No More Soda!

Okay, I know that I have been MIA.  There is no excuse for it but from now on I will be posting every Sunday and possibly another night during the week.  Today I started my no soda drinking adventure (AGAIN).  I won't get into the dangers of drinking soda in this post, but rather I will provide some tips on how you too may be able to kick the soda habit.  

Here are some tips on how to stop drinking soda:

1.    Identify why you want to quit sodas. To succeed in the goal, you need to identify a reason. You don’t need a big list of reasons; just one that’s enough to move you. It can be to lose weight, to be healthy, etc. Use this reason to drive you to quit the habit. Whenever you feel like giving up, recall this reason.

2.    Get rid of the soda drinks at home. If you want to quit, quit now. Don’t tell yourself that you’ll stop drinking after you finish the sodas in the fridge. It may seem like a waste but it’s better than downing them into your body and ruining it.

3.    Have healthy substitute drinks. I have switched to black tea with lemon and stevia.  This still gives me my sweet taste but in a healthier way.

4.    Keep track of your soda consumption. How much soda are you drinking every day? Did you drink soda today? Yesterday? The day before? Make a record of the times when you drink soda. Then target to cut back by 50% every week, until it’s finally down to 0%.  This is a good way to start if you do not feel that you can just quit cold turkey.

5.    Have a water bottle at all times.  According to the University of California, Irvine, a simple way to determine how much water you need per day is to divide your weight by two.  For instance, if you weigh 200 lbs, 100 oz of water per day will keep you well hydrated.

6.    Ensure you have enough sleep. So you do not have to resort to caffeinated sodas to keep you awake later in the day.

7.    Persevere. As you start cutting away soda from your life, you may find withdrawal symptoms in the first week (depending on how heavy a drinker you were before). These symptoms may come in the form of restlessness, anxiety, cravings to drink again. Push through! They will start disappearing after a few days.

My reason why I want to stop drinking soda in order to improve my health.  I am on a fitness journey to loss some weight and to start living a healthier life.  I have not bought soda to bring into our home since June of this year, except the single serve bottles that are WAY too expensive.  My healthy substitution for soda will be tea and water. The first time that I stopped drinking soda I experienced severe headaches and moodiness.  I have not experienced it yet this time around.   

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Eating Clean Day 1

Today was my first day of eating clean and it went good.  I did feel a little tired but that is probably due to the lack of caffeine.  I finished reading The Eating Clean Diet book by Tosca Reno and I plan on purchasing her two cookbooks.  By eating clean I hope to lose weight but also improve my health.  I get headaches that won't go away with the use of pain medicine and excessive tiredness.

I have started reading the ingredients on items in the grocery store.  I am amazed at how many products use high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, enriched flour and are chemically enhanced.  I have read a few books on nutrition and plan on reading some more to teach myself (and my children).  

My Clean Eating Adventure Begins!

It has been a while since I last posted.  I apologize for that.  I have been doing some serious thinking about what I eat and how it has been hindering my ability to lose weight.  So, tomorrow I begin my clean eating adventure.

I feel that I eat pretty healthy (except those indulgences that seem to occur more and more) but I am still not able to budge from a 13 lb loss yet.  Well, in order to lose weight you must eat right.  You cannot out exercise a bad diet.  I seem to sabotage myself.  Every time that I start losing, I get excited but afraid that I will fail AGAIN so I over indulge in not so healthy treats over and over again.  Well, no more.  I am going to try clean eating for a minimum of 30 days.

I know that this won't be easy since my immediate family isn't doing it with me but it is something that I want to do for myself.   The hardest part will be dinner and food preparation.  However, I am determined so I will find a way to make it work.

I think that I have figured out why my most recent attempts to lose weight failed.  It was because I was interested and not committed.  I am now 100% committed to not only losing weight but to become more fit and to help others reach their fitness goals.  I truly enjoy helping other people and it feels great to know that I might have made a difference in someone's life.

