Another day with little food

A green smoothie with Lean for breakfast, then off to the archery range for one last practice before the competition this weekend. I can't believe it's August. I wish Core4 had been ready last year so I could have been down the 50 pounds I wanted to lose this past year before Nationals. But I am much trimmer and stronger than I was 2 months ago and feel great and ready to compete.

My Honey chose Hooters for lunch because he was craving deep fried pickles. I do indulge him sometimes, and ended up eating curly fries for lunch. I did shake Cheat on the catchup I was dipping them in. What a horrible lunch!

I had the grand baby all afternoon and grabbed a quick 6" pizza with soy mozz and sun dried tomatoes for a snack at 4 while she was napping, then wasn't hungry for the rest of the evening. I did make a Lean shake for dessert but wasn't hungry and just put it in the fridge for the morning.

So another day without much appetite. I've been told we need to eat when we feel this way, but it's such a novel experience! Tomorrow we go check in for our archery event and today my little Cheat packets arrived just in time to take with us this weekend. Much better than having to take the whole bottle, these are single serving packets that are perfect for pocket or purse. I also got the Core4 shaker bottle that I had ordered for my honey and it's so cute! I'll add a picture when I get a chance.

Monday will be two months on Core4 and time for another set of pictures. While the scale seems to be stuck at 194.8 this week, I continue to feel leaner and can hardly wait to see the difference! It's a good thing I have something else to focus on this weekend.

My Appetite ... or lack thereof

My honey brought me pancakes this morning, and while I would normally throw the butter and syrup in the fridge for him to use later, instead I put them on the pancakes! What a treat, like dessert in the morning. (I did use my Cheat and drink my water.) Then it was out for a walk with the little dog, I think that 30 minutes of aerobics in the morning really sets the mood for the day.

Between the Accelerate and breakfast I didn't get hunger pangs until almost noon, and by then we were in the middle of a practice round at the archery range. The competition this weekend will be 30 arrows shot from each of 40,50 & 60 yards (a 900 round) and so that is what we did. In the middle of shooting at 50 yards my stomach started growling, but I felt strong and just drank water at each end (end=set of six arrows) to make sure I was hydrated and the feeling went away. So 96 arrows shot and if I shoot like that both days this weekend I might break a state record! I took my 2nd Accelerate when we got back to the truck; I have a small bottle that I keep in my purse now so that I always have access since I'm out and about so much more than usual.

Stopping at Chipotle's for a veggie burrito bowl is a favorite place for lunch and I sprinkled on the Cheat again. Later in the afternoon I had a green smoothie with Lean for a cool snack, then a bowl of broccoli and potato soup for dinner and some more Cheat. It felt sort of strange to not want seconds, I've always been such a food-hound, and I packed up the left overs for lunch tomorrow or something. Then later I wanted something sweet for dessert but it was too late to eat and I took my Flush instead since I wasn't actually hungry and it was closing in on bed time. I guess that eating less food is just another way for the Core4 to pay for itself!

The Cheat does say to use it 2-3 times a day, I guess I usually just have two meals to use it on so using it three times today felt like a lot. But my appetite was less so I guess that is a good thing. Being a compulsive eater it's really nice to be free of those feelings for a while, and the longer I am on product the more that keeps happening - not feeling like I need to stuff my face - and it's wonderful.

Eating Junk

194.8 this morning, exactly the same as Thursday which is down point two pounds for the week. And while at first I was irritated, in thinking back over some of my choices this weekend I should be relieved I haven't gained. Notice I didn't say 'food' choices, because these mostly cannot be called food; cheetos (of course) a snickers bar, a soda (not diet) tortilla chips, beer, cookies, fried potatoes (full on greasy restaurant variety)blue cheese dressing, refried beans (again, full on greasy restaurant variety) and the vanilla shake and curly fries that I had with my chicken sandwich yesterday. OMG - I should have gained five pounds! I should be heavier just from the water weight I'm holding this morning from eating the salty salty fast food yesterday on the way home in the car. So I'll take this morning's number and be grateful.

And I'm smaller in my chest - only 1/2" but I can see that the one roll of fat left on my back is noticeably smaller than the last time I looked. Everything else was the same despite being so bloated this morning. So while I'm not shouting my results from the rooftops, my sigh of relief is probably being recorded as high winds over in the next county.

So still a stress eater. And I will admit that since starting Core4 I have let my other resources slip - I can't remember the last time I practiced meditating, or did my breathing exercises (oops, yes I can, up at the Cal Cup competition 3 weeks ago.) So that's my bad and I will get back to the mental exercises this week. This journey to wellness is not just about what passes in over my lips. {Om namah shivaya Quoted from the site, "A very rough, non-literal translation could be something like, 'Om and salutations to that which I am capable of becoming.' This mantra will start one out on the path of subtle development of spiritual attainments." OR as Liz Gilbert translates in her book that I so love, Eat Pray Love, "I honor the divinity that dwells within", and this is how I personally intend the Mantra.}

All in all it was easy to use Core4 while traveling, whether eating fast food in the car or sitting down with family at a restaurant. And I think it really did a great job of mitigating the damage I might have done weight-wise on the trip; normally this kind of trip would have meant an upward swing on my weight chart and the head games would have begun. But now I can just keep going forward and know I will see a loss this next week without having gone backwards.

Glad to be home this morning, excited it is the last week to practice before Nationals and incredulous that August is almost here all at the same time. This week is all about the archery!!

Later in the day: The shorts I grabbed to wear this morning were shorter than I am use to wearing, but it was fun to fit into a pair that haven't fit in a long time. While I wouldn't wear them out, they were fine for visiting with the baby and housework. And they gave me a view of my legs I hadn't seen in a while - muscles! I could see the outline of muscles under the fat of my thighs! I felt more like I was looking into Alice's mirror and seeing an alternate me it was so unreal a feeling. And I can now imagine my legs sans cellulite, it's disappearing and the legs I use to run sprints with are reemerging. I guess somewhere in the back of my mind I have been afraid of losing weight now that I am in my 50's because while I don't think I will be baggy and saggy, what if I am? I am now officially no longer worried about that, I can see myself firming up, my skin shrinking with the rest of me. Wonderful, wonderful ♥

Home Sweet Home

I love visiting my Mother and friends, but it's always good to be back in my own little house. I made my lean smoothie for breakfast at Mom's before driving home, then on the way had a spicy chicken sandwich for lunch with some Cheat. I think that's the first chicken I've had in two years; I'm not sure why I wanted it so much, I think it was more about the tomato and spicy sauce but just forgot to say "no chicken and extra tomato please". Well, that's not exactly true, I think I wanted the crunch too. But I know it was way more calories than I normally eat for lunch because here it is eight hours later and I'm finally just now hungry for dinner. So a cup of potato soup for dinner to tide me over, because it's almost time for my Flush. And I just realized that before I would have had dinner anyway just because it was dinner time - that's the Accelerate again I think, which I had with lunch, helping me pay attention to if I am hungry or just eating out of habit.

