Ten months ago today, I stopped drinking soda. I didn't gradually wean myself off of them. I went cold turkey. I expected it to be a grueling personal challenge, something that I would miss as much as if I'd dropped a part of my personal identity. After all, soda drinking was something I'd always done.
I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it wasn't that hard to let go of this. I found ways to give myself acceptable alternatives, things I could have instead of soda that meant I didn't have to feel deprived. I learned to make different choices, taking tea instead of soda or water if there wasn't anything else available. The months went on, and I found that I very rarely missed soda, and usually only when I was really thirsty was I even tempted to drink it.
I had expected, as most people who told me about giving up soda had reported, weight loss to accompany this. It didn't happen. In fact, my body stubbornly refused to shed pounds or inches. It did, however, cause me to start examining my life to see where I was maybe making choices that were self-defeating in terms of the weight loss I wanted to achieve.
I began to realize that I was adding sugar into everything I drank - sometimes two or three tablespoons worth. And that was adding up to a lot of extra calories that weren't helping me gain control of my weight. So, I stopped doing that. I started drinking things without adding sugar to them. The needle began to budge, just barely, on my weight loss goals.
I entered into the Isabody challenge, dramatically altering my diet and habits. Bigger changes came. A healthier body began to show itself. I began to feel better about myself and to feel better in general. I shed over 25 inches and 18 pounds of undesired body fat. I have also become much more sensitive to sugar and need far less of it in my food to find that it tastes good to me.
Going without soda didn't prove to be the magic bullet I had hoped it would be, but it did many good things for me. It was as if making that one big decision in my life paved the way for me to re-examine my life and make a decision to make other, equally important, changes to the way I was living. I think that's probably the most important thing I've taken away from this journey.
I still have two months to go. My husband's been asking me if I plan to celebrate the end of my year with a soda. I haven't decided yet, but I don't think so. To be honest, I think I want to celebrate the end of my year without soda with a book. A book I can be proud to have written about my journey to a soda-free lifestyle. And maybe with that book, I can encourage other people who may have been thinking about giving up soda but have been hesitant to try it themselves.
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
3 Days from Month 9 No Soda Challenge, 60 Days Isabody Challenge
It's hard for me to believe. In just three months, I'll have completed my year without soda. What I thought would be the most challenging part, proved to be the easiest. That was the giving up of soda. What I thought would be the easiest part - losing weight after giving up soda - has proven to be the hardest for me.
I am 60 days into my Isabody challenge. I have shed a total of 25.5 inches of unwanted body fat. Sadly, I haven't lost anything since I posted the last time. But, that's mostly because I stopped being faithful to the Isadiet and stopped adding in the extra exercise I'd been doing. Those choices kicked my butt and for about a week, I went from losing weight to slowly having it creep back into place.
Let me tell you - it was an incredibly discouraging thing to take that tape measure and see those inches were starting to return. Part of me felt like saying, "Well, if I'm just going to end up back where I was what's the point of all this?" but, that was the negative part of me. It's the part that has kept me from being as proactive about my weight as I should have been all along.
The other part of me said, "Okay, if I'm putting the weight back on, let's take a look at the choices I've been making and get back to doing what was working."
I realized I had dropped my planking. I had reached being able to hold the plank for a full 70 seconds and then let laziness take over and gave up doing it. I wasn't following the Isadiet. I was only taking one shake a day rather than the recommended two, and I wasn't keeping my snack choices healthy.
I'm happy to report, though, that putting the exercise back in its place - in addition to all the walking I do - and getting back on top of my diet resulted in me being at maintenance of the inches lost rather than having lost ground. I'm making sure I eat right, eat regularly, and keep my hands off the sweets. It's okay every once in a while, but when it becomes a consistent part of my diet, it quickly becomes a real problem.
What I've learned from this experience is that bad habits are easy to fall back into, but those bad habits can quickly undo all the progress you've gained from making good choices. You have to be vigilant about your choices, and you have to keep measuring yourself to make sure you're headed in the direction you want to be headed. Running from the tape measure won't help.
