I just realized that since beginning my journey to fine My Kind of Healthy, I have not gotten sick once O.O... I used to get colds like nobody's business but in the last 8 months- NO colds, no stomach bugs, very few headaches (I've been treated for severe migraines since I was 5 years old) and less overall malaise! This is huge and I can't believe I haven't realized it since before now. I've been sick most of my life, so sick I've been practically disabled for large parts, so this revelation is amazing and wonderful and I just had to share! If you're like me and get sick often, then I highly suggest that you look into finding your own Kind of Healthy. Not only are the physical changes empowering, motivating and make you feel great about yourself; but being able to not get sick and staying more stable emotionally are also benefits you could reap!
On a side note, be honest with yourself about what you're eating and how much because even if you write down or log having eaten a lesser amount- your body is keeping an accurate diary so to speak and it will come back in one way or another. If you remember later that you forgot to log something then just take a little bit off each day for a few days until you've made it up. We are human, these things happen you don't need to berate yourself!
I am so excited about this latest realization and the prospect of making my goal this week! I'm super motivated now, hope it hold! Have a great week everyone!
How I found my way to health and fitness and how you can have fun along the way!
Monday, February 25, 2013
Saturday, February 23, 2013
When to Up the game
Hello everybody! I hope you had a good week :) Today I'd like to talk about when to Up your game in other words, when to try just a little harder. This is in addition to changing up your workout to keep your body guessing as we discussed last week. So I've had to hardest time trying to break 144lbs, my body just seems to love that number... I came across a meme earlier this week that said "When you want it as much as you need to breath, you'll find a way" At first I thought this was a bit extreme, and it is if you take it literally; but what I take from it is that when you want something enough, when you're willing to compromise, that's when it starts working.
Ever since I got back down to 144 post-holidays I've been trying to use all my points and work out just a little less intensely to get my metabolism ready for when I reach my goal, so that I don't gain all that weight back. This week though, I decided I wanted to see, really just see if I could break 144. I've wanted it for a long time, but on Friday I finally said I wanted it as much as breathing. So I worked myself as hard as I've ever worked and BOOM! I made it down to 142.6lbs and proved to myself that I am strong enough :) Now I'm not saying whenever you feel like you've hit a snag to go out and work yourself to death, all I'm saying is that 1) this takes dedication and probably some sacrifice, especially if you want timely results and 2) if you hit a long-term snag, chances are you're going to have to Up your game.
A lot of this is finding what your body needs, what it likes, and what works. Sweets are my Achilles heel, so I found chocolate flavored gum (sounds nasty but it tastes really good and does the trick!). I know I need to eat protein after a workout to maximize my effort, that even though I may have the points I need to use them on healthier options like fat-free yogurt, proteins and such not sugar. Figuring out some of these things is just trial-and-error, you may notice trends as you get on your journey pay attention to these and make changes accordingly.
A tip for keeping motivated with the healthy eating is to try new recipes! I try to make a new one every week and sometimes depending on if I have company I may try too. These keep your taste buds happy and let you stay on track. Food.com and Pinterest are my two main sources for healthy recipes.
As always, good luck on your journey this week feel free to message me or comment on this post with any questions or comments!
Ever since I got back down to 144 post-holidays I've been trying to use all my points and work out just a little less intensely to get my metabolism ready for when I reach my goal, so that I don't gain all that weight back. This week though, I decided I wanted to see, really just see if I could break 144. I've wanted it for a long time, but on Friday I finally said I wanted it as much as breathing. So I worked myself as hard as I've ever worked and BOOM! I made it down to 142.6lbs and proved to myself that I am strong enough :) Now I'm not saying whenever you feel like you've hit a snag to go out and work yourself to death, all I'm saying is that 1) this takes dedication and probably some sacrifice, especially if you want timely results and 2) if you hit a long-term snag, chances are you're going to have to Up your game.
A lot of this is finding what your body needs, what it likes, and what works. Sweets are my Achilles heel, so I found chocolate flavored gum (sounds nasty but it tastes really good and does the trick!). I know I need to eat protein after a workout to maximize my effort, that even though I may have the points I need to use them on healthier options like fat-free yogurt, proteins and such not sugar. Figuring out some of these things is just trial-and-error, you may notice trends as you get on your journey pay attention to these and make changes accordingly.
A tip for keeping motivated with the healthy eating is to try new recipes! I try to make a new one every week and sometimes depending on if I have company I may try too. These keep your taste buds happy and let you stay on track. Food.com and Pinterest are my two main sources for healthy recipes.
