Made it through a major holiday and still on the wagon!

Wow, Christmas was a little harder than expected. But, I stayed on the wagon, for the most part. This week, my family has eaten a tri-tip roast w/carmelized onions (cooked in butter baby!), Phat Jacks BBQ Brisket, Spiral-cut Ham, & FILET MIGNON!!! I took a tiny little sample of everything but the ham. Oh, my. It was hard to behave. I think one bite was probably more than fine.

I did have my moth check up. All is well. He told me I didn't have to measure my veggies anymore. But I will to an extent- I'm a little on the retentive side sometimes.

My dinners have all been pretty compliant. Fish & veggies, and a few of the approved freezer meals. Tonight's was the best though- it was the SmartOnes Chicken Teryaki & veggies. I had to supplement the protein with deli turkey and was really full. I also had a little bit of oven roasted zuccini. I know, lacking in detail. If you need ideas, send me an email. :) I'll go back into detail when things calm down more.

Pictures coming soon.

If the scale is really right...

I'm really excited! Tonight, my home scale said 205.4. I am not quite sure it's correct, it's given me false weights before. But, it's still cool to see it go down.

DH, my parents and FIL all had a yummy tri-tip roast w/carmelized onions for dinner tonight. I had tilapia and brussels again and then a side of carrots (thinly sliced and cooked in a skillet with nonfat spray, Johnny's and butter spray). Oh, they also had a 20 year old wine. I took a sip, it was good, but it will feel even better to weigh in tomorrow. :D

Hitting the one month mark!

I'm kind of excited for my weigh in this Friday. It will make a month on Smart for Life! I honestly never would have thought I'd be so excited about stepping on a scale. It's got to be the results and knowing there will be some.

I've been able to resist the chocolate temptation...even after making oreo mint balls. It's that whole thing of getting to watch the scale go down and that I'm cheap. When I'm paying for special food, I'm going to get the best bang for my buck. ;)

I was lazy on dinner tonight. I had a Lean Cuisine (Baked Chicken w/stuffing and whipped potatoes) and had to protein supplement with fat free cheese slice (uhm, kind of ewwww and plasticy) and a small spinach salad with a sweetened djion dressing (a little bit of fat free mayo, dijon dressing, water and a little stevia).

Last night, I kind of cheated. DH roasted a turkey breast- first rubbed it with olive oil and seasoning. I ate a tiny bit of skin. I just couldn't help myself- it was Christmas dinner after all. ;) I tried a couple bites of stuffing, but it really wasn't hitting the spot. And, I had to servings of veggies- brussels and greenbeans.

The slacker blogger returns...

I have no clue why I didn't blog yesterday...must have been something to do with wrapping the kids' gifts. The chocolate has certainly been calling my name. I have resisted thus far. I keep getting encouraged by looking at the scale.

I got the coolest compliment today from a friend that didn't know I was dieting, "You look like you've lost weight!" It felt good. :D

Dinner tonight: Smart Ones chicken Santa Fe and a side of green beans...not impressive. Last night's was chicken with Italian seasoning, roasted zuccini w/seasoning and broccoli. Right now, I'm "snacking" on frozen sugar free jello.

And there was much rejoicing!

Down 6 more!!! Uh, yeah, much better weigh in today. You can tell in the pics that both me and the plant are much happier this week. :)

Tomorrow's weigh in!

I'm pretty sure I haven't lost much of anything this week, but I am in the process of going off the Lyrica and have higher hopes for next week. :D

Last night's dinner was tilapia and 2 servings of roasted zuccini.

Tonight was chicken, fileted in half with oregano, cooked in a frying pan with the fat free cooking spray, steamed broccoli and green beans.

I'd love to write more, but I'm way too tired.

Feeling ok and kind empowered

I know empowered is kind of a funny way to describe it, but that's the closest I can get. I talked to my doc's nurse today about weaning off the Lyrica. They didn't appear to have an issue with it. I feel really good about it though. It's kind of like, that I'm not a big diet failure. I don't know. I can't wait to see what happens when I'm off it. I almost thought about taking a break from Smart for Life until it's out of my system. But then it occurred to me that if this is what it's doing to my system while on Smart for Life, I'd hate to see how much I'd gain off it.

