Green Monster Spinach Smoothie

This is my new favorite shake.  Probably because it has an ingredient that you don't normally have often on the Fuhrman diet.  But I figure if you don't have it too often then it's ok.  You'll see it when you read the ingredients.  I had it this morning for breakfast and craved it by mid afternoon so I made it again for myself.  It's just a nice change to the other spinach shakes.  I can get sick of those fast.  I've decided in these two weeks that spinach shakes are a necessity and key to helping me stick to eating healthy and losing weight.  I get in a good 2-4 cups of spinach each shake and that takes care of a good portion of greens.  Since I don't prefer salad as much anymore it's a nice way to get it all down in one sitting and in sweet liquid form.  I changed the recipe slightly to accomodate what i had.  Anyway, here's the recipe:

Green Monster Spinach Smoothie

1 sliced banana
4-5 ice cubes
1 TB flaxseed
1 cup soy milk 
1-2 TB all natural peanut butter (only ingredient nuts, and maybe a little salt, I have Adam's brand)
2-4 cups of spinach (I just grab a few handfuls, I don't really measure with a cup)

Blend all ingredients in a blender until nice and smooth. Enjoy

Original recipe comes from here.

Progress

Week 2 of our six week challenge is over.  And the beginning of week 3 is tomorrow.  And I'm actually feeling pretty positive.  This is the first time in forever that I have felt optimistic about weight loss.  And I have to say that a big reason for that is my success in week 1.  I lost 8lbs week 1.  What?!  That was huge for me.  That's the most I've ever lost in one week ever.  When I saw that loss it was like I accomplished something big.  It was like I jumped over this tall hurdle and I am successfully making my way to the finish line.  I know that sounds really corny.  I'm not sure yet how week 2 went, weight wise.  It was a very stressful, busy week for me.  I was in charge of getting meals to a family who lost their little boy and in charge of planning the funeral luncheon.  So with all the planning mixed in with a lot of emotion it was kind of rough.  But I stayed on track for maybe 80% of it I think.  I wish I would have done better but week 2 is over and I just need to move on.  I am starting to feel better health wise and just need to remember that if I keep working on it I will feel better ALL the time.  My weakness is continuing on with the goal that I have set for myself.  I get a little success and then I fall.  This time around I feel like I had a big success and it's motivating me to continue on.  I hope it continues and I hope that I can climb over the stress hurdles that get in my way.  "Keep on keepin' on" everyone!

We don't have the best news to report as last night we ate a ton of pizza and custard with our friends. But we had to remind ourselves, it doesn't mean we had to just binge on crapfood the rest of the week, we can still try to be better. I know I just need to find the initial motivation. I know it sounds lame, but it is so blasted hot, I can't find it in me to take a lot of time preparing a healthy meal in our hot kitchen. And our budget is tight this month, so we don't have money to go buy all the produce we need until I get paid again next week. But we talked about it and said we can still count our calories and control ourselves with what we eat, even if we don't have all the food we need for fuhrman. So we are setting new ways to achieve our goals, I've signed up for My Fitness Pal online, I just started today, it just logs all my calories and workouts and calculates calorie needs based on how much weight I want to lose. I know this is what I need to do and I want to be healthier. Tanner put it well the other day and just reminded me, it's important that we never stop trying, even if we've failed in the past. Sounds cheesy, but it's so true. Enough excuses, I'm going to have something good to report next week! Thanks for the inspiration!

Another try

Well I thought that I would post today seeing as how it is day number 1 of our six week challenge.  Of course today has been one of those "I'm gonna rock at this diet" kind of days.  And quite honestly it has been a pretty good day.  I stuffed my face full of fruits and veggies and I actually enjoyed it.  Maybe it's because I've attempted Eat to Live several times and have discovered a few things.  1) I have to have a good stock of produce in my fridge. 2) I have to make a menu for the week.  3) I have to have variety of foods and meals.  4) I have to rely on fruit to satisfy my sweet tooth.  5) I can't eat tons of salad every day.    If I do this diet gets old real fast and I always feel like I'm going to throw up.  I know that salad is a huge part of Fuhrman but I  decided I can get raw vegetables in other ways that actually taste good to me.

Anyway...

So I think that we each should report on here each week.  How we are doing, our struggles, our successes, etc.  What do you guys think?  I know I've tried losing weight so many times I can't even count.  But I need to do something.  Even if I've failed at it before.  I need to remember the things that have worked and what hasn't.  And I need to keep the good habits and get rid of the bad ones.  Thanks you guys for doing this challenge with me.  It helps keep me motivated and positive throughout it all.  Have a great week! 

hmmm . . . what's else is new?

