Tag: healthy living

Starting Again… Again

Starting again – not where I wanted to be after all the hard work done over the last few years. Unfortunately, I slipped and find myself on the way back to where I was, which is somewhere I never wanted to find myself again!

The reason why I started this blog in the first place was to be held accountable for all my lifestyle changes and to have a sounding board on where to be able to steam all my frustrations, successes and failures, but it is hard to keep it up when life gets in the way. What can I say – I dropped the ball, hard.

via GIPHY

I can make a million excuses to explain why, but the honest truth is that I got lazy and took things for granted.

Since my last post in November of 2019, when I wrote I’d be starting over again, I did make some great strides to improve my health and overall lifestyle. Lost about 80 lbs and got in the best shape I’d been in over 10 years, however since middle of 2021, I have gone back to my unhealthy habits, stopped working out and have put on about 20 lbs back.

I’ve been afraid to step on that scale for months as I’ve seem my body gain the weight back. My self confidence is immediately affected, which affects not only my professional life but my personal one as well. Not feeling confident about how you look and imagining what people think of you only causes me to retreat more and not want to go out and be seen.

Not all has been bad. My partner and I have grown our Interior Design and Home Staging business and are now nationally recognized and I’ve also moved on from my 9-5 jobs as an engineer and now are dedicating my time to our business and my new career as a real estate agent. I love this but it’s added a lot of stress and worry to my life. I want our business to be even more successful and we’re dedicating a lot of time and resources into making it so, but as I’ve mentioned on previous posts, stress only adds to my bad habits since I am an emotional eater. I eat everything in front of me. Food comforts me, but at the same time it’s only a momentary moment of comfort because right afterwards I feel so guilty. It’s a vicious cycle.

The reason why I decided to resume my blogging is the same as it was in the beginning. I need to be held accountable and putting these words on a public platform (even if no one reads them) is a big thing. I am vulnerable and flawed but I can do better. I have to do better!

This year i’ll be turning 40 years old so now is the time to refocus and re energize my health goals and start again. My challenge this time around will be to find a balance between my every day life and fitness goals so that I don’t feel burned out again or so restricted that I’m constantly feeling like I’m at the edge of a cliff and risking falling off and into bad habits again.

I plan to get some help from a nutritionist and fitness advisor this time around and see how that goes. Food is what I struggle with the most. I like food, I like to eat and I know it’s stupid to say I want to lose weight without having to restrict myself so much but I know there’s a way to make that work. I will start working out again 3-5 times a week, but I think that this time around I really need to get my eating habits under control if I want to be successful at achieving and maintaining a healthy weight.

Please stay tune as I move forward with this journey, AGAIN!

Until next time! – Luis

Back at it…

It’s been a long while since my last post but that doesn’t mean I’ve fallen off the bandwagon. I’ve been super busy at work for the past couple of months and unfortunately I’ve neglected my blog a bit which is something I really do not want to do. Part of the reason why I created this was to keep me accountable and motivated throughout my journey and to share my successes and my struggles with whomever is interested.

Since my last check-in, when I shared I had finally pushed through my weight loss plateau it seems I’ve hit another one. I haven’t really lost much weight since and because I’ve been weighing myself more frequently now (which I told myself I wouldn’t do) I see a lot of fluctuations throughout the week that can be a bit discouraging when you feel like you’re working your ass off (literally).

Weight aside, this past month has brought me a few “non scale victories” which I am happy about. During my business travel, I was able to buckle up the air plane seat belt without the need of an extension and/or feeling like the I cut the circulation to my lower extremities as I often felt when I was too embarrassed to ask for an extension. Flying is still not as comfortable as I would like it to be but it was definitely a big improvement.

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No extension for me anymore!!

Continue reading “Back at it…”

Another week gone

I’ve been extremely busy at work this week so my days have been long and a stressful, which is something that usually triggers my over-eating. I’ve been able to remain somewhat good with my food intake this week, not great but not horrible. I did have some sweets this week and a couple of glasses of wine last night but that’s part of life. I am not going to feel guilty about having a few “treats” from time to time.

Continue reading “Another week gone”

Diet history and what I’m doing now.

