Day 6 - $1 30 Day Challenge

Day 6 started out great. I woke up at 7 no snooze needed. I was up. Usually I press snooze for an hour, so this is amazing. I had time to watch good mythical morning and eat breakfast leisurely.

 I made breakfast the night before. Scrambled eggs bell pepper, onion and ground turkey, topped with cheese and hot sauce. 

I was out the door by 8am. It has been so long since I have been to work at 8:30 my ideal arrival time. And I was on track. But I realized when I got to the red light before the interstate, I forgot my lunch. Thankfully I wasn't too far away, so I turned around to get it. I only arrived a few minutes after 8:30.

Yesterday I talked to my psychiatrist. She is holistic, which basically means she considers the mind, body, and spirit, and looks at other factors rather than just mental health but also physical health. She has been trying to get me to start a gluten free diet and exercise for months, so she was happy I was on this plan. 

Overall my mental health has been pretty stable lately, my only complaint has been my waking up late and migraine and vomiting side effects. But I have really noticed my waking up has been better since starting this diet. And my energy has been good too, which I will talk about more. 

It was a very busy day at work. BTW I am a Activites Manager at a nursing home. We were getting ready for family visit parade drive by. A way for families to see their residents safely from a distance, since we are isolatting during covid. 

After the morning meeting, my yard signs were ready for pick up from fedex, perfect timing. When I got back we put out the signs and pinwheels. After making a couple of signs for residents to hold, it was time for lunch. It was left over sausage and veggies. I ate quickly. It is so much easier to bring my lunch than drive to go. No more late lunch breaks (I only get 30min).

Now it was time for the parade. 2nd floor was up first. It was a big crowd. Everyone worked as a team to get the residents outside and navigate the cars. My boss said I did an excellent job.  The 3rd floor was next, which was a smaller group. But it was really moving to see a trach patient on oxygen out to visit his family. Last was the 4th floor, the largest crowd. The cars were lined up in the parking lot and down the street. There was one point where they were stuck. But we got it moving and Miranda and Janice did a great job of directing traffic. It was so fun. Some people decorated their cars, and brought dogs. 

I could have never done this event without the support of the other staff members. It was a big undertaking. It took a lot of planning, and a lot of just making it work at show time. Every step was truly a team effort to get it together. It was a special moment for a lot of family members who hadn't seen their family in months. 

I was standing on my feet all day, just going, going, going. So I was ready to go home and rest. I did rest some, but I knew I needed to cook dinner and exercise before sundown. I was so sticky and dirty from being outside all day. 

Dinner was Mexican pasta casserole. I got dinner together which required boiling water for pasta and saute peppers. Then add the turkey meat which I had already cooked, and simmer in taco seasoning. Then into the oven to bake with the sauce and cheese. 

While it baked I did my exercises which was a parymid of x dots, burpes, quick feet and mountain climbers. I did 10-8-6-2. It wasn't terrible; I have improved. I did use modifications. Some exercises were easier than others. Then I took my much needed shower. 

I ate dinner when I got out of the shower. I served it with salsa and Greek yogurt (instead of sour cream). The Greek yogurt was great, tastes just like sour cream. 

The pasta was made out of chickpeas. It wasn't terrible, but not great.  The noodles had a rough texture similar to wheat, but not like other gluten free pasta that is gummy. The meal over all was pretty good. It was very filling.

It was a very big accomplishment to get everything I did done. After a long day at work, I still managed to cook and exercise. Amazing. 

*Note I bought the wrong week meal plan so it may be different than the challenge. I think this meal plan is from the welcome package 

Day 5 - $1 30 day challenge

Day 5 was the same meals as day 4. Chocolate protein pancakes, tuna salad, and roasted vegetables with chicken sausage. It was pretty easy as far as the meals, I didn't have to really cook. I did cook for the following breakfast. 

I am still drinking the detox drink every morning.  Here is a picture of it. I dont think I posted a picture of it yet. It has lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, sea salt and green tea. 

Lunch was a little bit hard to eat. It was the tuna salad with Greek yogurt and lemon and olive oil. I think I added too much lemon and Greek yogurt. 

Day 5 workout went much better. It was a pyramid of: walking plank, squat squat jump, bomber pushups, and toe touch sit ups. I did 10-8-6-2 with a couple modifications. I completed them fully, which was better than yesterday. The squat squat jumps were the easiest. I wore my new leggings. I really liked them, very comfortable. 

