Ideas to HELP me on my continued weight-loss journey

Now that the holidays are over, I’m craving a healthier lifestyle.  I’ve learned a few secrets since losing weight last year (you can read about that here) and I’m hoping I can continue making healthy choices in 2014.  I’m pressing forward with my mindset that the choices I make today affect all of my tomorrows.  I try to eat small healthy meals through-out the day, but one of the secrets I learned is to be prepared with healthy foods before the cravings hit.

Here are the saving foods/drinks that get me past the hard times.

1. A grapefruit and stevia.  I have a pink grapefruit tree in my backyard and purchase stevia from Trader Joe’s.  It comes in an easy to use shaker, so I can just sprinkle it on whatever I want.
   
2. Hot chocolate.  Late at night, when everyone else is snacking, I go for this. 

Sugar-free hot chocolate

Celestial Seasonings makes a great tea called Roastaroma.  I steam my tea and then mix in a shake of stevia, a tablespoon of cocoa and a pinch of cinnamon.  Sip it steamy hot and slowly and I feel like I’m on vacation at the Swiss Alps.  Seriously, I feel like I’m sitting in some ski lodge watching the snow fall.

3. Zipfizz.  I know there are many different sugar-free drinks out there.  
   
   I’m not a soda person, so that’s out.  I discovered Zipfizz at Costco and am really happy with it.  I try to only drink it when I need a boost.  Dieting, I find drinks are really important.  They can save me from a downfall. 
4. Mint Cali tea. 
   
   I love to sip my Sunrider Cali tea steamy hot, but when it’s done, I take the tea bag and throw it in with a half-gallon of water.  The mint of the tea bag is so strong, it carries over perfectly.  I mix in the juice of a lemon (I also have a lemon tree that sings with love) and shake in some stevia.  Served over ice, it is the most refreshing drink EVER. 
5. Extra Gum Mint Chocolate Chip. 
   
   I reach for this gum several times a day.  The flavor lasts and lasts.  When dieting, smells can make or break you.  The longer I eat healthy, the less cravings I have, but I remember when I started losing weight the cravings would come which the fierceness of a hungry lion. I felt over come, but remained determined.  I learned to pick up what it was I wanted to eat, like a cookie or a piece of pizza and smell it.  Really smell it and the smell created a distraction.  It was just enough satisfaction and with some self-control, I could put the food down and walk away.
6. Celery.  I eat a lot of celery.  At first, it doesn't taste very good.  I do keep fat-free ranch dressing on hand, so that helps.  When I first started on my weight-loss journey, I remember walking around the house saying "Look at me.  I'm so lucky I get to eat celery."  Yeah, there was a bit of sarcasm in that tone and I would chomp down on it like a cow chewing cud, but celery is an interesting food because if you pay attention to your body, you realize celery can really fill you up.  I eat three celery pieces and can go hours before I’m hungry again.
7. Sugar-free jell-o.  It’s always good to have some jell-o stashed in the refrigerator.  I like cherry or strawberry.  The flavor is very strong and satisfying.  I eat it slowly, so I feel like I’ve had a decent treat.
8. Broiled zuchinni with garlic.  Make sure they are well-done, crispy and they are that much more satisfying.  Sprinkle your favorite garlic seasoning over it and it's delicious.

One of the biggest things I learned is dieting has a true start and stop date.  I don't have to eat like this forever.  I really only eat this strict when I'm in fat-burning mode.  When I'm in maintaining mode, I don't have to be strict.  Still, I do fall back on these foods when I feel I'm starting to slip. In addition, because I had so much weight to lose (and still have more to lose), I found it more manageable to do it in 20 pound increments.  I lost the first 20 pounds and took some time to figure out what I was going to do from there (plus the will power was slacking).  I learned to eat more in moderation and experimented with how much I should/could eat to maintain where I was at.  After a few months, I started up again.  I lost another 20 pounds and took another break for a few months.  This required me to really love myself and be patient.  I had to enjoy and appreciate where I was at.  I had to see the good in my body, even though it was far from where I wanted to be.
  

Out of all the blog posts I wrote last year, I find it interesting my spiritual journey to weight-loss was the most popular with over 1,000 hits.  I wasn't sure if I even wanted to share it, but decided if it would help someone, I would.  It wasn't easy sweating through an emotional battle with weight-loss (and I continue to fight the battle).  I was angry with myself and felt it was unfair I was over weight.  I was a good person.  I exercised and ate lots of salads.  I worked hard and hoped to just get by.  I had five children and that’s why my body looked the way it did.  I had every excuse in the book.  In the past, these emotions and ideas sabotaged me from my weight-loss goals, but spiritually, I held on.  Every minute was a choice.  I knew nothing was impossible with God.  Still, the body has a way of taking over the mind, so having these food and drink choices available left me feeling a bit more in control.

(click here to read more)

Dressember was a great experience for me.  Buying beautiful dresses and wearing them every day was a gift to myself.  I still can't believe I fit into smaller sizes than before.  Wearing these dresses was a reminder to myself that the sacrifices made for weight-loss are worth it.  I know my body isn't perfect, but the purpose behind dressember was important. It's been amazing to maintain my weight-loss after almost a year, but it's time to push myself again.  Back on the band wagon.  I can't wait to see what else I learn through my next spiritual journey with weight-loss.

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Opposing Juice

A few months ago, I realized my family was out of control with juice.  When one of my children was thirsty, juice was being poured instead of water.  When the juice was gone, it was a huge meltdown catastrophe for one particular four year-old who I was concerned about the most.  It wasn't just the cost of juice that had me concerned, but my kid’s health and teeth.  And when I read about arsenic in most juices, I’d had enough.

One day we ran out of juice and that’s when I decided no more.

But my kid's were addicts, so I started out slowly.  I purchased juice boxes and they could have one a day.  My four year-old Reef had a hard time.  Over a few days and then weeks, he learned the new rule and although he tried his best to obtain more juice boxes by climbing into the pantry and sneaking it, he started to understand.

Then, I had an idea.

I started with purified water and steeping several Celestial Seasonings blueberry tea bags and Calli mint tea by Sunrider in a large container.  

image found here

image found here

Sneaking in the Calli tea was very important to me.  Calli has done wonders for my health; from treating bronchial asthma to reoccurring phenomena, helping with morning sickness from pregnancies past; also weight loss and clear skin.  It detoxifies like nobody's business.  I can't say enough great things about Sunrider Calli tea.

Next, I mixed it a few teaspoons of Stevia; a natural sweetener that is an herb in the Chrysanthemum family which grows wild in parts of Paraguay and Brazil.  Then, I mixed in a packet of Trader Joe’s pomegranate cherry drink mix packets, made with dried hibiscus and black carrots.  

image found here

It had the look and rich color of juice and it tasted great.  I called it special juice.

It’s so cute when Eden requests her special juice and my heavy drinker Reef doesn't even know the difference.  

This is Reef on hair gel.

I have it in the fridge at all times.  My kids have been particularly healthy during this horrible flu season.  Even the counselor is hooked because when he drinks it he knows he’s doing something good for his health. 

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