Ever since people started to notice that I’ve lost some weight, the first thing I get asked is what diet am I following. Everyone wants to know if I’m doing the Atkins, or Paleo, or Keto diet; or if I’ve gone on a low fat diet, or tried a vegan diet, or even if I’m taking any medications or supplements to help with my diet. When I say I’m just eating better,  working out and not following any strict “diet”, everyone is always so surprised and almost incredulous to a point.  Continue reading “Diet history and what I’m doing now.”

Can it please be spring already?

I am so over this crazy weather. If it’s not freezing outside, it’s pouring rain (on top of the cold). I am so ready for the warmth and humidity to come back to Texas. In the six years that I’ve lived here, I think this has been the coldest and longest winter I’ve ever experienced. It’s making me really miss Puerto Rico and St. Croix and all the beautiful beaches and warm weather I gave up. But I do love it here and I will just have to put up with this a few more weeks, hopefully less.

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Weather can’t make up its damn mind

This weather is conducive to only two things: eating and sleeping. In the past I would’ve relish that, bundled up in bed with the dogs while eating snacks and binge watching a series or two on Netflix. Ahhhhh the good times, but that’s now all in the past. I’ve been working hard these past couple of months and I’m not going to give it all up just because of cold rainy weather. However, with shorter days and colder weather, finding the motivation to stay healthy and fit can be difficult.

Why does this happen? Does this happen to anyone else or is it just me? I wonder if it is an instinctual act that compels us to stack up on food and fatten up during the cold months where there use to be a lack of food. At least that’s one way of explaining my constant craves these past few weeks that doesn’t make me feel like a fat ass.  I’m eating right, drinking lots of water and maintaining a semi regular workout schedule, yet I feel like I’m in a bit of a rut. Thankfully we don’t keep a lot of junk food around the house anymore so it’s made it easier to abstain from eating since there’s not much around.

My workload at the office has picked up and I’ve been a bit more stressed out and irritable than usual but I can’t let that get to me. Part of the reason why previous attempts to better my health and loose weight ended up failing was because I would always come up with an excuse not to do something and when the weather is all funky like it is now it’s really easy to come up with an excuse to not workout or to eat all that comfort food and just be lazy. The problem is, once you make up one excuse, chances are you’ll make more until you fall back to your old habits. So I have to keep up with what I’m doing and find the motivation where I can, regardless of the weather and whatever might be happening at work.

I really hope that this weather starts improving soon. I want to start a vegetable garden in our back yard and I’m really looking forward to doing that as well as doing some outdoor activities. Slowly but surely getting ready for the summer.

I’ve you’ve stuck around until now, thank you for keeping up with my ramblings.

 

 

 

 

Getting back on track after the Holidays

Today’s Friday and that marks a full week since we returned from our vacations. It’s been a tough week, lots of catching up to do at work with dozens if not hundreds of emails to go through and reply to and following up on pending jobs from last month so I haven’t had as much time to write as I would’ve liked. The house is a mess, luggage is still unpacked which would normally drive my partner crazy, however given the fact that he’s been super busy at work too so I haven’t gotten “the look” yet. I still may get it this weekend if I keep procrastinating.

Even though I’ve been busy at work and as part of my 2018 New Year’s resolutions I did manage to cook pretty much every night this week, except on Tuesday when we went over to my in-laws house to celebrate my father in law’s birthday. I did have a couple of pieces of fried chicken (yum) and a slice of homemade carrot cake and I regret NOTHING.  It was all delicious and we had a fun evening so to me that’s a win. The rest of the week I tried different healthy recipes that were all excellent, my favorite being these baked shrimp taquitos from the skinnytaste website. I love shrimp and this recipe is really easy to make and most importantly they taste delicious. I wish I had taken some pictures of it.  Continue reading “Getting back on track after the Holidays”

Healthy eating while on Puerto Rico (can I make it?)

