I’m Up and Down?

Good morning everyone! So good news is that I’m much more emotionally stable this week. There was just so much happening last week leaving me stressed and running on a deficit of both sleep and quality time with my husband which for my personality type is a devastating event. But now I’m all rested up (thank God), going through my cycle (THANK GOD), and getting mentally prepped for working the next 7 days in a row. It’s what I really needed. Other good news includes that, while I’ve only lost 2 pounds from what I’ve gained, my measurements are back to the low numbers with even a half inch more gone from my hips! But this baffles me. I will lose 5-6 pounds, watch my inches drop, then my weight shoots up again, but my measurements stay the same. What I’m assuming happens is a combination of the fact that I’m building muscle which weighs more than fat, but ends up burning the excess fat as you work it, and water retention on days I don’t drink enough, and lately that has been pretty much every day. So to remind you and myself once again…

Now, on top of working a somewhat physically demanding job, hubby and I signed up for a trial period at a local gym and he wants to start tonight. This means that I have to find a way to amp up my protein intake, because guess who’s goal it is to start lifting? Yep, mine. Best way to burn fat and tone up. But I have to say, the last couple days I’ve liked what I saw in the mirror, though that’s not going to sabotage my journey because I know from experience, as soon as my hormones fluctuate in a negative direction, the tears are going to flow and I’m going to be reaching for the bread… Sabotage. So to aid my process, I’ve been thinking more and more about trying those “It Works” wraps. My whole life I’ve heard negative things about using wraps for weight loss since they are just supposed to move the water weight to a different area and then after a time, it settles right back to where it was. But my friend (who doesn’t sell them, mind you) swears they work and she’s seeing a difference, so why not? It’s like a $50 investment to try them out, plus they also sell a natural drink enhancer filled with vitamins and probiotics which is something I’ve been looking for to add to the keto lifestyle. So if I have enough money leftover this paycheck (bills are a bitch), I’m going to see about trying these puppies.

On another new front, my mom has been talking to me about the addition of more fermented foods into my diet since the kombucha has been a miracle for my body. Apparently, studies are showing that adding certain fermented foods (and no, alcohol isn’t on there…I checked) to your diet not only helps with weight loss, but are full of the good bacteria that helps fight things like UTIs, yeast infections, and even diabetes. I knew about the benefits of this from kefir and yoghurt, but both are either way high in sugar, filled with the poison that is artificial sweeteners, or just plain unappealing to the taste buds. What I didn’t know is that fresh sauerkraut is low carb friendly, and holds the same benefits as the aforementioned foods. I used to love canned sauerkraut, though the tang of it would get me sometimes and ultimately kept me away from it for years. But recently on a trip to Aldi grocery store, my mom found fresh in a glass jar sauerkraut and told me to get some as well. I did (along with some beef sticks there because 0 carb is where it’s at), and oh man. It’s amazing. No overpowering tang you get from the metal canning process, just sweet, fermented goodness. I encourage you to try it if you can find it.

So that’s about it for my post this week. If you have any questions or feedback, let me know! Same if you’re needing encouragement on your own journey. We got this! Have a wonderful week.

Even My Coffee Sucks Today

I’m sorry about last week! We were moving and ever since the move it’s been non stop. Also, since the move, I have felt like a complete raging bitch. You know those days where you feel like everything is wrong? And everything that goes wrong just makes you want to scream and sob and just go be by yourself? No matter how seemingly small the thing is. That’s been me, and I’m trying so hard not to take it out on people, but I know I’m not hiding my frustration at all. It’s a combination of many things, I know. We ate like shit through the entire move and are still having a hard time getting back to it (haven’t been grocery shopping since before the move), I’m going to start soon and my hormones are completely unbalanced, and we haven’t had down time for two weeks. I’m talking no sleep, no relaxation, and “me time”. On top of that I absolutely hate the new apartment, and I’m currently sitting in the waiting room of the icu 3 hours from home because my husband’s grandfather had a heart attack two days ago. Just add the stress on…

As close a representation of how I feel. (Explosion, by Mario Sánchez Nevado) https://iamnotfatblog.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/wpid-23c365f6af44dd8272a6b5fd1d1f9938.jpg”>

So basically, I’m stressed out, stress eating, and, well, crying a lot. I gained back the pounds i lost, bringing me back to 230 which pisses me off. But thankful I didn’t gain more thanks to my active job and after work activities. But I’m typing all this on my phone, so once I get home I’ll try to post something better. It may not be until next week, though. Hope your lives are going better than mine at the moment.

I Can Do it All By Myself…I Think

So I completely failed at the while ‘staying off the scale’ thing this week. But the good news is that I’m down a pound and another inch off my waist from last week even after enjoying a day with my husband at the beer and BBQ festival here! That and adding rice to like every meal for a couple days. But Despite that, I seem to be on a downward trend which is the most exciting thing. What’s not exciting is the pants that were starting to fit without squeezing the stuffing out of me (though if it literally squeezed that out, I’d call them miracle pants) went through the wash and now are trying to kill me again.

The more I wear them, though, the better they get, so it’s all good. But, if my pants don’t kill me, the antibiotics I’ve been on might… I swear, with prescription medicine you just trade one bad thing for another. I have been having the worst stomach pains this last week with these pills, and I feel like I have seen the bathroom more than I have seen my husband since this whole thing started. And while I would have loved to treat this thing naturally, nothing I was doing was working. Thankfully, though, I took my last one this morning, so thank God that shit is done and I can start up my kombucha regimen again to refill the good bacteria in my tummy.

Now I’m just waiting until we get settled in the new place next week to start experimenting with making my own kombucha. It’s a little scary to me, since you’re dealing with fermentation of foods. The last thing i want to do is make myself sick, but the second to last thing I want to do is continue to spend $3/bottle/day on my current solution. That equates to over $1000 a year on just one bottle a day. Yes, it’s well made, and yes it keeps me from messing up and hurting myself, but that’s never stopped me from DIYing things before (much to my hairdresser’s dismay I might add).

So I’ll be spending some time doing research on how to ferment your own kombucha, as well as reading the dos and don’ts from the seasoned pros. And of course, you’ll know about my new venture as it’s happening.

Other than that, I’m just trying to stay unstressed. Our calendar is booked solid until the beginning of July, and that will probably change here soon with people changing positions at my job leaving us short handed. But no worries. I enjoy the fast paced life. That and I’ve actually started working out which is helping so much. I joined the softball team at work and the practices are killing me, but in the best ways. So until next week, keep being awesome everyone!