72 days no sugar.  Eating veggies, protein, and fruit.  About 1200 calories a day.  Big spurge, had movie popcorn when I went to the movies.  Planned for it and enjoyed it.  17 pounds down.

Honestly I feel like I should have lost 50 with how I'm sticking to this silly lifestyle change, but it is what it is.  Headed to the Doctor this morning to see if my blood work shows a difference.  I'm really curious how this no sugar thing is working and whether I can reduce or get rid of meds I'm taking for blood pressure and cholesterol. 

Many people call what I'm doing a low carb diet or Keto.  Yes, I would say overall my carbs are minimal.  I have eliminated bread, potato, rice, noodles, sugar from my diet.  I have increased my veggie and protein amounts and not worried about fats (I don't try to eat loads of fat, but I'm not worried about avocados, salad dressing, mayo, Olive Oil, etc).  For the most part I'm not really hungry although I do notice I have more mood swings than I used to.  One of my favorite meals that seems so decadent is the cauliflower margarita pizza.  ALMOST like the real thing. :)

I seem to be living a changing life.  An opportunity came and despite the fact I have absolutely no time for it, little Pyrotechnic has joined the Whiz kids.  He is almost 8 pounds of shear force.  So smart and fun I can't believe it. 

Joy thinks he is her personal toy and he agrees.  They get along really well.  I'm not sure what's going to happen when he gets older, but he really has a nice disposition and I'm hoping for a life long friendship.

I've had to really structure my time and barely am able to sit at the computer or watch TV anymore.  Those moments that I can are really enjoyable

He already knows where the potty area is and doesn't have to be carried from the bedroom with me running as fast as I can so he can go potty.  Now, I release him from his crate and we all run down the long hall to the outside where he goes exactly where he should go.  Such a smarty pants.  

His sisters live close by so he gets some time to play with them.  He spends most of these visits getting his arse kicked.  He just lays down or runs to me if it gets too much.  He also has a great extended family and gets loads of appropriate dog play.

He is a good little pup and I am the luckiest girl in the world as I have good friends helping me out so I get the opportunity to have a little Firework in my life.

A few things happened over the past week that have been difficult and took my emotions for a ride.  Not important to mention what, just that every day seem to bring challenges.  What I'm most proud of is my focus on responding to these things, accepting what it is, and acting on it in a mature way.  Sure the stress gets to me, but I'm not letting it derail me from my long term goals as I have a tendency to do.  When life gets too much, I love to:

• Sit on the couch, watch something on TV to take my mind off my woes, and eat.
• Go for a drive, get drive through, listen to a book on tape, and eat.
• Go to Mexican restaurant, read a book, and eat

These are the behaviors I'm trying to change.  Face my anxieties, fears, stresses head on instead of wrapping myself in a carb fantasy that everything is going to be ok.

With the small weight loss, I am feeling much better about moving and heading to the agility field more for working pups.  Joy is getting really good at her handling and soon I hope to start competing again.

Back to the Blog

Some things change and some things remain the same.

Lots has happened in the past two years.  Life has changed considerably.  My last post, "I deserve this hill!" was one I try to remember every day.  I still struggle with the fight against my emotions and eating and once again I find myself on the journey to live a life I want to live and not the life that food has created for me.

I am working on a low carb diet.  Toying with Keto.  Trying to balance my veggies/fruits with some protein.  Loving that I can eat as much avocado as I want, but really missing the "crunch".  Getting back into exercising and want to start hiking again.

Loss and sadness have a way to get you off course and I believe that is what happened in 2016.  I still miss that existence of feeling powerful after fighting cancer and hopeful for the future of my life.  But circumstance change and the only thing I can control is how I respond to those circumstances.  Today I'm taking a stand and working towards that healthier life I crave.

I've been 27 days free of sugar.  No added sugar to my diet.  21 days free of eating bread, rice, or potato.  No tortilla chips (I miss them), potato chips, or crackers.  In a way it's been easy.  Just say no.  In a way it's been hard.  It's a slippery slope out there and I'm trying to stay above the slope line.

Getting back to working on the treadmill and continue to walk the pups.  Ahh...changes there too.  Olive is living in Canada.  She just didn't respond well to the changes (me moving and going to a job 12 hours a day).  She simply wasn't happy and I couldn't have that.  I miss her every day but I can't thank her new mom enough for taking on my white angel of death and giving her the chance to have a life she wants.  Believe me when I say she is enjoying Canada and her life up there. 