Today was fairly easy in terms of temptation. Probably because I'm cheap. I don't want to pay for something and not get the best bang for my buck.

Dinner was pretty good. Ground turkey cooked up with onions (1/2c) and bbq sauce (the zero cal stuff) and carrots sauteed with Johnny's. Seemed like a lot of food.

Answer to my big question!

I finally decided to do a little more research on my meds. One of the side effects of Lyrica is weight gain. Right now, I'm just not willing to deal with that...honestly, I'd rather deal with pain. Which, I honestly think will get better with my weight decreasing. So, first thing tomorrow, I'm calling the doctor to get me off this stuff.

Today was another split between shake and cookies. It worked really well, aside from it is 11:17 and I am hungry. I'd bet that's more of a med issue than anything. The shake I had today was egg custard and really good. :)

Dinner tonight was easy...egg white scramble w/onions and asparagus. I used the Johnny's Garlic Spread/Seasoning mix, a little Tiger Sauce and a pinch of seasoning salt. It was pretty good. I felt full when I finished too.

Back on the wagon again

I jumped off the wagon last night, full force. :D It was the company Christmas party, not like McDonalds, Krispy Kream or any of those that I drive by regularly. We had a wonderful dinner, prime rib, au gratin potatoes, turkey meatballs. Oh, it was yummy. I figured I might as well go the full montey, so I had cosmos and endulged on dessert as well. I was so thirsty. I probably doubled my water consumption from what I drank there alone. I was a good girl though, I burned off many of those excess calories on the dance floor. ;) We really did have fun. My mother in law was very kind and came to stay with the kids for us (we had originally thought we'd stay overnight downtown).

Today though, fully back into the swing. I started the morning with a shake, vanilla. Then, went into cookie mode a few hours later. Worked out perfectly. I expected cravings, etc and was pleasantly surprised with none. In fact, the communion grape juice tasted really sweet, like almost overly sweet.

Dinner tonight was a Smart Ones entree- chicken carbonara. Not too bad. Much better than getting my tired body into the kitchen to cook. It seriously cracks me up how many of the frozen things I've done at this point....I'm just not into them under normal circumstances. I'm going to do my best this week though not to have them. I'd like to avoid the salt.

According to my bathroom scale, I'm down 2+ pounds from 2 days ago.

Weigh in Pics

Feeling kind of deflated...

1 measly pound! Seriously, I haven't cheated yet. I will be tomorrow night, but that's another story- the company Christmas party. We don't know why the lack of budge this week...could be the new meds. Honestly, I will deal with the pain if Lyrica is causing the weight to stick. I need to lose the poundage to lose some of the pain- joints.

I did do a bit of a switch over today. I'm incorporating the shakes into my plan. They're really good! I had a chocolate one today. After having my nissen done, my body has favored liquids over solids. Maybe this is the answer?

Dinner tonight was yummy. Tilapia with herbs, roasted zuccini with granulated garlic, salt & pepper and carrots sauteed in nonfat spray and butter spray with dill. It was good and I felt full.

I'll post my progress (or lack there of) pictures tomorrow.

Made it through the first holiday party...

I went to my first holiday party tonight. MAPS Christmas party. Oh my were we pampered. The halls were certainly decked and gorgeous. The food looked amazing. I didn't touch it. I picked up a Lean Cuisine from Target on my way and stuck with that. It was the chicken lasagna florentine. It was actually good. Probably not as good as the taco soup they all ate was, but there will be plenty of time for that. I actually felt pretty good when I stepped on the scale after I got home and saw that I'd lost a little over a pound from last night.

I can so do this. I'm weighing in tomorrow. Then, I'll be honest, I'm cheating on Saturday night. It's DH's company holiday party. I'm not talkin' going crazy or anything, just a few nice munchies and a cocktail.

Meh.

