Sheryl Crow’s not wrong, friends (it’s a good song, too!). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDwLPMOzHLY
To begin, a little background info is needed. The last four and a half years of my life have been a whirlwind. At the end of July 2011, I took control of my life by ending a toxic relationship and found roller derby. Since then, roller derby has been my life. Between skating on my league’s charter roster, serving on the Board of Directors, and becoming an announcer, I was beyond busy. Overall, it’s fantastic, but there really can be too much of a good thing. To quote the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, I was “single-minded to the point of recklessness.”
The pressure cooker of league leadership in 2015 was not something I handled well. Thankfully, it’s behind me, although the results of stress eating for half of last year are not.
Here we are, starting off 2016, with a new season ahead of us. That brings me back to this entry’s title.
This year, I have opted out of my rostered skater status, and joined my league’s fantastic coaching crew. The opportunity to use my skill set to work with skaters and assist them in achieving their goals is an honor. Our first practice of the year is on Monday, and I’m super excited. No joke; I CAN’T EVEN. 😀
During the second half of 2015, I became a junkatarian. Sure, the foods I ate didn’t include animal products. They didn’t exactly contain real food, either. Oreos, for example, are vegan, but are completely devoid of nutritional value. Basically, the things I consumed contained LOTS of sugar. Sugar is deadly, and some studies claim it is addictive as crack cocaine. I can understand it, having been sucked into the sugar trap on many occasions. Knowing myself, I’m aware that habits can be broken. Also, that a plan is needed to break my bad habits.
Mindless eating has been one of my biggest issues. My office receives cakes, cookies, and numerous goodies from the companies we represent. Junk food is in my face every day, it seems. Combine that with sitting at a desk for 7.5 hours per day; it’s bad news for your body.
“Put it in your mouth…” NO; really, don’t do it!
While eating a slice of cheesecake for breakfast (for the third day in a row), sitting in the break room, the thought hit me: DIABEETUS. My family has many type 2 diabetics, all diagnosed at an older age (50+). I need to do my best to improve my health. WTF was I thinking?! That’s the moment I woke up and realized a big change was needed. I knew better, especially since becoming a vegetarian after losing my Mom to a genetic form of colon cancer in 2014 (a plant based diet is a smart preventative choice, per DFCI). I definitely knew better!
Thankfully, I have a head start in avoiding sugar. Soda is not a factor (I don’t drink it), and when I drink coffee or tea, it’s without sugar. In addition, extra calories from alcohol aren’t a problem since giving it up in 2014. If it were possible to survive on Polar seltzer, I would.
The goal: remove added sugar from my diet and lose approximately 40 lbs (in a healthy, sustainable way) by the end of June 2016.
The plan: swap quinoa and brown rice for pasta, limit dairy intake, and avoid mindless eating.
Today is day seven of my new plan. Regarding added sugar, my intake consisted of a single piece of chocolate, an ice cream cone, and a small butter cookie. Otherwise, there’s no added sugar to report.
FYI: READ ALL FOOD LABELS! Added sugar is EVERYWHERE. Last week, it took visits to three grocery stores to find almond butter without sugar added (I’ll touch on this topic in a future post).
Instead of mindless eating and snacking, I enjoyed tea, and waited until actually hungry to eat.
Starting weight: 222 lbs.
This morning’s weigh-in: 215.4
WHAAAAAAT?! The results of my first week are surprising and keeping me motivated.
Each week, I plan to blog about my progress, challenges, yummy recipes, derby, and the generally awesome. Stay tuned, and thanks for reading! If you’d like to recommend topics for future posts, drop me at line: bootifulbanshee@gmail.com
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