Processed Foods VS. Anxiety = I'm Really, Really Getting Old!

You know you're getting old when something you've been eating all your life suddenly makes your body react a certain way.

It is time for me to face the reality that even though I feel young and full of energy, my body tells me it is changing. It has been several months, that I've been experiencing anxiety thinking it was related to my constant depression but after finally stopping to listen to my body, I realized my anxiety starts after I eat "certain types of foods." I wasn't sure in the beginning or perhaps, I didn't want to believe what my body was telling me.

But it was true. I experienced no anxiety and neither do my hands tremble, or my heart races a billion beats per minute when I eat healthy unprocessed foods. Then, I ate processed foods and bingo. My anxiety returned.

It was dark and gloomy that in fact, I'm getting old and can't no longer eat like I did when I was in my 20's.

Foods to avoid

Fizzy drinks - Not a problem; I've never liked them anyways.
Processed food - :(
White bread - :(
Chips - :(
Pastry -:(
Cakes -:(
Caffeine - :( :( :( :( :( :(
Sugar - :( :( :( :( :( :(
Alcohol - :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :(
Chocolate - I'm allergic to it so it doesn't matter.
Cheese - :(
Fast Food - Jack in the Box curly fries :(

This will actually help me with my weight loss. 

South Beach

Four weeks ago, on a Friday evening, I've had it. Enough, I said, "John, would you like to join me on losing weight on the South Beach diet?" His response was, "sure." It didn't take a lot convincing or arm bending but the next morning, we dusted off the South Beach books and started changing our eating lifestyle and today, I got on the scale and I have lost 11 pounds! and John has lost 19 pounds!

I went from 146lbs to 135lbs! and we are running every week and I'm wearing my belt to hold my pants up!

The first and last time we did the South Beach diet was in 2005 and I also had great results but, we soon forgot about it and we stopped.

Six years later, we are older, wiser, beaten up by life and with two little girls, we decided that it was time to eat healthy not just for our health but to see Sofia and Raquel grow up.

I'm not selling South Beach to anyone reading this post; this program may not be for everyone, the difference here is that you must cook all of the recipes, along the way this program teaches you the proper healthy food and the "unhealthy" foods, whole wheat vs. whole grain and you also unearth new foods you have never tried before. We eat the most delicious foods w/out feeling guilty and dessert every night, but what also works is drinking about 3 to 4 liters of water a day.

Now, my weight prior to getting pregnant with Raquel was 127lbs. My ideal weight goal is 125lbs, so here I come to my healthy self once again! So, go off and feed your metabolism the right stuff!

-Sandra.

Pounds Continued...

I failed. I experienced a Valentines Italian dinner with John, then Sofia's b/day, those cupcakes were incredibly delicious not to eat one..or two..OK more than two! Oh, yes, Superbowl happened too and my sister Wendy of course had good food for all of us to eat but I only have myself to blame. I did lose two pounds but I gained them back.

The only positive thing that has happened this month is that I'm running for about 10 minutes pain free of Plantar Fasciitis. This is a good thing! I ran yesterday non stop and my pain was a 1 out of 10 (10 being the highest pain you can ever feel.) Why am I not running more? I don't want to risk re-injuring myself, therefore, a little bit at a time is good. Not that I can run a 5K now, because that is pretty much impossible at this point.

I'm going to start running every three days to see how my Plantar feels and go from there. Running, of course is the fastest way to lose the weight and for me also helps me de-stressed. So, here I go again at:

143

This month of March we have Lent (for Catholics only of course not sure if other Christian denominations observed Lent but we do, not saying there is nothing wrong with not observing Lent, just saying.)

I will not observed dieting for Lent because that in my book is absurb, and not at all spiritual, but that is another subject.

Yours Truthtfully Once Again Overweight,

S.

Pounds

Today I weighed myself and the scale told me am at:

143

and precisely today, I felt like eating nachos and a bag of pop tarts.

My goal for the next 30 days is to lose 3 pounds. My expectations are real. My goal weight is 130. I'm not going to say I'm going to lose 10 pounds because, I am not excercising at the level that I'm used to, therefore, 3 pounds is a realistic number. If I lose more, the better!

My next weigh in is Feb. 26th. Until then, I have to survive, Superbowl and Sofia's B/day.

Cordially Yours,

Temporarily Overweight

Pounds

Today, I stand at 141 pounds. I had to write this in order to commit myself. My next weight in will be July 1st. I am not committing to lose 5 or 10 pounds. I will lose whatever I can to lose so that I won't disappoint myself. However, if I gain then I will have to re-access my workout plan.

However, today, I did run a MILE on the treadmill. My FIRST RUN since February of 2009. According to my mathematical calculations that turns out to 15 months of no running whatsoever!

