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Positively Weightless

A healthy life not only means physically healthy, but mentally as well. Healthy eating, healthy exercising habits, and a positive attitude are all important and help maintain balance in life. I decided to combine my love of writing and my positivity to change the world in hopes that any reader can also become positively weightless, and lead them to a healthy life.

I think it is safe to say it is officially my favorite time of year. Once the end of September hits and the fall is finally here I am pretty happy. Between Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas there is so much going on. Just these past few weekends alone we have gone apple picking, taken my niece and nephew to a trick-or-treating event, picked out and carved pumpkins from the farm and so much more. Once Halloween passes then it is all about planning Thanksgiving and then right into Christmas planning and shopping. Needless to say these last few months in the year are busy. 

I think it is safe to say when we are busy it is very easy to get overwhelmed and to let stress take over. I know I personally am already thinking about Christmas shopping and when to buy what, who I want to buy for, etc. Although this is my favorite time of year it can also be one of the most stressful. There is so much to get done between all of these holidays and that only adds to your daily responsibilities. Your best bet, however, is to map things out the best you can and not let the stress get to you. It is so easy to let yourself get overwhelmed but do your best to push through and do the best that you can do.

I used the holidays as an example simply because we are right in the middle of that time of year but there are so many things that pop up that can get to you. Maybe your car suddenly needs an expensive repair. Maybe you committed yourself to too many activities and are having a hard time making everything work. Maybe you are balancing an already busy schedule and are having doubts on if you can keep up with it. I could honestly keep going and going with examples. Life happens. We sometimes get busy and we sometimes need to make our paychecks stretch a bit further than we like. Every single person deals with these types of things. The most important part is keeping your sanity and getting through. 

Never allow stress and being overwhelmed to open yourself to making rash and unreasonable decisions. I know when I am stressing over something I need to get done I will always think about just giving up. One recent example would be the pumpkins I paint for Halloween. It started with my niece and nephew and one of my friend's sons but this year I committed to double the amount of pumpkins. Part of me wanted to just give up and not finish them this year but I knew I would regret that. Firstly because I know all the kids love them but also because I love to paint them as well. Yes I was in a bit of a time crunch this year but I still enjoyed doing it which is so important. Never lose sight of the overall goal even when the times get hard. Never lose sight of your true self as well. 

I am going to keep this post pretty short and sweet this week. Like I said this is a busy time of year and I have been doing a lot. I had to fit in writing this week with the painting and carving on top of my usual meal prep and laundry and such. Just remember if you are feeling overwhelmed to take a deep breath and power through! You will thank yourself when you do.
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I am officially done with Whole30. My starting date was 09/17/2018 and the final day was this past Tuesday, 10/16/2018. I have so many things to share about my thoughts and experiences during this journey. I also of course want to share my results with you as well. 

When I first started Whole30 I am going to be completely honest I did have that moment of "oh no, what did I get myself into?" The first grocery store trip where I was surrounded by temptation was the first official time that question came to me. I love sugar and sweets. I would have to wait thirty long days before I could have any of that again. Would I be able to drink only non-dairy Whole30 compliant creamer in my coffee but nothing else? Can I really go this long without a taco or a slice of pizza? When these thoughts did come up I just had to tell myself that it was only thirty days and in the grand scheme of things that really was not a whole lot of time. Were there temptations? Oh yeah. I found myself really envious when someone around me was having something I could not have, but those feelings got easier the longer I was doing this. 

Did the foods I couldn't have still look good? Of course but I was pretty content with the food I was having. The longer I went and the closer I was getting to the end the easier it became. My cravings for these foods and most importantly sugar were and still are present but in a much different way. I might have a random thought that ice cream for example sounds really good, but it isn't something that is consuming my thoughts until I give in. I am only human so comfort foods will always have some appeal to me, but I can honestly say it is much more manageable now. I felt so many little changes in myself during the journey but I would say that is the biggest one, and was essentially why I decided to embark on this to begin with. 

During Whole30 I felt so many different changes happen to my body. Without even taking my measurements I could absolutely feel that my clothes were getting far too big. I was taking more time to enjoy my food rather than just scarfing it down and going on with my day. At some points I was actually sleeping better as well. I am typically somebody that sometimes has trouble falling asleep, but this was not nearly as big of a problem for me anymore. I also had a lot more energy during this time. Usually about midway through my work day I feel a crash and that very rarely happened while I was on Whole30. Overall I really was just feeling good. 

