I'm happy to report that I am maintaining my loss of 16 pounds! We've had a crazy month here on the east coast and I am so glad that November is almost over. Between Hurricane Sandy and me getting extremely sick with a cold from hell I haven't worked out all month! This has been bad because ever since I stopped taking my anti-depressant medication working out has been my medicine. So needless to say I find myself somewhat depressed this month and some days have been a real struggle.
It has also been an emotionally challenging month as people are trying to put their homes back in order and many people have lost everything. I've had the opportunity to volunteer in the Helping Hands Command Center which is operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Not a shift goes by that I don't hear some of the saddest phone calls. At the Command Center, I take calls from people that were devastated by Sandy and put in work orders for the volunteers to complete. I am humbled by this experience and I constantly walk away counting every single one of my blessings.
One thing I am very thankful for is water. I know this sounds ironic since the hurricane brought powerful surges of water that caused so much damage-but bare with me. I am thankful that I have safe water to drink. I am thankful that I have hot water to shower with (for four days we were without power and I was unable to take a hot shower). I know that there are many in the world without these two luxuries. Drinking more water has become my healthy change of the month! I have always liked water, but sometimes it is difficult to get in all of the water that we should be drinking on a daily basis. I have found a wonderful mix to help with my water consumption. I found this awesome recipe
here for mango ginger water. It has proven that it boosts my metabolism and makes me feel great! Check out that blog! The blog is written by a woman that changed her life by changing how she ate. In one year she lost 150 pounds! One of the tools she recommends is a cookbook by
Candice Kumai . I have checked this one out from the library and it is full of healthy, simple and delicious recipes. I also bought Kumai's most recent cookbook,
Cook Yourself Sexy. I love Cook Yourself Sexy! I have already made several recipes from the book and I am finding that in drinking the water and cooking healthy recipes I'm feeling so good.
I'd like to point out that by eating healthy, and drinking lots of water I lost the stress weight that I gained from going through Sandy, and I've kept it off even though I started a new business venture. My business venture is a cookie business. ha ha I know what you're thinking! How can I possibly bake cookies and lose weight? Well... its hard. But-I am determined. I think part of losing weight is learning to take all things in moderation. You can't deprive yourself from all cookies and treats or you will definitely have a big binge one day. I also hope to be able to eventually learn some healthy cookie recipes that will taste almost as good as the originals.
Bottoms up! Drink your water!