As always, good luck on your journey this week feel free to message me or comment on this post with any questions or comments!
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Pinterest...
Most of you have probably heard of Pinterest by now, the virtual "pin board" where you can collect anything and everything from random memes to wedding ideas. I have succumbed to the mania and have found it a very useful tool in my quest for a healthier me. It has TONS of recipes, inspiration, workouts and just fun stuff :) Here are a few things I'd like to share:
If you'd like to follow pins like these, here's the link to my profile: http://pinterest.com/caitlinlh91/
Enjoy the day my friends!
If you'd like to follow pins like these, here's the link to my profile: http://pinterest.com/caitlinlh91/
Enjoy the day my friends!
Challenges and Changes and Acceptance
Hey everyone! Sorry it's been a bit since I posted last, been busy with school and have had some challenges to work through... So today I'd like to write about acceptance. First of all no matter how far you've yet to go toward your goal, appreciate how far you've already come. This is essential and something I've tried to keep perspective of during my journey. This whole thing can get stressful when you've set a specific weight goal in your mind, no matter if its reasonable or not; when you get within those last 5lbs you're just so ready to get there so ready to be done and your body just has a really hard time accepting that so it won't let go. This is where acceptance comes in, accept how far you've gotten and that you may not get to that final goal for awhile, so take a deep breath, appreciate yourself and applaud your hard work and just keep trying.
For me this took a slight breakdown, a good long chat with my biggest supporter and some chocolate ;) But once I started getting that into my head I made a slight change to my plan, I wouldn't go at it as hard and see what happens. And you know what? I still lost weight that week, I still made progress, and I was less stressed! So the moral here is when you get to that point where it feels like you're trying your hardest and not getting anywhere, take a step back, maybe even a step down and just keep trying, keep believing. Sooner or later you will get there.
Something else I'd like to discuss is the whole idea of keeping your body guessing. So I've heard and read many places that the key to good steady long term weight loss is habit, its having a plan and sticking to it, consistency. But lately this new idea of keeping your body guessing by changing up your workouts, eating slightly more and slightly less on alternating days is growing in strength. Here's my take on it: to get started you need routine and you need habit to get used to it and to be able to stick to it and see consistent results. The changing it up comes when you get to the point I talked about earlier, when that doesn't seem to be working as fast as you'd like and you need a little break a little difference. Either way works and both are good theories in my opinion.
No matter where you are in your journey remember that you can do it, just keep trying and do not get discouraged by setbacks, just turn them into comebacks! We are all in this together :) If you have any questions comments or just want to talk feel free to message me!
For me this took a slight breakdown, a good long chat with my biggest supporter and some chocolate ;) But once I started getting that into my head I made a slight change to my plan, I wouldn't go at it as hard and see what happens. And you know what? I still lost weight that week, I still made progress, and I was less stressed! So the moral here is when you get to that point where it feels like you're trying your hardest and not getting anywhere, take a step back, maybe even a step down and just keep trying, keep believing. Sooner or later you will get there.
Something else I'd like to discuss is the whole idea of keeping your body guessing. So I've heard and read many places that the key to good steady long term weight loss is habit, its having a plan and sticking to it, consistency. But lately this new idea of keeping your body guessing by changing up your workouts, eating slightly more and slightly less on alternating days is growing in strength. Here's my take on it: to get started you need routine and you need habit to get used to it and to be able to stick to it and see consistent results. The changing it up comes when you get to the point I talked about earlier, when that doesn't seem to be working as fast as you'd like and you need a little break a little difference. Either way works and both are good theories in my opinion.
No matter where you are in your journey remember that you can do it, just keep trying and do not get discouraged by setbacks, just turn them into comebacks! We are all in this together :) If you have any questions comments or just want to talk feel free to message me!
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Spaghetti and Meatballs!
One of my most favorite meals in the world is spaghetti and meatballs, and we all known how hard it is to fit pasta into your daily points. So I tried something I saw on good ol' Pinterest and made it with Spaghetti squash! Here's a picture of the final product
Here's what I did to make this delicious, nutritious and super filling meal:
Step 1) Halve a spaghetti squash and place on baking sheet. Bake at 400 for 40 minutes.
Step 2) while the squash is cooling, broil one turkey patty for 10 minutes per side . Optional- season with Italian seasoning, garlic salt, oregano, onion powder and chili powder. While turkey is cooking, put 1/2 cup of Prego Heart Smart Marinara into a bowl and microwave til hot.
