Back On Track!

We get to see all types of wildlife while hunting, there is
portion of the land where quail are encouraged, so we got
to see quite a few southern bobwhites.

Boy is it nice to be back home! It took me a little longer than I thought to get settled back down to normal life again, but I'm happy to be around the rest of my family again. My brother came home as the top hunter of the family this year since he got three deer in the first two days. One was a large buck. Both my dad and I helped lower the predator population on the quail farm, but we didn't get any deer. Eating didn't go as well as planned. Pretty much meaning no one did anything they said they would. I did gain weight, and I felt horrid. It went sort of like this. Didn't drink enough water, fried chicken for dinner, the whole nine yards. I'm still trying to get my head out of the vacation mindset. I gained six pounds over the holidays, but on the bright side, I did get a bit of exercise stumbling across muddy fields in heavy boots to get to a stand, along with biking up and down steep hills yesterday. I was going to post some pictures from the trip that my brother took, but I'm still trying to get him to send them to me. I also wanted to let you know that I'll be trying something our Chiropractor suggested for weight loss. It's called Shibboleth, it's a free christian weight loss guide which looks like a low fat low carb approach to things. It looks pretty reasonable, so I'll give it a try for at least a couple of weeks. I like trying new things just to get a feel for it then adapt it into what I do permanently. I'm starting Shibboleth today, so it'll be interesting to see how that goes. If anyone is interested, I'll put the link on the bottom of the page so you can check it out. breakfast was an omelet with spinach and green olives. I was going to take a picture of it, but I forgot until I was halfway through it. It feels good to be back to posting, and I look forward t whatever's next. See you soon!


www.myshibboleth.com

Hunting Week

Still not the best for you, but these

snack sticks are tasty and only 40 

calories!

Let me list out for you just how bad we usually eat when we go on hunting week. Normally, because mornings are early, we have cereal. But not just any cereal, it's almost always fruity pebbles. Lunch isn't much better, most of the time we are out in the tree stand. We'll either have a cliff bar, or a sandwich we pack with us. The only time lunch gets better is when we have it with our friends who own the property. Then it'll be something along the lines of a roast with green beans or other veggie, which is better. Dinner, well that's an interesting one. Dinner is something like hot dogs with chips or fried chicken and maybe even a frozen pizza. Have you gotten my point yet? We go on this hunting trip once a year, and we eat horrible while gone. This year it's going to be a little different. My family have all agreed that the cereal is going to be replaced by eggs, yogurt, or fruit. Cliff bars will still be around, but we've also added in meat sticks and fruit for in the stand. So at least breakfast and lunch will be better. We'll be eating veggies with almost every dinner too! I'm happy that my whole family has decided it would be best to try to eat a bit better on this trip. Something else that was really exciting, I normally wear size 18 jeans, yesterday my mom gave me a pair of size 16 to try on. I was thinking that there is no way that they would fit me, but I slid them on a zipped them up with no problem! Needless to say that I broke out the happy dance! I'm really excited about our trip, it'll be great family time, and if we get enough deer, we'll be able to share it with our friends. This will be my last post for this week until I get back on the 21st. Hopefully I'll be able to update you on what all went on the same day. Wish me luck, and I'll see you all soon!

Whoops...

It was tasty, but not worth it.

Hmm, yeah, I'll admit that I had a really bad day yesterday. We had mac 'n cheese and chips for lunch. I'm not exactly sure what the heck I was thinking, but I was in a really bad place. I'm happy to say that today wasn't as bad, and it's bound to only get better. I'm really going to focus on not eating starchy carbs and making sure to keep track of condiments and snacks. I've done really well with my steps today, I've made it over 10,000! I'll post the exact number later tonight. I also wanted to tell you that there will be no posts next week, my family is going on a hunting trip. There isn't going to be any wifi, which will actually be a relief for that amount of time. I like getting away from electronics occasionally. So the rest of this week is going to be taken up with preparing all sorts of stuff. I'll be leaving this Monday and will be gone through Sunday. I'll try to post at least one more time this week, but we'll see how everything goes. This will just be a quicky post today, so I'll see you all soon!

Progress

Yep, time to take these out again.

