How I lost 13 lbs in 20 days

Hey all! I hope you are having a great day today. Right now I am loving the sunshine and warm weather outside. I feel like spring may finally be here! Today I wanted to write to you with more updates about my weight-loss journey. Last time I talked about a 3 day detox cleanse I tried, and I gave you tips and tricks about doing the cleanse, my results, and my overall review of doing the cleanse. This post today will offer you a similar format to review the completion of Cycle 1 of the 17 Day Diet. That's right, today is my first day on cycle 2- hooray carbs! (more on that later). In order to give you a better idea of what the 17 day diet is... check out this video about the diet covered by ABC News!! 

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Now let's talk about my experience with this diet! 

For those of you who may not know, I did do the 17 day diet in it's entirety once before. I completed all 4 cycles and had lost a little over 20lbs! Needless to say when I found myself having gained a lot of weight during my past 2 years of college I finally decided I HAD to do something about it. I wasn't happy at all with how my body was. Not only was I a lot heavier than I wanted to be, but I certainly wasn't living a healthy lifestyle. So after some deliberation I decided to retackle this Diet for a second time to help me get some of this newly gained weight off- and fast! 

My Results: 

(These results are based off of my 3 Day Cleanse and Completing the First Cycle of the 17 day diet) 

aka 20 days of eating really healthy and getting regular exercise! 

Total Pounds Lost: 13.2

Total Inches off my body: 13.75

Total % if body weight lost: 7%

I added this picture below to show you the difference the weight-loss has already made in my face! :) Yay!

Now some quick positives and negatives in my opinion...

I'll start with positive things first! 

1. You really do lose weight quickly.

2. You won't be starving.

3. The food you eat can taste really good.

4. There are no calories to count- points to add up- or specific meals you must eat. Just a simple list of foods and some general guidelines about serving size. 

5. The book is straight forward, easy to understand and easy to follow.

Now to the negatives:
1. I really miss eating Carbs! 
2. It takes incredible will power to really stick to the diet and not cheat.
3. The first two cycles do limit you on certain fruits and veggies, which is a bummer. (has to do with higher sugar, starch, and fat content.. so it makes sense)
4. No fruit after 2 pm... seriously? 
5. The time to prepare the food is higher than throwing a sandwich together for lunch. 


This all being said it is a highly effective dieting tool. I've never been disappointed with my results when really following this diet plan. I mean I can't really complain about losing 13 lbs! 

If you are considering doing the 17 day diet here are some tips and tricks to think about before you start and during your diet. 

Before you start: 
1. Buy the book- and read the first few chapters. Know what you are getting into before you start. 
2. Really evaluate your desire to lose weight. Yah almost everyone in America wants to lose a few pounds, but there is a huge difference in someone wanting to lose a few pounds to fit into a pair of jeans, and someone who is feeling totally fed up with themselves and ready to make a life change. (if you are closer to the latter example then this is the diet for you.) If you only are half-a** about losing the weight I wouldn't recommend this diet to you- you'll just waste your time. 
3. Weigh yourself! And take ALL of your measurements! I know it can be scary to face the hard numbers- but don't worry soon enough those numbers will get smaller- and it's important to know where you are starting from. 
4. Plan, Plan, Plan! Bust out a calendar and look at exactly where the cycles will fall. If you know you have a wedding to attend during cycle 2 and it will be impossible to not go off your diet- add an extra day or two to that cycle. 
5. Make an extensive shopping list and get all the food you will need for the first few days. If you live alone I'd suggest throwing away or locking up the foods in your house you can't have!
6. Talk to the people close to you and explain that you'll need their support in this diet. I'm not gonna lie- it's really hard not to cheat. But if you can manage to get your roommate to agree not to offer you cookies all the time it will help out immensely! 
7. If you struggle with not cheating on diets set up a rewards system for yourself at certain check points. (I'll do an entire post about the rewards program my mom and I created. But I know that without that reward system I made I probably would have cheated a lot and not done hardly any exercise!) ((make sure the rewards you set for yourself are NOT food!))

During the Diet: 
1. Plan out all the meals you are going to eat that day. It's helpful to plan ahead- it will be a lot less stress at mealtime and you can budget out your servings of the things you love. For me it's greek yogurt and fruit. I almost always eat my allotted two servings everyday! 
2. You know that pesky rule about not eating fruit or starches after 2 pm? If that's hard for you- then just ditch it. There isn't a lot of scientific proof to back up that rule. So if you feel like eating a cup of grapes after dinner will help you avoid the ice cream in the freezer then GO FOR IT! (I know I do...and I still lost plenty of weight). 
3. Get some exercise! During the first cycle he doesn't really harp on you to do a lot of strenuous exercise- but forming a habit of regular exercise in the first cycle will be WAY more helpful in the later cycles when it's more important to your success. This way instead of trying to start out exercising in cycle 3 doing intense cardio... you can just take your regular workouts that you are used to and ramp them up a bit. 
4. Stay strong! Really try so hard to not cheat on the diet. It's worth it to follow his rules- because the only person you are hurting when you cheat is yourself! 