Lots to do this week. Lots of shooting to get ready for the weekend, a ton of lemons to juice & freeze and some Plumeria cuttings to plant (thanks Teffie*) plus I need to make it out to my DD's to help her get ready for some company she's having next weekend. And I have the baby to watch for about 13 hours on Sunday. I'm so use to doing so little that it's a bit overwhelming to think about everything all at once, so enough of that! But I know I will have the energy to get it all done, and I'm looking forward to staying busy.

The Hill, day two

Not wanting to find the blue cheese dressing that I slathered over my dressing yesterday slathered on my hips tomorrow, I once again faced the long incline of the hill by my Mother's house this morning. We are headed out to breakfast this morning and I have my cheat ready to go in my purse.

I head home in the morning, so won't have an inches and pounds update until Tuesday morning, as much as I would love to use the number off of the scale here :) But I am not quite as compulsive as I use to be ... I think ... so that is okay.

See you then :)

Walking the hill

Here I am checking in from Santa Clarita where my Mother lives at the top of a hill. I use to walk this years ago but haven't attempted it in a while. It's easy going down one side, meandering through a neighborhood of pretty yards. Then there is a stretch along the boulevard at the bottom that is lined with traffic on one side and coffee shops and take out Chinese on the other. Then The Hill. It leads up at an obscene slope for walking - deceptive at first but wearing on your lungs and heart before reaching the top and completing the circuit back to the house. When I set out this morning to walk Kaylee I didn't intend to make the full circle, I just set out to exercise the little before leaving her with my Mom for the day. But I felt so good. I was 194 with PJ's on according to this little scale that isn't mine and it set the tone for my morning. So I set off walking in a good mood listening to one of my favorite books (Eat Pray Love) and before I knew it I was walking along the boulevard heading for The Hill. I barely paused before turning the corner and heading up the incline that I remembered as being a ball buster - well, you know what I mean. And I had a good excuse to just turn around and go back the way I had come - the sun was rising and full in my face, making it uncomfortable to walk and hard to see. But keeping my head down I just kept walking, my feet had a mind of their own apparently. And while it was a good work out, it didn't kill me. I reached the top breathing hard but not panting, my heart wasn't pounding out of my chest, and my legs wern't burning. What? How could this be? I finished the trek home to jump on Mom's computer and wait through a dial up connection to brag to the world at the improvement in my stamina. I knew my strength was better, but this overall sense of well being and endurance is beyond my expectations and oh so very welcome. Things just keep getting better :)

Road Trip

I'll be out of town for a few days, but let this comment from my darling daughter this morning suffice for the weekend updates, "Oh my god Mom, you look so skinny!" Or something like that. Of course I was in head to toe black for the memorial service this morning...but hey, I'll take it!

My Core4 is packed and I'm hitting the road. Later Gators♥

A little history

Another early morning "I'm so excited" post! 194.8 Amazing what a fifth of a pound can do for one's mood and adrenaline :) I can't remember when I last saw 194 it was so long ago - ten years? I was trying to remember. I know I was 174 when I met my honey back in 1997. I had been working out at the gym and taking step classes and was starting to feel like myself again. But several things happened all at once and I started heading up the scale like there was a trophy at the summit. I just kept gaining more and more weight each year, culminating in a spike in '06 all the way up to 230. That's when I turned to Nutrisystem in desperation and lost 20#'s. I tried for a year to copy their nutritional guidelines using my own food and while I kept the weight off for a whole year I couldn't lose any more. One day I realized that it was just impossible to duplicate their 10g of protein dessert and that this wasn't a normal or natural way to eat. That began my foray into the world of food as fuel, and figuring out what it was that my body wanted, what it was I really needed to take care of this 'temple' I was in.

I wanted to feel better, I wanted to know I was nourishing my body, and with the help of my friend (MRS) that led to eating a plant based diet. I was happy with so many results, better skin & nails, no more night time cravings, no more searching endlessly for something (anything) in my kitchen cupboards that would satisfy my eating urges. Out went the meat and cheese and in came the fruits and nuts and seeds. Out with the processed foods and in with the kale and spinach and flax meal. I could open my refrigerator and glory in the abundance of color and variety and started adding more nutritious elements to my standard everyday fare; I learned to count micro nutrients instead of calories. And I lost weight, so slowly that I barely noticed, but I was eating wonderful food and not gaining and it was such a relief. I had joined an online community for weight loss support (see food and exercise link above) and with the support of others who were eating for nutrition I learned a boatload about nutritional density and lost ten pounds between May of 2008 & May of 2009. Ten pounds in a year when others were losing that much in a month? What was I doing wrong? Had my body shut down after 30 years of 'dieting'? Was my 200# set point so strong there was no getting past it?

I felt surrounded by women online who were losing weight eating basically the same way I was and I was getting so frustrated by it all because it wasn't working that way for me. I would celebrate with them online and then go get a bag of Cheetos and feel sorry for myself. Doh! I had tried talking myself into the fact that it might take me five years to lose my weight and justified my slow loss by knowing that I would keep it off this time. But I was seething inside...why not me? Why couldn't I lose faster too? This is when my friend Debbie introduced me to Core4. The timing was perfect. Anyone who has read back to the beginning of this blog knows I did not come quietly. I was the anomaly in the group, losing more inches than pounds, and stressing about it almost daily. I would second guess everything all week long only to be continuously surprised on Mondays by yet more good results. I was getting smaller and it was getting noticeable and I started to believe. Just a glimmer at first, just a small hope that this was real and that the next week wouldn't see it all disappear. But I couldn't deny what I was seeing and feeling, and I kept using the products, and here I am less than two months later having lost almost half of what it took me the previous year to lose. And that's only the pounds - there is no way to compare the inches lost, the sculpting process my body is going through, it is like nothing I have ever experienced before in this body of mine.

And so this morning I am looking back and thinking about all the times I planned to fit into cute jeans for Thanksgiving and didn't, or bought shorts I knew I would fit into later that summer and I didn't. And I am daring to think that this year will be different. This year those things will come true - are already coming true - and instead of waiting with baited breath for Monday's results I am thinking, "Bring it on!" Because I know it's going to be good, this Monday and next Monday and all of the 'for as long as I need to lose' Mondays. ...I wonder which jeans will fit this Thanksgiving :)

More exercise, more food

I've noticed that I'm getting in my exercise more consistently now, shooting, walking and riding today. I'm trying for three activities, five days a week. Of course it's closer to Nationals and I would really like to do well at the shoot in August so my motivation is up to train. But I am also happy that the initial boost in energy from the Core4 wasn't just an initial reaction, but a steady ongoing result of using the products. My house is cleaner and my yard is trimmer too - what wonderful side benefits! Seeing my arms change gives me the impetus to do push ups too; It's so wonderful to know I will not be a flappy-armed old woman!

