TWO YEARS ON MY WEIGHT JOURNEY!

It´s now two years since I started my weight journey and the result to me is above my imagination. Today I tried on some Ghanaian outfits sewed before 1997 especially for me and I could fit right into this one after many years. It is such an encouragement. I don´t anylonger like to compare pictures from two years back, but today I am doing for the record anyways.

What did I do this last 24 months? Well you can read about it here on my blog. I just changed the ingredients of my diet basically.

Feel happy today as I wore my Ghanaian outfit all day while working!

Thrilled to fit into my favorite Ghanaian outfits from 1997

It has been a long time since I posted anything on my blog now. It is not because I have stopped my journey. No, I have just been very busy. Also I have felt I didn´t really have anything new to add. I have kept to my healthy lifestyle as I did the last 21 months and the results are showing,

However now I really feel like posting something again since I have reached one of my goals that has been motivating me along the whole time: The wish to get into my ghanaian outfits again. I mean the one´s sewn especially for me by seamstresses in Ghana and that was made after my body, and not like these wide garmets any tourist could buy.

I have been working in Ghana over a period of 27 years. And in 1997 I was in Ghana working and it was the 40th anniversary of Ghana´s independence. So they had made special cloth for the anniversary and I got a seamstress to sew me a dress in one special cloth. I just loved this dress but for many years now I couldn´t find it and I also knew for many years that even if I would find it again, it would not fit me anymore. Still I really wanted it back and every day in my Exhibition when I saw all the clothes I have there and the kids and teachers dressing up, my thoughts would linger to my favorite dresses from Ghana that had disappeared since I moved to Stockholm 1998. And last night I got the biggest surprise when my daughter brought a big box from the north with all my favorite Ghanaian outfits and more! 

I have lost more than half my weight over the last 21 months. So I was so anxious to try them on to see if I could wear them! And guess what, they fit perfectly! I am my 1997 model now! I have been working my way back towards a goal, and I am getting there. Anyways, that is not the important thing here. The important is the thrill I felt to put on these dresses finally. I have no idea if anyone can relate to this, but I share it anyways just because I feel happy and because I love the beautiful Ghanaian outfits, mine and others! So today I have taken some pictures here in the Exhibition in the African room and put on my dresses!

I even got some other stuff from that same period (the first picture) and I cannot describe the feeling to just slip these clothes on and they fit and even was a bit loose. So I gained new inspiration to continue. And I needed that right now to be honest. It has been some journey and it is still not over, but the results in this period of time is incredible even to me.

These days I look around in our society and how we eat and live and I am so aware now of all the unhealthy stuff we put in our bodies and I really wish everyone would have the knowledge I have gained through these 21 months.

No wardrobe that fits this coming summer season!

It has been 1 1/2 years since I started my weight journey. And I am amazed to the result. I do feel very happy for the change I have been able to accomplish. However there is a problem, although a nice one I guess. My wardrobe is empty and I have nothing to wear for a hot summer. Still I am not where I want to be when it comes to my weight, so I am continuing my journey. And buying clothes will be wasted, since they will be too big in just a short while as well.

These years with overweight I have only worn very loose large tops and now I feel I am totally "allergic" to these kinds of clothes even and it really doesn´t make me feel good at all to have to put something like that on anymore.But until I can afford to renew my wardrobe more I guess I have too, and even until I feel I am where I want to be. However I am getting there and when is not important.

I decided when I started I would not even weigh myself or put unrealistic goals time wise. Still what I have accomplished is beyond anything I could ever imagine. And just by eating this incredibly healthy way I have been doing over the last 18 months, and never cheating on myself. It is all here in my blog how I have proceeded from the beginning. It has been an amazing journey and I have learnt so much myself even.

I did buy a few new outfits this year and even here I can see the progress when I put them on, waiting for them to feel good to wear really. Now I think I have to stop comparing pictures from the time I was overweight and how I am now. And I will start more to find pictures from the past to see how I get closer and closer to where I want to be, like the one on the top here today. These are 21 years apart. Still I can now see a younger and older version of myself, not two totally different people. And that is a good feeling. Inside I never had problems recognizing myself, but outwardly I had. This gives some peace and harmony in the midst of troubles of life, believe it or not.

Finally I made it into one of my my favorite Ghanaian dresses!

It has been a long time since I wrote on my blog now. Basically the reason is I haven´t felt I had so much new to write about. I have continued on my journey and done what I have done over the last 18 months every day. And I am still not tired, just encouraged, as I see results all the time. Looking at the scale I don´t do often but now and than and every time I look now there are only two digits:=)! That is a great feeling.

One of the things I have been dreaming about is to put on my Ghanaian made dresses again. Not the wide and loose one´s that I wear in my work every day, but the one´s that I have had made specially for me by seamstresses in Ghana.

AND TODAY I FINALLY COULD FIT INTO THE FIRST ONE!
I feel so happy and thrilled about it so I really have to post a picture and share. It has only been 18 months since I started and now I cannot believe the change myself really. I don´t any longer feel like putting up pictures to compare before and now. I really rather want to forget about that time.

