Thanksgiving and Cauliflower Potatoes....and Popcorn shhhhh!!!!!!

Ok, so last week I lost two lbs, and I am down a total of 24lbs.  This is good but not good enough.  I wanted to be down 30 lbs by Thanksgiving, and If I reached this landmark, then I was going to allow myself some pie, but alas I didn't make my goal.  this was also a big week since I am two thirds of the way done with the program.  When I went in for my appointment I was discouraged at only losing 2 lbs bit the nurse assured me that I was doing a good job, and warned me about not rewarding myself with food.  I thought this was interesting since in the past I always have.  She told me I should reward myself with a new pair of shoes, or a massage.  This was an interesting concept to me since in the past I have always rewarded myself with food.  This has always been my downward spiral.  I will diet diet, and lose lose lose, all the while telling myself as soon as I get to Mexico I am going to go crazy.  then I go on vacation, and go crazy, and never get back on the bandwagon.  I LOVE that this program was designed to teach you from the beginning how to keep the weight off.  This was especially helpful during Thanksgiving.  I made cauliflower potatoes and they were delicious.  I made sure to only eat a tiny bit of stuffing, and I ate it with my turkey to cancel it out.  all in all I would say my first holiday on this plan was a success since I didn't gain an ounce, I actually lost about 8 ounces, but I am only counting full lbs, so all in all I didn't gain.  Today when I went for my weigh in they said that traditionally people will gain a couple of lbs over the holiday, so to remain flat was a huge success, and I even got to eat some popcorn....shhhh don tell them!

stress...stress...stress

So this has been quite the up and down journey for me.  I haven't updated in a few weeks, and I am not sure really why but I am down a total of 22 lbs.  I know I should be really ecstatic, but I am very discouraged.  I have been trudging along with my weight loss very successfully until recently and it has made me very disappointed.  Three weeks ago I lost 22 LBS Holla!!!!  Two weeks ago I gained 1 LB......ughhh last week I lost 1LB...whoop dee doo. This is very discouraging since during this time I never cheated once!!!  I am writing this right now in anticipation of my weigh in today.  Today is a big day, not only do I have my weigh in with the big scary scale that measures my body composition, but I am not losing what I want to be losing and I am scared, and to top it all off, it is Thanksgiving this week!  I told myself if I wasn't down 35 LBS by now that I would not indulge myself, so I guess the pecan pie will have to wait.  Bummer!!!!!

I know there are a few things attributed to my lack of weight loss.

#1 Stress---There have been a lot of changes for me both personally and at work.  Several weeks ago my boss was let go, and last Friday they let 4 sales people go at my work.  I don't think I am in danger of losing my job, but there are major changes happening right now and that stresses me out.  I am a creature of habit, I always order the same thing at restaurants, I wear my clothes in the order they are hanging in my closet from left to right, and I lay my clothes out every night before I go to bed, so I all this change is stressing me out.  I know in the long run things will be awesome, it is just the road getting there that is hard.

#2 Antibiotics---I have been taking this antibiotic for the last couple of weeks, and I think this may be making me retain water....there is no guarantee, and I will fin out today but I swear it is.....My lips are dry and cracked and I have been watching my water intake....so I am blaming it for sure....cross your fingers, I am leaving in 14 minutes!

The Grocery Store

Sorry I am a little late on my post this week.  It has been a crazy week at work and home, and I am just now finding the time two days late to sit down and tell you about what has been going on.  The good news is I am still losing weight.  I am down another 3 lbs...that makes me down a total of 18 lbs.  Yeah.......My short term goal is to be down another two lbs at least this week, so I can hit the 20 lb threshold.  I always feel like you cant see it in me until I am at least down that much weight, but who knows.  I have been trying to work out this week and it is so hard with the weather change.  This morning it was 32 degrees when I woke up.....it might be time for a treadmill......

This week was a good week but a learning week.  I figured out the trick to this diet.  The grocery store.  I have a love hate relationship with the grocery store.  I love going and seeing all the treats and thinking of different things I can make & eat.  Since I have been doing this diet, I haven't been as excited to go, but this week was different.  I pre-planned my meals and shopped accordingly.  I made lettuce taco wraps.  I used iceberg lettuce as the shell, 97% lean beef, low fat sour cream a tiny bit of fresh salsa and low fat cheese.....it was delicious. 

I think the trick to this is preparing in advance, and having the proper groceries in your house.  The best way to approach this is to have basic list of fresh foods that are needed each week, and then getting a few specific items for meals.  This way you always have the proper foods and snacks on hand.  It makes it much harder to cheat, and less desirable.

Headed of for a long walk with my dog...I need to start burning these calories......

Detox is OVER....

So, my second weigh in was very successful although I know this is because I was still doing my detox.  I did the detox for a total of 13 days.  This was probably the hardest part,  I was very limited on the foods I could eat, but I always new it was temporary.  I also knew that by doing the detox for as long as possible I would lose more weight faster.  In total during the first two weeks of the diet I have a lost a total of 15 lbs.  I have recently changed up my diet, so I am eating more foods, so It will be exciting to see where the next weigh in takes me.  I know that my weight loss from here on out will not be as drastic, but I needed this jump start to get me started. 

One of my favorite parts about MD Diet so far has been going in for my weigh ins and vitamin B shots.  The nurses and staff are so nice.  Every time I get my shot I ask the nurse a million lame questions about when I should eat, what I should eat and what I can do to optimize my weight loss at the quickest pace.  They are so nice and so knowledgeable.  It is so great to be able to ask weight loss questions and get the answer in a clinical sense.  I am have a very math oriented mind, and I love breaking down the calories, fat, and carbs to find out exactly how the food is going to affect me. 

