Today I went and helped my dad give a lecture on teamwork and leadership in Camarillo for the church he belongs to. It was a great lecture and I really came away with a lot of knowledge, great teams are about having people with the right talent and the right attitude and having a clear vision. I got sad thinking about all the teams of people I used to manage, since now its just me and my husband. I have no one to manage, no one to develop and no one to boss around. I have no team.
But then it occurred to me, I do have a team. I have a team of people and they are helping me reach my vision. In our mission statement it states, “for Amber to achieve, health, happiness and find her passion”. My team includes my wonderful husband Eric who helps me stay motivated and has even changed his diet to help me be tempted less. Eric is in charge of helping me find my passion and taking me outside of my box that I love to live in. It also includes my therapist, who works on the happiness part. She keeps me accountable for my health issues as well which really is part of me being happy. And the final person is my trainer Melody, she is a wonderful motivator, a great friend and someone that truly gets excited about every single pound and small achievement.
I have the perfect team to reach my goals and vision. I don’t have to manage them, but they are on my side they have “bought in” to the vision and they are helping me become the better version of myself that I truly want to be.
So today I ate:
banana and pineapple
avocado
leftover adzuki bean bake
salad with sprouts and cabbage
turkey burgers with leeks and garlic
hummus and veggie crudites
carrot juice
small piece of dark chocolate. . . a moment of weakness
I realized today that I always look forward to going to therapy, and then end up leaving upset and confused (in a good way). I am often confronted by my fears and by my own logic that tells me what I am doing and feeling is wrong. It’s like if I was listening to one of my friends describe my life as if it were theirs, I would know exactly what to say to them and could see clearly what is wrong and right. But when it’s right there in front of my face, I can’t see it. I can’t apply my great sense of logic when it comes to my relationships and my needs. But I think I am starting to turn a corner. Today we talked about my successes, my weight loss success and I recently started learning how to code xhtml, which is something I thought was incredibly complicated and above my head. I am finding that if I put my mind to something, there is little to keep me from doing it. So now I have to rediscover Amber, so that I can find out what I am passionate about. I can’t remember anymore because of all the years of pain and change and weight that kept my head underwater.
I have been existing for the last 8 years, not living, just existing. But this is the year it changes. I am going to move with Eric to England for 6 months in March and we don’t know when or where we’ll end up. I am going to find my passion, I am going to lose the weight that has been holding me back and making me feel bad about myself. These are all things you would never have heard me say 3 months ago. I was too scared and to petrified to try because I thought that I didn’t deserve good things and that they required too much energy, energy that I just didn’t have. But the small successes are making me see what might be possible, it’s still a little fuzzy but in time it will come into focus and life will be passionate again.
So today I ate:
Stewed apples over pear and blackberries
a grapefruit
miso soup
Fresh tuna with kale and caper dressing YUM!!!!!
juice of cucumber, celery, alfalfa sprouts, ginger
Adzuki Bean Hotpot with parsnip, sweet potato, leek, tomato and carrot
salad with blanched broccoli, green beans, asparagus, peas, pine nuts and pumpkin seeds
Posted by ambolino | Posted in weight loss | Posted on 12-01-2009
Yahoo! Today I stepped on the scale, wincing, knowing that I would not see anything and there before my eyes. . . I LOST 2 LBS!!!! Holy Crap, I almost fainted right there in the bathroom but kept my composure so that my husband didn’t have to find me unconscious, naked in the bathroom. But lookout world, I am on fire!! I have lost 5 lbs since January 1st. And it will only get better from here. I can’t wait to see how much I can lose before my 30th birthday in March. This is gonna be great.
I went to the Santa Barbara Fish Market today and bought some salmon for dinner. And I was so excited to eat it since I haven’t had meat in a few days, that I forgot to take a picture of it for my blog. But I can tell you that it was soooooo good. I mean like really, really good. Like I have never had fish this good. It is so fresh and so flavorful, I realize now what I have been missing. And the best part is that I bought some Ahi Tuna for lunch tomorrow, YUM!
