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What I ate for 30 days to help me lose weight

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What I ate for 30 days to lose weight | The Things I Love Most 
It has been so fun getting such nice comments from people reading my post over at Or so She Says. I have had a lot of people ask me questions about what I ate for my 30 days to achieve my weight lose. So I thought I would write out my exact diet and how I did it and what I ate.
 
First off I went to Walmart and bought me a digital food scale. I went with the $10 one that wasn’t the best but wasn’t the kind that didn’t say the exact oz.
I have to say my first week was really hard. Like my body was going though sugar withdrawals. Which makes total sense. It was. I wasn’t a crazy sugar eater, but I had my treat at least once a day. I felt weak and my stomach hurt, but I was NOT hungry. On this eating plan you should NOT be hungry. I printed out a big eating plan and posted it on my fridge. 

Here is the eating plan, I did change it up a little and didn’t do 1 fruit 1 veggies.  I did 8 oz of fruit for breakfast, 16 oz of veggies for lunch , 24 oz of veggies for dinner. Also make sure you drink lots of water during the day!
 
You can have anything that is Calorie free so I used Stevia to sweeten my yogurt, you can use any seasoning, and anything {like your salad dressing or sauces} that has sugar LOW on the ingredient list. You can have 1/4 cup of Salsa free with any meal, and same with spaghetti sauce.
So for my meals…
Breakfast
My Fruit and Yogurt Parfait,
Eggs with cheese and fruit on the side
Bacon & a fruit
Lunch
2 Lettuce Sandwiches {these are my favorite}
2 All Beef Hot Dogs with a plate full of different veggies

Salad with Balsamic vinegar on it {since you can’t have salad dressing until night

S

paghetti Squash, Acorn Squash, Butternut Squash and a fresh veggie like Carrots, Cucumbers, Tomatoes, with Cottage Cheese on the side, or a piece of chicken.  Dinner
I would usually eat the meat I cooked for my family and then make me a big salad, or squash. and it is BIG. 24 oz is big!
I didn’t have any snacks during the day except for sugar free gum. and at night I made Herbal Peach or varied fruit teas and put a packet of Stevia in it. It is SO yummy!

 Also I only weighed and measured myself the first day and then on day 31. I highly recommend doing that!

This eating plan comes from the CEA How food plan. CEA how is for compulsive eaters or anyone that struggles with an addiction to food. I found the diet here, and you can go read a lot more about it there. I guess they aren’t supposed to share the food plan with anyone unless you are being sponsored through CEA how. But since I found it on a website I thought it would be ok to share with my readers. I strongly encourage anyone that struggles with food as their addiction to go to the site and call into one of the meetings. It is a great program and has really helped my mom and many other people overcome their addiction to food.

I did not join this group, but got a lot of support from my mom, and mostly though God’s help every day. I would pray to be able to do it. It was hard, but you can do anything for 30 days with the help of God. I know I couldn’t have done it on my own. 

I still struggle daily trying to eat good. Now that I am maintaining my weight it is easier to think “it’s okay I am a good weight I can eat a donut, but I know how it will make me feel, even if it doesn’t make me gain weight. I am not addicted to food at home {maybe I am in denial}, but when I go to parties I struggle because everyone else is eating and I just do it to be social and because it looks so yummy. One thing I learned while on the food plan is that it doesn’t’ matter about the food, just the people that are there and the fun you are having. 

I know how it makes me feel to eat unhealthy food. I still like to have treat about 3 times a week and try not to over do it with my grains about 2 servings a day. I have tried to substitute my sugar treats with healthier options of sugars like Agave and Honey. But sugar is sugar and turns into sugar in your body which still makes us crave sugar. {did that make sense?!?}
 
I hope this helps. I know this is somethings that has helped me. I know for a lot of people once they go off it they binge and eat really bad and gain weight back. I fluctuate about four pounds {especially when we go on vacation}, but if I find that if I am up then I lay low on the grains and sugars and make sure I am exercising at least 5 times a week, and it goes back down! If you struggle, and have a hard time maintaining, I would suggest you go to the CEA How site and find a sponsor and have them help you. This is just what worked for me. Everyone is different.
 
Here is a before and after pic. It wasn’t a ton, you can see I lost it in my arms, hips, stomach and face.
Hope this helps.

Comments

  1. thanks so much for this info. I feel this is an answer to my prayers. I could basically insert my name into your weight loss story and It would fit perfectly for me. From not being overweight in highschool and loosing everything after my first child, but then gaining with my 2nd and 3rd child. So thank you, I am definitely going to try this.

