Drink all the water!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pee all the time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You know you are drinking enough water when you walk by the bathroom and think 'well... as long as I'm here, I'd better go..."

Well... that's all I got. There just isn't a lot of humor in water consumption. 

So, as of last Friday (Sept 12th), I've lost 34.8 lbs since June 7th, 2014.  Which is awesome! My clothes are looser, and more and more friends, family and colleagues are noticing the differences! That's my bragging for the day.

I have been delaying this blog for a couple weeks now. Water just isn't funny or interesting, but it is a vital part of dieting. For me, drinking water (or anything!) is a struggle. Let me tell you, the struggle is real! If I have one little excuse, I will let myself off the hook and not drink like I should. My goal each day is to drink a gallon. To get the amount you are supposed to drink a day, you follow a formula. You cut your weight in half and drink that number in ounces (100 lbs, you need to drink 50 oz). That's a lot of aqua... In total transparency, I haven't met this goal in a few weeks. And for about two weeks, I was lucky to get a bottle! I did see the amount of weight I was losing decrease. I'm going to stop letting myself down - I'm going to drink my goal every day.

Water drinking is so important. This is something everyone knows... and lots of people, me included, ignore. Every diet (even the crazy ones... except maybe that tapeworm thing) tells you to drink water, and to drink at least 8, 8oz glasses. There is reasons why drinking water is a dieting/healthy eating requirement. The biggest perk to this drinking water thing is that it kick starts your metabolism. But there are other good reasons for keeping a bottle of Aquafina near by... Some of the benefits of drinking include but aren't limited to calorie control - you may not actually be hungry, you could be thirsty! It makes your skin look better. Your muscles won't be as fatigued -- they will increase their awesome! Your bowels will work properly - poop happier! Your kidneys will function better - they get rid of the toxins in your body. You want them to function. So you get my point - that water is important. Drink up!

It's not a DIET it's a LIFESTYLE Change. Period.

 Wow, that Lean Cuisine  really filled me up! ~Said no one ever.

 

There is no diet that will do what healthy eating does. Skip the diet, just eat healthy. 

The picture above is me at weight loss of about 28 lbs. Before was taken March 31st, 2014 and after was taken August 20th, 2014. At this point, even I can see the changes. And I like seeing the changes, a lot! This picture is also a bit dated because as of Friday of last week (8/29/14) I reached a new milestone of having lost over 30 lbs! 31 pounds to be exact! The magic solution was healthy, reasonable eating. Which I have outlined in another blog titled "The Plan a.k.a. The Diet." Essentially, I'm not on a "diet," I'm on the road to a lifestyle change of healthy eating and exercise. What I eat is what I provide my family to eat. Healthy, nutritious meals with a side of Kick-My-Own-Ass exercise.

The whole "lifestyle change" thing may sound cliche, yeah, I get it. But it's real. Something that has been a hard lesson to learn is: there is no magic antidote  for weight loss. There is a lot of garbage out there that parades itself around as the magic cure ("not only will you shed pounds fast, but it will be permanent!" "Ahhh! Let me open my wallet!" said everyone who didn't want to work for it...) for weight loss. Fad diets, yep, I've tried them ALL (...err... most of them after some research, I have NOT tried the tapeworm, you will be happy to learn) and guess what? At the end, I was still fat. And super grumpy for eating only cabbage for a week. News flash for you: water weight comes back. OH, SNAP!

For fun... Here are some popular fad diets. 

• Eat for your Blood Type diet. Really? So, after a lot of research there is literally no evidence that there is any founding for this diet. I never tried this fad, but I do remember as a teenager, adults in my life discussing this. A blood type? You should be a vegetarian. O? Better not eat wheat. Ever. Again. 

• The hCG Diet. So let me get this straight... you get injected with a hormone extracted from pregnant woman's pee, then have to restrict your diet to 500 calories a day? Wait, what?!?! Ok, so the hCG stuff... treats infertility. All hCG products are required to come with a little label that says "not intended for weight loss." There is no conclusive evidence (per legit researchers, not just me) that suggests hCG works for weight loss. And let's just discuss this whole 500 calories busiess. The average healthy adult consumes about 2,600 calories a day. 500 qualifies as anorexia nervosa. Rewind, read again. Anorexia. By the way, anorexia will cause damage to every organ in your body, not to mention cause you to lose your hair, depression, and more. Attractive. 

• The Cabbage Soup Diet. This one is my favorite fad diet to joke about. And yep, been there, done that. I did loose weight. And I gained it right back by breathing. No, really, I gained it back by eating a regular diet. Basically, this diet is low carb, low protein, and low vital nutrients your body needs. What you are loosing (and what I lost) is water weight. So aside from the aspiring menu you are limited to (I'll have cabbage with a side of... um... cabbage) you get to look forward to... putting it back on. Yummy.  

If you can maintain the "diet" forever, then it isn't a diet, it's a lifestyle change. Cliche and all! HA!