Category Archives: focus on fitness

WEIGH IN MONDAY

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Today begins my 4th week on WW. I’ve lost a total of 7 lbs but this week I stayed at the exact weight, no gains or losses. I now weigh 177 lbs.

Why didn’t I lose this week? There could be several reasons and none at all. To be honest I’m happy it’s not a gain, sometimes the scale will creep back up a pound or two when you know you did everything right. 

So instead of obsessing what I did wrong, I will begin this week with what I call WW weight loss lessons. One major WW weight loss lesson is to check points before you buy a seemingly innocent treat, and keep treats to a minimum for that matter. Vegan pizza and vegan frozen bars are a lot more points than they are worth. Pizza is great, but for me not this early in my weight loss game. I’m really going to try to eat zero point foods more, and watch my sodium content. Any vegan fun foods I will only eat in my days off and within reason. Wednesday through Sunday it’s pure clean vegan Whole Foods and plant-based eating. I did good but I can do even better.

I am really going to focus on my fitness as I get my food in order. I’m focusing on wellness, health, flexibility, strength and feeling good. I’m fueling my body so I can achieve my fitness goals. 

To wrap up I’m proud to be back in the 170’s, I’m looking forward to going to Henry’s Home and Horse Sanctuary as my first ten pound weight loss commitment. There is no failure, only new beginnings to get it right. Dream big in all you do. The future is a vast ocean of possibilities. Love and Light. Rose 

 

WEIGHING IN ON WEIGHING IN

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Take a laxative. Someone I know said that to me when I was discussing my Monday morning weigh in. It’s an old school way of prepping for the scale, something I’m all too familiar with from back in my teen years. It was probably a half joke and half serious statement, most dieters in bygone eras went to drastic measurements to reduce their size. What’s frightening is for a nano second I contemplated running to the grocery store after work to do just that.  

I didn’t buy laxatives, these days I understand the goal of losing weight is health, wellness and fitness. My scale is my guideline and my focus is on my fitness, my strength, flexibility and endurance. I understand working out combined with healthy eating can change the way I look, but more importantly; how I feel. I weigh myself to be accountable, and I believe it’s so important to get to a healthy BMI. I’m a work in progress, and sometimes those die-hard warped eating disorder thoughts creep in.   I recognize them, and I take action to lose weight with a healthy state of mind, mindset is so important when setting goals and choosing happiness.  

i lost another pound and my weight is currently 177 lbs. The changes on the scale are slow, and that’s perfect for me. I’m looking to change my lifestyle for good, not in some  unhealthy crash diet shortcut or in ways that could damage my health. I joined WW online because tracking helps me stay the course, and it helps keep me from obsessing about food. It’s so wonderful for someone like me, it keeps me from extreme dieting and bingeing. I’m losing weight for myself, and I’m accountable to the charity I picked, which keeps me really on point. I’m really looking forward to going to Henry’s Home and Horse Sanctuary. I’m really looking forward to progressing into the best version of myself. No laxatives, no weight loss crutches; only good old-fashioned hard work, sweat and a little patience. 

Weight Watchers Online

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Sometimes you need help and guidance. I recently started working out with my personal trainer Bethany, my best friend Melissa Benderfitness has amazing fitness and yoga videos I follow, but I was struggling with food. I finally caved in after realizing I can’t do it alone and I joined Weight Watchers Online and downloaded the app. They now call themselves WW and their latest program is called freestyle. It focuses on good nutrition but no food is outlawed.

I’m vegan but occasionally I like vegan fun foods, I can lose weight, have my vegan cake and eat it too. Portion control will help me feel in control, and I will learn to focus again on clean nutrition but not freak out if I have a little vegan treat once in a while. For me WW gives me power over food, anyone who suffers eating disorders understands the power food can have over you. I can’t live like that any longer. Today is my day two and I feel great. This program is livable and sustainable.

My  journey includes fitness. I am doing cardio five to six days a week. I’m working out with my trainer once a week, but soon as I learn what she’s teaching me I will do the workouts 2-3 times a week plus Melissa Benderfitness videos and yoga. I’m on this. I try to do my cardio outdoors when I can, there’s nothing like mobile meditation with nature as your backdrop. Below is me in May 2017 right before my Mom passed away and our move from LA to Houston.  I was in great shape, I did it once, I’m going to do it again. 

Well I’m off for now. I picked a charity for my next ten pound weight loss. I will post soon, I want to use the laptop for that so I can include all of their links. Monday I weighed in at 184.4. It’s ok, I got this. Love and Light to all. We are on this journey together, we can lift each other up as we each go about trying to reach our destinations. The journey is the reward. 

