Living Lovely

  Weigh In:  151.4

Yes, I figured that yesterday’s weight was a fluke (water weight, etc) and I was correct. As of today, after 6 full days and 3 full eating/fasting cycles, I am down 4.4 pounds.  I’m completely fine with this number. Losing 4.4 pounds in a week is nothing to scoff at. He who began this good work in me will see it through to completion. I can be certain of this.

So, on to the fun!  Today is SPA DAY!

I’m a budget-minded, frugal lady, so I’m always on the hunt for ways to do things on the cheap. Don’t get me wrong. I’ve always dreamed of having a full day at the spa, complete with manicure, pedicure, body scrub, massage, hair wash/cut/color, facial, leg waxing, etc. And perhaps someday, I will get to (hint, hint my darling husband). However, until the time comes that I have an extra $300-$400 sitting around with nothing to do, I have to settle for doing a Spa Day at home.

But I don’t call it settling! No, sirree!!  I’ve grown to love my at-home spa days. So pull out your calendar and mark a day this coming week that you can have your very own at-home Spa Day. You will probably want to have at least 4 hours for this. Allow for more if you can. If your children are in school or are grown and out of the house, this should not be too much of a hassle. If you have little ones at home, I encourage you to ask around and find childcare for the day. To make this easier for you, I’ve provided a printable Spa Day kit with some recipes so that you can whip up a great At-Home Spa Kit for yourself.

So once you’ve scheduled the date and secured childcare (and husband-care if you need to…you’ll want to have the house to yourself), you can choose your plan and start collecting your necessary materials.

Print out a copy of the printables, cut the recipe sheets down the middle and staple them into the cover sheet. This will create a booklet that you can keep and re-use.

Some of these might involve an initial expense for you, but it’s a LOT less expensive than going to the actual spa, and most of these ingredients are things that you already have at home or that you can use more than once. I do at-home Spa Day’s about once every 6 to 8 weeks…more if I really need it.

Let’s Get Started!

Oh, and here is today’s weight chart:

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Weigh In:  154.0 pounds.

I’m pretty sure this amount of weight gain is a direct result of two things:  I ate hot pockets yesterday (full of fat and sodium leading to excess water weight), and I haven’t pooed (TMI, I know)  since Day 4. My clothes fit a bit looser today, so I know that my body is shedding the fat. My face is looking thinner, as well, and that is always the first place that I lose fat.

I had so much energy today until about 4:30pm. My energy dropped really low at that time and I laid down for a quick power nap. I slept about 45 minutes or so and woke up feeling a bit tired, but better than before. I cooked a very easy dinner for the kids (Ramen noodles…don’t judge me) and just took it easy for the rest of the day.

How are things going for you all? How are your energy levels? Weight fluctuations? Questions? Comments? Keep us posted.

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Weigh-In:  152.0 lbs

So, I’m down 1.8 lbs since day 3. This means that after two full cycles of Eating Day/Fasting Day, I’ve lost a total of 3.8 lbs. Just under 1 pound per day. Honestly, I’m okay with losing 2 or 3 lbs per week, so this number is better than I hoped for.

I want to address any concerns regarding “starvation” or the idea that this type of fasting will lead to anorexic behaviors:

First, let me say that many studies have been done on the viability of “intermittent fasting” as a natural approach to weight control and health. It’s also been proven that this type of diet can extend the years of your life. For more information about this, you can check out the Wikipedia entry for intermittent fasting. I pulled the following information from that website. The resources to back it up can be found on that page, as well.

Human studies

In the early 1960s, one study of fasting as a method of weight control noted that “[W]e have noticed an improvement in the last few months in the ability of these patients to keep their weight under control by observing one fast per week [water only]. This allows them to be more liberal with their diet on the other days. I cannot overemphasize the fact that they prefer this to perpetual daily denial with no alternative.”^[9]

• Alternative day fasting (ADF) may produce significant improvements in several markers such as LDL cholesterol in as little as eight weeks.^[10]

• ADF “may effectively modulate several risk factors, thereby preventing chronic disease, and that ADF may modulate disease risk to an extent similar to that of CR”.^[11]

• Serum from humans following an IF diet had positive effects (reduced triglycerides in men and increased HDL in women, as well as reduced cell proliferation and increased heat resistance) in vitro on human hepatoma cells.^[12]

• IF confers protection from toxic chemotherapy treatments, allowing higher doses and therefore more effective treatment for cancers.^[13]

• IF may function as a form of nutritional hormesis.^[14][15]

• Work at the National Institute on Aging in Baltimore, USA found evidence that fasting for one or two days a week could protect the brain against some of the worst effects of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other ailments^[16].

