Back in the Saddle Again!

Sorry for my absence and delay. I had the misfortune of experiencing what I affectionately refer to as "Lady Time". So I was rendered incapable of being a good dieter. I am back on the plan now and feeling better already. I am finding that I can't tolerate processed foods as I once did and that's OK I guess. I do enjoy all things sugar, but I am learning to go without. I love that summer is upon me and I will be able to get loads of yummy fruit. My favorites are strawberries and watermelon.

Week 1 Wrap Up

So for the first week I have posted a 12 pound weight loss. I did slightly go off the plan Sunday and Monday, but I am back at it. I find the most challenging thing about this plan is eating out. It's hard to eat every meal at home on the weekend. I did find it easy to preplan meals for breakfast and lunch for the week and dinner was a snap, but the hard part was going out. I think will always be a challenge on this plan. I think this is why the plan offers free meals from time to time.

I have prepacked my breakfast and lunch for tomorrow. Being prepared is the best way to fight the blahs and the quick food that is easy to grab in the morning or at lunch, but is generally not plan friendly.

Amazing Results

So as of yesterday morning I was down 9 pounds. I have been very faithful to the diet and stayed the course. I did have 3 mini pieced of extremely dark chocolate Wednesday night which is not on the plan, but I wanted something sweet, it didn't have much sugar and it does contain antioxidants so of course that means it's healthy.

On Friday I followed the plan to a T until I decided that I wanted the sweet lusciousness a creamy latte. I was writing a paper for school and I really needed it. Of course I could have had an apple of something else instead, but I felt the yummy coffee would help me focus and propel me to a wonderful end with my paper. It was really good. I did notice that it was also very sweet. I also had Kung Pao Chicken from a local Chinese restaurant. Also very yummy. I didn't have rice, so it contained chicken and vegetables. Upon rising this morning, I am now down 12 pounds. Of course this has to mainly be water weight, but I like seeing it on the scale. It gives me hope that the plan will work and helps me to stay focused.

I'm not done with my paper yet, but I hope to make it through without a trip to Starbucks.

I'm proud of myself for last through 3 days. I am glad I stayed home today so I could test the waters with healthy eating before the weekend. I am still having 1 serving daily of half and half which of course is a no-no, but I can't give up coffee all together. I would love to in the future, but I think it tastes better than tea and I can't go the diet soda route. I hope that in time the healthy choices start become the easy choice.

2 Day Check In

So after 2 days of following the plan, I am down 8 pounds. I know this 8 pounds is water weight, but it's nice to see it gone anyway. Typically the first week of any diet results in the highest weight loss for a single week and is generally attributed to losing water weight. I will also confess that I was and actually still am retaining water from my pre-diet meals (Mexican and movie theater popcorn).

So far, so good as to my choices. I very nearly considered eating some dark chocolate yesterday, but decided not to. I didn't really need it or even wanted it, so I skipped it. Chocolate is not on this eating plan, but as I looked at the nutritional content I figured I could have one or two and it would be OK. Maybe later I will give in.

My sister and I have agreed that once we hit the 20 pound loss we will have our first cheat meal. The diet does build in what they call free meals in order to help you not feel like you are giving up everything. So far I haven't used a free meal. I would like to stick to the 20 pound goal, but that could come pretty quickly. I asked her what happens if one person gets to 20 before the other. Her initial idea was to go ahead with the cheat meal for the one who lost the 20 pounds and make the other one watch as motivation and/or punishment. Once she realized that she would likely come in second for this challenge, she decided she didn't want to has to watch me eat something yummy and off plan. So now the plan is to wait until we both hit the 20 pound mark.

Since I stayed home today, I had a yummy chicken breast for breakfast. I have been eating eggs, but since I could have anything I wanted I went for the much higher in protein chicken with a morning banana. I will resume eggs again tomorrow as I will be back at work.

I hope to continue to drop any sort of weight before I weigh in again on Tuesday morning. I have only been on the plan since Tuesday morning and I expect great things from this diet. The book did state that people often can lose 15-20 pounds in the first week so I hope to be right up there.

Tonight I am having chicken fajita chicken with guacamole, grilled veggies and fruit. I am finding the fruit is very helpful in keeping me on the plan. I am also finding that it tastes so much sweeter with I haven't had any other sugar.

Day 2

I cooked chicken for lunch today and that really helped. I was glad to have such a high volume of protein in the middle of the day. I have survived through day 2 with a full dinner planned and I expect that to remain the same through the evening. Due to some issues, I am staying home from work tomorrow. I hope that I don't screw up my diet by being at work. Although I don't enjoy work, it can help create some needed structure to my day.

I did force myself to go to Curves again today. I very nearly skipped it, but at the last moment, I redeemed myself and went. I needed to get up and move. I have a very sedentary job and I find that if I don't make myself get up, I can sit for several hours at a time. I find this to be disturbing.

I hope for a successful evening and day tomorrow.

The Dawn of New Day : The Paleo Way

OK... I finally started the Paleo Diet. I am please to announce that as of this moment I have been 100% successful today. I still have dinner to get through and of course the evening, but I am confident that I will succeed. I have to say that I felt like and even seem to look like Jabba the Hutt today. It's really quite horrible. I suppose this diet could not have found me sooner.

Having been a previous Atkins Diet Follower, I am not finding this to be that difficult. I will need more protein tomorrow during the day. I don't want to O.D. on veggies and fruit. I find that getting things together the night before was very helpful today. I plan to cook some extra chicken for tomorrow. The more the merrier at this point.

I weighed myself this morning and of course found out that I have regained much of the weight I had lost doing Atkins. This of course is caused by actually eating semi regular foods. Atkins is very strict and when you add in any sugar it really causing the weight to creep back on. So although I am starting exactly at square one, I'm very close to it. I'd almost be disappointed in myself, but it's not worth my effort at this point in time. I will just have to regroup and start again. I made it to Curves today at lunch. That was good. I have been retaining so much water from eating out over the weekend, I my legs were actually in pain from sitting. So doing the circuit really helped.

I hope the chicken recipe that I found for dinner is good. It's basically chicken breasts coated in olive oil and sliced almonds with pepper and garlic.