My Personal TSFL Journey

After 3 1/2 months of hard work and dedication, I have finally hit my weight goal! I started this journey on January 9th at 183 lbs, which is the highest weight I have ever been. I set my weight goal of 140, but really wanted to see that stomach and thigh fat go away.

Two days ago, I saw a number on the scale that left me overjoyed. It showed 139.6 lbs. It feels so amazing and unbelievable that I am in the 130s at 33 years old. We were just supposed to be getting bigger, right? Now I weigh the same as I did in middle school - and that was only because I had had a big growth spurt and my weight hadn't caught up with my height yet.

After losing 45 lbs (I am now 138.2 as of this morning), I feel so incredible that it's truly difficult to describe in words. This program has absolutely changed my life. For those who don't know me, I'm a licensed health professional and know a lot about health. This program has somehow managed to teach even me so much about food, sleep, hydration and exercise. But mostly, it has taught me more about myself and what I am made of. I feel ready to conquer the world and have been changed forever. How did my whole view of everything change in a matter of months? Was it the education on healthy habits? Was is the support of my health coach, family and friends? Was it the nutrition component? I think it was all three. They all worked together to make me a different person inside and out. And I couldn't be happier with the result.

I took this picture this past weekend to show my body before and after this program (at least to my weight goal and I will be starting transition into maintenance). The before picture was not something I ever intended to share, but I felt that it showed off my weight loss the best. I have always been good about hiding in well-fitting clothing. I don't have to hide anymore. This is my result: 45 lbs lost in less that 4 months.

I have been so excited, motivated and successful with this program that I decided to become a health coach myself. It has been so much fun for me to not only share my success with others, but help and guide them to find their own. 

So, I have one question for you. Are you ready to join me in this journey to optimal health? 

Limiting your dream

As I've started coaching clients and talking with potential clients, a common theme has come out. People are afraid to dream big. They don't believe that they can really get the health and body that they want. Within a couple of days of starting this program, I knew that I would get the body that I had wanted all of my life. I was always kind of chunky (except for those couple years after my growth spurt of 4 inches before the weight finally caught up to me - even then I was more of a skinny fat). Back in 2008, I had lost about 30 lbs to get down to about 2 lbs heavier than I am right now. That didn't last long because I went right back to what I was doing before and slowly creeped back up to my finishing weight in high school, 155 lbs. I was very comfortable at this weight, but still didn't exactly have an ideal body that I wanted.

As I got older and the metabolism slowed (especially after 30!), it became very apparent that eating and drinking whatever and whenever I wanted was only going to pack on the lbs. I topped out in the high 170s. At 5'9, that is about 12 or so lbs into the overweight area. I was over being fat and saw my cousin, aunt and uncle losing 70-100+ lbs each and maintaining it. Clearly what I was doing wasn't working. I thought I had been eating right and staying healthy by doing the whole foods/Paleo thing. For those of you that insist on sticking with whole foods, but aren't losing the weight, just remember that after doing this program, you can't go right back to whole foods. You'll just learn how to pick them and what portion sizes to stick with.

When I gained about 18 lbs last year, I realized that I needed that kick to get my nutrition right. That's when I called up my cousin, who is now my health coach, and told her I was ready to try it out. When asked for my goal weight, I said 140 lbs. It's really not so much about the number, but how I want my body to look. As I got closer to that number, I knew that it wouldn't get me to my ideal body. Obviously, I still want to be in a healthy range for my height and not look anorexic. As of my last weigh-in, I'm at 144 lbs and still see I have a good amount of stomach and thigh fat I want to get rid of. And it would be really nice to not have the double chin I have had all my life - even after the growth spurt. That's my dream. And I know for sure I will get there. So, I'm going to keep going.

I found this on Pinterest and wanted to share:

You are free to dream big and get the body and health that you want. Don't ever settle because you think you can't get there or you're just comfortable. I assure you that if you work hard, you will get there.

So, what's YOUR dream? And what are you going to do to get there?

To cheat or not to cheat?

That is the question a lot of the time, isn't it?

Since I've been doing Take Shape For Life, I have been asked countless times how I avoid alcohol, candy, pizza and all the other yummy, but not on plan, foods out there.

For me, the answer is easy. This means more to me.

If given a choice between losing weight and getting the body I have always wanted to have or indulging in the alcohol or goodies nearby, I'm going to choose my body. I'm going to choose this program. I'm going to get what I want first.

