day 20

Breakfast
1 banana
Lunch
salad
potato
veggies
avocado
Not a productive food day only because I was exhausted from work and slept for 16 hours

day 19

Yesterday I ate after 8 pm and I always can tell when I do that. I have been struggling with putting food together, I don't really even feel like eating a lot of the time. The other part is it seems like so much work to just eat. I made polenta and pumpkin last night, so this morning I re-heated it with applesauce and raisins.

Breakfast
1 cup polenta
1/2 cup pumpkin
1/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup applesauce
coffee

dates (not sure how many)
2 bananas
green beans
potato
green salad
water

dinner
corn tortilla
avocado
grilled vegetables
polenta

day 18

I woke up this morning without a desire to get any food ready to go. I just didn't feel like  cooking, preparing or doing anything. Stopped at Starbucks got a black coffee and a fruit drink (all fruits) cost me almost $8 (ridiculous) all because I was being lazy.

At work they know that I'm eating all veggie salads so they prepared a veggie salad for me no anything but veggies and then I picked up fruit and water.

Breakfast
coffee
fruit drink
dates

Lunch
salad
1/4 cup corn
banana

corn tortillas
avocado
polenta
pumpkin
raisins

I so struggle to not eat just for the sake of eating. I also am fully aware that I have to be more cautious when I eat fruit too especially since I'm not working out yet.

day 17

I am at work today working on report cards, I get hungry so I bought plantain chips. Overall they are OK but not great for me. I am not eating oil on a normal basis, so I won't be buying these chips again for awhile.

Breakfast
1/4 cup polenta
1/4 cup raisins
1 cup apple juice
1/2 apple
Total =420

Lunch
Soup
chips
cantaloupe
banana
1/2 apple
Total= embarrassed to say

Dinner
soup
cooked veggies in olive oil
salad with pineapple

I ate dinner out, not really all that great for what I spent on veggies and cold tomato soup also known as gazpacho its amazing to me how expensive it is to just eat veggies and fruit, even when it really isn't. We all know how much time and effort it takes to cook up veggies versus a steak and yet I pay the same amount for three veggie sides as a half a chicken meal.

Day 16

I am on day 2 of week 3 and that I must honestly say is already exciting, I don't always stick to that which I begin. I am seeing results without seeing side effects, I am losing cravings for things and I find it easy to be around other people. It's easy to say no thank you, it's easy to accept a piece of fruit or vegetables. Most people have something like that around their homes. I can also make popcorn in a paper bag, I can take an apple, an orange or other easy fruits. Last night my friends were having dinner, my daughter was eating with them, I excused myself to go home and pick up some things before we went out and I found it very easy to also whip up a quick dinner. I knew I wouldn't get home until late and I didn't want to wait to eat until almost 10.

Today I'm off of work and I know I will stay on point because it's important to my well being. I also seem to drink more water when I am home then when I'm at school.

Breakfast
1/4 cup polenta 140
1/4 cup raisins
1/2 apple
1 cup apple juice
1 cup v8 juice
1/2 orange

Lunch
avocado
potato
veggies
pear

Dinner
avocado
soup
corn tortillas

Week 2

This week went better than I had anticipated, I didn't manage to work out like I had wanted, mainly because its been so cold and I'm a huge baby when it comes to the cold.

I also did not do as well as I should in eating fruits and carb veggies, I have already begun to work harder on this week.

Goals entering week 3, measuring carbs and fruit, counting calories on the things that affect weight gain. Eating more greens, drinking more water and running 9 miles (that's 3 days @ 3 miles a day)
I have a 5k race on March 22nd and I would like to run it all and in better time than I have for the past 2 years, I am also hopeful to weigh in the 220's.

I just know that I'm excited to still be following the path to a better me. I refuse to go back to the 400 pound stephanie. While 240 is not something to scream about, it puts me at 90 pounds to goal versus 100.

day 14

I ran/walk a 4 mile bridge race, in 40 degree weather. It sucked I didn't do it well but I did it. In the end that is what truly matters is that I did it.