I ran it very slow, in fact, it was more like trotting at 3.3 speed. It took me 18 minutes to run a mile. I take it, though. It is better than not running at all.

My Plantar Fasciitis is feeling much better, although I still need to take it easy but it is such an improvement from 6 months ago. My overall weight goal is to reach 130 pounds by September 1st. Oh my. I know I can do it. I got to get my mind right.

-Sandra.

Pounds

Current Weight: 142lbs

Stepped on Scale: March 29th, 2010.

Lost: 3 pounds. :(

Ditch: Girl Scout Cookies until I lose 5 more pounds.

Intake: 2-3 Liters of water a day

Do's: More Abdominal work. :(

Dont's: Drink less coffee...or drink coffee without sugar....

Next Weight in: MAY 1st. :(

In Between...

Yesterday, I decided to try on one of my favorite slacks to see how much more weight I need to loose in order to fit in my pants and walla!! My pants came up through my thighs and hips and are "this" close to button. I have been on an overdrive diet and exercise since after Sofia's b/day celebration. I weighted myself two weeks ago to find out that I had lost 5 pounds since December! It took two months to loose 5 pounds only because I'm not running due to my Plantar Fasciitis so, I became depressed and lost enthusiasm in losing weight.

But, then we had a pretty warm day two weeks ago and walla! My enthusiasm came back and decided that I was not going to quit! My pants are way too cute to stay in the closet collecting dust. So, I went back to the gym and did whatever it took to start losing the extra 20 lbs I have to shed and since then, I have regained more energy and now I'm determined that I will fit in my jeans again. My Plantar Faciistis will not keep me from exercising and looking cute in my pants and skirts.

I have decided to go to the "Naturalizer" store and get me comfortable shoes with good heal cushion so that I don't have to wear my running shoes to work anymore.

Right now, I feel that nothing fits. I'm still wearing my maternity pants even though they don't fit me, but with the help of the Bella Band, I purchased when I became pregnant with Sofia, it is holding my maternity pants in place, as soon as my regular pants start fitting a little bit better, I'll switch my Bella Band to hold them in place until I don't need the Band anymore but in the meantime; I'm in that "in between" phase where nothing fits.

Weight Countdown

I went to the gym and I stepped on the scale and it told me that in the last 30 days I have lost 6 pounds! So, as we speak, I got 20 pounds to loose! My goal is to reach 130 lbs, I'm at 15o, however, my ideal goal weight is 125 lbs. So, right now, I'll just settle with getting to 130lbs and worry about the extra 5 lbs when I have lost the 20 lbs.

I have only recently started to walk. I will start running in two more weeks that's when Raquel turns 8 weeks. I will start doing abs at 12 weeks as well as doing Yoga and Pilates.

I will only weight myself once every month. Weighing myself every day or every other day will drive me crazy. As of right now, nothing fits and I'm still wearing my maternity pants and they are slipping but I still can't fit into my jeans or slacks so it is an odd time right now.

In speaking of Maternity clothes, I have donated all of my maternity clothes to the Catholic Women's Pregnancy Shelter here in Dallas. This pretty much seals the door of me not having any more children and instead help those who don't have the means. I will also be donating baby clothes once Raquel grows out of them. To me, it gives me great satisfaction to give to those who are in need. -Sandra.

Post Pregnancy Weight

So, I went for my post check up today and, drums roll please.......I have lost 21 pounds already! From 177 to 156. That leaves me with 26 pounds to loose. Yes, they will be the hardest to loose but, God willing, I'll do it, somehow.

John has 20lbs to loose so, we are doing this thing together! My goal is to be back on my jeans by May next year. I'm giving myself 6 months to do it; this may seem like a long time but I'm trying to be practical about it and yes, I do have a plan to do it:

1. I'm getting me The Tracy Anderson Method Post Pregnancy DVD workout! This workout helps with your core. After reading all the reviews, I'm really excited about this. And anyone can do this with ab problems, so, John is doing it with me!

2. I'm doing my Bryan Kest Power Yoga workout! As soon as I got this DVD earlier this year, I got pregnant and I had no motivation and/or strenght to do it anymore. This DVD is good if you are into Power Yoga.

3. My Pilates workout DVD. I love the one I have.

4. Going back to running. My running pace was at 9:24 at my last 5K. I'm not sure how long it will take me to get back to that again, but I will first concentrate on loosing the baby weight then concentrate on getting back my running time.

5. Core training at the gym. This is the one I hate the most. UGH! It is boring.

So, here we go again. I must do this to be physically capable to play with two very active little girls. I know that Sofia loves being chased after and I'm not going to let her down! I'll post an update every month on my weight loss. -Sandra.