I think that's true about any positive change we want to make in life. We need to find a measuring tape for our changes, use it regularly, and keep track of the positive gains we've made. We also need to be honest about where we've fallen short and take steps to get ourselves back on track as soon as we're aware of the problem. Losing the weight is a harder battle for me than it might be for some, but it's a battle I'm determined to win.
I am 60 days into my Isabody challenge. I have shed a total of 25.5 inches of unwanted body fat. Sadly, I haven't lost anything since I posted the last time. But, that's mostly because I stopped being faithful to the Isadiet and stopped adding in the extra exercise I'd been doing. Those choices kicked my butt and for about a week, I went from losing weight to slowly having it creep back into place.
Let me tell you - it was an incredibly discouraging thing to take that tape measure and see those inches were starting to return. Part of me felt like saying, "Well, if I'm just going to end up back where I was what's the point of all this?" but, that was the negative part of me. It's the part that has kept me from being as proactive about my weight as I should have been all along.
The other part of me said, "Okay, if I'm putting the weight back on, let's take a look at the choices I've been making and get back to doing what was working."
I realized I had dropped my planking. I had reached being able to hold the plank for a full 70 seconds and then let laziness take over and gave up doing it. I wasn't following the Isadiet. I was only taking one shake a day rather than the recommended two, and I wasn't keeping my snack choices healthy.
I'm happy to report, though, that putting the exercise back in its place - in addition to all the walking I do - and getting back on top of my diet resulted in me being at maintenance of the inches lost rather than having lost ground. I'm making sure I eat right, eat regularly, and keep my hands off the sweets. It's okay every once in a while, but when it becomes a consistent part of my diet, it quickly becomes a real problem.
What I've learned from this experience is that bad habits are easy to fall back into, but those bad habits can quickly undo all the progress you've gained from making good choices. You have to be vigilant about your choices, and you have to keep measuring yourself to make sure you're headed in the direction you want to be headed. Running from the tape measure won't help.
I think that's true about any positive change we want to make in life. We need to find a measuring tape for our changes, use it regularly, and keep track of the positive gains we've made. We also need to be honest about where we've fallen short and take steps to get ourselves back on track as soon as we're aware of the problem. Losing the weight is a harder battle for me than it might be for some, but it's a battle I'm determined to win.
Thursday, April 30, 2015
8 Months Without Soda, Day 36 IsaBody Challenge
For the first time in my life, I dieted. I stopped putting sugar in my drinks and I started counting calories. It took me six weeks of that before I saw a very small movement on the measuring tape, although nothing was moving on the scale. It was frustrating and defeating.
Thirty-six days ago I said yes to an offer from my little sister to try out a program she'd been using successfully. I wasn't expecting much. The first day, I wanted to pack it back up and send it back to the company she'd bought it from. The shakes they wanted me to take didn't taste "delicious" as advertised. I thought, "If they aren't honest about how this stuff tastes, how can I trust them in any other aspect of their business?"
However, there was the Isabody Challenge. I could potentially win myself $25,000 just for putting myself on their system for 30 days and seeing how it went. I asked myself whether I would be willing to do this on a dare if there was $25,000 involved - and I had to admit that the answer was "YES!" That's when I knuckled down and decided to give it my best. After all, at this point, I didn't have anything - except unwanted weight - to lose.
I've only lost 5 lbs in the 30 days I've been on this program. However, what I've lost even more of than pounds is inches. By my husband's advice, I'm going to reveal before and after pics as well as a inches comparison chart.
