Yesterday I freaked out when I stepped on the scale. That was my moment. The moment I cracked and I realized I had to shape up and that something with my diet and routine has to change.
I can pinpoint exactly when my bad eating habits started and say with confidence that it was Easter, which you guys may remember was late this year. It was at the very end of April. So counting from the end of April to now, the end of August, it will have been four months that I have been eating crap and have gotten to a place where I have not only gained 7 pounds but don’t feel good. My pants are tight (I’m a little too happy with being able to wear stretchy & forgiving maxi skirts this summer) and my moods have been all over the place. I’ve been irritable. I find I’m craving chocolate and other junk food that I wouldn’t normally turn to.
Besides the overall health, I can’t help but be upset with knowing that I haven’t weighed this much in over five years. I’ve been very good at maintaining my weight and eating healthy every since I went on a MyFitnessPal.com diet several years ago and developed some healthy eating habits.
And I get that weight can fluctuate but I know I didn’t get here with one brownie. The summer’s been full of margaritas, extra glasses of wine, trips to the ice cream store at the beach and just generally not eating right. I blame a lot of it on the lack of routine with the summer too: I’m snacking on foods when I’m feeding the kids because none of us are scheduled. Also not helpful – the fact that I have growing boys that pretty much want to eat 24/7.
While I don’t get what caused it since normally I don’t touch much junk, I binged on some of my kids Easter candy and it’s been downhill since. I do continue to workout 5 days a week but my eating habits have been a mess.
It’s almost like I was staring down at the barrel at 40 and subconsciously decided my future should include a muffin top and unbuttoned pants. But that’s it. I REFUSE TO GIVE IN. I’m going to deal with this now when it’s 7 pounds and not 15 and when I’m at a turning point where the kids are about to go back to school and I can hopefully put some focus back into my health.
So today I’m debating what to do to get myself back on the road to wellness that I was on before April. I know how to calorie count and eat right but I recognize that I need an initial shake up – a detox of some kind to jump start me. I’m considering a few and would love to some input and insight from anyone who has done any of the following:
The BluePrint Cleanse. I did it a couple of years ago and that was pretty straight forward. 3 days of juicing. It was hard in the end but I do remember feeling good once it was over. I would need something beyond just the 3 days but this could be a start.
My friend Jen is doing the AdvoCare 24-Day Challenge starting next week and that’s tempting… I’d love to do something *with* someone for the moral support but I’m not so keen on the amount of pills and supplements. Plus one of their powders includes caffeine and I don’t do caffeine.
My friend Jo-Lynne is currently doing the 21-Day Sugar Detox and I definitely think there’s something to be said for ridding myself of sugar for 21 days although the idea is also pretty daunting. I’ve been reading her updates with interest.
Lastly, I found the Clean Program via Dr. Oz. It’s also a 21-day cleanse & detox that focuses more on overall well being via restoration of your “gut.” It also includes some shakes though and it’s on the pricey side ($425) so I’m hesitating because of the price but it otherwise sounds amazing.
Another scary factor: there’s basically no wine or coffee with any of these. That would be hard, for sure. Coffee is my morning staple. I do only drink decaf so I won’t have any caffeine withdrawal but I like to make my morning coffee with a bunch of french vanilla creamer and I might as well be drinking hot coffee ice cream each morning. I’ll miss it. And the wine? Well I’m a 5:00 wine kind of girl on most days. One glass normally… but like I said, the summer and all the socializing has ended up being more than a glass for many nights and I feel that I do want to give it up to give myself a clean slate.
So while I decide what I officially want to do, I’m going to slowly step in with some items I got at Whole Foods yesterday. I stopped by thinking I’d get some of the BluePrint Cleanse juices (which are now available at many Whole Foods that are not too far from NYC, like mine are) and I ended up with a bunch of juices from Evolution Fresh juices, which were on sale and a raw juice brand recommended by one of the girls in Whole Foods. They were on sale and therefore a little easier on the pocket than the BluePrint Cleanse ones, which weren’t on sale.
I bought a bunch of those to last me through Labor Day weekend as well as bunch of greens and other raw vegetables and fruits. I’m going to just ease myself into juicing and eating healthy over the next few days and will then make a decision on a final program to start once the kids are back in school over Labor Day.
I’d love to hear from anyone who has done a cleanse or detox program who has some feedback for me. For me, it’s not just about weight loss (although that would be nice) but about overall wellness.
Update coming soon!
I am so with you on this: And I get that weight can fluctuate but I know I didn’t get here with one brownie. The summer’s been full of margaritas, extra glasses of wine, trips to the ice cream store at the beach and just generally not eating right. I blame a lot of it on the lack of routine with the summer too: I’m snacking on foods when I feeding the kids because none of us are scheduled. Also not helpful – the fact that I have growing boys that pretty much want to eat 24/7.