After 17 months, half of me is left!

It has now been 17 months since I started my weight journey. It is real that I have lost half of my previous weight and size during these months. It is like a whole person. It is really incredible. The other day I wore a short dress, silk stockings and shoes with heals for the first time in I don´t know how many years. It felt really incredible to be able to do this and without feeling uncomfortable at all. Just to walk in these shoes felt incredible. For so many years now I have only worn jogging shoes.

I have again compared pictures to see how far I have come. These pictures are two years apart. March 2012 I think I was the biggest I have been. Seven months after I started my weight journey. 

Every day these seventeen months I have stuck to my changed way of eating. It has been a real learning experience in food and nutrition and I am amazed to the results.

This morning I didn´t have much in my refrigerator so I just made a fruit salad for breakfast of what I found.

Fruits salad

Melon

Mango

Pomegranate

Grapes

Quark

Sesame seeds

Sunflower seeds

Roast sunflower and sesame seeds to sprinkle the salad

Cut the fruit in small cubes and mix with a little quark 

A breakfast plate full of vitamins 

It has been years since I would show my legs or walk in other shoes than jogging shoes. The feeling strange, but good. 

Here is a dish I made the other night with baked salmon i coconut sauce and with steamed vegetables. I put the recipe on my food blog. Try it out, it tastes great!

Salmon with Coconut 

 

http://ohemmabjorg.blogspot.se/2014/03/salmon-in-coconut-milk-sauce.html

Measure how far I have come, not how much I have left!

My breakfast this morning was a visual and tasteful delight in addition to being a vitamin bomb. The ingredients: cut melon, oranges, bananas, green grapes, strawberries, sunflower seeds and sesame seeds. The fruits cut in small pieces and sprinkled with the seeds. 

I have previously posted the nutritional ingredients of both oranges, melon, and bananas. Now I will even here add the strawberries and the grapes. I do enjoy the fact I am eating all this healthy foodstuffs that is so good for my body and at the same time I also loose weight every day. 

I do spend some time to see my progress through comparing pictures. And I dug out some old one´s the other day and compared with the photo of the day. It gave me more inspiration. Every day I try to think how far I have come and not how much I have left. It is a big difference. But this day I wanted to compare to the past when I was slim and not the period I had most weight. And I did feel inspired by the progress I have made and not overwhelmed by the thought I have a long way to go to where I again would like to be.

I even found some links to the real benefits of seeds like, sesame seeds and sunflower seeds, so I am giving you these links as well since it is really good to add some of these in the diet. Check it out if you like. You can search on any food items on this site.

Sesame seeds

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/8-super-health-benefits-of-sesame-seeds.html

Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/8-super-health-benefits-of-sesame-seeds.html#ixzz2vSfD6vUv

Sunflower seeds

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/5-super-health-benefits-of-sunflower-seeds.html

Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/5-super-health-benefits-of-sunflower-seeds.html#ixzz2vSguAbHF

Asian pork collar with hoisine sauce

http://ohemmabjorg.blogspot.se/2014/03/asian-pork-collar-with-hoisin-sauce.html

Every day I even try to vary my food to make it exciting and flavorful even though with low level of carbohydrates, fat and sugar. And last night I made pork collar with Asian taste. Check out the recipt on my foodblog!

Finding inspiration each day!

Even today I have searched for some inspiration. And since I had time I have been cleaning out some more clothes. And I found some treasures I had not put away before, even though they never fitted for many years. But I had kept them in the closet for sentimental reasons. One sweather was a gift from someone in 1999, Winnie the Pooh. I did have so many Winnie the Pooh things for my daughter so I guess someone thought it fitted me:=). Well today when I tried it I could wear it and it was not even tight!

And I found two other treasures; sweathers from when I was at Concordia College in 1993. And I could fit both of them again! I feel very exited about the fact and it really is payback!

I am not down to my weight from 1993, but still the sweathers fit and were not tight as sausage skins! So it gave me really great inspiration to continue my journey!

Delicious breakfast with fruits!

These 16 months I had a lot of oatmeal for breakfast during the weekdays, as a matter of fact almost every single day. Still on weekends if I am home and have time I will try to make something different, to make the morning more festive. And a fruitsallad is a great breakfast. Sometimes I will make a smoothie, but sometimes also a bowl with fruits like this morning. I just looked to see what I had in the fridge and found some grapes, melon, banana, orange and nonfat youghurt. I even had a small package of raisins in the cupboard, cinnamon and some sesame seeds. So I found I could treat myself with the most delicious fruitsallad. Just cutting the fruits and sprinkle with a little raisins  and sesame seeds. I also sprinkled some cinnamon on the top and added a little youghurt and it was delicious. The bowl of fruit also looked so inviting that it was a really treat just to watch. And even the knowledge of eating just vitamins and "health" in every single spoon made me happy eating. I do like eggs and added a couple and some coffee and milk. So I had a breakfastbomb of vitamins, proteins and calcium. 