I've been doing pretty good drinking enough water. I'm supposed to drink have my body weight in ounces. I have also been drinking hint flavored water and unsweetened flavored tea. I am used to drinking sugary soda and sweet tea, so these alternatives have been helping me enjoy what I drink without the sugar. 

This brand is really good Tejava, makes you not miss the sugar. 

Hint flavored water is really good. The fruit flavor makes it seem sweet even though there is no sweeteners. 

Unsweetened matcha green tea found by the sushi. 

Jasmine green tea is so flavorful, you don't miss the sugar. Tastes floral. 

At the end of the day I prepared my breakfast for the next few days. Ground turkey, bell pepper and onion, and eggs.

*Had some technical difficulty posting this one so it's late...pictures wouldn't load as well. 

* I bought the wrong week meal plan, so it is different than the 30 day challenge. I think this week was from the empowered welcome pack

Day 4 - $1 30 day challenge

First day off detox first day exercising.

Today started out good. I woke up early like 7am I had time to take a shower and leisurely eat breakfast. Breakfast was banana chocolate protein pancakes. It did cause me to throw up. Maybe because it was expired protein powder. It tasted good though. I topped it with melted dark chocolate chips. I eat it again tomorrow, so hopefully I don't have the same reaction. 

Lunch was tuna salad which I ate with walnuts. I wasn't that hungry, breakfast filled me up. But it was okay because a serving was half of what was made. I think I added too much lemon or Greek yogurt. It was a little runny. I also eat that again tomorrow for lunch. 

Work was pretty busy. When I got home I visited with my husband. It was nice that he was home when I got there.

I decided to do my exercises before dinner. It was the first day of exercises. I wasn't sure how I would do. It was a pyramid of exercises. So you do each 10 times then each 9 -8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1. The exercises were Jack push up, legs in back out, prayer cross, and ball ups. 

They were really hard. I had to do them with modifications and I only made it to 7. I was struggling. I am happy that I did them though. 

I realized when I was getting ready for dinner that I shopped for the wrong week.  I think I shopped for the welcome package meal plan. Oh well. I'm just going to continue on this plan and maybe do week 1 last or next I'm not sure. 

Dinner was sheet pan roasted vegetables with chicken sausage served with cauliflower rice. I borrowed my moms oven because I only have a toaster oven. Pictured before baking.

 I wasn't sure which chicken sausage to get most of them had added cheese or apples. I got this one because it didn't have a munch of added chemicals.

I'm not sure about this shelf cauliflower. I might try frozen next time. I just have a small freezer. It was better when I added salt and olive oil and garlic. 

Dinner was good, a lot of different textures. I actually made something similar prior to diet. 

Prior to going to bed I threw away a bunch of trash around the house. Its nice to have the energy to do house work. I hope this continues and I make a habit of doing housework more frequently. 

Day 3 - Last day of detox - $1 30 day Challenge

I woke up a little bit earlier than the day before but not ideal. I got my smoothie ready with pineapple, avocado, and kale among other things. 

Lunch was a kale and parsley salad with red and yellow bell pepper, carrot shavings, walnuts and blueberries. The fruit was a nice addition. It had a Balsmic vinegerette, with lemon and honey. It was pretty tart. It was a lot to eat. I had some left over. Which I ate as a snack later. 

Pictured from top to bottom dinner, lunch, breakfast.

After a brief respite when I got home I got the spaghetti squash ready. Put it in the oven and went to the grocery store for week 1 groceries. It had to cook for an hour. I was able to fit half in my tiny oven. I got a little charred being so close to the burner, but it worked okay. 

I saved the pumpkin seeds for roasting. My trick is to boil the for 10 min in salty water and bake for 10 - 20 min at 400 temp.

Dinner was the spaghetti squash with kale/spinach and broccoli sautéed in garlic and olive oil. My husband ate it as well, I just cooked him a big piece of salmon in addition. He liked it. He also ate day two dinner. 

It was pretty late when I got my breakfast and lunch prepared for the next day. I was asleep about 11:30 pm. 

I am happy I am done with the detox. Day 4 is when I start exercises 

I checked my weight before bed and was down 5lbs. I checked it again in the morning and was down 8.5lbs. And I lost about inch thtoughout my body measurements. This is really exciting. I am truly amazed that I list this much in 3 days. Excited for more to come. 

