The journey that began 28 days ago is still on course.   My primary mission to remove gluten from my diet has been hard but successful.    In the first 10 days it was really tough and it was a conscious effort to shop for the right foods.   However, I found it is true that you can find all that you need to eat in the perimeter of the grocery store.

The amazing thing is I continued to eat chocolate, ice cream, falafel chips, nuts, guacamole dip, and I still lost weight.   I was not trying to lose weight this month but I lost 8 lbs just getting rid of wheat from my diet.   I plan to continue to refine this method and follow the guidelines in the book “Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight” by William Davis, M.D. since I know I have gluten sensitivity.

The eating goal for February is to remove sugar from my diet – refined (permanently) and natural from fruit (until I reach healthier weight).  The only allowable substitute sweetener will be the natural one from the Stevia plant, Sweet Leaf.   Also, I will stop snacking in-between meals and eat at specific time intervals.   I do want to lose weight this month and continual grazing inhibits that for me.

In the past, a nutritionist calculated that I need to drink 92 ounces of water per day.   So, I rounded it up to 100 ounces and have been consistently drinking it every day.   It is amazing how my skin and hair appearance has improved.   Also, the craving for other drinks has disappeared and my appetite has been suppressed.   I contribute my increase in drinking water to be an important factor in the unexpected weight loss I experienced this month.

For the 3-6-5 MOVE movement, I did increase my motion this month consistently for 30 minutes per day.   I focused on incorporating the increase in the normal things I do each day – using the walking trail on the campus of my “day” job, riding my stationary bike while watching TV, walking around the perimeter of the parking lot before going into the grocery department, and walking around the mall after going to the movie theatre.   I did continue my long weekly bike ride on the Saturdays that we had good weather in preparation for our first large group ride in about 2 weeks.

For February, my 3-6-5 MOVE goal is to restart and incorporate organized cardio workouts into my daily life – using my equipment and DVDs at home.   I just don’t have time to go to the gym during this month.   Luckily, in my at-home gym, I have a treadmill, a new stationary bike, an elliptical, several DVDs by Leslie Sansone, weighted body bars + DVDs, a BOSU – so the only reason to go the gym is for the companionship.

This month was not too productive for my creative life.   I had some family matters that popped up and required my attention so I had to take a break from blogging but I did “revamp” my novel draft and will start the next revision/rewrite on  Monday, 2/2/15.

So, I avoided a Greta Grypp butt-kicking this month – which is a good thing.

QUESTION(S)

How did you do in the first month of the New Year?