Today was day 3 of DD's fever and lack of sleep. I did great getting my cookies in, spaced pretty close to 2 hours...until 5:00. I was out at 5:00. Oldest DD had a dentist appointment. Typically, I was stressed and the last thing I wanted to do was eat. So, I did 2 evening cookies and will try again tomorrow.

DH was again Super DH and made my dinner while I was on the way home with DD#1. It was chicken, broccoli and zuccini stir fried. The sauce was incredible- rice vinegar, low sodium soy sauce, ginger and stevia. It was really filling too. Probably helps that it was at least a double of zuccini- which is an "unlimited."

I used to like snow days...

Today was a "snow day" and full of all sorts of stress. The "bigs" were both home and not all that thrilled about it- yes, that's right, kids who wants to go to school. Adding to that, the little was sick to the tune of a 104 fever. Yeah, it was a day with lots o' cravings. I did not bend to them.

I did however, watch the clock more and make sure I ate on schedule. It was so much smoother. I had an even amount of energy.

DH was again Mr. Wonderful and made my dinner. Stir-fried mixed veggies and chicken (Johnny's garlic seasoning and balsamic) and wilted spinnach (with a sweet mustard dressing). I walked away from the table feeling full. It was great! :)

I have got to set a timer!

I forgot to eat a few times today. I have a sick kiddo and was really distracted. For example, when I took her to the doctor, I didn't think I'd be gone long and didn't take a cookie with me. Then, the pharmacy was swamped and her prescription had a problem. It took a long time. I was hungry while we were there and figured I'd have a cookie as soon as I got home and try to "catch up." As soon as we got home, I got into the thick of kids again and waiting for the oldest to get home. So, tonight, I have 2 cookies to do for my evening snacks. Tomorrow, I got back to setting a timer.



Dinner tonight was again a cop out of sorts. I say cop out because I actually love to cook, I was just too tired. I had a Kashi frozen dinner. It was really good and I felt full. It was a gram short of my required protein. So, I figured I'd just add with the ground turkey DH used for their dinner. Well, LOL, after calculating, to get another gram of protein, I needed 5 grams of ground turkey. That is about a bite. Hillarious if you ask me.

Silly scale...

Out of curiosity and being kind of a stat geek, I stepped on the scale after my shower. The first weight was clearly wrong (too low). So, I stepped on a few more times. I'll be darned if it wasn't different every time. Digital scale...

So, dinner tonight was tilapia with Old Bay Seasoning, baked. Double serving of broccoli because it really hit the spot. We had tarter sauce with the fish (fat free mayo, Old Bay, Dill and a pickle spear chopped up) and "broccoli sauce" as well (fat free mayo mixed with balsamic vinegar- it's good on asparagus too).

I experienced a few more cravings today than I have the past few days. Odd. I didn't give in. I'm just too darned stubborn.

Oops...

I had a really tasty dinner tonight. DH was so thoughtful and went shopping specifically for me. Ok, so he went for diapers too, but spent time on the freezer isle looking, for me (tough to do when I have the kids in tow). He had his specifics to look for, 6 grams of less of fat, 40 g or less total carbs and 20 grams or more protein. I took a taste of this dinner and knew it had to be too good to be true. Oops. Too much fat, this one had 11 g total fat. If I were just looking for healthy eating and didn't have quite the constraints I do, I'd totally go for this. It didn't taste diet. A little slip up, but if we balance that with the other dinners I've had this past week, it all evens out. Yeah, the night I had 1 tilapia filet because we miscalculated the size...I actually get 2, which is plenty and then some. :)

First weigh in...

5 Pounds!

Not too bad for a first week. I really feel like I've made it over the hill so to speak. The nausia has eased and the cookies are appealing again. In all honesty, I had hoped for a few more pounds. But really, 5 in a week is good. Having tasted them all, it was much easier to pick cookies today and choose quanities. I did get "Garden Pizza" this time, thinking it would be good in the afternoon. It's apparently a rather popular flavor as she was out of it last week.

The company Christmas party is in a week. I'd really be happy with losing another 5 before going dress shopping. I have no clue what style I even want to look for, but, if it's like last year, everything will be on sale. :D

Dinner tonight...

