Turbulence

Yesterday was a travel day for me and I always seem to learn something when I'm on a plane. If there is one thing I hate, it's turbulence. I've learned to deal with by closing my eyes, pretending I am sleeping or just holding on for dear life lol. The last time I flew with two of my girlfriends, both of which are not big fliers, we hit some very rough patches.....we all held each others hands. The truth is, their fear was real and I can't remember the last time I had felt so nervous in the midst of turbulence.

Yesterday I flew out really early...it was still dark and it was raining. I began to mentally prepare myself for a rocky ride getting out of Charlotte. I put my hood over head and temporarily fell asleep, but soon I woke up and was a little more attentive when I felt the jerking of the plane. The flight attendant came on the speaker and said they were asked to stay seated as the pilot was attempting to find a smoother stream of air to fly in. Not too long after, we hit a smooth patch and were flying pretty steady for the remainder of the flight.

You may say, April, what does this have to do with health and wellness? I'm getting there!! Lol. My point is this, on your journey, you're going to hit some rough patches. It may be a time of great change in your life, good or bad. I say good or bad because truth is, some good change has negative effects on this journey too. I mean how many people do you know that hasn't gained weight when they start "falling in love"???? lol....Change and how you respond to change bears heavily on your health and wellness journey. You may have friends or family that start experiencing turbulence and it's natural for you (like it is for me) to carry them and feel their pain. These are just a few things that can affect this journey of yours. Many of us resort to what is comfortable when we hit our rough patches. What is that for you? A candy bar? Two? A pint of ice cream? Laying in your house with all the lights off and getting no exercise? I ask these questions because, well, I've been there! I understand.

You have to remember this....you WILL find the smooth stream of air. The turbulence will subside at some point. Don't allow yourself to get sidetracked because you hit a small patch of trouble. Stay the course...find your smooth stream...trust me it is there. And before you know it, you'll be cruising again....30,000 ft in the air...life will balance out again and you'll be better prepared for it because you didn't allow you circumstance to change your resolve.

I believe in you! You can do this!

Thanks for reading :)

This One is for YOU!!!!

I meant to write this yesterday, but I wanted to dedicate this post to my pops! Many times I have talked about how my dad's health problems have been a catalyst for starting and walking out this health and wellness journey.

Truth be told, he has been on his own journey having to lose weight because of his diabetes diagnosis several years ago. He is my biggest cheerleader and a strong support to this journey. My dad has ALWAYS said I was beautiful...even when I was at my heaviest. His love has been unconditional and besides God, He and mom are the reasons that I am still alive and kicking (trust me!).

Anyways, when he came to North Carolina almost 5 years ago, he weighed in at 285 pounds. Yesterday morning (early lol) my phone rang and it was my dad. I got nervous cause he doesn't call me in the morning!!! Anywho, he called to tell me that he had weighed in at 248 pounds that morning. He (and I) were SOOOOOOOO happy. He cried...I didn't (on the phone) lol. He hadn't weighed under 250 pounds since in the early 90s. Preaching all over the country and the world, a heart attack, diabetes diagnosis, two knee surgeries, and a few moves have that kind of effect on you.

Well this blog is dedicated to you POPS!! I'm PROUD of you! Keep going...you're doing great.

Here's some old pics of us....lol...we've come a LONNNNGGGGG way!

My Birthday - 2010

Me today

Las Vegas 2008

NC 2009 - Being silly lol

My Graduation 2012

My handsome daddy

To eat or not to eat...that is the question...

Hey there...hope you're doing well.

So I wanted to write a little about eating and the importance of eating. Eating to lose...sounds crazy right? Well, it's not. Many people think that in order to lose weight, you have to stop eating or eat much less. That is not entirely true so it is important to understand how food plays a part in living a healthier life.