Alright, just wanted to give a quick update so I have at least two posts this week. My exercise is going to get a bit more regular, my brother has become a slave driver! I had already exercised three times this week, so I was going to take the day off, low and behold my brother was all hyped up about exercising! So we did weight lifting and went for an uphill run. He's very excited about getting fit now and has an exercise plan, he asked me if I wanted to do it with him, so I said yes. This ought to be interesting, but it'll be nice to have an exercise buddy. Plus, my dad got my bike up and running, so I have a lot of different ways I can be exercising. There's walking, cycling, weight lifting, strength training exercises, yoga, and weighted hula hooping as legitimate options.Now that it's finally stopped raining, I can go outside and actually havesome fun with my exercise instead of sitting around wondering what I can do. In my health class for school, I've been learning about aerobic and anaerobic exercises. Aerobic exercises, like walking, oxygenates your muscles. While anaerobic exercise, like weight lifting, doesn't. The lack of oxygen to the muscles is part of what makes them sore. Eventually muscles will die off without oxygen, the best exercise is a combination of both aerobic and anaerobic. So that's what I'm going to try to do. Ok, yes, I am done talking about exercise for now. My eating hasn't been the best these last few days, I've had more carbs than I probably should have, and have slipped into eating larger portions again. I'm struggling with that and ask for prayer. Also, I've not been sleeping very well. My throat dries out in the middle of the night, then it's hard to get back to sleep. For that I'm going to try putting a warm washcloth over my face before I fall asleep. Maybe that will help. Well, that's all for me, I hope you have a great weekend!

Thanksgiving Week

Who doesn't like turkey?

I don't know about you, but thanksgiving is one of my absolute favorite holidays. It can also be a huge opportunity to overeat. Which I didn't do this year! I actually lost one and a half pounds over Thanksgiving, which is awesome! I've been doing good with exercising, and even though I've forgotten to put on my pedometer a couple times, I've still been getting exercise. I've noticed since I started walking about two weeks ago, that I can go much farther without getting completely exhausted. I was able to go two full loops around the neighborhood and I was good, I even was able to run the last little bit home. I haven't been losing much weight each week, but I can feel the difference in my muscles, some cloths fit a little differently too. I'm excited to feel change, but it sure would be nice for that number to drop down some! I've also got a dentists appointment today, really hoping to have no more cavities, I had my fist two last trip, and that wasn't very fun. My walking plan for today is foiled by rain, so I'm just going to try and do a little bit of strength training. Not my favorite thing to do, but not the worst exercise either. My flower stem has gotten white inch long roots sprouting off of the sides, I'm very happy about that, I'll post pictures of it next time I post. But other than that life hasn't been very interesting lately. One of the reasons I've not been posting as much is because there's literally nothing to report. I think that's all I've got for today. See ya later!

Stroll Through The Neighborhood

My favorite view of the entire walk. This is the only spot open enough
to see the lake. Everywhere else is blocked by woods.

I finally took some pictures while I was walking! I went a little over three miles during this walk, I jogged a little bit of it. It started out a bit cloudy when I fist headed out, but the sun came out soon enough and a cool breeze was brushing against my face the entire time. It was wonderful. I've been eating really good the past few days, I've been having scrambled eggs almost every morning for breakfast. It's the weirdest thing, but they sure are delicious! I also came up with a new salad, at the moment I'm calling it the buffalo burger salad. It's pretty much a hot 4 oz. turkey burger smothered in buffalo sauce, chopped up on top of a salad, with onion and a sprinkle of cheddar cheese. For dressing I used buffalo sauce mixed with ranch. It's really good! I've also started seeing some roots forming on my hibiscus stem, I can't wait until I can plant it! I'm feeling really good lately, even though I've not slept great the past few days. The bike situation is still not fixed, but I guess I can't really complain about that, my dad's been really busy lately. Maybe I can swipe my brothers bike for a few days while I'm waiting. Alright, I think it's time to go for another walk before it gets dark out. If I want to get over ten thousand steps today I'll need it. Besides, when did walking twice in a day ever hurt someone? I'll post again soon!

The view of the street from the edge of my driveway.

The oak in our front yard is still holding on
to it's leaves.

I think this budding rose is a little late to the game.

Green Orange Juice?

Yep, that's what I had for breakfast, green orange juice. It's really orange, celery, spinach, ginger, but I can't really taste anything but orange with a hint of celery. Not bad at all. Yesterday I went a little nuts exercising, I walked in the morning and after lunch. The end result of me taking over 13,000 steps, or walking about five and a half miles. I'm really hoping to be able to do that more often. But today wasn't one of those days. I went to help a friend pack her grandmothers stuff for a move. I enjoyed it, but it doesn't lend to me getting much exercise. I'm probably doing the same thing tomorrow, but I might try to get a walk in before hand. I've been doing ok with drinking enough water, but I'm only averaging two of my 32 oz water bottles each day; after that, I just get sick of drinking it. I don't usually drink other stuff like soda or other flavored drinks, so water gets a little bit boring after a while. Another thing when I went to my friends grandmothers apartment, is that she was very kind and gave me a large stem cutting of a flower she called "Angels Wings". From her description of there being several different colors, I believe that it is a Giant Hibiscus cutting. One of the different kinds being an angels wings hibiscus. I was instructed to keep it in a glass of clean water over winter, and to plant it in a pot or in the ground come late spring. I really hope it grows, I love flowers! Who knows, maybe by the time I plant it, I'll have lost a bit of weight! A special thanks goes out to her for a hopefully lovely plant! I'll see you on Monday!