"By perseverance the snail reached the ark!"

 

It is now 16 months since I started my weight journey. Today I needed to get some inspiration again and I did set out to try some clothes and look up some old pictures. I dug out a picture I have taken but really hated to look at. I took it for documentation 2 December 2012. This was one month after I started my new course.

During these months when I have compared pictures I have enjoyed to see the progress but today I really feel bad about watching "the before". I do feel happy to see how far I have come though and it gives me inspiration to continue my course. Looking at the pictures I feel it is almost impossible to believe I have gotten this far in this short time really. When I looked ahead it seemed like it would be impossible to change anything or that it would take forever. Looking back it seems it is a short time. To see I have a figure again is incredible. 16 months and having come this far! I never believed it when I started.

I didn´t do anything revolutionary. I just have done the same thing every day, every week, every month. I never cheated myself or left my commitment. I simply have eaten healthy food without sugar, without any artificial fat, with low level of carbohydrates.

I could feel bad when I look back at the fact that I wasn´t able to control life to the extent that I ended up in being so overweight. However I know how my life has been and understand the reasons why. So I rather feel proud of myself that I in spite of all have been able to take hold of my life in this aspect and turn the development, and that I in fact have come to this point today. My journey is not over and I just keep on every day.

Today I made a really nice sallad with carrots, zucchini, avacado, tomatoes, a little cottage cheese and spiced it up. To make it festive and more fun I sliced the carrots and zucchini with a potato peeler to long thin strings. It felt great to look at and really good to eat. And I loved the fact that it was all vitamins and so healthy. Just study the nutrients of every ingredient you eat and make a healthy choice.

These months have made me so aware of foodstuffs and what is around me. I cannot help see all the unhealthy things around that we customary eat and than struggle with weight and health. And we really don´t need to live that way. We can make healthy choices. And we can look at it as a benefit and not as denying ourselves of something good. The fact is: It is not good with sugar, with fats. There is nothing to benefit from it. And I really know and see this every day, and also in the results that has given me.

I write about myself here because I really want to share my experience and inspire someone else as well since I know a lot of people struggle and maybe even don´t see there is a way of changing the course, or that it will be too hard or maybe even impossible. But I can tell everyone, it is not. It takes willpower, determination, perseverance, and the knowledge I don´t deny myself anything, but every day I rather reward and enrich myself through the most healthy lifestyle! It is not a diet, but a way of living that I gain from every day and at the same time loosing fat!

The Challenge of everyday healthy food alternatives!

 

These days i feel a bit of a challenge every day when it comes to the food. Maybe it is because it is winter and dark and the progress of loosing weight even feels slower. I don´t know. Still I just am determined to stick to my way since 16 months every day. I made a decision to not weigh myself often, but just do what I have set out to do every day, and not think about how long time it would take to get any results. So I am reminding myself about these things these days.

I can see the results through comparing pictures but also my empty wardrobe. I really don´t have much clothes that fits me since I have lost all this weight. I now and than go to a store and try on clothes to get inspiration, even though I don´t buy any. I have even tried on some of my Ghanaian outfits and I am very close to be able to put on one of my outfits that was costume made for me. I really cannot wait until the day it fits again.

These last months I have been using our ordinary vegetables and not searching for Asian recipts for a long time, since it is a bit harder to get the ingredients. However with some spices I can vary the ordinary to give it new tastes even. And this is what I have done with this dish with woked vegetables and pork chops, using Asian spices with our most common vegetables.

Woked vegetables with Pork Chops and gravy

Woked vegetables:

Broccoli
Cabbage
Carrot
Tomatoe
Cucumber
Sesame oil
Garlic
Spring onion
Salt
Pepper
Any spices according to your liking (I added some Asien spices with chili, lemongrass)

Pork chops:

Salt

Pepper

Sesame oil

Garlic

Gravy:

Water

Corn starch

Cube of beef broth

Salt

Pepper

Any spice according to your liking

Directions

For the woked vegetables:

Shred the vegetables in a shredder. Cut the broccoli in small bouquets and mix with the shredded vegetables. Pour a little sesame oil in the wokpan and add garlic and fry a little, than add the rest of the vegetables and wok. Add salt, pepper and spices to your liking before serving.

For the Pork Chops and the gravy:

Put some Sesame Oil in the frying pan and add some chopped garlic and fry a bit. Season the pork chops with spices (I chose some asian twist for this dish with the sesame oil) on both sides and fry on both sides. For the gravy: Add water to the frying pan with the pork chops and add the spices and cube of beef broth. Let it simmer with the pork chops inside. Take a few tablespoons of cornstarch and mix with a little water in a glass. Pour into the sauce in the frying pan while stiring and it will thicken the gravy. This way you will get a good tasting gravy with no fat or carbohydrates. 

It is ready to serve!

Nutritional facts: