Hi 217!

217 today. Hi old temp friend! I have seen you quite a few times! Going up I hate you, coming down, you are a welcome site. You are once again a welcome site!

OK. 217. Nice to get past those main number goals, like 220. My next number is 216, but the biggy will be 210, then 199. Yep I know, but 199 is infinitely a nicer number than 200. As Mosses Kinikini says, "You are in the 'one-der-fulls'"!

**Mental:  Once again I am "shocked" by how "eating Healthy" as opposed to "dieting" changes everything! I do not have cravings!!!  The body knows what it needs. When it is not being affected by bad chemicals and crap, it is satisfied with just healthy food!!!

We drove over 10 hours on Thursday to attend the birth of our 21st grand child, Bellana Lynn.  It was awesome! A trip like that normally involves, chocolate, lots of diet cokes, Doritos and many other items like that. Also the traditional breakfast at McDonald's in Chubback.

Instead the car was full of 1. lots of water 2. oranges 3. carrots 4. veggies 5. specially made blueberry muffins 6. Fruit drinks, just frozen fruit without sugar with a scoup of protein powder put in the blender. We were stuffed! The blue berry muffins came from that book I mentioned in the last post and are make with rice flour instead of wheat flour and no added refined anything.

Normally, with water gain and fat gain a trip like that is 3-5 pounds of gain. I went up 1/2 the next morning and was down 1.5 the next day. Excellent!

**Proud moments: I did not eat or even want to eat the waffles that Ron fixed for the visiting grand kids.  When we went to a massive flea market, complete with all those wonderful smelling vendors, I was not even tempted to get a scone, doughnut or any of those other things I usually really love. I did not want a diet coke on that trip. Truth is, once you are off that stuff for a bit, it tastes quite nasty when you drink it again. And the other truth is, I have forced myself past that taste repeatedly.

**Surprises:
1. How my tastes are changing so fast. This morning, I made my green drink and added a little extra protein powder to it. The powder adds a little more taste to it.  It was TOO SWEET! A drink with spinach and kale and two frozen non sweetened strawberries was too sweet!!!!  The muffins and other rice flour things Ron has made tasted like sawdust at first. Now they taste good. Also, they are not causing any binge on carbs or the cravings. So the "right" carbs are awesome!
2. Again, how fast and easy the weight goes off when you are eating right.
3. How much better I feel. And it is really funny, because I did NOT feel better at 217 going up, I felt horrible both mentally and physically.
4. How much happier I am when I am doing what is good for myself.

**Exercising: Not a bit. It is a habit just like all the rest. I need to do it for a couple reasons. First, it helps with where I want to go, be healthier. Second, it gives me more incentive to stay on track. If I work THAT HARD at something, I am NOT going to let some piece of bad food mess it up for me!

**Truths:
1. You need to be in the right place mentally.  Ready to do this.
2. Preparation is required. Getting rid of the bad foods in the house. Planning your meals. Finding a healthy, (not fad) way to eat. And having everything available.
3. It is way easier if it is the entire house that is eating the same! Now most people will not have this situation. You would have to slowly change they way your family/spouse eats. Swap out one thing for another. That would have been very difficult for me. Truth is, I am a binge type person, not a slow and steady type. But the other truth is, when I have had a difficult situation with a spouse in this area (prior to Ron), I actually did slowly make some changes, sneakily made some changes to healthier eating in DIRECT opposition to my spouse, and he did not notice and neither did the little kids. He was really ticked later when he found out, but when he tried to go back to the old stuff he had insisted not having before....he did not like it!!!! So sneaky is work but it works. And remember, it is for all of their health!

**What I am doing:
1. Breakfast- Best is the Green drink. Lots of ideas on the web. Dr Oz green drink is one. I like to keep it simple. Baby spinach or Kale. Most advocate buying or growing "organic". I get that when I can, although it is quite expensive and hard to find. Right now I figure green is good. I stuff it into a magic bullet about 3/4 full. Then 2-3 frozen not sweetened strawberries. Water a little more than half way up. Then 1 scoop of protein powder. I get it from Walmart. The whey stuff that is around $15 for a huge container. Make sure to get the vanilla.  Then I blend it and drink it.  The spinach/kale has nearly no taste at all. The strawberries, or other fruit is the sweetener and then get a good protein powder. And there are literally hundreds out there. That usually really holds me till at least noon. And even then I am not real hungry. You can put in all kinds of stuff. Just play with it!

If I can't have the drink, I will have an egg or two. It is faster. If I am really in a hurry, I have several canned protein drinks I can grab.

2. Lunch- Salad. I can make one and take it. No cheese or croutons or dressing. If you put the right stuff on it, you don't need dressing. I put tuna on sometimes, sometimes not. Lots of greens, tomatoes, pile it on!
If I eat out, Salads with no dressing or at least dressing on the side.  I also love steak, or a grilled chicken breast. I just tell them "no sides".

3. Dinner- Ron usually cooks up pork chops, steak, some protein and broccoli, or cauliflower.  Sometimes we have a huge salad with shrimp or crab.

Fruit, we have it as snacks and with any and all meals. The goal is 9-12 servings of fruit and veggies per day. About half and half. So we throw in apples, bananas,  pears, etc. Whatever looks good. Also love watermelons, any of the melons. Just what is available. Not really a bad 'natural state' fruit!

Veggies, we also have baggies of cut up carrots, cauliflower and broccoli in the fridge in baggies for that mindless snacking I tend to do. At night we usually have a couple oranges because they are good right now.

******Disclaimer*******
What I am doing is not what you should be doing. It is what we are choosing to do at this time based on what we have been reading. There are thousands of "diets" available to follow. The fact is, any way of eating that reduces your calories will eventually lead to weight loss. I don't want just weight loss. I want health. I also want a "doable" way to live my life from here on out. And I will never again do something just to lose weight at the risk of my health.

So do some research. Find a way to eat that you are willing to try. The way I was living and eating was leading to diabetes, poor health, a lousy quality of life and an early death. So I am taking drastic and permanent action. I am very blessed that Ron is in the same boat and chooses to take this path with me. Steve, our adult son who is living with us this summer, is not eating the same. That is ok. When he is ready, he will make his own decisions. For now, this is right for us.

Have a great day! And if you read down to here, you deserve a medal!