This is one type of giant hibiscus called a Fantasia Hibiscus.
The flower is about as big as a persons hand spread out. 

Wednesday Update

Ozone 500 Ultrashock Mountain Bike

I got my bike! But I haven't gotten the chance to fully put it together yet. There might be something wrong with the rear gears/axial, and the front tire is warped, so I might return it and get a new one, but hopefully my dad and I can get that fixed soon. Other than that the first half of this week has been normal, except I'm talking about the old, overeating extravaganza normal. I feel tired, distracted, and a bit grouchy all of the time. And, like most of my family, I know that I'm not the most pleasant person to be around when I'm grouchy. I'm back on the bandwagon today though, and I added a new feature to my blog! I'm posting how many steps I've taken at the end of each day. So even if I don't write a post that day, you'll be able to see what I've done for exercise. Typically it's over 5,000 if I exercised that day; if I don't, It's going to look like 2,500 or less. My apologies for this post being so late, I'm really rethinking my writing schedule. I'm actually going to try something new with exercising. My brother and I have been walking together in the afternoon, so I might actually get bike riding and walking in each day. I'm going to wake up at 7:30 am like normal and go bike riding. Then after he gets home from college we'll go walking! He's always being a goof and joking about stuff when we walk, and he always keeps a very fast pace. I really need to work hard to keep up with him, and often times its almost like doing interval training! It's always so encouraging when he does it with me though, so it's worth it! My diet is going to go back to "normal". It will be the good, nutritious normal though! I'll tell you how that goes Friday. Hopefully I won't get a sugar headache. See you soon!

Lacking Motivation

Kale isn't too tasty plain, but really good in juice!

Today hasn't been bad, but I'm just lacking motivation to walk. I got my regular school done, and I've been eating very good, but the thought of exercise, ugg. My mom has been really encouraging though. She made juice for us this morning and has in general been awesome. And now I know that I actually like apple, celery, kale, ginger juice. Not too sweet, but also not too bitter. Ginger is really nice in the juice, it adds an extra zing to it that I personally love. I had veggies with ranch and three meatballs for lunch, that was really good too. I am hoping to still get in some walking today, but hopes aren't very high for that. Other than that, there really isn't much to report today. No catastrophes, no slip ups, no worrisome issues. So I guess it's going to be really short today. I'm going to go do something, See ya!

Scene One Take Two!

This is Jeremiah, my awesome
brother. And yes, that day of fishing
was catch and release!

Annnd ACTION!!! I'm doing it again. No, not apologizing for the busy week I've had... Well, that too, but that wasn't what I was getting at. I'm doing another week of raw! Sort of... I'm eating all raw for breakfast and lunch and only a little bit of cooked stuff at dinnertime. No refined sugar and no grains. I'm not alone either, My older brother is doing it with me! I'm so excited to be able to do it with him, I love him so much! This last weekend was horrible for me, I gained back almost all of what I had lost in two days, two days!!! I didn't even know that was possible! It's not like I was super horrible either. But hey, at least the jeans I just got into still fit! I'm really just trying to figure out what the balance is between eating a little too much and not eating enough. So far that's been unsuccessful. I either don't make enough, and am starving in a hour or two, or I eat too much and gain weight. Bah! I sure wish this was simpler. On a high note, I ordered my bike today! It might be here by Friday, but I'm going to guess I get it next Monday or Tuesday. And it's going to be bright green! (my favorite color) I can't wait to be able to do something other than walking! Today I haven't walked yet, and I only have 1,500 steps on my pedometer. So I'm going to go for a short walk yet today. I don't know if I can get to 8,000 or not, but I'm still going to try! Especially since the sun decided to finally come out today, there have been too many weeks in a row now where it's just been rainy and miserable. But it did give me the chance to start reading a book called "What's So Amazing About Grace?" Written by Phillip Yancy. It seems very interesting so far. I'm nearly through the first chapter. I'll give you an update on what it's about as I read it. Alright, that's all for today, I'll be writing a post tomorrow, and I need to get some stuff done. I'll be back tomorrow!

