Green Smoothie Girl's Detox

        Last week I started the Green Smoothie Girl's 26 day detox.  Each phase of the detox has a different objective or focuses on a different organ to cleanse.

Phase 1 gradually reduces the calories you take in while keeping the bulk, then reduces the bulk in days 5-7.  You are resting your organs from heavy digestion and detoxing the colon. Your caloric intake dips down during the cleanse but never long enough to put your body into starvation mode.  You do lose some weight, but that's not the point of the detox. 

        One phase is the kidney cleanse and then liver and gall bladder.  Lots of watermelon. Then smoothies, green salads, veggie juice, or anything you've liked that you've eaten in the cleanse so far.

       The last phase adds foods back in like more grains in the meals (guacamole, salads, soups).
       Today is day 5 and I will be drinking 3 quarts of green smoothie.  These smoothies aren't sweet at all.  But I am so excited to finally start adding fruit back into my diet.  We just finished 4 days of absolutely no sugar, not even from fruit. In 4 days I've lost 4.8 lbs.  I think day 3 was the hardest for me.  Headaches and weakness, but today I'm feeling good.

What Made the Difference? Nutrition.

photo courtesy: vitalityskills.com

Here is my food journal from a random Sunday in December 2008.  It may not look like it, but I was trying desperately to lose weight!

Not looking forward to the Monday Weigh In. I'm afraid it will be over 150 lbs.

Food Journal:
2 shredded wheat biscuits w/skim milk
1 whole wheat toast w/butter
1 small hot chocolate (skim)

1 small baked potato w/butter, low-fat sour cream
a 2-3 oz piece turkey breast (made it in the crockpot)
1/3 cup broccoli and cauliflower
1/3 cup spinach w/ tiny bit dressing to dip it in
1 cup skim milk

1 bowl Honey Bunches of Oats w/skim
1 1/2 clementine oranges
microwaved 1/3 cup plain popcorn, w/butter buds and a little parmesan. I was tempted to have coke with this, but then I remembered the weigh in coming up!
1/2 cup cran raspberry juice

It wasn’t working for me. Why not?  I should have been losing weight.  I was eating fewer calories then than I am now.

I was exercising:  I walked 3 miles six days a week (at 4 mph).  I was burning calories.  But I was not losing weight!

It wasn’t until I started nourishing my body that I saw results.  This was not a healthy way of eating! A small potato and less than a cup of green vegetables for the whole day? 1 ½ Clementine oranges for my fruit?  I was only looking at fat grams and calories in vs. calories out.  Until I understood what good real food is, I didn’t change.

As soon as I started eating a lot more fresh vegetables, especially green ones, more fruit, more water and less processed food I started to feel so much better.  If you’re struggling I know you don’t want to hear how easy it was, but at times I wondered if it was too good to be true: How could the weight be coming off so easily?  I’m feeling so good about my efforts but what if I’m actually wasting away from some deadly disease.  I really did think that a couple times. But it turns out I'm healthy.  I just had a hard time believing after all these years of trying to lose weight, I had finally figured out what worked for me!  When I started giving it what it needed, my body was more than happy to just let go of those extra pounds.

I still had my days or weeks where the scale didn’t budge, or it actually went up a couple pounds even though I was doing everything right. But this wasn’t a big deal because I wasn’t focused on the scale.  Instead I was trying to see how healthily I could eat each day.  That’s what made the difference.

Oh Happy Day

Today is a beautiful day! I reached my goal weight this morning.

I weighed in at 124.8 lbs. This calls for a photo.

I believe the last time I weighed 125 lbs was about 1987.  I'm feeling pretty good about that.

Go me!

The Gym Just Got Really Crowded

This is the time of year when all the treadmills are taken at the gym and the Zumba classes are filled with new bodies.

Two years ago I was one of those bodies.  155+ lbs and ready to try (again) to slim down.  I look at all the new faces there and I wonder how many of them will still be coming in March.  It seems like that's when the treadmills start to free up.  Those New Year's Resolutions to "lose some weight" are forgotten.

Some days I want all these new people to just go home because I've been waiting for a treadmill for 10 minutes and I'd really like to get my workout in before I have to pick kids up from preschool and kindergarten.  

I wish I could encourage them and say "I did it and so can you!  Just keep coming. Don't give up!  You're going to feel great a year from now!"

But I don't say anything.  
Because then they'd think I was a crazy stalker woman, and they'd stop coming.

And the treadmills would be free again.

I think I may be on to something.

Don't Get Too Skinny

     When people say to me, "Don't get too skinny!" I'm not sure how I'm supposed to respond.  I don't think they're really worried about my health,  (Or is it a compliment?) but I wish I could tell them:
     I'm not trying to get skinny.  I'm not restricting or even keeping track of calories.  I'm trying to be as healthy as I can.  I'm learning that if you nourish your body and exercise, it will find the weight that it is supposed to be. 

     I eat fruits and veggies and whole grains because I know that's what my body needs.  I exercise because I enjoy it.  I love Zumba!  I love that I can run 2 or 3 miles now easily.  I love having defined biceps for the first time in my life.  I love not feeling like I need a nap all the time.  I have never felt this good in my life.

     I wanted (and needed) to lose weight at first.  I had a weight goal.  I set it at 135 pounds because I thought it was realistic and it was in the healthy range for my height (110 - 148 lbs).  I'm at 127 now - and still in that healthy range.  My new goal is 125.  I don't know if that's my ideal weight. I just thought it would be nice to weigh what my first driver's license said I weighed at 16. (I doubt I weighed 125 even then.  Maybe 128.)

     If I reach it - great.  If I don't, that's fine too because I feel great.

That's what I wish I could tell them, but I don't think that's what they want to hear.  Instead I just smile and change the subject.  
     So the next time someone says to me: "Hi Twiggy."  I'll take that as a compliment (backhanded as it may be).  At least it's not Fatty McPhatterson right?