Gearing up for the big D...

So, my niece and her husband embarked on a juice fast called The Reboot a month or so before last Christmas. The idea is that you concentrate on ingesting only micronutrients which come from veggies and fruits and forego the macronutrients in meat or white potatoes and, of course, you have no processed food at all. It's meant to be a way to cleanse your systems and jump start your metabolism. You can start with ten days and go from there using a juicer to create tasty drinks. You can stop at the ten day mark or go on if you like. It's healthy and good for you. So they say.

I have a juicer that I haven't used in a long time so last night I gave my niece a call to see how the Reboot went for them. Turns out it went very well. She did it for two weeks and lost almost 20 lbs. Her husband extended his Reboot for a full 30 days, went on a two week hiatus, and then restarted for another 30 days. He dropped almost 60 lbs. without really trying. He then went on a maintenance routine reintroducing regular food into his day focusing on the micronutrient foods with small portions of macronutrients like meat, fish, and potatoes. He's kept the weight off. This week they are doing another one week fast and then so on and so forth.

Based on that knowledge, and having watched a film called, "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead" I've decided to give this a shot. I'm gearing up for the big Detox which I'll start on Sunday. I'm going to do ten days which is the recommended starting point and see how it goes. This weekend I'll be clearing out the produce section of my local grocery store and my juicer will be running on overtime for the following week or do. Everyone who's tried this says the same thing. The first three days are the hardest. That's when my body will be in detox mode, getting rid of all the toxins I'm supplied it with through years of bad eating habits. Day Three, they say, is the most difficult. Apparently, sleep is elusive on that third day. But, after that, every person who's done it says something remarkable happens. Their energy level shoots through the roof. They start to sleep like babies. Their skin clears up. And the weight start falling away.

During the Reboot, you can drink as much fresh made juice as you want along with lemon water and herbal tea. No caffeine, which for me, won't be an issue really. I have about two cups of coffee per day but not every day so I know I can do without it. No processed foods at all. That, in the long haul, will be difficult because if you really think about it, we, meaning all of us, eat an enormous amount of processed foods. But I'm determined to do this. I need to do this. I'm tired of being sick and tired all the time. Getting out of bed in the morning shouldn't hurt and I'm convinced that this will get me going in the right direction.

One side affect of this Reboot, something that happens on Day Three, is that it can make you pretty cranky. So, I apologize in advance for my bitchiness that will happen next week. But after that, I'll be a peach to live with, I promise!

The two pound battle...

So I've been pretty frank about my struggle with losing weight. It's been a long battle and right now I'm in a hand to hand combat with two pounds that just won't quit. I lost it one week, gain it the next. The same stinking two pounds for the past four weeks. I'm almost ready to just lop off a foot or something and lose it for good! Maddening!

Another maddening thing...Paranormal Activity 2. Sounds like a sequel...SURPRISE!...it's a prequel. And it has all the same tension building moments as the first one. It has all the GOTCHA moments of the first one. It has some truly creepy moments too. So why didn't I like it? Because I HATE it when they take premises like this - paranormal activity - which doesn't really need some rubbish explanation because, by the way, it's PARANORMAL! Sheesh! They always feel the need to explain what's happening and why it's happening and how the sequence of events goes and blabbity blah blah. That always ruins it for me. Scary creepy stuff can happen for no reason. We don't go to these movies for reason, we go to be scared and creeped out. Trying to explain it just sucks all the creepy out of it!

Another maddening thing...the local news. Why, oh, why do these news anchors have to be so cordial, making jokes, teasing each other as if they're life long best buds. Just give me the news already! The weatherman is really not a comedian so why do they insist he act like one? I blame that one on Willard Scott. He started a trend and now they all follow it. Curse you Willard. Curse you forever.

One last maddening thing...and this one will probably get me struck by lightening but here goes...Oprah Winfrey. Ms. Winfrey gets on my last nerve and I don't even get the chance to watch her show. The commercials for her show get on my nerves. The entertainment news about her gets on my nerves. She was on TMZ of all places and it got on my nerves. There's just something about her that rubs me the wrong way. No one is that caring, that giving, that magnanimous, that generous all the frickan' time. I just want to see her completely go ape shit on someone just once. I would have undying respect for her if she did.

Okay, that's my rant. And I'm sure it's all just frustration started with that damn two pounds. It's getting to me dammit! I wonder how much one of my feet really weighs...

Feeling awfully good about myself!

So, I've been working really hard at losing weight these days. I joined Weight Watchers in July and I'm down 31 pounds since then. I think I've mentioned, Alex and I have joined a gym and I've been pretty faithful about going there at least three times per week. I do thirty to forty five minutes of cardio (treadmill, cycling and sometimes elliptical) and sometimes I throw in some weight circuits just for good measure. I HATE working out. I really do. Well, actually, it's the getting motivated to go work out that gets me. I'm not motivated, not really.

But I keep asking myself how badly do I want this? How much do I want to lose this extra weight once and for all and what am I willing to do to lose it?

Tonight, Alex was worn out. His sleep pattern is always weird and off and on and tonight he was too tired to go to the gym. It would have been easy for me to use that as an excuse to stay home. But I didn't. I went. On my own. And I did my full work out.

The thing is, once I am there, it feels good. I do like it. I feel better working out and it's fun. It's just getting there that's the hassle. But, oh well, I did it!! And that makes me feel pretty damn good about me.

My overall weight goal is big but I can't think about that. That would be too much to handle and I would be frustrated and quit. So, I am taking it one pound at a time, one meal at a time, one work out at a time. And it's working. I have two newish pair of jeans that I can no longer wear. And not because they're too tight. They're way too big! I can put them on and take then off without unzipping them! Hahah! So, I'm making a box load of clothes to give away.

Also, since the holidays are looming. I'm going to take part in a Food Collection Challenge. For every pound I lose between now and Thanksgiving, I'm going to donate a pound of non-perishable items to a local food bank. It's gonna be good seeing that food donation pile grow as the pounds come off!

My ultimate fitness goal is to be able to run. Oh, I can run now but I mean to run...like a long way...outside. Just for fun! It's coming. I know it is. Until then, one pound at a time. I'll get there!