I slept late today, somehow my kiddos entertained and fed themselves long enough to let me sleep until my husband called me at 9am. I rushed to my doctor appointment, then the grocery store, then the pharmacy. By the time I got home I was starving and in pain (pinched nerve.) I sliced a piece of left over bbq chicken and put some cheese on it. I couldn't even finish all of it. My stomach is just so small now that I get full very easily. Normally I would have had a salad but I felt like I needed protein, and chicken was right in front of me.
At the doctor's office, I had my 2 month weigh in and I've lost a whopping 26 lbs. I'm so proud of myself. I have never lost so much weight, Ever.
I am a firm believer that losing weight has to be a spiritual journey as well as a physical and behavioral one. As I lose the fat that has weighed me down for so long, I hope to deepen my walk with Christ and truly appreciate all the success He has made possible. I have started following along with Praise Moves, the christian alternative to yoga. I was due to begin their 40 days of fitness challenge today, but a few days ago I got a pinched nerve in my back and I'm pretty well incapacitated. I'll still do my devotions and really try to do some stretching but gah! This hurts bad.
So I'm in phase 3 of South Beach now, but I don't know what all it entails because I haven't read anything about it yet. I love this eating plan though and will be remaining on this healthy path for life.
I posted this on my facebook the other day:
"Has anyone done any of their own research on sugar alternatives? I've always loved using equal and while I've cut my use of it in half, I would like to find another more natural sweetener. I am finding so much conflicting information on stevia/truvia, agave, and honey that I am not sure what the truth is. I had pretty much figured out that stevia was the way to go, but then I found that maltodextrin is the main ingredient in what the stores offer (blends) and that's kind of the point of avoiding artificial sweeteners. Is there any hope or am I just going to have to cut out sweetening my coffee and green tea all together if I want to go all natural?"
Well I ended up getting some pure stevia this morning from Smiths. (They have a pretty decent health food section.) We'll see how it goes. I think it will take some getting used to the taste. I'm getting annoyed already though and I'm thinking of just eliminating sweetening my tea and coffee just like I eliminated breads and pastas. It's just not worth all this trouble. Ok well maybe just a little. Sweet tea is soooo good!
I just filled up my 20 oz bottle with caffeine free green tea and put 4 drops of the stevia extract (vanilla creme flavor) into it. It's not sweet enough and added that vanilla creme taste to it. Not sure what to think yet. I made the mistake of putting one drop on my tongue and wow is it strong. It's probably an acquired taste, so I'll just have to use it for a few days and see how it goes.
