Hello!

So, yeah.  I've been MIA for a long time.  Life just got too busy and crazy for me to remember to post on here.  Maybe if I just do as Cory has suggested, trying to post an update once a week, I'll be able to keep up.  I'll give it a shot.


Believe it or not, my absence is not indicative of me falling off the wagon.  I haven't been sticking to a diet or exercise program hardcore (until this week--more on that in a bit), but I haven't completely stopped trying to make improvements, either.  


My goal right now as far as diet is to try and eat 75% raw foods.  I think it's too much to expect myself to only eat 100% raw foods all day every day.  I'm letting myself have a few indulgences here and there.  But I am still doing my veggie smoothies--believe it or not, I LOVE them.  The recipe I use is:


2 cups water
3 large handfuls of spinach
2 bananas
2 cups of strawberries


Blend all in a blender for about 2 1/2 minutes.  Yields three servings.


I drink a smoothie for breakfast and one for lunch.  Sometimes I even drink one for supper, too.  It's especially nice and refreshing now that it's so hot.  And it gives me a big energy boost.  I munch on a variety of different things throughout the day such as bananas, apples, grapes, carrots, sugar snap peas, almonds, and cashews.  I do my best to never go hungry.  I figure if I keep myself from going hungry it'll keep my blood sugar in a good zone and will help keep the cravings at bay.


And this past weekend I bought a treadmill.  And I am actually jogging on it!  I am so excited that I can run-- I thought I was still several months away from being able to run.  Now granted, I'm only jogging 90-120 seconds at a time.  I'm doing the "weight loss" program on the treadmill, which varies the speed and gets you up into your target heart rate for fat-burning.  But still, GO ME! \o/  I'm loving it, too.  Running feels so freeing.  I'm even thinking that maybe next year if I'm ready I might run a 5K here in our city.


And today I tried on a pair of jeans that are two sizes smaller than the pair I'm used to wearing (which I haven't even worn in months because I wear scrubs to work and usually sweats or shorts when I get home, and since I have no social life I had no need to try these jeans on), and those jeans fit perfectly. \o/ And I tried on the bigger size I used to wear and was able to slide them off without unbuttoning or unzipping.  I also tried on a pair of jeans that are 3 sizes smaller.  Those were too snug to wear as of right now, but I was at least able to button and zip them up.  So, even though I've been absent around here, I have still been making some progress.


Sorry I haven't been holding up my end of the blog, Cory!  I hope you can find it somewhere in that heart of yours to forgive me.  And I hope you've been doing well in your own journey.  I know you've had a whole bunch of stuff going on with you. 




Cappy

Raw Food, Cappy

Today was another good day.  I had no problems staying on the diet.  I overslept this morning, so I didn't get a chance to exercise before work.  But I made up for it after work--I exercised a total of one and a half hours.  I walked for 1 hour and did my workout dvd for 30 minutes.  I'm already stiff and sore, so tomorrow should be fun. :D


Happymaker of the day:  Finishing my workout.


Cappy

Raw Food: Day Whatever and One, Cappy

Did great on the diet today.  This past weekend wasn't perfect, but I stayed on it for the majority of the weekend.  I only walked for about 45 minutes tonight--it was windy and damp and chilly outside, and my calf was hurting (I think I may have slightly pulled a muscle, but it's nothing too bad).  I plan to get up early enough to go for a walk in the morning and then walk tomorrow night after work.  It can happen!


I have plans to get back strict with the diet this week.  Today was a good start.  Go me!




CORY:  Sounds like you're doing great!  Good on you for adjusting things to keep it all from getting too boring for you.  This is how you make it a lifestyle choice and not just a temporary diet. \o/  Also, I miss you!  It feels weird not planning a trip for this year, doesn't it?  


*hugs*


Cappy

Raw Food: Day Whatever, Cappy

Did good again today!  


I'm eating what I started out eating on the raw foods diet, which is a bowl of oatmeal and a veggie smoothie (spinach, strawberries, and bananas) for breakfast, a big salad with onions, spring mix leaves, sugar snap peas, tomatoes, avocado, black beans or kidney beans, and salsa for a dressing, and then another veggie smoothie for supper, sometimes with some raw carrots or snap peas to much on.  I also snack on apples, bananas, and raw almonds or raw cashews throughout the day.  It really is surprisingly satisfying, but only if I stop and think to myself why I'm craving stuff if I start to think I'm hungry.  If I don't think about it, that's when my cravings start to get the best of me, if that makes any sense.


