I just wanted to thank everyone that has come to my blog, all are welcome, all are welcome! I'm having a lot of fun planning the idea, and putting everything into motion finally. It's been a long time coming. So without further ado, I present to you my newest idea. I have a number of blogs, but this is my favorite idea so far. It's also my most recent idea.
Anyhow, the idea struck me one evening while I was trying to enter to win a SodaStream and was brewing up some tea. I was adding some Rasberry syrup when the idea struck me. We all focus on carbs, fat, protein. When maybe what we really should be focusing on is our fluid intake. All the statistics say we are 90% water. Not carbs, not fat (ok well maybe more fat than I care to admit), not protein, WATER! That's right?! And what is the one thing I dread about embarking on a new diet? Water, or more specifically what to drink. Usually most diets limit you to water, coffee, tea. The limiting factor is almost always what you can drink.
We all know regular soda in the large quantities we all drink is bad. I get that. I still love my regular soda though. I shouldn't. There isn't anything redeeming about it. The bottles are so bad for the environment and every time I get a new bottle I am just adding to the island of plastic. Oh sure, I recycle. But is that doing much better for the environment?
I know I don't drink enough, but is drinking regular soda, 8 glasses a day as recommended, really going to help me lose weight? Of course not. And, let's be frank, Arizona water isn't really very good. Tap tastes horrible and I almost gave a Doctor a heart attack when I told him I was increasing my water consumption by drinking more water. Not that he was shocked I was increasing my water intake, but that I was drinking straight from the tap. That was certainly a sure way to kidney stones. I don't really like bottled water though either. Ever left a bottle in the car and then opened up the bottle. Smells like chemicals. My instinct is not to drink that water even when it's not been left in the summer heat.
So back to my dilemna. I love coffee, with just a little milk. I don't mind even just 1% and only enough to take away the bite. So that's good. Not too many extra calories there. I also like tea, preferrably herbal and with no added sugar. Though a good way to curb my soda fix is a strong herbal sweet tea with just a touch of honey. Again, not bad there. I don't mind water as long as it's not from the tap and with a touch of lemon (preferrably fresh squeezed, but I also really like the lemon powder you can get in packets or the shaker). But that leaves me with not so many varieties. An easy way to get me off the wagon (or is it off the wagon?).
So I realized what I wanted to do. I want to create my own weight loss plan around what I drink. I would like to call it pee the pounds away but that has a weird ring to it. Catchy, but too weird, even for me. So I am going to modify the idea a bit and call it "My SodaStream Weight Loss Journey".
My first step is procuring my SodaStream. I really like the Pure model best, but any variety will work for me. I would prefer glass bottles over plastic as I think glass is just safer. I don't believe in the leeching of chemicals from plastic into what we drink, but why take my chances! I'm still working on which model I would like so for now that part is on hold. Next step?
What will I be drinking? Zero water. I got one of those pitchers and I plan to drink as much water as I can. And then for everything else? Everything else will come from My SodaStream. Ok, the hard part is done. Now, what about my diet? I can't just drink everything and ommit eating altogether.
So since my focus is going to be on my fluid intake. I also don't drink much water right now. So at first diving in from 0 glasses a day to 8 is going to be tough. To compensate? As I slowly increase my water intake I will also get extra fluids by getting in lots of fruits and veggies every day to increase my water consumption through food.
I know sounds weird right? But if we are 90% water we should probably also be eating foods so that combined with the 8 glasses of water everyday so that what we eat/drink is also 90% water. I love fruits and veggies, and now that spring has sprung it's easy to find all sorts of fruits and veggies. There is a Euro Market right by my office that has the best fruit salad. It's a great mix of all perfectly ripe fruits. I hate getting a fruit salad where all the fruit is under ripe, or worse yet 90% of it is canteloupe. This place rocks, not only is it all fresh, and perfectly ripe, but it's the perfect mix. So I plan to get my breakfast there. And then lunch will be a hearty salad. Maybe I'm the only person in the world that feels this way, but half a head of iceberg, half a tomato, some boxed croutons, and ranch dressing is NOT a salad. For that matter, I don't think if you start with iceberg you can even quantify that as a salad. So when I say a hearty salad I'm talking about something vibrant and fun, something you look at as a meal and not as something you are forced to eat because you are "on a diet". Corner Bakery and Cosi are both by work and both have a variety of salads that are all great. Dinner can be just about anything I want it to be. But with my health in mind. I plan to listen to my body and balance out my dinner from the rest of my day. Some nights might just be some cottage cheese with fruit, but other days it might be steak and some steamed vegetables, or a big burger with fries. And the last step?
The exercise program of course. That I'm still working on and might still be changing that so I will be waiting until I have solidified this part before posting about my workout program. I start Monday April 18. This week has been full of real life and I don't want that to be an excuse, but sometimes the real world is more than the body can bear. Illness has reared it's ugly head but I seem to be getting better rather than getting worse so this week will be a light gym week. More to come...
mysodastreamweightlossjourney@gmail.com
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