Time to Uncover The Real Me: November 2009

For the past few months I have been stopping and starting and stumbling and starting and stopping doing all the things I know how to do to take of this last 40 pounds. I have been doing all the things I promised my self I wouldn't. I haven't tracked my food, I stopped measuring and weighing portions, I stopped a regular exercise routine and somehow I decided that I did not have to say no to all the 'special' treats that appear in my life on a regular basis. For the past week I have been feeling my desire come back. I want to feel the rush after a great workout, I want to see the scale go down, I want to feel like my will power is strong and completely within my control. So here I am, confessing my 'sins' and getting ready to start over with a clean slate and forgiving myself for breaking the promises I made myself.

Ok, enough self-flogging! Actually, the damage could be far far worse than it is. I have not gained any weight in the past month and am only 10 pounds higher than my lowest weight (June) so I am going to stop this madness before it becomes 20-30-50-70 pounds. I am not going to ease myself back into it.. starting tomorrow I will track every bite-lick-taste on WW.ca and stay within my points. I will measure and weigh my food, I will drink 2L of water and I will get at least 30 minutes of exercise 4-7 times a week. This plan guarantees me the success I have seen in the past and I DO NOT want to finish this year weighing more than I did at the end of last year.

I truly believe that the only reason I have not gained more weight back in the past months has been my commitment to clean eating whenever possible. I have not been exercising or watching my portions but I have been cooking at home about 80% all natural 'clean' food. I did continue taking pictures of some of my favourite meals so I will post them over the next while. I have been rereading my blog from the start, trying to recapture the excitement of when I was finding this weightloss/life style change so enjoyable and dare I say easy. I was finding myself inspired my my own success. My mind is now full of all the tips and tricks I learned while losing 65 pounds and I wrote down all the successful recipes I made over the past 22 months from various magazines, websites - so often I make things once, enjoy them but don't ever make them again. I love trying new recipes but I am going to pull some old favourites for a rerun.

Here are a couple of new ones we have tried. The first is Salmon Patties from the latest 'Clean Eating Magazine'. I used the salmon I canned this summer (and DH caught himself) and they were delicious. The fruit sauce is made from blackberry preserves from bushes on my in laws property and the squash is from my organic veggie delivery. This is exactly the type of meal we try to have most of the time. Local, fresh and non-processed. Although my progress has stalled I am so proud of the complete change we have made in the things we put into our bodies.

The next picture is a recipe my fabulous cook of a husband found online and whipped up from some salmon that we candied in our little smoker. This was so so so good, the veggies we fresh, the salmon had come out of the smoker only the day before and served with vermicelli it was a really filling lunch (I had seconds!! - still need to work on the portion control!)

Here is the link to the video in case anyone is interested in the recipe.