June Challenge: Ease Into Summer

I feel like an old lady today. I did a few wimpy pushups and squats yesterday, and now I can hardly move. Clearly I'm not in very good shape!

The first thing I did this morning was rush down to the gym in my building to weigh myself (last week, in a fit of decluttering, I donated my scale to charity). The scale revealed a very scary number, but not a surprising one. It's time for me to get my butt back in gear! It's time for a challenge! :)

This time of year, there are all sorts of workouts/diets floating around that target getting yourself ready for swimsuit season, but that's not really what I'm looking for (not to mention that I would need wayyyyyy more time, and perhaps plastic surgery, in order to really be "bikini ready").

No, my challenge is all about being kind to myself. I've had a lot to deal with the past few months, and I want to take care of myself with healthy food that won't make me feel like garbage. I want to ease into summer gently.

For the month of June, I'm not going to track my meals or count calories or points. I am, however, going to do my best to eat really healthy food. At this point, I'm planning to use Joshi's Holistic Detox as a guideline. When I followed the detox last year, I felt amazing. I want to feel that way again.

Since I'm "easing" my way back into healthy living, I'm making a few modifications to the detox:

• I'm not giving up my coffee (let's face it: depriving Katie of caffeine isn't being kind to anyone). 
• I'm not giving up fruit.
• I'm going to allow myself two splurge meals each week. For example, tomorrow I have plans that include a free pizza lunch. I'm not passing that up!

I'm mainly keeping Joshi's Detox in mind because I'm familiar with it, and it will give me some rules to follow so my challenge isn't too vague.

As for exercise, I am getting back into a routine. However, I'm not going to make it a formal part of my Ease Into Summer challenge. One thing at a time. :)

Now, there's a chance that I won't be able to maintain this challenge as I've set it out once we officially put the condo up for sale and start showing it... but I'm going to try my best and modify my guidelines as necessary!

I printed out a June calendar so I can give myself a sticker for each day I keep to the challenge! I'll be weighing myself again at the end of the month. I can't promise daily posts with pictures of all of my meals, but I'll try to update often.
How are you easing into summer?

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Conclusions.

Three weeks ago, I started Joshi's Holistic Detox. I explained my reasoning in this post. Yesterday was my last day! I actually made it through all 21 days! So, did I accomplish what I'd set out to do?

My goals were as follows:

• Eliminate cravings. My cravings absolutely diminished very soon after starting this detox. Prior to the detox, I was craving/thinking about food ALL THE TIME. On the detox, it was very easy to turn food down, and I hardly thought about it.
  
• Increase my motivation. I am feeling super-motivated as a result of the detox! My clothes are fitting better, I have more energy, and I feel better all around. I want things to stay this way!
  
• Try new foods. The restrictions of the detox forced me out of my food comfort zone. I tried new foods, like sole and millet puffs, and I even developed an affinity for goat cheese (which is lower in fat than regular cheese, I believe)!
  
• Lose weight. I know what you've all been waiting for - my weigh-in results from today! Well, going by my home scale and my weight from Day 1 of the detox and this morning... I lost 12.6 pounds during the 21 days! Awww yeah!
  

I also went to a Weight Watchers meeting this morning, since I won't be at my usual Saturday meeting. I weighed in at 198.8 lbs, down 3.4 from last Saturday. That's the lowest weigh-in I've had (and my first time below 200) since October 6! I'd say I've definitely given myself the wake-up call I so desperately needed.

The detox has other benefits as well - I am positive my skin is better, and I've been a LOT less moody, according to some people. ;)

Andrea asked on my last post if my boyfriend held up his end of the bargain! You may recall, he decided to give up chocolate and blog every day for the duration of my detox. He didn't quite blog every day, although he did blog a lot more than he had been... and as for the chocolate? He managed to give it up completely, except when he "accidentally" drank some chocolate milk last weekend... I'll let it slide, seeing as I was technically having gluten in my spelt bread. :)

Now onto today - so what did I do with my newfound freedom from Joshi?

