RESET

In my first blog I mention my team and my tools-

Let me elaborate. In isolation is not a good place to grow. There is a recent study [for which I cannot find the citation, so hopefully there aren't any fact checkers out there--but if you know what I'm talking about please leave a comment with the link to the study-I'll do the same if I find after posting]. The gist of this study is that people in community are healthier. period. They get less disease, less common colds and the duration of the illnesses they do acquire are less, on average.  One of my favorite wellness pioneers says "Community builds Immunity" and I love that, I believe this--but it took me a long time to get there... when there was something I knew I needed to do was upon me;  having a tough conversation with a loved one, breaking up with a boyfriend, deciding on the next career step, I go inside. Which is not really who I perceive myself to be. I perceive myself to be a pretty open, sharing, honest person--when its about helping, coaching, listening to others; but when its about me deep inside. 

So on my quests to lowering weight I have done Weight Watchers but I'd weigh in and never stay for the meeting, I'd workout but never take classes or entertain a running partner (though many had asked).  And the end result was early success but no lasting results. I'd let myself off the hook and end up back where I started, or worse. When I knew I needed something and didn't know where to start so I joined Team in Training and loved that experience--even though I ran the half and not the full as originally advertized-the non-judgmental support of a team for a common purpose was exactly what I needed and I was hooked on the idea of getting healthy in community. 

Fast forward two years my husband and I went out to lead a low-carb lifestyle, he loses 20-ish pounds and I lose 1 (not fair--but I was really happy for him!) and then hypothyroid diagnosis, the hill was even steeper and around that time I was introduced to a product line that has been important in my success what is it?

RESET (in my words): A 5 day high fiber cleanse meant to normalize blood glucose and insulin levels, rid the body of cravings for sugar-rich foods that cause a spike in blood glucose with resulting release of insulin and all sorts of downstream hormonal effects (the scientist in me wants to unleash itself at this moment, but I will refrain-however if you crave this detail, please let me know). I participated in my first RESET group Spring of 2010--which is a supported community of people  it provided a forum and while I believe I only listened and didn't actively participate-I was there gaining from the community!(I'm not sure I reaped the full benefits of RESET as I was pregnant in June...)

And this past week I completed my second full RESET with success (see the STATS section of this post).  This week I'm leading a RESET group--so I've come full circle from the silent participant to the leader--isn't growth grand! I like RESET because its planned for you all you need are veggies and a touch of discipline and (I) come out the other end feeling really strong and clean and ready to tackle my healthy eating goals.

But don't just take if from me! A childhood friend trusted me enough to give RESET a try last year -- it jump-started her loss of 30 lbs and she's on round 2 this week after falling off the wagon a bit. She just needs to right the course and get back on track.  I love RESET for its ability to be done anytime providing a jumpstart to any wellness goal.  If you are reading and need a little push to get going or keep going...My Next RESET group will begin August 20th send me a personal message to:   Jenelle.Project50@gmail.com

In her words:

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"My first experience with RESET opened my eyes to the effects of excess sugar on my body. I’m not talking about just losing some weight either. I won’t lie—it was really nice to see the scale slip lower each day, but the major difference was how I FELT every day. When I step back and think about it, my first RESET was when the light bulb went off, the “ah-ha” moment hit and I finally understood that what really mattered was how I was physically and mentally feeling every day, as opposed to just watching a decreasing number on the scale. The number on the scale was NOT enough motivation to keep up good habits, but feeling good really is.

The biggest change I noticed was the decreased sensitivity of my teeth. I’m pretty sure I tried every sensitive toothpaste known to man with very little lasting effect. I would chew on one side to avoid anything hot or cold touching certain teeth. After a week of RESET, this completely stopped. What a novel idea…sugar caused my teeth issues, and then removing sugar from my diet fixed my teeth issues. Sometimes, things really are just that simple.

The second biggest change was my energy level. I no longer hit that 2 pm wall at work, where I was so tired and bored and wishing for it to be 4 pm so I could go home and take a nap. I still love a good nap, but it isn’t something that my body begs for every day.

In addition to my "ah-ha" moment, I also learned how important it is to have someone to lean on when you need to muster that extra bit of resilience or that extra bit of will power to get through a challenge. I realized that it is ok to feel weakness, and that your friends will pick up the slack when you're lacking. It's also important to have someone to share your victories with. At the beginning of every month I text my best girlfriend and let her know how many miles I walked/ran for the previous month. And it is always so much fun to send her a picture when I realize that a dress or pair of jeans I haven't worn in ions either fits, or even better, is now a size too large.

There are a lot of ways to lose weight, some are fast, some are slow, some require crazy levels of effort, some are just too good to be true…and when you’ve been over weight, you approach each diet you try with a level of outward skepticism that masks what you are secretly desiring most: That maybe, just maybe, this time things will work.

The seven pounds I lost during RESET were my “kick off” pounds for what would carry me to the present day: down 30 pounds total, with about that many more to go. A few months after RESET, my weight started to creep back up, and I just made the decision that I was going to spend one hour each day on self development. So I started walking. At first it was just a mile at a fairly slow pace, but over the course of 5 months I went from huffing and puffing during that mile walk to finishing my first half marathon. This past year has taught me that weight management is not a destination, but a journey.

I’m ready to RESET again because I’ve slipped back into some bad habits and I want to regroup, refocus and re-embrace the low glycemic lifestyle.

So to sum everything up:
1. Assign yourself the highest priority for at least 1 hour a day.
2. Enlist a champion for the good days and for the bad days.
3. Focus on how you feel, and don't be a slave to the scale.
4. Forgive yourself on the bad days, and rock it a little harder on the good days.

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The Stats:  Skin folds coming in the next couple of week. (I know you can't wait) .   Change in Weight (-5.6) this is a reset week number and so RESET did exactly what its meant to, give me a jumpstart to really seeing changes in my body full disclosure, I've lost 14.6 lbs since January 2012, but part of my motivation to write this blog that what I perceived to be hard work only landed me down 9 lbs in 6 months--for my goals this was not enough...so here we are sharing my journey! Word of the week: enjoy I can feel myself getting drained so I'm just going to enjoy leading the RESET group and love the process :) Change of the week: status quo-I RESET last week (and had a really sick baby) so that was full of change and stress; I'm not implementing anything 'new' this week--just focusing on keeping the momentum from RESET. Exercise Plan: Monday-REST Tuesday-Run (using couch to 5k week 4 schedule) Wednesday- strength workout Thursday-Run and Softball Game Friday-Strength workout-Live with personal trainer Saturday- Yoga Sunday Run Coming soon to Project 50: non-food rewards, supplements, when life gets in the way, more on community...