Weekend Happenings

Mmm... egg salad for breakfast!

I'm skipping weigh day! Seriously, I am. I didn't do horrible these last few days, but nor did I do the best I could have done. So I'm guessing I've gained a couple pounds. I'm not weighing because I don't want to discourage myself. What matters is that today I'm back on track. My breakfast of egg salad and celery was great, even if I got full before all the celery was gone! I missed my Friday post because of company, not a huge deal, but I sure would like to get a little more consistent with posting. There were a few times this weekend when I successfully avoided what I call "crack snacks", which are just sugary kind of stuff, one of which was a DQ blizzard! That was huge for me. But then I gave in last night and had half a bag of skittles while watching Person of Interest with my family. It's incredible, only half a bag and I was getting jittery by the end of it. The effects of sugar after you've been off of it for a few weeks is shocking. After the smallest amount, you just want more. Sugar is very addicting, it's no wonder why teens have such a hard time losing weight with it so widely available, and much less expensive then healthy foods. This weekend I also got a new pedometer! My last one stopped working after accidentally putting it though the washer with my laundry. I check my pockets, but somehow it got past me that time. I'm going to aim for a minimum of 8,000 steps in a day, while actually going for 10,000. I find that pedometers help with motivation, I mean, what number would you rather see? 2,000 or 9,000? I know what my answer would be! Alright, I need to go get something done. Maybe I'll try my hand at that pesky thing called school. I'll see you Wednesday!

When avoiding sugar, I find it helps to
think of it a poison.

Rainy Days

Rainbows are always my favorite part of rain!

Alright, I lied, no pictures from walking this morning; because it didn't happen. It was dumping rain this morning. But now that the rain is gone, it's turned out to be a beautiful day. The sun is shining, being interrupted only by a few clouds. So I've decided to go for a bike ride after I'm done with todays post. I also have some good news! I'm now on Pinterest! I'll be pinning new blog posts along with recipes, quotes, and some other stuff. If you're interested in following my pins the link is down by the music video. Going back to a normal topic, I'm slowly getting my energy back, even though I still have a leftover cough from being sick. I've been eating good, no slip ups there. Even though I've had mexican salad for lunch four days straight. Or has it been five? I'm not sure. It's just been so good! I'm planning on getting a new bicycle, that way I can stop borrowing my brothers, even if he doesn't use it. I'll take a picture as soon as I get one. Also, my grandfather, who I don't get to see very often, will be coming to visit tomorrow. We will be going out to eat several times while he is here. Please be praying that I'll have the willlpower not eat something I shouldn't. And again, come check me out Pinterest. And tell your friends about my blog on Facebook. I don't have Facebook, otherwise I'd be doing it myself! Anything you do will be greatly appreciated. See you on Friday!

https://www.pinterest.com/noodledoodl1560/

Monday Apology

A large apple is a good example of a fist sized food portion.

Yep, It's Monday again. And I have a perfectly good excuse for not posting last week. Remember last Monday when I said I wasn't feeling the best and hoping it wasn't going to turn into anything worse? Well, It turned into a full blown head cold with laryngitis I'm still recovering from it. My voice still sounds like I was strangled the moment before. But, I succeeded in not eating the foods I really wanted, and ate the foods that I was supposed to. I did gain about a pound this week, so I'm at 226.5 but that was sort of expected. When you do a cleansing diet (like raw) for a week, nothing really stays in your system for very long since it's so easily digested. When you come back off of the cleansing diet, you gain a pound or two purely from foods that don't get processed as easily like meats. All I have left to do is decrease my portions and I should continue losing weight. If you keep portions small it will cut down digestion time and give your body more time to burn fat as fuel instead of food. I'm going to keep my food portions to about the size of my fist. If you've done any kind of dieting at all, then you've heard that your stomach is about the same size as your fist. That's sort of the precept that I'm going with. I'll make sure I do better writing my blog posts, I know they've been a little erratic lately. Wednesday, if it's nice out, I might just post pictures from my walk. I often encounter something interesting. One time I had a hawk land ten feet away on the ground after I watched it dive bomb for a squirrel. It missed it's breakfast, but it was cool to watch! Hopefully it'll have stopped raining by then, but either way I'll see you Wednesday!

Week Of Raw Conclusion

Week Of Raw Start Weight - 230 Lbs.

Week Of Raw End Weight - 225.2 Lbs.

