A Different Kind of Fast

*Disclaimer*  This post really doesn't have anything to do with my weight loss journey.  65MD and I are embarking on a mini challenge and I want to document it.  Since I have 4 email accounts and two blogs I really did not want to start another one for such a short time period.  I'll continue to post about my weight loss journey here and for the next 30 days sprinkle in a post about this new endeavor.

The hubs and I have decided to fast from grocery shopping during the month of June.  The catalyst being we had a food drive at church recently and we filled two grocery bags with very good food without going to the store.  Two people don't need to have that much food in the house.  I began to wonder about the gluttony of it even if it wasn't eaten.  I was ashamed, in a way, because I was giving out of my abundance.  65MD and I are by no means wealthy.  We live within our income which is more than a lot of people are able to do.

This fast may not impact our eating habits, since we still have a lot of food in the house.  We have a garden with asparagus and lettuce right now.  Green beans will follow soon enough.  We will be using that for our fresh produce.  We have plenty of a variety of meat frozen.  We will not go hungry because of it.

We might find ourselves eating meals of unusual combinations.  We will likely eat meals that aren't our first choice since that particular item may be gone.  That is what I want.  When we run out of an item, we will do without it until July 1. I want us to feel a bit of a pinch and know that others live like this all of the time.

I doubt this will be life changing but I do think at least for a season we will have our awareness raised.  And, I think this will be an interesting time for us.  I'm excited for what we may learn.

A Matter of Perspective

Typically 65MD and I eat from the salad plates of our dinnerware set.  It is a relatively new set, so the salad plates are probably the same size as the dinner plates once used by my grandmother.

As I was getting my lunch today, I noticed that all of the salad plates were in the dishwasher.  No biggie, with  just the two of us, we don't run the dishwasher as often.   I just got a dinner plate to use for my lunch.  Since I pre-measure everything, I only had to heat it, put it on a plate and eat it.  It was a good thing that the food was already measured or I could have easily over served myself.  The amount of food on that plate looked minuscule.

It is the same amount of food that I eat every day.  I'm just used to seeing it on a smaller plate.  I ate and am satisfied.  It reinforced to me, how easy it is to lose perspective.  Normal servings on a giant plate seem small. Since I have a hard time leaving food on my plate, I need to be more aware of the size of the plates when I'm  away from home eating.

What is it with plate sizes and dress sizes, huh?

BTW, the dishwasher is running as I type this.

Hello, Again!

I'm back after an impromptu trip to the lake earlier this week.  We were totally cut off; no cell phones, no wifi, no nothin'!  It was great.  It was freeing to not be burdened by the need to check email and status updates.

We're back now; refreshed and relaxed.  I was a little concerned about my readers missing me since I disappeared without notice.  If anyone missed me, no one said anything.  As I went back to catch up on the blogs I like, so many were saying "I'm back."  So, I'm left to conclude that lots of us took mini vacations and now we're back.  Sadly, I lost one reader.  I don't look at that very often, so it could have happened before my disappearing act.

I had a bit of a gain while I was gone.  That is on top of not getting all of the wedding weekend weight off.  I will.  I have three weeks before going to see my sister for a long weekend.  My goal is to have lost all of the regain and then some before leaving town.  Visiting her, should not create any regain.  She's a healthy eater.

That's it for now.  

Can Anyone Say "Water?"

The fast was definitely the right way to get back on track.  I only have 3.6 lbs to go to get back to the pre-wedding weight.  A drop of weight that dramatic has to be water.  As was the dramatic gain.  I'm proud of myself for not freaking out over that huge gain and polishing off all of the leftover treats in the house.

I am eating today, but still no carbs of any type, not even fruit until I get over my cravings.  I really want sweets of any sort right now.  I confess after that huge loss, it was tempting to fast another day.  I know that would be counterproductive in the long run, so I forced myself to eat this morning.  (I can't believe I just typed 'forced myself to eat' never thought I'd do that!!!)

I'm not sure how long I will do the carb free thing.  Atkins has a 14 day induction time.  I think that is how long it takes the body to detox from the carbs.  I'm leaving it open ended.  If it takes two days, fine.  If it takes 14 days, that will be fine too.  The key is to listen to my body and respond.  Sounds simple, but it is oh so very hard to do.  

I am ready mentally to get it done.

I'm Back, Baby!

We had a sweet wedding on Sunday and the last of our guests left yesterday.  It was a lovely affair.  The bride and groom were pleased and that is all that matters.

Over the weekend, I ate what was prepared and tried not to freak out about the number of carbs.   I believe that that indulgences should be a part of a healthy eating plan but this was beyond that.  I did not pig out.  I just didn't have good options.  One meal was an Italian Feast.  Need I say more?

I ate small portions including small amounts of dessert.   Honestly, I could have done better, but at the same time, I feel good about my choices.  I could have used the weekend to throw caution to the wind and eat up.  I deliberately opted not to.  It wasn't that hard.  Especially since I was allowing myself very carefully selected treats.

I gained 8 lbs.  I don't feel bloated and gross like I have in times past when I've simply had too much.  Obviously gaining that much weight in that short of time screams water.  Add to that, the fact that I don't feel like I've been beaten I have to agree.

Yet, I ate carbs including sugar, so I will have to detox.  I started today by fasting.  I had to.  I had to jump in the deep end of the pool with both feet.  The wedding is over and life is returning to its typical pattern.  This is a clear sign to my digestive system that it is time to get back to the business of weight loss.

It will, and I'll document it here.

April Stats

This morning I weighed and measured finally on the actual first day of the month rather than a few days in.  During April I lost a whopping 14.4 lbs and 6.6 inches off my body!!  That makes up for the dress fiasco. 

Speaking of dresses, here is the one I am returning:

I left the flash on because I'm not wearing any makeup and I still have enough self esteem that I want to look good in public! 

We are in full wedding mode around here.  A few of the guests will be staying with us for the wedding weekend, so I'm frantically sweeping the cob webs out of the corners and polishing everything in sight.  Maybe I could just blind them with camera flashes and save myself a lot of trouble.  LOL!!

I'll check in as I can.  Don't panic if I'm not around as much as usual.  Know that I am enjoying myself with all of the festivities.