After the Diet: 
1. Once you have made it through all 4 cycles- or have achieved a good amount of weight-loss you will most likely want to go back to eating whatever you want whenever you want. You can't do that! Remember how I said this is a lifestyle change? Yah, that means it's for life. Don't worry too much- he offers the 4th cycle as the plan that you should stick to in order to maintain your weight where it is. And that cycle does incorporate eating your favorite foods but helps you learn to restrict them. I am living proof that if after the diet you just stop caring again you'll put back on the weight plus some. So really think about how committed you can be to making a forever change before you start this diet. 


Where is my health journey headed now that I am done with cycle 1?
I'm so glad you asked. I am diving head first into cycle 2! Which means I can start eating some slower processing carbs(YAY) every other day! You can look forward to another health update in about 17 days. 


If you have any questions about the diet, please do not hesitate to ask! My results are pretty typical of what you can expect. I know many other people who have tried this diet and experienced similar success! Good luck! And please send me a comment or message if you are going to start. I'll be glad to cheer you on!

Short Term Goals with Long Term Determination

Setting Goals, I feel, is a very important part of my everyday life. I like lists that clearly explain my objectives for the day, week, month or even year that I can work towards. I get a sensational feeling crossing things off the list. It feels amazing to watch the list shrink (at least momentarily before I add another item to it). If I love order and lists so much, why not incorporate a list of goals for my weight loss plan? So here it is my long term goals list for weight-loss! It has a lot of flexibility, but is designed to last.

My 3 year Goal: To be 135 by my 25th Birthday
My 2 year Goal: To be 145 by my 24th Birthday
My 1 year Goal: To be 160 by my 23rd Birthday
My "6 month" Goal: To be 166 by Christmas
My End of Summer Goal: Lose 6 lbs to get to 172 
Current Weight: 178 lbs
What I was at the start of the summer: 188 lbs

Here is the break down:
I have 43 lbs I want to lose as of today. I assume the last year of weight loss will move the slowest, and the first year the fastest- so here is how I plan to break it down:
Year 1 lose 18lbs (divided into 6 lbs intervals throughout the year)
Year 2 I plan to lose 15 lbs (break it down into 5 lbs intervals when it gets closer)
Year 3 I plan to lose the last 10 lbs (breaking it down into small chunks).

Yes I wish I could say that I will be 135 by my next birthday, but it just isn't realistic. I have been battling with weight loss for as long as I can remember, and certainly long enough to know that crash diets and rapid weight loss work temporarily but slow and steady weight loss with lifestyle changes will really be much healthier for my body and longer lasting!

If for some reason I need to adjust my goals, whether the weight is coming off faster or slower than anticipated, I will. But these goals will give me the long term goal to look forward to, with the short term goals to keep me on track!

Good luck to all my fellow dieters/ weight conscious individuals!

Diet Update

Hello Fellow Dieters and friends...
Sorry I haven't been posting diligently about my diet, I figured a quick update would do well!

Diet: I am about a week in to cycle 2. I had been doing good with not cheating at all, but honestly a few days I took off from my diet. A special trip I made to Utica, my birthday, and Father's day observed. I am maing pretty good progress, however I haven't gotten on the scale in a few days :) but I am hopeful.

My latest weight: 177.6 (about 10lbs lost!)
I can't find the sheet with my updated measurments, but I lost a little bit most places, but not my waist :/ oh well. I am a work in progress.

In my exercising I am in "week 3" of the C25K program. It is going well. I was starting to have severe joint pain from running last week, but got new shoes for my birthday and the problem has greatly decreased already!

Comment on this post and let me know how your diets are going!

*Also if anyone wants I can do more posts about diet recipies or other things I am doing. Let me know if there is any desire for this*

"Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels"

Hello All!

I guess it's getting kind of late to be posting tonight, but I didn't want to put it off until tomorrow. I wanted to give a little update on how I am doing diet wise, and go into more detail about my system of organizing the information!

Today was Day 5 of the diet, and my mom and I agreed to do the first weigh-in this morning! I felt slightly nervous last night knowing that this morning was coming. I was plagued with the questions: What if I didn't lose anything? What if I gained weight? What if all of this was for nothing so far? Eventually I sucked it up and hopped on the scale. My new weight: 182.6lbs! In only 4 whole days of dieting I lost 4.6lbs! My mom managed to lose about 6lbs already! I was so happy with our results, and thought more about the long way I have to go. I feel more encouraged and inspired to keep trying, especially with the fast results cycle 1 gives you!

The diet itself is going really well. I am still struggling with the waters on occasion but am starting to do better, and the days I don't quite make it I am much closer!

Along with the diet I mentioned I am exercising, doing the Couch to 5k program, and other types of exercises. Today I did my second C25K run. It was invigorating! I went at around 9:30 PM, and I really liked it! I like nighttime running much better than mid-day. Next on the list is early morning. I think I might eventually like that one the most, but I need to get over this disease called sleeping in.

