Fat Panic!

This isn't about fat in your food. This is about my fat body and me panicking about changing it. My baby brother is getting married. Not only will I of course be going to the wedding, but I've been asked to be a bridesmaid. I happily accepted and for months thought about losing weight and even pictured it in my head. Then they completed their wedding website that has a countdown to the wedding. I panicked. It's real now. This is happening whether I'm fat or not and hopefully I'm not. I can't take a picture that they will look at every year looking fat. I know this isn't about me, but I can't help but think about it. I actually haven't thought about anything else, but what am I going to do to lose something by August 2013!!! That is less than a year away. Yeah so I gotta do something. I know I won't reach my goal and I don't expect to, but I can't be where I'm at now. I just can't. Sad to say, but this event has been a motivator. I am determined.

What To DO?

I know it has been a while since my last post. Life has been crazy and it is finally at a point where I can take care of myself like I should. I have started to slowly workout again. I started doing workout dvd's. I've invested in a Wii so I can do some game workouts. I did Black Eyed Pea's Dance game. I loved it so I will be getting that soon. I was using my sister's. Though she said she doesn't like it and might be mailing it to me. Yay!

The real reason why I am writing is because I am frustrated with FOOD! I don't know what to eat anymore. Does this happen to anyone? What should I do? I am tired of the thousands and thousands of advice out there on what to eat and what not to eat. I've come to the realization that you really do have to find out what works for you. You have to do your research and go through trial and error with foods to see how your body reacts. I'd like to say that I will continue to try to eat paleo (although I haven't officially started), but that may be hard to do. Also each person seems to decide what they feel is paleo. I know there are some who don't eat rice and I know others who do. There are some who don't do butter and others do. It is a learning process and should be handled one day at a time.

My First Paleo Meal!

So I thought I saw this recipe online, but I can't find it so I can credit them. If I run past it again I will update this post. Despite that it is a farely easy recipe. So I was hungry and decided I wanted to tuna. I proceeded to make tuna fish, but didn't really want to use mayo and miracle whip (the mayo was low). The I remember what I thought I saw online. Tuna, Eggs, and Avocado. Ew right! It was great. I was suprised. The tuna tasted so fresh and original without the mayo. The avocado was just a slight taste and the eggs were eggs, but still good. I posted it on Instagram and got a few likes. Not that it matters, but to me that's cool. So I hope someone will give it a try and let me know what you think.

With Pain Came Reality

This morning I woke to the sound of my apartment buildings fire alarm. I quickly got up, grabbed a few things, threw something on and then down the stairs I went. Thankfully it was a small fire in the trash room and nobody was hurt.

THE PAIN - I live on the 11th floor. When it was ok to return to my apartment the elevators were not operational again yet. Do see where I'm going with this? Yes, I had to walk up 11 flights to get back to my apartment.  I was st out of breathe after the first 2 flights. By the end my legs were jello.

THE REALITY - I am super out of shape. I hated the way I felt by the time I got to my apartment. I knew it would be difficult but not that much. It's been 3 hours and I'm not fully recovered. This is bad.

I've been depressed lately and I may talk about that in a future post, but the depression has made it difficult to change my habits as much as I needed to. This was a huge wake up call for me. I need to get healthy.

When Family is Making Changes Too

As I've mentioned in previous post I've been struggling with getting started. When ever possible I do make better choices, but I had  no support from family and friends. Well today I emailed one of my cousins about exercising and eating well and she encourages me then points out the importance of what I eat. She first suggests taking it slow by first eating smaller portions then switch unhealthy foods with healthier foods. What really excited me is that she said eat low carb. She didn't mention specifics, but knowing she was on the same path as I was is encouraging. Someone I know who is following the same healthy choices as I am.

Later today I was speaking with my sister in law. She told me that my brother lost 10lbs in 4 days. At first I was like what? He make me sick losing weight so easy, but I asked what did he do. Same thing eating low carb. She emailed me the plan, but I haven't looked at it. After I take a look at it I will comment. My sister in law lost 30lbs in a month following this plan. I believe in lifestyle changes. I am not looking for a quick fix. It helps to find people who are going through the same things as you and find success. I want to only share what I believe to be doable lifestyle changes and not quick fixes. With that said I am happy for my family for making positive changes to better their lives and to find support. Support is so important.

Choices

For me making the choice to take care of myself first hasn't been easy. I guess I'm a people pleaser. I needed to do my major shopping. I had a limited budget. My family hadn't seen me since December. I go home to visit and have little left to buy groceries. Though I missed my family it was more for them than for me.
Choices. I choose a trip home instead of taking care of me. I'm determined to change my life. Making better choices isn't always easy, but that's the only way things will change. You have to do something different to get different results.