Did I have to start eating less to start losing weight? Absolutely! But I had to start eating less in regards to the amount of calories that I was eating. When I first started, I had the same mindset of eating nothing and that would be what I needed to do to lose weight. I quickly found out that was the wrong mindset. Eating less food actually slowed down my metabolism and didn't provide me the fuel I needed to workout and build lean muscle. In addition to that, I would get halfway through my workout and be dead tired. My body didn't have any fuel to continue.

Here's what I had to learn...I HAVE TO EAT! However, food has become more of my fuel than just something I do to appease my bad feelings. There are times that I have to eat something that I may not particularly fancy if I know that it will keep me full and satisfied. For example, I eat eggs but I don't particularly like eggs unless they are smothered in cheese and mixed with onions and bell pepper lol.

Here's a typical meal day for me:

Breakfast (usually around 9-9:30am)
Met-Rx protein shake (1 scoop with water) (SN: this protein shake is 96% lactose free which really helps me because anything with too much lactose tears my stomach into pieces! lol)

2 eggs scrambled with cheese
Hot Green Tea with Honey

Snack (11:30am)
1/2 bag of Trader Joe's handful of nuts trail mix
 

 Lunch (1-2pm)
Garden Salad with Grilled Chicken Breast
No dressing (olive oil & balsamic vinegar only)
Diet Green Tea with Citrus (contains no high fructose corn syrup or aspartame)

Snack (3:30-4pm)
Trader Joes Strawberry Greek Yogurt (HIGH protein!!)


Dinner (7-8pm)
Pan Seared Lemon Pepper Tilapia
Brussel Sprouts (typical serving is 8 sprouts)

Throughout the day, I also drink 64oz of water. On the days that workout, I add in another protein shake 30 mins before my workout and immediately after. Remember that I eat all of this and still only eat between 1500-1600 calories a day.

Now this is just an example, I don't eat this clean EVERY day...I'm getting there. Some days I may want a little piece of candy or I may eat a chicken salad flatbread sandwich on Thursdays lol. I more wanted you to see how often I eat...THAT is what is important!

Hope this helps...

Thanks for reading :)

SODI-YUMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Hey there folks...

How's it going? Are you still sticking to your goals? Facing a hard time? Hit me up if you need some encouragement, I'm here for you!

I wanted to talk a little tonight about sodium. I said sodi-yum because truth be told most of the foods that I truly enjoy are particularly high in sodium. Potato chips, movie butter popcorn, salt, pretzels and chocolate covered pretzels (lol), and the list goes on and on. Most processed foods are LOADED with sodium. Years ago I decided I was going to be a vegetarian but eventually added fish, and then chicken, and then turkey back into my diet. No beef or pork...it's been about 5 years now. Unfortunately, turkey is LOADED with sodium. Turkey meaning like turkey sandwich meat or turkey sausage. Additionally, most foods that contain a lot of preservatives also have high sodium.

My journey has consisted of me watching my calories but I wasn't really paying attention to my sodium intake. The recommended amount of sodium per day is 2,500mg. I was at a major plateau and so I talked to my trainer and he recommended for me to start taking note of my sodium intake. It was THRU THE ROOF!!!! I couldn't believe it. So I started looking at my food diary and realized that the turkey or turkey sausage that I was putting my morning omelette was HIGH in sodium. And hey, I'm a single girl...I don't ALWAYS feel like cooking so I would eat out a lot. Fast food is a DEATH TRAP. Even if you choose the "healthier option," more than likely, it will be loaded with sodium. Don't get me wrong, I still eat out every now and then, but I've had to cut that WAYYYYYY down. Yep, I started actually grocery shopping and cooking dinner every day. It takes me like an hour to grocery shop now because I have to read every label lol.

I know this seems laborious, but I was surprised with the weight loss that I experienced when I reduced my sodium intake. This was hard for me...I like well seasoned food but this was important to accomplish my goals.

I encourage you to start paying attention to these little things and don't be surprised when your body starts responding positively. I'll share more about these types of things in the future.