Christmas in Puerto Rico is a big deal, much bigger than people who were not born here imagine. Navidad (Christmas) is when we experience the best of Puerto Rican culture. Nowhere else is Christmas celebrated like in my little island. Navidad is the time of tradition, family, aguinaldos and villancicos (Christmas songs) and parrandas (louder and funer version of Chirstmas caroling), when  friends gather late in the evening (after 10pm) and visit different houses to “surprise” and wake them up with the loud music and singing of the ‘parranderos’ (those taking part in the ‘parranda’). Traditionally these are supposed to be a surprise but most people have ‘arranged’ that they will be visited; because the custom is that when you’ve been ‘woken up’ you have to join in the parranda so it grows during the evening as more people join in! The fun can last all night, finishing at dawn!

Christmas celebrations in Puerto Rico begin very early in December and do not stop on December 25th. The celebrations can continue into the middle of January if you consider the ”octavitas”. The big Christmas celebrations are; December 24 – Nochebuena; December 25 – Navidad; December 31 – Despedida de Año; and the biggest and most important of all for the children, of course, el Día de Reyes (Three Kings Day) on January 6th.

Throughout all of these celebrations there is one thing in common besides the spirit of celebration and that is FOOD.  Continue reading “Healthy eating while on Puerto Rico (can I make it?)”

Awkward progress pictures (1st Month)

So I finally took some progress pictures. I know it’s only been a little over a month and that it may not look like a lot but I really do feel like my body has changed a bit. Definitely feel like my belly has gone down and it makes me feel a little bit more confident, even though it’s still embarrassing to show these.

I put together two slide shows below with some front, side and back pictures side by side for comparison.  Hopefully I’ll get better at these as I move forward.

Let me know what you think afterwards.

Continue reading “Awkward progress pictures (1st Month)”

Weekly Weigh In: First Milestone

I was worried after having drank a little too much this past weekend and taking Sunday off to recharge batteries that this week was going to be a slow one. Monday came and I was so busy at work that by the time I was free to workout it was very late so I just did some light cardio at home before calling it a night. Tuesday was just as busy and I had to miss my training session at the gym that day since I had a last minute meeting to attend, so again that put a kink in my plans. Now, I usually weigh in on Tuesday mornings but seeing that the past few days had not been exactly the best I knew I’d probably wouldn’t see much if any progress at all so even though I did weigh myself that morning I decided not to “trust” that weight (even though it showed a 2lb loss) as I felt that my body was still working out the extra food and drinks I had consumed that previous weekend.  Weighed myself again today (Friday) after a staying on track for the rest of the week and I couldn’t have been more excited after seeing the results.

Continue reading “Weekly Weigh In: First Milestone”

What I’ve learned in the first month of my lifestyle change.

The day I decided that enough was enough and embarked on this lifestyle change of mine, it was probably an all time low with respect to how I felt both physically and emotionally.  As I mentioned on a previous post, I was struggling with low self esteem and feeling like people, especially my customers would judge me because of the way I looked. On top of that, I was also struggling with feeling tired ALL of the time, no energy whatsoever so even the most basics of things would tire me out or leave me without breath. Going to the grocery store, or to the mall, or any activity that required me to stay on my feet for an extended period of time would result in me feeling like I walked around with a knife stuck on each heel by the time we got home. My blood pressure is fine, same with my blood sugar and while my cholesterol and triglycerides were borderline, they were still fine so I really couldn’t say my health was rapidly deteriorating, yet I felt terrible all the time. I’m in my mid 30s now, which isn’t really that old, but it is old enough to know that I couldn’t keep going the way I was before it would be too late. So, while I’d like to say that there was a very deep and meaningful reason behind my decision to change my habits,  the reality is that I just want to look better and not feel like shit all the time.

Change, is hard, really, really hard given the kinds of things I like and the kind of work I do where I’m eating out all of the time. Asking for water instead of a coke proved to be very challenging as stupid as that may sound, and everyone who knows me and my baked goods addiction will know how much I’ve struggle not to buy cookies or cupcakes on the weekends. But I will say that once I got into the habit of making better choices, rather than buying on impulse, it suddenly became easier to walk by the cookie aisle or the bakery section at the supermarket and not feel that temptation. I also like that making these new choices made me feel good about myself.  Yes, I still like sweets, and it’s not like I have not had any “treats” this past month, but overall I feel great about the kind of food I’ve been eating.

Continue reading “What I’ve learned in the first month of my lifestyle change.”