Day 2 - $1 30 day Challenge

Day started off pressing snooze. Even though I woke up late I still drank my detox drink and made my smoothie. Including getting dressed it took about 15/20 min, not bad. I remembered to grab my lunch I had prepared last night as I was out the door. Got in the car and realized I forgot to shave 😬, no time, keep rollin. 

I started to get hungry around 11:30, but usually have lunch at 12, so I stuck it out. I didn't want to eat too early, because I would need to last until 5 when I get off. 

Lunch was a spinach salad with red bell pepper, tomatoes, and avacado with the same dressing as yesterday's lunch. I enjoyed the red this time. Nice juicy pop to the grape tomatoes. I took a nausea medicine just in case. 

I drank a lot of water thoughout the day. We have a really nice machine that has crunchy ice and cold water, so that helps me drink water. We are supposed to drink half our body weight in ounces. 

About 2pm I felt a headache. I took my new migraine medicine (ubrevly). And two hours later my head was still hurting so I took another dose. As I was leaving for work I had to throw up 😩. Thankfully I made it to the bathroom in time. This was a really bad headache. I drove home quickly and got straight in the shower. It felt really good. And helped. 

After a couple of hours of resting, my head still hurt, so I called the doctor on call for advice. He said I could take my ritzapram and or ibuprofen. I took the ritzapram and a nausea medicine. I still threw up though. Then I took ibuprofen. After awhile I was feeling better. 

At 10pm I started Day 2 dinner which is roasted vegetables. I couldn't find my sweet potato I bought. Maybe I left some groceries at the store, because my lime was missing too. Thankfully my mom (neighbor) had one I could borrow. 

Ate dinner and Hubby even ate it with me. Got lunch ready for tomorrow. In bed at midnight. It was a rough day, but I did it. I was #Determined2bDetermined.  

Day 1 - $1 30 day challenge

Today I started day 1 of the 3 day detox in the 30 day challenge. I started the day of good. I woke up pretty early and drank the detox drink which has apple cider vinegar, lemon, green tea, and a little salt. It was bitter, but I got it down. I drank it cold. After that I got my smoothie ready. I am using a blender that the previous tenant left in the apartment. I was worried it wouldn't fare well with the greens and frozen veggies, but with a little stir it got it done pretty good. I also have an inexpensive small blender but I didn't think it would fit the 2cups of kale. Here is a picture of the smoothie: 

After breakfast I got dressed and took my before pictures. I wore a tight shirt and tight pants. Wow I have a lot of improvement. 

After awhile I did my baseline exercises. Which was push ups, squats, quick feet, and mountain climbers. Do each for 1 min and count how many you did. I was pretty winded after. It was harder than you would think. 

Lunch was a salad with spinach, broccoli, green bell pepper, and zucchini. With a homemade dressing. It was an avacado, cliantro, lime dressing. I know I bought a lime, but I couldn't find it anywhere. I even looked it my car. So that was really frustrating. I ended up borrowing one from my neighbor. It was probably the healthiest, most green meal I have ever eaten. It was a really large portion too. See below. 

I am prone to vommiting lately, so I went to take a nausea medicine. My doctor also recommend I take a probiotic. So I wanted to get back to taking them. I made the mistake of taking the probiotic before the nausea medicine kicked in. And it triggered me to throw up 🤮😩. I didn't give up though. After I felt better and ate some more and I was okay. There was still some left but I was pretty hungry after doing some errands, so I finished it later. 

The family was cutting down some trees in the backyard so I helped out. I got hungry again, probably because of the vommiting. So I ate some plain Greek yogurt with 1/2 tsp of honey, pinch of celyon cinnamon and a dash of vanilla extract. Plain greek yogurt with 1/2 tsp of raw honey is on the approved snack list. It was very good. Nice and creamy.

Before dinner on an empty stomach I drank the detox drink. I tried it warm this time. I drank it really slow. I'm not sure if I like it better hot or cold. 

Dinner was raw spiralized zucchini and carrot with sliced red pepper and chia seeds. With a homemade dressing that had avacado, ginger, and cayenne pepper and lemon.  The dressing was very tasty.  The spiralizer didn't work with the carrot which was frustrating. Next time I'll use a grater. Over all dinner was good. See below. 

I finished up the day by preparing the salad lunch for tommorow for work. Breakfast is a smoothie, so I'll just have to throw that together quick because I usually don't have much time. I can't really prep it. 

