38 pounds loss this week. I tried something new this week which was a three day juice cleanse. I had gotten a tad off track with my travels consuming just a bit too much alcohol and sugar. I thought this would be the perfect plan to get me back on track and feeling extra healthy. Little did I know how hard it would be.

My friends sent me the instructions and warned me to eat healthy the day before I started. To prepare for the juice cleanse you are supposed to only eat fruit and vegetables the day before. I don't think any of us adhered to that goal unfortunately. Maybe it would have been easier. For day one I was at work. I started my day with a large iced green tea and water with lemon. I thought this would keep my tummy semi full as my normal coffee with skim milk actually does. I was wrong but still ok. I drank my juices every two hours. I had a slight headache the whole day and was hungry. It was kind of like Yom Kippur but for three days. I didn't know how I was going to sleep being starving but your last juice of the day is a cashew with cinnamon drink and it is actually filling. The spices seem to relax you. I slept well and woke up feeling great.

Day two was easier but by Saturday afternoon I was starving again and my juices kept me less and less full. The headache from the day before continued. I tried to go about my day but the only thing that distracted me from the hunger was playing angry birds on my iPad. I spent a lot of this weekend playing angry birds and catching up on my dvr shows to try not to think about the cleanse.

Day three is ending as I write this. I have my cashew cinnamon drink to consume and I am done :). Would I do this again? Yes but for one day or two days max. Three was a bit much. We did the Blueprint Cleanse which I've been told is the best. The juice is light and blended well so you can drink it with a straw. Aside from my headache and feeling very hungry I feel good. My skin looks and feels great, I'm not bloated and I'm glad that I did it. I'll let you know next week how I fare for my first meal after the cleanse. It will be at the airport so we'll see how I do!

I am 35 pounds down. The biggest change in myself that I've noticed is how I've learned to deal with my emotions. Instead of letting myself feel my emotions in the past I would stuff them away by stuffing myself with food.  

 A recurring example of this was when I would have a bad day at work. When that occurred I would take a trip to Taco Bell which isn't necessarily a problem in itself. You see if I just grabbed a taco no big deal.  Aside from the fact it is junk food and has lots of chemicals one taco isn't the end of the world.  Would I eat just one taco? Of course not :(

My experience at Taco Bell would be one of total disregard for normal portion sizes. I would eat a days worth of calories in one sitting.  I felt disgusting and stuffed each time I did this but I guess I got exactly what I was looking for-to feel stuffed!  Did it solve the days problems? Not at all. It was a way to just not deal with things and ignore them. 

Now if I have a bad day, I have a bad day. I go to the gym or relax with a great book. Most importantly I let myself get upset and then move on. I don't use food as a substitute for feeling my emotions. Not anymore and never again. 

Happy Labor Day to all. I was at the US Open the last few days. What a great tournament and so much fun to attend. Seeing the athletes compete was such great motivation for my workout this morning. As I become more fit I am excited to try new things each week.

I also noticed at the US Open that they now really cater to the health conscious fan. There are so many great choices for cuisine. Several years ago the choices were only hot dogs and greasy french fries. Now they have sushi, great salads and even yogurt with fresh fruit.

I find more and more as I go to concerts, sporting events and even restaurants that it is easy to eat healthy and stay on my plan as the venues offer so many options. Additionally, I find that after an intense workout I don't want to eat junk food so that helps. There are those times when I do have strong cravings. To combat this, I keep a list of reasons why not to eat junk food on my iPhone. I try to read it when I really want something. It usually works!

Have a great week and be healthy :) zoftig princess

Getting back to my unfortunate pancake experience from last Sunday I felt extra hungry all day long. In addition the pancakes didn't even taste that great. I guess my body is so used to not having any type of real sugar it didn’t know what to do.

This weekend there is an impending hurricane. I will admit I am a little nervous about the power going out for several days. I've become quite addicted to my electronics as well as having running water not to mention what the power outage will do for my diet. I have fruit and veggies but wouldn't be able to cook anything and that scares me. Will I have enough self control even if I feel hungry not knowing when I will have a normal meal? Time will tell. Hopefully the power won't go out but no one knows.

I also think that the feelings of being a little nervous makes you feel more hungry. It isn't real hunger. It is just like last Sunday when I was feeling sad and reacted by eating two pancakes. This time I recognize the feelings and won't make the same mistake twice.

To all my friends and family on the East Coast: I hope you are safe and make it through the storm unharmed with no incident.
xoxo zoftig princess

Still down 34 pounds this week. Had another hectic week. However, I did manage to go to several spin classes. It was definitely a stressful week and I will admit that I ate some food today that was not on my plan. I was very upset about a bunch of things going on in my life and I had two pancakes at the diner with my breakfast this morning. It was totally an example of emotional eating. The food didn't really help and I was still upset afterwards. The pancakes didn't even taste that good and it definitely wasn't worth it. There are so many things I could have done instead of eating such as getting a pedicure or just going to the gym.

There have many days these past few months that I've been upset or sad and I know that going to the gym always helps. For some reason today I didn't go to the gym and I ate something instead. Now the rest of the week I am going to have to eat a little bit less and workout a little bit more to make up for it. I guess I wouldn't be human if I was perfect 24/7. I won't lie, I am disappointed in myself. The key though is to forgive myself and make sure it doesn't happen again or become a habit. I definitely do not want to go back to my old unhealthy habits.

This week I plan to go to four spin classes, navy seals, zumba and have two personal training sessions. Wish me luck! Until next week.
-zoftigprincess

34 pounds lost as of this morning. Time has been my biggest issue this week in the sense that there isn't enough time in the day, the week, the month... I had to bring my blackberry to spin class. I had to go back down to my desk to do more work after navy seals. Today is Saturday and a sampling of my to do list is as follows:  I need to write my blog, go to the gym, do laundry, grocery shopping, manicure, pedicure, car wash, dry cleaning as a sampling of tasks...

I work in the financial industry so I am up at 6am and at my desk by 7:30am most mornings.  I work until at least  5pm or later with barely five minutes to myself all day to even make a personal call. Then most days I go to the gym before arriving home close to 8pm each night. 

So how during these times do you fit everything including all your workouts and eating healthy. It certainly is quite challenging but you have to prioritize and decide what is most important to you. There are many weeks where not all my laundry gets done or I'm not with my friends as much as I want  but I make sure to get my workouts in. 

As of this morning I am down 31 pounds. It seems that I hit a mini plateau there for a bit but I am happy to report I am back on the down slope of the curve. I worked a lot this week and did miss some of my workouts due to working around 60 hours. Somehow I still lost weight. The body is a funny thing.

My clothes are getting bigger and bigger each week but I still see myself as "fat" and still say to myself that I can't do certain things until I lose more weight. I am definitely proud of myself for all my hard work but some days still don't feel smaller. I also don't see a difference in the mirror but all my friends and family keep telling me I'm shrinking.

As far as delaying life until I lose more weight, people of all sizes go jogging, fall in love and make their dreams become reality. Being on the road to my goal weight shouldn't stop me from doing anything and if I'm honest with myself it isn't the weight that is stopping me. It's my own fear and insecurities. I will get to my goal weight. I know that but being healthy isn't just about being fit and thin. It isn't just the number on the scale. It is also about having a healthy mindset. That is what I need to spend some time and effort on.