The Howell Blessings

Week three of my detox diet ended on a high note.  I lost a total of just over 6 pounds and lost an average of 1 1/2 inches from my waist (3 points) and hips.  My honey was anxious to take the "after" pictures and compare them to the "before" pictures.  I wasn't so keen on the idea as I wasn't expecting to see an improvement. But, as you can see below, after just 3 weeks, there is noticeable improvement. Not as lumpy and bumpy as before. And is it my imagination or does the woman on the left look older than the woman on the right? I still have a way to go to look the way I want to look, but for just 3 weeks, I can't complain at all with the results.  I ended the 3rd week the day before my honey and my anniversary, and, unfortunately, took advantage of eating what I wanted (to a point) at a nice restaurant the next evening. Needless to say, I messed up on slowly introducing back in the food(s) without any other "toxic" foods.  So

" Reflection is an important part of happiness, and pausing to reflect on a positive event from each day cultivates gratitude. " -  HeadedSomewhere.com What was the best part of my day?  Watching my grand-daughter lean for her daddy and witnessing his heart melt.

Week two proved to be a challenge on this detox diet. I started the week off gaining weight. The first day was about a half a pound and the second day I gained another half pound.   I was so discouraged. I was following the diet and couldn’t figure out what, if anything, I was doing wrong. I am still unsure but I think I may have figured out in part what was going on. First, and I think most importantly, I wasn’t getting all my water in. At best I was getting in 40 oz a day.   Secondly, I wasn’t getting good nights sleep.   Lack of sleep can actually cause you to not only hang onto weight, but to gain it as well. Week two had me eating lunch instead of drinking a smoothie. I found myself just eating leftovers from the previous nights supper, as I didn’t want to prep and cook lunch and turn around and prep and cook dinner as well.   I did several times anyway. I don’t think that contributed to the weight gain, but certainly dampened my excitement on top of the weight gain.

" Reflection is an important part of happiness, and pausing to reflect on a positive event from each day cultivates gratitude. " - HeadedSomewhere.com What was the best part of my day? Witnessing two hawks mate in the trees behind our house. The encounter was brief, but it means we'll get to see them nest and raise their young close by again this year.

I finished week one!   Sorry didn't mean to leave any of you in the dark. I thought reporting daily was going to be just a bit... bland, so I decided not to update every day. I finished week one at an even 131 pounds. That is down 4 lbs 4 oz of my starting weight. Not too shabby. It's better than the typical 2 lb weight loss per week, but not as strong as the hopeful 7 lbs this plan suggested could be possible to lose in the first week. I have been faithful to the menu plan every day except yesterday, Saturday the 1st of March.  I had my morning shake and then  held a cooking class in the morning.  After class ended, I got busy cleaning up and chatting and skipped lunch.  I know, I know, I shouldn't have skipped. I warned you that lunch would be my biggest obstacle and it has proved to be true. I did snack on carrots and roasted red pepper hummus, (a recipe in the book)  later that afternoon and finished strong with a Kale and White Bean soup last night. Yesterday sta