A Look at Good Eats for the New Year and a Jumpstart for Dr. Oz's Program

Last Friday I decided the vacation was over.  In light of the New Year I needed to clean up my eating act.  I'm like everyone else at the Holidays.  I like to eat, drink and be merry.  While I still try to make healthy choices and exercise, I definitely enjoy myself.  When we got back in town following a wonderful little Christmas vacation, I wasn't too happy with the way I was feeling and absolutely not happy with my clothes feeling a bit snug.  Yuck.  However, as I mentioned here I vowed not to beat myself up and begin being a slave to the scale.  Last Friday I decided that I would not weigh myself, but, rather, got out the handy dandy tape measure and measured myself.I am not about to share those measurements with you, but needless to say they are nothing close to that of one of my old Barbie dolls!  I carry my weight around the middle.  The typical apple shape is what I think they call it.  That means having a flat stomach or getting a six pack has always been one of those almost unreachable goals.  When I would complain about this to my mother, she would quickly remind me that even when I was little I had that little pouch.  Yuck, again.  She was right.  When I was younger I never had the flat stomach - like my next door neighbor, best friend.  She was one of those that had that little six pack from the time she was eight years old!  Me, on the other hand, had the soft sticky out tummy.  So, I've always had a hate/hate relationship with my abs.  I think most of us tend to hate our body part that gives us the most trouble - and we tend to want what doesn't come easily.  That's where the terrible, negative talk begins.  So, when I've eaten poorly I can immediately tell in my abs.  Or lack of abs.  So, as I've talked about not relying on the scale, I think checking my progress with my tape measure would be much more ideal.I focused on eating well this week.  Healthy foods.  No wine, bread or pasta.  I can't say I had no sugar because you can see from my collage of eats that I did cheat with two chocolate turtles.  Let me tell you how great I feel after only one week of eating fresh, whole foods - lots of fresh vegetables, berries, apples and a banana in my smoothies.I've mentioned looking into Dr. Oz's 2 Week Rapid Weight Loss Program that I am going to begin on Monday.  As I have said, I think it is a healthy, clean way of eating and a great jumpstart to get back into the healthy foods mindset.  In anticipation, I drank warm water with lemon, often in the afternoons.  I had my regular smoothie each morning.  I am anticipating having trouble giving up cheese.  Can I tell you how much I love a square of cheese for a snack?  I love, love, love cheese.  Also, giving up that second cup of coffee is already causing my anxiety, as does giving up the tablespoon of half and half that I love in my coffee.Simply by cutting out some things this past week I already feel so much better.  It makes me even more excited to dive right into Dr. Oz's program.  In fact, I dropped 1 1/2 inches from my troublesome waist in this one week.  Of course, I know it's water and bloat, but, Hey!, that's enough to feel better!Talking about weight and weight loss is a tricky thing.  I don't want to insinuate that any of you out there need to lose weight and I don't want to harp on weight loss as the focus of this site.  However, I do want to say that weight, whether too much or too little, and how we fuel our bodies,  can make us feel at our very best or not at our best.  As I have not been at my own best self, I just want to share my own experience in getting back to that best self, just in case there is anyone else out there in the same boat.If you are interested in following along with the Dr. Oz Program, check it out here. Then click on the shopping list and print it and get to the store this weekend!  Fill up your basket with all of these great foods, and get rid of the junk!  Let me know if you decide to join . . . then let me know how it's going and how you feel!!And while you are feeling better in the body, here are some great reads for some more feel good thoughts.  These are some great articles for the New Year!http://www.marcandangel.com/2015/01/01/15-ways-to-live-a-year-with-no-regrets/#more-803http://www.becomingminimalist.comhttp://tinybuddha.com/blog/listen-body-become-happy-againHappy shopping, Happy Reading and Happy Weekend!