Shockingly enough, I didn't have any coffee!! I'm not in a rush to get hooked on it again, and I wasn't really by a coffee shop today, and I still don't have regular milk at home (which I take in my coffee), so I didn't bother with it. I am planning on using one as motivation for my 5:30 wake-up call tomorrow though...

My first treat today was fruit! It was totally delish. I also had oatmeal with peanut butter, as planned, and went out for dinner. Thankfully, I didn't go nuts and devour everything I wasn't allowed to eat on the detox. I'm finding things like fruit and tomatoes (and probably tomorrow, coffee) to be treats enough for now (along with the giant calzone I had for dinner...)

My next goal is to make it through this weekend in Ottawa with friends! I've got lots of food ready to bring with me for the weekend:


I have carrot sticks and hummus, Mary's Crackers, and a turkey & avocado sandwich on a pita for the bus ride up tomorrow evening. I'm also bringing various bars as well as little bags of nuts and seeds worth 3 Points Plus each. That way, if I need a snack throughout the weekend, or on the train ride home, I'll be set. (I'm taking the bus one way alone, and the train one way with my friends).

I am vowing now, publicly, to TRACK what I eat while I'm out of town! It might not be easy, but I will at least write everything down so I can go back and fill it into my online tracker when I get home. I will tell you how it all goes.

As for incorporating Joshi's rules into my everyday life - Chezjulie and Enz had similar suggestions: Chezjulie suggested making my regular meals more Joshi-like, and Enz suggested incorporating a few Joshi meals each week. I think these are both excellent ideas! I will definitely try to eat more veggies and have well-rounded meals to try and keep my blood sugar stable and my cravings down. I also foresee detoxing for a week or so every few months to recharge and renew my motivation.

I must be off to finish my packing! Thanks again for all of your detox support. It is very much appreciated. :)

Have a wonderful weekend, all! I will be back early next week with a post.

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Day Twenty-One... wahooo!

DONE!

Unless something crazy happens tonight after I finish posting and I ruin everything. But I think I'll be able to hold out until tomorrow morning. :)

I snuck a peek at the scale this morning - I'm 11 pounds lighter than I was on Day 1! Not bad! I can't attend my usual Weight Watchers meeting on Saturday morning, so I'm going to one tomorrow morning instead... I will report my "official" results after that!

Breakfast was my usual egg whites with onions and goat cheese... no spinach today, though!


I packed tons of snacks in my lunch:


Carrots, Mary's Crackers, hummus, yogurt & a banana, and the last of the lentil pilaf from the freezer.

Today I did something I've only done once before - during my 3 hour break between classes, I went to the gym! I usually have too much work to do to be able to go (it takes about half an hour just to get to the closest Goodlife gym from my school). I did about 20 minutes of intervals on the bike. It really energized me for the afternoon!

When I got home from school, I immediately ate some rice puffs and soy milk.


I liked this snack before the detox, and I'm sure I'll still like it after the detox. :)

I wanted to recreate one of my most delicious detox meals for my last dinner.


Sweet potato fries and goat cheese-stuffed chicken thighs! I had to scarf it down in about 5 minutes before I went to meet some friends, but I still enjoyed every bite.

I met my friends at Starbucks, where I had been planning to eat another "Natural Bar" like I had yesterday. Unfortunately, in my rush, I left it at home! I stuck with my vanilla rooibos tea, and realized I didn't even need a snack.

And that's all she wrote! I'm DONE, baby.

Detox aside, one thing I don't want to lose sight of is the simple fact that I tracked everything for the past three weeks. I would guess that I haven't tracked for three weeks straight in over a year. Just that fact is HUGE for me. I'm really proud, and I hope I keep up this momentum!