Am I giving up alcohol, pizza, burgers, ribs, and cake forever? Absolutely not. But while I am in the weight loss phase of my journey, those things are not a priority to me. Losing weight is. I look forward to the day I can have a slice of pizza again or a pint of beer. But that's not going to happen until I hit my goal - and even then, I won't be overindulging. Once I am in my maintenance phase, everything will be in moderation. No longer will I pig out at a potluck or drink a bottle of wine in one evening. That was my life before and when I get the body I want, I fully plan on keeping it.

Several diets will have cheat days built in. Besides giving people an excuse to binge one day a week, this program has a very specific reason why cheating is not built into the program. On the 5 and 1 plan, the meals are nutritionally sound and also low glycemic. You have steadied your blood sugar, turned off the insulin and gone into fat burning mode rather than fat storage mode. To get into fat burning mode generally takes about 4 days. When you cheat, the spike in blood sugar can turn the insulin back on and knock you out of fat burning mode. You've now gone backwards and have to waste 4 days getting back to it. During that time, you have a good chance of being very hungry, tired and also having headaches. All this for a cheat meal or drink?

When I started on this plan, I was actually quite worried about not being able to drink my wine or have an occasional cheat. Was I really going to be able to do this? How do I go without my (sometimes daily) glass or wine? What about my favorite ribs or fondue? Once I started going and was seeing results quickly, I was surprised how easy it was to not even be tempted by my favorite foods and drinks. Unless there is a pizza right in my face, I really have no desire to have a slice and frankly, rarely even think about it. That right there is commitment, folks. Commitment to prioritize my life and not look back.

So what do you want more? A healthy body and healthy life or that slice of pizza and bottle of wine over there? You choose.

Eating 6 Meals Per Day - The 5 & 1 Plan

I'm sure you've heard by now that eating 6 small meals per day is a healthy way to live. There have surely been some criticisms if you don't actually keep them small. If you would eat a 700 calorie breakfast, lunch and dinner and then add in three 100-200 calorie snacks, you would be consuming a fairly large amount of calories during the day.

However, if you truly eat small meals rather than 3 medium size and 3 small, you could still get the appropriate number of calories per day without feeling hungry. Hunger can happen when you go a long time without a meal. When you skip meals or wait 6-8 hours in between meals, you can end up binging because of hunger. How many of us have had those days where we hardly ate anything for breakfast or lunch then ended up with a 3,000+ calorie meal for dinner cause we were "starving"? I'm pretty sure we have all been there at some point. And some people do that on a regular basis. 

Guess what? Your body burns calories throughout the day to run your organs and get you moving. It needs fuel throughout the day to keep that process going smoothly. Eating 6 small meals a day can keep you from getting hungry and binging and it will also keep your metabolism kicking. If the body is digesting food every 2-3 hours, it is working a lot more frequently and burning more calories. 

Many of you looking at this blog may be wondering what Take Shape For Life's 5 & 1 plan is all about. This plan consists of eating 5 balanced, healthy meal replacements and 1 "lean and green" meal consisting of lean protein and vegetables. Each of the meal replacements has been designed to have the right protein/carb balance and also be interechangable. Want cereal or oatmeal for lunch? That's OK! How about having a delicious brownie or cookie for breakfast. Yes, that's perfectly fine too! The lean and green meals are designed to be low calorie, low carb and low glycemic. All the meals on this blog are within the lean and green meal guidelines and are delicious. I have tried each one and can definitely recommend all of them. 

Are you still not sure about this eating 6 meals a day thing? What about the ease of doing this or how it all works? Here is a nifty chart that I found that explains a typical day on the 5 & 1 plan:

That doesn't look too hard, does it? Take Shape for Life has made this program about as easy as it could possibly be. If you think you'll forget to eat, after a few days of doing this, your body will most likely let you know that it's hungry and time. If it is still not letting you know, sometimes it's easy to just set an alarm on your phone. 

The meals are also so easy to make or you can get the "on-the-go" meals such as the bars, pretzels or shakes. I have found a nice balance between having the on-the-go, hearty meals and soft bakes. Have I mentioned that the soft bake brownies are amazing? Yum! It really depends on what your typical day is like. Do you have access to a microwave or would on-the-go meals be easier while you're at work? The good news is that you only have to cook for yourself a maximum of one time per day. If you're like me, I make meals with 2-3 days of leftovers, so I only end up having to cook around 3 times per week.

If you have any questions about the meals or would like to take a look at the selection, feel free to contact me at dreambelievecommit@gmail.com or you can go to my website at www.dreambelievecommit.tsfl.com and look under the SHOP tab the "Shop Now". On the left side, you can look under "Weight-Loss Meals". There is a great selection of many different types of foods. Like Brownies. 

Dream BIG!

Have you ever said to yourself, "I'll always just be a little chunky. It's just the way it's going to be." or something along those lines?

I did.

