End of Week 6!

End of week six:

Total weight loss to date: 29.1

Pictures

 Sticking gut out

 Sucking gut in

 Flexing

 

 Measurements

Waist 57.5

Neck 19

Arm relaxed 16.5

Arm Flexed 18

Leg 29

Where pants sit 59

We were waiting...

So first we were waiting for Thom to hit the coveted 'fat burning zone' where he would no longer be hungry between meals. That happened around day 7 for him. Yay for not having the constant hunger pains! That increased our excitement for the plan! But before we shared this plan with the all we know and love we were waiting for the plan to get easy. A week ago we went to a Take Shape For Life meeting where some leaders in the business share their story and success and then teach those in attendance how they can get the same success! I had been to one before and I was excited to have Thom come with me to this one. In the meeting we both felt the LOVE and the fire began to grow within us. Can I just say that I LOVE how much they talk about LOVE in these meetings?! It's not about money or numbers. It's about LOVE. This program is built around LOVE and without love you cannot and will not succeed as a health coach but also as a client. You must love yourself enough to push through the day to day as you begin to change your life.

Ok let me stop there. I want to talk about CHANGE.

Thom and I were waiting for easiness to come into this change he is going through. But that same day that we went to the inspiring TSFL meeting we both had a major, life changing, break through. ITS NOT GOING TO BE EASY. The easy part to TSFL is not needing to stress/figure out what you will eat or not eat for 5 of your 6 meals a day. The perfectly balanced meal replacements are the EASY or SIMPLE part to this plan. But real change. Now that is not easy nor is it supposed to be easy.

We were driving home from the meeting and I noticed Thom was a lil grumpy. It was a Saturday. All he wanted to do was to sit on the couch, eat pizza, and watch MMA fights on the TV. But he couldn't do all of that. And just watching MMA fights would not give him the 'satisfaction' that he was in search of if there wasn't pizza involved. He was upset that he could not accomplish his greatest desire for that day. I kept asking if there was anything I could do to cheer him up for the day. He said no each time I offered. AND THEN....the big BREAKTHROUGH occurred! I realized that him being grumpy was actually a good thing. I know weird, but hang in there with me. Him being grumpy meant that he was making the RIGHT choice and NOT giving in to his greatest desire for that day. He was going to stick to the plan, eat his meal replacements and lean and green instead of eating an entire pizza. And what could I do for him?!!!!  This was huge for us here people...I could ALLOW him to be grumpy and stop trying to fix/help him. In fact I could even praise him for it because he was making the right choice even though his mood would not be ideal for the day. He has a legitimate addiction to food.  It had been 3 weeks since he had his 'addiction' and he was going through all types of withdrawals. He posted on facebook these pictures:

These are the temptations he has overcome in the first 3 weeks of doing the plan. Pizza, pastries, cookies...these are some of his most favorite foods. At work they have been having party after party with nothing but junk to eat at them. He has fought the fight and come off conqueror thus far but it has not been EASY!

I know he is going to continue to stick to the plan. We have had great success thus far and we both feel guided to this plan. We KNOW it is going to be the key to us living our lives together OPTIMALLY healthy instead of just in survivial. But we now both know the journey will not be easy. But it will be worth it! I am so incredibly proud of my amazing husband! He fights an extremely hard fight every single day. As his wife and health coach I am thrilled to be his number 1 cheerleader in this fight and to be there for him every single step of the way.!

Me a Health Coach?

I've felt many emotions since this journey of ours has begun. I have been excited, overwhelmed, terrified, nervous and insecure. For whatever reason and much to my surprise I feel very much led to this decision to become a health coach. I initially joined up only to save on the cost of the program for my husband. BUT as i learn more and more I am more and more impressed upon that I NEED to be a health coach. I am not sure why. I can see how it would make me grow in many ways with the incredible bonus of helping others along the way but I admittedly feel very insecure in how much I can contribute. I still have SO much to learn. I am far from feeling like I have reached my optimal health but I know my feet are at least on the path in the right direction.

I am VERY uncomfortable about the idea of 'selling' myself and this program to others. EXCEPT I KNOW that this program can help so many others and so it lessons the discomfort a TINY bit. I do LOVE to help others. I think that is what entices me the most about this journey. It's that Thom and I could be able to help others get the success and the health that they have longed dreamed for. Thom is now on day 9 and feeling GREAT! I am sure he will post soon with more details. But the thing that we were both concerned was just a myth actually occurred and is real after all. He is no longer hungry. His body has accepted this as a new way of life and is rolling with it beautifully. He is officially in what is called 'fat burning'.  I know this is what is going to work for him and for us. I have full confidence and faith that we were led to this program at the most perfect time. This is the year. OUR YEAR! We are going to become a healthy couple, family and individual and hopefully we are blessed to help others along the way!

I know I have so much more to learn still. I know that this will be so good for me in so many ways. I am going to be pushed out of my comfort zone. Although I really don't like being uncomfortable, I know that with this discomfort will come growth. I am excited to help others by being their health coach. I may not know what it is like to struggle with weight first hand but I do know what it is like to not love yourself. And as we journey toward optimal health that self love that so many of us have struggled with will increase immensely, I just know it. I know I can help others if they will let me. And I am so excited for the opportunities that I am hopeful will come.

It's going to be okay. In fact it's going to be great! I can do this. Thom can do this. We can do this. You can do this.