Now let's get into the results that I can share with you. In the thirty days that I was doing Whole30 I lost a total of 12.3 lbs. I also lost an added total of 19 inches from all over my body. I lost 4 inches from my waist, 5 inches from my abdominal area, 1 inch from each arm, 3 inches from each thigh, 1 inch from my chest, and 1 inch from my neck. To be quite honest these results shocked me. I mean I knew my clothes (especially my pants) were fitting better or were even starting to get too big, but to see those numbers is pretty amazing. Sure the 12.3 lbs is an awesome result as well, but I am so glad I took those measurements to see the results in a different way as well. I am so pleased with the outcome of this first Whole30 not only because of the results like this that I can report, but the ones I also feel.

Now I am sure you are all wondering what are my thoughts on Whole30 moving forward now that the thirty days are up. Well as you can guess my first few days I was off of Whole30 I ate a number of things I was not allowed to have. Now to be flat out honest I thought when I ate these things I would have an extremely upset stomach and be pretty sick because my stomach was no longer used to these foods. This wasn't exactly the case but I didn't feel too great this weekend as a result. I had way less energy and was crabby at some points as well. I was already planning on continuing the Whole30 to a certain degree, but this weekend was just the push I needed to actually do this. 

Moving forward I want to make an effort to eat Whole30 for most meals and breaking the rules from time to time when I feel I want or need to. I want to do my best to keep at least two of my three main meals Whole30 compliant while the third meal I may break that slightly. My first night off of Whole30 I made a chicken stir fry which was completely Whole30 compliant. I made a last minute decision to add just a half serving of pasta to that to make it a bit more filling. I can recognize that I felt amazing doing the Whole30, but I also feel that I should also allow myself to have some of those things as well from time to time. Another big change I will continue from Whole30 is way less sugar in my diet. As I mentioned in a previous post, Whole30 made me so aware of just how much added sugar is in our food. There is no reason I need to buy bacon, pasta sauce, salsa, etc. with added sugar when there are options around the same price that taste just as good without it. I found that coconut milk in coffee satisfies me now and I no longer need tablespoons of sweetened creamer. I will forever be conscious of the ingredients in the food I am putting into my body now because of Whole30. 

I am so pleased with how my first Whole30 went and am even more pleased that I was able to finish it without an issue. I did not cheat and I made it through the entire thirty days. As I mentioned I plan to continue Whole30 into my every day life now to an extent, but I fully plan on doing a Whole30 again in January. Once all the holidays are over I think a Whole30 would be a great start to the year to help get back on track and to shed those pounds we all gain from all the holiday goodies. Although this plan seems like a drastic change at first, it truly did make me feel amazing. I look forward to moving forward and including what I learned from Whole30 in my daily life.
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I am rounding the corner to the finish line on my Whole30 journey. Some days it feels like it has been a cake walk. Others it feels like the last day couldn't come soon enough! Next week I am going to dedicate an entire post to my thoughts and results on Whole30. Today, however, I wanted to dedicate this post to the one major mental change I have gone through on the program so far, and that is my growth in willpower. 

Way back before I lost any weight or really cared about my health that much I always had the same excuse. I simply did not have the willpower to make it through such a dramatic life change. I felt I could never resist the foods I needed to cut out. I felt I would never choose to exercise over laying on the couch watching my favorite shows. I simply did not have the willpower to do what I needed to do to change my life forever. Looking back now that is almost comical to me. Do you want to know what the real reason I had back then for not wanting to change? I was lazy. It sounds harsh but that is the plain truth. I was far too lazy to worry about meal planning and making the right choices. Getting something quick and tasty was far more appealing and took less effort. I was too lazy to get up and join a gym. It was so much easier to put my pajamas on and settle in early for the night instead. 

Fast forward to today and I am doing all the things I was too lazy to do before (yes that does also include making this page a priority and sticking with my writing). I dedicate a certain amount of time every week to coming up with a meal plan for the following week. That leads to grocery lists, grocery shopping, and food prep. I go to the gym four days a week after work instead of going right home. By initially forcing myself to do these things, I led myself on the path to making them habits. You may be wondering what this has to do with willpower. The answer to that is simple really... willpower is what to need to have in order to push yourself through and sticking with these tasks.

