Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Day 3 of 17

Hi Y'all. I just hit my 16th year of living in Atlanta so I say that all the time now :)

Despite the hideous double mortgage payment incident, I haven't missed a beat and I'm truly proud of that. I so wanted to drown my sorrows in white bread and mac and cheese.

I started the 17 day diet Monday as planned and so far so good. The book is truly terrible. It talks about things like "becoming a hottie" and the food lists and recipes leave a lot to be desired. It's very basic - lean proteins, veggies, fruit and 2 servings of anything probiotic. That's the first 17 days. After that you slowly add whole grains back in. Maybe it's because I've done every diet known to man that it seems basic...that and I hate diets. I'm doing this because I had to do something.

I thought I'd be laying twitching in padded locked room like a heroin addict but it hasn't been that bad. After a dinner of protein and veggies I REALLY need a little something sweet so I've been having a sugar free jello pudding for 60 cals. Not on the plan but I don't see how it could really have that much of an effect on my progress.

Because there wasn't a ton of money to buy food this month, I roasted a 7 lb. chicken (more than I weighed as an infant!) on the grill and have therefore had very chicken-y week thus far. Chicken and vegetable soup has been great along with a spinach salad for lunch. Breakfast has been the same as always thankfully. Yogurt and berries - just omitted my usual handful of Kashi Go Lean Crunch. Dinner is some sort of protein on the grill (or more chicken) and veggies. I even did some mashed cauliflower which was a great starch substitute. There's not much more to it than that!

Today will be my first "challenge" which is lunch AND dinner out. The plan is to decide what I'm having ahead of time and sticking to it. It's really not that big of a deal I suppose...I just tend to make it a bigger deal than it needs to be.

A mid-week check in has me 4 lbs. down (hooray!) but I will report officially on Monday which will be 7 days from my start. I was up a full 11 pounds from my arm injury and I'm not wearing my new white pants again until that's gone!

On the fitness front, because I have a seriously awesome (and understanding) trainer, I've changed my personal training session over to one of her group sessions at least for the month. That way, I can still afford to have her - just not one-on-one (which I already miss!!). My schedule is pretty much the same as well Monday,Wednesday,Saturday is my group training which is a mix of pilates and weights, Tuesdays is my long standing bikram yoga class, Thursdays I run a 5k (on the treadmill for the summer) and Sundays have been my only off day. I'm planning on walking to my class on Saturday which is about 2 miles with a mega giant hill in both directions but since I have extra time on the weekends, I might as well make good use of it.

So it looks like I will make it over yet another huge hurdle in my life. I guess that's a huge part of this journey!!

Friday, July 22, 2011

Stronger but still weak

I did the single dumbest thing I’ve ever done in my life.

I accidentally paid my mortgage twice.

Just so you know, if you ever do that, they don’t give it back.

As I watched my bank account go $2,000 in the negative, I have been eating like a crazy person and haven’t stopped. I feel awful. Bloated, weak, tired, nauseous…basically poisoned.

WTF is wrong with me that I turn to something that can make me feel so bad??? I guess that’s what heroin and meth addicts ask themselves as they continue to destroy themselves.

Day before yesterday, I was at my worst. I cried all day over losing our entire life savings over a stupid mistake. It’s been almost 2 years since I lost my job and that’s how long it’s taken to actually save up a couple grand again. I considered giving up my plan to start the 17 day diet (on Monday naturally!) and live on mac and cheese and white bread.

Then I came to my senses.

It doesn’t cost any more money to live on lean protein, veggies, fruit and yogurt which is what this plan is all about…at least for first few weeks.

So that’s that. I’m getting my sh*t together while I somehow work harder to make up for this devastating event.

I’ll be back on Monday for the day one update.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Let's talk about food

Despite by busy schedule, you'll all be happy to know I have been working out like a crazy person. Every muscle hurts just about every day. It feels great and things are firm enough to wear white pants again but I have been ignoring the diet portion of this journey in a bad way.

I spend my precious down-time with my husband and friends – "rewarding" ourselves with food and drink. We haven't been going crazy on the junk, just richer food, eating out, larger portions, more alcohol etc. It's amazing how that behavior can creep back into your lifestyle slowly, without even noticing.

I work too hard to not be dropping weight so I'm thinking of starting the 17-day diet. I hate to even mention "diet" on this blog because I don't believe it them but I do believe in calorie shifting (lower one day, higher the next) to keep the metabolism guessing. This would just be a way for me to follow that a little more easily. I'm reading the book. I will let y'all know what I think. If anyone has any advice, I'm willing to hear it!

Have a great, healthy week everyone!

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

looking out for number one

I'm so ridiculously busy but had to take just a minute to blog about another one of my many breakthroughs. Are you tired of them yet??? I guess since I dedicated this year to self discovery, it's not a bad thing :)

Anyway, the week got off to a great start. Exercise every day, really good eating etc. but that started to fade a little this morning as the work piled up. I emailed my trainer that I wasn't coming to class because I was on a ridiculous deadline and sat down at my desk to work. My yoga instructors website was on the screen and the second I saw her picture, I knew I had to go to class. I grabbed my shoes and ran out the door. Class was hard, I was dripping with sweat and it was already 90 degrees at 8:30 am but I felt SO great after.

I've been blessed with these two amazing, beautiful women in my life Karen, my trainer and Astrid, my yoga instructor. They are so encouraging and I WILL not let them down!