Clean Eating Results

Hello friends and followers!!

I must first apologize for the delay in posting these results!! The last two weeks have been quite crazy, including Thanksgiving and not 1 but 2 trips to Houston! I hope you all enjoyed your holiday weekend and enjoyed some healthy AND unhealthy food! :)

First things first - here is the result of my clean eating challenge, which meant no sugar, gluten, dairy, artificial sweeteners, soy or alcohol for 21 days.


                      11/4               11/14             11/25            Total Loss
Weight           225 lb.           215.4             213.6                 11.4 lb
R. Bicep        15.5 in.            15                 15.1                    0.4 in
Bust               45.5 in.            44                 44                       1.5 in.
Waist              43 in.              43                 41                        2 in.
Hips             46.75 in.          44.5              45.25                   1.5 in.
Butt              49.25 in.           49                48.5                    0.75 in.
R. Thigh        26.5 in.            26                25.5                     1.0 in.
R. Calf          18.7 in.           18.5              18.75                   -.05 in.

That is a total loss of 11.4 lbs and 7.1 inches in 3 weeks. DANG! I also have to give a shout out to Ryan who lost 16.3 lbs and 6.8 inches. Go baby!! :)

These results are extremely interesting to me, and I am glad that I took measurements at 3 different times during the process. If you look at the total, it seems weird that I lost almost 10 pounds in the first 11 days and only 1.8 pounds in the last 10 days. BUT I also lost inches in that time. Or, there are some places where my measurements went up a smidge between the mid-way point and the end. This could be due to a number of factors. I did start working out more heavily in the latter half of the challenge, so I was building muscle. Or it could just be user error (I'm not a professional with measuring tape!). But, I'm very happy with my overall loss. After losing such a massive amount of weight in the first 11 days means that my body was in a little bit of shock in the next 10 days. And since I still lost inches in that time, I'm happy. (Again - I was building muscle in that time frame, which meant I was losing fat, if not necessarily a lot of weight.)

So now - what has been going on since then??

Well, obviously it was Thanksgiving and I would love to say that I was super healthy over that time but . . . I was not. I definitely ate things that I wasn't "supposed" to. But there were also times that I found myself ordering or craving healthy things instead of the crappy things I used to crave. And that was very eye opening. I've always heard people say, "Once you stop eating bad food, your body will stop craving it!" And to be honest - I thought that was a big load of crap. But in actuality, your body's cravings DO change. I won't say that I never crave bad food anymore, but it is happening significantly less. And those cravings are easier to manage; I don't feel as though I MUST eat that food or I will die. It's a pretty amazing thing to notice.

I've also noticed how terrible unhealthy food makes me feel. Yesterday, I was really craving some cheez-its (many of you know I have a small addiction to them.) And I hadn't had them in a long time. So I decided to go pick up a small package of them. And while I was eating them, they were indeed delicious. But for about FOUR HOURS afterward, I felt TERRIBLE. I had a headache, I felt a little nauseous, and I was sweaty. And I found myself thinking, "Are cheez-its really THAT delicious? Are they worth making myself feel this terrible? I don't think they are!" Again, I'm not saying I'll never eat them again. But I'm certainly a lot less likely to eat something that makes me feel physically sick for such a long time.

Ryan and I have been sticking to our diet again for about a week, giving ourselves a cheat day over the weekend. The last time I weighed myself (last Friday I believe) I was at 210.6 which is almost 15 pounds down from my original start weight. I couldn't be happier with our progress over the holiday season. Right now is a REALLY hard time to diet, but by being good when we can, and overindulging when we can't be good, we're still making progress. And I truly believe if I can lose weight in December, I can do it any time of the year!!

I hope to post more often in the future, but with the Christmas holidays coming up (including a Tennessee trip for me!), it may not be possible. So, blogosphere, if I don't see you - MERRY CHRISTMAS! HAPPY HOLIDAYS! And a HEALTHY NEW YEAR TO YOU!