My recent successes and accomplishments that I have had with jogging has made me want to know more about it. How it helps, and when to do it. Most articles came to a consensus that it's not really a matter of WHEN, it's just a matter of DOING it. There are great health benefits to jogging as well, read about them in this article: 12 Top Health Benefits of Jogging.

Want to know more on the time of day debate?? Check out what these people have to add:
morning vs. evening jogging
Early morning exercise outside

I am really excited to try the early morning jogging thing, but I am not sure how I will do at being alert. Here are some tips for Beginning Morning Joggers!

Whenever I diet, keeping track of all of the information can be intimidating. In the past I have tried recording all the things I eat in a journal, making checklists and checking things off each day, blogging daily about things, and several more. When push comes to shove I usually can't keep up with such a detailed log, so this time I simplified it! Take a look:

In case you are having trouble deciphering.... the purple numbers on the days are the days of cycle 1, this way I can't lose track of where I am, or skip a day.
The stars each stand for a different color!
Red: Weigh-in Day
Blue: I drank all my water (8 cups)
Green: I didn't cheat at all today
Gold: I exercised today
Silver: TBD

As you can see; the first day I weighed in and did not cheat, but I didn't exercise that day, or manage to drink all my water.
I am most proud of today because: I managed a weigh-in, didn't cheat, drank ALL my water and some, and did my jogging!

Call me silly but I like giving myself stars at the end of a long day. It makes me feel accomplished, and it's easy to see a visual representation of how well I did on any given day! This way I can feel proud of my actions, or have the shame stare me straight in the face! (notice day 4 was not so hot).

How do you record your diet info? Comment below or on Facebook if you have a neat method to share! 

My 17 Reasons

It seems like every spring I start to feel this incredible desire to diet and lose weight. I think mostly it comes from gaining weight throughout the school year and especially putting on some holiday pounds. Before I start a diet or exercise program I like to question my reasoning and come up with a plan. Anyone who has ever dieted knows that if you don't have inspiration and great motivation it's so easy to fizzle out after a few weeks or even a few days. The urge to cheat at your plan becomes irresistible and one cheat leads to another and eventually it leads to quitting the entire thing. One important thing to realize about diets is they are a life style and if anything I am living proof of that. Last summer I successfully dieted and lost a lot of weight. During the school year I stopped dieting and even thinking about my health choices and I have gained back all the weight I lost- plus a few bonus pounds. I won't lie getting on the scale today was amazingly scary and it has been really rough lately coming to terms with the weight I have gained and finding the motivation to not eat a donut to console my depression. But I have been thinking a lot about starting to diet and whether or not I can be in it for the long haul (for the lifestyle). The answer is yes: I want to feel good about myself and confident with my body. I want to feel healthy and in shape. I am a 21 year old woman: I should be healthy-no excuse!! So here are my reasons and inspiration that I can look back at during my diet to keep me going!

 Reason 1: Because I deserve to have more self confidence,

 and feel great about myself and the way I look.

 Reason 2: Because wedding season is rapidly approaching

 and I have a bridesmaid dress to fit into!

 Reason 3: So I feel better about being on stage and performing!

 Reason 4: So I can have fun at the beach

 and not feel strange in a swimsuit!

 Reason 5: To fit into skinny jeans- and feel skinny in them!

 Reason 6: To be able to wear a short skirt or shorts

 and not feel like I am scaring small children!

 Reason 7: To send the message I want to send with my image

 Reason 8: To fit into some of my old clothes!

Reason 9: To get in better physical shape

 

Reason 10: To shape my curves into smaller proportions-

 but love them more than ever!

 Reason 11: To lose weight in my face- so my eyes and smile look bigger!

 Reason 12: To have more overall energy!

 Reason 13: Because I did it once and can do it again!

 Reason 14: To fit back into the red shorts!

 Reason 15: To reach a healthy BMI

 

Reason 16: To feel like I have control over my body image

Reason 17: To feel more similar in size to my friends

I am dieting and exercising- and attempting to lose weight to regain control over my body image, feel more secure in my own skin, and to be more healthy. I want to live from this point on always making an honest effort to be healthy and stay at a reasonable weight! 

Stay tuned to follow along for this fabulous diet journey...

Things to come: 

Weight and Measurement updates, Dieting Goals, Diet and Exercise Plan, Recipes and so much more! Hopefully even some progress pictures along the way! 

Last summer I had so much success with losing weight- I am determined to achieve that same success and more! 

A New Year

Happy 2012 Folks!

I realized that I have been really neglecting my blog lately, and as part of my new year's resolution, I would love to start blogging more often, especially this month since I am on break. I realized since I have been home that Pinterest has been consuming my life!! Which is fine, I mean it has been ever since I got one, but it isn't an excuse to just ignore my poor blog. Sorry blog, do you forgive me?? (it said yes).