Step 3) Take a fork and scrape the desired amount of spaghetti squash into the bowl ( this gives it the spaghetti like appearance) you want to eat out of, scrape rest into a container for future use. Optional- cut up 1/4 a green bell pepper, 1 chive, and any other veggies you like and put to the side.
Step 4) When the turkey patty is cooked through pour the Prego over the squash and microwave for about a minute. While that is heating dice up the turkey patty.
Step 4) Toss turkey, and veggies on top of squash and marinara and lastly top with mozzarella cheese!
This is good for 6pts :)
Enjoy!
Here's what I did to make this delicious, nutritious and super filling meal:
Step 1) Halve a spaghetti squash and place on baking sheet. Bake at 400 for 40 minutes.
Step 2) while the squash is cooling, broil one turkey patty for 10 minutes per side . Optional- season with Italian seasoning, garlic salt, oregano, onion powder and chili powder. While turkey is cooking, put 1/2 cup of Prego Heart Smart Marinara into a bowl and microwave til hot.
Step 3) Take a fork and scrape the desired amount of spaghetti squash into the bowl ( this gives it the spaghetti like appearance) you want to eat out of, scrape rest into a container for future use. Optional- cut up 1/4 a green bell pepper, 1 chive, and any other veggies you like and put to the side.
Step 4) When the turkey patty is cooked through pour the Prego over the squash and microwave for about a minute. While that is heating dice up the turkey patty.
Step 4) Toss turkey, and veggies on top of squash and marinara and lastly top with mozzarella cheese!
This is good for 6pts :)
Enjoy!
Balance...
One of the hardest things in life, and dieting especially, is balance. Balancing food with exercise, rest with effort, and then what kinds of food- protein vs. fat, carbs vs. protein, and all that. You can't eat too much but you can't eat too little as well! I've found that I can't eat less than 18 out of my 23 points a day and still lose my 1-2lbs a week. For awhile I was only eating 16 out of 25 points a day, and that worked really well for awhile, but I was tired all the time. And then, I stopped loosing weight! I was so upset and depressed, all this work, not eating hardly anything and I couldn't lose anything! My mom, who's worried about me losing weight this fast because of all the toxins (chemo) and medications that my body is detoxing as it loses fat, told me to try eating more. I tried that reluctantly and actually started to lose weight again.
The lesson here is don't eat too far under your points, those points are supposed to be low enough for you to lose weight anyways so under counting them is just a recipe for disaster. The next set of scales to balance is what kind of food you're eating. My worst enemy is sweets, I HAVE to eat something sweet everyday or I will cheat... Candy kisses, healthy cookies and treats, I've found ways to make it work :) Whatever your Achilles heel is, try your best to give yourself just a little bit of it, even if its just once a week.
Timing is a new facet I'm learning to deal with... For example, post workout if you eat more protein-rich meals you feel fuller longer and you're results will show the effort! I go for a nice chicken salad and some cottage cheese and fruit. Also, I try really really hard not to eat past 8pm unless I just can't avoid it, meetings or work running late for instance . It has been shown time and time again that your metabolism pretty much shuts down at 8 even if you're a night owl, so eating past that time is not the best thing you can do for yourself. Having this 8 pm deadline helps me to space my meals and snack throughout the day better as well.
That's how I try to maintain balance, how do you?
The lesson here is don't eat too far under your points, those points are supposed to be low enough for you to lose weight anyways so under counting them is just a recipe for disaster. The next set of scales to balance is what kind of food you're eating. My worst enemy is sweets, I HAVE to eat something sweet everyday or I will cheat... Candy kisses, healthy cookies and treats, I've found ways to make it work :) Whatever your Achilles heel is, try your best to give yourself just a little bit of it, even if its just once a week.
Timing is a new facet I'm learning to deal with... For example, post workout if you eat more protein-rich meals you feel fuller longer and you're results will show the effort! I go for a nice chicken salad and some cottage cheese and fruit. Also, I try really really hard not to eat past 8pm unless I just can't avoid it, meetings or work running late for instance . It has been shown time and time again that your metabolism pretty much shuts down at 8 even if you're a night owl, so eating past that time is not the best thing you can do for yourself. Having this 8 pm deadline helps me to space my meals and snack throughout the day better as well.
That's how I try to maintain balance, how do you?
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