Beyond Willpower

So, I was talking to a girl at work today, and I realized just how far I've come from being young and stupid and full of self-hate. This girl, she's lovely. She's 22, 5'3 and weighs 120 lbs and is just so beautiful. She found out how much weight I'd lost and that I was very interested in nutrition, and she started begging, BEGGING for weight loss info. She said she wants to have a lower bmi, she wants to weigh 100 lbs, and that her legs are fatter than her bf's. She said she currently eats 400-900 calories a day. She asked if she should cut down to 300-600. She said "please help me!" I told her I would; I told her I'd bring her the number of a good therapist and advised her to get a fatter boyfriend, hehe. I was only half joking. ;)  I could not believe it. She laughed and I said, "I doubt I'm the first person who has told you that." and she said she used to 'see someone' for food issues and that if I gave her a number she...

So, over the past 5+ months I've been trying to make some positive healthy changes. I started: Drinking an acceptable amount of water, 64-96 oz a day Went vegan Increased my exercise substantially Increased my daily raw food intake Lowered my calories Added phsyical therapy to my daily activities I've started wanting to get a bit healthier, now that I've pretty much mastered everything above, except maybe exercise, with my pain that will take a few more weeks of physical therapy to keep me in the groove I'm in. Anyhow, I started reading articles on green tea and flax meal . I was reading about how adding 2 cups of green tea to your day can help prevent cancer. Also, that 4 cups a day can help reduce cholesterol, increase weight loss results and prevent type II diabetes. So I've added 2 cups in the morning and 2 cups when I get home from work. Luckily the caffeine is low (4 cups of green tea is equal to less than 1.5 cups of coffee). It's also a diuretic...

There's a lot going on in my life right now. For starters, I got new glasses!:  Although that's not all that important. I did lose 2 lbs this week, and I've gotten up to 6 miles on my new exercise bike. I think tomorrow I'll try for 8. :) I lost my voice earlier this week, it's still not back. Makes my job difficult since it's a chatty type job.  Speaking of jobs...well, I'm getting this physical therapy right now, she's doing myofascial release on me. It's a type of soft tissue therapy for tight painful muscles. It's amazing. Anyhow, I'm doing my pt exercises at home every day and seeing her twice a week for treatment. It's just...I have so much hope. She spent the last two weeks on my legs, which are my first biggest problem. Next week she'll work on my butt/hip area because she said the reason my feet turn out when I walk is the muscles are pulled so tight they are turning my feet outwards instead of letting me walk straight....

 I just wanted to make a short post to say that I've now lost 10 points off my bmi. I was a 48 and now I"m a 38. I'm super excited!!!!:  before and during! Also, I'm growing my hair out to about chin length. Have been pullingthe front back in clippys until I can get it shaped up nicer. :D My new recumbent exercise bike came today! :D

So, the last time we tried our 75% raw week it was about 50%, Joey was off work for vaca and it was our anniv and I was having fun cooking, so, meh. :( Before we get into that though, just want to provide these links: www.meatout.org and < here > is my blog post on the subject. Now back to your regularly scheduled blog posting... But, this week we've decided to do it again. We both need a jumpstart to our weight loss. I only lost 1 lb last week, which is fine, it's not a gain, but it's not on target either. I know some of it is my stomach issues. (Was recently diagnosed with ibs-c, the doc thinks the gluten intolerance was masking it.) I know the raw will help with my stomach as well. I think I need to be a bit more structured to keep me on track with the raw thing, I may be posting a daily raw journey on here for what I plan to eat to keep me on track. I know it helps.  I also got this raw uncookbook.  There seems to be way too much fat in it, even if it'...

Okay, so this post is for anyone who is even vaguely interested in going vegetarian/vegan or even just decreasing their meat consumption. So I stumbled across a posting on facebook about  meatout 2011  and they include a list of bloggers who do posts to spread the word so I thought I'd get involved. Some info:  Meatout reflects national trends: Mainstream health advocacy organizations and the official government publication "Dietary Guidelines for Americans" tout plant-based foods. Over 30 million Americans have explored a meat-free diet. One in five teens thinks vegetarianism is "cool." National beef and veal consumption have dropped by 25 and 70%, respectively. Major manufacturers and retailers are marketing meat-free and dairy-free meals. Several national fast food chains are offering veggie burgers and several major baseball parks are selling veggie dogs. www.meatout.org I'd like to start by addressing ...

So, today just out of curiosity before heating off to PT I tried on my size 18 capris, hoping that SOON they would fit so I could wear them to pt, since she works on my calves I thought it would be easier. So, I put them on and they fit. Much excitement, I had to share. :) (Yes that is windex behidn me, man was my mirror gross!) Woooo! Have you had any Non-Scale Victories lately? Be sure to post them below!

So, I started physical therapy earlier this week and although my pain is worse this week than last, I'm dealing with it a little better, I'm a bit more hopeful. Last week in comparison I had almost no pain, so it's not that bad this week, mostly waking with sore shoulders. Anyhow, since I'm feeling better, I'm exercising more. I had insane fitness goals for myself for this month. They aren't going to happen. Not yet. But, I have been doing 3 or more days of 30 mins of cardio + 1 day of strength/toning for 15-20 mins. I'm getting there. This is in my very near future: (by very near I mean I'm ordering it asap! Hopefully today or tomorrow!) I know that improving my endurance and fitness will help my pain. I'm hoping since the weather is finally getting warmer, that I can increase it all through spring, summer and fall and by next winter I can deal with the pain inflicted by the weather far better than I did this year. Which was, to be fair, f...