Other than more frequent blogging I am taking on some other new habits. I am back on the 17 day diet. Unfortunately the holidays took a hard hit at my waist line, so I am cycle 1-ing it up to drop some weight before the semester starts up! I might so a post with healthy recipes soon... but only after I try a few more! (can you say healthy onion rings?)... Oh gosh I am drooling already! (if you can't wait look at some of my posts in may and june for inspiration now)

Aside from the blogging, and diet, I also received a sewing machine for Christmas! Hooray! Which makes me want to start a thousand crafty projects. But I am gonna take this slow and possibly document some of the crafts I do for the blog.

There are slews of other things I could write about that I am intending to do/ work on, but I think I will stop there with the "resolution" thing for now. Who says I can't resolve to do something in February, or June!? Actually it wouldn't be a bad idea to do a small monthly resolution....

Now back to blogging, I am looking forward to blogging more and here are some things you might see posts on:
1- healthy recipes
2- sewing projects
3- other diy projects
4- links to funny videos (because everyone deserves smiles)
5- hair/makeup/style photos (can't do much with clothing until I have my wardrobe back)
6- organization
7- cool inspiring ideas!

If there is something you as readers would like me to post about please leave me a comment! I want to write things that are interesting to me, but also others. Give me some love and leave a comment below!

17 again...

I'm doing 17 again.. and I don't mean the Zac Efron movie! I am starting the 17 day diet again. It worked really well for me this summer, but since school has been back in session I haven't managed to keep my healthy eating at all, which means I did put a few pounds back on. Either way I still have lots of weight to lose before reaching my total weight goal, so another round of 17day diet will be good for me.

If you haven't heard anything about it, or haven't read my summer posts on it here is a little video to give you an idea:



Tomorrow is day one. I am both scared and excited, being in school I feel like their are way more horrible food opportunities! This means it will be a great way to test my self discipline... If anyone is interested in doing the diet with me- let me know and maybe we can even make a club or something if there are a few of us. ;)

Dear Body (day 14 cycle 2)

Dear Body,

I am sorry. 

This whole past week has been pretty rough on my diet. I am feeling both disappointed and discouraged. There were a few birthday cheats- and the day of the wedding was also a major cheat day- these cheats have made it so my weight is stuck! (I am mad about the cheating because I really want genuine results on this diet, but this week was not so good- so I can't judge cycle 2 very well yet). It appears as though I have neither lost nor gained weight since the last update... in other words I wasted a week. (it is good that I was able to control myself enough to maintain- however I still have like 30 more pounds to go).

So my dear readers- I need some inspiration! Many of you have said that I have given you both encouragement and inspiration to eat healthier and really lose weight. Well, now I need to get that from you all. Please shoot me a post of inspiring words and cheer me on. I need the support to keep this thing going!

Love Always,
a frustrated dieter.

One week check in on Cycle 2- Real People Food

This post was written on Monday June 6th (Day 7 of cycle 2)

 
OK- sorry for letting a whole week(plus) go by without any posts about my diet. Cycle 2 is going very well- every other day I am allowed to add in some extra foods- 2 servings of natural starches, and different meats like red meats and shellfish. The starches are potato, sweet potato, brown rice, corn, etc. (still no bread or noodles).

But here are some pics of a few of my cycle two meals I have made:

Weight Update:
162lbs. Which means I have lost 15lbs total! and reached my Birthday Goal!! Hooray!

speaking of birthday's - mine has now past once this week finishes out and all my birthday celebrations/wedding celebrations are over I will be done with excuses of bad eating. PS... I don't think my b-day splurge really affected my weight. I will let you know soon tho!

DAY 17 - a cause to celebrate!

The Results: 

((Day 1))

Height: 5'5"

Weight: 177

Bust: 41 1/2 in

Waist: 34 1/2 in

Hips: 44 in

((Day 7))

Height: 5'5"

Weight: 171 

Bust: 39 1/2 in

Waist: 33 in

Hips: 43 in

 

((Day 17))

Height: 5' 5"

Weight: 165

Bust: 39 in

Waist: 32 in

Hips: 42 in

 

 

Breaking down the progress: 

Total weight lost in 17 days: 12 lbs

Total inches off bust: 2.5

Total inches off waist: 2.5

Total inches off hips: 2

 

Also my birthday is 7 days away in order to reach my birthday goal of 162 I have to lose 3 lbs. 

Can I do it? YES!

 

Tomorrow marks the start of cycle 2. I will try and post more information about that cycle before I start. But I do know on some days I get to add extra foods into my diet. Which is exciting- however I am really happy with these results and won't go crazy at these new additions. 

Food/Eating update: I haven't cheated at all since I reset the clock!

New diet idea: Mixed Drink (non-alcoholic)

 

Have you ever been at a party or just hanging out with friends and everyone is drinking exciting mixed drinks or eating crazy fatty foods- and it sucks dieting and missing out on the social drinking/eating. Well thanks to my creativity I no longer have to feel left out!