Also, you should know that I've already planned several things I'm going to eat tomorrow. Including oatmeal with White Chocolate Wonderful peanut butter... and I'm being taken out for dinner... where I'm planning on eating a giant calzone. :D

Thank you so much, everyone, for all of your support during this detox! Being accountable to my blog readers was literally the only reason I was able to keep this up. I have no doubt that I would have caved very early on otherwise. I also feel back in a blogging groove! Hopefully I will keep posting regularly (although not every day).

Have a good night all! Stay tuned for tomorrow's weigh-in results, and my thoughts on the detox as a whole. :)

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Day Twenty

Omg. Is it really day twenty? Will I be done in only one more day?

I can hardly believe it! Honestly, the three weeks have gone by much more quickly than I anticipated. That being said, Thursday can't come soon enough. ;)

I realized yesterday that I ate 12 Points Plus worth of bread... yikes! So I decided to avoid it today. Breakfast was my usual egg whites, onions, spinach, and goat cheese scramble with some tea (but no toast).


Lunch was lentil dal and roasted carrots courtesy of The Big Carrot, with avocado, mixed greens, and Mary's Crackers. Yum!


Afternoon snack: rice puffs with soy milk!


Then it was time to think about dinner. I was so pleased with how the baked rice turned out last week, I made another batch to have with dinner. I foresee making a big batch every week or so in the future. :)

While it was baking away, I had some plain yogurt with a banana. Nothing new and exciting here.


I needed some protein with my brown rice for dinner, so I took out this Sesame Ginger tofu I picked up last week.


I stir-fried it with some veggies... mixed carrots, peas, and corn because that's all I had on hand. I mixed it with the brown rice (which turned out great!).


Not too shabby!

While at the Carrot earlier today, I found these "Natural Bars." The only ingredients in the almond flavour are almonds, honey, orange blossom water, and lemon juice. Could it be - a detox-friendly bar?!


Sorry for the blurry picture! I'm eating the bar as I write this. It's a nice treat! Too bad I didn't discover them until the end of the detox.

Stay tuned for the very last day of my detox... tomorrow! Have a great evening, all.

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Day Nineteen

Good evening, folks! :)

I could NOT for the life of me sleep last night. I don't know what the problem was. Super frustrating!

At least I still had energy this morning - even without coffee. My delicious breakfast might have helped:


Egg whites, spinach, onion, and goat cheese... and yeast-free spelt bread with dairy-free margarine.

Lunch and snacks:


Lentil pilaf from Day 1 making a reappearance (I had a couple of servings left in my freezer), carrot sticks and Mary's Crackers with hummus, and plain yogurt with a banana.

After school, I forced myself to go to the gym. But first, I needed a quick snack.


Toast with almond butter and honey! Mmm, I'm addicted.

Then I went to BodyPump. I've only been once before, but I really like it. And I definitely had Jell-O legs after... I could barely make it down the stairs to the locker room. That's a good sign, right?!

I was so ready for dinner when I got home. Leftover chicken tikka and some avocado on mixed greens. Mmmmm.


The end of the detox is fast approaching... just two more days. I am very excited to eat things like fruit and wheat again (and, not going to lie, I've already bought some White Chocolate Wonderful peanut butter to make some delicious oatmeal on Thursday).

I'm also nervous. I'm worried I'll have my first non-Joshi item, and a switch will flip and I'll turn into some kind of sugar monster. (Which just goes to show how much I trust myself when it comes to eating!) What if I go crazy and gorge on all the yummy things I couldn't eat during the detox?

Okay, I don't really think that will happen. I think that I'll find things like apples and skim milk lattes huge treats after Joshi. But I am visiting friends in Ottawa over this coming weekend, which makes me slightly nervous (although they read this blog and have permission to hold me accountable for tracking!). I just have to remember that being out of town doesn't mean I can't eat like I do at home! And I'll make sure to pack plenty of healthy bus snacks.

