Okay so it has been way too long since I posted on here. I apologize for the delay but now I'm back and in full effect. :)  I have been doing really good with sticking to my healthy eating regimen. I eat mostly raw foods during the week, like fruits, salads, nuts, fresh juice and fruit smoothies. Friday thru Sunday I eat whatever I want to indulge in but I think I'm still going to try to incorporate more healthy foods along with it on the weekend too. I just recently got sick with a cold and it was after a weekend of indulging in not so healthy foods. I'm wondering if it weakened my immune system to eat like that on those days and not include enough raw foods or juice with it. I haven't gotten sick in ages!! I'm feeling better now that I put mostly raw foods back in my system. I was so proud of myself I did not take any cold medicine to fight the cold, I just did it naturally which seemed to make the symptoms less severe and I had more periods of relief. I have also been keeping up with my exercise schedule. Even when I was sick I still got something in. So I'm happy about that!

My tip to everyone is to write down your work out schedule, put it somewhere you can see it and exercise even when you don't feel like it. Just stick to it and make it a new habit in your life. I exercise daily and take one to two days off to rest. I do cardio most days and strength training on the other days. Although you may not feel like getting started, you will feel great after you are finished! Please feel free to post or send me any questions you may have. Until next time! :)

How I loss the weight! Part 2

Ok so let me start off by saying juice fasting is not for everyone.  Please check with your doctor before you start any kind of change to your diet or eating regimen if you have health concerns.  That being said, I love to juice! Everyone should have a juicer. I had no idea that I would love fresh veggies and fruits mixed together in a juice so much! My 30 day juice fast took a lot of focus, discipline and preparation. I stocked my fridge with nothing buts fruits and veggies from the farmers market. I had already gotten rid of all the junk/processed foods in the house so that was taken care of. I bought 32oz cups so I could make my juice in the morning and take it to work for lunch. The first week was the hardest but because my body was now use to getting more fresh foods the detoxification process wasn't as difficult and I knew what to expect. I found that it was more of a challenge mentally than it was physically to do the juice fast.  My body adjusted to having only liquids and I was hardly ever hungry because I made sure I drank plenty of juice and water through out the day. I honestly didn't realize how many social activities revolve around getting together and eating.  So sometimes that part of it was difficult.  I told myself if I can do this for thirty days that means I can make up mind to make a complete lifestyle change and stick with it. I lost seventeen pounds from this juice fast and had tons of energy! When I finished the fast I wrote out an exercise and healthy eating regimen that works well for me that I could follow consistently through out the week. By the way this the juicer I use if you are interested in starting to juice. You can also get it from Walmart.

I'm not worried about gaining the weight back because I know I am committed to sticking to this lifestyle change.  It's not just about the numbers on the scale anymore.  It's about eating healthier foods more and staying active.  I have made it a top priority in my life instead of putting it last.  No more excuses for me.  
You can live a healthier lifestyle too if you desire.  You don't have to do it exactly the way I did it because everyone is different in what will work for them but you can definitely do it. And I would be happy to help you along the journey.  I won't say I eat perfectly all the time because I don't but I eat a lot more healthy foods like raw fruits/veggies and juice during the week than I ever have in the past and it feels great. I allow the weekends for some of the cheat foods but even those foods don't taste as good as they use to. Your body will actually start craving fresh foods the more you eat them.  It's quite amazing. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to work together to achieve your wellness and weight loss goals.
 More to Come. :)

Good afternoon all. Here are my before and after pics as promised. The first pic was taken in 2009. The second pic was taken in November 2011 and the third pic is my current June 2012. My weight would tend to fluctuate through out the years. I would get serious about trying a new diet or exercise program, throw myself into it, lose some weight then get tired of it and gain all over again. It was a never ending cycle until I decided to change my mindset and develop a healthier lifestyle. I have no doubt in mind that I will be able to maintain these changes now that I have a different mindset about fitness and eating healthy.

Here's some of what I did to lose the weight and change my mindset. I started losing some weight at the end of 2011. Maybe a couple of pounds. I lost this weight by counting calories and keeping track of what I ate which was very helpful in the beginning. I used the calorie counter on www.livestrong.com The website has some great tools to help you track your daily food intake, calorie intake, nutritional values and exercise regimen.  I was able to clearly see how many calories I was taking in and how many I was burning through exercising.  Having visual tools in front of you always helps. I would read the labels for everything I purchased and wrote down my calorie intake for anything I ate. This can be a great way to get started because it makes you have to stop and really pay attention to what you eating and how much of it your eating. Programs like weight watchers kind of work like that. You tend to eat smaller portions because you are trying not to go over a certain amount of calories for the day. It works well but it wasn't something I wanted to do on a long term basis. I didn't just want to eat less I wanted to eat healthier!

I think one of the biggest things that encouraged me to start eating healthier was watching the documentary Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead! You can watch it here http://www.hulu.com/watch/289122 or on Netflix if you have it. If the video on the hulu website starts buffering you can pause it for a few minutes and then click play again it should play for longer without getting stuck.  This video encouraged me to start a seven day juice fast. In those seven days I lost seven pounds. Juicing entails juicing fresh fruits and veggies in a juice extractor. For those seven days I drank live healthy fruits and veggies and nothing else.  It wasn't easy but it definitely helped me start eating a lot more fruits and veggies on a daily basis when I was finished with the fast. I also started exercising more consistently. After a few weeks of adjusting to that I decided to try a 30 day juice fast. I will share more details about that in my my next post. Be sure to check back in next week and let me know if you have any questions. I would happy to help you with your weight loss/health journey in anyway that I can. :)

Hello Everyone! I started this blog to reach out and help anyone who may be struggling to lose weight, get in shape and be healthier. What I have learned through my own journey of losing weight and eating healthier overall is that dedication and consistency are the two most important things you will need to stay fit and healthy for life. I had to learn to prioritize my health and fitness goals. Once I did that the weight came off a lot easier and stayed off. I just recently realized that since the end of 2011 I have lost 37 pounds total. I'm eating better and have more energy.  I'm very proud of my accomplishments and I'm excited because I am now dedicated to staying fit and healthy for life! Once you make up your mind to stick to your goals there will be no stopping you! If you would like to receive individual support and weight loss coaching please feel free to email me at mnwilson28@hotmail.com.  You can also check out my website at http://www.dedicatedtofitnessforlife.com  I'm a professional therapist and life coach by trade and right now I'm offering 4 free weight loss coaching sessions to anyone who may be interested.  Also if you have any questions or comments please feel free to post them.  I'm really passionate about helping people reach their fitness goals and go after their dreams!!  My Before and After Pictures will be coming soon. I'm working on creating the body of my dreams. :) More to come soon!