| Day 1 | Day 35 | Inches Lost | |
| Neck | 14.25 | 13.75 | 0.50 |
| Upper Arm - Left | 15.50 | 14.25 | 1.25 |
| Upper Arm - Right | 15.00 | 15 | 0.00 |
| Chest | 42.50 | 39.5 | 3.00 |
| Diaphragm | 38.00 | 34.5 | 3.50 |
| Waist | 39.50 | 34.75 | 4.75 |
| Abdomen 6" Below Waist | 46.75 | 44.5 | 2.25 |
| Buttocks 9" Below Waist | 44.50 | 42.75 | 1.75 |
| Upper Thigh - Left | 26.50 | 24.5 | 2.00 |
| Upper Thigh - Right | 26.75 | 24.75 | 2.00 |
| Calf - Left | 17.50 | 17 | 0.50 |
| Calf - Right | 17.75 | 16.75 | 1.00 |
| Upper Knee - Left | 17.50 | 16.25 | 1.25 |
| Upper Knee - Right | 17.75 | 16 | 1.75 |
| Total Inches | 379.75 | 354.25 | |
| Total Inches Lost | 25.50 | ||
| Weight | 195.00 | 190 | |
| Weight Lost | 5.00 |
After struggling so hard with little to nothing to show for it, I feel so good about my results that I can't help but share it. It's not just that I love the way the numbers are dropping, it's how I feel and how my clothes fit. I'm comfortable in a size large for the first time in several years.
I still have a sizeable gut, but I have literally been watching it shrink over the last month. My gut depth is at only 2". When I first thought to measure it, it was at 3 1/2". That means I'm not just losing weight - I'm getting healthier, too. Oh! And one more thing - I can now go 70 seconds of planking. It's tough, but I can do it.
Monday, April 20, 2015
10 Days from 8 Months, Isabody Challenge Day 26
It's amazing what you can do when you get a little help doing it. When I gave up soda nearly 8 months ago, I didn't know how long my new resolution would last. Could I really go a year without soda? It just seemed so unthinkable. Now I'm almost eight months into my challenge, and not only have I remained soda free but I don't miss it.
Things that have changed: I have a new sensitivity to sugar, meaning I feel its effects faster when I eat it and I get sick sooner than I used to when I have too much of it. I no longer plow through a bag of candy in a single sitting. I can have a piece or two without feeling the craving for more. Heck, I even made it through Easter with only 3 pieces of chocolate the entire day.
My Isabody challenge is going very well. I have shed a total of 20 1/4" of unwanted body fat. I'm still not where I want to be, and the scale I bought doesn't seem to have moved (although I suspect that's because it's a cheap scale and broken), but my clothes fit better and I feel better than I have in a long time. The progress I wasn't able to make with diet and exercise changes alone are happening at record speed with the help of my new system.
No, I'm not starving myself. Nor am I going without the things I enjoy from time to time. I don't have to give up everything to get what I want, I simply have to have what I want in moderation. I'm nearly done with the first 30 days of that challenge and you can imagine that I am really eager to see where the 30 days following this one takes me. I would like to be down to a size 14 by summer, and to a size 10 by next fall.
It's cost me a little to go with this system, I'm not afraid to admit that. I've spent more than I normally would have in a month on my products. However, I decided that I am worth it, that my health is worth it, and that the expense of the products is far less than a lifetime of high blood pressure medicine and diabetes treatments, or worse.
Here's the ugly truth: Self-control isn't enough to lose weight. Diet and exercise alone, when you reach a certain point, may not be enough either. Sometimes your body may need extra help to get that weight loss started and to keep it going. Mine did, and I'm definitely glad that I decided to take advantage of that help when it was offered to me.
Just 3 weeks ago, I measured the size of my gut as to how far it protruded from my abdomen. It was 3 1/2"! That's a lot of fat sitting around your gut, and it's a very dangerous place to have fat accumulate as it leads to heart disease. Today, I measured it again. It's only 2 1/2" today. That's a whole inch of fat that is just gone. I'm so pleased.