I did it! I got through the week of raw and lost weight! Nearly five pounds off, It's better than I was expecting. Overall the past week was really good, even with the hot dog slip up. The first three days were the worst, mostly because of the sugar crash headache, but after that it was actually pretty easy. Plus I've been sleeping better. I feel good, and I have a normal energy level. I didn't feel deprived, I didn't feel sorry for starting it. I feel amazing. The past few days I've been thinking about how I want to continue. I think the best course is the same as I've done for the past week, only adding in some meat. I'm going to cut out grains almost entirely, and sugar completely. I don't ever want to repeat the first three days of headaches and no energy. I'm going to incorporate a daily bike ride as the bare minimum for exercise. And twice a week I'll be doing weight training. Today might end up being an exception to exercise, I woke up with a little bit of a scratchy throat. I'm praying that it doesn't turn into anything worse like a cold. I don't like being sick, but I really hate being the one responsible for getting everybody else sick. Another thing I want to implement is rewards. I won't reward myself with ice cream or cookies, but I might with something like a bottle of nail polish or a new piece of jewelry. I was thinking every ten to fifteen pounds get something small. If you have any ideas put them in the comments, I'm always open to a different perspective. I might not always try it, but I'll always think about it. My next post will be Wednesday, so I'll see you then!

Week Of Raw Day 7!

Thai Crunch Salad  with dressing.

Last day of the week long challenge! I'm feeling pretty good about it. Last night however we got together with our fellowship, and I had to walk away from all sorts of good looking foods. There was buttered noodles with Italian sausage, chili with crackers, and not to mention cake. It all looked so good, but then I remembered just how much I wanted to lose weight. I ate the Thai crunch salad we brought, and I was ok. I promised yesterday that I would share the recipe with you, and I'll be true to my word. It's a bit labor intensive because of all the chopping involved, but it is SO worth it! The flavors in this salad really set it apart from anything else I've had before. The Kimchi pickles on the other hand are super easy to make, and I'd bet that the recipe would be just as good on something like shredded carrot. It's amazing, I'm actually excited about weigh day tomorrow. I can't wait to see whether or not I've lost anything on this raw adventure. Hopefully I have. I guess I'll let you know tomorrow! And be sure to let me know if you try the recipes!

Hot Kimchi Pickles

Kimchi Pickles.

Ingredients:

1 large cucumber thinly sliced
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tbs. vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)
1 tsp. honey
1tsp. sesame oil
2 cloves of garlic smashed
1/4 tsp. hot pepper flakes
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Directions: In a bowl, toss the cucumber with the salt; let stand for 15 minutes then drain.
Add all other ingredients and toss to combine. Enjoy!



Thai Napa Crunch Salad

Ingredients:

1/2 head of napa cabbage, chopped
1/2 head of purple cabbage, shredded/chopped
5 large carrots, shredded
1/2 head or more of torn salad greens
3 greens onion stems, ends diced
1/2- 1 cup of almonds, chopped or sliced
2 chicken cooked breasts chopped or shredded (optional)

*Optional: You could also add in red bell pepper, cucumber, fresh edamame, basil, fresh sweet corn, cubed avocado, or other base ingredients to your salad as well.

Directions: Assemble all ingredients, and toss together. Chill in refrigerator until ready to serve alongside of Cilantro Peanut Dressing. Garnish with additional chopped almonds, cilantro, and/or green onions

Cilantro Peanut Dressing (For Thai Crunch Salad)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup honey
5 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar
1-2 limes (or lemon) juiced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 inch of ginger, minced (cut off the peel)
3 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of sesame seed oil
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
handful of cilantro

Directions: Place all ingredients into a high powered blender, blend for 10-15 seconds until thoroughly blended.

Week Of Raw day 5 and 6

Scouting is looking for signs of deer in the woods.

Alright, I know I didn't post yesterday, so I'll update you all on what went on. First off, yesterday morning was pretty normal. I woke up, made fruit salad for breakfast, and started on school. Then, one of my friends called up and invited us over for scouting and a homeschool group bonfire afterward at the camp where they live. My family accepted the offer, so around three I headed over with my brother. Three hours of walking around the woods up and down steep hills later. We met up with other people who had come for the fire. So, long story short, I had a hot dog and grapes for dinner. Which completely blows my raw food challenge out the window. But the good news is that I'm right back to it today, and that I got a lot of exercise yesterday. We played a game that had to be the most fun ever! Human foosball! Yep, it's exactly what you think it is, and you want to know for sure, google it. It was a blast! Today has been fairly easy, even though I had to watch people eating cheeseburgers and fries in front of me at lunch. That sort of stunk. But I had my salad and I was good to go! I had also made spicy Kimchi pickles. They're absolutely addicting! I'll put out the recipe tomorrow. For dinner tonight, I'll be having thai nappa crunch salad with a cilantro dressing. I'll put that one up tomorrow too. Today I'll leave you with one of my all time favorite songs by Rend Collective Experiment. I find it a good reminder that I can do anything as long as I'm doing it for Christ. See you tomorrow!

