(Just a heads up, this post is 2842 words long.)

Healthy living is a journey.  (Shocking, I know.)

Your Plan
photo credit: The Internet

This image is such a great reminder that progress toward any goal or habit change you’re working on is not going to be linear.  You’re not a failure when you hit some bumps along the way and are not getting it exactly right.  Ups and downs are totally normal and to be expected, we just have to keep on keepin’ on.

40 Day Juice Fast? Done!

June 1st, 2013 | Posted by Alison Spath in Weight Loss - (14 Comments)

Well, he made it! Zak has completed his personal juice fast challenge of consuming nothing but fresh fruit and vegetable juice for 40 days straight.  The produce drawer in the fridge is less packed, his pants are looser and I made coffee for both of us this morning.

Here he is at the start of his fast, 40 long days ago.  April 22, weighing in at 195 lbs.

Juice Fast Day 1

And today, June 1 – 41 days later and 32 pounds lighter.

Weight Loss End of Juice Fast

You can find more photos of his progression in the 4 weeks update, and some frequently asked questions in the 2 week update as well.

Alternate Title: The Incredible Shrinking Man

So here he is in all his glory (with his underwear strategically hidden behind red squares, for your viewing pleasure) –  Zak the Juice Fasting Maniac:

April 22, 2013

Juice Fast Day 1

May 13, 2013

Day 22 Juice Fast

And today, one month exactly from the juice fast start date,

May 22, 2013

Juice Fast Day 31

(Don’t mind the toys on the floor that we failed to kick out of the way for this picture.)

A little excel spreadsheet chart to see his weight loss trend:

Juice Fast Weight Loss Chart

As I mentioned in my last post, Zak is on a 40 day juice fast.  To quickly recap, Zak watched Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead, a documentary film by Joe Cross about his 60 day juice fast that lead to an 82 lb weight loss, freeing himself of his autoimmune disease and getting off all his prescription medications.

I watched this documentary a few weeks ago, but Zak watched it when it was first released in 2011.  He was very inspired by the film and has talked about doing a juice fast “some day” ever since.  Thanks to a Biggest Loser style weight loss competition at work, he decided the time is finally here.

Project Weight Loss: Week 10

November 30th, 2012 | Posted by Alison Spath in Weight Loss - (Comments Off on Project Weight Loss: Week 10)

Week 10 of Project Weight Loss was not a weight loss week. Week 10 was about weight maintenance.

Actually, Week 10 was about survival.

I won’t go on and on about how over-committed I was this week. I won’t bore you (you’re already bored, aren’t you!) with talk of all the usual madness topped with extra meetings and multiple birthday parties and traveling with three small children and food for fundraisers and strange smells wafting up through the forced air ducts that eventually leads to the discovery of a fried circuit board in the furnace.  OF COURSE the furnace would crap out during the craziest week of all the crazy weeks that ever were!

Project Weight Loss: Week 9

November 23rd, 2012 | Posted by Alison Spath in Weight Loss - (5 Comments)

I can’t believe I’m writing about weight loss the day after Thanksgiving.  I am still full.

If you’re just tuning in, I’m working on postpartum weight loss and share Project Weight Loss updates on Fridays.

Last week, after hanging out in the upper 130’s for 4 days straight, I woke up on Saturday morning feeling very ready to be done with all of this.  I was plain old tired of trying to lose weight and felt ready for a break.

Project Weight Loss: Week 8

November 16th, 2012 | Posted by Alison Spath in Weight Loss - (16 Comments)

Zak and I were in college when we met and started dating.   He taught me how to play racquetball early in our relationship, and it came to be something we did together quite regularly at (my) school where we had easy access to racquetball courts.

Whenever we played, he always won.  I never felt bad about this, he’s bigger, stronger, a more experienced player – he kicked my ass quite regularly and I just rolled with it.  I mean HELLO, I’m hanging out with my uber cute boyfriend with whom I’m totally smitten, who the hell cares if I win or that racquetball is a little dorky?

Project Weight Loss: Week 7

November 9th, 2012 | Posted by Alison Spath in Weight Loss - (10 Comments)

Week 7.  No change from Week 6.  140.6 this morning, up .2 from last Friday.

Womp womp.

I was feeling bummed and discouraged this morning, but I’m feeling better now that the day has worn on and I’ve had some time to think about where I went wrong this week and what I’m going to do differently next week.

I see two issues from this week:

I didn’t weigh myself all week.

Project Weight Loss: Week 6

November 2nd, 2012 | Posted by Alison Spath in Weight Loss - (5 Comments)

Week 6 of Project Weight Loss will go down in the Mama’s Weeds history books as

The Week That Life Got in the Way.

Birthdays, birthday celebrations, friends visiting from out of town, hurricanes, Halloween, plus the all usual the family and baby stuff. Let’s just say it’s been a full week.

Last week I got a glimpse of the 130’s when I weighed 139.6, (WOOT!) but that’s all it was. A glimpse.

Project Weight Loss: Week 5

October 26th, 2012 | Posted by Alison Spath in Weight Loss - (6 Comments)

I’m back with another update from Project Weight Loss, it’s now the end of Week 5.

For a quick recap, I got started on September 21, 2012 at 149 pounds.

Week 1: 146.0
Week 2: 144.8
Week 3: 143.8
Week 4: 143.6

Today, at the end of Week 5, I weighed in at 139.6

Oh how I welcomed that “3” in the tens place this morning! From 143.6 last week, that looks like a 4 pound weight loss in one week, but a couple of things are going on here.