I'm trying to think of ways to incorporate aspects of this detox into my everyday life. I'm thinking I might detox (maybe with some modifications) one week every few months? And keep up the tracking, of course... any other ideas?

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Day Eighteen

Day Eighteen! Just three more days, baby! It's in the bag. ;)

After last night's party, I slept in this morning... and skipped Zumba. Whoops!

Breakfast was not rice puffs, but millet puffs! With soy milk.


They were okay, but I much prefer rice puffs. The millet puffs were just too small for my liking...

Morning snack of plain yogurt with a banana and honey... and blueberry green tea:


I had a breakfasty kind of lunch. Egg whites with spinach and onion.... and goat cheese again. Soooo good.


I spent my afternoon cleaning. I did a lot of organizing/tidying, vacuuming, and dusting. I'm not an extremely tidy person by nature, but it felt really good to get some of that stuff out of the way.

Afternoon snack! Mary's Crackers and hummus (didn't have the energy to cut up carrot sticks amidst all my cleaning...)


I kept dinner simple too. All microwaved leftovers: chicken tikka, veggies from the Big Carrot deli picked up after my Weight Watchers meeting yesterday, and brown rice.


Delicious! Now I'm watching The Oscars and doing some schoolwork. I foresee a nighttime snack of homemade yeast-free spelt bread with almond butter and honey later...

Good night all!

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Day Seventeen

Yesterday morning, I pried myself out of my nice, warm bed and faced the cold to get to my Weight Watchers meeting.

Even though I had been down at home on Thursday morning, and I've been following this detox, I had a bad feeling. I just knew that it wasn't going to be a great weigh-in... and I was right.

I was up 0.4 lbs to 202.2! Sigh!!

I was very frustrated at first, and my immediate reaction was to just give up and buy a tub of ice cream or something, since the detox clearly wasn't working. But of course, that wouldn't be very productive.

I reminded myself that no matter what the scale said, I had tracked for two weeks in a row (a feat in and of itself), I worked out 4 times last week (more than usual for me lately), and that's what matters.

Now, in some ways, I feel I've been "abusing" the detox. For example, I'm allowed to have things like rice crackers, almond butter, and honey, but they probably shouldn't be staples (like they have been for me... and honestly, may continue to be). Also, I didn't get much sleep Thursday and Friday, and that always hurts my weigh-ins. Lastly, I could definitely be drinking more water.

So I'll continue on, of course, and I'm confident it will all show up on the scale next week. :)

After returning from my meeting, I made myself a yummy breakfast. Egg whites with onions, spinach and... goat cheese! Yum. I was out of bread so I needed something to make it exciting. ;)

Along with some tea.

Snack of probiotic yogurt with a sliced up banana and honey:


I decided to run out to the grocery store before making my lunch, so I had another snack to hold me over - a rice cake with almond butter.


I decided to make myself really yummy, satisfying meals because I had a party to attend at night, which would be rife with delicious food and alcohol. So, for lunch, I had some delicious veggies from the Big Carrot deli, and I tried sole again.


This time I baked it with some dill and lemon juice. Not bad!

Afternoon snack of rice puffs and soy milk:


For dinner, I made Chicken Tikka again, along with sweet potato fries and some microwaved vegetables. Yum!


Then it was time to get ready for the party!


I'm pleased to say that the party was a total success, detox-wise (and fun-wise!). I drank a lot of water, ate a lot of veggies with hummus and guacamole, and avoided the alcohol/chips/chocolate-covered peanuts. Now, the guacamole had tomato (a Joshi no-no) in it, but I dipped around the tomato (and if I accidentally got a bite of one, I don't think that's a huge disaster). Also, I had some deviled eggs because I figured they were pretty safe. Joshi allows you to eat homemade mayonnaise on the detox so... I just went with it. And they were delicious!

Now, I'm off to try and clean my apartment a bit. I'll be back tonight with Day Eighteen!