The Green Tease

 

 

Here is how you make it:

 

What you need:

Green Tea

Seltzer Water

Lemon

Mint Leaves

Frozen Blueberries

 

Steps: 

1) Mix in a glass the green tea and seltzer water to taste

2) Chop up lemon- one slice for squeezing in and one for garnish

3) Chop up several mint leaves (as large or small as you like- I cut mine in halves)

4) Add in 4-5 frozen blueberries- Serve

The nice part about this drink is that it changes- it will start mostly green with all the fruit and add ins floating at the top- as the blueberries thaw they will sink to the bottom and slowly turn your drink pink. This helps change the flavor throughout the drink... which keeps it exciting! And makes a happy dieter. 

 

This drink is good for blending in at a party or for mixing it up at dinner. It is very refreshing and especially would be good on a hot summer day! 

 

All you fellow dieters hang in there and be encouraged we can do it!

Day 13- cleaning day

so today is day 13.. i got my numbers all mixed up but according to my calendar on the wall (which has a kitten and sharpie on it) today is day 13. Tomorrow will be my 2 week mark... ((I am a little worried about the rapidly approaching PMS which I know will bring bloating...)) boo.
 
Today was the second day of June and it may have been even more pleasant than the last. I spent the morning cleaning and organizing my room (I might put up some pics tomorrow). And I spent lots of time online today I subscribed to like 10 new blogs- mostly fashion blogs, a scrapbook one, and some thrift shopping ones. I really wish I was able to do a fashion blog of "what I wear" type thing.. even if it's not everyday just for certain occasions. I don't know it seems fun- it would be cool to show off my style :) or to do a blog on thrift shopping. I am hoping my blog can have elements of all of these things- since it is stuff i like :)

As far as diet world goes- everything is going well. I didn't get down all my water today. But I made sure to take a walk (and cleaning my room was pretty much exercise).

Tonight's dinner was really my only eventful meal... it was Chicken with red wine ving/olive oil/simeon's seasoning on it. Along with some steamed veggies. Not complex and tasted fabulous!

Comment on this blog (on FB or here) if you are dieting too and need some cheering on! we can all encourage each other to reach our goals!

Day 11- June

Today was a lovely day. June 1st- I woke up rather pleasantly and laid in front of my fan reading my June issue of Vogue for a bit. Number one- in one article the writer quoted Sondheim- "Pretty is what changes"- this was neat because I felt like I had an inside joke with the writer- something that I understood and figured probably many other readers thought Sondheim was a fashion guru. After spending some time on me I realized that I haven't focused on "me" in awhile- not really. So I decided to declare June- the month of me. I think we all deserve a little time to get to know ourselves better, and I also decided the thought for this month will be: "Do what makes you happy." Now- nobody get the wrong idea I won't be selfish and tune others out, think of it more as me making a commitment to myself to learn how to make me happy (with or without the assistance of others).

To kick off the month of me I took a nice long shower, did my nails and eyebrows and didn't bother with makeup or blow drying my hair. I put a bit of makeup on before going to the store and my hair danced between a tight twist bun, a side braid, and a lose side bun. Either way it was nice.
 
In the afternoon after my very uneventful brunch of yogurt and grapes I made some necessary calling around to schedule some things and find out about my new work schedule at Lambs Creek.

I made a shopping trip to Weis later and even got myself a Weis Card to get discounts and such. I bought some more supplies for my diet- I decided on some Tilapia with the encouragement of my friend Jesse (he is making it for us for dinner tomorrow). I got some taco seasoning- just cause, more fruit, more veggies, and more water.

By the time dinner hit my brunch and mid afternoon orange had wore off and I was feeling the hunger! I defrosted some chicken as fast as possible and decided on what I call Chi-Chi's Chicken.

what you need:

Chicken Breast

Olive Oil

Cumin Seasoning

Garlic Salt

Onion Powder

Pepper   

Balsamic Vinegar 

Fat Free Shredded Cheddar

(Chi-Chi's) Salsa

Fat Free Sour Cream

fresh Peppers (red, yellow, orange)

1) Marinate chicken in Oil, seasonings, and Balsamic Vinegar.
2) Cook in a pan
3) Just as chicken is about done add the cheese on
4) Pour on desired amount of Salsa
5) Add a few small dollops of the Sour Cream
6) Serve with fresh peppers or other veggies


I spent the rest of the evening watching Skins and cleaning my room. Also I am on the lookout for good style ideas for Kerri's wedding coming up. Day wedding in a church and reception at a country club. I am not sure how dressy or casual to go. Any input is appreciated!

I am looking forward tomorrow- another day of the month of me :)

Day 10- back on track

So yesterday was day 14 technically. I still feel a little cheap after some of the cheating that occurred this past weekend. I can't help but be mad at myself and feel like it probably killed some of my progress. But enough of being mopey- it is my own fault. I was debating doing a few extra days on cycle 1- and you know I think I will. So reset the clock... Day 14 just became Day 10. This will helpfully make up my progress I feel that I lost before switching to cycle 2.