I felt thinner again this morning after suiting up for my walk, admiring the way my hips are smoothing out; maybe leaner would be a better description ;) Anyway, I forgot how riding my bike peaks my appetite - probably why I ate more yesterday too. But I'm using the products and only eating when hungry so it should be fine. That being said I should have waited for my salad to settle before eating the little pizza with dinner because afterward I was stuffed. That's the first time since starting on Core4 that I let my mouth take over without considering how full I felt. But I am human and I guess I will always stress eat a little bit here and there. It looks like I'm heading south to visit a friend in SoCal this weekend, and I have a memorial to attend Friday morning, and I'm going to miss a shoot on Sunday. You know how it goes - one or two things we can handle but throw a 3rd in there and all of a sudden you're in the Bermuda Triangle of good intentions and stuffing pizza or something in your mouth. At least I put Cheat on it all!

Shorts, salads and soy cream sandwiches

I woke up thinking I must have misread the scale yesterday, but sure enough, 195 was still there when I tip toed onto the metal beast this morning just to make sure I hadn't imagined the whole thing. Whew!

I'm wearing shorts today and I noticed that there is less fat over my knees! This has been a sore point with me; I've always thought I had nice knees but they have been hiding under unsightly bulges of fat for years now. How wonderful to see them returning, it's like regaining another part of the me I loved being. And in another non-scale moment, my office chair no longer squeaks and lowers when I sit down in it! Instead it just...sits there and accepts this new lighter me without protest. How lovely :)

I was up early today for some reason, it wasn't like the sun was shining through my window beckoning to me - more like cloudy and cold and the perfect day to cuddle back under the covers for a while. But I was up and had breakfast early. By 10am I was hungry, but 4 hours is considered by many to be the point at which you begin fasting... This hasn't happened in a while, but determined that I wasn't 'dieting' I let myself eat. A lovely potato nuked in the microwave with some lite sour cream (decadent for me, not usually in the house) and a sprinkle of fresh ground pepper and some Cheat. I savored every bite, oh how delicious. Then lunch wasn't until 2pm and dinner at 7 (later than usual) so it all worked out.

An ugly but tasty salad for lunch with extra legumes (sprouted lentils) for added protein. (I have noticed the past two mornings that the swelling is gone so it looks like the added protein is working, thank you Dr. William.) I just wanted to make sure you know that when I say salad for lunch, I'm not talking about a few leaves of lettuce. I'm talking about 4-5 cups of lettuce plus another 2 cups of raw veggies and a half cup of beans. Plus my home made dressings typically have half an ounce of nuts or seeds (healthy fat) blended up with whole fruit and vinegar. I mean, there are salads, and there are SALADS! Point being, I am not trying to starve myself, I am eating lots of fruit and veggies to make sure I get in lots of antioxidants. Today's dressing was made with strawberries and the dark fruit while delicious does not make a very pretty dressing once it's on the salad. Maybe next time I'll see if a little lemon juice helps the colour ;)

My afternoon shake turned into a sweet creamy treat the consistency of yogurt and I ate it with a spoon. I had blended together half a fresh peach and some of the strawberry puree I had made with a scoop of lean and forgot to add water - it was a nice change and I will do that again, on purpose next time. I did cut up the 2nd half of my peach and lay it out in a baggie to freeze for tomorrow's smoothie; I love trying new things with the Lean!

Strangely, in the afternoon I felt the urge to eat, but recognized it for what it was (not hunger, but self sabotage) and brushed it off. I am counting on Core4 to help me past this mental block I seem to have about getting smaller. I remember years ago after my first child was born a friend and I lost weight together at weight watchers, and when a neighbor told me I was looking thinner I reacted in a panic and began to eat. Over the years I found myself saying to those around me, "thank you but please don't ever say anything to me because it triggers me to eat." Yesterday on a whim I stopped over at a friends I haven't seen in a while in the middle of my bike ride, and when she told me I looked different ... well, it was okay to hear it! No panic, no freaking out, just pleasure at her affirmation of my feeling smaller and stronger. Is this another great side effect? I've heard so many testimonials about better moods, is the Nutrient Fusion of Core4 working medical mysteries on my brain too?

For dinner I let some sun dried tomatoes work their magic on some left over veggie\ bean soup. So rich and decadent while stock full of nutrients. Then later watching TV a little soy cream chocolate sandwich for dessert. Just a small thing, but very satisfying, and no urge to have another, and another until the box was gone .. you know, because they are so small. Nope, just one and happy to have it.

What a good day of food and exercise, and in the middle of it all I was a little bored and wanting something else to do ... yet another good sign for me! I feel like doing things! Thank you Core4.

Six Weeks on Core4

I'll update tonight as usual, but in the meantime I couldn't wait to share...195!! Down 3 pounds from last Monday. And another 2" gone too. Whoo hoo!! I haven't weighed this in years :)

I didn't exercise as much this week, that might be part of it; looking back on my log this is the2nd weekend without a competition since I started on product, and the other weekend I worked my butt off moving stuff around for the garage sale. Makes sense to me.

Also, I thought of putting the pizza skins I just picked up at Trader Joe's in the freezer for another time, but I think I would rather let this play out naturally - the idea is to keep eating normally so that is what I'm going to do. I don't need to maximize results, I just need to let the products do their magic. So another week of good results and looking forward to week 7.

I wanted to write about water for a minute. You may have noticed I only record drinking 40oz of water a day. This is because I know I get a lot of additional water from my plant based diet. Plus there is the 6oz of warm water I drink with my flush at night and usually a 3rd 20oz bottle when it's hot that I don't bother to record - the 40oz is a daily minimum. Also, I consume so much less sodium than someone eating the SAD (standard American diet) that I don't need as much water to compensate, I think. Speaking of the 6oz of warm water, that is something I am doing different, sticking to the recommended 6oz instead of my normal 12 or 14oz tea cups, and keeping it warm instead of hot for tea. I'm not sure it makes a difference, but this is a record of what I'm doing ;) And another note on exercise. I realized this morning that I often have my Lean smoothie after my morning walk; I'm guessing that is helping how quickly I am transitioning from fat to muscle.

I've decided to keep my food and exercise journal going at PEERtrainer, it's such a great resource for support and a way to keep accountable. There is a new link on my blog on the top right for anyone interested in what I'm eating each day.

Breakfast was the green smoothie plus Lean that I made yesterday, I love the mornings when all I have to do is reach in the fridge and breakfast is ready! Then my honey fell asleep on the couch - he's been fighting a bug for about a week and finally sucuumbed :( Anyway, I didn't want to wake him up by bustling around in the kitchen so I crept in and grabbed my bottle of Accelerate and a banana. That held me over until he work up at 2pm!! Then I was hungry and wanted to take my time to make a big salad for lunch, so I whipped up a Lean smoothie using vanilla soy milk and applesauce - the person recommending this was right, like apple pie! Then I could take my time putting a nice lunch together and ended up eating it at about 4. lol, a little late fo lunch, but oh well. And I know it sounds weird to smash up an enchilada for salad dressing, but it's full of roasted veggies, spicy and delicious! Plus I added in a quarter cup of sprouted lentils for protein which are chewy and add another layer of flavour and my Cheat sprinkled on top of it all.