Keeping It Real

So I have been having a hard time lately making changes to my diet. My boyfriend and I live together and he refuses to change his eating and doesn't encourage me. (I know what your thinking. lol) He cooks for me often and has offered to prepare the foods "healthier" for me. His idea of healthy is not what I feel is best. I still have yet to do my major shopping to stock my fridge of better foods. I plan to do this starting tommorw. I am also considering green smoothies to make breakfast easier. I saw a pin on Pinterest on making smoothies and freezing them. I thought this was awesome because my major problem is food spoiling. I seriously need to cook everything once a week to freeze and seperate to eat through the week. I've found a few post on how to start your grocery shopping. I think it depends on your personality, budget, and whats important to you on how you want to do it. The most important thing is to buy healthier foods regardless of how you buy it. You know what you can and cannot do, but I say as long as it's not processed you are off to a better start. How to shop paleo links Whole 9 Life (The method I plan to use) Balanced Bites If I find more I will add them. Here is a link to starting low carb if you are not ready to go paleo. Livin' LaVida Low Carb

Quick Meal Ideas - Mason Jar Meals

So I was looking through Apartment Therapy (my fave site) and saw a post on making mason jar meals. They are cute and earth friendly because the jars can be reused and won't stain like plastic. If jars are not convient for you you could always use what you have, but I thought it was a cute idea. One of the comments was from a user who said they was paleo. After looking at their site they cook various meals and not just paleo, but whether you eat paleo or just making healthier choices I think the recipies look good. I'm going to try one or two out and post my results in a few days. Here is the link for the other site Big Red Kitchen that has some great recipies to choose from. Let me know if you try any out and how it works for you.

Why Paleo?

Why paleo? Well it started out of curiousity and frustration. Not that I have tried every diet out there, but enough that I know they aren't working for me. At least not anymore and not long term. I was frustrated with counting calories and all the tracking. I feel that is not how people should be living. I shouldn't have to spend all day writing down my foods for the rest of my life. I don't want to do it. Well my place of employment offered a free seminar from Nutrition Weight and Wellness. It was so eye opening. The speaker broke it down and explained how our bodies react to certian foods, what we should eat, and what not to eat. I was excited. It made sense and seemed easy enough to do, but how do I start? I then found their podcast Dishing Up Nutrition. Fantastic! More help and information. I wrote down everything that could help get me started. I even started drinking only water and (because water only for me is kinda difficult) almond milk. I plan to eventually cut out the milk too. I also switched to butter. Also where I could I made better food choices. No bread, no corn, no rice, nothing fried and cooked in vegitable oil, more eggs, beef, fish, and vegitables. I changed what I could. It wasn't perfect and in 2 weeks I lost 5lbs. That may not happen for everyone, but it was encouraging. I was even more exciting. So I started looking for other podcast to listen to. I then found Livin' LaVida Low-Carb with Jimmy Moore. It was fantastic. He had so many guest from various backgrounds to share experiences and facts on eating low carb/paleo. From there I found other blogs and podcast to EDUCATE myself. That is the key to weightloss or better health. Education. Once you know what choices to make and what to buy it becomes second nature and you start doing it. I find myself going ok I'm going to this place I can eat this, this, and that and I'll be ok in a pinch. At the grocery store that same thing. You will naturally begin to make better choices. Everything is a choice. So listening to one of Jimmy's podcast he was speaking with Dr. Krista Scott-Dixon(Listen Here). In a few words the conversation was about finding a health role model. After listen to a few of Jimmy's podcast I started looking for African American's who eat the same way. I didn't find any with blogs or podcast. I then reached out to Jimmy to see if he knew any. He only knew of one, but that's a start and encouraged me to start a blog. I had been thinking about it and after finding there was possibly only one blogger I decided to do it. So I hope that answered the question. Probably not, but that's why I am trying paleo. I've tried many other diets I figured why not try paleo. It is the opposite of what we are typically are told to eat, but if typical makes me fat then why not try the opposite. If you find another African American who is paleo please share. Please also follow Michelle's Low Carb Lifestyle

Welcome

Well I guess many years has lead me to where I am now, but I will keep it as simple as possible. I don't want to bore you. I'm hear because I needed to change my life. I am over 100lbs overweight. In the last year I was put on high blood pressure pills and my cholesterol is borderline. There is family history of heart disease and diabeties. I am only 32 years old. I spent my 20's fat and unhappy and I don't want my 30's to continue on that path. I'm young and I should be enjoying life and not worried about my health. I move 2000 miles away from home because of work and I needed to learn how to take care of myself. My Mom passed away at the age of 69 in 2010. The last 6 months of her life I was her full-time caregiver while working full-time. Though I had some help from my siblings it was still very stressful. While caring for her I neglected myself even more. So after she passed I decided to move. I had to get out of there. I've been in my new city for a year and still not caring for myself. I met people who were concerned about hanging out and dating and though I do want to date and one day get married my greatest need right now is being healthy. I didn't do that though. I made the mistake of dating and continued to neglect myself. I can't do that anymore. I thought other people would care for me. That is how I was raised. That's not how it is. I am learning the hard way. If I don't do it for myself no one will. So that is why I am here. I am going to chronicle my journey learning to eat healthy and get healthy. This isn't about losing weight. That will happen naturally from eating foods that are better for me. I am using this blog to share my journey and hopefully encourage other people, women, and especially African Americans to change their eating habits and become healthier.