Last night I went to dinner with some friends, and someone at the table knew the chef, so he hand delivered Russian Creme, and a deep fried Cheesecake to our table as a custom dessert he prepared for us.  I was so proud of myself that I refrained completely.  I know there will be sacrifices along the way, and although it sucks, it is nice to know that when all this is over I will have something to show for it, and that I will have my indulgences in check....and maybe once in a while I will take a bite, but until then, I am a stone wall.

Weight Lost...............is Weight Lost!!!!!!

OK.....so this week has been super crazy, and I have so much to let you in on. After one complete week on the diet, I am down a total of 9LBS. This means I only have 88LBS to go!!!! I am in utter shock that I could lose this much weight in one week. I know a lot of it is probably water weight (lets be realistic people-remember-35LBS of water), but that does not matter to me. Weight lost is weight lost!!! I have been told that the you can see it in my face. This is really awesome because lets face it, that is the first place people look at you! The other thing is that I died my hair dark brown. I decided that I was becoming a new person and why not make a complete change. This is the new me.





I have one week to go on the detox, and I have to admit, I am getting bored of my limited food choices, but I also realize that the people at MD Diet know what they are talking about since I lost 9 LBS in one week, so I will keep on it. I know this detox is a limited time thing and I will not be doing it forever.

At my most recent weigh in, I got my second Vitamin B shots. I know I shouldn't be such a baby about this part, but I can't help it, it stings!!!! And I am sure that I should probably remember not to wear a skirt on Mondays cuz I am sure the nurse is sick of seeing my hiney each week (well twice-but isn't that enough for anyone).

35 what........

So, I mentioned in my earlier post that would tell you what was on the little printout.  After my initial weigh in and the class I took on how everything works, I was supposed to hit the grocery store and begin my progress.  I decided to take one more day and hit it hard on Sunday.  I spent Saturday stocking up on all the treats (I use this word loosely since we all know I wasn't really buying treats) I would need for my three day cleanse.  I was very diligent to only get what was on list and not deviate at all.  I woke up on Sunday morning ready for my challenge.  I was sooo nervous that I would not be able to do it.  Sunday sailed past without any problems and it was soon Monday when I was supposed to report to the doctor and find out what I was supposed to do after my three day detox...boy was I in for a surprise.  I was initially weighed, and it turned out I had lost 4 Lbs in one day.....un-believable (or so I thought)...Dave, the PA handling my case pulled out the paperwork and started to go over everything they found out about my body composition.  This was to determine what I needed to do to lose all the weight and if I had any underlying thing that were going to be a problem.  The big news that shocked me then and still shocks me even as I type this is, that I had 35 LBS of extra (yes EXTRA) water weight (sooooo that was the 4 LBS).  I knew I used a lot of salt in my diet, but I was in shock that I had retained that much water.  My friend Diane has described me as salting my salt.  I put salt on everything, pizza, toast, salad, and even Bacon.  I never realized this could be such a huge mitigating factor on my weight (OK I guess I realized it, but I didn't want to hear it).  I guess the news isn't totally bad (glass half full people).  If I need to lose 97 LBS, and 35 of those are water, then if my calculations are correct I only need to lose 62LBS of fat...this is so much more doable.....I have never been more motivated than I was after this meeting.  The bad news is, they want me to stay on this detox for 14 days since I have soooo much water to lose...bummer cuz I want to widen my horizons with my food, but I am so happy with the results so far. 

Wait......how do I do this????

So, after I won my weight loss package from MD Diet, I needed to attend the class where they teach me everything and I have my first weigh in.  I was super nervous.  All week I was trying to fit in all my fat girl faves----Pizza, Cheese Fries, Cafe Rio, Popcorn, and I knew that once I went to the class it was all going to be over.  So, I attended the dreaded class, and the even more dreaded weigh in, and I have to say I L-O-V-E-D it.  When I got to MD Diet, the people were so awesome.  I actually got there a half hour early so I was able to read some of brochures and kind of familiarize myself with what I was about to get myself into.  I signed up and waited for my turn to be called.  When the lady called my name I was actually totally relaxed at that point and ready to get on the scale.  I was expecting an old school medical scale the one the weights that they move back and forth and I was hoping I would not see anything I didn't want to see....I was in luck.  My first weigh in was actually on a very high tech machine that spewed out a little printout.  What was on this printout is very important and I will tell you about that later but the one thing that was glaring at me was 97.  No, I do not weight 97 LBS....I only wish.....this was the actual projected weight loss......HOLLA.  I could not believe that I only had to lose 97 LBS, this was much more manageable than the 110 that I thought I had to lose.  I was 13 LBS less fat than I thought I was......woot woot....

After I did my weigh in I was ushered along to a class.  I was super annoyed that I had to attend a class (do they think I am a 7 year old).  Now I may have had these thoughts when I went into the class (but who wouldn't)....but when I left the class, I was so excited.  I loved it.  It was taught by the owner of MD Diet, and let me tell you, she knows her stuff.  She taught us the most important thing anyone can learn about dieting......how to keep it off.  I have lost weight before, and I have obviously not kept it off...or else I wouldn't be sitting here writing this blog, but what she taught us about pairing the proper foods together and caloric burn, and negative/positive/neutral foods, I was in awe. I actually thought to myself...."I am going to be able to do this, and I am going to be able to keep this off....long term."  It was enlightening...They gave us a brief detox plan, that we are supposed to do for 3 days and then meet with the Doctor and go over our "little printout" from the fancy scale.  I am excited to find out everything that was on the printout, and what the plan is for me.

...that night I went out dinner with some friends at my favorite place the Bombay House.....who's gonna blame a fat girl for getting in her last hurrah before the war.