Here are my measurements from Day 12 on April 4th:
Neck: 14 3/4"
Bust: 41 1/2"
Diaphragm: 36 1/2"
Waist: 37 1/4"
Gut: 46 1/4"
Hips: 44 1/4"
Upper left arm: 14 1/2"
left wrist: 7"
upper left thigh: 27"
Upper left knee: 17 1/4"
left calf: 17 1/2"
left ankle: 10 1/2"
Upper right arm: 15"
right wrist: 7"
Upper right thigh: 26 1/2"
Upper right knee: 17 1/2"
right calf: 17 1/2"
right ankle: 10 1/4"
Here are my measurements from Day 26, April 20th (Today):
Neck: 14"
Bust: 41"
Diaphragm: 35 3/4"
Waist: 36"
Gut: 44 1/4"
Hips: 42"
Upper left arm: 14 3/4"
left wrist: 6 3/4"
Upper left thigh: 25"
Upper left knee: 16 1/4"
left calf: 17 1/4"
left ankle: 10"
Upper right arm: 15"
right wrist: 6 3/4"
Upper right thigh: 24 3/4"
Upper right knee: 16 1/4"
Right calf: 17 1/4"
right ankle: 9 3/4"
Things that have changed: I have a new sensitivity to sugar, meaning I feel its effects faster when I eat it and I get sick sooner than I used to when I have too much of it. I no longer plow through a bag of candy in a single sitting. I can have a piece or two without feeling the craving for more. Heck, I even made it through Easter with only 3 pieces of chocolate the entire day.
My Isabody challenge is going very well. I have shed a total of 20 1/4" of unwanted body fat. I'm still not where I want to be, and the scale I bought doesn't seem to have moved (although I suspect that's because it's a cheap scale and broken), but my clothes fit better and I feel better than I have in a long time. The progress I wasn't able to make with diet and exercise changes alone are happening at record speed with the help of my new system.
No, I'm not starving myself. Nor am I going without the things I enjoy from time to time. I don't have to give up everything to get what I want, I simply have to have what I want in moderation. I'm nearly done with the first 30 days of that challenge and you can imagine that I am really eager to see where the 30 days following this one takes me. I would like to be down to a size 14 by summer, and to a size 10 by next fall.
It's cost me a little to go with this system, I'm not afraid to admit that. I've spent more than I normally would have in a month on my products. However, I decided that I am worth it, that my health is worth it, and that the expense of the products is far less than a lifetime of high blood pressure medicine and diabetes treatments, or worse.
Here's the ugly truth: Self-control isn't enough to lose weight. Diet and exercise alone, when you reach a certain point, may not be enough either. Sometimes your body may need extra help to get that weight loss started and to keep it going. Mine did, and I'm definitely glad that I decided to take advantage of that help when it was offered to me.
Just 3 weeks ago, I measured the size of my gut as to how far it protruded from my abdomen. It was 3 1/2"! That's a lot of fat sitting around your gut, and it's a very dangerous place to have fat accumulate as it leads to heart disease. Today, I measured it again. It's only 2 1/2" today. That's a whole inch of fat that is just gone. I'm so pleased.
Here are my measurements from Day 12 on April 4th:
Neck: 14 3/4"
Bust: 41 1/2"
Diaphragm: 36 1/2"
Waist: 37 1/4"
Gut: 46 1/4"
Hips: 44 1/4"
Upper left arm: 14 1/2"
left wrist: 7"
upper left thigh: 27"
Upper left knee: 17 1/4"
left calf: 17 1/2"
left ankle: 10 1/2"
Upper right arm: 15"
right wrist: 7"
Upper right thigh: 26 1/2"
Upper right knee: 17 1/2"
right calf: 17 1/2"
right ankle: 10 1/4"
Here are my measurements from Day 26, April 20th (Today):
Neck: 14"
Bust: 41"
Diaphragm: 35 3/4"
Waist: 36"
Gut: 44 1/4"
Hips: 42"
Upper left arm: 14 3/4"
left wrist: 6 3/4"
Upper left thigh: 25"
Upper left knee: 16 1/4"
left calf: 17 1/4"
left ankle: 10"
Upper right arm: 15"
right wrist: 6 3/4"
Upper right thigh: 24 3/4"
Upper right knee: 16 1/4"
Right calf: 17 1/4"
right ankle: 9 3/4"
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
No Soda Month 7, Isabody Challenge: Day 5
It was last Wednesday that I received the package in the mail with my new lifestyle kit inside of it. I looked at it with skepticism. This was going to help me to reach 40 feeling better than I did at 20? This was going to help me get healthy? Still, if I'd been bet $25,000 that I could spend 30 days on a mostly liquid diet eating one solid food meal a day, I know I'd have said yes. This system was no crazier than that.