Dill baked tilapia with tarter sauce (fat free mayo, dried mustard, dill and a pickle spear)

2 servings of green beans (I was too tired/lazy to make a second veggie)

1st official weigh in tomorrow!!!

I'm darn near giddy. I know I haven't lost a huge amount...my jeans still fit. But, I know I've lost a little.

Tonight's dinner had to be a quick one again, so I went with a Healthy Choice tonight. Chicken Broccoli Alfredo. I was a little surprised as I took it right off the list provided from SFL and it had a "desert." Cherry crisp. Ok, so there was no "crisp" to it. And, after reading the label just now, it had brown sugar in it. I've gone out of my way to avoid sugar for the past 7 days. So, that was kind of disappointing, but I guess I should have checked first. I'm going to ask tomorrow when I go in for my weigh in.

Aside from that, today was easier than yesterday. I even withstood temptation. I made "Christmas Crack" for homegroup tonight. It is one of my favorite Christmas time goodies. But, I really really want this diet to work, so I'm sticking to it.

Good night.

Movin' right along :)

I screwed up my cookie "schedule" today. Dinner time came and I still had 2 cookies left. It was a busy busy day and I had dental work that about killed my jaw.

I had a Weight Watchers "Smart Ones" for dinner tonight. It was the sweet and sour chicken. I looked specifically for things I didn't have to add anything to. I wanted something quick and easy tonight. It was ok...would have even been better without the mushrooms. The only problem with it was that it was only 140 calories. My target for dinner is about 300. So, I had an extra snack tonight- 1 carrot and a pickle spear.

I'm loving how many choices there are for the "To Go" or maybe it's "On the go" drinks. Tonight, I'm drinking mango & mandarin orange green tea by Lipton. I actually like a 0 cal. ;)

Ok, and I've been sugar free now for 6 days!!!!

I'm off to eat that last cookie, read my Bible and go to bed.

Getting better...

Dinner tonight was similiar to before...

Broiled chicken breast with djion to dip in (a little stevia makes is sweet like honey mustard)
1/2 c French cut green beans...totally the way to have them. I felt like I was getting more than I did with the standard cut. ;)
12 brussel sprouts, again with the butter spray and seasoning salt.

Tomorrow, I'm expirementing with ground turkey and must get to the grocery store...I'm out of just about every veggie I can have. Not to mention my family would probably like to be fed this week too.

I stepped on the scale today...total curiousity. By my scale, I was down to 119.somethin'. That, my friends is encouraging. I'm trying not to get too obsessed with the scale, but it's encouraging to get on and gives incentive to keep going (both sides- "oh my goodness, I weigh that much" and "it's coming down").

Time for brutal honestly...

I feel yucky. Withdrawal sucks. I don't want to eat the cookies. Ok, yeah, I do...when I look in the mirror or step on a scale, I know I'm doing what's gotta be done. It occurred to me when visiting with a friend today that this is similiar to the diet they put you on to get the yeast in your system back in check. I always said there was just no way I could do that...well, guess I could.

Bypassing the BLT brunch buffet today was kind of miserable...there was some good looking food. But I know, it's worth it.

I, out of curiousity, stepped on the scale first thing this morning...it says I'm down 4 pounds!!!

4 days done...

I felt icky today. I called the center to make sure it wasn't a sign of anything...yeah, I got a little spooked talking to someone earlier. Nope, this is all probably just from detoxing the sugar out.

I was pleased when I stepped on the scale at the Y, I'm down a couple pounds. I can't wait to see what their scale says on Friday morning.

Dinner tonight...
Baked tilapia with "fish seasoning" my parents brought back from Europe
steamed broccoli with a little balsamic vinegar
salad w/ 0 cal Caesar dressing
water

Oh, and after today, I can say I'm not really fond of the Pina Colada flavored cookies.

Dinner...

Thankfully, we're foodies and have some great spices.

Broiled Chicken Breast w/Johnny's seasoning, dipped in djion or bbq (both 0 cal ofcourse)
1/2 c. Carrots "sauted" in fat free spray, a couple pumps of "butter spray" and dried dill
12 Brussell sprouts- a couple pumps of "butter spray" and a pinch of seasoning salt (I love that these are on the "free" list. )

And ofcourse, water.