Breakfast
1 banana
1 apple

Lunch
1/4 cup polenta 130
1 cup apple juice
1/4 cup raisins
1 cup v8 juice

Dinner
polenta
avocado
tomato sauce
mixed veggies

Day 13

I found a new product that I can eat and LOVE...I like corn tortillas but polenta which is just ground corn. I made it for dinner.
Breakfast
4 corn tortillas
V8 juice
banana

Snack
banana

lunch
vegetable salad
corn
banana
orange
raisins

snack
popcorn

Dinner
polenta
avocado

Too much fruit and too much grain

Day 12

It is cold here in Florida, I know those in other parts of the world would consider me a whiner, but for me cold affects me.  I literally get so cold I can't get warm, it bothers me, I have to truly get out of myself in order to not just stop functioning. I say all of this because it also keeps me from wanting to eat, clean my house, exercise or do anything besides crawl under the covers and blog so to speak. The exciting thing to say about day 12 is that I did not, I repeat I did not eat anything I was not supposed to. I made hot chocolate for the students in my class and I drank hot water. Truthfully I like the fact that I am making better choices when it comes to my body and I am hopeful my body will repay me with not only weight loss but by feeling more energized. I read an article about how your body renews itself every 30 to 45 days depending on the different parts of the body. So my thought is that as I introduce new foods into my system I will test them for 35 days before making a change.

Today's food journal
Breakfast 4 natural corn tortillas(found some at WAL MART) 220
1 cup v8 juice (hot) 75

snack v8 juice fusion 120

Lunch
Mixed vegetables 120
orange 85

Snack raisins 120

Dinner
banana 85
avocado 250
corn tortillas 220
v8 juice 75

Not a well balanced day, not enough vegetables, too many fruits...Tomorrow is a new day and I will work harder to achieve better balance.

Day 11

I do believe I have discovered a new method to helping me in the mornings stay fuller longer until I add protein back in at day 31. I chose v8 juice to go along with my corn tortillas, it left me with a satiated feeling much longer. I heated it up and that tasted good, like tomato soup, which I love. I actually liked it so much I had it again at lunch.

Breakfast
4 tortillas 220
V8 Juice  80

Snack
V8 juice fruit 120

Lunch
vegetables
v8 juice 80
banana 85

snack
cucumbers
orange 85

Dinner
4 tortillas 220
avocado 250
vegetables

Total= 1140

Day 10

Today I woke up to the understanding that my choices are simply that I need to always prepare for the day to come so that  I won't be so unprepared for work and end up spending more money that I need to.

Breakfast 360
4 corn tortillas 220
8 oz juice 140

Snack

1 v8 fruit 120

Lunch 100

Veggie Salad (all veggies)
1 fruit juice 50
pink grapefruit 50

Dinner 605
Steamed veggies
4 Corn Tortillas 220
1 avocado 250
1 Banana 85
Apple Juice 50
Sparkling Water
Total Calories- 1185

Today ended good, I still didn't eat until after 8 but I did good with what I chose and stayed on task so that I didn't eat the things I didn't choose ahead to eat. Work was a bit more challenging and I found myself very tired at the end of the day. My original goal had been to start adding protein on day 11, but I have decided that as long as I don't see an affect I will stay on the vegetables and fruit only for 30 days, Somedays I have tons of energy but today was not one of those days.

Day 9

Today begins Day 9 I have a class this afternoon at 430 so I don't have time to go home before I go, so I want to at least walk when I get home from school but it's all about timing, if I don't get home until 8 I need to stop over and get a light from Chris otherwise I will need to just do something at home.

Breakfast 4 corn tortillas
coffee
Snack 1 cup pumpkin with apple sauce
Water

Lunch
cooked vegetables with potato
Water
Snack 1 apple

Dinner
Cooked vegetables with corn tortillas and avocado
added 3 more tortillas and corn chips and dates
I should have been more productive with my food choices and made better use of time so I could be better prepared for dinner.