I walked for about an hour and fifteen minutes this evening, and the walk was easier than it was yesterday, so maybe it won't take too long to get back in my walking groove.


Happymaker of the day:  My good walk


Cappy

Raw Food: Day Oneteen, Cappy

I did good today!  Was totally back on the diet, no slip-ups at all.  And I walked for 1 hour this evening.


I can do this!  I can get back on it and get back in my groove.  Whew!  Here's hoping I can keep it up.  Whoever first coined the phrase "I am my own worst enemy" sure wasn't kidding.


Happymaker of the day:  enjoying the sunset on my walk.


Cory--hope things are better for you this week!

Raw Food: Day Eleventy Bajillion, Cappy

Right.  I've been MIA for a while now, I know.  I haven't gone completely off the diet, but I haven't stayed completely on it, either.  I usually eat raw food diet stuff for breakfast and lunch, but then supper I weaken and eat stuff not-so-good for me.  Or at least, that's how it's been most days for the past week.  And I haven't been exercising like I should.  


I am going through another rough patch, and now we've got some family drama going on, so it's been enough for me to get out of bed for work lately.  And every night this week I've been in bed asleep by 8:30-9:00pm, so I haven't been able to remember to stop in on the computer to check in.


I think I'm going to have to just say I'll try to blog every other day--it's just not possible for me to promise to do it every single day.  I'm sticking with this diet and I'm trying to get back on track with it today--I walked for about an hour and a half this morning.


This isn't me giving up.  This is me saying please be patient if I'm not blogging as often as the perfect Cory blogs.  I'm working on it, and I will never give up the fight.  I WILL be at my goal weight this time next year, at the latest.  Cory and I have some epic plans afoot for next year. \o/


Keep up the good work, Cory!


Cappy

Raw Food: Day No Clue, Cappy

Yes, I keep forgetting to post.  I'm just so tired by the time I get on the computer at night that it slips my mind.


Diet's been going . . . not perfect, but I haven't fallen completely off it.  I ate a couple chocolate chip cookies yesterday, and today for lunch I ate a Subway turkey sub, 6 inch.  I overslept and didn't have time to fix my salad this morning, and I just did not fancy getting a salad from Subway.


I'm slowly getting back to the walking--I took a few days off because of two horrible blisters I had on my feet.  But the blisters are mostly healed now.  Yesterday and today I walked a little over and hour each day, so I'm getting back into the exercise groove, I think.  


I'm not tired of the diet.  I think my biggest problem this week has been hormones, and also I've been a little sick due to allergies.  Hopefully by next week I'll be back to normal and losing weight again.


Cappy

Raw Food: Day 34, Cappy

So yeah, I've missed a few days of blogging.  And I haven't done an awesome job on the diet, either.  Thursday night I had a cheeseburger and a baked potato for supper, and then last night I had some tuna fish with crackers for supper.  So, not completely falling off the diet all day long each day, but enough to have stalled any weight loss, along with the fact that after my walk Thursday morning I developed really bad blisters on both feet, to the point that I had to buy blister treatment bandages and skip my walk yesterday and today.  The blisters are much better today, but I decided to skip the walk so that it'd give them more time to heal.  It was very strange because I didn't really walk any longer than I have been walking each day; I guess my feet just decided they'd had enough.  I bought some recommended stuff to use to prevent the blisters from reforming, so hopefully that'll help me enough so that I can keep increasing my walking times--it's so frustrating because if it weren't for my tendency to blister I'd be walking at least 2-3 hours every day by now.


Anywho, I've kept to the diet all day long today, so I'm hoping this means I'll be able to get back on track mentally.  *fingers crossed*


Cappy

Raw Food: Day 31, Cappy

Diet yesterday didn't go great--I ate some tortilla chips with refried beans and nacho cheese for supper.  But, that's the only cheat I did yesterday, so I'm not beating myself up too much over it.  This seems to be my week to have ferocious cravings, I've been having them almost constantly all week.  So, me eating a few nachos last night is such a huge problem, given how much and what all I've been wanting to eat. ;D


Yesterday, I only walked 45 minutes.  Today I walked 1.5 hours.  And other than a mean looking blister on one of my toes, I've gotten pretty used to walking almost two hours a day and climbing the dreaded hill at least 4-5 times a day.  Tonight I did the hill 6 times.  I want my calves to be fierce by the end of summer. \o/


Happymaker of the day:  making vacation plans.