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Day Sixteen

I can barely keep my eyes open while I write this post, so I'll keep it to the point!

Breakfast:


Egg whites with spinach and onion, spelt bread with dairy-free margarine.

At-work snack:


Probiotic yogurt with a banana (I didn't end up eating the sunflower seeds).

Lunch:


The last of the leftover Chickpea Curry! Yum.

This afternoon, I headed to the gym to get an assessment. Before Christmas, I won a session with a personal trainer (which I don't think I ever mentioned on the blog... because I wasn't blogging much at the time). I couldn't afford to buy more sessions, but I've been going back about once a month to meet with the trainer to measure my progress and discuss my workouts (which is free!). It's been great.

Today, my resting heart rate was lower than it's been in the past. In fact, the first time I met with the trainer, it was in the "below average" range, and now, it's in the "excellent" range for my age group!

It's really exciting to find out that something so directly related to my health has improved. I wonder how much is because of the exercise I've been getting, and how much is from the lack of coffee!!

I also held a plank for 1 minute 50 seconds, which is an improvement for me as well! But then she corrected my form slightly and I collapsed after about 10 seconds. Grrr.

As soon as I got home I devoured this bowl of rice puffs and soy milk.


... and then maybe another one.

Then I dozed off on the couch! I roused myself just long enough to get into bed for a proper nap. Last night I hardly slept at all, and it finally hit me. I slept for about an hour and a half, then forced my groggy self out of bed to have some dins. I ended up with kind of a hodge-podge:



Leftover sesame vegetables from yesterday, the last of the roast chicken I bought a few days ago, and some crackers with hummus. It did the trick!

My weigh-in is tomorrow morning, so I will try to keep myself from snacking on crackers & hummus all night... not enough sleep always puts me in a snacking mood.

Tomorrow night I'm attending a party. I really really wish I could drink, but I can't wreck the detox so close to the end! I've warned my friends that I can't drink, and I also volunteered to bring veggies & hummus. I will report back to you sharing tales of my steely willpower, I'm sure! Probably not until Sunday though. ;)

Happy Friday, everyone!

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Day Fifteen

Down another 2.8 lbs from last Thursday! (On my home scale, that is.) That makes 8.8 pounds total since beginning the detox.

I'm actually looking forward to my weigh-in on Saturday! That's a nice change. :)

I started my day with some hot water and lemon.


For breakfast, I tried something new (well, something I've only tried once before): quinoa flakes!

I used soy milk instead of water. (You cook them just like oatmeal.) I didn't love them, so I added some almond butter and honey... still didn't love it. Oh well!

Then I headed out because I needed a blood test... ugh. It wasn't that bad though, and I'm glad it's over with!

I tried something new for lunch, too. I cooked sole for the first time ever! I very rarely cook fish, and when I do it's usually salmon.


I baked the sole in foil with some Bragg's (gluten-free, preservative-free soy sauce replacement) and sesame oil sprinkled on. I also stir fried some veggies with garlic, ginger, Bragg's, sesame oil, and sesame seeds and had some leftover baked brown rice. Pretty solid lunch!

Tried a new detox snack: honey on a plain rice cake (with pomegranate green tea). Not bad!


Later, I had some sesame rice crackers with hummus.

I liked these rice crackers a little too much. I went a bit over board... to the tune of 9 Points Plus values... and then some! Yikes.

In continuing with the carbs/rice theme, I made some brown rice penne for dinner. In an attempt to be somewhat balanced, I also heated some leftover chicken from the whole roast chicken I bought from the Big Carrot the other day, and I steamed some frozen veggies.

Delicious!

I'm going to do some reading (The Hunger Games), and probably get to bed early. Night all!

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Day Fourteen

Two weeks down!!

And I am exhausted.

Breakfast was my standard fare - scrambled egg whites with onions and spinach and yeast-free spelt bread with non-dairy margarine.