    Also, I would love to see a before pic. 🙂

  3. I also loved reading about your story over at so she says…it inspired me as well. I am going to try this, I too feel like I have your exact story and ran a half, a steeple chase and a full marathon last year and didn’t lose a pound, I know I ate too much, but I didn’t gain either. I can’t wait to tell my mom about it, she has struggled ever since having kids and has tried it all, I love that I am realizing that sugary food is just as bad of an addiction as alcohol or smoking can be. Thanks for sharing your story, I am going to try it and I will let you know how I do. Thanks for the inspiration and tips.
    Krista

  6. Awesome! My husband and I just signed up for the Ragnar Race next year, and it will be a great motivation for my to get in shape, and prepare myself for a difficult race. I have the baby weight of two surprise pregnancies and sopmetimes poor eating habits to lose. The question that I have is this. I read in a book that Agave Nectaris sweeter than sugar so you need less, but it can be as bad if not worse than high fructose corn syrup? Have you had any issues with it? starglobe44@hotmail.com
    http://www.joyinthejumble.com

  7. I am so excited because I have already lost 4 pounds. I am trying not to keep weighing myself but it keeps me motivated. But I have 3 more weeks so no more weighing until day 30. Anyways, thanks your great!

  8. You don’t know me but I came across your blog and it seems like an answer to my prayers. I would love to ask you a few more questions about your experience. I’ve learned I can’t conquer this without the help of my savior. Was the first week really hard? How did you get through it? I don’t want to quit 5 minutes before the miracle happens? Please email if you have a moment! I would love to talk to ya! And sincerely appreciate it. (oh and I’m also lds and a stay at home mom. I have 3 lovely girls. 🙂 jenheileson@gmail.com

  9. Kendra,
    Were you nursing while you did this? I love the success stories and especially b/c this time it’s different. You looked to a higher power to get you through and that is ok- I think a lot of people don’t think to look to God for help in this area. I know I didn’t before…

  10. I love your blog Kendra. Thanks so much for sharing. I found your blog, because I was looking up information on the CEA HOW plan. I am on day 10 now. I didn’t join to do all the phone call stuff, but I am trying the 30 day plan. I have a friend who, like, your mom, is a member for life. I don’t know if I will give up sugar and flour forever yet. So far so good. I like reading your blog for motivation. I am going to try your lettuce sandwich tomorrow for lunch. I am also LDS. I live in Idaho. Married 13 years next month and I have 6 wonderful children. I love to run too, though I am not very good at it. Thanks again for sharing.

  11. Hi! I’m in the CEA-How program and I just wanted to let folks know that the food is only maybe 10% of it. Being in the program, you realize how impossible it is to stay with that eating plan (“remain abstinent”) without LOADS of tool and support. If anyone has tried this and failed, you don’t have to fail next time. Come to a meeting, or a phone meeting, and get a sponsor! I have never seen so many people who have lost weight (many more the a hundred pounds) and maintained there weight loss for years, and simultaneously improved all of these other areas of their lives, as at a CEA-How meeting. It’s amazingly inspiring. Oh, and if you’re a bit overwhelmed by all of the slogans, etc., I’d say just let it wash over you at the beginning and give all of the tools a try. It’s amazing how well they work when you use all of them. SO much better than the alternative. Good luck everyone! http://www.ceahow.org/

    • Thanks for your blog. I just started on the program and the only problem Im having is with the 30 days
      questions I get a question each day. Some of the are real tricky (like theDMV!,ha,ha). Im really sticking to it this time and I don’t want these questions to drive me nuts. I know we don’t have answer them perfect.
      What is your suggestion.?

  12. Hi, came across your blog. I typed in “cea-how diet impossible”…and it really is. I became overweight almost obese and I decided it was my last resort. I was convinced I was obsessed with food. I did the diet, and the program, for…90 days? straight. I eventually crumbled. I couldn’t do it anymore, I just wanted to have a beer with my friends and eat NORMAL again. This diet is great for losing weight but I could never do it for life. It is too strange and sometimes freaks people out. I try not to tell people but sometimes they inquire like, “Why don’t you wanna eat this? Or that?”

    I have since gained weight again from my lavish eating habits, stress, and couch-potato lifestyle. I am on my 3rd day of the cea-how diet and I am weak, cold, unable to focus, and grumpy. But I’m not hungry, which is the main part. After a while vegetables will being to repulse me, and then I’ll have to create even more strange ways to eat. I can only have so many salads.

  13. There are so many different veggies to choose from. You don’t have to get bored. pickles, cucumbers, all kinds of squashes, greens like kale, brocolli, cauliflourer, brussel sprouts; garlic and onions, mushrooms. Add vinegars, lime/lemon/orange juice to the salads and veggies. Steam, broil, grill, bar b q, eat raw. Mix it up! I use lots of soy sauce on my proteins like: salmon, chicken, turkey. I know hot dogs are allowed! What a treat and easy to grab for a quick protein. I cut them up small, boil out the fat and add to a salad to store in a plastic bag for an easy lunch or dinner. Go to the meetings and do the whole program. Diet is not the only part of the CEA-HOW program. Good luck. Nothing worthwhile is easy! This is a life time commitment. Don’t make excuses. Tell your friends you can’t eat sugar or flour. People don’t offer an alcoholic drink to someone on A; they will get used to the idea of food compulsions, too.