Unexpected crash...

I totally didn't expect this. I was sitting in church this morning, 2nd row thanks to being late...COMMUNION! I took it without even thinking. Once the grape juice hit my stomach, I nearly threw up. Can you say sugar withdrawals? Thankfully, I'm not of the belief that you have to take communion every Sunday.

Calorie Counting...

Another day, another pound? Probably not, but nice to think about. ;)

I realized today just how much sample day at the market sucks when you're dieting. DH and the kids sampled their way through while I headed off to explore (new store). I just happened upon an isle with 0 calorie dressings, sauces and jams. I was a little on the excited side. Sad, I know.

We hit the natural foods store today and picked up Stevia sweetner. It's all natural and doesn't appear to have some of the side effects that aspartame and splenda do/could. It tastes way better IMHO. And again, not getting to sample kind of sucked, but will all be worth it. I did have another score though while there. I found Celestial Seasonings to-go packs. I tried one tonight and they're pretty good.

I have to admit I'm getting a little irritated with some of the comments people are making. Judgements based on tidbits they hear, rather than on the whole. Heaven forbid they actually read the web page with info before commenting. For example, apples. I love apples but they are not part of the loss portion, in fact no fruit is allowed right now. My mom told me how one of her friends said that it didn't make sense that apples are low on the glycemic index and really good for you. Uhm, nobody's saying they aren't good for you. I'm avoiding sugar (that includes fruit sugar). I just looked it up, raw apple is a 40 on the index and is worth 14.6 g carbs. In comparison, a potato is an 80 on the index. Oh, while I'm on it, the other irritating comments have been along the lines of "there's no quick fix you know, it's all about diet and exercise." Well, duh. Do people get this when they choose to go on Atkins? Some of us just need a little kick start to get the weight off. I'll quit ranting. Hmmm...mental note, blogging while tired might lead to ranting.

I'm going to start keeping track of dinners. I'm anal like that. ;)
Tonight's was 2 c. mixed greens with 6 oz broiled, then diced chicken and 1/2 c. raw carrots. Topped with 3 TBSP Zero Cal Caesar dressing.

Day 1 and some possibly shocking stats.

I made it. Day 1 is done. I'm thrilled. I guess I should back up a moment and explain a little bit. First, as if obvious, I'm fat. I weigh 225 and have a 47% body fat with a BMI of 34.2. I've tried losing the weight on my own. I've been disappointed and downright depressed with the lack of results. For example, I was exercising 1 hour (cardio), five days a week, cut out junk food, ate fruits and veggies during the day and 100 cal snacks, drank a ton of water and had a sensible dinner. I knew exactly what was going in my mouth and no, I wasn't fooling myself with how much I was really eating. In a 6 week period, I lost 2 pounds. Then, I got sick. Being as it's tough to work out with bronchitis, I took a break. In 4 weeks of not going to the gym and not watching what I ate, 2 more pounds dropped off. In my case, I don't believe it's all diet and exercise. I believe exercise is good for you and I like doing it. But, it wasn't the complete solution for me, yet.

I've watched a couple friends get skinny. Seriously. One friend, has lost 50 pounds in 13 weeks. She looks great and feels great too. When I first heard about Smart for Life, I had no intention of doing it. Then, I casually started asking questions. I was so sure it couldn't possibly be healthy. Uhm, no, it's supervised by a doctor (who's really nice btw). It works because it's basic math.

It's just just about being skinny. I want to be healthy. I'm done with achey joints and fatigue. I've reached decision height and am committed. So, I went in yesterday for my paperwork, labs, EKG and visit with the doctor. The kids were with me and did an awesome job. I haven't seen them so quiet in a long time. I really felt blessed.

I'm going to keep weekly pictures and a journal. I'm aiming for 50 pounds lost by our 10th Anniversary, June 6.

(Side note- I'm totally irritated with the formatting, but too tired to do anything about it tonight. I'll see about editing the extra spaces and such out tomorrow.)