Day 8

I had a wonderful surprise this morning when I stepped on the scale, I weighed just 244, which while that is still way too heavy for me it is so much less than it's been in at least 6 weeks.
As the day comes to an end I will acknowledge I ate too much still.
Breakfast
1 bowl vegetable soup
1 large cup of coffee
Lunch
small cup of coffee
bowl of vegetable soup
banana
4 corn tortillas
snack
banana
apple
Dinner
bowl of soup
1 fruit pie
dates (not sure how many)
1.5 pieces of corn
Don't feel icky but I know that I could have lessened the amount of both carb vegetables and sugar fruits I ate.  Tomorrow is a new day!
Exercise:
I did the bridge with a friend today and I have to honestly tell you that I had more energy then I've had, I did struggle on the bridge because I got cramps in my legs and stuff but I will keep drinking more water than anything else and keep working on portion control.

Week two begins

Today I embark on week two, which honestly is a big deal for me. I suck at consistency, I will honestly tell you that one of my greatest joys is that I can eat veggies whenever I want as long as they are the good ones. I will be more reserve on my carb veggies and my high sugar fruits. Today begins with a bowl of vegetable soup that I had intended to become spaghetti sauce apparently I will have to learn how to make that better. Regardless the soup was good. So here's to week two.

Week One

I can't believe today ends week one on this crazy new journey that I have decided to encounter. It's crazy because I'm a meat eater I love a good steak but more than that I am a sugar and flour addict, so this is a requirement in another area besides the meat it's getting rid of the other things that I feel have made me fat in the past.

I need to explain to start this off I am making some drastic changes, first of all I started out at 253 and I needed to see myself back in the 240's so I did a drastic detox (well drastic in my eyes). My first week I spent the majority of my food bank in vegetables and fruit, nothing processed, no added sweeteners and such ( to my best effort). However, I failed a bit, I ate turkey (from a homemade turkey soup) and a few pieces of mushy noodle left in the soup. I tried to strain as much as I could but I know I still ate it, as well as I ate white rice yesterday, none of that is included so I can't say I had a completely successful week. I did however, discover something amazing about my body, as I ate more whole foods and so much less processed my body let me know the things it liked and didn't like. My body also eliminated that which it didn't like much more quickly than ever, I also discovered a greater need for water than ever before. I will weigh in tomorrow which will start week 2 and will let us know where I landed after a full week of eating a much more clean diet.

I will also be incorporating a much more strict regimen when it comes to the foods I over eat on. I am excited to start a new week.

Introduction

I have been dieting and losing weight and blogging about for the past 5 years and honestly would love for this to be my final blog about my journey to my right size. I would love for this blog to be the one that starts me in the right direction for a good long time.

I have always considered doing a more vegetable friendly lifestyle and honestly eating fruit has never been a struggle for me, however I also enjoy my fair share of sugar and flour and other things that have packed on 65 pounds since June 1st  2012. I was 185 for about a week and then slowly sure enough it all began to pack right back on my body and I struggled to get it under control. With that weight packing on my body I also discovered pains both in my joints and muscles that I haven't felt since I weighed over 400 pounds. I am always exhausted, I could sleep for days and still wake up tired, I have stopped running because my whole body hurts and I have begun to see the affect in other aspects of my life.

Right before Christmas break one of my peers gave me a box of chocolates to enjoy over the holidays, I  ate the first layer before the day was over. I left the box at work because I knew I couldn't be trusted with it at home. Truth is I couldn't be trusted with food of any sort at home. One day I was over talking to a friend of mine who showed me a video about a couple that ran a marathon a day in 2013, that feat is hard enough on it's own but add to it that they did it while only eating fruits and vegetables and then add to that they were in their 60's. It struck a chord with me, then he showed me a video about an elite athlete that to help with his own physical ailment went on a raw vegetable diet and lost weight as well as found himself in a class of his own in the running field.  I am not an athlete by any stretch of the imagination but I thought if these two different stories could log this type of mileage and still find enough nutrients in the fruits and vegetable world then who am I to not even try it.

I will honestly tell you that because I believe in a divine Creator (God) that I believe each human being is unique and can handle things differently from one body to another. While I realize others will argue with me I don't believe that every body type can be a complete fruit and veggie person without introducing proteins in multiple means including at times those that come from animals.  However I have not yet been stamped with the seal of meat eating only so I am willing to put my best efforts into this new lifestyle. I will post my diet in one segment, my weigh ins in another and hopefully pictures along the way..Here's to a journey of hopefully a new me.