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A poem about my volatile relationship with sugar.
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My muffin top...you've taken on a life of your own in recent years, spilling over the waist band of my favorite jeans, making my shape from behind look like a stuffed sausage (in cooperation with the rolls on my back) and NO shirt could hide you!! You have been relentless in your ability to sabotage even the best pair of spanks!! You moved in as a small visitor...hanging around, looking innocent, like you were no big deal. I actually got used to you and became adept at clothing myself to accommodate your presence. I began to think you were here to stay, as you gradually grew and grew, the way a marshmallow puffs up when it's roasted!! In fact...more than a few roasted marshmallows have fed your size over the years! I found myself in many a conversation about you with my friends...they talk about their muffin top...I talk about mine. We joke about you...because it was laugh or cry.
I'm here to tell you, Muffin Top, that your funeral is today. You have died a total and irreversible death to me! The measuring tape doesn't lie...8.5 victorious inches gone.... I have deprived you of your favorite fuel and fed my muscles instead with clean, healthy foods!! I saw you shrinking, gradually, and have been quietly watching you disappear....into oblivion!!! Well NO MORE!! No quiet hoping, no keeping my fingers crossed that you would leave!! I am shouting LOUD and PROUD....Muffin Top....YOU ARE GONE!!!!!! Yahooo!!!!!
I can put on my old favorite jeans and they are too big! My new jeans are 2 sizes smaller and make my butt look AWESOME!!! I have had 2 new holes put in my fav belt so it doesn't flop around!!! There is unbelievably NOTHING hanging out over these new jeans!!! Nothing but the tail end of my shirt!!! AHHHH! LIFE IS GOOD!!!
Clean Eating WORKS!!!!!! Can I say it any other way???? I was addicted to sugar...I was THE WORSE emotional eater and stuffed my feelings for years (at least 30)...so to all of you out there, hoping, keeping your fingers crossed...it DOES work! NO PERFECTION needed!!! You just start...you take it one meal, one day at a time and it works!!!!! :))))))))
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People didn't realize I was shrinking inside my winter coat!
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I can't even begin to tell you what losing 100 pounds feels like. It is the most freeing feeling. And not just because of the weight, but because of all the mental 'junk' I have unloaded. I knew to be successful, and I mean to keep the weight off, I had to deal with alot of hurt, anger, pain, that I have held onto all my life. It was like having a sack slung over each shoulder and on the 'life road' I picked up stones, none of which was ever disgarded. And when I did do hcg and got the first 60 pounds off, while a nutritionist monitored my clean diet, and God dealt with each issue, I was able to focus on those stones and start pitching them one by one. So that when this March rolled round, I was able, to embrace the CE lifestyle and walk on my own. Wow..I can't believe it...I have, about 40 more to lose. This is an estimate, I am of small frame, about 5'7", and would think 150 would be good. We'll see. I am taking it one day at a time. I give God all the glory...I don't know what I would do without Him. I peeled off layers of fat visably, but it was really layers of armor, that I had cushioned myself with, to block the hurt. But it was not blocking hurt, but holding it all in, and slowly but surely destroying the peron I was meant to be. One major thing God let me know. No matter what, I am not alone, even when the room or world appears empty, He is always right there beside me. He has blessed me with friends and family, but ultimately He is all I need. Embrace who you are meant to be and move forward!
John 8:34-36 The Message... Jesus said, "I tell you most solemnly that anyone who chooses a life of sin is trapped in a dead-end life and is, in fact, a slave. A slave is a transient, who can't come and go at will. The Son, though, has an established position, the run of the house. So if the Son sets you free, you are free through and through.