That's exactly what I have said to myself for as long as I can remember. Probably since early high school, actually. I was a bit of a chunky kid growing up until my growth spurt. After growing 3 inches in a year and then another inch, I was suddenly tall and skinny. That lasted until around the end of my freshman year in high school and then the weight started catching up with me.

I was unhappy and tried different diets, none of which worked. Then I went to college and gained the "Freshman 20". As much as I tried, I couldn't lose that weight and keep it off for years. I kept saying to myself that this will be my body forever. I need to accept that I will never have the body I really want. Then I was introduced to a diet with supplements and I lost close to 30 lbs when I was about 27. I'd wanted to go lower, but seemed to stall and couldn't keep up the diet for too long. It was too expensive and frankly boring since I didn't like vegetables and a daily salad was my only option for that. I was able to keep most of that off for the about 2 years then it slowly started creeping back. I look back and realize that I only did the diet a short time to lose the weight, but didn't make any good habits to keep when I was off it. I told myself that I could just go back on the supplements and diet and lose it. Needless to say, that didn't work. Over these last 2 years, I had gained back every single pound.  My metabolism slowed after I hit 30 and I couldn't seem to lose the weight like I had before. Not only that, I was gaining weight rapidly. This last Christmas, I saw myself in a picture and hated my body all over again. When I finally got up the courage to step on the scale, I realized I had gained about 18 lbs last year alone! I couldn't believe it. Especially since I'd thought that I was eating healthy enough and doing the whole foods thing. Processed foods were out, so why was I gaining the weight?

At that point, I decided to do something about it. I called my cousin, who is a health coach for Take Shape for Life, and told her I was ready. Exercise hadn't ever been too much of a problem for me, but I needed a good kick in the butt to really start eating right. I had seen the results on her and others, but still wasn't totally sure this was going to work. But I started it anyway.

Then the weight started falling off. In the first 2 weeks, I had lost 14 lbs. After about 7 weeks, I am down 26 lbs and still losing. My clothes not only fit better, but I have my confidence back and am starting to love the way I look. And I feel the best that I have in years. It didn't take long to realize I could get exactly the body that I wanted...and be able to keep it.

You can too!

Don't talk yourself into believing that you will never have the body that you want. The life that you want. It all starts with a dream. Wave that magic wand and figure out what your dream is. Then start to believe you can do it. If I can do it after years of failed diets, you can too! Let's do this together.

Are you ready?

Low Glycemic Foods

What are low glycemic foods and why are they used in the TSFL program?

The Glycemic Index (GI) was created as a way to determine the level of carbohydrates in foods and the impact they have on blood sugar. When we eat high glycemic foods (i.e. russet potatoes, white bread, pretzels, graham crackers, etc), insulin gets turned on and stimulates an enzyme that then turns on the fat storage system. In contrast, when we eat low glycemic foods, insulin doesn't need to come in and the food doesn't get stored as fat, rather gets used as an energy source.

When we eat a lot of high glycemic foods, what happens throughout the day is our blood sugar is constantly being spiked and then drops very low again. This can happen several times a day, all the while insulin levels are staying high, which is keeping the fat storage system turned on.

What are the benefits of eating a low-glycemic diet?

   - Maintains metabolism during weight loss
   - Maintains cardiovascular health
   - Prevents diseases (like Type II diabetes and heart disease)
   - Increased energy (no crashes from huge drops in blood sugar after a spike)
   - Improved mood

Take Shape for Life promotes a low-glycemic diet during weight loss and afterwards as you maintain your weight. This proven program helps you lose weight and keep it off for good. During the weight loss phase, the 5-and-1 plan, you will be eating low-glycemic meal replacements and then a healthy lean and green meal made of low glycemic lean proteins and vegetables. As you move into maintenance, you can add in more foods, but are encouraged to still eat mostly low glycemic foods to keep your blood sugar steady throughout the day. The difference with this program is that you don't just lose the weight and get forgotten or let go of everything you did during the weight loss phase. You have your full support of the health coach and will have built habits that can continue as you maintain your weight.

In my first 2 weeks on the 5-and-1 plan, I lost 14 lbs and 5 inches overall. I can't even begin to describe to you how amazing I feel. For the first time in my adult life, I don't feel like I need caffeine and am not having any cravings whatsoever. I went into this program thinking I would be starving and not have any energy since I wasn't getting my lattes for evening shifts at work. I was completely wrong. With 6 meals a day, I'm eating so regularly that I rarely even get hungry. I'm also not getting those crashes after a meal. Keeping your blood sugar steady makes an immediate difference that you can feel.

Do you want more information about Take Shape for Life's low-glycemic diet? Email me at dream.believe.commit@gmail.com.