So today is day 74 of my revamp of my way of life. I’ve done pretty good cleaning up the family diet, have been exercising and have even worked my way up to where I exercise 6 days a week most weeks. That’s not to say I haven’t hit upon a few snags. I’ve got a foot that’s prone to mid foot sprains, which are stupidly painful and hard to recover from. I have aggravated that a few times by pushing too hard or overdoing it. I found a GREAT craving buster in the form of a DELICIOUS avocado shake that is creamy and chocolaty and everything good. But I still suffer from the desire to binge and eat a whole bag of something or a whole sleeve of cookies when I’m stressed. Or hormonal. My kids love to exercise with me, but my husband doesn’t. And my awesome twice weekly fitness group is taking a summer hiatus, so I need to find something else to do so I can keep moving forward.
I also made the mistake early on, when I saw that the scale was moving fast, of making a goal to lose 30 lbs in 3 months. That’s a crazy goal!!!! But believe it or not, I think I’m going to make it. And all of the stress it has caused, combined with all of the non scale victories, has taught me some valuable lessons about goal setting.
My new goals are a lot more “real life” oriented. I want to be fit and healthy so I can be active with my kids. So my joints don’t hurt. So I can find cute clothes without spending a fortune LOL. I’m not looking more at endurance, and building strength. And I’m really loving spending time going on walks with my kids and friends.
So where am I at after these 74 days? Well, I’ve lost 25.6 pounds!!! Which I’m amazed and super proud of! And whats more, between 4/11 and 5/11 I lost 4″ off my bust, 2.5″ off my waist, 2 inches off my thigh, 2 inches off my hips, and 1.5 inches off my arm. I’m down one full pants size and making my way into the next one. I’m really impressed at how quickly the changes are happening!! Here is hoping that by day 90 I will have made it to my goal of 30 lbs. And then I’ll have to figure out how to set the next goal.
I’ve also learned a lot about meal planning. Some of you may remember I’m trying to eat healthy on an extremely tight budget, so I spend about an hour every week price matching, and creating a meal plan around what’s on sale, along with what everyone likes to eat. It’s a chore, but I went from absolutely hating it in a kicking my feet and screaming kind of way, to just accepting it and getting it done pretty quick. I like to try out new recipes and find a lot of them on Pinterest, and am sharing the ones we have liked here for you.
I’ve discovered that fitness accountability groups are a GREAT way to forge new friendships, and find people who will be your cheerleaders as well as offer helpful advice and insight. And also to find people who either have been on your path, or who share your path currently. I’ve learned a LOT.
What’s most important, Im really embracing that this is a lifelong journey. I am being a positive role model for my kids. I’m showing them that being active and healthy is fun and enjoyable. They are learning about fueling their bodies with good foods so they can grow and be strong. So sure, I’ve got a long way to go to my goal. But life is about the journey anyway and the journey always begins with a single step.
Avocado chocolate shakes:
My favorite craving buster is a simple avocado chocolate shake. I have one almost every evening. It’s got great monounsaturated fat from the avocado, protein and calcium from milk, theobromine from the cocoa powder, and just a little sugar, to make sure I stay sweet (no really, it’s because I’m a total sugar-holic, and am not ready to take the step toward detox there yet)….And it’s super easy. And it’s totally the type of rich, creamy, chocolaty goodness that will tame hormonal beast cravings.
All you do is throw one sliced ripe avocado into a bullet or blender or food processor. Add 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder, one table spoon of sugar (I use vanilla sugar) and milk (about half to 3/4 cup) and blend. It will form a super rich and thick shake in seconds. If you use less milk, you get a sort of pudding like texture. You can freeze it and make soft serve! So versatile. And so delicious. I hope it helps you as much as it has helped me!
photo credit: Avocado mit Kern via photopin (license)
photo credit: Avocado milkshake dessert via photopin (license)photo credit: Good, thick shake via photopin (license)photo credit: Steve Maraboli This journey is yours, take charge of it. Stop giving other people the power to shape your life via photopin (license)
Richard Hicks says
July 13, 2016 at 4:22 pmI have never had one but it makes a lot of sense as avocados are very healthy food
Jo-Ann Brightman says
June 17, 2016 at 7:16 pmI love the idea of using avocado to make a shake. I shall have to try it soon. Congratulations on all the weight you have lost and on exercising so much.
Lisa Delange says
June 4, 2016 at 3:45 pmI’ve recently just started eating healthy so I can lose weight and get back into shape, so tried an avocado for the first time and fell in love with it. It is soo good for you, the fats that it does have are healthy kinds of fat. Anyway I loved this artcile, anything that can motivate me to keep on going with this new healthy lifestyle is worth a read to me! And the recipe sounds do pretty good, and next week after food shopping I’m going to make it. One whole avocado and two egg whites was what I would eat together and it’s so delicious. Have it with about 500ml of any type of fruit/herb detox water, you’ll be satisfied until about lunch. Tha KS for the recipe love!
Jen Peak says
June 4, 2016 at 5:30 pmI’ve seen some delicious recipes for avocado baked with an egg in the center. It looks really tasty, but I haven’t tried it yet. I love avocados and they do team up really well with eggs. I like to put avocado on top of my omelet! I am excited to try some detox waters other than just lemon. Thanks for the tip!
olga ristani (@kerel2) says
May 29, 2016 at 2:53 pmthe most important is to be healthy (including body and mind) and strong!
avocado has the good fats and its tasty!yummi!
cheers!
Julie says
May 30, 2016 at 1:10 amThis is so true! Cannot cut out all fats like some diets try to do!! I hope you enjoy!