I lost Tazz last Christmas to bladder cancer.  Fin and I were pretty lonely... but surprize,  we have Joy in our little family.  I needed some Joy in my life and she is a spark of sunshine every day.  She is learning her agilities and is a delight.

I'll be checking in here to discuss my progress, but so far so good.  Looking forward to a great end to 2018 and a undeniably awesome 2019.

I deserve this hill - Monday

Today I took a little longer hike than usual.  Thinking I had a contract that would start today, I didn’t have anything on the calendar except hike.  My hiking buddy woke up sick so I was on my own.  It would have been easy to not go…I almost just sat at my desk instead.  Then something inside me said, “GO!” 

The hike I took was a little longer and had a few more hills than I am used too.  



Usually when I hike up hill I blame myself for my difficulty.  While going up the hill I tell myself that the reason I’m struggling is because of what I did to my body.  The reason I’m struggling is because I’ve eaten foods that weigh me down.  Basically negative talking, berating myself and making the struggle even worse.  To the point I just want to give up….and then I’m negative talking about how I’m a quitter. And so on for the entire hill.  It is torture.

Today I hit the hills and I found myself thinking different thoughts.  The hills were hard.  I had to stop a couple times.  But I found my self-talk congratulating myself. Instead of saying what I terrible person I was, I was saying get that hill.  You deserve this hill.  This hill is your reward.  It was really weird.

Crazy, I know.  But it is the truth.  Something is shifting within me.  It is another result of eating healthy I think.  A result of a more healthier diet is that I am kinder to myself.

You guys know me as an optimist.  What you don’t know is that I also suffer from depression just like everyone.  I just mask it (or if you look at me I don’t mask it at all).  Food in general has been for me a way to console myself.  I’m an alone eater.  A hoarder of food.  A eater of large quantities.  A person that dreams of being slimmer but doesn’t act on that dream.  A person that forgets that dream for a few minutes of comfort reading a book and putting food in my mouth.

Today, however, I’m changing the person I am.  Today I’m a person that puts my long term goals first.  Today I’m a person that sees a reality of a future that isn’t weighed down by my weight.  A future that I’m not afraid of trying new things and a future that my weight won't prevent me from doing things I’d like to try.

This doesn’t mean I won’t forget.  This doesn’t mean I won’t have a vacation and not indulge a little.  What this means is I don’t want to be the old Vici.  I want for myself a life free of the requirements of an addict.  And yes, I am an addict.  An addict to behaviors that are destructive to myself.  

If people can say no to heroin.  I can say no to eating McDonalds in my car for a few minutes of enjoyment.  Yesterday, I found myself on the coast and I hadn’t planned on being gone so long and didn’t bring any food.  I thought I could just stop and eat mexican.  How bad would it be?  Instead I stopped at a fruit stand.  I got strawberries, plums, english peas, and string beans.  I munched on that healthy food as I drove and felt full and happy to be doing something good for myself.  What a treat. When I got home, I didn’t feel deprived of not eating french fries.  I honestly felt good.

We’ve got 18 days left in this month.  Make each of these days count!!!

Attention to Detail Wednesday

Today I walked into the garage and something scurried.  Yikes.  I decided it was my imagination.  Went to the dentist (on my list of todos that I hate).  Stopped by the store.  Drove back into the garage and closed the door.  Something definitely was in the garage.  I hate it when this happens.  

So, I brought in the expert.  I figured I needed her to tell me whether or not I was imagining things.  What transpired was a great deal of searching, then cornering, then barking, then screaming (I did not know that rats screamed…there would be bark, bark, bark, then screeeeeeeeeeeam), then me picking up Olive and running into the house.  I did not have the heart to help her get into the corner to kill the rat.  What I did do Is open the garage about 3 inches and wait.

An hour later, I took my expert to the garage and she searched and told me that the little rat had moved.  She was really searching, but didn’t find it…the movement was in the direction of the open door.

Two hours later, she was more interested in the ball then the garage.  Whew….a nice happy ending.

So what does this have to do with attention to detail.  Well my friends, often when I don’t want to deal with something, I ignore it. That rat running wasn’t a rat.  Just my imagination.   Maybe even forget about it.  Did I really eat so much while I was cooking.  Was that snack really that fatty?  How many nuts did I actually eat…I didn’t eat that whole bag….some must have fallen out.  

