I have always taken care of myself without the need of a gym membership, but sometimes a membership may work out better for you.  If you don't want to join a gym right outside your door is the most amazing FREE gym!  My co-workers and I started walking everyday at lunch for 30 minutes.  What a great way to break up the workday!!  J and I also walked in the evenings and weekends.  We have free weights as home that I would use to lift and I found some fun videos online as well.  This worked great at the start of our challenge, however after time your body starts to except the workouts and you stop seeing the wonderful results of the scale going down.  Time to revamp and rev up!!  My 13 year-old son had been going to the gym near us with his buddy and begging us to sign up.  With the weather here stating to heat up and make walking near impossible we agreed this might be a good idea.  Our plan was to wait until the end of June, but our son likes to drive us insane and we gave in early. LOL!  We also had to stop walking at lunch around May as it was 100 degrees and we were all dying.  My normal workout is five days a week at 60 minutes each.  I "try" to lift weights twice a week, but it's just not my favorite thing to do.  If you are new to joining a gym, check to see if you get some free personal training.  It's a great way to learn how to use the machines and which equipment does what for your body.

Fast forward to today June 12th - I weighed in this morning at 147.2 only ONE pound to go and three more weigh-in's for our challenge!!  On March 25th the thought of July 1st seemed forever away, yet it went so fast and I have almost done it!!  Oh, and I'm leading the challenge!!  What am I going to do with the money if I win?  New tattoo!!  LOL, I have yet to grow up.

As the challenge at work has almost come to an end I have set new goals and challenges for myself, such as running a 5k.  I have learned to love running at the gym and working on beating my time each workout day.  I am loving my new body and how it feels.  Everyday I walk up feeling amazing and fall asleep like never before....a deep peaceful sleep.  YOU CAN do it!! 

One little pound to go...well, I might try to lose five more after the challenge is over lol it never ends!