I unpacked the items and carefully reviewed the literature, looking carefully at the labels for ingredients. Nothing crazy. Things like black pepper, cayenne pepper, and natural flavors made up what went inside. This may sound funny considering how often I used to dump things like soda and coffees and other not-so-good for you fast food products into myself, but I have always been careful with the products I choose to take. I don't like to take medicines of any kind, and I don't want anything I can't identify going in there.
The next morning, I began the program with one of the shakes. It tasted like chalk. I wondered if I was really going to make it through 30 days of this. I was also still incredibly hungry, which made me wonder if this was actually going to work for me or not. Then I re-reviewed the literature. I'd skipped a step - I'd forgotten the pre-breakfast drink.
I took a scoop of that and put it in 12 oz of warm water. I could deal with that. The hunger pangs faded away. Fortunately, I had ordered multiple flavors of the products. After experimenting with the three, I found the combination that works for me: A scoop of Strawberry-Banana and a scoop of Dutch Chocolate. If I really want to kick it up, I add a packet of their orange energy drink powder.
I struggled with my doubts on Thursday and Friday. Was this worth it? Would it work? I found myself tired sooner, sleeping better but way more than I expected Friday and Saturday night. Was this going to be the norm? Me sleeping so much? I didn't know if I could handle that kind of thing.
I woke up on Monday feeling really good and I made it through a cleanse day - No solid food for 24 hours. Important discovery: low blood sugar brings on headaches. Keep to the schedule of every 2 hours. Don't deviate. Be sure to take the snacks. The tea helps.
On Tuesday, today, I woke up feeling better than I had in a while. I won't be taking my measurements again until day 8, so I won't be able to tell you if I've lost anything since I started, but I feel better and that's worth a lot to me. I lead a busy life, and I can't afford all the slow downs that happen when you're tired and feeling down all the time.
I don't know what the results of this will be. I don't know where I'll end up. This is another twist on my journey toward a year without soda, but I will say this: I like where this part of the road is leading me. I've said it before and it's worth repeating: Once you make one change to take back control of your life, it becomes easier to make that next change - no matter what the change happens to be.
I unpacked the items and carefully reviewed the literature, looking carefully at the labels for ingredients. Nothing crazy. Things like black pepper, cayenne pepper, and natural flavors made up what went inside. This may sound funny considering how often I used to dump things like soda and coffees and other not-so-good for you fast food products into myself, but I have always been careful with the products I choose to take. I don't like to take medicines of any kind, and I don't want anything I can't identify going in there.
The next morning, I began the program with one of the shakes. It tasted like chalk. I wondered if I was really going to make it through 30 days of this. I was also still incredibly hungry, which made me wonder if this was actually going to work for me or not. Then I re-reviewed the literature. I'd skipped a step - I'd forgotten the pre-breakfast drink.
I took a scoop of that and put it in 12 oz of warm water. I could deal with that. The hunger pangs faded away. Fortunately, I had ordered multiple flavors of the products. After experimenting with the three, I found the combination that works for me: A scoop of Strawberry-Banana and a scoop of Dutch Chocolate. If I really want to kick it up, I add a packet of their orange energy drink powder.
I struggled with my doubts on Thursday and Friday. Was this worth it? Would it work? I found myself tired sooner, sleeping better but way more than I expected Friday and Saturday night. Was this going to be the norm? Me sleeping so much? I didn't know if I could handle that kind of thing.
I woke up on Monday feeling really good and I made it through a cleanse day - No solid food for 24 hours. Important discovery: low blood sugar brings on headaches. Keep to the schedule of every 2 hours. Don't deviate. Be sure to take the snacks. The tea helps.
On Tuesday, today, I woke up feeling better than I had in a while. I won't be taking my measurements again until day 8, so I won't be able to tell you if I've lost anything since I started, but I feel better and that's worth a lot to me. I lead a busy life, and I can't afford all the slow downs that happen when you're tired and feeling down all the time.
