Choose To Lose – Revisited

I have written a number of posts about various programs and fitness mentors that I really like. choose to loseAmong those is Choose To Lose – The 7-Day Carb Cycle Solution by Chris Powell. If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you know that I took a stab at this, but it was right after my first Whole30, and I had a problem adding back carbs without eventually losing it (not weight) over sugar.

Now that I have been over 102 days, Whole30ish and without sugar, I feel like I can take another look at this program. The behavior element is in check now. I don’t feel like I need to push the envelope, or indulge in a full day “cheat” like the program offers you the opportunity to do. I realize this element was added into the program to make it a more sustainable program, but after Whole30, I don’t feel like I need “cheat” meals or cheat days. I do take “choice” meals from time to time, and we do take a “choice” day once a month. No cheating…just good, healthy choices that veer from our norm of Whole30 eating.

I thought I would have to forget the Choose to Lose program for good since I don’t eat grains, legumes or artificial or natural sweeteners, but after taking another pass at reading the nutrition section of the book, I see that you eat meat and fruit for breakfast (or meat and a starchy carb-sweet potato will work well here). Well, I can do the meat and fruit. No problem. On low carb days, it is meat and vegetables, and I do that every day. I feel like I can really do this! Incorporate both my Whole30Life way of eating and carb cycling–at the same time.

You may ask why I am wanting to try this again. Even eating Whole30 for over 100 days, I haven’t experienced weight loss to a degree that I feel I should be. Whole30 reduces your meals to just 3 meals a day. According to Choose to Lose, you need 5 meals a day (2 are snacks of course), to keep your metabolism stoked. I believe that people who are already near their ideal weight can do the 3 meals a day (Whole30) and still lose weight, but years of stubborn weight gain and a sluggish metabolism is just not responding to it. It’s time to try again.

Today, I stopped in at Curves and had her measure me again. For the most part, I am unchanged since January. Even given my awesome eating and recent added movement. It’s time to try something else that will not throw everything that I’ve accomplished to the wind but instead will build upon it.

I plan to incorporate the workout in Choose to Lose as well as the Wii Fit Plus running and yoga. I also accomplished a 1 mile walk for charity under 20 minutes. I am already planning to participate in my second one and I am marking them down on my calendar to become that “benefit walker/runner (eventually)” that you love to hate! 🙂 I actually want to start training, so I can reduce my time. Couch-to-5K has been suggested to help with that, so I will look at adding the app to my phone, so I can have some help in building the number of minutes that I jog instead of walk.

So my health fusion is growing. I’ll get my green back on with my green thickies soon. I do miss them. I need to prepare my sweet potatoes in advance for quick/easy morning use. If you’d like to know more about my health fusion, take a look at the categories section. I have more about it there.

I will also be looking to raise money for my Health Coach certification. It’s $600, which pays for the books, helps and tests. I do have a GoFundMe tab above if you would like to help me make that happen. I would greatly appreciate your help of any amount.

My Health Fusion Program Begins

My health fusion program begins with evaluating what I have learned so far, and where I am wanting to go with all of this (beyond just being healthy). I’ve posted what I have learned about the Whole30 program, so I won’t rehash that again, so now to begin adding what I am learning about how the emotional is just as important as the physical–not at all what I expected to learn in Chris Powell’s book Choose to Lose — The 7-day Carb Cycling Solution.

I decided to check deeper into the Whole30 authors and found Whole9, which is a complete plan for living a “wholesome” life. I can definitely see working this in also. It offers an online community that shares information on how to strengthen the following nine (9) areas of your life:

  • To Eat Good Foodcombine_images
  • To Sleep Deeply
  • To Move Your Body
  • To Handle Your Stress
  • To Connect With Others
  • To Get Outside
  • To Be The Best You
  • To Have Some Fun
  • To Own Your Choices

When I went looking for the next step in my pursuit of good health, Whole9 provided the structure. Chris Powell introduced me to the passion to be an “Athlete in Training.”

GOAL: I will train each day in knowledge and fitness while eating good food to reach my health and fitness goals.

COMING UP: 241 Journey will be going through a “redefining” phase. As I learn more about underlying emotional strongholds from Chris Powell, I find it necessary to begin viewing myself and my journey from where I am headed, instead of where I started. It is an exciting journey. I think my blog should reflect that as well, so hang on as this blog begins to change the way it looks also. 🙂

Do you have “a plan” or is your end goal merely to lose weight? Why are you on your journey? What does the end game look like for you? Share with us in comments.