I feel that, health-wise, I had a really amazing month. I now weigh between 134-135lbs (down a good 3-4lbs from the start of the month!), I feel better about myself, I’m more energetic, I’ve had less tummy troubles– all around good! I ate more veggies, fruits, nuts and rice than I had been, and even cheated (about once a week) without feeling guilt-ridden, sick, or just generally bad about myself. Success!
The hardest (and biggest) cut was artificial sugar. I never realized how much refined sugar I ate before! I feel so much better not having that junk in my life. Why would I ever want to eat that way again?
That’s not to say I haven’t dabbled or occasionally indulged. I think once a week is a good amount of cheating. I’ve missed Ethiopian this month, so I’m looking forward to having that again. But I think I’ll permanently stop buying sugary snack food to keep in the house (sorry, chocolate covered pomegranate seeds).
Also, in honor of Halloween (and a great way to spice up a Thursday night workout) a few friends and I went to our cheesy strength/cardio YMCA class decked out in full 80s gear.
Pretty pre-workout shot
Sweaty post-workout with Jennifer and Rowena!
How those 80s chicks worked out with hairspray in their hair is beyond me. It was dripping in my eyes after the first fifteen minutes. Yuck! But it did make class more fun and was a great motivator!
A Healthy Transformation 
you are so motivated! love it. you look great btw!!! skinny minny. but STRONG!
I really notice a difference not just in body size, but your skin looks great, and you look like you feel great about yourself. I’ve been thinking about taking out gluten, and watching my sugar intake for a long time now. This may be a great motivator! How strict are you with the gluten? Like making sure to check the labels of everything? I suppose it may be easier to follow a GF diet now than it was a six years ago when I had first even heard about it.
I definitely wasn’t that strict with it! I don’t tend to use too many dressings or eat too too much processed food, so I didn’t go gluten-free crazy. I just stayed away from bread products and wheat flour and refined sugar. I wasn’t perfect (for instance, the turkey jerky I like has sugar and I didn’t care) but I think overall it was still a pretty dramatic decrease.
And thank you! I think I jinxed myself though, because as soon as I wrote that I had a bad stomach ache all night. That’s what I get for eating snacks for dinner and being too lazy to cook!
Hi Fitnessie! Cute pics!! Sounds like you had a great month…I’m jealous. Lol. I was doing relatively well but this past week did some damage. Tomorrow, I’m all over it! I’m not quite ready to cut the gluten but totally agree about the sugar!!