 

 

 

GOALS

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Happy Friday to all. As I start anew I’m starting to set goals again. Im fighting some fatigue this second time around, I work late and usually I don’t get to bed late. I may do a lot of my workouts at 11 or 12 midnight since I’m so wired after work. My fatigue only hits me in the morning when I wake up, so prepping meals and giving myself time to wake up and have a morning routine before work is easier for me and my schedule. 

I am so blessed to have Bethany as my trainer, and to have Melissa Bender Fitness videos and guidance. I may join WW online to help me with my food monitoring. It’s a great program and it takes the fear away of food being good vs bad, it’s all food. As a vegan I’m trying to make sure I get everything I need, but WW will help with little splurges within reason. It helps keep me from binges. I’m signing up Monday. Today I weighed in at 183 lbs. 

My trainer Bethany and Melissa Bender Fitness are the experts,  but as a former dancer and this being my second go at fitness, I do have a lot of knowledge about proper form and the body. I’m beginning my studying for the American Council of Exercise group exercise certification, and I hope to take the exam in the fall. After being in the Richard Simmons Video, and taking two classes with him weekly I was so inspired. I thought, this is what I love, I can do this to. So my plan is to pass the exam and teach upbeat, inspirational dance aerobics classes like he did. I’m a dancer and this is in my heart and soul, it’s the one thing missing from my life. Once a dancer, always a dancer. I will leave the heavy exercise to the professionals, and do that only as a student and not a teacher. My plan is to learn to teach all the areas I excel in, stretching, dance, etc. I’m really excited about this new chapter and I have quite a lot of work to do to get there. 

I have chosen a new charity to get involved with once I lose ten pounds. I’m going to first lose 3 more pounds since I went up 3 lbs since Easter. So when I reach 170 lbs I will be volunteering alongside my trainer Bethany at a local non-profit near and dear to my heart. I will announce this Monday, the day I join WW online and do another weigh in. We also plan to register for a 5k locally and take a yoga class. I’m dying to study ballroom but unfortunately that’s not on my budget at the moment. More goals to come but I think this is a good head start.

It’s Mothers Day weekend and I wish everyone who is a Mother a Happy Mothers Day. That includes all the wonderful women who take care and love their companion animals. It’s your Mothers Day too. Happy Unconditional Love Day. Mothers Day and May 21st are not easy days for me, since I lost my Mom May 21st 2017. I send love and hugs to my sisters who feel exactly like I do, and all of you who also lost a beloved Mother. My Mother would expect me to keep going and never give up on my goals. She would always say to keep trying, all they can say is no. 

Love and Light 

Rose

 

WEIGHT LOSS STRUGGLES

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Eating disorders are usually seen as someone who is anorexic and extremely thin, or someone who obviously struggles with bulimia. As a young adult I suffered from eating disorders, I was very thin and dr’s said I was on the verge of anorexia. As time went on my weight stabilized, and it seemed like I was free of my past struggles. I won’t get into much detail of my eating disorder past, this post is about today. 

I have been overweight a few times in my life, the last time before now was in 2013 when I started this blog. Once I got my weight under control it seemed like my obsessive guilty thoughts about food went away, until I gained half my weight back in 2017. When someone looks at someone like me, they never connect I can have an eating disorder. I’ve weighed much more and I’ve weighed much less, but no matter how much I weigh; my eating disorder past comes back when I’m vulnerable and weak, or when life throws me curveballs.

I haven’t been consistent on this blog because I go silent when I struggle.  I’m embarrassed that I’m failing and lost all I worked so hard for. I get motivated and then struggles occur, and again I go silent. I have trouble admitting it’s so hard for me this time around. I’ve been down, then I see people going through much more than me and then I feel ashamed. It’s a vicious circle and I’m desperately looking to get on a more positive path. I want to keep trying until I get it right, I think from now on I’m going to share my ups and downs, my in between and the good and the bad; my middle of my journey. Since January I lost 10 lbs, my current weight is 180. The scale won’t continue to drop until I get myself and my diet and exercise on point consistently. I’m in the gray area, a little stuck and trying to push myself back to living in a Technicolor world.

Food is such a struggle for me. Most people love a good meal, and so do I. The difference is my thoughts about food. I eat healthy most of the time, I probably don’t eat enough. I’m vegan and I eat Whole Foods and plant-based. Once in a while I make a home cooked vegan meal, like spaghetti or a holiday meal. I always overeat spaghetti even if it’s a healthy type of pasta. My husband remarks how good he feels after such a meal, I only feel guilt and disgust. This started again Easter weekend. Special meals make me feel like a failure, so I don’t post here because no one wants to read about someone on a weight loss journey who is faltering. When I eat clean I feel in control, when I eat for pleasure I feel sick after. Not all foods make me feel like this, but spaghetti and holiday meals always leave me on the opposite side of balanced. Afterwards I have trouble getting back on track.

