Week 6 Weigh In 8.25.11

Okra Chips

Whitney
Well, I have only 2 more days on my reboot plan and I'm excited about eating some other foods soon.  Not the foods you might be thinking as this is a reboot to a new way of eating. My goal is to be characterized by clean eating from here on out. Characterized, meaning how I plan to eat 90% of the time. I'm still learning what it means to be a clean eater but I'm excited about it. I want to be the best I can be! So, back to the foods I'm looking forward to eating. PROTEIN!  Adding tuna to my salad or some grilled chicken sounds divine! But, I think I'll start with some beans and nuts and see how I feel. I will be on a retreat this weekend so I will probably continue a slightly modified version of the 15 day reboot until Monday.

I continue to feel pretty good. No headaches! Any fatigue/sleepiness I've felt I've have been able to directly connect to my drugs. I'm really ready to wean off of those.  So, overall I am encouraged and also very curious what foods cause me to feel badly when I eat them. That will be another interesting journey in itself.

Now to find out if I'm a loser! The scale has fluctuated a bit this week but I woke up to a 2.2 lbs loss. Yeah!  That is a total of 6.6 lbs in 13 days. I was kinda hoping I would lose 10lbs during this 15 day reboot but I know that was probably an unrealistic goal. I am very happy with 6.6.

Week 6 Weigh In: 165.2
+/- this week: -2.2
Total loss: 10.4

*I started logging into My Fitness Pal and trying to lose weight a week or so before we started this blog. So, that's why my ticker to the left is always different. I had lost 1.2. So I've synced them now by adding that 1.2 to my total weight loss.

Green Smoothie Cheers To Your Health!
Whitney

Katie
I've been in Charleston all this week and, in general, have felt a little better than usual.  During those times, I've tried to sneak in some greens and make some healthier choices. If I continue to feel better (ignoring the hack this AM), then I'm going to try and work my way back in to the gym next week.  I'm tired of laying around and feeling so lethargic.  In the meantime, I have a baby check up this afternoon at 4pm, so please pray for a sweet heartbeat.  It will be music to my ears :)

Week 6 Weigh In: 178
+/- this week: -1.0
Total loss: 0.6

Reboot Day 8, 9, 10...and 11

I apologize for being absent the last few days. I know I've said this before but I don't know how other mommies of little ones blog everyday. I mean, life is crazy busy all day long I hardly have time to eat!

  So...It kinda feels like I've been doing this a loooong time. It mostly has to do with how much time I spend in the kitchen and at the grocery. I think if I wasn't cooking/fixing meals for my 3 children each day in addition to my own meals it wouldn't feel that way. I've also experimented with several different recipes which takes time. I would assume the longer I do this the easier and faster it will be. I definitely have not eaten enough the last couple of days and probably more fruits than vegetables as they are easier to grab and go. But my smoothies are packed full of veggies! Yesterday I was closer to a 70/30 veggie-fruit ratio. Much better and I am going to do the same today.

Hunger hasn't been a huge issue most days and when I am hungry it's usually because my days are just so busy that I haven't had time to eat.  I'm still feeling pretty good with bouts of tiredness but that is probably due to my medications and not eating enough. I wouldn't say I'm craving anything in particular but other foods still look good, smell good and are tempting. But, this is teaching me that I am capable of resisting anything at anytime. It's all about prayer, commitment and mindset. I can do this, I can do this....

Now that I'm less than a week away from the end of my reboot I am really contemplating what foods I want to reintroduce and when. I have felt bad for so long and I am definitely feeling better than I have in a while. I'm thinking I'll reintroduce foods one at a time and see how they make me feel. I'd like to be able to pinpoint what foods make me sick. Not sure the best way to do that. I'll have to investigate. Any insight you may have, please share!

A wonderful treat this week has been having Katie in town with her kiddos. The poor girl feels like dump. We're just praying the end of that is right around the corner. It's so exhausting to feel nauseous and tired while also taking care of a one year old and almost 3 year old. Hopefully a few days at the beach has helped. Keep praying for her!

