Health and Weighloss Week 2

Today starts week 2. I feel pretty good. I have cheated a bit but nothing too crazy. I realized that I ate lots of refined sugary foods and drank lots of soda because I was hungry and not feeding my body correctly by any means at all. I did my weigh in this morning and I am down to 214.8lbs. I only measured my waist last week before I started. I then realized half way through that was not best thing but I can go from here to keep track. Today I measured my chest across my belly because its where my weight stalled and my waist. My Chest I am measuring 41 inches, my belly where all my fat is stored today measurements is 46 inches, and my waist is 44 inches. Which is down from the start of the program.

 This book I read recently and when I started it was when I really was deep in my search for something for myself to get rid of the shame I was feeling about the extra pounds I have carried around for more than 6 years of my life. Being asked everytime I wore a too shirt or something clingy oh when are you due with your baby was enough to make a woman feel like they were nothing and have a self esteem in the dumps. The strange looks when I told them I wasn't pregnant was even worse. My hubby didn't obviously even understand he thought it quite a good joke and absolutely hilarious which again would take a toll on my self esteem. Reading this book gave me courage to do something for me and about my weight instead of continue to add to it.

This picture is from our church Valentine's Family Dance last saturday night and I had a blast I danced so much which was a miracle because my back didn't bother me during the time there or really after. I did however have to constantly check my pants and make sure they weren't falling down which is a good problem to have.  My pants are getting loser and loser and I'm afraid that one day to soon I will find them around my ankles which will mean a shopping spree, or a belt. 

 This Book came with my first order kit from Optavia with the program I am along with another book. I started reading it. In Chapter  2 he discusses The Path: The Creation of Optimal Health. Who doesn't want to accomplish this.  He also talks about the Habits of Health and briefly touches on each of them. First is Habits of Healthy Eating- which he says "I'll teach you how to lose weight safely-about 2-5 pounds a week for the first two weeks then 1-2 pounds a week thereafter until you reach a healthy weight" (Anderson, 2008, pg 14). Second is Habits of moving your body. Third is strategic behavioral habits. "Your long term success depends on choosing the best strategic actions to support your health." (Anderson, 2008, pg 14). Fourth is The habit of support through vitanutrients. "Feeding the body with the right nutrients is one of the most helpful habits you can adopt." (Anderson, 2008, pg 14). This I have already to find true because when you are reciving the correct vitanutrients your body won't have cravings which has helped me not snack on candy, cookies and soda. Still at this point I have cheated a couple of times by eating them but its very minimal since I started this program. Fifth is The habit of reducing dangerous inflammation. This is again where I can see some changes in my life less than two weeks in. My body was inflammed hence the chronic back aches and nothing medications couldn't fix them permanently. Sixth is Habits of good sleep. Dr Anderson says "sleep is one of the most critical factors in creating overall health and well-being, and surprisingly has a direct impact on losing weight and keeping it off." (Anderson, 2008, pg 14-15). Seventh is The habit of creating a postive environment. "Your environment can enhance or diminish the success of your other health habits." (Anderson, 2008, pg 15). And Eighth is Habits of support.  Dr. Anderson articulates that "It's important to create a structure to assist you in your quest for optimal health." (Anderson, 2008, pg 15).

This book was amazing to me Derek Hough isn't a expert in Health or a Doctor of any kind but in his life he has learned many lessons of how to lead he decided to share and some of them struck a cord in me. In a chapter he calls Nobody's perfect one of his lesson he learned is Experience perfection often. He says "It's one thing to set the bar high, another entirely to seit it so high you can never reach it. Keep it in a place where it's not impossible to achieve. You define what perfection is." (Hough, 2014, pg 153). Today might be I didn't eat those chocolate cookies at a wedding reception, today I said no to coke or pepsi. The very next chapter is Life is what you make it and the lesson that I thought applied to this journey of new health is There is success in every step you take. "When you take pride in every accomplishment-no matter how small- you create momentum and it builds to bigger and better things." (Hough, 2014, pg 162). So this told me to take pride in everything that happens on this journey and look for those Non Scale Victories when we don't see the weight in lbs drop or to remember to get up again when we fall and celebrate the times we said no to the things that are bad for us. Tuesday is when I will weigh and measure again.

References

Hough, Derek (2014). Taking the Lead: Lessons from a Life in Motion Broadway, NY: William Morrow and Imprint of Harper Collins.

Anderson, W.S. Dr. (2008). Dr. A's Habits of Health: The Path to Permanent Weight Control and Optimal Health Annapolis, MD: Habits of Health Press.