Life has not been smooth here in Texas for the last two years, I won’t get into why but I will say things are really improving. I’m on the verge of really starting over, I just need to get over small hurdles that keep coming my way. My confidence is shot and I need to work on getting it back. I need to work on my food issues, and realized sometimes I can be an emotional eater. I need to get more consistent with all of my workouts because it’s the key to balance. I know what I need to do, I just need to start and not keep stopping. 

Here is a picture of one of my inspirations in life. A beautiful couple I knew from the gym in West Hollywood, CA. She’s a holocaust survivor who’s lived on every continent but one. Every time they saw me they remarked I should be on tv. I always remarked back I needed to lose weight. She always told me embrace your health, when one gets sick they get skinny. Be happy you are healthy. I’m going to really try to work on my health, wellness and fitness. I won’t go silent when I’m struggling. I will try to post the good, the bad and the ugly. I love life-like my friend did, and I’m going to live it as she did and forgive my shortcomings. Love and light to all. 

Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying

The Shawshank Redemption

 

 

 

WEIGH IN MONDAY

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It’s weigh in Monday, and I finally reached 180 lbs. I lost 3 lbs last week, my first week working out with my trainer Bethany.  In January I began charting my weight on my Loseitapp but I didn’t start blogging regularly again until the last few weeks. According to my app I’m down 9 lbs since January. I am very excited to see the scale move, but this is just practice. Now it’s time to really focus on my fitness as much as my food and to keep up the consistency. I’ve been a bit of a yo yo dieter, and blogger since I gained half my weight back. I’ve since retired my yo yo status. 

I took some before photos. I really took raw before photos, something I never did on this blog even when I began in 2013 when I weighed over 200 lbs. I decided to save the photos when I begin to feel fit again. I just do not have the heart to  share the photos at the moment. I’m working on regaining my confidence as well as my fitness, as I begin this new weight loss and wellness journey. To me the photos are an embarrassment, but necessary evil  to chart my progress. They are my secret motivation. 

Some of my regular weekday meals are so easy. I rely on these staples to get me through my week. Homemade black bean burgers on whole grain buns with vegetables.  Lentil soup two ways, Italian Style and chili style. Split Pea Soup. Main Dish salads with garbanzo beans and a ton of veggies. Garbanzo Bean salad sandwiches on toasted Ezekiel bread. I strive for convenience when I do my vegan meal prep.

I know I’m getting proper nutrition because I follow Dr Greger’s Daily Dozen. I have one vegan cheat meal once a week, within reason. On this day I experiment with vegan comfort food recipes. We do not eat out often because Houston doesn’t have many vegan options. I’m committed to the second phase of my weight loss and wellness journey and to regaining my happiness in mind and body. My body is my temple and my life is a gift, I’m repackaging it with a shiny new outlook. 

Love and Light to all. 

Rose 

 

 

 

WEIGH IN MONDAY

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Happy Monday to all. Today was weigh in and I went up a pound. I’m currently 183 lbs. Last week was not a stellar food week for me, I didn’t plan and I skipped a lot of meals. I would literally go to work on empty and eat afterwards. Unfortunately what I ate after was pasta. This week I’m going to focus on planning and prepping and keeping my food journal. It was a minor slip and not a fall. 

So continuing on I’m going to focus on fitness and better planning. It was only one pound and I’m ok with that. That’s why I went back to weighing in once a week. Each week you see if there is something you can improve upon. If I went weeks without weighing in I might have found I gained more than one pound. I still have 24 lbs to go to get to the lowest weight I reached on this blog. This means I really need to start working a lot harder than I have recently. It’s harder for me since my DR said it’s looking like I have hypothyroidism, but I’m choosing ( just for now) to go at this without meds. 

I would love to hear your stories of struggling with weight loss over 40, stories of weight loss through hypothyroidism. I did this once, and I will do it again. I’m learning how to balance my weight loss journey, starting my new fitness journey; and all of my writing and submitting I’m doing. I have a lot going on, lots of wonderful opportunities and I’m nothing but grateful to be alive. The weight will come off, I just need to put the hard work in. Nothing of worth ever comes easy. 

Love and Light

Rose

 

National Scribble Day

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It’s National Scribble Day, so this blog post is going to be the blog equivalent of scribbling. My thoughts are all scrambled, but not in a bad way. My job, ( waitressing) sometimes exhausts me and I admit to procrastinating in the things that are important to me. There is a new documentary on Netflix I really want to watch called Heal. It’s all about healing from a mind body perspective. This gets me thinking. Is my exhaustion real? Can I do things that make me feel more energized and ready to take on tasks that are important to me? I think the answer is a big yes. No excuses.

