Ah-Ha

I did not do so well this week. I was with family and doing a lot of fun stuff this week and it was hard for me to stay on the program and I only lost a pound and a half. I'm making a push to refocus and stay committed. I really want to be done with this by the beginning of March.

I had an ah-ha a little while ago that I thought I would share with you.

When I started this program again, I realized that I would be missing out on my favorite food-time of the year. I love all the yummy things that are available at this time of year. And not all of them are even that bad for you. I love pomegranate and apple cider. Although, the really yummy things are the cookies and the pies and the cakes and the yams and stuffing and breads and cranberry sauce and gravy and...mmmmmmm... I love food sooo much.

Okay. Snap out of it, Kristen!

Anyway, I was getting pretty down on myself and wallowing in self-pity based on the fact that I wouldn't get to eat the things I love during the holidays. I did this for a couple days and then was hit with an epiphany. I am (most likely) going to be alive for another 60 years or so. I will have plenty of opportunities to eat the holiday food (not over indulge, of course, but I'll definitely get to partake). Just because I have to miss out on those things this year, doesn't mean I'll never get to eat them again. I can endure this small trial right now for a lifetime of health and happiness.

That was my ah-ha moment, and while I'm still struggling to maintain my resolve in the moment, at least I now have that knowledge to help me through it.

When was your ah-ha? What are your hardest things to give up during the holidays? For me, it's definitely a good cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows when it's windy and raining outside!

(As a side note: I tried the shiratki noodles tonight with our spaghetti dinner. I had the angel hair sized noodles and they were a bit weird. Now, I don't really like angel hair pasta anyway because of its texture, so that might be why I wasn't impressed with them, but I'm looking for opinions. Were different sizes of noodles better than others? Did you like their texture in relation to your pasta sauce or whatever else you were using them for?)

Okay, here we go.

Remember how my mom has lost over 80 pounds in the last year or so. Well, the way she did that was with a really great program, for which she is now a registered health coach. It's a meal replacement program that is safe and healthy and allows for rapid weightloss (about 2 to 5 pounds a week). I did it last spring right after I had my miscarriage and lost about 15 pounds in 4 weeks. I felt really good about myself, but I did not like the food. It's all soy-protein based, and I'm rather a foodie, so I had a really hard time eating this gritty stuff. Well, after graduating and gaining it all back plus another 12 pounds on top of it, I decided about two weeks ago that I needed to start this program again. I've wrapped my brain around the fact that I just won't get to eat the foods I love for a few months, and I'm okay with that. I know this program works, and I've got my mom helping me through it. I've been on the program for a week and I've already lost 4 pounds. My goal is to lose another 36 before my 24th birthday on March 5th, and I think I've got a pretty good shot at it.

My mom encouraged me to start a journal while on this program, and since I already had this blog (that I hadn't been doing much with), I thought I would use it for that purpose. I'm still working on the loving myself part, but I'm also going to discuss how I'm doing on the program and keep track of my progress.

If you would like more information about the program you can visit my mom's website. When you fill out your contact information it goes directly to her and she contacts you personally. Take a look at her before and after picture in the sidebar. Doesn't she look great!?!