Today marks the first week of my family weight loss and get healthy challenge. My husband (M) I have been concentrating this week on changing our eating habits to make dramatic changes in our health - both of us have type II diabetes, and he was recently diagnosed with celiacs disease, which requires following a strict gluten free diet. We both come from family histories of diabetes and colon cancer, and feel at our age (mid-upper 40's) it's time to think seriously about our longevity and quality of life. With children ranging from 5-20 years, we still have many obligations to fulfill and recognize we need healthier bodies to get us there.
My family (which included my three siblings and spouses, father and his wife and a cousin and spouse, along with our children) met 2 weeks ago to discuss how we will proceed through this plan, to not only lose weight, but to also make a pact to support each other in taking a healthier approach to our lives. My brother, recognizing that we are all competitive in nature, suggested a contest between us all. We came up with a simple challenge amongst us all to lose 10% of our total body weight by the end of this year - which collectively could amount to a group total weight loss of 200-250 lbs, practically a whole person we can lose between us all!
I recommended we all set personal goals outside of this group goal. Mine is to lose 45 lbs by my 45th birthday in October. It's ambitious, but quite frankly I am one in the group that has more to lose, and I really want to rid my body of this excess weight. I've lost 3.8 lbs in my first week, weighing in this morning. I've noticed a big difference in my blood sugar levels already, and this morning woke up with an extremely low sugar - 59, which means I may need to adjust my insulin rates, I use an insulin pump to regulate my blood sugars, and I've had to be really aggressive recently since gaining the weight to keep my blood sugars at acceptable levels.
Our eating at home this week consisted of grilled steaks, chicken and pork chops, with fresh sauteed vegetables, baked potatoes, risotto and acorn squash. Desserts are minimal and we're right now using fresh fruit as our sweet treat. We had hearty salads for lunches, with fresh greens and the chopped up grilled meat from the dinners. I made a pot of new england clam chowder for dinner last night, filling it with vegetables and using low fat milk and dried milk in place of 1/2 AND 1/2. Next time I will try something else in place of the high fat cream, but the dried milk made the broth a little too sweet for my taste. The kids, who can be picky, ate it up. M and I prefer manhattan version of clam chowder, made with tomatoes, but the kids requested the creamy version.
I tried Slim-fast for breakfast this week, and one day had it for breakfast and lunch. I think I can do this routine occasionally as my breakfast, but found out quickly that this is not a good plan for me for two meals a day, as I left work that day feeling very dizzy and famished. Once I am through with the supply of Slim-fast I bought, I think I'll just return to eating better.
We made our first trip to Whole Foods on Sunday after church. We found the gluten free aisle and bought some products to try and get us started. One week into cooking a gluten free diet, I am finding it not too difficult, especially if I am cooking from scratch and using fresh ingredients.
A pot of Turkey vegetable rice soup is simmering on the stove as I type this for lunch. Tonights dinner will be a chicken stir fry.
I am anxious to touch base with my family members and see how their weeks have gone. M just came down from his weigh in stating he's lost 4 lbs this week. Two of our daughters are joining in the challenge and #2 (V) lost 1.5 lbs. #3 (ML) is down a lb. With the girls, we are encouraging them to make healthy choices, get more exercise and take it slow on the weight loss side. They don't live with us during the week, so they are on their own for managing their meals outside of what we eat as a family. Daughter #1 (K) is out on her own, getting married in August. She's not committed as of yet to joining the challenge. Daughter #4 (R) and son (MF) are young enough that we are just trying to encourage them to be healthy and active and make good food choices. Eliminating wheat and snack foods from the house will help in the overall plan.
My mother-in-law and husband's sister back East have asked to be included in the challenge. We've all got one common goal to be healthier by this wedding in August and whatever we can do to support each other across the miles will be good in the long run.
Our first holiday coming up will be Easter. M & I will offer to host. I've been thinking about the menu and what we can serve to keep us all on track. I'm thinking the traditional ham, with roasted potatoes or mashed, fresh green beans, salad and fresh fruit for snacking. Our family likes to snack as we gather, so I'll suggest cut up vegetables, fruit and popcorn for our snacking. I've been popping popcorn on the stove (yes you can make it this way) and eating that as my feel good snack this week. It's great for the crunch and salt I crave, plus really good fiber.
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