Week 16 - Blood Pressure

This past week I decided to venture over to my local Walmart to check my blood pressure levels on one of the SoloHealth machines. To my surprise Walmart's blood pressure machines have become much more advance than I remember, as it can not only can check your blood pressure but also your vision, health risk assessment, and weight management. The main reason I wanted to check my blood pressure was because on at least two occasions last year while visiting the doctor I was told my blood pressure was a little high (Prehypertension stage), and now that I have been eating healthier this year I decided to see if I had any changes. To my surprise my readings came back as 111/73 (Systolic/Diastolic) with a heart rate of 62, which is completely normal. My vision is good, my BMI is 35 which isn't good but that's what I'm working on with my diet, and my health risk was a level 3 which is apparently good but leaves room for improvement.

I decided to take a photo of my body this week since having lost 20lb so far this year (my jeans are too big on me). I don’t see myself losing anymore weight this month to be honest so, I am just trying to maintain my weight for a while since it has been jumping all over the place lately.

Week 15 - Little Weightloss

This month has been a bit frustrating for me so far as it has been hard for me to lose weight (I did finally drop 0.7 lb today, woot!). My energy levels are still all over the place and my sleep hasn't been very consistent. I haven't had time to walk more than once a week really, and I feel hungry a lot more often which causes me to eat before bed (I believe that is a total killer for my weight-loss progress). I question if I'm finding this months weight harder to lose since I had been around this weight for several long years before putting on all the weight I have now lost so far this year. I am hoping my weight will start dropping off more frequently again, and I definitely need to find the motivation and time to do my walks.

At two different times this month I must have cut out around 800 calories from my daily caloric intake and my weight had only barely dropped the first time, but the second time around was what resulted in today's weight loss. Generally during these long lulls I don't mind this happening because it gives my body more time to tone up... while I would generally workout more, but it has definitely becoming frustrating at this point. I feel like people around me are also questioning if I'm even still dieting anymore (even though this isn't a diet at all for me but a lifestyle change) which is probably why this feels more frustrating to me than usual but I can't let those little things get to me, especially when I have come this far.

As for other news I decided to measure my body this week since I hadn't done so since January 1st this year. I have now lost 2 inches around my chest, and 1 inch around my waist and hips (my co-worker even mentioned to me "oh wow, you have a waist again", haha). I didn't measure anything else but I can tell my upper arms are smaller (my sleeves no longer stay up) and lately I feel like my legs have a little as well. On that note I definitely need to buy some new clothes this week (not trying to go overboard though since I am still trying to lose a lot more weight) as I'm tired of my pants practically falling off of me and my t-shirts looking like pajama tops (I will be donating some of my old clothes very soon).

Week 14 - Basic Meal Ideas

I wanted to share some of my basic everyday meal ideas (sorry no actual recipes today) and you can definitely make these basic meal ideas all your own by adding additional herbs and spices, powdered super-foods, using more or less of certain ingredients, or altering your cooking technique for certain dishes if desired (nothing deep-fried though). Not everything I eat is super healthy to a "T" as I tend not to give up much for certain condiments I enjoy as I feel like this helps to reduce/eliminate cravings while not having my diet be tasteless/mundane, but I do try not to go overboard on condiments and I also watch my portion size.

Breakfast

Banana Sandwich

Banana Sandwich
Ezekiel Bread + Organic Almond Butter + Banana + Organic Ground Cinnamon + Organic Honey

Shake
Carnation Instant Breakfast + 1% Milk (or similar) + Fruit

Oatmeal
Whole Grain Oatmeal + 1 % Milk (or similar) + Organic Honey + Organic Ground Cinnamon

Omelet
2 Eggs + BellPepper + 1% Milk (or similar) + Himalayan Pink Salt (or Celtic Sea Salt) + Organic Ground Cayenne Pepper + Low Fat Cheese + Salsa

Lunch

Spinach Pizza

Spinach Pizza
Ellios Cheese Pizza + Raw Baby Spinach + Organic Garlic Powder

Wrap
Whole Wheat Tortilla + Raw Baby Spinach (or similar) + Low Fat Cheese + Mayonnaise + Sriracha + Lean Sliced Turkey (or similar)

Soup
Progresso Beef Stew (or similar) + Spring Water + Herbs and Spices

Cheese Quesadilla
Whole Wheat Tortilla + Olivo Butter + Low Fat Cheese

Dinner

Asian Fusion

Asian Fusion
Brown Rice + Avocado + Liquid Aminos + Sriracha + Toasted Sesame Seeds

Catch of the day
Fish + Steamed Veg

Salad
Raw Baby Spinach (or similar) + Salad Dressing (of choice) + Fresh Veg + Low Fat Cheese + Meat

Pasta
Whole Wheat Pasta Shells + Pasta Sauce (of choice) + Low Fat Cheese

Side Dish
Steamer
Steamed Veg + Low Fat Cheese + Himalayan Pink Salt (or Celtic Sea Salt)

Toast
Ezekiel Bread + Olivio Butter

Dessert

Dipped Banana

Dipped Banana
Banana + Organic dark chocolate + Organic Almond Butter + Raw Organic Extra Fine Shredded Coconut

Frozen Yogurt
Greek Yogurt + Monk Fruit Sweetener + Berries + Vanilla Extract

No-Bake Almond Balls

No-Bake Almond Balls
Organic Almond Butter + Organic Honey + Cinnamon and Spice Instant Oatmeal + Ground Flaxseed + Raw Organic Extra Fine Shredded Coconut

Snack
Veggie App
Cucumber + Avocado + Sweet Pepper (or cherry tomato)

Fruit and Nut
Organic Almond Butter + Apple

Chips and Dip
Tostitos Crispy Rounds (or similar) + Salsa (of choice)

Yogurt Crunch
Yogurt + Granola

Beverages

Coco Melon Juice

Coco Melon Juice
Coconut Water + Seedless Watermelon

Sweet Tea
Tea Bag + Hot Water + Monk Fruit Sweetener

Week 13 - Life Happens

So now that I have lost 100lb this year... APRIL FOOLS! I totally wish though, haha.

This past week has honestly been a super stressful one for me with work and a school presentation I stressed about for weeks. I did eat out about 3 times this past week and didn't get around to doing my daily walks. My weight-loss did teeter a tiny bit but nothing drastic, and interestingly enough I haven't experienced any type of facial breakouts since starting this diet this year. So through all the stress, dark chocolate, fast food binges, and womanly issues... its pretty cool my skin hasn't suffered. I have actually been receiving compliments this week on how glowing my complexion has been looking (which may be due to some minor makeup routine changes rather than diet, although I still get told my face looks slimmer).

Now that my school presentation is over I am definitely going to get my diet and workouts back on track, I wish I was losing more than roughly 4lb a month but some weight-loss is better than none at all. My parents dieting is also going well as my dad has now lost over 30lb (it definitely shows!) and my mom is now on the fast track to catching up with him. My main goal for April is to at least reach 200lb but I am aiming for under that mark.

If you want to checkout a recent recipe I did on Swai then 'click here' to go to my other blog.