I will not accept excuses for myself anymore.  Yes I am a busy working parent but so are a lot other men and women.  There are a significant amount of people who are raising kids on their own who don't have a spouse or the luxury of their mother-in-law living with them.  I realized that I need to leverage (not take advantage of) their help and focus on my fitness journey.

I used to stress over when and where I would fit in my workout because I didn't want to work out in front of anyone.  I used to try to get it in before the girls would go to bed but that made our night time routine too hectic.  So, I came up with a solution that some may see a bit odd.  I workout right after the girls go to bed.  That is usually around 8:15 pm.  I know that doesn't seem odd does it?  Well, WHERE I work out is the odd thing.  I workout in our bathroom.  Yes, you read that right!  I can close the door and workout in front of a mirror.  I take my laptop, my Turbo Fire workout and my water and I feel great when I am done.

I am 100% committed to this fitness mission of mine and no more excuses!  I will only accept results!

I have trouble managing my time.  I used to manage it to a "T" when I was in high school/college.  I would schedule when I was going to work on what assignment, when certain events were taking place and when I could have some "ME" time.  Most of the time I followed my schedule and I would be very productive.  When I would stray, I would feel very unorganized frustrated.

This is how I have felt since I had my first daughter because I quit scheduling things.  I would just try "to go with the flow" and get things done when I could.  My disorganization became worse when I had my second child.  Not only in my home life but at work.  This causes me to get frustrated, become forgetful and to feel overwhelmed.

Well, not anymore!  In order to make this fitness journey for myself and to help others along the way, it is a MUST that I become more organized.  I have goals and a vision for what I want to accomplish but I haven't been able to figure out how to get there.  I have figured out that I need to stay focused, organized and have a consistent schedule (meaning schedule most of what I need to do/complete).  I will still need to adjust my schedule when things arise (as they always do in life), I recognize that I need to be realistic.  I have things to accomplish and I am ready!

Today the saying "you're only one workout away from a good mood" was fitting.  I have received bad news twice this past week and was feeling a little blue.  The second piece of news came today.  So, instead of burying my frustration with food then going to bed, I did my workout and I feel a lot better.  It is amazing how much a good workout can help.  Today's workout wasn't even cardio, it was a yoga workout.  I am in no way saying that I am able to do this 100% of the time but that is my goal.

With the first piece of bad news I did indulge myself in a few treats until I realized the correlation between my sudden need to devour my trigger food and the news that I received.  That is the first step.  I feel that you need to realize your triggers and/or trigger foods that lead to the path of over indulgence.  I so wanted to grab a bag of salt and pepper kettle chips and a Diet Coke when I stopped by the grocery store tonight like I used to do.  Then I remembered how I would feel after and I made the smart/healthy choice not to give into my desire.  When I would give in and eat like this, I would end up with an upset stomach so then I would eat MORE to try to settle my stomach and then get frustrated with myself and eat more.  It was a vicious cycle.  I still find my self heading down this path but I have also been able to stop myself too.

So I guess the point of my rant is that when you are in a blue/down/blah mood, try to get some type of exercise in because it may help you feel better.  If it doesn't, do some more walking/cardio.  This will help release the tension that you are holding inside and you are less likely to go on an eating binge or to become even more emotional about whatever the issue/circumstance is.  I know this from first hand experience.  Plus, the exercise will help you move in the right direction to better your health!

I am so excited about starting a Beachbody Challenge to help others as I help myself!  I feel like my body is under construction as the picture above states.  I know that there is a fit and smaller me inside, I have seen her before when I was fit and in shape.  I am SO excited to start Turbo Fire tomorrow!  This program is awesome!  I will be doing the Turbo Fire Prep Schedule to increase my fitness level.  Once completed I will start the regular Turbo Fire workout schedule.  I am looking forward to doing the HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) workouts.  The keep your body burning fat hours after you finish working out!  How awesome is that?  I am on a mad mission for fitness, not just my own but for others as well!  Comment below if you want to join me!