More tomorrow....I think. :)

Whitney

Weigh In Week 5 8.18.11

Green Smoothie

Whitney

Well, it's day 7 of my Reboot and I feel good! Today I started my day with some watermelon, had a green smoothie for lunch, homemade baked kale chips as a snack.  And since it was spaghetti night at our house I made some spaghetti for myself! Spaghetti squash that is, with a homemade tomato sauce. Yum. So thankful that I have some long distance friends who are also doing a reboot who gave me the idea for that recipe. It was really good!

Making kale chips

 My boys started school this week and it's made it tough to work out. But,  I still got 4 workouts in and pushed myself to go faster and for longer during my last two runs. I was getting into a routine of working out in the morning before Pete left for work but now that the boys have to be up at 6:15 to get ready for school it's put the kabosh on that. So, I need to find a new routine...hmmm.  I really miss being able to go to the gym. : -(
So I'm sure you're wondering if the scale has been good to me after this week of rebooting. I am pleased to say that I am down 4.6 this week!  That makes kale chips taste even better!! I hope that this next week proves to be just as successful. I'll continue to blog daily about my journey. I wish I had more time because I would love to share recipes and such. Maybe I can end my 15 days by doing so.  Off to make my dessert for the night - fresh strawberry and spinach smoothie!

Week 5 Weigh In: 167.6
-/+  this week: - 4.6
Total Loss: 7

"Spaghetti"

Katie
I'm alive. How's that? I'm nauseous and sometimes miserable, but I knew this was coming and I also know there's a light at the end of this tunnel. Hopefully I will see that light sooner rather than later.  With Jack, the morning sickness was terrible every day, and lasted 20 weeks.  With Ryan, it was terrible some days (much like now), and only lasted 14 weeks.  I'll be 10 weeks on Saturday. I'm so anxious to get back to the gym and eat something GREEN, so please pray that this lets up sooner rather than later.  In the meantime, I did try one of Whit's smoothies (with some spinach and celery) and it was great! She's rockin' it and I'm so proud of her discipline!!!!

Week 5 Weigh In: 179
+/- this week:  +3
Total loss/gain: +.4

Reboot Day 5 and 6

Yesterday and today have gone pretty well.  I'm not unusually hungry, and I've been satisfied by my juices, smoothies, fruits and veggies. I will say it is time consuming to cook for my family and also fix "meals" for myself.  Another reality that is kicking in is that this is not a cheap eating plan. When you're only eating fruits and veggies you go through them a lot quicker. It's not financially possible for me to continue this plan for a longer term even if I wanted to. :(
But, I'm feeling pretty good! I have more energy during the day and not tired/sleepy like I usually feel. I am definitely getting tired at night (when I should!) which is also a plus. Speaking of, I think I should write these posts earlier in the day when I'm not struggling to keep my eyes open!
Tomorrow is weigh in day. I'll be posting earlier for sure - hopefully with good news!

Cheers to Health,
Whitney

Reboot Day 4

Another day down! I am feeling pretty good and haven't been tired at all today. This is a miracle people! Right, Katie?! I hope this is only the beginning. I am missing other foods more today... Grocery shopping(ugh!) and cooking for the family is challenging. Ending day 4 and having 11 more to go seems like a looong time to be doing this. I'm really missing greek yogurt and popcorn. Popcorn is a vegetable, right?!? That wouldn't be cheating would it? Hmmm....  :-)
Tomorrow is the 1st day of school for my precious boys. I'm up way to late (12:30am) and will be getting up way to early (5:45am).  More tomorrow my friends!

Cheers to Health!
Whitney

Reboot Day 3

I crashed last night and didn't get this post up.  Sorry about that. Day 3 has definitely been the toughest. I didn't have a headache today but I was very very tired and somewhat dizzy. I was also hungry and felt more tempted to eat other foods.  Cooking for others makes it even more tempting! But I held my ground, made a giant salad for me to munch on for dinner and I was satisfied. The last 3 days I have also gone to bed earlier which is great! For one, I've been tired.  But, I usually stay up and snack & drink wine and watching tv after the kids are in bed. It's my "me time" that has become quite the habit. So, sitting on the couch watching tv makes me want to eat! So I've been avoiding it.  As my energy increases and I don't feel like going to bed at 8pm I need to think of things I can do to create new habits.  Like, reading in bed with a cup of decaf green tea, bubble baths, journaling, catching up on my email inbox, preparing myself for the next day (getting organized!). Got any other ideas for me?
"They" say that if you can just get past day 3 you'll start feeling great on this reboot. Hoping day 4 is full of energy and feeling great!

