I am staying focused

Lifestyle changes and not diet, that's how I stay focused. Knowing that I need to develop better habits I had before is just a lifestyle change, nothing more, it's not a diet, it's not oh my God I'm over forty or whatever else people try to throw my way. Each day I learn something new about myself embrace it if it's good and let it go if it's not!

That being said my plan for the month of August is to have a veggie juice a day (carrots and head of romaine lettuce), bonus juice would be watermelon juice. I don't think I will be posting exactly what I eat everyday, because what I eat is pretty basic and boring, but beneficial to my body.  On a regular basis I eat Turkey ( ground turkey, turkey patty), green beans, black beans, avocados and now that it is summer, salads are back in the rotation, but mostly juice because I can just sit and drink. It's almost like the lazy way to stay healthy, in my opinion and I love it!

I worked out this morning with weights, upper body and abs, and light cardio ( walk on treadmill for 30 minutes). My workout plan is more cardio, which seems to work best for MY body type. So twice a week I plan to use weights, twice a week I plan to run and the other days I will vary my cardio with the elliptical, a spin class and maybe the stationary bike. Working out for me needs to be various or I get bored (easily). 

When I give out information, I can't stress enough this is what I have found over many years of trial and error that works for me. What works for me may not work for you and we all have different body types, genes and all that stuff, so love your body, embrace who you are and stop comparing yourself to other ladies.  Yes, I too had to and still have to focus on me, I am a great me and I am the only one who can be me!

Consistency and focus makes it happen!

getting it all together

So here I go again, Sunday I pretty much had turkey and cabbage all day long, yes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. For snacks in between I had watermelon and pecans. Later that evening my son bought us all dessert with his own money and of course I couldn't say no to that! Yep coconut ice cream again.
My weekend habits led me to the gym this morning to lift weights and run on the treadmill. Wednesday I am to run with a friend and wanted to let my body know that running will be back in the schedule. If I plan to have coconut ice cream on the weekends I have to do way more cardio!!!!!
One thing I have found out is that as long as I don't have flour products, white potatoes/French fries, pasta or rice I have seen my bloated belly go down drastically in the last 7 days.
This being over forty is an awesome journey and I love it, just have to get a handle on what I eat, because what I used to eat or how much I use to eat is not flat belly friendly. (LOL)
Well that's all for now, tell you more soon.

Uh oh!

Okay so it's Saturday, there is a family event today.  More of that in a minute. So as usual I started my day with water and coffee, breakfast was chicken sausage, green onions, green beans and 1/4 avocado, two hours later I had watermelon and this time it didn't bother my tummy, so I waited long enough I guess. Lunch was a turkey patty and sweet potato slices(baked in oven).
This is where it gets interesting, I attended a family event and didn't eat, because of the menu, so upon leaving we went to get more ice cream and I shared fajitas for two. I did not have the chips or corn tortillas, yay me!, but another ice cream, uh oh!
Remember don't be hard on yourself, this is a journey and competition is only with yourself!  Comparing you to someone else is not good and we are all unique in what works for our bodies.

So far my tummy is less bloated and flatter and I think it's because of eliminating chips, corn tortillas and flour products.

Friday fun day!

So it's Friday and I said it is going to be a journey for me to find balance in my eating habits along with exercise and not deprive myself of a treat. Limited as they may be, weekends only and really only one day of the week, there will still be a treat involved.

Today I started with a 15oz. Cup of water, 1/2 c. Coffee ( you will notice the same start daily), went for a workout 30 minutes elliptical and weights total body, leftovers from dinner to refuel, later after errands turkey patty and green beans, went swimming and had chicken sausage, onions and green beans all mixed together, now comes the treat. This evening I will have "So delicious coconut milk ice cream-butter pecan".

I have a few food limitations and don't consume dairy products, wheat, chocolate, peanuts, soy, and some other stuff. Please this has been my way of life for several years, so don't feel sad for me, or say it can't be done, I've had to do it and actually it's been good for me. Now I just have to eliminate the so called substitutes they make in place of what I can't eat, which I have found are not helpful at all! Flour in any form doesn't work for my body at this stage in my life.

Well gotta go enjoy my treat!

Eating changes...

Eating changes, changes everything!

July 24, Wednesday I consumed:
Water 15oz., 1/2 c. Coffee, watermelon juice 24oz., salad( avocado, strawberries, pecans,romaine lettuce), ground turkey and 1/2 avocado, salad (#2), supplements, turkey patty/green beans and black beans, pecans as late snack

July 25, Thursday
Water, 1/2 c. Coffee, green beans, turkey patty and black beans, water, supps., pecans, tried to have watermelon(made my belly ache and bloat, it is suggested to eat melon on an empty stomach and yes that is true)😳! Last meal ground turkey mixed with black beans and peas/carrots. Had some more water in between

So other than the watermelon bloat for about an hour, my mid section was smaller today not having any starches ( no potato chips, no French fries). Going to stay away from the white potatoes, or any other white starches. Sweet potatoes are okay to eat and don't have the same outcome as the white potatoes.

Also eating before 8p.m. Last two nights

The over forty lifestyle

Oh my goodness! The things I use to eat I can no longer eat, without weight changing results. The results I speak of are not happy ones. I have been on a Mexican food binge for a few weeks, maybe even months and it's catching up to me. Exercise and carbs are no longer a good combo for me😢.

This new incite to the next stage of my life has me on a new road once again. For awhile I stopped eating meat (about 3 years or so), eating the occasional fish, but that started to be detrimental to my health. Then the journey consisted of turkey meat added and I began to feel better😊. The changes my body goes through is such a learning journey and I could say I enjoy the changes, but I really don't always. Now I am embracing them, telling myself to love myself and just do what you need to do to have good health!

So the new journey is beginning today and I will post what I eat, what exercises I do and my progress. Sad to say getting on the scale was very enlightening and is the reason for this journey. At the gym, because my battery has been broken on my own scale, I saw that the number was a whopping 150lbs., are you kidding me? People around me say it must be muscle and that sounds good, but I see myself naked and there is muscle, but also a layer of fat that once wasn't there.

So the journey begins and if I am bold enough I will post the before picture before the after picture! Hahahahaha
The journey will start today, July 24,2013 and go til December 2, 2013 (my birthday).

Goal: Lose 15-20 pounds of body fat, be lean and muscular, while finding the balance of eating that works for my body! Finding a way to keep the weight in check and still have a treat.😉

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

Mirror, a photo by wavecloud on Flickr.

When we look in a mirror-what do we focus on? Usually it's that which we don't like about ourselves.
What would happen if we started to focus on what we like and be confident in those things.
We are created in God's image and all are beautiful, but when we focus on society/satan and what they say, we begin to doubt ourselves, try to fix it & it gets us off the plan/reason God created us & the plan He has for us.
We should begin to describe ourselves not as what is on the outside, but what's on the inside. Our hearts are where God sees who we really are & that's the most important part of us.
A healthy self image is healthy for us!