While running errands in the morning one of my stops was for groceries, I have been craving kale and was out of cilantro and cauliflower - staples of mine. Anyway, in for a penny in for a pound I picked up a sourdough roll. As much as the kale I wanted something I could really sink my teeth into and CHEW. I'll share the sandwich spread recipe another time, but it's so good and full of nutrition I can't feel guilty about it. So a sandwich for dinner with some Cheat and I was done for the day.

Apollo 11 :: It was so wonderful to watch the new telling of the historic Moon Walk forty years later. I remember some of the images from when I was a little girl (I was 14) and watched it live. Good old Walter Cronkite :) Still full from dinner I didn't even need to snack during that exciting program. Then my warm water and 2 Flush, another hour of TV, and off to another sound night of sleep.

Sunday plans gone awry

One of my favorite sayings is, "If you want to see God laugh, make plans." We intended to shoot at Mt. Madonna today, it was their annual Bug Shoot with fun 3-D targets. I woke to find myself unprepared, having forgotten to make my morning smoothie the night before and hadn't set the alarm early enough to make it in the morning. Mickey D's was our stop for breakfast; having pancakes was not on the plan for my 'no grains' week, but oh well - I had Cheat in my purse. AND I had a sausage patty - I haven't done that in years but wanted protein and all of a sudden it sounded good, of course in retrospect I feel a tiny bit guilty. Oh well, not dwelling on it.

As it turns out it was way too hot to stay and shoot, 100's instead of the 80's we expected, and we came home before we ever started. We did end up stopping at Trader Joe's to pick up walnuts and some other 'healthy' supplies on the way home, my SO started the program yesterday and he picked up some orange juice and lite vanilla soy to make 50/50 shakes with the Lean.

Lunch was a big salad, using half a roasted veggie enchilada and some hot sauce smashed up together for the dressing and sprinkling on some more Cheat. Then I took the time to make a double smoothie; fresh strawberries, Odwalla Superfood, walnuts, spinach, a bit of rum extract & 2 scoops of Lean. I had to get the strawberries used up so I blended them first and filled a container for the fridge to use later, only using about a cup for the smoothie. One for a snack this afternoon and one for sometime tomorrow, probably breakfast.

Dinner was small but tasty and satisfying. But once again I hadn't been thinking about grains when shopping earlier and had picked up some skinny pizza crust that had spicy cooked spinach on it. I added some grated motzerella soy cheese, fresh basil and sun dried tomatoes for a small six inch pizza that I zapped in the microwave and then added my 3rd serving of Cheat for the day.

So not my usual food today, plus it's so hot I never did get out to exercise. I made sure to get enough water in, and noticed that even though I spent some time reading (always a trigger to snack) I was able to just stick with dinner and not keep eating while I read. I didn't even have my usual fruit for dessert, I think because I had my Lean smoothie in the afternoon. Didn't I notice that before too? I'll have to go back through my journal and look. Maybe I should do that more often instead of having it for dessert so I'm getting in the nutrition earlier in the day.

Tomorrow is my weekly weigh & measure, so I'm crossing my fingers.

More protein, no grains for a week

196.8 this morning. I wanted to weigh because I had an interesting conversation with a naturopathic doctor last night who is in my upline and I'm going to change up my eating a little over the next week. I had asked why I'm losing so many inches but not pounds he mentioned water retention and I let him know that I have been swollen ever since starting on product. I don't remember the whole explanation, but something to do with not getting in enough protein and my body retaining water. He also suggested cutting out grains for a week to see what happens. Since this goes hand in hand with advice from my 'Eat to Live' group I'm on board with that. So for the next seven days I'm going to cut out grains and track my protein to make sure I am getting in at least 60 grams - based on a past measurement of 126#'s of lean body mass. Please don't think I'm not super pleased with losing the inches, everyday I notice I am more slender in some way, but I just want to see the scale move too - it's just too ingrained after so many years of trying to lose weight I guess.

But talking to the Dr. was just half the story - getting there by moving through my upline and feeling all the support as each one conferenced in the next was way fun. Everyone is so excited about the product and the business it's very infectious :)

Bathing suit weather

My foray into the world of pancakes this morning was less than stellar. I had a craving for dates, so blended up a few with the water before folding in the pancake mix. I also threw in the last tsp or so of flax meal. Having noticed that the last pancake is always fluffier than the first, I let the batter sit for about half an hour before heating up the griddle pan. Maybe I did start with the heat a tad high, but immediately turned it down when the first side browned (I'm being kind to myself here) so quickly. Even keeping a careful watch the second side was quick to follow in colour before leaving the pan. And no better luck with the next three either. Dark, dark pancakes with a slightly singed flavour that I covered over with a lush strawberry & honey compote hot out of the microwave. I guess there was just too much sugar in the dates and it quickly burnt even though it was in batter? Next time I will just make a date sauce to go over the top of the pancakes.

Warm summer weather has finally caught up to us, and today I put on a bathing suit for the first time this year. In some ways the last few years are a blur, but I don't think I put on a suit even once - not that I kept on and wore anywhere. But my DD and her friends were taking the babies to the wading pool this morning and I wanted to go play. The last time I went I had on shorts and wanted to get in the water and couldn't, so this time I was determined to get in past my knees. To my amazement I wasn't horrified by my reflection! While still fat, I seem to have lost much of my dumpy outline. My thighs are smoother, and my back no longer sports rolls of fat. I had noticed my hips being less 'hippy' the other day, but it was even more apparent in my tankini and I could pull down the long suit top over my hips and not have it ride up around my waist! How delightful to get to the pool and feel okay about taking off my t-shirt and shorts to get in the water. Was I a bathing beauty? Absolutely not. But I feel closer to being myself today than I have in a really long time, and I am grateful for these products that are giving me my shape back. Oh the joy of holding my granddaughter's hands and guiding her through the water instead of watching from the sidelines.

My usual big salad with beans (I never tire of this) and some Cheat for lunch. Then in the afternoon my honey was napping when I wanted my Lean shake, so instead of running the blender I just threw a scoop of cheat in my water bottle and shook it up - it wasn't bad at all, milder than other protein shakes I've used, but I missed my peach blended up in it. Then out to dinner since my honey's DD was over and we chose Chinese. One pot sticker and Cheat on my veggie chow mein - very good. Oh, and one Bud lite; I guess two beers in one week is okay. I really noticed a dip in my appetite at dinner today, and I'm guessing it's because I took my 2nd Accelerate with my afternoon Lean instead of with lunch. Hmmmm.....

