Journal Days 1-28 **STEP ONE - WEIGHT LOSS**

Hello everyone! I am so excited to be sharing with you all MY experience during the ITG Diet Program. I want to share this with all of you because dieting is something that can be very intimidating for some people and it is not an easy process of course! Going forward I'll be sharing all of my journals with you, my tips and tricks that I use personally to help keep me in line AND all of my beginning statistics and endings statistics ( weight, pictures and journals!). 

Whenever I start my dieting, I always think to myself, "what are my goals?". So let's start here. Every dieter has different motives and goals when starting a new healthy regime. For me, I am focused on reducing my stomach issues. I have struggled with ulcers and IBS for over 10 years and I have found the best way to control these conditions is to continuously be proactive when it comes to eating. My other starting goal is that my adult onset acne will go down. I have struggled with this for a few years and I am hoping I will see my face clear up along this process!

The next step I always take when reflecting on my journal from day to day, is not what I messed up with or how I didn't complete something for the day. I view it as ways that I can improve for the following week AND I use this to help motivate me to do "better" next week. This helps me keep a clear mind and to not focus on the bad but, instead, the benefits of my new lifestyle changes. Rome was not built in a day and I can surely tell you, perfecting a healthy diet doesn't happen in a day either.

I have my first few days of my journal while on the program below for you to view!

Day #1 - Felt great mostly. I was a little tired but feeling good!

Day #2- Detoxing hit HARD. Very bad headache ( I also quite as much caffiene so it could have bene from this!) started off my morning. By the end of the day the headache was not as intense.

*Remember: detoxing hits each person differently BUT mostly the effects should wear off after the first 5-7 days on the program!*

Day #3 - I had a hard time focusing in the AM because of my headache that started yesterday but felt a good jump in energy by the afternoon!

Day #4 - Today was my first GREAT day. I felt energy when I woke up, I did not feel any bloating or grogginesss. No headaches or fatigue but I did have a little bit of a "foggy mind", as I like to call it :)

 Day #5 Better energy today and absolutely no headache :)

 Day #6 - I did NOT want breakfast this morning but, I drank a bottle of water to help wake up my digestive tract and then had a strawberry banana shake bottle and it was perfect!

Day # 7 - Mothers Day - Weird day of eating for me. I had 3 small lean turkey patties for my meats for "brunch" and since I was out, could not get all my ITG items in. I was able to snack on a bag of pizza and drink half of a chocolate protein shake when I became hungry around 7pm!

Day #8  NEW WEIGHT: 159.2 - I am very happy with the results so it's definitely motivating me!

Day #9 - I feel very "lean" today. I ran the bridge and was able to cut off 4 minutes! Woo Hoo! :)

Day #10 - I did not do well with my water! I has two Zevia drinks today and a sparkling water but, I need to do better with water!

Day #11 - Got light headed around 3pm. I needed to eat more so I had more cucumbers and the half a bag of spicy nacho chips and that seemed to satisfy me!

Day #12 - I was very tired today. I drank extra water since I felt very dehydrated. I felt a little sluggish since I did not sleep very well last night!

Day #13 - NOT A GOOD DAY - I woke up not feeling the best but I started off well at breakfast. Later in the day I went over to my grandmothers house to help with a few chores. By this time my cravings were extreme. I was very hungry and I had already eaten my "emergency purse bar". I ended up caving in and having a piece of pizza with vegetables on it. The bad eating continued to night time when I also had a few Oreos that were in our pantry. Normally, I have no issue saying no to deviations but this craving took my off guard and it really impacted me. 

I was very disappointed in myself for having such a bad day and it really put a lot of negative thought's in my head. The usual stuff like, "I can't do this", and "Why should I keep going". Once I realized that this was going through my head, I knew I had to start internally if I wanted to get back on track. So, I opened my journal and wrote my foods for the day and made sure to get my water in. I went to sleep thinking to myself " I had a bad day of eating but I will not let this go on any longer".

Day #14 - Much better day - I woke you with cravings again but this time, I had a more positive mindset. I washed off all the bad thoughts from yesterday and went back to my basics. I started off with my something more filling than just an ITG items since I know this will satiate me more right now while my cravings are up. I drank tons of water, added a fiber powder to my strawberry banana shake to fill me up more and BAM! I was back on track. 

I had a little digestive discomfort from my bad eating the day before so I used this to just fortify myself. It is so easy to fall into bad habits again and to lose momentum so I try to cut them off before I start to spiral. This saved me and helped me get right back on track.

Remember: DO NOT DWELL! WRITE IT DOWN IN YOUR JOURNAL AND GET BACK ON TRACK!

Day #15 - Going through detox again. Stomach was slightly irritated this morning so I stuck to protein shakes for the morning and had lunch around noon. Whenever I feel nauseous or lack of appetite, I make myself drink a glass of water with lemon to aid my digestion.

Day #16 - Great day! I was offered a muffin and easily said no and had the chocolate peanut butter shake instead! Yum!

 Day #17 - A good, easy day for me. No cravings and no bloating :)

Day #18 - Good day until the night time. I ended up feeling very bloated and started to get more hungry throughout the night. I had a Zevia Ginger Ale to drink down the cravings. Worked like a charm :)

Day #19 - Stomach still felt very full and bloated. Very strange feeling but otherwise, it was a great day!

Day #20 - BAD DAY! I woke up very late on Saturday and only had a protein shake. We threw our friend a going away party since he was going back to Mexico after being in the US for 6 months. Needless to say, I had way too much to drink. I did well with food but there sugars in some of the drinks I chose. This was a special occasion and I chose to deviate with alcohol instead of food. I still felt VERY bloated when I went to sleep 

Day #21 - I had a little bit of a hangover when I woke up to be honest. I felt very bloated still and I did not feel good at all. I was definitely UNDER my calories for the day which is almost just as bad as eating bad foods. Unfortunately, when you do not feel well, sometimes you just don't want to eat. That's was I did since I felt nauseous all day. 

Day #22 - Everything starts to make sense since I ended up starting my time of the month. Because of my increased hormones, I was in bed all day with cramps. This caused me to, once again, miss out on my calorie intake for the day. I was bummed because it seemed like I wasted the whole weekend BUT, I remembered that this is a work in progress and that my friend leaving was special occasion that does not happen very often at all. I picked myself up and decided to get back on track tomorrow morning!

This is always a learning experience and I used this to my advantage to prepare better for my time of the month next time.

Day #23 - It was very hard to stay on track today but I managed. I was not hungry all because of cramping so I had to force myself to eat!

Day #24 - Feeling better with my stomach today but I am noticing that I am having a lot of sugar cravings. I starting Chromium to help level my blood sugar levels throughout the day

Day #25 - Feeling good but a little bloated. My time of the month is never easy so I typically feel bloated the entire time I'm on my cycle. 

Day #26 - I had a cheat meal today for my boyfriend's and I's 4 Year Anniversary Dinner. I did have half a sweet potato as my cheat item but I still made sure to have salad and UNSWEETENED tea.

I know what you're thinking. "Why hasn't he put a ring on it yet since I am such a catch?". I'm not sure either but, I remind him all the time :)

Day #27 - I feel great and I am very excited to start Transitioning tomorrow June 1st!

P.S. - I am REALLY getting addicted to the Zevia Cola Soda Replacement! Yum!