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I have been eating clean for 5 months now and I am SO happy to say that I have lost 65 pounds (woohoo ~ SOOO happy !!!). I have also changed so much in so many other ways. I find the most wonderful change since eating clean is the change it has made for me mentally. I have overcome my addiction. Don't get me wrong I completely understand that I will need to be concious of this always ~ but now I have the tools to overcome that addiction (thank you Tosca and all of my wonderful friends here at the table). Sugar and chemicals no longer pollute my body and mess with my mind. I am no longer obsessed by the thought of food. So many times in the past with other "diets" it was all about the weight loss and I never thought about what was best for my body. What an eye opener eating clean has been. I care about what goes in our bodies now. I care that there are no chemicals and no junk ~ I care about what is healthy for us. I love everything I am feeling and the weight loss is like an added bonus. I Really DO love that bonus =o) ~ but I love, love, love the whole package that eating clean is! I have become a much stronger person mentally. Food no longer controls me. It is a truly amazing experience. I have overcome my addiction. Sugar and chemicals are evil little things and when you no longer put them in your body ~ your body rewards you for it.
Thanks again to all of you who have shared this journey with me so far ~ the support, laughs, advice and friendship have meant the world to me =o)
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Took my book to the Wellness Coach and.......
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This is some background information on me and how I began my clean eating journey.
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Motivation from strangers...in some of the strangest places.
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Wow, I love it! I just hit 36 pounds down yesterday after the holiday weekend! My son and daughter-in-law grilled for us and all but one dish was "clean" (I skipped it). It is so wonderful to have family support and encouragement. I have been living the life since April 16th, my new life that is. I'm used to seeing my clothes getting tighter and having to buy new ones I've grown out of, its amazing to go to the closet and fit into things I've never buttoned or been able to get into before. Every day is a new exciting adventure. I'm getting to buy new clothes for the right reason now! I've NEVER wore capris before, but bought two pair this weekend, and they don't look bad. Aside from the weight loss, this life style has given me so many other great benefits, controlled and NORMAL blood sugar; lower blood pressure and amazing energy. Thank you Tosca and all my eat clean friends for your help and encouragment.
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The following is a short story on slowly overcoming one of my food addictions, which is to SWEETS. I hope you enjoy it.
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So, this past week, I made a batch of one of my favorite sweets –peanut butter cup brownies –for a friend of mine as a birthday gift. Truth be told, I love to bake because it means I get to eat some of the sugary stuff myself. As one of my favorite pastimes, I loved to dip a spoon into whatever batter I was concocting before getting it on the pan or into the oven. Of course, after the baked good emerged from the oven, I had – just HAD to taste it to make sure it came out right! Oh man, I had it bad! I was addicted! It took eating clean to make me realize how bad my addiction to sweets really was; I clearly had been living in denial for a long, long time. I should add that I had no problem justifying my sweet indulgences with the distance runs and other cardio workouts I did too. But, eating this stuff was really damaging me on the inside. By the time I reached my 30’s, I was suffering from hypoglycemia. If that wasn’t a red alert, I don’t know what was! Anyway, on this particular night of baking (which I do much more infrequently now), as hard as I tried to resist, the bowl called for a spoonful of the sweet batter after the brownies were mixed up. Did I feel guilty for tasting it? Well, yeah, at first, but then I was actually GLAD that I tasted the batter that I thought I wanted so badly. Why? Because I found out it didn’t taste so good anymore! I was actually left with a bitter, icky aftertaste, which disgusted me to be quite honest. (Note to self: processed food doesn’t taste so good anymore now that I appreciate clean food!) Of course next came the cutting and packaging of the brownies and –gasp!—the leftovers, once the pan had emerged from the oven. Once a “highly anticipated” activity for me (cutting meant I got the crumbs, right?), was no longer a pleasure for me after eating that nasty batter. I didn’t even want to eat a bite of brownie after that, not even a crumb! So yes, this post is a “brag” of sorts because I resisted what used to be a given temptation for me. I didn’t indulge in the brownies – not at all. After I wrapped up my friend’s tasty treats, I cut the rest and took them to work to pawn off onto my co-workers. Where did the crumbs go (I know you were going to ask!)? Into the trash! Yeah, that’s right! I tossed what I used to go bonkers for directly into the trash. And for that, I am proud!! I feel that I’ve come a long way, even if my clean eating journey has been three weeks short.
Here’s to many more challenges I’ll overcome (and lessons learned too!) in the ensuing months! Bring it on!