My Processed Life!

The Processed Me!

For 40 years and 7 months I would say that 80-90% of my daily intake was processed food. Whether I was eating out, picking up in the dive thru, heating up microwave meals, or eating whatever else was quick and convenient, that was my diet! During my early years and thru my early 30's my diet consisted of candy and sweets. It would have been very comparable to Elf's Diet: Candy, Candy Cane, Candy Corn, and Syrup! However by the time I got into my mid 30's my blood sugar could not handle this diet anymore and by 2 in the afternoon, I was in what I like to call my "diabetic coma," I realized then I should incorporate more "food" into my diet, so I started eating "better". My Sister, Karen has told me for years my diet was horrible and I should eat healthier and drink more water. My favorite answer was: "But I love candy and pies!" Through the years I have tried out a few diets in order to maintain a certain weight! I have done Atkins, Sugar Busters, Juicing and Slimfast, just to name a few! I also made up a few of my own diets: The Pepperoni and Popcorn Diet and more recently The Cup of Soup Diet! Again my Sister, Karen would tell me this was horrible for my body! Through the years all my dieting, bad eating habits, and eating basically whatever I want kept my weight pretty much the same until.......... I reached 40! One day after Christmas I got on the scale and realized I was 20 pounds over my "normal" weight! I panicked and researched all kinds of diets on the internet! The one I came up with as being the easiest and again most convenient was Slimfast! So I purchased allot of Slimfast and started on January 2, 2014! Let me add, Slimfast tasted great and it was easy to keep up with! And low and behold I dropped 10 pounds the first few days! My sister looked at the labels on Slimfast and said, "This is horrible for your body! There so many preservatives in these that they are probably embalming your body!" I laughed it off and said, "I love preservatives." I stayed on Slimfast until early March and I am sad to say I had lost no new pounds! I felt just like I always have in the past when eating a horrible diet: tired, lethargic, no energy, highs and lows in blood sugar, and in general just blah! In February my sister asked me to commit to walking the Kiawah Half Marathon coming up in December and I agreed(what was I thinking :) .) As part of the training we had to write up some goals to help us be successful. When she first sent the idea, I was thinking why do I need goals? So I sent her a list of goals, which included the Elf Diet just to be funny! After 2 days of battling my own self and I finally decided that it was time to take care of myself! I actually come up with some goals and I am determine to stick to them. (At the end of this post you can see my goals listed!) I started tracking my goals the morning of  March 13, 2014. As a part of my sister's goals, she decided she would try a vegan diet for one month and suggested a few movies for me to watch on Netflix! On the night of March 13, 2014 I watched Hungry For Change( you can find it on Netflix) and I sat there in shock as they talked about the food we eat and how the majority of it has  preservatives, chemicals, sugar and all sorts of horrible things-the list goes on and on! Honestly it scared me to death to think about what I was taking into my body! I decided that night.....No more processed foods! I am not going to lie and say since then I have not had anything processed in the weeks since then, but I can assure it has been very minimal. I will admit the first few day of coming off processed foods was pretty rough, I did not feel that great! But after a few days I was like a new person! In the 3 weeks I have been doing this I have never felt better, had more energy, a clearer head and best of all I just feel better about myself in general! I would also like to note that in over 2 weeks I have not had to take anything for indigestion! This is huge for me! Every morning and every evening I took a pill for indigestion and most nights I would wake up and need to chew a few tums just to get indigestion to go way so  I could go back to sleep! So far that has been not only a money saver but a health benefit! I have decided for me this is not one of my diets or fads, this is a LIFE CHANGE! I still have not lost any new pounds since the Slimfast diet and at times I do feel discouraged, but I keep reminding myself this not a diet, this is my New Life! Over the past few weeks I have kept a photo journal of recipes I have made, and items I have purchased! There are photos of my son actually eating healthier, and my favorite The Kitchen Makeover! Since I have decided to blog about it 3 weeks into the game I will post the blog entries with the current date and put in title of the entry when it actually happened! I am blogging to keep a journal of my journey through this Life Change, maybe no one will read my b log, or maybe someone will read it and be inspired to give up processed foods!


 Two blogs that have been and inspiration to me and that I have gotten allot of great recipes and ideas from are: 

100 Days of Real Food- She is inspiration behind me not only changing my ways but my children's eating habits!
http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/start-here/

The Food Babe- She has inspired me to read labels and question exactly what I am eating! 
http://foodbabe.com/

My Goals: Started March 13, 2014

Spiritual Growth:

1.       1.  Read Bible Everyday

2.       2.  Read Inspirational Book- currently read Becoming Myself- Embracing God’s Dream of You! by Stasi Eldridge and  

              Overwhelmed by Perry Noble.

3.       3.  Remove all Social Media from Phone

Attitude:

1.       1. Be Positive

2.       2. Be Focused

3.       3. Learn to Value Myself-

        *You Is Smart, You is Kind, You is Important! 
         * You Are Strong, Your Are Powerful, You Can Do Anything, and You Are a Winner!

4.       4. Encourage Others

5.       5. Weigh Once a Week

6.       6. Do At Least One Kind Deed a Week

Food:

1.       1. Cut Way Down on Processed Foods

2.       2. Increase Intake of Fruits and Vegetables

3.       3. Try to Juice Several Meals a Week

4.       4. No Diet Soft Drinks

5.       5. No Artificial Sweeteners

6.       6. Drink Lots of Water and UN-sweet Tea

7.       7. Lemon/Cayenne water every morning

Exercise:

1.       1. Do My Work Out Video at Least 3 Nights a Week.

2.       2. Walk at Least 3 Days a Week.

3.       3. Work on My Walking Speed.

Accountability:

1.       1. Track My Goal Success in One Note

2.       2. Track Calories in My Fitness Pal