So today I ate:
Mango, banana, pear, blackberry salad
cup of miso soup with sliced radishes
brown rice stir fry with fava beans, fennel and onion
What a gorgeous day! We (Eric, Melody and Joe) spent the morning in Carpinteria looking for geocaches and taking in the amazing landscape. We walked for a good 2 hrs and found 3 caches, Go G.I. Joe! I had such a blast in the sunshine and spending time with new friends, the temperature could not have been more perfect. But that’s why it costs so much to live in Santa Barbara, the weather is perfect 360 days per year. We ate breakfast out today which is not on my plan, but it was a nice change to get out of the house and the food was great. And Jenn came over tonight for a movie (The Dark Knight) and rice pudding. The movie was long and the pudding was ok, great flavor but the texture was off a bit. It definitely satisfied my sweet tooth. So today I ate
Cajun Pizza (sauteed veggies with 2 eggs over easy) from Cajun Kitchen
bowl of strawberries and blackberries
leftover mung beans from yesterday
radish and celery with hummus
veggie juice (carrot, celery, cucumber)
baked butternut squash
avocado and sprout guacamole
vanilla and orange rice pudding
Baked Butternut Squash with Avocado, sprouts and radish
So today started off rather, well. . . hmmm I tried to chop the top of my finger off with my vegetable peeler. So if there are spelling errors in this post, i apologize since I am typing with a giant bandage on my left middle finger.
Had a great day working out, minus a minor hamstring injury and I went to see my therapist. It feels so good to have so many people on my side, telling me that I can accomplish my goals and reminding me how far I’ve come. My therapist reminded me today that my husband “adores” me, what a great thing to be reminded of. I now need to get my sinuses under control, but in time that will come.
So today I ate:
smoothie of – mango, banana, pear, strawberry and fingertip
miso soup
salad with avocado, red pepper, tomato, pine nuts, radish and sprouts
apple
mung bean stew with celeriac, celery, leek and of course mung beans
Eric made yaki soba and I have to say his looked slightly better than my mung beans.
Ya i didn’t either. My daily meal planner had me eat three of the things today and I was in the bathroom every 5 minutes, I kid you not. But after all is said and done I have completed day 5 of my weight loss/ Amber gain adventure. I had cucumber juice for breakfast, cucumber juice for snack and more cucumber for dinner. I think my kidneys are now thoroughly cleaned out! And my colon is clean so what’s left, my liver? What cleans that out, I wonder.
Today I ate:
Juice of carrot, ginger, cucumber and celery
a peach and banana
leftover adzuki bean bake from last night
small spinach salad with cabbage and alfalfa sprouts, topped with lemon
Juice of fennel, beet and cucumber (better than I thought it would be)
Even if it sounds weird, you have to admit it is beautiful.
This is what I made for dinner tonight, it was really good. It is completely vegan and gluten free!! It has beans, squash, garlic, onion, leek, carrot, celery and the top is made by slicing sweet potatoes. Yummm!
I am doing good things for my body and I am feeling better already.
So to start the new year. . . we have a new Amber! I have a significant amount of weight to lose (upwards of 50lbs!) and this is the year I am going to do it. I have a wonderful personal trainer/friend, Melody, that is giving me the tools to get my big butt in gear and get some muscles going on. We have been working out for about 3 months and although I haven’t lost a significant amount of weight, I can feel my body changing underneath all my blubber. She also went with me today to do something I NEVER thought I would do; wait for it. . . . . . we both got colonics!!!! Holy Crap, literally. It was such a strange experience but really cleansing and I feel less puffy if that makes sense. Thanks Mel!
I am also an avid fan of BBC America’s show “You Are What You Eat” with Dr. Gillian McKeith. Boy is she a hard ass. I watched 10-12 people on her show lose massive amounts of weight just by changing the way they eat in 8 weeks! I mean it is literally mind-blowing how much weight these people took off in 2 months. I bought her cookbook Slim for Life and it has a very easy to follow plan for 28 days of meal plans. I have already lost 3 lbs since last week and I am only on day 4!
eric’s yaki soba
mung bean stew