Then to finish off the evening an email from an old online buddy who has ordered product my from website and will start on Monday! Checking my CNI account I saw that a friend of his and one of mine had already ordered product without letting me know - and just like that I'm on my way!

Just another day

Back to business as usual today. Having my green smoothie ready in the fridge kept me from wanting any left over pizza for breakfast. Then a wonderful salad at lunch, a peach & Lean shake for snack around 3pm and home made bean soup full of sun dried tomatoes for dinner. Finally, the 2nd half of my peach for dessert (these are big Costco peaches.) Simple, healthy, tasty, filling food that leaves my body full but not stuffed. Once you start eating for nutrition and delight in how it makes you feel there is no going back. While I wanted all the treats I ate yesterday for various reasons, I am much happier not eating them and it always feels better to have a healthy day of nutrient dense fuel.

All in all, just another easy day of using the Core4 products, walking & shooting for exercise, and staying busy. I started working on trimming the tree in the driveway, and cleaning up the front flower bed - it feels so good to 'feel' like getting things done again. Thank you Accelerate!

Cookies, Popcorn, Pizza & Ice Cream OH MY!

Green smoothie for breakfast, then all hell broke loose. We stopped at a quick chinese buffet for lunch on the way to the movies. I had mostly vegetables with one pot sticker and one small bite of sweet pork rib, one plate and I used my Cheat. Then a plate of small bite sized desserts; 3 cookies, a tiny cream horn and a bite of lemon cake. On the way out I grabbed one more bite of macaroon, they were so chewy and yummy.

Then a medium popcorn at the movie to see Harry Potter 6 - I have never ordered anything larger than a small but we were arriving early to secure the seats we wanted and had a half an hour to wait. I also ordered butter! The movie was good to a point, but I came away pissed that they had butchered the ending. Home in time to vacuum getting ready for the grand baby to arrive, and then playing with said baby, was the best part of the day. But too many high's and low's apparently lowered my resistance or triggered my perverse nature and I ordered a large pepperoni pizza for dinner. Something I haven't done in years; when we splurge I always get half as a lite cheese vegetarian. AND I asked my honey to pick up ice cream when he left to get beer to go with the pizza. (I only had one bud lime lite) The pizza wasn't as good as I wanted it to be but I still ate four small pieces of the 14" pie - just less than a quarter? After the baby left we were watching So You Think You Can Dance and I managed to whittle away half a pint and part of another (he brought home two flavours - why?) What a horrendous day for food. I didn't have a very good day of keeping calm emotionally either, letting the high's and low's swing me like a monkey through the trees instead of keeping my feet on the jungle floor. I know already that I won't be weighing myself in the morning! Some would say a calorie spike is good for the metabolism, lets hope that holds true :)

At least I got in an early morning walk and shot off 30 arrows before the day headed off on a tangent! And I used all my Core4 products despite my craziness.

Product Notes

Lots of good information on a conference call this morning. One major piece being that we should keep eating normally and not try to 'diet' to get the best results. Have I been trying too hard? I thought I'd been eating normally, but looking back on my food logs from PEERtrainer I realize that I use to have a hummus sandwich on a deli roll once a week and I haven't been doing that. And I had been buying some kind of soycream dessert once a week, and haven't been doing that either. It's been suggested that I'm not getting enough calories and my ever efficient body is conserving them. So I will pay more attention to that this week. And there was a great announcement at the launch about an online community being set up that includes a fitness component designed by world class trainers. This will be a free website for the CNI community were we will be able to upload pictures and stories, very exciting!

Notes on the products: This is a synergistic package with vitamin and mineral components designed to work together in a safe and effective manner. No mega doses, no overload on stimulants like many commercial products. But we live in an age where we all want to see immediate results, and the Nutrient Fusion these products produce does give us that. It just does it in a way that provides a wellness factor too. "This is an amazing 4-step system to weight loss; you don't change what you eat or what you do and people are losing weight."

Confirmation that like me others feel not just more energy, but more aware and alert using the Accelerate, that there are no ephedras or -ephrines, and that it helps convert food to energy. And I learned that besides capturing calories, the Cheat can expand up to 200x it's volume in your stomach and is activated by water. I need to start adding a glass of water to my meals, I'm so use to drinking throughout the day but never at meals. I'm not sure why, but it's something I can change to get even better results.

My food today: Using the Odwalla superfood drink instead of fruit in my smoothie (it's mostly pureed fruit with spirulina) was very convenient and good too. A nice change. And how I love the combination of some lite Caesar dressing with fresh cilantro and a couple of Sicilian olives chopped up in my salad at lunch; it tastes so rich and decadent. Finding a good vegan Caesar is on my list of things to do. I made a double batch of salad today, you know chop once eat twice? But instead of saving it for lunch tomorrow I grabbed it for dinner it's so warm today. Then later I heated up some home made bean soup with some blue tortillas crumbled in with my Cheat. Then even later I finished up a small bag of croutons! I know this pattern - it means I didn't have enough greens in my smoothie this morning AND I didn't have my 2nd scoop of Lean. We talked about that this morning too - sometimes you need to make sure you eat even if you're not especially hungry. DON'T DIET! Eat and Cheat!

No walking today, but I think by tomorrow my heel will be ready to hit the pavement again - the blister has disappeared. I did get out and shoot 60 arrows and do some pushups - Nationals is coming up fast, less than three weeks left!

5 Weeks on Core4

198 :: This is so crazy!! Back up half a pound or so and DOWN 3.5 MORE INCHES FOR A TOTAL OF ALMOST 13" LOST IN ONLY 5 WEEKS! New inches lost include half an inch off each of my upper thighs, hips & chest. How long can I keep getting smaller and not lose pounds? I won't complain, it feels so good to be … well, more compact and stronger. Is this happening because I eat mostly plants? Because I'm not eating the standard American diet? Each week it becomes easier to incorporate the products and I'm back to eating 'normal' for me, no longer stressing about when to use them and what will work better. That is just my compulsive nature kicking in, hopefully anyone joining me in this adventure will just keep eating normally from the start and include the products without the stress - because there is no need for that! These products rock!

So another week of positive results to report using Core4. It's really working a number on my muscular build! Our archery competition this past weekend was a real endurance test, and while challenging, I wasn't overwhelmed physically. A little sore this morning but nothing exceptional for all the shooting we did (over 300 arrows.) I have to keep reminding myself that my two Accelerate have less caffeine than one cup of coffee, that the energy they provide is all natural plant based nutrients - nothing dangerous or manufactured. Once again I'm swollen from the restaurant food, but as usual I'll pay attention to getting in more water today to flush that away. And I have a blister from wearing new shoes (how dumb was that) so I might stick to bike rides this week depending on how fast that heals.

It's good to be home and back to healthy meals. A crunchy salad with raw veggies & garbanzo's for lunch and a home made dressing of avocado, tomato, green onion, cilantro, a date & some ac vinegar; a very delicious, thick and rich dressing. Plus my six shakes of Cheat of course and my afternoon Accelerate. I still love my standard salad with beans for lunch, but I'm going to cut back on the amount of beans for a bit as soon as this last batch of sprouted chick peas is gone; I've been eating them everyday for months and I feel the need to change things up a bit and I'm putting some lentils in to sprout this week.