Thanks for reading :)

Little Changes, Big Results

It's been 5 days. I'm so sorry. I guess time just got away from me. Seeing that I'm wide awake, I thought I should definitely blog so here I am...1:48 am...writing to you.

Have you ever noticed that change is one of the hardest things to do? People say, well, I'm set in my ways...but the truth is, we all don't really like change. Some just handle it better than others. I actually don't mind it too much...as long as I am the one initiating the change lol. Try to force change on me and I get mad stubborn lol. So I talked to you about my 12/31/13 goal, and although I know we just crossed February, I started to get frustrated because I didn't see the scale changing. Now, I've had to change my relationship with the scale too. I don't step on it as often as I used to and when I do I understand what the scale is saying to me now. Remember that the scale can't differentiate between fat, muscle, and bone. So when you step on the scale, it is measuring you in your entirety. Anywho, I was all bent out of shape and I went to my trainer to confront him on why his methods weren't working (BOLD!!!! Lol) I had continually told him that I would never let him look at my calorie diary because I didn't want him dictating every little thing I put in my mouth. Well, he asked me to see it and reluctantly I did.

Now let me be real. I said to him (in tears), I'm doing the best I can and I'm getting nowhere. I found out later that day why I felt that way AND why I was crying (ladies, you can probably put two and two together lol lol...I was highly emotional). So he started critiquing my diary...all I heard was you can't, can't, can't....so I left there like HUMPH!!!! Ok, I'll do it but I don't want to!!! Well, it's been a week and I've dropped 5 pounds!!!! I couldn't admit that he was right, so I just texted him and said, "I guess you know what you're doing!" Lol.

The point is, sometimes you have to make a little change to see big results. For some, it will seem like you're jumping off the ledge, but if that is what you need to do to get the results you desire, DO IT! Mine consisted of reducing my carb intake...I was eating too much carbs....and increasing my protein. I can definitely tell the difference already.

Don't be afraid to take a leap, a jump, or even a step towards big results. You'll be glad you did.

I believe in you!

Thanks for reading!! :)

But I don't WANNA!!!!

Hey my friends! Hope you're doing well and sticking to your journey. Take it day by day!

So when was the last time you said, "BUT I DON'T WANNA!!!" Well you may not have said it out loud, but maybe in your head??? LOL! I admit that I LOVE food...like really love food. I talked about before how food used to be a comfort for me, but I generally love food....especially nicely seasoned food...ANYWAYS>>>>MOVE ON APRIL LOL.

My trainer made me start writing down my daily food intake and I realized I was eating TOO MUCH food! So now I've gotten to point that I can eat between 1600-1800 calories a day and be fully satisfied. Going from eating 3500 calories per day to 1600 a day is a huge difference. BUT every now and then, my mind says "BUT I DON'T WANNA!!!!"

It seems like right when I had gotten the calories down, now my trainer wanted to add something else that I had to watch. Now that I was staying below my calorie count per day, I never realized how much sodium I was eating...this past Saturday my trainer sat me down AGAIN and started talking about my food intake (and scrutinizing my MyFitness Pal diary lol) and I'll be honest and say that I got really frustrated and started crying. I mean, I'm working hard over here and it seems like it isn't enough. But, truth is folks, it was necessary. I had to take a look at my current eating habits and make sure it lined up with my goals.

So I want to encourage you with this...plateaus will come...there will be times when you have to refocus and regroup. It may feel like a swift kick in the rear, but sometimes a kick is necessary!

When you get a chance, check out my friend Hope Reid's blog talking about trans fat! GREAT INFO!!! Click here to check it out!

Thanks for reading :)

Just an encouragement

I don't have a story to tell tonight...my Internet went down for a while so I couldn't write what I wanted to write tonight. But let me tell you this...

If you've embarked on this journey to health and wellness, you CAN do this! I believe in you...now is not the time to give up...press FORWARD!!

I believe in you!

Thanks for reading :)