Cappy

Raw Food: Day 29, Cappy

Ugh, still very busy and moody!  I walked yesterday for an hour and a half, but not today.  I was just so tired when I got home from work and in such a foul mood that I decided to rest for today.  Yesterday, I ate a few bites of scrambled eggs and hash browns, but I didn't even make a plate of it, I just grabbed a few bites as I passed through the kitchen.  So, I'm pleased about that.


And as much as I've wanted to turn to comfort food today, I have resisted and stuck to my diet.  If I can just get through these few days of hormones and moodiness I'll be okay. ;D


Happymaker of the day:  Not killing anybody.  Going to jail would have made a bad day worse, I think.


Cappy

RAW FOOD: Day 28, Cory

Did oatmeal for breakfast, raw pear for snack, tuna salad sandwich for lunch (whole wheat bread, very light on the mayo, extra-low-sodium tuna), another raw pear for snack, and stir-fry chicken with a very small amount of pasta for dinner.

I also had three small pieces of leftover Easter chocolate as a "dessert."

I don't think it all added up to more than 1200 calories.

And I did 45 minutes on the bike.

So good day.

I don't feel like I've lost any weight at all the last couple weeks (maybe a small bit), but with all the craziness and the stresses, I am happy with that.

I plan to start losing again, now.

CAPPY:  FIRST:  Congrats on it going so well!  As far as my diet for next week, I think I am going to go on the "clean out my fridge, freezer, and cupboards" diet, because I am going to have some major work done on the house in a few weeks, and I'll have to move in with a friend for a few weeks.  So I need to eat up what's here.

I plan to do it sensibly and low cal though.  I don't have any "treat" type stuff left, so it should be OK.

--Cory

Raw Food: Day 27, Cappy

Busy, busy, busy!!


We can pretty much count on me not posting Thursday nights, unless I do it early.  And last night I was just so exhausted I completely forgot.


But diet is continuing to go great.  Yesterday my mood was all over the place and yesterday evening I was feeling pretty mopey about not getting to eat some comfort food, but I resisted and worked my way through the temptations.


I've been walking at least an hour and a half every day (except I skipped Thursday), and that seems to be working out quite well for me, so far.  It's been getting a lot easier for me lately, and I'm even doing the "hill" on my street at least 4 times a day, sometimes even as much as 7 or 8 times a day.  I hate that freaking hill, but I think it's what's really kicked up the speed with which my endurance is increasing and is also really helping me lose weight at a faster pace.  I'm finally losing weight at what I consider to be an acceptable rate.  I REALLY hope this keeps up.  It's about time things started going my way with this.


It's a daily battle, and I know there's going to be some really difficult times, but feeling like I'm finally in a good groove is what's keeping me going right now.  That, and feeling great--I so do not miss how I always felt after eating unhealthy foods.


Happymaker of the day:  Sleeping late and then napping this afternoon.  Oh how I've missed being lazy.


Cappy

RAW FOOD: Day twentysomething, Cory

Well, spent the day out of town, which involved breakfast, lunch, and dinner out.  But I kept it simple and sensible - 1 egg, a piece of turkey sausage, and about 1/2 cup of strawberry yogurt for brk; a small grilled salmon salad with vinegarette dressing, a small fruit cup, and a small roll for lunch, and a medium portion of broccoli stir fry with maybe 1/2 cup of steamed rice for dinner.  Later, at home, I had a piece of whole wheat toast.

I resisted the many, many donuts and pastries that were out by the coffee at the meeting, and then, when they served us lunch, I resisted the rich dessert choices (triple layer fudge cake, strawberry cheesecake, and two-layer carrot cake) and had the small fruit cup only.

That part - the resisting the way-rich treats - really wasn't even very hard.  I don't seem to have much of attraction to them anymore.  I mean, I have some, but . . . the thought of how unhealthy they are does a much better job of stopping me, than it used to.

Very little exercise in today, because long drive to the meeting, the long meeting, long drive home.  But I hope to make up for that tomorrow.

--Cory

RAW FOODS: Day 25, Cory

Hi!

CAPPY!  So glad things are going so well for you.

I continue my "eating sensibly, and getting plenty of exercise," but haven't really gotten back to the raw foods yet.

I just didn't think about dealing with Easter, then the Easter leftovers, which I don't want to go bad.  And that this week includes two days of out-of-town travel for work.

So anyhow, I have been eating sensibly, and doing tons of walking, because some major road construction has begun at an intersection that I cannot avoid, when driving to work.  And the construction backs up traffic so badly it is faster to walk!  Today, I probably walked 4 miles or more.

Don't know if I will lose weight, but feel sure I will not gain. 