Did I fail at the Fuhrman diet? You better believe it. But what else is new? I have felt similar to Lindsey in the sense that I'm very discouraged about weight loss. I don't know why I can't control myself when it comes to eating healthy. I think sometimes I just want what's quick and easy, but that's not usually what is best for me.

Today I had a presentation for my Shakespeare class. We acted out a role, and I took one of the lead parts, thinking that I would do well because I had experience in performing. When I got up in front of the class, I felt so self-conscious. When I used to perform, I was very confident, and I knew I looked good. So today was hard, and I sucked. And to everyone in the class, I'm sure I looked really uncomfortable. I know that I need to lose weight, not so that I look good (although that will be a plus), but so that I feel confident. With job searching, etc. going on in my life, I need to make sure I look and feel confident. That's a hard thing for me to do sometimes, but I think I can do it. I really need to exercise and stuff too.

So Lindsey, and others, we really need to support each other in eating healthy. We can't just get together on weekends and eat crap like we normally do. And we can't pressure each other into eating crappy. We just need to eat healthy and support each other. That's my soap box speech. I know you all feel inspired, but I think we can do it. And Linz, I think you're on the right track. We love you no matter what. Don't get down on yourself. We all fail at our goals sometimes. I think that as Fullmers we are very impulsive, and that's why goal-keeping can be so difficult. We think, "That hotdog on a stick smells really good. I want one." And we don't think through what we're doing sometimes. I have to control myself a lot and stop being impulsive. I love buying clothes and I love buying fast food. But I don't have the money to do either of them, and I know fast food isn't good for me. I still do it. So just keep going. Maybe we need to report to each other a little better.

How are the rest of you doing?

Love you all!

Aly

Here I Am Again

So it's been A WHILE since I posted on here. But I've beaten myself up enough about not doing well over the last month or so, so I'm not going to do it anymore. Lets face it, I've had a major crash in my dieting. And if you want to know the truth for a little while I have felt really depressed. I blame most of it on my failed attempts at losing weight, again. But whatever it is, I haven't given up entirely. When I did feel depressed I didn't care what I ate. And I had a lot of other negative thoughts rolling in my mind all the time. But after searching and thinking for a while on what would be best for me and my family (when it came to my weight loss/seeking health journey) I decided on something. I really needed something that I could stick with for a while. I needed something that gave me a little room to mess up and not feel guilty over. I joined weight watchers. After doing this I felt a little hope and motivation. But the first week proved to be really hard and I felt that motivation left. What I like is that I have to "weigh in" every week. Well after week 1 I weighed in and didn't gain any and didn't lose any. This made me feel hope because I hadn't eaten the best and I worked out just a little. So I thought "hey if I put forth an effort on trying to eat healthy and make the same effort in working out, there is no reason I shouldn't lose weight." Something I know is super obvious but I needed this program to kind of get me going in that direction. Week 2 hasn't been perfect but I know I've done better than the last and my attitude is slowly changing. That's all that matters. Since the beginning of January I've made goals for myself and how to get there and it hasn't happened. I gave up for a bit. I felt I could change years of bad habits over night and get to my ideal weight by summer. For me, that wasn't realistic. Understanding that I can't change over night and that it's a process has felt really good. Almost freeing. I don't feel as much pressure and this new program I'm on and the goals I have made feel more attainable. It's helped me to not be so hard on myself. Something I really really struggle with. I'm kind of done being hard on myself. I'm done feeling inferior to those around me. I'm done not enjoying my life and my time with my family cause I'm so caught up in the fact that I've "failed" so many times at my goals. I'm also done with feeling like crap so I'm starting over in my health seeking journey and I will reach my goals. I know it will take some time. I know it will be hard and there will be ups and downs. But over the last few months I've kind of reached a low that I'm embarrassed to admit to. I feel like I can't get lower, I can only go up from here and I'm feeling positive and more confident in myself. Hopefully this isn't too much info for everyone. But I figure you are my family and I know you care and I know you guys have your ups and downs as well. Hope everyone has a great week!

Fell Off the Wagon for Week 6

Well the end of week 5 was marked by a glorious super bowl feast complete with classic hot and honey barbecue buffalo wings, O'driscoll dip, homemade pizza roles, diet coke, and cookies. After that I had a hard time getting back into the swing of the things. During week 6 we even ordered pizza. I basically ate well for the first 2 meals of the day, and then would lose it around dinner time. I was pretty worried that I had gained back 5 or 6 hard earned pounds, but ended up only gaining 1.4, which I think was mostly retained water, because after only one day of fully committing I was back down to my pre-super bowl weight.

Now about midway through week 7, I'm still struggling with snacking, but am eating Fuhrman again, and I've lost a couple pounds already. Just wanted to post to make sure I'm still committed. IT'S NOT ABOUT BEING PERFECT, BUT BEING CONSISTENT!!!!

--Tanner