When I first started planning my Whole30 journey I was really worried I would not be able to do it. I honestly did not think I had the willpower to push through and resist the foods I crave every day for thirty days. Trust me that willpower was tested many times in this journey so far and it sure isn't over yet! I would say this weekend surprisingly was the hardest. I really just wanted pancakes for breakfast and to enjoy some rice with my dinner. During this journey already I had to resist some of my favorite foods. I had to turn down homemade pizza last weekend and some hot cider donuts when we went apple picking yesterday. Trust me they smelled amazing and it sure was a challenge. I had the willpower, however, to turn these things down. Will I allow myself to enjoy them again in the future? Absolutely! Do I have a better understanding on how often I should enjoy these things and that I have the power to say no? You bet! 

I want to encourage you to test your willpower as well. Trust me I did not think I had the amount of willpower that I actually do. I never would have thought I would have been able to turn down those donuts at the apple orchard especially sitting right there and smelling them. To go from someone constantly expressing no willpower at all to someone using it more often than not, I will honestly say I am incredibly proud of myself. It sounds so corny but if I can do it, you certainly can! If you want to make a change in your life chances are you are your biggest road block. Try to challenge yourself to grow every single day and you never know what roads will open up.

I cannot wait to see and share my results of Whole30 next week! I want to go over not only my physical weight and measurement changes, but the mental ones as well. Part of me really cannot believe this thirty days is almost up, and I certainly feel some results already. Thank you for sticking around and I will see you next week with my final thoughts!
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I am officially on day 21 of Whole30 today. I know that is actually past the midway point, but I wanted to take some time today to talk about my experience so far. I am obviously not finished and still have a ways to go, but right now I feel I have a pretty good sense of this plan and how I am feeling on it. Here are my thoughts!

I think the top question I have been getting about this plan has been if I have been bored with food. To be quite honest I 100% figured I would be, especially at this point. I can honestly say I haven't been bored with my meals in the slightest bit. I have been really careful to change things up during the week and have plenty of options for myself. When I started this program I thought I was going to have a really hard time with not having dairy or grains. I am a big fan of protein pancakes in the morning or Greek yogurt smoothies. Shockingly this hasn't been a huge deal. I would say that breakfast has been the hardest meal for me to adapt with though. I love fruit, vegetables, lean meats, good whole carbohydrates so honestly I was at an advantage going into this. All things considered I have been doing just fine!

I would say a big thing I have learned about myself during Whole30 is just how much willpower I have. A few months ago my personal trainer suggested I try and cut sugar from my diet. I thought to myself there was no way I could do that since I have such a sweet tooth. Well here I am 21 days later and I am perfectly fine. It isn't even with just sugar either. I have had plenty of temptations cross my path during this time and I was fully able to walk away and say no thank you. I obviously have a heck of a lot more willpower than I thought I did! 

Another big change I have noticed are non scale victories. Whole30 is all about non scale victories. I mentioned in my previous post that one of the rules of this program is not to weigh yourself because the non scale victories are what should really shine through in your success. I have been breaking that rule as I said before because I would report my weight to my trainer. That does not mean, however, I have not noticed some non scale victories already for myself. The most noticeable one I actually saw right before I sat down to write this post. A few months ago I bought some new clothes. All of the shirts were in the same size but for some reason one of the shirts was a bit tight. I decided to try it on again today and it fit me perfectly! I clearly have lost inches from my waist. I cannot wait to see what my ending measurements are! With all fairness, Whole30 is not the only cause of this. I have been working my butt off (literally haha) at the gym for months now and my diet was decent before I started this as well. Whole30 has been keeping me in line that much more. Just to mention another non scale victory, I have been crashing a lot less during the day as well and that's on top of drinking lass coffee as well!

Another victory for me is how my taste buds have changed. I am perfectly happy with the snacks or treats I can have on this plan rather than reaching for something that is not so great for me. One of my favorite treats right now is apples cut up with cinnamon, pumpkin seeds, and almond butter. Today I actually added some raisins to the bowl as well and was completely satisfied with this. I always craved something full of fat and sugar as a dessert but this is teaching me that I will be just fine choosing something a lot healthier when I want something sweet. A lesson I know will help me out quite a bit.

Overall things have been going really well on Whole30 for me. I did not start out on this journey expecting it to be easy and I still wouldn't say it is. I am surprised though at just how well I have been able to stick with it. I figured by now I would have either quit or just been incredibly sick of the food I was eating. I have learned so much about myself so far during this journey and continue to learn more every day. I only mentioned a few here but I want to save some things for my final thoughts in a few weeks! I am so close to finishing up and I know I can do it so sit tight and I will share all my results then! Thank you for sticking by me through this!
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About me




29 years old. Graduate from Buffalo State College with my B.A. in English. I am just looking to hopefully change the world through my love of writing and my positive attitude.

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