Today is a pretty exciting day, as I am only one pound from my goal (I'm at 137), and technically if you add my half inch of height I usually exclude, I do have a BMI within the normal range.  I have worked so hard this year and I have been thinking about what I would say if I was to describe the secret to my success.
Overall, my success in weight loss has come down to reducing calories.  For others, maybe changing some choices (candy bars, chips, soda, or other junk food) would be a crucial change.  In terms of bad choices outside of portion, I have changed my policy on keeping ice cream in the house.  If ice cream is in my freezer, it tempts me and gets me all off track.  I love it, and I will eat it sometimes on a special occassion, but it will not be a staple in my house anymore.
This week I plan on making good choices dietarily and losing the last and final pound of this mission. As for this blog?  Well, I am going to take some "after" pics and post them.  From there on out I plan on making occassional posts about healthy meals I prepare or come accross just to keep myself and anyone else on track for a healthy BMI.
Ultimately my plan is of course to keep the weight off!  The whole reason I became inspired to obtain a healthy BMI was to take better care of my health and happiness.  If I am not doing that then I cannot expect much in return.  God has blessed me with good health, and I intend to honor it with good choices.  It can be hard to do because this world is filled with social norms that contradict healthy behavior.  Also, we each have individual needs that vary from one another.  Some people can eat freely without biological consequences.  Others do not have that luxary (like me).  I urge you not to let your individual differences become an excuse to be unhealthy.
Whoever you are, a person with a naturally fast metabolism, a person with obesity, a person managing health conditions, I hope you can love and honor your body.  Before I began this journey last year, I started to appreciate my body and realize I was holding myself back from my own greatest potential of good health and happiness.  That is insane, actually because I am quite passionate about healthy lifestyle habits.  I am guessing that I was not alone in doing this.  I hope my blog has opened some eyes to the fact that the greatest success is going to come from love and not negative feelings.  Do not talk about your body being doomed.  Recognize your actions, and take care enough to change them if need be.  Ultimately I wish each of you the best on your own journey.  

So it is a happy happy weekend post!  This weekend I was happy to honor a friend's request for German Chocolate cake for his Birthday.  I am always happy to bake!  I am happy to be in a kitchen creating my miracles.  Then I'm not always happy afterwards because I eat too much of my homemade goodness.
This weekend was different then the usual.  Saturday I went out to a sushi restaurant and since I was very hungry I went ahead and ordered an appetizer in addition to my avocado california rolls.  I topped off the evening by heading home for the German chocolate cake.  So I did not expect any progress on the scale today.  Much to my pleasant surprise, I was down to 138 pounds.  Only two pounds away from my minimum goal!
I also had an amazing run Friday evening.  About 4.25 miles of sheer happiness.  I came home feeling so rejuvenated and happy, it was amazing.  There is amazing feeling associated with taking care of your body, and I am feeling it!  Don't forget that working towards your goal is not worth missing out on special occassions and yes, cake with friends and family.

 Yes, vegans make darn good cake.  This German chocolate was delish, and the best part was sharing it with others after I enjoyed a slice.

 I highly enjoyed today's dinner: salad of spring mix with cucumber and toms and savory tomato soup made from roasted toms out of my garden.  Yumm!  Don't forget the full glass of water and that is one measured cup of soup.  

Fall is upon us.  I am sure I am not the only one to feel a slight bit of defeat in the dietary department.  Something about fall!  Homemade applesauce on my stove...soups...and there is my beloved bread and desserts that seem to taste better this time of year also.  Oh man!  My original plan to lose thirty pounds this year had me set to succeed by June.  I had no idea I would still be plugging along towards my goal in Fall, when I still have to obtain my objective, not just maintain.  What a deal!
Sunday I woke up pleased to see I weighed 139.  That's all I wanted, was to focus on losing one pound and I did it.  But of course I woke up Monday and today weighing 140.  I have to get re-focused on eating sensibly.  Today took me down an old familiar road, called I love to prepare food and eat it.  My stomping grounds!  I have no idea how many calories I had, and I know that while I didn't do anything dietarily BAD to my body today...I can also tell you I did not get any closer to my short term goal of losing one pound and getting in the thirties, where a healthy BMI awaits me.
I made applesauce and ate my weight in apples lightly sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar, took all the ripe toms out of my garden, roasted them in my oven, and made a delish tomato soup inspired by this web page: http://blissfulbasil.com/2014/01/08/dreamy-vegan-tomato-soup/ and basically snacked all day on celery and peanut butter or cauliflower and hummus.
Here is where the blessing was: I turned on my laptop to find inpiration for tomato soup and I saw my bookmarks included a link for this totally amazing tofu-free vegan pumpkin pie I found last year.  My kriptonite!  So of course I clicked on it and thank goodness the link to that webpage was unavailable. Blessings like this come to us.  I for one plan on taking the hint!  Hold off on the pie and do enjoy the applesauce or soups, but don't snack all day!

 Maybe my all time favorite fall food: homemade applesauce!

Today!  It finally happened today.  Last Sunday I indulged in a beautiful spread of food and watched Seahawks win.  It took all week to lose the two pounds I gained from my game day diet, and finally I am back down to 140.  Back down to one more pound to go until I'm in the 30's.  I can't wait to say goodbye to the 140's!
  I learned years ago from some class I took how important it is to focus on short term goals, in order to ultimately achieve an long-term goal.  I can't get all focused about the fact that I have lost 26 pounds this year and I'm trying to lose 4-6 more.  It feels tiring!  I feel like I am at the end of a long, challenging run and I'm tempted to start walking and congratulate myself for what I have accomplished so far.  I am tempted to quit and give myself an excuse.
I can't do that!  I have to ignore the big picture.  I am looking at one pound right now.  It is crucial that I just think about losing this one pound this week.  Even though the Seahawks play tomorrow. Even though I have already came so far and a friend of mine said I look great and don't even need to lose anymore weight.  I have to block all that out, and lose this one pound this week.  Short term goals are the key to a healthy BMI!
Good luck to all my fellow sports and food fans out there this weekend!