So many choices, so little time.

DIETS: Atkins? Weight Watchers? Nutri-System? ACE? Hypnosis? Isagenix? Dexitrim? Slim-Fast? Juicing? HcG drops?
EXERCISE: Jillian Micheals? P90X? Long lost Denise Austin? TapOut XT? Insanity? Running? Hot Yoga? Gym rat? Racket ball? Intramural softball?

My goodness, so many options, it is overwhelming, and those lists are just a smidgen of what's out there. And here is a shocker, they all work. At least for a little while. The hard part is finding the one that works for you. I'm not trying to sway anyone one way or another for one simple reason, everyone is different. Just because something works for me doesn't mean by any stretch of the imagination that it is going to work for you. Today, however I would like to share with you what helped me shed 110lbs, and hopefully is going to help me get rid of the last 37.8lbs. How's that for a nice round number?? Round, haha, get it??

Last April I needed help, in a big way. I was 3 pounds short of being my heaviest and it was time for something drastic. About that time one of the gals at work shared juicing with me. She had seen a movie called Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. The short and the long of it was this guy had juiced for 60 days. Take that in for a minute. 60 days. 8 weeks. Nothing but liquid vegetables and fruit... And water, lots of water. So, I said what the hey. Ok, I really said what the hell, but I'm trying to clean up my act. You are basically going raw/vegan for 60 days. Some pretty crazy things happen to your body. They said that the first thing would be your skin clearing and brightening (a glow if you will), check. Next, your lungs would begin to clear out all the garbage they had been storing, minor cold with coughing up some stuff, check. Finally, your liver and other organs would detox and be better able to process food again, check and check. I have no proof of the last one other than I feel three thousand times better than I have in a long time. I had a couple other interesting side effects. I started to sleep. Mind you, I haven't slept through the night in YEARS. All of a sudden I wasn't working myself over through the night. When you eat your way through an evening your body pays for it all night by trying to digest what you have ingested. It should be resting. So, in the morning you wake up feeling poopy, needing coffee, or sugar, or something, and thus starts the cycle all over again. Sleeping is a glorious thing. I don't know what I was doing without it!! During the 60 days I lost 68lbs. Crazy!! I'm sure some of that was muscle, a good portion was water, but a healthy portion was fat too. And, I felt ready to tackle the next phase.

Now, I juice twice a day, eat lunch and throw in a couple healthy snacks. Weekends depend on my social calendar. But more importantly, I exercise. I twist and torture my body until it responds, feels stronger, and sheds pounds. Some weeks are a win (aka loss), some weeks are a draw (aka stay the same), and occasionally there is a loss (aka gain). But I feel healthy. Really healthy. I don't put junk in my body. As a matter of fact very little, almost none of what goes in my mouth comes from a wrapper, bag or box. I equate those things to preservatives, added sugar, added fat, and any other non-food things that we accept as food. I am NOT a vegetarian. I am NOT an all organic eater. I am NOT gluten free. But by default I eat a lot of vegetables, some of the things I consume are organic, and I have become almost gluten free. The only rule I try to live by is to not over consume things I can't read, pronounce, or don't have to prepare in some way shape or form. I eat steak, chicken, fish, eggs, and the occasional cheese, but those things are no longer the majority of my diet. I don't take pills, I don't have to have anything shipped in, I keep it simple. Because my addle brain requires simple. The food I eat is tasty, just ask any of the people my family likes to feed, they can attest. Its not all low calorie, far from it, but it isn't junk either.

The bottom line is that my output is GREATER than my input. If you are looking for a secret weight loss equation, there it is. Move your body more than the calories you take in. That's it. Sorry to burst any bubbles. And, mind you, I am not an expert, just someone on a big weight loss journey sharing what I am learning along the way. If you want more information about juicing, eating right, exercising, etc., here are some websites that are handy for me.

jointhereboot.com
rebootwithjoe.com
tapoutxt.com
beachbody.com
Michi's Ladder This last one is a food guideline. If your diet consists mainly of the top two tiers, you have near perfect food consumption. Or so they say.

The moral of today's story is this... Find what works for you and give it enough time to work. Making or breaking habits takes time and effort. And, at the end of the day, you are doing both in order to accomplish this big ole task. No substitute for time... Or hard work... Or butter, I don't care what anyone says, there is no substitute for butter.