So there IS coffee on the 21-Day sugar detox (yay!) However, I wouldn’t advise doing it unless you plan to make this a permanent change in your life. There’s no point doing it and then going back to eating processed foods, carbs and sugar. The point is to completely reset your body and then find a new normal that involves a paleo/primal type of diet/lifestyle. I’m ready for that change and have been wanting to get there for a long time so I’m really excited about where this is taking me. But it IS hard.
Like you, I had gained a good 6-7 lbs since winter and was starting to feel like a frumpy housewife. I’m 42 and was tempted to believe that this is just part of life, but then I decided to take charge and I’m so glad I did.
You can do it! You’ll find the right program and get back to feeling like yourself again. It is SOOO worth it. I definitely think getting back to a school schedule will help.
I didn’t know you could do coffee!! But you know…. I take my coffee with creamer and I’m sure the creamer isn’t allowed. Yah, the sugar detox may not be for me because I can’t see cutting that out of my life completely in the end.
I think I’m more along the lines of wanting to find something to jump start eating healthier and then eventually still being able to eat what I like but in moderation.
We will both be so happy next week I bet 😉
I can’t tell you how well I understand this. Like you and JL, I’m a 40’s girl – 41 :). Last Fall, I realized that NOTHING fit (well, except the few pairs of black leggings that I owned). For Nov-Jan, that was ALL I wore and it was miserable. In January, I decided to reset. So many people were offering so many solutions, from a Dr. Oz 3-day detox to a cleanse to a sugar detox…but one girlfriend kept pushing Paleo. Now, that friend is SERIOUS about Paleo and follows it to an extreme. I knew I couldn’t do that – forcing my family to choose Paleo -friendly restaurants only, being the person who takes an hour to order because I need to remove this, add that, ‘special this-please’, etc. So, I did some research and realized that the basic tenants of Paleo called for removing wheat, sugar and dairy from my diet. Like you, I didn’t want to give up wine or coffee. Paleo is fine for wine, but no creamer in coffee.
I figured I could do anything for two weeks and then determine my path.
I did it and started to lose weight instantly. The biggest difference I noticed was the lack of bloating in my stomach. I switched to hot tea during that time and MAY have cheated a few times just with the coffee and creamer. 🙂
After that, I considered myself ‘80% Paleo’ – when we would go out to dinner, or to a party with friends, I’d allow myself to indulge a little…. sometimes I can’t resist the guacamole or the cheese dip, sometimes I WANT the side of pasta, or the margarita, but for the most part, I wasn’t missing all of the extras.
HOWEVER, for the past two months, I have fallen off the wagon. Completely. And I can feel it. Summer has caught up with me just the was you and JL have explained. It is funny timing to read your post as TODAY is the day I swore I was making a switch again – back to the fruits and veggies, dropping the heavy pastas and cream, skipping the nibbles of chocolate – all of the goodies I had purged at the beginning of the year.
Here’s a book that helped me to come up with great options for my family: http://www.amazon.com/Against-All-Grain-Delectable-Recipes/dp/1936608367
Good luck, my friend – I’ll keep watching. xoxo
Thanks so much for the comment D! A paleo/clean living way of eating may be a good one for me. And like you, I may have to do it 80% of the time. I find I always fail at something if I can’t cheat a little.
Didn’t know you could do wine with Paleo though – that makes it very appealing for sure… 😉
Checking out that book, thanks for the rec!
I need to do something like this too. I gained 5 lbs this summer, and I think it’s all rum from Mojitos and Pina Coladas. I’m intrigued by the BluePrint Cleanse. I can do anything for 3 days!
I will be watching this!!!
I definitely need to do a cleanse. I feel like my body needs a good detox after this summer!
So fascinating. There are so many options to consider as a mom, can;t pick a diet without effecting the family. We are cutting back on grains and sugar as an entire family (no specific plan) and I have to say I feel great with the cut back on processed wheat and sugar.
Whit- I am late for the cleanse party discussion 😉 it has been embarrassingly long since I have been on MWS, so for that I apologize. FYI, after AdvoCare found me in Aptil 2012 I decided to close Made by Angie. Pretty major swing from a business standpoint, but a very natural one when it came to my health, family’s eating habits and our lifestyle in general. I am a Wellness and Nutrition coach, now paying forward what I learned when I did my 24 Day Challenge 2+ years ago. I cannot say enough about AdvoCare, the company…the people…the values…and of course, the products. I would love to help anyone in the MWS community establish and reach their wellness goals. Let me know if you’d like a guest post …happy to spread the word and provide my support and coaching to all, near and far.
I’m on the Daytrana diet…I actually have to count calories to ensure I get enough…the sensation of hunger occurs twice daily, so I have to take the opportunity or I end up with the woozies.