Off Gluten

So I am not sure if I have blogged about this, but on top of my Goodlife Personal Trainer, I have also employed a Goodlife Nutritionist. My trainer had previously taken dairy out of my diet and my nutritionist has added big time to the list of foods from which I should stay away. Most of the things she has done have been pretty easy to deal with, such as drinking water pretty much constantly throughout the day, or portion sizes, but some have been really hard – like eating gluten free. Not only is gluten delicious, but it is in EVERYTHING!! My trips to the grocery store are now at least 50% longer because I have to read the ingredients in everything I want to purchase. I miss gluten.

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Tasty Tuesdays: Strawberry Shortcake

This tasty fruit dessert is a great light end to any meal.

Ingredients:

- package of prepared mini angel food cakes
- 1 package of frozen strawberries
- honey
- fresh fruit: pears, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries
- Cool Whip

Directions:

place entire package of frozen strawberries in a large saucepan. Cook on low heat, covered until strawberries are thawed
Add honey to taste to the mixture and stir continuously until thickened
Top Angel Food cakes with portion of sauce
Top with sliced fresh fruit and then Cool Whip

Serve and Enjoy!

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A Long Awaited Update

Well, perhaps not long-awaited, but whatever…an update nonetheless.

 

In the last couple of months, Dave and I have continued with our trainers at Goodlife. He is seeing quite a bit of progress in that he is gaining muscle and strength. I, on the other hand, have not. There was the weight loss that occurred when I first switched trainers, but I haven’t really seen any since. I am improving in other areas, better endurance, strength, etc., but I think we all know that the main thing I want to get out of all of this is weight loss. And since the majority of people who hear this ask, no I haven’t seen much (if any) decrease in inches either.

My trainer has been looking over my food logs since I started with him, and recommended I stop eating dairy. So I did. It was hard at first since I love cheese and milk, but I have adjusted and don’t notice that often. I still consume probably about a cup or so of some sort of milk product throughout each week, but that is pretty much it. He also recommended I start with the nutritionist at Goodlife. For a while I said no as I wasn’t entirely happy with the progress I had seen thus far with the rest of the resources at the gym, but have since decided to give it a try.

I met with her last Tuesday and have my second session this coming Tuesday. So far we have just gone over the basics of the program and this coming session we will be setting up some sort of plan. To be honest, I don’t know what to expect. My hopes have been shot down so many times it is hard to get them raised even remotely right now. I have not resigned myself to being overweight for the rest of  my life, I am just not as hopeful as I once was.

Sorry to leave things on such a bummer note, I just don’t have much else to say right now. Hopefully things will turn around now that I have an entire team behind me.

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Back in the Swing of Things

Dave and I have had personal trainers for a while now and though there have been improvements, I am not seeing the changes I need to be seeing to keep a positive outlook on the whole thing. That being said, I have since changed trainers and though at first I was a little apprehensive about my new training as I don’t like change, it is turning out to be a good thing. I have already started to lose weight more rapidly and consistently than with the previous trainer. I also feel like I am getting more out of my training sessions in that I am more tired and sore afterwards (in that good I just worked out sort of way).
But because of the length of time it took to get a point where I am starting to lose weight consistently, etc, I am going to have to rework my wedding weight loss plans. This is very upsetting to me and I feel like a complete failure if I think about it too much, but with only a year left until our wedding day (and probably about 2 months less than that until I get a wedding dress), there just isn’t enough time to get to my ideal weight or even the first reasonable weight goal I had set out for myself.
It is probably just best to set a new goal for myself and start moving towards it and not think about what could have been. Though this is very hard for me, it will be what I try to do over the next little while.

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Not as Expected

So over the last little while I have been watching what I eat (about 90% of the time) and of course, going to the gym to work out with my trainer. I have not however, seen much success in terms of weight loss. The scale and I are just not in agreement of what is good enough to get these pounds off. I have lost a few pounds I suppose, but nothing significant and definitely nothing consistent. I have however, noticed that I am much stronger – which though I will admit is a very good thing, it is not helping me look better which means I don’t really feel any better about myself. I essentially have a year left until I want to start looking at wedding dresses and just a little longer than that until I have to walk down the aisle. Though these two things are definitely not my only reason to lose weight, they are to driving points that make me want to get it done now. I don’t want a plus size dress – I don’t want to be ashamed of my wedding photos. Time to tighten the belt metaphorically so I can do it literally later on.

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