I should be able to get back in the swing after this week is over.

CAPPY!  Maybe only one of us can do great at any given time? : ) The way you sound . . . you want to continue on the Raw Foods, I am guessing?

--Cory

Raw Food: Day 24, Cappy

Awesome day again with the diet.  I'm not quite sure why this diet has been so easy for me so far.  Maybe because it's cut out all of my trigger foods cold turkey?  So, it's about as close to quitting eating altogether as I can get for me, if that makes any sense.  The big comparison I always made to quitting smoking and dieting was I didn't have to smoke to live, so it was easier for me to give it up.  But now, I'm not having to eat all these foods that I'm addicted to in moderation.  I don't have to think about them at all anymore.  And I haven't much, as of yet.  


I know I'll have my ups and downs with this.  But so far the ups have GREATLY outweighed the downs. And I still feel great--significantly better than before I started the diet.  And I've had the energy to workout as much as I feel I need.  So, very positive experience all around with this diet.


I still think this is the lifetime diet for me.  I'll splurge on less healthy and organic stuff every once in a while, of course.  But I owe it to myself to eat the best possible foods for me, and I believe this diet has that.  Yay!


Happymaker of the day:  Finally getting started on writing again.

Cappy

Raw Food: Day 23, Cappy

Awesome diet day!  This raw food thing has really gotten super easy for me lately.  Maybe because I see to be "in the zone" or something, I dunno.  Whatever it is, I hope it stays that way.  I'm still only eating oatmeal in the morning as my cooked food.  And I put some cold kidney beans on my salads, or sometimes a fat-free bean dip and some salsa--is salsa cooked?  Anywho, other than that, I don't eat anything cooked.  And I don't really miss cooked food, so far.


Exercise is going really well for me, too.  Today I walked 2 hours total--I even got up early enough before work to walk for about 45 minutes.  I hope I can keep this up once it turns into typical Alabama summertime.  I loathe hot and sticky weather.


Happymaker of the day:  Fandom squeeing.  It's a thing.


Cappy

Raw Food: Day . . . uh . . . 22? 23?, Cory

Well, I did fine today, except no exercise.  Had to go out of town and got home later than usual and tired out.

Really not 100% back on track because I've been eating up some of the "hosting Easter" leftovers, but I did ask everyone to take back with them the chocolate easter treats and cookies and cakes and such they brought.  The only left over treat I had was a few pieces of low-cal angel food cake and a partial can of light whipped cream, and I finished that up by having it for brkfst and a late night treat.

The rest - I ate sensibly, both yesterday and today, and got exercise in yesterday (lots o' walking).

And I'm almost done with the leftovers, so even though I'm not 100% back on track, I am getting there. 

Had to move the exercise bike out of the living room for the party, but will move it back tomorrow night!

--Cory

Raw Food: Day 22, Cappy

Woo hoo!  I remembered to post two days in a row!


Diet did great today.  I think maybe, possibly my taste buds might be changing a bit.  I've really been enjoying the heck out of my salads lately, as well as my veggie/fruit smoothies.  And I haven't really been craving much of anything.  Granted, hormones may be a factor in that, as well as being so busy and also with the diet going so well and me actually being able to feel and see a bit of weight loss, that all is encouraging me not to want to cheat.  But also, I'm really kind of enjoying the foods I've been eating lately.  Go figure.


I only walked for about an hour and fifteen minutes tonight.  I got home about 45 minutes late from work and was feeling pretty tired, so I decided to cut it short.  Tomorrow, 2 hours!  It will happen.


Happymaker of the day:  The walk was fun.


Cappy

Raw Food: Day 21, Cappy

I just really do not have a good track record with remembering to post, do I?  


Anywho, no reason for not posting last night other than being distracted and forgetting.  I've got A LOT going on right now, and most of it happens in the evenings (get your minds out of the gutter), so it's difficult to remember sometimes.


But, diet is still going along rather fantastically.  Nephew and his gf came over tonight, but I did not partake in the any delicious foods being served.  I walked for almost 2.5 hours yesterday, but was not able to get any exercising in before they came over today--in my defense, they showed up almost 2 hours before they usually do.  I had planned on walking once it cooled down a bit this afternoon, but just didn't get the chance.


Happymaker of the day:  sleeping late.


Cappy

RAW FOOD: Day 21, Cory

Easter!  I did indulge a bit today with a piece of cake and a couple small pieces of Easter chocolate, and some flavored pretzel pieces.

But no major pig-out.

I'm ready to get going again this coming week!

Happy Easter, all.

--Cory