Here we go! Paleo bound....

My good friend, Charissa, has me going and has been for 2 months now. I've been head strong in losing weight and succeeding!! Most of the time when I diet or try and lose weight, I'm at it for a week or 2 maybe a month at the most. My most favorite diet when I was younger was that 7 day diet where you can lose 10-17 pounds in a week. Seemed like a quick and easy fix for me! Well, not anymore! I've learned my lesson and I'm now enjoying my 'diet' adventure. :)

As of this morning I"m down 26.4 pounds! I have been doing this now for 2 months and 2 days as of today! That's 63 days that I have been eating a certain way and I feel great. I have energy. I enjoy going out for my walk. I enjoy eating. I love to good. It's been AWESOME! And it's not affecting anyone in my house! It's amazing!

For those of you that know me, know I love, love, LOVE to cook! I am in the kitchen every day eating so why not make a fantastic meal to go with it? And to find out that with everything that Charissa has given me to this point, I've basically been eating with this new Paleo lifestyle. Now, to just cut out the little bit that needs to be....

So starting tomorrow, I am on a new challenge and I KNOW I can do this!
1. Eat real foods: Meat, eggs, veggies, nuts, seeds, fruit, healthy oils.
     -this means foods that are fresh and have little to no ingredients, and if they do have a 'little' bit of
      ingredients, they need to be pronounceable words..... (I have already been doing this about 80%
      of the time!!)
2. Do not eat grains: This is anything with bread, rice, pasta, corn (yes corn!) oatmeal.
     -I haven't eaten bread, pasta or oatmeal in months. Rice isn't going to be hard to cut out. But corn?
      Ok, I love me some corn on the cob, but I guess that is something that I don't have to have on a
      regular basis from here on out!
3. Don not eat legumes: This includes beans of any kinds, lentils and peanuts.
     -This is so easy, because I already don't eat these things! Including peanut butter. I just don't
      eat it!
4. Do not eat dairy: This includes butter, cheeses, yogurt and milk.
     -Wow! This is the hard one for me! Now, you're thinking milk? The milk I haven't drank in 2
      months. I have gone to Almond Milk, which is way better anyways! So, that one is done. Now,
      butter, well, for the most part I dont' use it, but every once in awhile I use it to cook with. So,
      that will be out. Now for cheese and yogurt. Some of my favorite things! Oh, how I am going to
      miss it! Oh how I'm going to crave it at first, but I know giving these up will be for the better in
      the long run!
5. Do not eat sugars of any kind, real or artificial: If I have to sweeten something up I can us a LITTLE
   bit of honey, syrup, or agave nectar.
     -No Splenda, Truvia, Stevia, etc....Don't use these anyway, so it's all good!
6. Do not eat processed foods: This includes energy bars, dairy-free creamers, etc.
     -I'm going to have to just start reading labels and making sure things are what I can eat. Shouldn't
      be to hard. I cook and eat everything at home and I'm already trying to do eliminate those things
      anyway!
7. Do not drink alcohol, in any form.
     - Well, every once in a while I have a small glass of wine, so this shouldn't be a huge issue. I already
      cut out the beer that I used to drink, and hard alcohol, just don't like it the way I used to when I was
      younger.

So, my next step to myself while I go head first into the full Paleo lifestyle. Start finding recipes that are 'Paleo' appropriate. I'm sure there have got to be some of those out there! And then I can start making those, and start posting those on my blog! :)

I am also ready to tell all those that have been following my blog about my 'numbers'. This has been something that I have not been wanting to share, but now that I am on the right track and doing all these wonderful lifestyle and eating changes, I feel comfortable enough to share. So, here it goes! :)

When I realized I needed to do something about my weight was when I stepped on the scale and saw this number flash before my eyes. That number was 299! I realized I had gained so much weight for whatever reason, it doesn't matter. It just matters is that is what happened! That is when I realized I had to do something. I talked to Charissa and started on this road to success! My ultimate goal (as of right now) is to get down to 175. So, that is where the 124 pounds to lose came into effect. I might change that though as I get closer to it, but for now, that is the goal. I am currently down to 272.6!!! I am so close to the 260's that I can feel it! I haven't seen the 260's since before my son was born and that was over 9 years ago! It's been just amazing how far I've already come! I can see my goal, I know I can do this!

Till next time!