Then off to Costco for Blueberries (twice as many fresh for half as much as the frozen - yay!) a big bag of spinach , a flat of peaches and a couple of large bottles of the Odwalla green Superfood drink. I'm thinking I'll use that blend instead of fruit (it's mostly pureed fruit) to change up my smoothies for a while; half a serving has 500mg of spirulina plus wheat & barley grasses, wheat sprouts and some other good things.

Rice for dinner was quick and easy since it came in a bag from Trader Joe's precooked and mixed with roasted veggies. I added in some frozen veggies that needed to be used up and made a spicy sauce using a poblano pepper and it was wonderful. And of course I used my Cheat on both lunch & dinner. I realized today that I forgot to take any Flush with me for the weekend away from home, and went to bed so early last night I didn't have the 'hour before bed time' that I needed. Oh well, back on track tonight. It's important to remember that the four parts of this program all work together; they all need to be used to create the synergy - the Nutrient Fusion - that means success! Just like last Sunday, I'm excited to start another week on Core4 tomorrow - these weeks are flying by!

A weekend of Archery

What a great weekend. Pre-making and packing the green smoothies is such a great way to have a nutritious meal before a competition. Adding in the Lean gives the smoothies enough oomph so that even shooting for four hours I don't need a snack like I use to with the regular smoothies.

Saturday - about 160 arrows shot over 7 hours. I started my day with green smoothie and an english muffin (dry). The sponsors of the shoot provided a bbq lunch and had Boca burgers available. I passed on the mayo, brownie & soda and loaded up on the produce for my veggie burger. I wouldn't buy those for home, I am just not crazy about the flavour, but a healthier alternative at least. I think. Then out for a beer and dinner afterwards. I tried the Vegetarian Thai pasta - thick noodles and broccoli in a spicy peanut sauce. It was a little too sweet and not enough spice, but at least I got some more carbs in for another day of shooting.

Sunday - Same breakfast; it seems to work well to satisfy my urge for 'a treat since we're eating out' to get the muffin while not going crazy on fat and salt. Then another morning of shooting - this time head to head matches, getting our ranking in order for the afternoon's olympic round. Today we headed out for lunch and settled on Togos. I had their hummus sandwich, but skipped the may, subbing in avocado, and passed on the bread in favor of a sun dried tomato wrap. I'll have to look that up and see if it's really healthier or not. Then another afternoon of shooting, bring the total to about 150 including practice arrow. And these two days were really fast paced, with not much time for any sitting. We were on our feet either shooting or walking all day both days. I made it to the gold medal match, but came away with silver - which I might add I am not unhappy about at all! For dinner my honey drove through and picked up food from Carl's Jr. while I went to pick up the dog. For me he brought home their bean & cheese burrito, sans cheese plus rice. Once I was home I chopped up a quick salad of romaine & red peppers, cut up the burrito to throw in with some taco sauce and some more avocado. Hmmmm, maybe I'm eating too much fat :) But I'm on my last avocado, so tomorrow should see the end of that for a bit. I do tend to splurge in batches. Not really binging, but buying in bulk and then eating the same thing for a while, then going without for a while. I guess it all balances out.

Mostly this weekend was a little different because even though I had them with me I didn't snack on the nuts and dried blueberries. Well, except for dessert Saturday night - I almost forgot about that. But tonight we didn't pick up any ice cream or anything sweet. We hit the hot tub with a big glass of cold water once the sun had gone down, and I had one sun warmed tomato off my plant in the back yard - that was good enough for me! All in all a great weekend, and I mostly remembered to use all my Core4 products. Speaking of which, blogger now can link the title to a web page, so I will use that to make access to my Core4 site just an easy click away. If you're interested in Cheating and Eating to lose weight and\or inches, that's the place to sign up for free and order!

Friday

I started this cool morning with a mug of hot chocolate! Into a magic bullet mug I poured a cup of lite soy, a spoonful of my 100% cacao powder and a scoop of Lean. After blending I put the mug into the microwave for a minute and viola! Hot Chocolate! I also had water to take my vitamins and the Accelerate, getting in a couple of cups early is always a good way to break my overnight fast. The chocolate was different but good, and I'll ask if it's okay to heat it up so I can do that again.

Lunch was guacamole ( I have to use up the big bag of Costco avocados before they go bad) on two small corn tortillas that I had crisped up in the microwave, and a small salad of romaine, cauliflower, green onion & carrots with a light Caesar dressing. I put Cheat on everything and took my afternoon Accelerate.

Then in the afternoon I made two green smoothies, both with a scoop of Lean and lots of spinach, banana & blueberries, and they are in bottles in the fridge ready for our drive north. These are the special smoothies, with extra banana and flax meal, that I like to have on competition mornings. They keep me strong till lunch, and it's a great way to have breakfast on the road without fast food. Yuck. I mean, who wouldn't love a sausage biscuit, but they don't love us. Plus I was reading how a liquid breakfast is a great athlete's meal before a competition since it's easily digestible and full of nutrition. Since the blender was already dirty I made my afternoon Lean shake with blueberries, dates & spinach. As always, it was very good; It's so wonderful to have something so sweet and creamy be so good for me.

A big bowl of steamed broccoli and some italian pasta (another Costco purchase that is taking me forever to use up) for dinner (loading up on carbs for tomorrow) with spaghetti sauce spiced up with a section of poblano pepper that I blended with a date. I really love my magic bullet and use it every day for at least one thing or another. Adding a couple of ingredients can make the cheapest bottled spaghetti sauce wonderful. Not that we do that often, it's still too high in sodium usually.

All in all a good day, and I'm ready to hit the road early tomorrow morning.