Week Of Raw Day 4

Kiwi berry (left) next to regular kiwi fruit.

I've got something interesting to show you today. Anyone like kiwi fruit? how about mini kiwi fruit? My mom went to Sam's Club today and brought back a nice treat. They're called kiwi berries or hardy kiwi. The skin is smooth and edible so they don't have to be peeled. The inside tastes the same as a normal kiwi while the skin gives a very slight tartness to it. I personally love kiwi, so I found these pretty cool. Other than that, today has been pretty uneventful. I had another strawberry smoothie for breakfast and my normal salad for lunch. I'm not quite sure what I'm doing for dinner yet, but I think I'm going to skip salad and have something different. Maybe a lettuce wrap or zucchini pasta. A change up is going to be welcome after 4 days of salads and fruit. But I've felt really good both today and yesterday. Whether or not I've lost any weight, who knows. I'll be weighing next Monday like normal. So until then, I'll just be guessing. I'm going to exercise tomorrow morning to see how my energy holds up. I could have done it today, but I had other things to do like school. I may be home schooled, but that doesn't mean I get off easy. It just means I get to make my own healthy foods! If I end up making anything interesting tonight that tastes good, I'll post the recipe along with a picture tomorrow. So see you then!

Week Of Raw Day 3

Unsweetened raw almond milk.

Day 3 of the raw food challenge! Today has gone very well so far, I had a smoothie for breakfast and a GIANT salad for lunch. Plus, my headache is GONE! I'm feeling great, my energy is normal, yesterday's lack of appetite is back to a normal hunger for food. For breakfast I made raw almond milk, something I hadn't made in a few years, It turned out beautiful. Then I turned it into a strawberry smoothie. Almond milk is super easy to make and tastes way better than almond milk you can buy at the stores. At least that's what I think. All you need to do is blend a handful of almonds with a cup of water and a few ice cubes then strain it through a cheese bag. If you don't strain it the milk will just be very gritty. So if you like grit in your milk, go for it. But when it is strained it becomes very smooth, it's almost like half and half creamer. I like both drinking it plain with a little sweetener or unsweetened in smoothies. Everything I've had this week has tasted wonderful, it really shows me that healthy can also be delicious. Dinner tonight is mexican salad with fresh salsa and guacamole dressing. Mexican food is my favorite, so I can't wait for it! Alright, that's all for today. I'll be seeing you tomorrow at the halfway point!

Breakfast.

Week Of Raw Day 2

Super sweet!

Day 2, I still have a head ache. Other than that, it's going good. Something weird I noted this morning is that I didn't really care if I ate. I wasn't really hungry for anything. Raw stuff, meat, bread, none of it. It just wasn't interesting. Either way, I still had to eat something, so I had fruit salad and avocado for lunch. Breakfast got skipped, but I'm still going strong. I'll admit that I ate a pickle for a snack. As ridiculous as it sounds, but that's what I really wanted. I'm not going to make a huge fuss over a pickled vegetable. Another thing I want to mention is one of the fruits I put in my lunch salad. I diced a ripe persimmon into it, and it was amazing! Persimmon is high in vitamin A and C. Not to mention it's like eating raw candy! Next time you see one, give it a try! My dinner tonight will be a normal salad with some beans on top, unlike earlier, I'm hungry, so I can't wait! I also got a new 32 oz. water bottle today that will make keeping track of water consumption easier. Seems like it's a sturdy bottle, so it should last a while. Alright, that's all for now. I'm off to start chopping veggies!

My new water bottle.

Week Of Raw Day 1!

Lunch!

 

 Before. After is under construction. (:

Day 1 of the raw food challenge!  I'm pretty excited about this, even though I know it's going to be hard, It'll be great!. I've eaten a large apple for breakfast, and I just had a salad for lunch. It had beet, bell pepper, onion, cucumber, and my 1/4 cup of beans for the day on top. The beets turned everything pink! Including the fingers I used to put it on. I haven't excised today, but I've done good with water; 60 ounces down! I'd like to get 80 if not 100 ounces per day. I feel like I should just get a gallon jug and fill my glass with that. My before pictures sort of look like mugshots, but it works. All in all, I'm feeling pretty good. I've got a slight headache, but that was to be expected because of sugar withdrawal. I guess that is all for today. I'll be doing daily updates all this week, so see you tomorrow!