Posting more than once a week is definitely one of my many goals. I’m going to really work on my state of mind like I’m working on my nutrition and fitness. Yes, I work a very physical job, but I believe I can make it softer on my body with positivity and possibly some tools to help me along the way. Good shoe inserts, better pillows for sleep, a foot bath at the end of the night. No longer using my job as an excuse is a biggie. A massage now and then wouldn’t hurt. 

I did say it National Scribble Day, and I’m truly all over the place. I’m so excited for this brand new chapter in my blog/journey. I’m going to be doing a wonderful interview series with real influencers in fitness who focus on achieving goals and teaching others through a positive mindset. These are the women I look to for inspiration. Just in time since I have six months until I take my exam for The American Council of Exercise group exercise certification. Time to get fit again, study and get things done.

I didn’t weigh in today, I gave my mind a break. A budget friendly vegan grocery haul is needed, as I’m trying to get my hubby James to eat clean. He claims he cannot do it until I set him up. We’ve  been working on a positive mindset and it’s totally working. You are what you believe, you achieve only when you believe. We believe, we believe. 

Happy National Scribble Day. Go out and Scribble the vision board if your dreams. I know I am. I’m following a well lit path. 

love and light 

Rose

 

WEIGH IN MONDAY

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Happy St Patty’s Day. I hope everyone is having a wonderful Monday. This weekend I splurged a little on a veggie burger, tater tots, and Nada Moo Chocolate Chip Mint. My hubby made me a splurge meal, and the vegan ice cream was my version of a vegan shamrock shake. 

i rarely eat salt, and I try to not eat vegan processed foods on a regular basis. I weighed in this morning up a pound. I understand it’s water weight and I’m ok with it. I don’t plan to eat salty foods on a regular basis. I’m trying to eat mostly Whole Foods, plant based most of my days. I’m also trying to find balance with food. My aim is good nutrition, but I don’t want to become obsessive. I want my focus to be on fitness and health. I also occasionally think it’s ok to live a little. 

This week my plan is to focus on Whole Foods, with just one treat. My treat will be a small pastry or item from a new vegan bakery I’m hoping to try. I will let you know if I do. A vegan bakery and cafe opening up where I live in The Woodlands TX is a rare occurrence. I’m so excited to go there. 

I plan to eat to my standards, my vegan stance is a personal moral decision. There is no cheating, it’s a lifestyle not a diet. My weight loss/health Whole Foods plant based journey is a process, one where I may splurge from time to time. There’s a difference with the two, but I’m trying to balance it all. After all I’m human. 

Weigh in today up 1lb 183

Short term goal is 159 ( my weight before I moved from Los Angeles to Texas in May 2017) 

Next stop beginning my fitness journey all over again. Stay tuned. 

Love and light and Irish Blessings 

Rose 

 

 

 

 

 

30 Day Challenge

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Good Day to all. Today is the first day of my wellness journey 2.0. I’m really starting over this time. I choose now because a lot of the struggles and stresses are quieting down, and I’m open for change. Sometimes you must wait until you are ready to commit to change. This is that moment for me. 

I am vegan for ethical beliefs, and I do believe it’s the healthy way to wellness. With that said, I’ve been kind of a vegan junk food addict.  I am happy all of my fave vegan comfort food exists, but I’m taking on the Whole Foods plant-based lifestyle again. My plan is to eat completely clean for 30 days, no oil with limited salt and sugar. To be honest the sugar will just be in my coffee each morning, that’s it.

I have so many reasons why I’m doing a 30 day wfpb challenge. I feel ill, my stomach aches. I’m bloated. I feel for me vegan convenience food should be rare treats like any convenience comfort food. In 30 days I will have one cheat day after my weigh in and I will do another 30 day wfpb challenge. Stay tuned for what I will be eating with recipes. I’m just starting new on this blog and finding my footing again after a long time of not being consistent. I’m starting my cardio this week with yoga and stretching. Workouts will follow, and daily updates on my blog. 

One of my favorite vegan influences I follow is Tabitha Brown. She said don’t wait until you are sick to make changes in your nutrition. That really resonated with me, so let my 30 day challenge begin. It’s the perfect way to start again on my blog.

This blog will be all about wellness, weight loss, veganism, plant-based life, workouts etc. Charities and giving back won’t be featured here anymore. I’m launching a brand new sister blog for all of that goodness. 

Let my challenge begin. 

Happy Brand New Beginnings 

Love, light, and good health to you

Rose