Change of Plans

It's Saturday...almost a week since I started eating nothing but natural foods. Yesterday, I decided that I'm not able to handle another week without something more. So starting Monday, both and Rachel and I will start the 3 day lemonade detox.

I was looking over the different blueprints the founder of the FLF (Fat Loss Factor) program had put together, and I chose one of them to suit the path I've decided to take.

Consecutively, this is how it's supposed to go.

1 week of natural foods

3 days of lemonade detox (drinking nothing but a lemonade mixture 6 - 8 times a day, along with a salt water flush in the morning and herbal tea throughout the day...but no food)

After that, 12 weeks of learning the lifestyle un-diet, which consists of regular food found in most grocery stores, and eating smaller portions. We'll be cooking like we always did, just better food choices, like throwing in veggies into a stir-fry or pureeing them and using them in baked goods.

Exercise consists of 3 days of weight training a week, along with 2 days of 20 min cardio. Rachel and I both have dumbbells and exercise balls to use. I also have a resistance band and the EA Sports Active game on our Wii. For the cardio, I plan on using Mama's walk at home DVDs. Because it's June, I'm not able to handle the heat, so those DVDs will come in very nicely.

Amongst all this, I'm to draw special attention to how I'm breathing during exercise, and proper stretching. The FLF founder recommends yoga or pilates, and with the shape my entire right leg is in, I don't think I'm able to handle those just yet. But I do have an eBook with 10 different yoga moves for the beginner that I plan to use. On top of that, a proper sleep pattern needs to be developed. Well, the good thing is, it's already there.

The first night of the 1 week natural foods, I fell asleep at 11:00 pm and didn't wake up again til 7:00 am...and I wasn't groggy like usual! Every night since then, I've been sleeping great. It used to take me forever to get to sleep, and I'd usually wake up once or twice throughout the night. So that part's completed, which is nice.

Every Monday, Rachel and I will be taking our measurements and weighing ourselves to track the progress. Last Thursday, I came home early from work because I felt sooooooo dehydrated and sick that I couldn't stand to be awake much longer. I REEEEAAALLLY wanted a burger and fries and to not feel so hungry anymore. But I came home, drank some water, took a nap, ate some fruit and nuts, and I felt much better. I decided to soak in the tub with my new moonlight path bubble bath to relax myself. Well, I noticed the scale on the bathroom floor staring at me, so I caved and weighed myself just to see if my body was responding. Guess what...I dropped 3 pounds in 4 days. Sweet! That's just what I needed to brighten my spirits and remind myself that this is soooo good for my body.

Now I'm kinda addicted to that scale, which is bad, but I weighed myself again this morning and in 6 days, I've lost a total of 7 pounds. You read correctly, I said 7 pounds =D

I can't WAIT to see what the scale says on Monday, but I'm trying to prepare myself for a smaller number since weight fluctuates so much. But I needed the encouragement of knowing that my body's liking this method. According to the FLF founder, the weight that's coming off is from my liver. I'm cleaning out this fatty liver of mine, and it's working the way it's supposed to now, which is processing fat and toxins. And the 3 day lemonade detox concentrates on the cleansing of the intestines. So by the time we're ready to start eating real food again, our insides will be in proper working order, which is the way it should be at all times.

We won't be taking pictures again until the end of the 12 weeks. So you'll have to wait until then to see how we're doing ;)

It's the end of day 6, I'm still alive, to God be the glory.

New Journey

You know the idea of tough love? Well, I got a super dose of it just recently from both my earthly and heavenly parents. Basically, I'm being driven toward a path of better physical and spiritual health. Today was my first day of changing my eating habits. My sister, Rachel, plans on doing this with me in hopes of reaching her final goal. I plan to document our progress here in order to keep things organized and well planned.

We're starting a 12-week plan that eventually becomes a lifestyle, but it takes about 12 weeks to introduce your body to the new habits.

First, we're cleansing our bodies of toxins by eating only raw foods for 2 weeks. And when I say raw food, I mean raw fruits, veggies, seeds, nuts, beans, and cooking only with coconut or extra virgin olive oil. Not to mention plenty of drinking water. On top of that, we're supposed to do a 30 min brisk walk everyday.

So today was the first day of the 2-week cleanse. After the 2 weeks are up, we will go on 3 days without any food and only drink a lemonade detox throughout the day. Then, for another 3 days, we'll go back to raw foods, and then do a final 3 day lemonade detox. All of this will clean out our internal organs and get them in full working condition before we start the big diet change.

All of our information is coming from a chiropractor in Indiana who put together this 12-week program, to which he calls The Fat Loss Factor. I read the entire book/program in just 2 days, and if you know me at all, then you know that 2 days is pretty good. His main focus is retraining your mind and body to become a fat burning machine that it's made to be. However, over the years, bad habits of left our insides in terrible condition, and therefore cannot work to their full potential. He draws special attention to the liver, especially since one of the liver's main jobs is to break down fats. This is why he recommends the cleanse and detox before changing your eating habits.