Before raw start weight - 230 lbs.

7 Day Raw Challenge

First off, sorry I missed the Wednesday post. It was a super busy day, then on top of it I had an incredibly bad headache. Ok, now onward to today. I need to restart my system. Cravings have been absolutely horrible this week, and I feel horrible. So I'm doing a seven day raw food cleanse starting Monday. It will help me get my head out of the gutter and actually help me eat healthier foods. This does not mean that the last bit of this week I'm going to eat whatever the heck I want; I'm still going to try to eat the best I can before I start. I know it's not going to be easy, but I need to be eating the fresh foods that will heal my body. This will hopefully kickstart weight loss. During the cleanse, I will likely be giving you a short update each day on how I feel, what I've eaten, and what exercise I've done.
The rules are below. If you want to do this with me or have any questions, put it in the comments below!

7 Day Raw Cleanse.

Breakfast - Juice or smoothie

Lunch - Salad

Snack - Fruit, nuts, something small

Dinner - Salad or other raw creation

Rules: No meat, dairy, grains, or artificial sweeteners. No sugar except what is naturally occurring in fruit. Nuts and beans are allowed in small amounts (No more than a quarter cup each day). 

I'll be posting before weightless full body pictures on the first day of the cleanse. I'm not thrilled about pictures, as most overweight people aren't. But I'm going to do it anyway so you can see what I'm starting with. I will see you all on day one!

Not So Good...

Sorry for posting this a day late, our company stayed over an extra day, and the rest of the yesterday was taken up. But either way I guess I owe you all a weight update since it's past Monday now. Let me just say that this weekend of eating stunk, all sorts of goodies were made and eaten because I just don't have the willpower yet to resist. So I gained all the weight back I lost, plus two pounds. How's that for lame. I believe the extra two pounds can be attributed to Chinese buffet we had yesterday. I only had a plate and a half, but the food that you get outside of home contains a large amount of salt, which causes your body to retain water. Losing weight isn't only hard, I think it's one of the hardest things a person can chose to do. Denying the flesh (Titus 2:12) is more difficult than I imagined, but this week, I know I can do better. That I will do better. On a brighter side, the visit with my friends, the ones who took over my room, went very well, we had awesome fellowship over the weekend. Plus, this upcoming weekend, friends of mine from England are coming to visit, I'm not going to allow this weekend to be as bad as the last. So please be praying for me in that respect. Sorry this is so short, this post is rushed as I'm going to be gone for the rest of today. I will be posting tomorrow as normal. No pictures, but I'll leave you with a song. See you tomorrow!

A Splash of Goodness

Tropical Goodness is another one of my favorites.

Having a harder time this week with eating, I've had a headache and a splurge day (Taco salad, pretzels and iced coffee). Plus a weird craving for milk, which I don't normally like. Other than that my eating has been ok, but I don't feel like I've lost any more weight, I'm going to keep on going and hope for the best. I think the worst part of trying to eat good, is that after about a week, you start to realize all of the little things that are in the house that are unhealthy. Stuff like like crackers and bread. Thankfully, I've found a healthy alternative for when I want a snack that tastes amazing. You've probably seen them in your local Walmart before, Bolthouse Farms juice. They're a wonderful treat, and all of the flavors I've tried have been good; my favorite being Green Goodness. They aren't too high in calorie, so they would make a good breakfast too. It was about time for some more music, and since this song's been on my mind a lot lately, that's what you get. Music really helps me when I'm down and out. Matthew West is one of my favorite artists and his music is often on in my room.  What's you're favorite healthy snack? Let me know in the comments!I'm not going to post tomorrow, I've got company using my room, and that's where my computer is. So Monday will be my next post  I'll probably get some before pictures put up. That way you can see what I'm dealing with. See you on Monday!
                                   

Weigh Day

Proof! This is my scale.

First weigh in for my blog! As a reminder, last Monday when I started I weighed in at 230.4 pounds. Today, I weighed in at 227.8! Yes, I know that I said that a persons weight can fluctuate two or three pounds a day, but that's mostly food and water weight. If you weigh at the same time in the morning before you eat, the variables should be minimal. So the last two weeks I've weighed myself at 9:30 am before breakfast. I didn't have the best week for eating, but it went fairly smoothly. There where a few things I probably shouldn't have eaten over the weekend, Burger King and hot fudge brownies being two of them, but over all, I've done good keeping away from carbs. I've also found myself liking big salads for lunches and dinners. My favorite is a taco salad that I make for dinner on leftovers night. My family uses venison for most of our meat, but you can use ground turkey instead. Here's the recipe.