If you find yourself stuck, you might want to pay more attention to the foods you are putting into your body.  It might be that you are not paying attention enough.  I know that I simply forget about food I eat sometimes.  Also change it up.  Add more veggies and variety to the meals you eat.  sometimes the change up gets your body in that weight loss mode again.

So, don’t ignore the rat in the garage.  Notice the things that are happening and face up to it.  Olive can’t help us with our diets, only rats.

Appreciation Tuesday

So a friend of mine stopped me this weekend at the agility trial.  Out of the blue she said to me, “Vici, someone said something to me that totally made a shift in my thinking.  He said if we substitute appreciation for expectation, it makes a big difference.”

That thought has stayed with me.  I’m often at odds with my expectations and gratitude.  I find myself disappointed in myself.  I become disappointed in people when they don’t live up to my expectations.  

I’m often not fair to myself or others when expectations aren’t met.

My new thing is going to be when I find myself having these expectations (real or imagined), I’m going to work hard to change that expectation to appreciation.  

Today I looked at my photo of me and Fin on the podium.  I expected to see me looking thinner and honestly was so freak’n disappointed that I didn’t look that good.  Instead of dwelling on that, I want to say that I am grateful to be there, I am appreciative I could share it with my friends, and gosh darn it, I got down on one knee and then got back up without help and making an embarrassing scene….my exercise is working.

I am incredibly grateful for my life.  Even on the tough days.  I am grateful that I have friends and family that I can depend on.  I’m truly grateful for the gifts of companionship that I have.  Today I’m most grateful that I’ve been able to make a shift in my thinking about how I eat to enable me to follow an eating plan that is working.  

I’m out of my Friday funk.  Olive was awesome this weekend giving me really great attention and focus.  Fin was the bomb and I even danced Sunday night.  Humor, laughter, and good friends.  

Tomorrow, up early for a walk.  I’m exhausted!

We are on day 5 of our month of September!  100% tracking so far.  What are you doing to make your September a success.  What are you grateful for?

Not Making Headway Friday

I feel fat today.  Not sure why.  Doing what I need to do.  Was really hard to get my steps in even though I was out setting up for agility.  Body not feeling sprite and light.  Body is feeling sore and tired.

Sometimes the day just doesn’t go as planned.  Or even the planned day doesn’t live up to expectations.  What has to happen is I have to move past it and keep plugging away.  Take Advil and know that the aches and pains are a part of life. 

Most importantly:  Don’t let other people determine how I am going to respond to their behavior.

Long term goals.  What are they?  How do we meet them?  By not giving up what I want long term for what I want today.  Today I was able to fight my evil demons that wanted me to give in to my dark thoughts.  Tomorrow I will wake up feeling refreshed and enjoy a wonderful day with friends and my dogs!  

How about you?  What do you do when the day just brings you down?  How do you respond?

I’m thinking of each of you every day and the fact you are out there struggling along with me makes me stronger.  

Suck it up Buttercup is my motto and I’m going to live it.

Re-Committement Thursday

I ended my month with a BANG! lost 2.8 pounds this week!  That brings my total for when I started July 30 to 17.6.  Although I wish it were more, I can’t believe that I have turned this corner and am committed to the behavior change that is creating a better me.

Today is the first of the month.  Weigh yourself today or tomorrow morning.  Write down that weight.  We are starting fresh.  

I commit to tracking my food every day for the Month of September.    It is only 30 days.  I can do this.

I commit to 12000 steps 5 days of the week for the Month of September.  It is only 30 days.  I can do this.

I commit to dragging my butt to a gym and find out about joining (at least trying the gym out for free).  It is only a gym.  I can do this

What are you committing to for this month?  Think about what you can do to make this journey more accountable. You don’t have to do the weight watchers app.  There are plenty of free ones for your phone:

• Myfitnesspal.  
• MyPlate calorie tracker
• Loose it!!!

I know that accountability is hard.  I know that having to write everything down is a pain.  I also know that because I’m writing everything down, I am accountable to myself for the results that I attain.

Contemplate.  New month.  New goals.  Or the same goals.  

I know it isn’t about the number.  But actually it is about the number.  I want that number to be less!  It is our choice to make that number less than it is today.  

Good luck!