Cheers to Health!
Whitney

Reboot Day 2

Today has been a pretty good day mainly because my friend, Heather Plis introduced me to a green smoothie this morning after our run. It is WAY better than the green juice I drank yesterday. Heather also has her own weight loss blog called "Hope Plis to Hot Plis". Check it out here!

Today a raging headache kicked in as well as tiredness and weakness. It hasn't gone away yet. Thankfully, we had friends over tonight which kept me busy and distracted.  We had a great time! But wow.  I can't believe how I'm crashing. I'm really struggling to pull this post together. My brain is responding slowly and my eyes are heavy......

I've been hungry a times during the day but it hasn't been unbearable at all. Looking forward to a good night's rest and hopefully a headache-free day tomorrow!

Cheers to Health!
Whitney

Reboot Day 1

I started off my day eating a nectarine so I could take my pills with something in my stomach and then drank the lovely concoction you see above over the next hour or so. Green juice is not horrible but as this day has gone on I've looked less and less forward to making it again tomorrow. So, maybe that means I don't like it. I think that I put in too much ginger and maybe the celery taste is too strong for me? I'll have to work on a different recipe.....
For lunch I had an avocado and for an afternoon snack I made a berry smoothie with water, frozen organic cherries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and strawberries. Yum! I froze half of it to have as a type of sorbet tomorrow. For dinner I ate a bunch of asparagus and now I'm enjoying some decaf green tea and listening to my stomach growl. Yep, I'm hungry. I'm also tired but not miserably so. Definitely going to bed early tonight. Thankfully my gradual tapering off of my morning coffee last week helped a lot as I have only had the slightest of headaches today.
It's 7:45 and I think I just might go to bed when my kids do - 8:00! One day down....

Week 4 Weigh In, 8.11.11 and... A Twist

Katie
So, this is how I'm going to to find out who our true blog followers are... Over the past couple of weeks, I have not worked out. How's that for uninspiring??  I also have been eating things that my 3 year old might choose (PBJ, crackers, waffles, etc,) instead of the smart, healthy choices of a full grown adult.  The reason for this is nausea. The reason for nausea is Baby #3.  Yeah....whoa.

So, let me see if I can answer a few questions that might come up:

1. Was this planned? Not quite. We have considered a third, but felt our hands were full so the timing wasn't right.  Apparently God has another plan and we're embracing that.  I will say that I find it easier to embrace when I'm not gagging, but that's irrelevant.  We are happy and know that it will be an adventure.
2. How far along are you? I'll be 9 weeks this Saturday and due March 17th. I was sick with Jack until 20 weeks but only 15 weeks with Ryan, so we'll hope for the best.  Especially since I'm heading to Haiti for a week on September 10th (prayers please!!!).
3. You've ruined the name of the blog, Katie! How could you??!!  Believe it or not, I'm going to continue with the blog, but the focus will shift a bit.  Obviously, losing pounds will not be the goal.  However, in my past two pregnancies, I've eaten whatever (survival mode) during my morning sickness and then when I started feeling better, I never really shifted out of that phase, or did much working out.  I plan to blog about remaining healthy THROUGH this pregnancy and then as I work to lose the post-baby pounds. FOR GOOD.

