The reason why I started....

For those that are wondering why I started doing this and what pushed me to do it at age 26....

I have an uncle that was using a website where you can see how many calories you eat a day. He wanted me to try it and after 2 weeks I was in shock!!!! I was eating over 2,000 calories, almost 2,300 calories a day! That was when I realized I needed to change. 

I then started to analyze my whole life. I started thinking about alllllll  the health problems I have encountered. My paralysis, my high blood pressure problems, my hernia, my cyst, the times I have passed out suddenly, etc. It wasn't, "I want to look good in a dress" anymore, it was more like, "I want to be healthy and don't want to continue going to the Dr with these stupid problems." For me, it was to the point where I would see the same Denise, while everyone around me kept seeing the weight going up. So after deciding calories needed to go down, I started to cut off the good stuff in life lol  tortillas, pan Mexicano, chips, etc. :( Plus, I started eating only whole grain, fruit, snacks, vegetables, etc.

 Lastly, the cherry on top was the exercise!! 3 months before knowing I was eating too many calories,  my dear cousin gave me a gift card to start fit camp. I was scaredddddd and I couldn't bring myself to start. So the day I decided to eat healthy and keep calories on check, is the day I text the trainer I wanted to start :) They are great trainers and I still get sore til this day because of the variety. If interested you should check them out. ;) http://www.facebook.com/myfitcampla

 And so this is why I started this change. Reality hit me in the face. Obviously I am still learning, and I have been changing so many things to see what works for me. Hopefully one day I can have a post that says TOTAL WEIGHT LOST IS 80 LBS. Wouldn't that be awesome? :) 80 lbs is my goal for now, but 100 lbs would be my ultimate goal. So I have 50 more lbs to go :)
Thank you for your time. Hope it can at least give you some tips :)
Love always Denise <3

New goals for October

1. Lose 8lbs or more
2. Do not exceed an average of more than 1,450 calories
3. 80 grams of protein or more (baby steps towards the 120g goal)
4. Average of 10 glasses of water (need to work so hard on this)
5. Excercise more than 20hrs this month 
6. Keep an eye on my carbs, do not go over 140g average

Aug 25 to Sep 25

Total weight lost in THREE months is 30 pounds!
Total inches lost from waist in 3 months is 5 3/4 inches! 
Total body fat percent lost in 3months is 3%

This month was soooo hard for me. I started doubting myself 2 weeks ago and lost my motivation. Checking my progress every wk was starting to affect me mentally because the results weren't like previous weeks. Everyone around me starting noticing I was beating myself up A LOT. The bf, my mom, and even my coaches had to remind me not all months are going to be 11 lbs off. I then decided to analyze my calories and compare it to other months... and I found the problem :) I was eating more carbs than before! Turns out honey is bad for you lol. I had been adding it to my fruit juices to add some flavor, but I finally cut it out. It had as much carbs as a slice of bread! Moreover, I noticed I was eating less protein. Protein is something that has been very hard for me to eat or get close to the goal range. For this reason, this week I started to eat some egg whites in the morning, and add a little more protein throughout the day. Hopefully next month I will see some more improvements if I continue this. :)  

Positive changes this month: 

Halfway through this month, I decided to go jogging the days I don't usually exercise. I truly believe that running/jogging is the reason I am losing weight. It is something I have lots of trouble doing because I can't control my breathing and have a tendency of holding my breath. However, after 3months I noticed IF I concentrate on my breathing, THEN I can at least jog lol. I jog super slow, but before I couldn't jog 30sec straight... it was bad!!! So I am very happy about this positive change.      
                                                         

Negative Changes:  I never bought my favorite fiber bars, so I have been snacking on some protein bars that don't have as much fiber. I'm glad I am still snacking on fruit, yogurt, and celery, but I just need to get back on the bars that have more fiber.

Tip of the month: When eating cereal ALWAYS look at the serving size! It's amazing how easy it is to go over the calories they mention in the cereal box. There are some cereals that are 3/4 of a cup, 1/2 a cup, or even 21 squares lol. Make sure you don't forget that milk is not included in those calories. If it is, it is usually used with skim milk. Btw, use the smallest bowls you have. Your small bowls will look very full instead of empty when using a large bowl. Good way to trick your brain ;)

 My goals for this month were...

Lose 8lbs or more (I know with time it would get harder)

Do not exceed an average of  1,500 cal a day

Intake more than 80 grams of protein (based on my size and goal, I should intake close to 100grams)

Water water water! Have an average of 12 cups a day or more

Excercise more than 15hrs this month

These are my results from Aug 25th to Sep 25th based on my journal ...

• I lost  9 pounds this month :)
• I lost almost 2 inches from my waist this month.
• Drank an average of 7 glasses of water.(it went up from last time but it is not as high as it should be )
• The calories I ate this month were an average of 1,446 (it went a bit higher than last month, so that explains why I didn't lose as much this time)
• The average carbs I ate this month were 187g (which is higher than the last month :( 
• The average protein I ate this month was 67g (which is just 1g higher than last time. My range is close to 120g, so I still need to work on this)
• In this whole month I did 20.9 hrs of exercise (which is great! )

3 out of 5 goals accomplished
I was able to exercise more hours this month as planned. In addition, I kept my calorie average under 1,500. Also, I was able to lose 9lbs, which passed my 8lbs goal. One of the goals not accomplished is my protein still being low. Lastly, my water did not reach the 12 glasses of water. Obviously I have to work on my water, my protein, my carbs, and not let my calories go up. Lesson learned. :)
<3 Denise