6 pounds!

Stepped on the scale and I've lost 6 pounds total! Chicka chicka yeah! It just really proves how much your diet plays into your weight loss results. (Oh no! Not the D WORD! Diet as in your eating habits. I am not on a diet, I am just a healthy eater for life, no magical crash diet for me!) I haven't been going to the gym nearly as much as I should have and I'm still losing weight. I suppose I could be losing more weight if I went to the gym more, but I'm still pumped with the results I'm seeing!


I've done the whole diet and exercise thing before and never been this successful. I cheated all the time, wasn't eating the right foods to fuel my body and eventually gave up because I wasn't seeing results. I didn't have the necessary tools for success:

• Running. I discovered my love for running. I'll be a runner for the rest of my life.
• Information. I researched and researched the best way to lose weight and found that simply keeping your calories under a certain limit each day is the best and most sustainable way. I researched how many calories I need to eat a day to maintain my weight and have been keeping my daily intake about 500 calories under that.
• Water. Funny enough, a psychic told me I wasn't drinking enough water and that my body wasn't near what it could be in terms of energy level and ability. She said if I drank more water, I would be shocked at what my body is actually like and what it is capable of. 
• Vegetables! Yum yum yum. There are so many vegetables that I've discovered and fallen in love with. Red onions, asparagus, zucchini, spinach, peppers, onions, garlic, and all that. Yum.
• Fruits! If you know me, you know I love my tangelos!
• Cooking real food. I ate out all the time, ate frozen meals too much, and relied on processed food. Now I cook whole veggies, chicken, turkey, fish, eat raw and limit the processed stuff. 
• Tea. Green tea, herbal tea, all tea. Tea is full of flavor, has lots of varieties to try, and they are all zero calories. If I'm craving something sweet, I make a cup of Bengal Spice tea. It's got a big, sweet flavor that gives me something to occupy myself with until the craving passes.
• Determination, motivation, and self discipline. I am the only one who can make myself chose an apple over a cookie and I am the only one who can pack my gym back and get my butt to the gym. I am the only one who can make sure I stay on track. 
• Friends. Before, I'd keep my weight loss mission a secret, but I found that the more I tell people, the more accountable I feel to keep coming up with great results. I don't want to look like a failure to my friends and family. 

So, I said I'd post pictures of a day of food in my life. Here they are:

 Breakfast: 2 pieces of stone ground wheat toast with 2 tablespoons natural peanut butter. A medium banana. Black coffee, a multivitamin and calcium supplement. 430 calories.

Post workout snack: Mini Luna bar, Lemon Zest flavor. (Tastes like a Lemon Pastry Creme Girl Scout cookie!) 80 calories. 

Lunch: Wrap with 4 egg whites, slice of 2% American cheese, and a Flat Out Light Italian Herb flatbread. 2 cups of Campbell's Select Harvest Light Vegetable and Pasta soup. 325 calories.

Afternoon sip: Strongly brewed green tea. 0 calories.

Afternoon snacks: Medium pink lady apple, medium tangelo, and 100 calorie pack of Emerald Cocoa Roast Almonds. 240 calories.

Dinner: 8 ounces of roasted chicken, Frank's Red Hot buffalo sauce, 1 whole zucchini, 6 asparagus spears, and an english muffin with 1 teaspoon of Smart Balance buttery spread. 375 calories.

Dessert: VitaTop. I warm this up in the oven on the lowest temp for about 5 minutes and it gets nice and warm like a cake. 100 calories.

Total for the day: 1,550 calories and I'm satisfied!