So there's your twist! Fun, huh?  Your encouragement and love will be greatly appreciated through this journey.  Or, if you just feel inspired to come take my kids for a few days, that would always be welcome, too.  hee hee

Week 4 Weigh In:  176.0
+/- this week:  +0.6
Total loss: 2.6 lbs

Whitney


Quite a twist, huh? I bet you didn't see that one coming. Neither did we! But, that's what this blog is about. Real life. Life is full of surprises - sometimes daily! Whether it be a surprise party or a surprise pregnancy our goal is to learn how to make healthy choices in every life situation. I've found there is always a "valid" reason to eat whatever you want and gain weight. You don't have to look too hard to find some justification and get others around you to agree.  Here's some I've used:
I'm pregnant - it's a "craving". My son has brain cancer.  My husband travels a lot. I'm too busy to cook.  I'm starting a new diet tomorrow.  Hormones!! The antidepressants that I take make me hungry/gain weight. I've had a stressful day with the kids. I've done so well all week I deserve this... The list could go on and on. 

E X C U S E S. 

 
I've also found there is always a reason to celebrate on a monthly basis if not weekly! Between sugar-soaked holidays like Christmas, Valentine's Day, Easter, Mother's Day, Birthdays, & Halloween to the other food-focused holidays such as Thanksgiving, New Year's, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Memorial Day, kids birthday parties... - you get the picture.  The temptation to eat things that taste good but aren't good for us is never going to go away.  We must maneuver around these obstacles and stay on the healthy track. Surprises will come.  Nothing about this is easy. But, I do believe the longer we do it the easier it will get!

Speaking of not being easy, that just about sums up my first month of this weight loss journey. NOT EASY.  It hasn't been the temptations so much as it has been the discouragement of not seeing results on the scale given my efforts.  I'm realizing I don't know as much about food as I thought. Apparently I'm also addicted to processed foods & empty calories and I drink too much alcohol. All of this while still staying under my 1400 calorie a day goal doesn't amount to much weight loss.  This week I have ditched all alcohol at home and minimized my processed foods. I've tried to eat more during the day, more consistently and less at night.  Most days this week I was very happy with my choices. We have had various family members in town so I had a few drinks when we were out but this was minimal compared to my nightly glass/glasses of wine. And, I got all my work outs in!  With all these changes including a weigh in day change to Thursday, I was hopeful that the scale would be nice to me this morning. Guess what?? I weigh exactly the same as I did last week! I'm starting to think that I'm crazy for actually expecting this thing to work. And yet, I remain hopeful because tomorrow I will begin a 15 day juice fast which will include eating mostly raw fruits and vegetables. I found my missing juicer piece. Turns out I had it all along I had just put the darn thing together wrong! Nice. Just glad I "found" it. I really feel like I'm stuck and I am in serious need of a system reboot. I was really inspired by the documentary, "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" and I will be following thier reboot entry program which you can view here.

My main reasons for doing this juice fast are:

• Detox from processed foods, sugar, salt, caffeine, alcohol, etc,..

• Weight loss (thanks captain obvious).

• Improve the way I feel cause I feel like Monkey Junk most of the time. By the way, Monkey Junk is bad. Very bad.

• Crave and eat more fruits and veggies after the fast & eat healthier forever.

• Possibly find healing through healthy food and be able to stop taking my medications for clinical depression,and ADHD.

• Mentally detox from emotional eating.

I know this won't be easy but I am determined to do this. I've heard getting past day 3 is the toughest part. So please be praying for me. And please pray that God will speak to me during this time. Ultimately, I want healing from the inside out and I want to be free from the bondage of eating disorders. Bring on the healing & bring on the health! Looking good naked would be nice, too....

We really love your comments, feedback and advice. Seriously, you have been a wonderful encouragement to us!  Some of you have said you haven't been able to post comments on the website. I have no idea why that is - any suggestions from you other bloggers out there on how to remedy this?  We've also found that the email notification is a bit slow and inconsistent. For example, when I posted on Monday I didn't recieve the email of the post until Tuesday afternoon. Weird. Anyone still not getting emails even though you signed up? If so, please email us at: mysistersaloser@gmail.com and we'll try to get to the bottom of it. Thanks!

I'll be posting daily for the next 15 days. Cheers to health!!


