Staring over.

Hello there. I was reading a blog the other day, I wish I could remember who's, and she wrote that she loves leap year because it was like a fresh start, an extra day, a do it over and try again day. So I took her advice to heart.

On Feb 25th I got the flu and I couldn't keep any food down, I lost 6 pounds in couple days, my stomach shrunk because I wasn't eating, and I kicked my coffee habit. Why did I, someone who never gets sick, let alone the Flu, get sick now, when I was just about to start my diet? I am the kind of person to find the good, the light, in every little thing. Even the Flu. So I was feeling better by leap day, I was on the computer reading about all sorts of diets (I hate that word by the way) and different types if healthy food life changes. I said to myself, "Sasha, to lose weight you need to lose that fat girl thinking." What is fat girl thinking (FGT) you ask? It's the "need" for a candy bar when you have a craving. It's buying cookies at the store because you didn't eat lunch and eating them all in the car before you get home so your mom doesn't see the wrapper. It's not taking care of your self nutritiously. It's not loving your body.

Yes, I know I always say I love myself. I do. I'm smart, beautiful, funny, and everything else that the people around me say I am. But do I truly love myself? I had to think about that. I kinda do. I thought I did anyway. Until I decided to stop FGT. So I did. I said enough is enough. I'm going to treat my body right. I'm going to listen to my stomach. I eat slowly so that I can actually tell when I'm getting full and I stop. If I get hungry in another hour I'll eat, but I haven't been getting "hungry" in an hour, I get hungry in 4 or 5 hours.

I decided the best way to lose weight and to be healthy, because the latter is much more important, is to real food. Yes, you can argue that all the food we eat is "real" but I mean REALLY real. Like, if I can't pronounce it, I ain't gonna eat it. Of course, I can't just throw out everything in the house and start over, I'm not wasteful, but I'm starting. I try to only eat processed when I need to and less processed, the better. I'm avoiding HFCS, and corn syrup solids, and any other corn sugar crap, and all sugar in general except for fruit sugar.

Your liver does a couple things, protein synthesis, breaks down insulin, stores vitamins, and DETOXIFIES YOUR BODY. So doesn't it make sense that the less it has to detox, the more is can do GOOD for your body. I think so and so does this video I watched on BeyondDiet.com. You have to pay to be a member, but I watched the free video and it gave me a little incite, so I did some research of my own. I've been counting my calories and I noticed that on the days that I have more processed foods I tend to lose less weight in the morning, even though I'm drink more than enough water to make up for the extra sodium intake and I'm have about the same number of calories and carbs. Interesting right?

Yeah, that guy that did the Twinky diet lost weight but he probably would have lost is faster if he was eating the same amount of calories in fresh vegetables and lean proteins. And his liver and everything else would probably be healthier, too.

So back to the beginning, I started over around Leap day. And I'm doing good. It's more than just calories in-calories out, it's about being healthy and treating my body right. No more FGT. Just love. Oh, and I lost 8 more pounds since then. Go me! I'm 14 pounds less and I've just started to scratch the surface of what is within me.

Sasha