Anyhow Day 10 went very well. I drank all 8 waters and managed to not cheat at all- in any sense of the word! I can't even explain the accomplishment I have at the end of every day that I don't cheat. Since I missed some days and haven't given you all many good dieting ideas... let me fill you in.

2 of my favorite ideas yet:

For dinner last night it was so hot out and I wanted something cold- but I hadn't had any protein that day yet so I decided I should have some chicken. I decided to make what I call Chicken Bruschetta. Here is what I did.
1. Take one chicken breast cut into pieces for ease of cooking.
2. Cover chicken with a small amount of oil and lots of garlic salt.
3. Cook in a pan until done
4. Once the chicken was done I placed a little bit of Fat Free Feta cheese on it.
5. On top of the feta I added the bruschetta mix.
Bruschetta- 1 chopped up tomato (seeds and core removed), olive oil, minced garlic, several leaves of chopped up basil, onion powder (to taste).

The result was wonderful and it goes well with a salad or side of fruit.

Another, fairly brilliant idea of mine was making Popsicles. I bought this $1.50 mold at Walmart and it makes four relatively smallish (but good size) popsicles. One of my favorite ones I made was green tea-raspberry pop. Basically you fill up the slot with green tea and cut the berries into tiny pieces and throw in. They freeze together and give you a wonderful treat for hot summer days! Also to get a cold serving of fruit you can mush up fruit and make a 100% fruit pop- the raspberry one was delicious! It was totally worth the $1.50. 

Here is what the green tea raspberry pop looked like!

Today is going pretty well so far- stay tuned for a post later!

The Dark Days

Since Thursday Mansfield has been dark- no power that is. We had a ridiculous storm the killed the power straight through the weekend until Sunday. I would have posted earlier today but each day seems crazier than the last.

Anyhow with this power outage came some horrible diet challenges which I managed to do OK on mostly, but I did cheat on my diet a little- sometimes out of necessity, and occasionally out of boredom. This happened because I had to go out to eat a lot- you can only order a chicken salad so many times before wanting to kill yourself.

Some good ideas for eating out are:
Ordering a Chicken stirfry- asking for no rice and extra veggies instead
Ordering a Salad that has some fruit on it
Order grilled chicken with steamed veggies and a side salad
Order a salad but add things like grilled onions or mushrooms to help mix it up- add some salsa.
and always order water as your drink! 

I really managed to do pretty well with all the eating out that was done. It wasn't really until today that I cheated badly. I was taken out to lunch today and the place we went had a limited menu due to the power outage. I ordered a turkey club and it came with fries- I ate most of the sandwich and some of the fries. And then this evening I was invited over a professors house to have dinner and the last thing i was going to do was be picky about my food. I still managed to avoid having any chips- only a very small helping of pasta and indulging more in the fruit and cold veggie soup. It is true that I should have avoided the toasted marshmallows- but they wanted to take a picture of us all holding them and stuff- so I didn't refuse.   

I am mostly proud of not going too crazy cheating this weekend... but I know I have some making up to do. The next few days are gonna be intense- and absolutely no more eating out until I absolutely have to.

On the plus side I weighed myself this weekend and I did manage to lose 2.5 lbs. which brought me into the 60s. However after this weekend I might have put it back on.

Here is to not giving up, to facing real life, to trying my hardest, and to still achieving success. Mark my words- the past few days will not ruin the progress I have made and will not affect future habits- I had a taste of the bad foods- and they simply aren't worth putting the weight back on.

Fellow dieters-- hang in there we can do this together!

Day 6- Late Start

 Breakfast today was sooo yummy- diet or not try this recipe! 

Breakfast:
Omelet with Salsa and Fat Free Sour Cream
Strawberries

Snack:
Yogurt
Apple

Dinner:
Turkey Burger
Fat Free Feta
Tomato Slice
Salad with Peter's Salad Dressing (Oil, Red Wine Ving, Bals. Ving, Season Salt, Natures seasoning)
Green Tea

 The Turkey Burger was absolutely amazing- I seasoned the meat with garlic powder, pepper, and season salt. I cooked it on this little George Foreman grill- and it really was sensational! 

Yesterday was day 6- I thought I did pretty well. It was a lazy sorta day, I woke up late and my breakfast sorta served as both breakfast and lunch. I was excited all day for tomorrow (which is today) because it would be day 7 and I officially made it through one week! Also I knew it meant checking my weight and measurements.

One Week Update!

Personal Information: 

((Day 1))

Height: 5'5"

Weight: 177

Bust: 41 1/2 in

Waist: 34 1/2 in

Hips: 44 in

((Day 7))

Height: 5'5"

Weight: 171 

Bust: 39 1/2 in

Waist: 33 in

Hips: 43 in

This means in 6 days total I have lost 6lbs and at least an inch off those 3 measurements! 

Right now it doesn't really feel like I am much lighter- but I notice my clothes don't feel really tight- and I have been feeling a lot healthier lately- more overall energy- etc. 

I am very excited that I have lost this much weight in one week- My first marker for weight goals is on my Birthday (June 14) and my goal was to be 162 by then. That mean's I have about 21 days and less than 10 lbs to go! I think with this diet my goal will be totally obtainable... maybe I can even weigh less then.

Day 5- Did you say I can eat chips?

Today was another challenge day for me. I had to face the church potluck... you know the one where every member of the church makes a varied type of casserole or fatty dessert. Nothing- and I mean nothing is healthy about those lunches.

Breakfast:
hard boiled egg
1/2 grapefruit

So for lunch I figured they might have some salad and fruit at the church, but to play it safe I decided to bring the fixings for my own salad including my own fat free dressing. Thank goodness I brought food- the only "healthy" thing they had was pineapple- which was very sweet, and may have had sugar on it. I avoided all the food and ate my own lunch. I was faced with explaining my diet to the table of people I sat with- but most of them were supportive or told me about their own current diets. I even offered my extra salad to the other ladies dieting- however no one took it- they stuck with tiny portions of casseroles and pasta salads.

Lunch:
Salad- many types of chopped up veggies
Italian (Fat free) dressing
hard boiled egg chopped into salad
sprinkle of fat free cheddar cheese

The next part of my day was spent with my friend Danielle. We actually talked a lot about healthy eating and exchanged some recipes. She gave me a brilliant idea for a snack i tried later that evening.

Afternoon Snacks:
Green Tea
Yogurt
Apple

I drove back to Mansfield feeling amazed I had made it through the weekend at home without cheating at all!
When I got home my friend Josh wanted to meet up for some dinner. I was trying to figure out what I could make that someone not dieting might enjoy. I ended up doing some sauteed veggies and chicken with a little FF cheese sprinkled on. He wasn't a huge veggie fan so I put them all on my plate and he picked out some of what he wanted. Also he made some pasta to bolster up his meal- best part was we both thought our meals were delicious and we were able to eat together!

Dinner:
Chicken (seasoned)
FF cheddar cheese
Veggies- mushroom, onion, tomato, peppers, broccoli, carrots, (and maybe one or two more)

 Snack:
Kale Chips (one stalk)

Later that night I was getting the munchies again and decided to try out my friend Danielle's recommendation. Using Kale to make chips- Kale is this very green leafy veggie- that is full of fiber- but pretty 'serious' tasting.

 You take the green leafy part of the kale and cut it off the stalk. Then cut or rip it into chip sized pieces.
Spray a cookie sheet with veg. spray, and spread out the kale. Spray another layer of veg oil over top and salt or season as you please.

Cook at 350 degrees until they are crispy. I checked the crispy-ness by poking a fork at them. Took a little over 5 minutes or so. Remove from tray and eat!

They really are surprisingly good- it reminded me of a cross between a chip and popcorn- but either way it was salty and delicious. (I have not researched how cooking kale changes it's nutritional value).

A good recipe I found online uses olive oil instead. But it seems fairly flexible. Also A huge bunch of Kale at Walmart cost me 98 cents. So if you are dieting and craving a salty snack- try this. It is pretty tasty and won't make your waistline mad.

Tomorrow will be back to normal in Mansfield- but I am sure everyday will hold it's challenges!
 

 

Day 4- The BBQ Challenge!

Today was day 4 of my diet. I thought first off I should report some wonderful news. As of yesterday morning my current weight is at 172.5 - yep I have already lost 4.5 lbs in a few short days. Now to you skeptics who say this is false- I mean I checked it on three scales because I didn't believe it and it is indeed true. Also I have explored the idea of this being "water weight" that came off... and to those people who think that, I say-- you know weight is weight. Also this diet is designed to get rid of the water weight first- at any rate, so far so good!

Ok as I said in my previous post today's challenge was facing the graduation party BBQ. I know in past dieting times of my life a party like this was the perfect excuse to cheat and eat something not within my diet. I would use excuses like, "well the only option is a cheeseburger or hot dog- I had to have at least one", or "It would be rude if I didn't partake in a piece of cake to celebrate my friend's accomplishment."So as you can imagine I was terrified about facing the party pressures of staying on track with my diet. Here is how I combatted the BBQ Blues:

1. I contacted the hostess about the menu a day prior to the party, she knew my dietary restrictions and let me know what would be available to me. (she even offered me things that weren't up for grabs with the other party guests... like green tea, a turkey burger, and fat-free yogurt).

2. I followed the book's advice about social gatherings and ate before I went. I ate my lunch right before leaving- and although it was a small lunch it totally did the trick for BBQ part 1. (the BBQ lasted from 2-11pm).

3. I came home for dinner. There were enough people at her party that it was reasonable to excuse myself for an hour or two to come home and make food here. Although I could have asked for a plain turkey burger and some raw veggies I knew I could fill up better at home.