Week 4 Weigh In:  172.0
+/- this week: 0
Total loss: 2.4 lbs

Weigh In Week 4 8.8.2011

Whitney:
This week has been really great and it has nothing to do with the scale. A victory in itself - for me anyway! I have had several "ah-ha" moments as I have prayed, read "Made to Crave", and at the urging of several friends, watched "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead".  I highly recommend the book (Amazon) and the documentary movie which is available through instant Netflix.  Both the book and the movie are changing my life. I would swear Lysa TurKeurst has been a fly on the wall in my life, read my thoughts and then wrote this book.  I mean, it is SO me! I feel like I am in the midst of an awakening when it comes to food and health. Regardless of what the scale says,  isn't that what this is really all about??
About the scale... I have been advised by a close friend, ( you may remember my buddy Hank Hanna who is almost at the halfway mark of losing 100 lbs!!) that Monday is NOT the day to weigh in. I mean, apparently nobody weighs in on a Monday. In the grand scheme of things I don't think it really matters what day of the week you weigh in if you're trending down and the weight loss is permanent.  But, if there is any day of the week where Katie and I might indulge,celebrate etc,.. it's going to be the weekend.  Therefore the scale could temporarily betray us on Monday.  In these first weeks and months of working hard we really need the encouragement of a good weigh in. So, we are going to skip our weigh in today and move it to THURSDAY.  I'm also going to do a 7-10 day juicing fast!  I haven't decided which day to start due to the fact that I can't find one very essential part of my juicer. UGH! Pray that I find it cause it's driving me crazy!! Hopefully I find it soon and can start juicing this week.

OK, I hope to blog again tomorrow because I'd really like to share some of my "ah-ha" moments if possible. We have family in town this week so it may not happen but I'll do my best.  We'll be back no later than Thursday for an official week 4 weigh in!
Thanks for supporting us & for your comments! We love it and need it!!

Whitney (for Whitney and Katie)

Week 3 Weigh In 8.1.11

Whitney here. (Monday, 10am) I had a really good week of logging all of my food on My Fitness Pal and making healthier choices - less empty calories! I ran 2 days, did the elliptical one day, and Jillian/Ripped in 30, 4 days. I really feel like I've turned a corner. I was saying no to my emotions that were telling me "Nuts are bad! Too much fat!" and just moving forward with healthy eating one meal at a time. I stayed under my calorie goal everyday. Combined with last week's efforts and the fact that I've been weighing myself almost everyday I felt nervous but confident about weighing in this morning.  ...Unfortunately, the scale has hardly budged and I weighed in at 174. And yes, I cried. I don't really get it because I weighed as low as 170 during this week....
I don't have much else to say except I'm discouraged and sad and feeling a little bit like it's hopeless. 3 weeks without any pay off especially when you're starting a new plan and broadcasting it on the web makes me feel like a fool. Guess I'll keep doing what I'm doing. Though I confess I haven't eaten today and I've already ditched my workout. Hard to be motivated today...
**(Monday, 4pm) So, I just stepped on the scale for no reason other than I left it sitting in the middle of the bathroom floor and I weighed 172!! What? I'm confused but I'll take it! This is definitely more consistent with what I was weighing throughout the week. Thank you, Lord for the encouragement that I needed!! Woo Hoo! My goals this week: drink less wine (I love my glass of wine every night), workout 6 days, and meet my calorie goal with minimal empty calories.


Week 3 Weigh In: 172
Loss this week: 2.2
Total loss: 2.4

Katie here. I managed to make it to the gym twice this week(Cycling class and then an elliptical/stair monster combo) but I still need to squeeze at least one more in somewhere. Friday workouts always seem to get lost in the mix of whatever else.  I journaled 6 out of 7 days this week and stayed within my daily point range, but definitely used up all my extra points on a rich anniversary dinner out.  The fried mushrooms, wedge salad and ravioli were well worth the spend...mmmmm.  All and all, a good week. Yesterday was my hardest day b/c I was extra hungry, but I didn't lose complete control.  A good week.  My goals this week:  MORE WATER STILL (so hard for me) and squeezing that 3rd workout in.  We'll see if I can do this in the midst of potty training Jack (hack!).  Preschool starts Monday and I also need to make sure I don't eat through those emotions.

Week 3 Weigh In:  175.4
Loss this week: 1.4
Total Loss: 3.4