I am happy with how day 1 went. Excited for day 2, I hear the dinner is really good on day 2. 

30 day Challenge Start

Tomorrow I start the beginning of the $1 30 day challenge, beginning with the 3 day detox. If you are interested in joining click this link $1 30 day challenge.

The 30 day challenge is a meal plan and exercise plan for 30 days and if you want to continue you can sign up for a monthly subscription. 

I stood on the scale and was shocked,  I stepped on a second time to recheck in disbelief. I took my measurements. And tomorrow I will do the baseline exercises. There is a lot of room for progress, and I really want to make a change. 

I am at my heaviest weight. I have been this weight before. It is horrible, because I carry all my weight in my belly, so many people ask me if I am pregnant. 

I had my last meal before the diet, and I feel bloted, so I feel ready to start the detox, so I can feel better. 

Things I will have to overcome:

• Drinking soda and sugary drinks
• Eating candy and sweets
• Preparing food - I usually order something to go for lunch at work and have very little time in the mornings 
• Motivation to exercise

Some health challenges I face that affects my weight: Thyroid, PCOS, Bipolar and the side effects of meds. 

I bought the groceries for the detox Friday. 

Tomorrow (Sunday) starts the detox, I have the detox drink made in the fridge. I am glad the first day isn't a work day, so I can get acclimated. The morning starts with a smoothie, lunch is a salad with homemade dressing, and dinner is a raw zoodle bowl. I even bought a spiralizer to make it. 

There is a fb group for support which has been helpful. 

This blog has always been about being determined2bdetermined (my user name), which is to say you have to try to try I suppose. Its about motivating yourself. It's about finding the excitement in the mundane, because things like diet and exercise are hard but it helps to get excited about what is hard. 

Read my first blog post here for more about the theme of this blog.  Kindling the fire of existence  Here is a quote: 

Motivation is hard to come by. It is my motto of the season to find excitement in the mundane. This is the only way I believe I can conjure up some motivation to do all the things I need to do for a better life but don't want to do. It is about convincing myself that I want this. I am not determined, but I want to be. I want to be determined, I want to be consistent. I need to be

I will try to post regularly with my progress. 

*I did check with my doctor before starting, which is recommend. 

Great Day

Today was a great day. I woke up right when my alarm went off at 6 am. No snoozing. I watched good Mythical Morning and made a pot of tea and ate oatmeal. I got ready and was out the door a little after 7 am. I made it to work on time and even got gas.   

I had a good day at work and had some surprises in the mail. A ring I ordered. It was really pretty. A gift card from taking a survey. And my diet food. 

I made a great dinner chicken wings and zucchini. I used ginger paste and hot sauce from jeruselam bakers on one and did the others with lemon pepper and other with herb and garlic Ms. Dash. It was really good. Ended with hot chocolate with chai spice. I even cleaned the dishes. I wanted to keep I clean since I spent so much time making it clean yesterday. 

So I packed my food for tomorrow. Cinnamon bar, s'mores bar, Mac and cheese and bbq crunchers. And I put a bottle of water in the fridge so it would be cold. 

Here is to a new venture - Optavia.

Confession

I don't like that I don't like the way I look in pictures in the mirror. I don't like that I notice people's weight. It's like when you are focused on your own weight you notice others. I am thinking about joining a gym. My hesitation, I don't have enough money. That is pathetic. It doesn't even cost that much. I should make provision. I don't hesitate to spend money at low cost food. I need to make a commitment.

Productive Day

Yay! I had a day off from work and got a lot done. I planted some bulbs and cleaned my room. Did laundry. Made a hat/scarf rack. Hung my diploma. Removed old clothes from my closet. Vacuumed. Cleaned the ceiling fan and tightened the bolts so I could use it. My room was a mess. I still had some things laying around from when I moved here in January. I found two things that were lost, my camera and my big set of markers. :) so glad I did not lose them for real.
It's not finished yet though. I still have to put all my clean clothes up and do something with my old clothes. I have some great items so I want to sell them but it will take time to catalogue.

Finding the excitement in the mundane...I feel so much better now that my room is clean. Doing these mundane tasks might suck but the reward is great. It was hard work digging but it will be great to look at the flowers that come up and know I made it happen. I might actually enjoy being in my room now that I can walk around.

I need to focus on this progress and not let it slip. It's 8:30pm and I still have some time left in the day to get my clothes put up.

So I'm singing off to get it done :)