Watermelon/Cayenne Drink

I'm not a big fan of the "weight loss drinks" that abound on the internet.  I don't think there is any easy trick to losing weight.  It's a lot of hard work and perseverance.

That being said, I've found a recipe for a fun drink that has a little "kick" to it and that I can make in my juicer!  It's 1/4 cup of watermelon (1/4 cup of the actual juice), ice, cayenne pepper and 8 oz of water.  You are supposed to drink it after every meal and it is supposed to increase metabolism and keep cravings at bay.

It's actually quite tasty.  I ended up squirting some lime into it as well.  I figure even if it doesn't do what it claims, it's still a great way to get me to drink more fluids.  That's one of my downfalls - the inability to drink all that water we are supposed to drink.

In other news, now that it is summer, my 2 youngest daughters (ages 15 and 8) have started coming to the track with me to walk/jog.  I tell you what, I wish I had the energy of my 8 year old.  She can just run and run and run.  Me?  Well, I walk more than run ... actually I never RUN.  It's more of a jog ... which is actually slower moving than my walk.  My 15 year old says I'm "adorable."  Good grief.

I'm down a lot of weight.  I'm in that zone where it's not hard right now.  I love this zone.  I'm careful with what I eat and have switched to trying to keep sugar out of my diet rather than just counting calories.  At night, I snack on almonds or other nuts.  Sometimes I will have popcorn.  And I try not to eat after 7:00 at the latest.  Sometimes I can't hold to that, and I'm okay with that.  I'm not on a "diet."  I'll never survive if I don't allow fun things.  We even had ice cream the other night.  As long as I don't go wild and eat it every day, I'm good.  And right now, it's easy.  I know I'll hit a rough spot at some point.  I always do.

But for now, I'm back down to 193-ish.  I had been back over 200 earlier this year, so it's coming.

It's helpful because my 15 year old is all about getting in shape this summer, so she's helping look for recipes and helping me stay on track with exercise and is a wonderful buddy in this!  I love summer!