Second, if you are at all inclined toward anorexia and you feel that fasting might trigger those impulses in you, I would recommend that you get prayer and seek resources that can help you overcome those urges. You know yourself better than anyone else does. Make a wise decision for yourself.

Third, fasting has been used for thousands of years in religious contexts as a way to increase faith, break pride, maintain strength and vitality, and seek God. If you are fasting simply as a way to lose weight really quickly, I would doubt your ultimate success. You are certainly welcome to try it, and if it works out for you, that’s great. For me, I must have something beyond myself to hold to and to reach for. My ‘vain conceit’ is not enough to keep me going (nor should it be, I believe).

So with all of that in mind, if you are choosing to take this journey with me, you can rest assured that you are doing something good and healthy for your body, your mind, and your spirit!

Now for the fun stuff:  The St. Patty’s Day Mint Smoothie Recipe!

I’m still using the protein smoothie recipes from Dashing Dish. I’m using her recipe for the Thin Mint Shake and I’m going to add in a touch of green food coloring to make it look minty and delicious. Yummy!

If you’re making her smoothies, please stop in and leave a comment letting her know how DELICIOUS they are!

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Weigh-In:  153.8 lbs

This is my second Fasting Day.

So, I gained 1.2 lbs yesterday while eating. What’s interesting is that this equals an approximate weight loss of 2 lbs in 3 days overall. If this trend continues, it would be possible to lose 40 pounds in this 60 days. Surely not!!  I don’t need to lose 40 pounds. I’m sure that eventually my body will even out and the weight loss will be gradual and healthy.

I took my kiddies to the theater yesterday to see the new Dr. Seuss movie, The Lorax. We had a great time, but we ate lunch at the theater and I couldn’t resist ordering a cheeseburger and fries. I still started the day with my protein smoothie and I had my Egg Roll Soup for dinner (with a huge stuffed cheesy bread stick from Domino’s).

I find it fascinating that so far I have much more energy while fasting than while eating. I don’t know if I’m attributing it to the oil pulling or the fasting, but whatever it is, I am loving it!

I’m starting Task 2 on my list today. It’s actually a one-day task. I’m going to wash and wax the Soldier’s car for him and cover it with a huge tarp to protect it until he gets home. I’m going to wash my own car while I’m at it.

I’d love to hear from some of you! How are things going for you on Day 4?  Are your tasks getting done?  Let me know how things are going and what resources would be helpful for you in addition to what you’re already using.

UPDATE at 5:00pm

I AM HUNGRY! I AM GETTING IRRITABLE BECAUSE I AM HUNGRY! LORD, DELIVER ME FROM THIS HUNGER FOR FOOD AND REPLACE IT WITH A HUNGER FOR YOU!

Seriously, I need God’s help with this one. I know that eventually my body will grow accustomed to this schedule, but for right now, this hunger is affecting my temperament. I need to take a few minutes and pray and focus on God and my reasons for doing this.

Lord, hear my prayer. I want to hunger and thirst for righteousness. I long to press on to know You more. I am craving the things of this world. Help me to turn my eyes upon You and let the things of earth grow dim. More of You and less of me in this life and in this moment. Amen.

Why am I doing this?  I suppose I should have really laid this out on Day One in anticipation of moments like this:

1) To get into the habit of denying my flesh and feeding my spirit.

2) To present my body a living sacrifice as an act of worship.

3) To ask and seek God’s intervention in the matter of our home in Illinois.

4) To lose excess body fat and allow my body to return to its ideal, healthy size.

5) To grow stronger in mind, spirit, and body.

6) To accomplish select tasks before the return of my Soldier.

Some days will be easy. But on days like today, it helps to remember that this sacrifice is an act of worship. That I am denying my flesh in order to nourish my spirit. There is purpose and life in these choices. Lord, may it be so.

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Weigh-In:  152.6 lbs

7:35am

I’ve been awake for about 40 minutes. I brushed my hair and got dressed. My kids are still asleep, so I’m sitting in my bedroom enjoying the quiet of the morning. I didn’t eat anything last night. I honestly wasn’t feeling hungry so I decided to just wait until this morning.

Now, I’m hungry.

I’ll be heading down for breakfast soon. I wanted to update that my weight this morning was 152.6. That’s almost a two-pound loss since yesterday morning. I’m pretty sure that number won’t be so low tomorrow morning. I know that when you fast, you lose mostly water weight. After a full day of eating, I expect that number to be a smidge higher tomorrow morning. We’ll see.

2:15pm

I took the kids to the movies and we ate at the theater (they have a mini-restaurant there). So much for Egg Roll Soup for lunch. I still managed to take my supplements along with my cheeseburger and fries and Diet Coke. The good news is that I’m really, really full and I seriously doubt that I’ll be eating much for dinner. I’m trying not to eat past 7pm and I just don’t see myself getting super hungry before then.

End of the day:

I ended up eating a bowl of soup and a cheesy breadstick for dinner. Not a ton of food, but more than I’d planned on eating. We’ll see what happens tomorrow. I’m thinking that eating more on my eating days might be a good idea so that I have something stored up for the fasting days. I’ll wait and see, I guess.

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Weigh-In:  154.4 lbs.

Today is the first Fasting Day. I love that this coincides with the season of Lent. I’ve purchased a Lenten devotional book to read as I walk through this challenge. I truly want to draw near to the heart of God this season. This is the book that I chose:

I’ll begin the readings tomorrow.

Let me get on to the details about today:

I finished dinner around 7pm yesterday and I haven’t eaten since then. (It’s currently 5:30pm).  I got very hungry around 10am and then I got hungry again at around 3pm. In between those times, I was simply too busy to notice any hunger. I managed to get today’s tasks finished. I’m allowing myself to drink coffee (with creamer), water, grapefruit juice, or tea as often as I need to in order to maintain my energy levels. The last time that I fasted, I ended up almost passing out at a friend’s house and I had a lot of trouble driving to pick up my children from school. I can’t risk that happening right now, with my Soldier still deployed, so I’m allowing certain liquids. So I did have two cups of coffee today and some water, as well. I’m still undecided about the timeline of the fast. I had planned on 24 hours of fasting out of each 48 hours. But that would mean that I could still eat something tonight as long as I ate it past 7pm. I’m not sure if I want to eat that late in the evening. It might be better to just let the fast continue until 5am tomorrow, when I wake up. That would be a 34-hour fast instead of 24. I’m not sure, yet, what I’m going to do. I’ll decide tonight, I guess, based on how I’m feeling.

In addition to the fasting, I also took my supplements today, as usual. I finished today’s task, which was deep cleaning and decorating the kids’ bathroom. I feel really good about what I got done today and I’m hoping that tomorrow will be equally productive. I’m supposed to have Kick-Boxing class in the morning, so I’ll definitely be eating a big breakfast before that.

So, overall, this first day of Fasting went really, really well. I have plenty of energy and I’m ready for tomorrow.

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Weigh-In:  155.8 lbs.

8:00am

Good morning, all! I awoke this morning and weighed in. Remember to weigh in AFTER you pee and BEFORE you shower. Starting weight is 155.8.  Yes, I weigh myself by the tenth of a pound. I had a glass of water and took my supplements while I was making my smoothie.

I love the smoothie!  It tastes like lemon cheesecake in a cup. It’s amazing. It’s full of protein and it really does make me feel full. Especially when I drink plenty of water before and after.

Here’s the recipe, in case you haven’t printed it off yet. You can choose any flavor you’d like for your own smoothie.

I had my smoothie at about 6:30am. Ninety minutes later, I’m not feeling hungry yet. When I do start to feel hungry, I’ll have my toast with butter and a huge glass of water. In the meantime, I’m going to spend some time in prayer and reading. My task for today is to deep clean my children’s bathroom. We had a crazy fire incident that you can read about here, and the bathroom hasn’t had a good scrubbing since then. So I’ve made that bathroom the first project on my list of redeployment projects (the things I want to get done before Soldier comes home). Today I’ll clean it, tomorrow I’ll purchase any decorating items I need (including a shower curtain and rod), and the third day will be spent decorating and putting final touches on the room.

I’m off to have my quiet prayer time now. I’ll check in later.

10:50am

I’m hungry.

Several years ago, I taught a class based on the book Thin Within. The basic premise of the book is that our bodies were designed by God to know when they are hungry and when they are full. And if we will listen to our bodies and only eat when we are truly hungry, and then stop eating when we are satisfied instead of stuffed, then our bodies will naturally release the excess weight and we will reach our ideal weight. So how do you know when your body is hungry? Your stomach growls.

It’s amazing how rarely we wait until our stomachs are physically growling. In fact, in America we like to think that once our stomachs are growling, we are STARVING and we’ve waited way too long. Many people worry that if they let themselves get that hungry, they will binge. But I really believe that you are aware of what you’re doing while you’re eating…if you really pay attention…you’ll know when you’re satisfied and you’ll know when to stop.

So I know for SURE that I am hungry right now. Seriously. My stomach has been growling for about half an hour. My protein smoothie (which is supposed to be lunch today) doesn’t sound great right now because I want something hot and satisfying. So I’m going to eat dinner for lunch. I whipped up a batch of my Egg Roll Soup and I’m waiting for it to finish cooking. In the meantime, I’m eating my morning snack of sprouted grain honey wheat bread with a tab of butter.

This is my bread. I buy it at CostCo. It’s healthy and delicious!

Once I finish lunch, I’m going to take care of today’s chore.

3:00pm

Well, I just toke up. I ate lunch and took my supplements and finished right around noon. I decided to take a quick power nap until 12:30 and jump into my chores. Apparently, I was more tired than I thought. I slept 2 and a half hours and woke up just in time to rush to pick up my kiddies from school. I don’t know why I’m so exhausted. This random falling-asleep-in-the-middle-of-the-day thing has been happening quite a bit lately. I’m wondering if my iron is low. I’ll look into good supplements. If any of you know of anything that has worked for you in the past, please let me know.

So I guess the bathroom cleaning will have to wait until this evening or later tonight after the kids are in bed. I don’t want to let it go until tomorrow because then I might as well flush my entire 60-day plan down the toilet. If I don’t start strong, I won’t finish.

I’m trying to hang in there with this one, but right now I’m so discouraged and I STILL feel like I could use another 4 hours of sleep.  Blah…

7:45pm

Got the kids from school and by the time I got home at 4:00pm, I was tired and weak all over. Foggy brain, fuzzy vision, etc. I really think my iron might be getting low. I can’t remember the last time I ate red meat, so that might have something to do with it. I’ll google it tonight and try to get an answer.

Anyway, I pulled myself together enough to cook dinner for the kids:

White Bean Patties, Crunchy Roasted Chickpeas, Leftover mini-cupcakes for dessert

They had legumes, veggies, and fats. I feel fine with that.

I did eat two of the bean patties and a small handful of roasted chickpeas, as well. I didn’t have my soup tonight or a protein smoothie. Since the kids’ dinner was so healthy, I figured I might as well join them. I did have two Coke Zeros today. No coffee, though, which might have contributed to the fatigue and weakness. Possible caffeine withdrawal. I took my final set of supplements with dinner.

I tried to do my Pyramid Workout. I really just pulled the idea for that workout off of the internet somewhere and I hadn’t tried to actually do it until today. Um, no…

I managed to do the bottom layer of the pyramid today. 20 reps of each exercise and an extra 20 jumping jacks at the end. My legs are so wobbly I can barely walk up the stairs. The silver lining here is that I’ll be able to really watch my progress over these next 60 days and it will be obvious when I get stronger.

I’m in bed now, waiting for my Soldier to get online so we can chat for a few minutes. I’ll put my kids in bed at 8pm and I plan to follow soon after. Considering today’s fatigue after sleeping in until 6:00am, the idea of waking up tomorrow at 4:30am is daunting. I want to make sure I get plenty of sleep tonight.

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Being a Bible-reading Christian woman, I know what it means to fast. I’ve done it a time or two for spiritual reasons. Recently, though, I read through the book The 4-hr Body. Timothy Ferris mentions “intermittent fasting” as a possible approach to long-term weight loss. I hadn’t heard of intermittent fasting before, but I figured that since fasting is really great for your health, then doing it on a regular basis could be nothing but good for you, right?

This also happens to coincide with the final 60ish days of my Soldier’s deployment, and I’m seriously needing to lose the last 20lbs left over from my latest pregnancy (17 months ago). SO…

I printed out two copies of a 60-day calendar and set to work crafting a 60-day plan for weight loss using a combination of intermittent fasting (fasting for 24 hours out of every 48 hours), a couple of supplements that I’ve been wanting to try, a basic exercise routine, and a specific meal plan.