Anyway, both Rachel and I did pretty good for the first day of the cleanse. I took a bunch of fruit with me to work this morning and snacked on them every 2 hours. I snacked on bing cherries, grapes, apples, and plums. I also took raw nuts; almonds and walnuts. On top of that, drank lots of water. There's a really nice water/ice machine downstairs where I work, so I made several trips down there to get refills, and that included walking up and down three flights of stairs....slowly, of course ;) They have an elevator, but I only use it if I absolutely have to, like this morning when my foot was aching pretty bad.

When I got home, I ate on some carrots, peaches, and nuts. You'd be surprised how raw nuts can curb your hunger when you drink water with them. I took a much needed nap, since I only got 4 hours of sleep the night before. I woke up feeling hungry, so I went upstairs and ate some pineapple, mango, cucumbers dipped in vinegar, and a small cup of pinto beans. I also threw in a couple of almonds on the side. That was three hours ago, and I'm just now starting to feel hungry again. I find that if I snack every two hours, I don't feel deprived of food. It took me a while to really believe that I could survive without meat and potatoes lol. After this, I'll probably grab an apple and some walnuts.

The eating part was fine, but the 30 min walk wasn't. I knew I didn't wanna walk outside because of the heat, so I put in Mama's walking DVD. I started off thinking I could do the 15 min gentle walk twice to make it a 30 min walk.....bad idea, at least for someone who's just recovered from a broken foot. But I'm also VERY out of shape, and once the first walk was over, I decided to leave it at that. I need to talk this slowly, otherwise I'll feel like giving up...and I'm running out of options to do that. So I figured this first week, I'll just do 15 min of walking. Perhaps next week, I'll try the full blown 30min walk.

Rachel and I also took our measurements, and tomorrow morning we'll weigh ourselves and get a calculation of our body fat percentage. I knew it'd be pointless to weigh in now since we're so full of water weight at the moment. Tomorrow morning will be good. I know I'm a high number, always have been, but I'm not letting the numbers get in the way. I see myself at 21 with a healthy body and a healthy mind with lots of energy to do God's work, specifically KBC.

We also took pictures:

My photos didn't surprise me, but I like the fact that I'm somewhat proportioned.

Rachel's isn't too bad, she just wants to firm up and turn flab to muscle.

We're going to be taking measurements once a week, but we won't be taking photos again until the end of the 12 weeks.

Well, that's the majority of it in a nutshell. The 4th of July festivities may proof to be difficult, but I'm reminding myself that this is only for 2 weeks. I will be able to eat my favorite food again, just not at the moment.

This is the end of day 1, I'm still alive, to God be the glory.

Lessons to be learnt

Today sitting in the parking lot at Wal-Mart, I was thinking about the privilege of walking. The reason is obvious lol, but I was REALLY thinking hard about it having just returned from walking with crutches from the entrance to the end of the parking lot. I was out of breath and ridiculously hot and sweaty. Gross isn't it?

Moral of the story? Well, tomorrow when you get out of bed and walk out of your bedroom, thank the Lord you're not lame =D

So if you've known me for a while, you've more than likely come to find that I'm a fan of The Office. Yes, I find it humorous, partly because of Dwight being Dwight and Michael trying so hard to be the popular guy but failing in the end. The other reason I like it is because of the developing relationship between Jim and Pam. Corny, yet cute lol. Tonight was the episode where their little baby girl, Cecelia, was born. I loved it! It was adorable to see Jim so scared out of his wits and yet be ever so strong for his wife. Of course, the episode was completely unrealistic, but it was still cute.

Adorable or what? ;)

Last night I was disappointed to watch K-State lose against KU, but it was one of those games where you knew the outcome within the first few seconds. So I went and updated my cast with all the lovely comments people have left me on my Facebook group :)

My cast looks very lovely now...all kinds of colors making it look not so dull anymore.

A friend I met at college is giving me a blessing tomorrow :) She's a Mary Kay consultant (ask me if you her card!) and she's coming to my house to give me a facial. Such good timing! Getting pampered everything now and then can certainly cheer a person up.

Well I must be off to bed....sleeeeeeep zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Sing, Sing, Sing

I've always loved this verse...it's hanging above my bed =D

"Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Ephesians 5:19-20

Oh what a beautiful MORRRNIN'

9:30 in the am...two hours since I started working here at home. No, I'm not slacking, there's just nothing for me to do at the moment lol. Give it about 5 or 10 minutes, and it'll change drastically.

It be March, lads! Couldn't have picked a more appropriate theme to my blog =D

Alas, there are calls that need to be made, so I shall make them whilst I want for more work to come in. The doctor's nurse asked me to call her this morning and give her a progress report on my foot. Pretty sure I need a new cast...bad! This sawed in half one isn't formed to my foot anymore. Pressure burns are the cause of it :(

But it doesn't matter!

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

This is new...

Now I'm attempting to blog from my iPod. Neato!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Finished!

So I spent quite a bit of time trying to find this template. I like it, but I'll probably get bored with it after a while and change it again :)

What do you guys think?

I also created another playlist, will you have a listen? Tell me if you like it on autoplay or not ;)