30 Days! We Did It!!!

The Hubby and I officially completed our 30 day detox challenge we set for ourselves. Our goal was to give the Trim Healthy Mama plan a solid 30 days effort with no cheats. This meant no sugar, no alcohol, no potatoes/white grains, low-carb and borderline gluten free. It has been a major adjustment period, but totally worth the effort!

In 30 days

My Successes:

• I've lost almost 11 pounds (10.8 to be exact)
• I've lost 21.75" across my whole body in 30 days
• 4" of that was off of my belly pooch!
• I've got far more energy!
• I get less headaches (other than that first period of sugar detox - EEEK!)
• I was able to run pain free for the first time in almost 3 years!!

The Hubby's Successes:

• He has lost almost 17
• He dropped a shirt size
• He dropped a shorts size
• He has fewer headaches - and he was complaining often of extreme headaches
• He has more energy
• He has less body aches - This is HUGE for a firefighter!!
• He hasn't had any bloody noses in the 30 days - he would get one a week at least
• His blood pressure is normal and stable
• His resting heart rate is lower
• He said he just overall feels better

Crazy what one short month can do!! I'm beyond happy we decided to take the jump. I have to admit that I did have one cheat during the 30 days. I had a few handfuls of popcorn at the movies this past Saturday with my girls, but immediately realized it was a bad idea! My stomach was not too keen on the dose of buttery, salty popcorn after weeks of regimented eating! Otherwise, I was on plan 100% and The Hubby was as well. Sometimes he couldn't control the food at work, but he did his best with what was available and ate as on plan as he could.

The thing about it all is that we can eat out - I took my girls out to dinner on Friday before a play and enjoyed shelled peanuts with them before dinner and a completely on plan meal, We can enjoy holidays - we did great 4th of July weekend and stayed 100% on plan! We can go on family outings or out to event with friends and family... we can have a normal summer! It may take a little extra planning on our part, but nothing too extreme and nothing that puts anyone out. 

I've had doctors tell me for years that the best thing to do for PCOS is to eliminate sugars and bad carbs. I remember crying the first time I heard that. How could I possibly give up bread, potatoes, pasta, candy, cakes... It was extremely overwhelming. After 30 days of cutting out all sugar and bad carbs I can honestly say that it was easier than I envisioned. Sure, detoxing from 30+ years of sugar and bad eating was hell. No question about it. The headaches and the overall UGH feeling was miserable, but it was short term. We pushed through it and have felt so much better since. I guess what I'm saying is... If we can do it, ANYONE can do it. 

Yes, you've heard that from so many health or fitness gurus, but I'm not a guru. I'm an overweight, almost-36-year-old with four little kids who are constantly on the go, who LOVE kid foods and goodies and who have an extracurricular activity schedule between the four of them that keeps us on the go almost every week day. Not to mention the enjoyment of getting out and doing fun things all summer long on the weekends! I have been overweight almost my entire life, with the exception of when I played college hockey and a short time pre-kids after following Weight Watchers to a tee for several months. My BMI has always been either overweight or obese. I teetered into morbidly obese for a short period. I have had to wear maternity clothes well past the acceptable point of wearing maternity clothes... twice! I've tried several diets, some several times and I'm not even telling you that this is the one and only way to go.

What I AM saying is that you can do it. You can set a goal, put your mind to it and achieve it. But if you goal is to cut back on, or cut out sugar, YOU CAN DO IT!!! If you want to cut out potatoes and bread and pasta... YOU CAN DO IT!! It really isn't as horrible as it sounds.

So, with this 30 days complete, what's on the agenda? Another 30 days! Tonight we will finish out our 30th day on plan and tomorrow we will toast each other's success with a drink. The next day we will start another 30 days on plan and see where that takes us. Both of us didn't start any form of exercise until we were a few weeks in, so during this 30 days my plan is to move more - run, bike, swim, weights, whatever. I need to be more active and tone up while I lose as well as help my metabolism out a bit more. So here's my next 30 days motto...

Alright... enough about that. Two things to share before I cut this one off. First.... I found an awesome dinner for The Hubby to make last night. It is called Cheesy Pesto Chicken Lasagna Stuffed Spaghetti Squash. Check out the link for the recipe, but it was very tasty! The Hubby suggested a little less cheese than he used and I suggested a little more chicken. We had one kid who wasn't too thrilled with a new meal option, but we had another one who, after a few bites, cleared his plate and declared it yummy and cheesy. So, hopefully we're making progress with the mini food critics.We are still working on perfecting our spaghetti squash baking skills. I think we could have gone a bit longer, but he cooked it to directions. Since we know nothing about spaghetti squash texture, we've each cooked per directions in the recipe so far, so I'm not sure if this squash was under-cooked or under-ripe, but it wasn't as soft as it could have been. Oh well, it was still very good and I LOVE pesto!

The second thing is that I stated I would share some exercise videos for those who are interested. I've been digging through YouTube and finding several intriguing ones. I'll start with this one because it's very beginner and the guy isn't annoying! It's a 10-minute workout, so feel free to add it to your existing workout or complete the video three times for a full workout. I'll admit, I have not completed this actual workout, but did steal some of his exercises to add to my gym workout last week! Here ya go! If you try it out, let me know what you think! http://youtu.be/zzFJ69q6m74