Taco salad - 495 Calories with venison, 515 Calories with turkey.

Ingredients:
2 c. Shredded romaine lettuce
4 oz. Ground taco meat
1 serving Tortilla chips (I use Santitas)
3 tbs. Sour cream
1 tbs. Salsa
1/2 serving shredded cheddar
5 black olives
Hot sauce (optional)
Add in onion, tomatoes, sliced jalapenos, or any other Veggies you want.

1. Just throw it all in a bowl and enjoy!

This is easy to make, and sooo tasty! It's higher in calories so it's more suited to dinner than a lunch, but if you want it for lunch, just make it a half size salad!  Also, I'm working out my blogging schedule. I think the the best way for me to post is on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. That way I'm not doing it every day, but still posting pretty often. So I'll see you Wednesday!

Friday!

mmm... guacamole eggs

It's Friday!!! I'm sure everyone is happy about that! I'm doing pretty good with food this week, I've been eating light, and making sure I stop when I'm full. Another thing I've been trying to do is making sure I'm eating veggies with every meal. This morning I used avocado with my eggs, even through it's technically a fruit, I'm still counting it because avocados are one of my favorites. Did you know that they're also called alligator pears, and that they're related to cinnamon? I thought that was pretty cool! Back on topic, exercise... well, let's just say I haven't done so great with it, I'm finding it hard to get motivated. Music helps when I'm walking or weight training, but that doesn't get me out of bed. I really need to stop sleeping in until eight or nine in the morning, it's killing my time for stuff like Bible reading and exercise. I'm going to try putting my alarm where I have to get out of bed to turn it off, I think that'll work. Ok, so I don't know if I've lost any weight in the last five days, I've decided that I'll be doing a weekly weigh in on Mondays.That way I won't to be obsessing over how much I might have lost or gained over the course of say, two days. It's not good for the mental aspect of losing weight. Besides, a person's weight can fluctuate two or even three pounds each day! Getting back onto the topic of music, I put one of my favorite workout songs down below, I would love to know what your favorite exercise songs are, go ahead and put them in the comments! That's all for now, see you on Monday!

My Plan To A Skinny Me

Tay here! I thought I would fill you in on what exactly I'll be doing in order to shed some of these extra pounds. In school I'm studying macro nutrients in relation to health, and I'll explain this a little bit. Macro nutrients, in a super short definition, are foods we need in fairly large quantities to keep our bodies functioning. They are separated into three different categories protein, fat, and carbohydrates. I'm going to be focusing on carbohydrates, or carbs. Which get turned into glucose, or sugars, for our body to burn for energy. Excess glucose is turned into fat. Now when most people think of carbs, they think of things like bread and grains. What some people don't realize is that there are carbs in just about everything we eat. Fruits, veggies, even eggs. The modern day food pyramid has a base of breads and grains that I believe to be addicting and not needed as a huge part of our daily diet. If we are eating the vegetables and fruits, we get all the daily carbs we need. So basically I'll be throwing bread and most grains out the window, along with sugars. I simply don't need them. I'll be eating a largely plant based diet with meat, butter, all the healthy fats still there. I will be LOOSELY counting my calorie intake, keeping it around a 1,200 a day. Adding in exercise and at least 100 ounces of water each day, which is almost a gallon. Water keeps everything lubricated and functioning correctly in your body. So it is a must have for anyone who wants to be feeling good. Well, this may sound like a lot, but I think this is what will keep me happy, and not feeling deprived. That's all for now. Next post will be on Friday, see you then!

 Philippians 4:13 - I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Introduction!

This is me!

Hi! My name's Taylor, welcome to my very own teen weight loss journey! Although this blog is mostly geared toward other teens like me, I invite everyone of all ages to take up the journey with me as as I battle against my worst nightmare... my weight. So first, a confession. Currently I have 230 pounds on a 5' 6" tall frame, I am a junk food junkie, and no, I'm a NOT happy with it. Next up, my goal. I'm aiming to hit a target weight of 150 pounds, I don't have a time frame because I've found them unreasonable, so if you're expecting posts about a bizarre quick acting diet that'll melt 20 pounds away in a week, you've come to the wrong place. This is a marathon, not a sprint. I've chosen to share my efforts with others to show that, even though it may feel like it, you are not alone. This blog will likely be a two posts a week sort of deal, some weeks there will be more, some super busy weeks there may be less. I'll keep it short for today,but in the future there will be pictures, music, and possibly even some video blog entries. Thank you so much for reading, and may the Lord be with you all!