4. I saved my sweet snacks. I saved up 1 yogurt and fruit for when I returned to the party after dinner. I knew I would have to face sweet treats served in the evening, and if I had a replacement dessert it would be ok. I ended up eating a really yummy yogurt at the campfire while everyone made smores- it's true I totally wanted a smore, but the yogurt helped me not give in, but not feel left out from the social eating.

I felt totally successful after today considering I handled the BBQ flawlessly and even dealt with some peer pressure to indulge in a smore. When I came home I snacked on a few strawberries and told my mom about my accomplishments today. Also I discovered one major benefit to an outdoor BBQ on a warm day--- I ended up drinking 12 servings of water! (which isn't only a good health practice for being in the sun, but helped me feel refreshed and full throughout the day).

Here was my menu for today:

Breakfast:
1/2 grapefruit
yogurt

Lunch:
Green Tea
2 Hard boiled eggs
cucumbers
carrots
peppers

Dinner:
Seasoned Chicken
Iceberg Lettuce(as a wrap)
Cooked Veggies- broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, peppers, garlic, onions, etc.
Fat-Free Cheddar Cheese
Fat-Free Sour Cream
Salsa

Party Snacks:
Carrots w/ Mango Salsa (I could try the hostess' homemade salsa w/o using chips)
Green Tea
Yogurt
Strawberries

Incase you were wondering how lettuce can work as a wrap- here is how!

1. Get your supplies ready

2. Load up your leaf with the fillings (place in center)

3. Wrap it up and eat just as though it is a tortilla shell. 

**It gets pretty messy at the end- but is worth it**

Tomorrow's challenge: church potluck... guess who is bringing her own lunch? :)

Day 3- Pizza Night....

Today was my third day of dieting. I started off strong today by trying a new breakfast recipe!

Breakfast:
The Greek Egg Scramble-
4 egg whites, Fat-Free Feta, Onions, Tomato, Salt, Pepper. Whisk together and cook :) very delicious


Now this afternoon was a little interesting- I had to do lunch on the road. I drove to Lockport today and left at 11ish- right before prime lunch time. I wasn't sure what to do- considering I hadn't cooked chicken or prepared anything ahead of time- so I followed the books advice. If you have to skip a meal- skip it. Instead I had some of my healthy snacks on the road.
Snacks:
2 apples
yogurt

These sorta acted as my lunch- and altho I was craving something a little less sweet I just sucked it up- it was one day.

Dinner presented a challenge today too- Friday is Pizza Night in my family- and I never eat pizza at school- so I always look forward to friday's at home. However I was dreading dinner time. I didn't know if a plate of veggies could make me happy while I watched everyone sink their teeth into pizza and wings.

Dinner:
seasoned chicken breast
generous salad

Turns out, once again, my dinner was wonderful. I used some simeon's seasoning on the chicken- and then used a family salad dressing recipe for my salad- lucky me that all the ingredients in it are diet approved! Either way I sat next to my sister eating dinner- and as she ate her pizza she looked over and said "that chicken looks amazing, I wish I was eating that." HAHA that was a triumphant diet success for me! I made someone envious of my delicious diet food.. while they were eating the food I was craving. Either way I ate every bite of my dinner and once I was eating it I really could have cared less about the pizza. :D these are wonderful signs!

Tonight my friend Ryan came over to hang out- and we were trying to find something to do. First drive-in, or ice cream, or stay home? We nixed the drive-in because it was getting too late- and lucky for me by the time he got here it was too late to get ice cream too. (my plan was to do frozen yogurt- but I am glad I didn't have to execute it).

Since I had already spent an hour fantasizing about whether or not I could eat frozen yogurt- I had a really massive craving for it. I had an idea and decided I would try freezing one of my yogurts- I had one serving left after all. So I looked up some helpful online advice and decided to put the yogurt in a tupperware container in the freezer- and to stir it about every 20 minutes. I left it in there for about 3 hours stirring it occasionally and it turned out so well!
The picture doesn't do it justice!

Today was very successful- I even drank all 8 of my waters! I feel fabulous! :) Now onto the next challenge... a graduation BBQ ... big challenge indeed! 

Day 2-the swing of things

yesterday was my second day- and I forgot to leave a post. Here was my day in food-

Breakfast:
2 eggs, pan fried
apple
green tea

Lunch:
Yogurt
Salad

Snacks:
yogurt
strawberries

Dinner:
green tea
Chicken with peppers/onions/mushrooms and a bit of fat-free cheddar
carrots and cucumbers on the side

Dinner was again, especially delicious! 

I almost drank all of my waters- made it to 7, I am pretty determined to do 8 from now on! 

Basically nothing new to report. I did go shopping today and bought tons of yummy healthy food- like the fat free cheese! And some more veggies and things to bolster up the meals. Does anyone know any healthy fish based recipes? I don't ever eat fish but I was considering trying it- any thoughts let me know. Also I bought ground turkey- sounds like an adventure to me. I watched one of my friends eat this amazing looking cookie and had to shield my eyes. haha oh the joys of dieting. I am really looking forward to the long term pay offs.