Detox or no detox, egg whites are a pretty typical breakfast for me. Except I usually don't have them with veggies, I have them with cheese. Hopefully the spinach & onions will stick, post-Joshi!

Today was a great day: I debuted my new haircut at work, I was wearing an outfit that made me feel very put-together, and my make-up looked unusually good for some unknown reason (I'm not exactly a pro with that sort of thing). Plus, you know, I've got this detox glow about me. ;)

I tried to take a picture this morning of how awesome I looked to show you all (um, vain much?) but I was running late.

At work, I got quite a few compliments! One man whom I nod to when I see him in the office, but whose name I don't actually know, simply said "You look... hi!" which I thought was pretty funny. And some of my students mentioned my haircut too, which was really sweet. There's nothing like a new hairdo (and I was long overdue) to boost the old confidence.

But it couldn't have just been the hair - as Joshi says to those completing the maintenance program,

"You may even be tiring of your friends telling you how fabulous you look and how slim and sexy you are!"

I laughed when I read that, because of its utter ridiculousness... but who knows, in a few weeks, I might be at that point...

Anyway, lunch was prepped last night, as usual.


Leftover chickpea curry, carrot sticks, Mary's Crackers, hummus, yogurt with a banana, and sunflower seeds that I never ended up eating.

As soon as I got home, I put together a giant salad. Spinach, some shredded cabbage, leftover roast chicken from The Big Carrot, avocado, and ... goat cheese.


I was worried about putting the avocado and the goat cheese together, but you only live once, right? Turned out well, I think!

I ate the salad quickly because I had to run out... to the gym! I made it to Body Combat tonight! I haven't been in AGES, and it's one of my favourite classes. Lots of kicking and punching. The only problem is, it's a very popular class, so you have to be careful not to kick and punch all the people in your immediate vicinity. (Even the ones who side shuffle in the wrong direction and get all up in your personal roundhouse-kicking space.)

I devoured this as soon as I was home and showered:


Am I abusing the detox by having so much almond butter and honey?? If that's wrong, then I don't wanna be right. I also had some pomegranate green tea. Remember those days (um, two weeks ago) when I was a coffee addict?

My stomach was like a bottomless pit after Body Combat, so there may have been massive amounts of rice puffs and soymilk that were eaten before they could be captured on film. Oops.

I am beyond tired. Good news is, I get to sleep in tomorrow! (You can be jealous.)

Good night, all!

Joshi's Holistic Detox: Day Thirteen

Maybe I should call it Day 14 instead, in case I have any superstitious readers... or, you know, so I can finish that much sooner. ;)

Almost two-thirds of the way through! One thing that would really help me with this detox is some kind of maidservant. I feel like all of my free time is spent chopping, cooking, packing lunches, and washing dishes. All in the name of health, I suppose!


Breakfast was yummy. Plain yogurt with a banana and honey, and a big mug of blueberry green tea.

Pre-lunch snack:


For lunch, I had leftover chickpea curry. Yum! (Warning: this will probably be tomorrow's lunch as well...)


It seems that I've developed a dangerous habit. Whenever I am passing Chester station on the subway (which is fairly frequently), I feel a need to stop in at the Big Carrot. Today was no exception.


I picked up a roasted chicken, which I will rationalize as being an easy, convenient way to add protein to a meal - I'm thinking lots of salad possibilities here! And yes, on top of the yogurt there is something from the deli... I just couldn't help myself. I also grabbed quinoa flakes to try and attempt granola again in the next few days.

Dinner:


Lemony brown rice penne & some chicken from the Big Carrot, and a spinach salad with avocado and sunflower seeds.

Even though I'm following this detox, I still don't think I'm eating enough veggies. I had a bunch of carrot sticks cut up and ready to eat today, but I never got around to it. Maybe tonight... along with something else...


Can you guess what my nighttime snack is going to be?

I have an early day tomorrow, so I'll keep this short and sweet! Night all!