Day 6
This is Thom.  Today was a challenge but I pulled through! The nice thing is that I think my body is starting to adjust to the lower calories and smaller portions. The only time I really felt hungry was right after my "Lean and Green" lunch. I ate a chicken salad with a large amount of romaine lettuce and spinach, plus some tiny tomatoes and a drizzle of olive oil. Is it just me or do vegetables make other people hungrier after eating them? I swear that's the case for me. Give me two slices of toast and I'm feeling ok; give me 5 lbs of lettuce and I feel like Roto-Rooter just went to town in my stomach. The feeling might have been exacerbated by the fact that our team had a pretty major software launch recently and to celebrate they bought huge pizzas from The Pie and a large box of fresh-made cookies. It all smelled so good.

Fortunately, I had already decided that I was NOT going to eat anything there and went to my office cafeteria and created my now standard lunch. I ate it while everyone around me ate incredible pizza. I'm not going to lie, it looked and smelled very good. But, I had a plan and I stuck to it. I had to step back from my desire to eat and realize that this was just a moment, and the moment would be over soon, and then it would make way for the next moment. That moment could include the lingering taste of pizza breath, a satisfied tummy, a lethargic feeling, slightly tighter pants, and disappointment, OR a vegetable hungry tummy, spinach breath (which doesn't seem to last as long as pizza breath), a lighter more energized feeling, and slightly looser pants. Once I saw the outcome from this moment, it became easier to choose which moment I wanted to experience next.

 Aside from my veggie hunger, which eventually passed, I felt pretty good on the hunger scale. I'd say if a 1 = the level of hunger right after Thanksgiving dinner and pie and 10 = the level of hunger after a few days of fasting, I'd say I averaged about a 4.8. Hungry enough to probably down a Whopper without pausing, but satisfied enough that I didn't feel hangry or deprived.  I image that might be where most healthy people stay.  I'm not sure though. I'll ask around.

I just said no to this

Jamie already mentioned how hard Saturday was, but I'll add some detail.

I stayed up late Friday night and slept in Saturday. I then waited too long to eat my first meal and I think that is really from where much of the difficulty came. I felt like each meal I ate from there just took me from being crazy hungry to pretty hungry and I just couldn't catch up with that satisfied feeling I craved. Add this to the fact that this was my first day doing this from home and didn't have the bustle of work to occupy my mind and was in a place where I could, if I wanted to, pour a bowl of cereal at any time to put me out of my misery. It was tough. Fortunately, I pulled through. I did end up having to drive through the beginnings of a snow storm to buy some dill pickles (I admit I giggled a bit as I was walking to our door with a jar of pickles in hand like I was carrying a bag of Reese's).

So how is it going so far for me really? I'd have to say, so far so good, but if the hunger doesn't subside, I have a hard time predicting sticking with this for the long-term.

On the plus side, it is REALLY nice to have relatively great tasting, pre-prepared, quick snacks that I can just throw in my laptop bag and have when I need them. I've also packed a few spares in my bag and office just in case I get stuck somewhere without my food when it's time to eat. The bars, in particular, are great. I've also enjoyed the honey mustard pretzels, brownie, and ziti.

Also, I already feel the difference of eating smaller quantities of food at regular, short intervals. I feel lighter inside. I'm not sure if that makes sense, but that's how it feels. I'm not tired after lunch at work and I feel more energized in general. It helps too that I'm already down 9.5 pounds!

So, I'll stick with it for this next week and see how it goes.

Day 4

According to my health coach mentor, Thom should be in fat burning by now which will be evident by how he will no longer feel so much hunger and low energy. Today is a Saturday. The first day home around food and a less busy schedule. The hangry has increased today. He did not exercise today nor will he tomorrow so we are hoping he will get into the fat burning cycle soon!  But lets be honest, we are both skeptical that in the fat burning cycle he will not feel hunger anymore. This is a lot less calories he is used to and he strongly dislikes the feeling of hunger especially after consuming a 'meal'.  He is dedicated to continue for another week.  And if he is still struggling he has decided he will stop exercising for a week. On the BRIGHT side though he has already lost 10 lbs on the scale!  This is a huge motivating factor in deciding to continue despite the discomfort. He flies to Fiji for work in February and every pound he can lose before then will make that long flight that much more bearable.
After speaking with my health coach mentor she informed us that he could add a little more protein each day as well as one of the approved snacks to help with the hunger.  He discovered dill pickles this evening with much rejoicing!  He savored every bite of those and they did help immensely with the feelings of hunger and grumpiness.

Day 2-3

As one starts the TSFL plan it is recommended that the individual does not begin exercising at the same time. It is recommended that you let your body adjust to the lower calorie intake for several weeks before adding exercise. Well Thom received a generous gift from his parents for Christmas that was a 3 month membership at a fancy gym by where he works. The best part is that his brother also is a member and they have begun meeting there at 630 am this week to workout together. Because the membership is already underway Thom does not feel he can take 2-3 weeks off from going to the gym, however we're concerned that this will keep his body from fully adjusting and accepting the change in food and beginning the sought after fat burning cycle. Thom and I are anxious to see how long it takes to get into the coveted fat burning mode where supposedly he will no longer be so hungry which leads to being hangry (hungry+angry) as well as a lower dose of energy. These days have been challenging for Thom. The food is continuing to be tasty for the most part but he is still feeling too much hunger to be content. He is not ready to give up. But he is currently skeptical that this is something he could maintain for long.