40 days!

It's so far past time for me to quit being lazy and get healthy. Far past time! So I'm working on it now, working hard!!

I just completed 40 days of a 500 calorie/day diet. UGH! and YAY!

Here's what I have to say about it:

#1 - I don't want to hear about how unhealthy it is/was. It can not be any more unhealthy than how I was eating previously (which was terrible and I mean terrible!) (And I can't believe how many people feel the need to rain on my parade and say something negative about all the positive changes I've made. "That's unhealthy" "You're going to gain it all back" "That will damage your organs" "You'll never be able to keep it up." Really?? How about. "Wow! You go girl!" (A special thanks to Chris, Mom and Renning who have been my cheerleaders every one of these 40 days.)

#2 - It. was. hard. One of the hardest things I've ever done in my life. I learned that I can do REALLY, SERIOUSLY, HARD things. I cut out all starch, dairy, fat, sugar and caffeine in the same week. I thought I might not live through the first week and a half. I'm pretty sure my family didn't want me to. It was brutal. But for me, I needed something extreme like this to kick start this major change of mine. For a lot of people, maybe they wouldn't need to cut it all at once. For me, it worked.

#3 - I learned A LOT! We have made a ton of changes. My bad habits have been broken, the kids' bad habits have been broken. Some of Chris' bad habits have been broken. :-) We eat a TON of vegetables and lean proteins around here. We eat a ton less fast food. It's been weeks since Clare asked to have lunch at McDonald's. (She used to ask everyday - and most days I'd say yes.) I make healthier, lower calorie dinners for my family every night. I don't buy crap at the grocery store. If there are no chips and candy here, we don't eat it!!! I used to sit from 8-11 every night when I work and eat. the. whole. time. I don't eat at all while working now, and I don't need to! That's the most exciting thing! It's not in my head anymore, it's not a habit anymore.

#4 - Now? I'm on day 5 of a 6 week healthy 1800 cals/day maintenance. I'm still being careful with starch and sugar and actually having a hard time fitting that many calories into every day. But I'm loving eating a much more varied diet. When the maintenance weeks are over, I'm going to do a second round! Hopefully it's easier the second time! And since I'm not on 500 calories a day, I've added exercise! I'm not getting crazy or anything, but doing home workouts every day. I feel SOOOOOOOOOOOOO good.

#5 - So how did it go you ask?? I lost 23 pounds. It's not quite as much as I wanted. Days 34-40 I relaxed my vigilance a bit. But it's nothing to shake a stick at either!! I took before photos (which, I swear on all that is holy I will NEVER post on this blog. :-) but I compared them with some I took today, and it. is. awesome! I can totally see progress. Oh, and my clothes don't fit - hooray! And I'm wearing things I've had in bins for ages - hooray! And Chris gingerly informed me this weekend, afraid I'd be mad, that without even trying, he lost 10 pounds while I did this! I am jealous it was so easy for him but I was really, really happy -the changes I've made in what I'm doing, cooking and buying are helping my whole family!! :-)

I'm not there yet, about a third of the way to my goal, but I couldn't be happier with my progress, our new habits and what's going on around here. Here's to a successful maintenance month (no more than 2 pounds higher than today) and at least 25 or 26 more in round 2!!!!

Carrot stick anyone??? :-)