Are ya interested?  Wanna do it with me?  I’m going to upload all of the files that I’m using so that they’re downloadable for you to use. You don’t have to start when I start, obviously. Just print out what you need and jump right in. I will say that deployment is the perfect time to do this. My meal plan for myself is pretty strict (although delicious). I’ll be eating the same things every day for the sake of simplicity. But I can’t feed my family the same things every day, so it helps that my Soldier is gone right now. I only have to come up with simple meals for the children on weeknights and weekends.

Without further ado, here are the links to my plan.  I’ll be adding links to the recipes that I’m using for my meals at a later date. Everything is SO easy and tasty, and I don’t think I’ll feel like I’m depriving myself. I’m allowing myself to still eat my favorite toast with real butter, wine and chocolate every night, and I won’t freak out over the occasional “appreciation day” (my version of “cheat day”…I don’t like the word “cheat”, do you?)

The fasting/exercise printable calendar:

This is just a basic, blank calendar that I created in Microsoft Publisher. It includes all months through December 2013. Click the photo to download the PDF file with all 22 months in it and simply print out the months that you will need to complete the 60 Day Cycle.

You might want to print TWO copies of the calendar, depending on how large you write and if you want to keep your eating/fasting calendar separate from your Tasks calendar.

The “what to do when I want to eat” printable calendar:

This task/project worksheet will be used to map out your plans for the 60-day cycle. After I filled out these sheets, I transferred the daily action plans onto my main calendar (above) so that I can easily glance at each day and see what needs to be done for that day.

The 60-day printable tracking log:

This might be my favorite worksheet. I fill in what I eat each day, along with my daily weigh-in number. I also check off my supplements when I take them. This page stays at the front of my folder and I use it all day long. Don’t forget to look ahead at days 20, 40, and 60 to fill in your REWARDS!

The printable pyramid exercise poster:

Trust me, I realize that not everyone is at a fitness level to even be able to do the bottom rung of this pyramid (myself, included). But it’s something to aim for! Right now, I can barely do the bottom level. But I know that if I keep working at it, by the end of the 60 days I’ll be MUCH farther along. The pyramid setup makes it really easy to notice when you’ve made progress.

The Fasting Day printable refrigerator poster:

Print this out and keep it handy. You’ll stick this on your refrigerator every Fasting Day as a constant reminder to yourself. If you need to print out more than one to put on the Pantry door or any other places where you think of food, feel free. This has also been a big help to my family. They know that when the sign is up, they will need to do food-related tasks themselves. Aside from pulling together dinner each day, I don’t do cooking or food tasks on Fasting Days. I taught my children how to make themselves a sandwich and I’ve shown them which snacks they may have without permission (healthy things like orange slices, cheese chunks, and rice crackers).

The printable Weight Loss Tracking Chart:

The photo below is my sample chart. You can see that I put my starting weight in the upper-left cell and then I filled in the Goal weight numbers down the right column. There is enough room on this chart to countdown 23 pounds and 20 days. I fill my actual weights in on the left column. I know this looks funky (and it doesn’t really line up with the chart lines) but I want to know what my exact numbers are. I filled in the dates across the top that line up with my current 60-day Plan. I put a dot at my actual weight on Day 1. Then I put the dot on Day 2 next to 154, which identifies my weight that day. I put a dot on Day 3 at 152, and so on and so on down the chart.

When you click the chart, it will open up a blank version in PDF format for you to fill in with your numbers. If this is confusing, please let me know in the comments and I’ll try to explain it more clearly. There is room on the chart for 20 days of tracking, so you’ll need to print out three of these for the full 60 days. I usually don’t recommend stepping on a scale every single day. That’s a bit compulsive. But for this 60 day cycle, it will be important (and revealing) for you to see exactly how your body responds to the fasting and to various foods. So tracking your weight each day will prove to be very helpful.

Print out what you need. Hole punch it if you’re keeping it in a binder. Or you can just do what I do and stick it all in a file folder that you’ve decorated just for this purpose. Take the time to fill out everything in advance. The prior planning will be the KEY to your success.

I’m so excited to be starting this journey with you! Let me know how I can encourage you in your efforts. I hope to hear many success stories soon!

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