I don't know what the results of this will be. I don't know where I'll end up. This is another twist on my journey toward a year without soda, but I will say this: I like where this part of the road is leading me. I've said it before and it's worth repeating: Once you make one change to take back control of your life, it becomes easier to make that next change - no matter what the change happens to be.
Thursday, March 26, 2015
4 Days Until 7 Months
Here are my measurements from December 30th:
waist: 39"
gut: 48"
hips: 46"
bust: 43"
neck: 14 1/2"
upper left arm: 15 1/4"
left wrist: 7"
left ankle: 10 1/2"
upper right arm: 15"
right wrist: 7"
right ankle: 10"
Here are my measurements for Today, March 26th
Waist: 40.5"
Gut: 48"
Hips: 45 1/2"
bust: 43 1/2"
upper left arm: 13 1/4"
left wrist: 6 3/4"
Left ankle: 10 1/4"
Upper right arm: 14 1/4"
right wrist: 7"
right ankle: 10 1/4"
I bought a weight scale today and discovered I am 195 lbs. I need to lose about 90 pounds to get to a healthy weight for myself.
So far, I've quit drinking soda, I've given up putting extra sugar in anything, and so I decided to kick it up an extra notch. I am taking the Isabody Challenge. I will keep track of my progress with the challenge on this blog.
It's not just the money, although $25,000 would go a long way toward fulfilling some dreams of mine. It's the fact that I'm tired of being unhealthy. I want to enter my 40's looking and feeling better than I have in my whole life. That's what I'm striving to achieve - to be truly healthy for the first time in my life.
Sunday, January 25, 2015
A Tiny Bit of Progress
Just 5 days from 5 months, and I have a little bit of good news to report - at least, good news for me. The needle has budged, there's progress been made. Is it huge? No. Is it where I want to be? No. But it's progress -and progress is what keeps you going.
Yes, I did sit down and pray yesterday. I took my measurements this morning. That's always nerve wracking because I don't know what I'm going to find. I don't know if I'm going to feel encouraged or discouraged. I did feel very encouraged after taking them.
Here are my measurements from December 30th:
waist: 39"
gut: 48"
hips: 46"
bust: 43"
neck: 14 1/2"
upper left arm: 15 1/4"
left wrist: 7"
left ankle: 10 1/2"
upper right arm: 15"
right wrist: 7"
right ankle: 10"
Here are my measurements from today, January 25th:
waist: 38 1/4"
gut: 45 1/4"
hips: 45"
neck: 14 1/2"
bust: 42 1/2"
upper left arm: 15 1/2"
left wrist: 7"
left ankle: 10 1/2"
upper right arm: 15 1/4"
right wrist: 7"
right ankle: 10"
So, my clothes haven't changed in terms of fit - but what's impressive is that I can see they soon will. The gut has definitely diminished even though it's not yet where I want it to be, and there's even been a little movement around the waist. :)
Yes, I did sit down and pray yesterday. I took my measurements this morning. That's always nerve wracking because I don't know what I'm going to find. I don't know if I'm going to feel encouraged or discouraged. I did feel very encouraged after taking them.
Here are my measurements from December 30th:
waist: 39"
gut: 48"
hips: 46"
bust: 43"
neck: 14 1/2"
upper left arm: 15 1/4"
left wrist: 7"
left ankle: 10 1/2"
upper right arm: 15"
right wrist: 7"
right ankle: 10"
Here are my measurements from today, January 25th:
waist: 38 1/4"
gut: 45 1/4"
hips: 45"
neck: 14 1/2"
bust: 42 1/2"
upper left arm: 15 1/2"
left wrist: 7"
left ankle: 10 1/2"
upper right arm: 15 1/4"
right wrist: 7"
right ankle: 10"
So, my clothes haven't changed in terms of fit - but what's impressive is that I can see they soon will. The gut has definitely diminished even though it's not yet where I want it to be, and there's even been a little movement around the waist. :)
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