Health Goals: Making a Change

I have two goals that I want to accomplish by the end of the year.

1. Cut refined sugar out of my diet a whole hell of a lot, if not all of it.

2. Begin juicing/making healthy smoothies in the morning.

Some of you may scoff, like, "hello, that's too hard. Or hello, juicing isn't really really healthy." Well, shut up and let someone try something new, all right?

I'm one of those Americans who has grown up on processed foods and I used to drink soda by the gallons. .... Maybe not gallons, but I drank it a whole lot. I still have fits of NEED SODA AT ALL TIMES, I truly think it's an addiction. It's no one's fault. It just is. Now it's something that I want to change, and I know changing is a complete challenge.

Note: This is not dieting. This isn't abstaining or depriving oneself for a set period of time. This is a lifestyle change. <--- a="" and="" br="" come="" forth.="" has="" long="" lots="" meetings.="" more="" nbsp="" of="" reading="" s="" statement="" taken="" that="" thinking="" time="" to="" watchers="" weight=""> As both goals are things that I have never truly attempted, I know this isn't gonna be over night, over a week, over a month.

First things first: I've been researching blenders vs. juicers. Gonna get me a book to read to look over recipes and ideas. Since I've got monetary restrictions, I want to see where I can get the most bang for my buck. Also, while I look up recipes, I'm a little nervous cuz trying something new and dealing with foods I'm not used to is always a little strange. Sorry, I have food issues, duh.

*I'm realizing that I'm sounding a little defensively angry. It's like I'm Chris Hardwick trying to counter every negative comment before I even see or hear it. It sucks to be openly putting yourself out there and knowing that there are people you know and love, and there are complete strangers who will always respond negatively to you. It is what it is, am I right?

Second Things Second: Really paying attention to what I'm getting when I go grocery shopping. I'm look through the ingredients and working towards purchasing less items with Sugar listed in the top 4. It's eye-opening for sure. Currently working on just one Sugary Item a day.

I'll keep you up to date as I get a book or two and when I get the juicer, (or blender), and when I begin the juicing. Eek!

PS: If you want to know more about juicing and what started me on that whole track, go watch Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. You can watch it on Netflix. It's very interesting. While they talk about the need for their 40 day "Reboot", I'm not planning on doing something like that. Just once a day. It's very well done and I think it's worth a watch.

A Long Time In the Making

When I first moved down to Los Angeles in October '05, I was at the heaviest I've ever been in my life. I weighed 234. I think it just accumulated over time for whatever reasons, and I felt like I could never work out. When I moved and I was ready to begin exercising, I joined Curves and kept track of my weight loss. I had initially lost about 30 pounds, and gained back about 10 and just plateaued forever and a day.

We're sedentary people, we Robinsons. We like being active, sure, but we prefer to stay home and watch movies. We also like to munch on the yummy stuff. Put that together, and over time of course, we Robinsons are full of a lot of love and fluff.

I've always thought it was important to lose weight for yourself - not for anyone else - not for a bet - just for when you're ready to do it. Which I guess it's why it's taken me this long to get my butt in gear. I submit to you Exhibit A:

I was a big girl.

It's kinda neat to know that I've come such a long way. There are times it really feels like I haven't changed and all, and I'm not happy with the way I look now. A couple of weeks ago I was pretty upset with myself and how I looked when all the pictures for Project 22 came out. I thought I looked horrible. I was in a bit of a funk. And then I found a DVD from a Jepoardy audition I did before I moved. And it put everything in perspective. Sure, I looked like a nice girl, but I also was extremely uncomfortable in my body, and boy did it show in how I was holding myself.

Fast forward to meeting Genie last summer and our crazy desire to run a marathon. I've lead a more active life than I've ever had, and I've started eating better as well. (Look Mom and Dad, I'm eating broccoli! Mmmm). Only now has it just started to kick in that I'm feeling better than I thought I could. I'm actually looking forward to working out, because Genie's my inspiration on how nice and buff she's gotten just from doing yoga. Not to mention all the hiking and running that she does....

This past weekend I went shopping for the first time in a long time. Money's been short, and finally my last pair of jeans just gave up. It was time. And oh my god, what a pleasure to fit into clothes that I've never been able to fit into! For you women folk out there, I used to wear an 18, and now I'm at a 12. Holy Schnizzle. I used to think this was the ideal that I wanted to get myself down to - as of this morning I weighed 183. I've lost 51 pounds! Again, Holy Gee Wow. Now I know I'm feeling better, and people are telling me I'm looking better, but I find that I don't want to stop here. I want to keep going. The BMI says the ideal weight for me is around 130 to 140. At 190 it still said I was Obese. But now, now it says I'm just Overweight. So that's nice. It's an improvement.

I know it's not all about numbers. It's how you feel. Well, I want to keep feeling good. And I want to feel better! And here's the most recent picture of me that I can find. No, I'm not svelte, but it's better than it was.
This is from the opening night of Project 22, two weeks ago. I don't usually try and talk numbers about my weight. It makes me feel uncomfortable. And, yeah, I'm still pretty uncomfortable in my body. But I think I'm going to let myself feel a bit of pride right now. I didn't think it was really possible for me to feel good about myself. I didn't think it was possible for me to lose weight. Yeah, I know my arms still have that "Grandma Arm Syndrome" but it's all a process. And I'm just telling myself that it will get better over time if I just keep this up. So hear's to just keeping this up.