Change of routine and ideas ever evolving

Alright so I was going to have this whole juicing plan set up to go and it turns out that not having a job and one working adult in the house, changes everything! We could barely afford to get our normal groceries this week so the juicing thing was put off because I couldn't afford the juicer. I did however lose 4 pounds this week! I have a new job and because it is a desk job, I have been very conscious about what I am eating and how much I am eating. I have managed to eat less and got about the same amount of exercise in. I am very excited about this because I am going to be adding a half marathon training schedule to my exercise routine starting February 1st. If I keep up my eating they way it has been, I should be losing quite a bit of weight again! I made sure to buy alot more fresh produce at the store and very little boxed stuff. I have been bringing protein powder to work with me and incorporating it into my lunches so I have had less actual food for lunch and felt alot fuller. My breakfasts have been less too. I have been trying to snack less often unless I was extremely hungry or it was right after a workout. I think that having a job has changed my eating alot because I am very busy and don't think about it until my stomach reminds me to eat. I don't have alot of mindless eating time now so that will help me be healthier in my eating. 

I am going to be using my Nike+ app for my half marathon training. It has a running coach feature that gives you different training plans to use. The app will download the schedule to my calendar on my phone so it's very handy! I will be using the Beginner Half Marathon training schedule which is 15 weeks. It starts off with 4 workout days and 2 running days with 1 rest day. On the exercise days, I will put in my Les Mills Combat workouts and a core day. It starts incorporating more running days in after a couple weeks. I am really looking forward to getting my running back up! I will be doing this half marathon training and then probably the intermediate after that in preparation for the Fort4Fitness Half Marathon in September this year. I also want to do some other runs this year. I have my eye on The Color Run's 5k on May 23rd because it's always a fun time! I don't have any more in mind yet but I am sure there will be more. 

As always, if you need any encouragement and help on your weight loss journey, please contact me! I have actually set up my own website now! It is: fitpersonified.weebly.com. Please go check it out! I am pretty proud of it! I am also running a group on Facebook with my friend Chandra called Fitness with Friends. It is a group of people who are trying to lose weight. We all motivate and encourage one another everyday. There is no judgement and the people in the group are just amazing! There are people in there on all levels of weight loss from just beginning to extremely fit. Definitely join if you want to be in such a great group of people who will motivate you to be healthier. 

*~Ang~*

My thought process on doing the juice fast

I have been reading up on doing the juice fast and how I want to do it for my needs. I have been doing a lot of research on how many days would be good for me and what I want to accomplish with the different types of juices. There is juicing for weight loss, detoxing, or cleansing. You are obviously going to do all of the above when you fast but which do I really want to focus on? My obvious real need is to lose weight so I think that is what I will focus on most. I would like to do a week's cleanse, but I have been reading that a 3 day cleanse is best for beginners because of how hard it will be on my body and my mind. You also have to prepare your body 2 to 3 days before the cleanse and 2-5 days after the cleanse. Which is essentially 1-2 weeks in general so I think I will do a 3 day cleanse and see how well it goes. The preparation going into the cleanse is essentially cutting down on the amount of food you eat but eating fresh fruit and vegetables and taking sugars, meat, processed foods, caffeine, and alcohol out of your diet. During the cleanse, I will still be supplementing my diet with protein smoothies so that I can still do my workouts and not feel like I am starving myself. Then for the 2-5 days after the cleanse, you have to slowly work solid foods back in by eating fresh fruits and vegetables first then work in lean meats about 3 days later so you don't have bad side effects happening. I had a few books on my Amazon Kindle account that go over how to properly do a juice fast with recipes. I now need to figure out the recipes I want to use for my fast. I have a juicer picked out that I am going to be getting when we go grocery shopping. I think the biggest thing that I need to do is prepare my mind for it. I LOVE food. I love to eat and it is a huge part of my life. It's always been there. I was 300 lbs and my mind still thinks I am sometimes. Sometimes food to me is better than sex. And people who know me, know that's huge, because I LOVE sex too! So for me to just give up meat and especially coffee is going to be something that will take strength. There is a routine that I have every morning and it will all change. Will it be for the better? Yes it will in long run, but will I enjoy it? Yeah probably not! I know there will be so many health benefits to it. I know my body will be in great shape because of it. Especially my MS. I would like to know if there is anyone doing a juice fast out there that could possibly be a fasting buddy with me? Let me know if you are! It will be a little easier if there is someone doing it with me. Being a mother and a wife, I will still be cooking meals for them. This is going to be one of the hardest parts because I won't be eating those meals with them. It is going to be really weird to do that. During the week, it won't be too difficult because my husband works nights and I mainly cook two different meals anyway because my girls don't like what we eat sometimes. So they will get hot dogs when we eat steak or something like that. They always have the same sides we do but sometimes the entree is different.  So in a way it may be easier on me during the week because I won't have to cook a bunch of stuff. I am still in my planning phase of doing the juice fast and this weekend I will have my plan set in stone and be ready to start easing into the 3 day fast. My next blog will state what recipes I will be using and the whole plan I will be using. I will be updating on my progress through here on the next blog after that. I am hoping to be able to help others on this who might be on the fence as to whether or not they want to do it. I am obviously going to do updates on my podcast as well that we do weekly. So definitely check that out! Wish me luck on my new adventure. Be sure to let me know if you have any questions!

*~Ang~*

New Running Goal for the Year and a Possible Juice Cleanse

I decided that since I was going to get my running back on track this year, I should have a goal. So Since I ran just over 200 miles last year, I should do 400 miles this year. It's pretty doable with just 8 miles a week. I know I was running more than that when I was training before. I think that goal will be beaten! Wish me luck!

I was watching a documentary this weekend called "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead." It is about a man that is over weight and gets sick from it. He spoke to his doctors and they told him to get healthy as soon as he could. He spoke with them about doing a juice cleanse. The doctors approved him to do so. He embarked on a 60 day juice cleanse. He would have nothing but juice for 60 days! He lost a ton of weight from it and got extremely healthy. It got me thinking about wanting to try the cleanse. I wouldn't do it for 60 days, but maybe for 10 days or even 5 days. I looked up some info on it and found alot of great recipes and ways of doing it. The reason I want to try it is because I don't feel like I will be able to clean up my eating any other way unless I completely cleanse my palate. I have to make myself get rid of all the bad things and only eat the micronutrients that come from the cleanse. Plus I think it may help with my MS and get my body back under control. I just constantly feel bloated and fat. I've gained weight since the holidays and this would help me get my body back on track. Here are some links that I found helpful for the juice cleanse:

• http://www.rawjuicecleanserecipes.com/
• http://whatsgabycooking.com/juice-cleanse-2/#.VKs6JCvF_kI
• http://www.wikihow.com/Perform-a-Juice-Fast

What do you think about doing a cleanse? Would you try it? How long would you do it for?

Have a good week everyone!

Angela