A Mac n Cheese moment

I started the day out slow and didn't eat breakfast until ten. I've figured out by now that when I do that it sends some kind of trigger for me to eat more later in the day. I had a burrito bowl at noon, using up the leftovers from last night, but by two this afternoon I was craving something more. Which would have been fine if I had been home to have a Lean shake, but I wasn't, I was out and about running errands. What follows is a little embarrassing, but oh well. I had stopped at the bank in Safeway, and all of a sudden I heard my old friend Mac n Cheese calling out to me from the Deli. So I just cruised the display case to see if there was any there...and sure enough, half a pan of creamy sticky gooyness was waiting for me. Now this is not the regular Deli counter, this is that hot buffet in the middle of the store filled with fat and sodium rich entrees steaming and ready to eat. I grabbed a couple of scoops and a fork and checked out. Thankfully, as I reached the car I remembered that I had a 30-Day pack of Core4 in the back; how fortuitous that I hadn't opened one yet for my 2nd month. I opened up that case and unsealed a bottle of Cheat and sprinkled my pile of sticky golden noodles quick as a bunny. This is the sad part, I ate as I drove home! I did at least wait until I had cleared out of the parking lot, but I haven't ever done this before; fast food yes, but not eating hot deli food out of a container from the store - just a random act of craziness I guess. But I counted it as my dinner and then had a 2nd green smoothie later on in the evening around dinner time. I have to admit I have been thinking about that Mac n Cheese for some time now, I just hadn't taken the time to pick any up. It's a once in a while indulgence - seriously once in a while, like once a year - since I try to stay away from dairy as much as possible, usually getting my cheese on the occasional pizza. I shouldn't feel guilty about this, I did use my Cheat, but it's more the behavior that sticks in my craw more than anything. But this is exactly the behavior that has slowed down my weight loss over the past year, so I'm glad I have the support of Core4 this time. On the positive side, I only took a 'regular' serving, not enough for a family of four, and the Cheat took care of a quarter of those calories; all in all I had a treat, more like an early dinner, and didn't have to pay for it in excess calories. So why am I even stressing? Because in my mind eating in the car is taboo, and that normally equals failure on my part. Not this time. Don't get me wrong, I do not now think that it's okay to eat in the car now that I have my bottle of Cheat, and I won't be doing this on a regular basis, but it's no longer the horrible start of a binge that it might have been in the past. I did get out for a walk about an hour after I got home, and earlier in the day I had shot off 30 arrows and done 30 push ups, so the exercise portion of my day was spot on. Then a small handful of mixed raw nuts and a luscious nectarine for dessert completed the food portion of my day. Now that I have talked myself around the whole experience, I guess I'm making a big deal out of nothing. So I guess the point is that it wasn't a big deal this time, and I need to quit beating myself up so much!

4 Weeks on Core4 :: One Month Review

197 :: I've been using the Core4 system one month now, and as of this morning I am down 1.6#'s and I have lost at least 10 inches between my waist, hips, thighs, arms, bust & chest. I realized this morning I was only measuring my left leg and arm (I've lost 1.5" off my thigh, .5" off my calf and 1" off my upper arm) and that I can double all those measurements to count towards my total inches lost. Despite how awful these pictures are, I am so excited to see that specific parts of me are SMALLER!

Keeping in mind I didn't do all nine measurements that I have used in the past to track at the start of my Core4 month, I'm down a total of about 15 inches since I last measured them all in June of 2008. And this gives me a new perspective of my progress. I lost ten pounds in the year from May of 2008 to May of 2009, but only about 4 or 5 inches. But in the one month that I've been using the Core4 products, while I've only lost about 2 pounds, there are a whopping ten inches gone - I would call this SUCCESS!

So I am starting my 2nd month of Core4 today with a renewed excitement and a positive attitude. I will try very hard not to obsess over the number on the scale in the upcoming weeks and just keep using the Core4 products knowing that they are working on me in ways I can feel and see. Ooh Ra! And of course the whole time I'm typing that I'm thinking..."yesterday I had potato chips, pancakes, funnel cake, beer, how much salt was in that and what would I have weighed this morning if..." Old habits are hard to break, but I am working on it!

About the pictures, I can't help but notice that my posture is better (better core strength) and that in the side view I can really tell the difference in my arms, stomach & "hips". The freshly laundered top is loose instead of pulling snug up against me like in the first picture. And I had to wear a smaller support tank underneath to keep from bouncing when I walk, so a big difference there. I can see differences everywhere now in addition to feeling them, and it gives me great confidence that the products are working as advertised - creating leaner body mass and focusing on getting rid of the fat at my core! I can hardly wait to see what this next month brings :)

<- Wednesday's Food Log
I have been loving my green smoothies for breakfast for a while now, but the Lean adds a creamy richness that I look forward to adding. I indulged in bread at lunch, but instead of eating fast food in the car I waited until I was home to sprinkle some Cheat on my veggie burger - I've noticed that the compulsion to eat has lessened quite a bit, that's probably the Accelerate working. But dinner was the highlight meal of today; I made a dressing for the veggies by blending up cilantro, pablano pepper and dates with a little water. Spicy and sweet this was the perfect compliment to both the veggies and the brown lime rice that I tossed in my burrito bowl - there wasn't enough lettuce to actually call it a salad :) I remembered to sprinkle on my Cheat too, which takes away the guilt of using avocado - which is a great food because it's a healthy fat, but it is still a little high in calories for someone trying to lose weight. NOT ANYMORE! Whoo hoo!

I got all my exercise in early today; seeing my arms look thinner is really motivating to keep push ups as part of my work out routine. Michelle Obama watch out! Sorry to sound a little manic today after my slump of the last few posts, but it is exciting to SEE progress I was only FEELING :)

So there ends day one of my 2nd month, which is a good time to mention that I won't be keeping track of days on this blog anymore, just weeks and months - I think that will work just fine now that I am past the first hurdle. Something I haven't written about yet is the money back guarantee on these products - 90 days! So I am super confident heading into this 2nd month that even at the worse case scenario and they stop working for me, I can always recoup what I've spent trying. Says something about how confident they are in the products, no?

Day 30

<- Tuesday's Food Log

I felt heavy this morning, or rather, I din't feel lighter. Last night's depression hadn't lifted, plus I woke up wondering about my finances - not a good way to start the day right now. I'm suppose to be losing weight, sharing the Core4 products and earning money so I can work from home. That was the plan. So right now I need to focus on the inches I've lost, keep exercising, and per a conversation with a friend who is losing using the products I need to make sure I am eating enough calories. She says 1600 a day if my goal right now is 160#'s. I'm probably eating around that, less some days, but I will go back to tracking calories for a few days to make sure a 'normal' day is enough calories. She also said that to have a 2 week plateau is normal, and to start taking a 2nd Accelerate in the morning to jump start my weight loss.

My lunch salad was wonderful, the home made cilantro dressing a success, and then afterwords I made a dent in the yard work out back. Since I had pancakes for breakfast I made a green smoothie for an afternoon snack and to get my Lean in for the day. Nectarines are so sweet right now, it was delicious.

We met the kids at the fair for a small birthday celebration, and so potato chips & funnel cake were my dinner; I have to say I missed having 'real food' and it wasn't quite as fun as I thought it would be to splurge on some junk. What was fun was watching the guys on two crazy rides that I couldn't even watch they made me so dizzy. It was good to get out of the house, but all in all it was a quiet, strange day. I miss my good mood, I wonder where it went.

Day 29

<-Monday's Food Log

Well, I wasn't happy with my numbers this morning; I'm not posting until Wednesday morning, giving myself the full month, which is silly since I have been doing weekly updates. Suffice it to say that for this week I am not happy. That little voice of despair is trying to get my attention and I keep pushing it away. It did feel good to get out and walk, and there is nothing like noticing a slimmer shadow to buoy my mood in the morning.