So, I was reading a really interesting blog today over at  Escape from Obesity . She was asking what it is that keeps people going even when they aren't motivated. Anyhow, this was my reply, I thought I would share it here: -- I got to the point in my life where I realized that I want to be healthy more than I want to abuse myself with food. When I have slower losses, or am having a TOM craving, I just have to keep in mind that I've undone the progress I've made so many times over the years, and I am just at a place where I'm sick of it and not willing to let myself do that again.  Therapy has helped a lot. Blogging helps, I blog every day on spark, for accountability alone, and then I keep my beyondwillpower blog for the 'big things'.  When I ask myself what it is, it's just that I'm fed up. I'm 31 and still morbidly obese. This will only get more difficult the older I get. My real dad died at 47 from diabetes complications and he pretty much...

~*~*~I'm gluten free and vegan~*~*~ As are all my recipes Almost all of my recipes serve 2, many with enough for leftovers This one easily serves two but I was REALLY hungry! So, when I woke up I was starving, had eaten an early dinner so by the time morning rolled around I was so hungry I felt nauseous. So, I needed something quick, and high protein, because if you read  yesterday's blog  you'll see I thought I was feeling mentally weak because I could not keep food off my mind. Thanks to  ~Darla~  I realized it was not mental weakness, it was physical. While my carb intake was as usual, even with the bread I had, my protein and fiber were both very low. Fiber was half what it normally is, and protein was less than a third what it normally is! So, on days when I wake up needing protein I have scrambled tofu. Today I was craving some spice, and crunch, so I decided on scrambled tofu tacos: This was so quick and easy I didn't even write it on the drawing boa...

So, I feel like I have two blog posts in me today. I NEED to write one now, and one later, since they are on two different subjects. So today, I have drank all my water, I exercised for 30 mins, I didn't nap, I worked on my book, I have been on plan. Overall a great, healthy productive day. But mentally, it's been a challenge. I can't seem to get food off my mind. I exercised and then right after watched an episode of Heavy, and I was thinking about dinner being SO far away (probably only two hours from now.) the entire time and it's all I can think of right now. I'm not particularly hungry, I'm just feeling unhinged by food thoughts today and need to write it out. So today this is what I've had to eat so far: breakfast: 2 slices of half inch thick homemade gluten free cinnamon raisin bread with 1 serving of thinnly spread jam. Snack: salad with lots of veggies and a bit of dressing Lunch: Rotisserie style tofu soup with a little bit of rice an...

Well, today was our anniv! Joey and I have been together for 16 years, and to the person who basically asked "HOW?!" in regards to my age, ha, I'm 31!!!!! haha. We have been together since I was 15 and he was 14. :D We had a fabulous day! I woke up and made us breakfast. I made banana, strawberry, kiwi and protein powder smoothies with a bit of Silk and vanilla extract. The bananas were frozen so it was absolutely amazing! Healthy anniversary breakfast smoothies! We also each had a quarter cup of assorted raw nuts...Have I mentioned how much I love my ninja yet? In case I haven't... FABULOUS! We let our stomach's settle by watching a bit of How I Met Your Mother that we needed to catch up on and then we exercised! I did the elliptical for about 5 mins, then I did some kinect your shape cardio, three sessions with the 'personal trainer'. That was 20 mins, and I ended it with another 5 mins on the elliptical. Joey did the kinect while I elliptical...

I stopped in target to do some shopping last night and picked up some new placemats and a few assorted colors and styles of dishes and bowls to use to make the blog nicer. Here is my first pic, I replaced the old pic of the basil red pepper pasta with veggies.  Wooo! I'm totally sprucing this place up! ;) Also, I know I'm most likely the only one excited about this one, but today is me and my bf's anniversary. It has been 16 glorious years, everyday I'm more happy than the last. Every day, I don't know that I could be more happy and yet the next day comes and there it is. More good times, more happy. :) I know he's reading this, so happy anniv, love! :) We have a full day ahead planned for us, and I will post later tonight about what we did since it's definitely weight loss relevant. ;)

Thanks to Ashley over at  http://ashleysweigh.blogspot.com/  for this award! The Terms: Here are the terms of this award - Thank the person that gave it to me - Pass it on to 15 new bloggers - List 7 things about yourself - And finally, drop a note in each mailbox letting them know they won! I'm passing this award along to: Jamie @  http://jamies100togo.blogspot.com/ Addicted to veggies @  http://www.addictedtoveggies.com/ Exhotgirl @  http://www.exhotgirl.com/ http://getskinnygovegan.blogspot.com/ Julie @  http://julielostandfound.blogspot.com/ Jackie @  http://midlifemyway.blogspot.com/ http://fabchallenge.blogspot.com/ Darla @  http://mywinningyear2011.blogspot.com/ http://thinningvegan.blogspot.com/ Couldn't make it to fifteen! I tried! 7 things about myself: 1.) The world according to garp is my favorite movie evar. 2.) I'm cute. (my bf told me to put that. :P ) 3.) I like to make good food.   4.) I live in Pittsburgh an...