The mornings are cool again and I took the time to make pancakes. I only had two instead of the whole batch (4) and I did use my Cheat. So yummy and satisfying. Then for lunch I used some home made beans from last week and some green enchilada sauce to make both a bean salad and soup this afternoon - spicy and yummy. Spending the day catching up on laundry and household stores may not sound like much, but it sure felt good once it was done. The Accelerate definitely makes a difference in how active I am now, without interfering with my sleep.

Left over soup from a different batch last week, this time with wild rice, made an easy dinner, but definitely not enough calories and I had fruit for dessert. At least I had a nutritious day!

But still, when all is said and done I am fretting about my weight and wondering why I'm not losing. Do I really want to do a 2nd month? I need to call and get some upline support, but I don't want to call and admit I'm not losing despite my slimmer figure - somewhere inside is that insecure little girl wondering what I am doing wrong, wondering why the magic isn't working or if I am just being impatient.

Day 28

<- Sunday's Food Log

I packed the cooler this morning with my pre-made smoothie and headed back up to Sacramento for some more archery, drinking my breakfast on the way. I was able to pass on anything from Mickey D's when my honey stopped for his breakfast, feeling sad for just a second at the thought of a hot biscuit. After the long drive (well, only 1.5 hours, but still...) we had hours of shooting (better than last weekend thank heavens) in beautiful weather with friends. What a lot of busy dragonflies there were - the lawn looked like an airport full of tiny helicopters! Anyway, I had a small snack of trail mix to tide me over, and then we stopped for lunch by the river before heading home. I did splurge on my lunch, ordering sides of some things I really wanted and having a cold draft beer; what a wonderful day! On the way home we hit tons of traffic - guess everyone had the same idea about heading home early after a long weekend today, but I had my audio book to listen to and my honey was driving so what do I have to complain about??

Cool weather arrived with evening so I popped a frozen pizza in the oven - I know better than to have beer with lunch, it makes me so tired and lazy! But it had been so nice to relax and have a drink after the shoot. I did use the Cheat on my portion of the pizza so my calories should have been just right for dinner at about 510.

A friend popper over to chat and we had a nice visit while the dogs played, then it was time for a movie, a computer game, and early to bed. Today ends four weeks on Core4, so tomorrow I will weigh and measure for my weekly report, and to 'see' where I am before recording my official 'monthly' stats on Tuesday.

Day 27

<- Saturday's Food Log
~*!*~ Happy 4th of July~*!*~

Knowing we would be on the road early tomorrow I made a double batch of smoothie this morning - a full blender of yumminess - and saved half of it for Sunday morning. Then sad news, the kids next door lost their mother, which brings up all sorts of feelings I don't want to deal with. My honey asked me to pick up dinner while I was out getting flowers, and of course I turned to comfort food - because no matter how good my intentions, sometimes a moment catches me off guard. I doubled up on the Cheat since I figure the amount they gave me was probably two servings. Another question to ask my upline. Later we grabbed one of our new neighbors and some light beer and headed for a nearby hill to watch the fireworks across town from a distance. They were pretty, but it's better to be under them. Sigh, a sad day.

Day 26

<- Friday's Food Log

195.8 ( a new low) :: I saw an old friend this morning - my jaw line! I glanced in the mirror while cleaning the bathroom this morning and there it was. I didn't even know it had been missing until I saw it again. Hello, hello! I also weighed this morning, resuming my old habit of only weighing when I feel lighter; I haven't seen 195 point anything in years, and 195 was sort of my benchmark for this first month - I had told myself that if I saw that I would keep using the Core4. Somewhere in my brain I am thinking three days to lose .8 pounds, but a bigger part of my brain is thinking - I HAVE A JAW LINE!

Friends for lunch and another opportunity to show them how wonderful plants can be. They are both nursing mothers and loved everything, especially the smoothies, and I sent them off with most of the vegan cookies so I wouldn't be tempted later - they can use the calories more than me right now! I'm not thinking about the piece of peach pie I ate in the car on the way home from the store - I had been so busy cleaning house this morning that I hadn't taken time to make myself breakfast. Man, that pie was good; six bites of heaven.

Lunch was wonderful but there was too much food and I finished up what was left over for dinner; I did remember to add some Lean to the smoothie and some Cheat to the salad - am I suppose to use those in the same meal? I need to ask. Then a couple of hours later (around six?) I found myself feeling hungry and made some potatoes, using my 2nd serving of Cheat.

I shot my bow both early afternoon and evening , with push ups in between the last five ends (an end is a set of arrows shot between scoring, I'm shooting six arrows each end.) I would like to build up my strength just a little more before 8/1. Oh, and I wore some shorts today that haven't fit me in four or five years. I had kept them out from when I went through clothes in the garage last month, hoping they would fit this summer. Yay!

Another warm evening, and I wanted to walk off some of my 2nd dinner, so I managed to drag myself out the door for that, making the little dog happy since she was invited. At the far side of my walk I was treated to the beginnings of a beautiful sunset, and a cool wind blowing the golden grasses in mesmerizing waves across the fields. The light was perfect, and I raised my arms to the heavens in thanks for it all, feeling the breeze dust off my psyche and finding peace at the end of a good day.

Day 25

<- Thursday's Food Log

This morning I enjoyed the feeling of wearing my clothes instead of feeling like I was stuffed into them. I started the day off right with a green smoothie, and later driving down the freeway at lunchtime I thought about what I might drive through and pick up - then thought about how I could make something similar but healthier at home and decided not to stop. (I had cooked a batch of red beans in the crock pot with green chilies and tomato paste the night before so there were no excuses.) It seems like I always want to 'treat' myself to something on days I feel thinner. But I am tired of that response, I am ready for some success! This is when I really notice the Accelerate working, when I am tempted but can talk myself down and not give in to craziness.

I had decided to journal my calories today, and after dinner I was still under 1000, so when my honey called from Panda Express I asked for a small veggie chow mein. They have little one cup cartons which are perfect, and I remembered to add my Cheat. I was around 1300 for the day and that sounds about right, I want to stay just under 1500 calories a day to lose weight according to several different calculations. I did notice that percentage wise I had too much fat, and even though most of it was 'good' fat from nuts and avocado I need to keep an eye on that - Core4 do your work tonight burning some of that off!

Day 24

<- Wednesday's Food Log

It was a little cooler today, thank heavens. I switched my exercise around, shooting my bow in the morning and then again in the early evening. It felt so good to be outside I ended up taking a walk then too, getting home just at dusk. How Kaylee loves the unpaved trail where the jack rabbits run!

It felt good to be back on track with my green smoothies, and I made a Costco run so I'm stocked up on fresh spinach & fruit, plus huge bags of broccoli and romaine. I thought about taking home a piece of pizza for lunch but it was just a thought and I wasn't that interested. My lunch salad was yummy, and so was my stir fry at dinner - it also felt good today to get lots of veggies in and to use all the Core4 products. I can tell this is one good day that is going to lead to another, as if I've turned a mental corner.