Hello Stage 2!

I have completed the first 3 weeks of the Perfect 10 Diet. I am down 9 pounds and I'm wearing some of my smaller (size 12) pants! I really slacked on exercise this week, which is probably why I missed my goal of 10 pounds lost by one pound! This week I am going to focus on exercise. I'm very happy that I get to add back in one serving of whole grain a day. I'm going to try a few things I haven't tried before, like quinoa (pronounced keen-wah). It looks kind of like cous cous, but it's high in protein and fiber. I sure hope I like it!

The Cupcake that Crashed My Diet

Evil Cupcakes

This is it. It's the cupcake that made me cheat on my diet. I was already working on a 2 layer vanilla butter cake for my son's 9th birthday when he told me he wanted chocolate cake. Great! So I compromised and made a small batch of cupcakes. I made 9 regular sized ones, and 12 mini cupcakes. I used left over frosting from the Halloween cupcakes I made for my youngest son's class, and the result was what you see above. It must have been the sugar in my system (from licking my fingers while making the frosting for the cake) that made me do. Or it was just my vain attempt to prove to myself that I am a baking Goddess...but I had to make sure they tasted as good as they smelled. After all, I'd never made chocolate cupcakes before. So I did it. I ate a mini chocolate cupcake with vanilla buttercream frosting. It was amazing, and I don't even really like chocolate cake!

The problem is that it didn't stop there. I had a few Doritos, and some corn souffle, and some baked beans- all with sugar/starch in them! Then I made the ultimate cheat....I ate some cake and ice cream.  I couldn't help myself! I knew the cake was delicious and I couldn't stand watching everyone eat it while they told me how good it was! And boy were they right...it was friggin' fantastic! I did only have a small piece, and a very small scoop of ice cream, but then I had a sugar cookie too! Damn sugar! It hypnotized me!

The birthday cake I couldn't resist

So this morning I woke up expecting the scale to hate me, and it wasn't so bad! I had managed to eat pretty good the rest of the day yesterday, so I guess it balanced out a bit. But then this morning I was giving my neighbor a plate of left over sweets and I ate a bite (just a bite this time) of cake- and then a sugar cookie. I'm so ashamed! I made it through the entire Halloween season without cheating, and I couldn't make it through one measly birthday party. I think if I hadn't baked the sweets, so I didn't know how good they were, I might have been able to resist. Maybe not. 

Anyway, tomorrow is my official weigh in for the week so for the rest of the day I will be a dieting angel!  I am going to do some Tae-Bo which is sure to burn some calories, and I hope to walk with my walking buddy tonight. I just need to stay strong and stay away from the sweets in the kitchen!

I can do this! Right?

I met my 1st Goal!

I made it through the first week of the Perfect 10 Diet and I couldn't be happier! My goal was to lose 5 pounds, and ironically, I did just that! I lost exactly 5 pounds. I feel better too! More energetic, better sleep pattern, less moody. It's been a long hard week, but I am glad that I went through it.

Last night was Halloween night and I was the one who had to stay home to hand out the candy. So there I sat with M&Ms, Butterfingers, Twix, Kit Kats and more, on my lap for 2 hours. It was my own special kind of torture. But instead of giving in, I ate a giant Granny Smith apple and a few almonds. It wasn't the same, but it was enough to hold me over. As a matter of fact, I have yet to eat one piece of Halloween candy. I'm afraid that if I eat just one piece, it will snowball into ten. And that's the last thing that I want, so I'm staying away from it.

I've also not had any diet coke in 10 days now. That part hasn't been as bad as I though. The hardest part is when I am out of the house in a place where I normally drank diet coke...Geez, I sound like an alcoholic who is trying to stay sober! It feels kind of like that though. Diet coke has been a huge part of my life for a long time now. I'm hoping that I start to crave water the same way! I guess we'll see!

Before I sign off, I'd like to share one of my lunches that I ate this week...It is a mahi mahi burger from Trader Joe's and it was FANTASTIC! I cooked it on the grill and sauteed some pre-chopped veggies in butter and garlic to put it on. It was so delicious that I can't wait to eat it again! I never thought I would be happy eating like this, but I am enjoying it so much!

P 10 Day 4- Going Strong!

So today is day 4 of my new way of life and I'm still going strong! Yesterday was a tough day for me though because I made mini-cupcakes for my son's preschool class. I had to taste the frosting as I was making it, which made we want to taste a whole cupcake. I mean, they're just mini, right?! But I was strong and I resisted. Then my will power was tested again when I went to my son's soccer banquet at the local pizza buffet place. The garlic knots and all meat pizza were calling my name, but I only paid for the salad bar and turned my back to the pizza. I can't believe how strong I was!!!

This morning I weighed myself and I am down 3.2 pounds already! I was hoping for 5 pounds in the first week, and it looks like I might achieve it! I have been walking with a friend at night every day this week, and I think that's helping. It's sure helping me sleep! Today is my rest day from walking, and but I've got a bunch of cleaning to do, so hopefully I'll stay busy enough cleaning that I burn a few calories that way.

Speaking of calories...I've been tracking my food intake on livestrong.com and it shows I'm barely eating over 1000 calories per day. How is it possible that I'm consuming so little, yet I'm not hungry? I think it has to do with the lack of diet soda in my life! It really was making me eat and think about food more! Now, I know enough about dieting to know that if you don't eat enough calories, you can send your body into starvation mode. So that's my worry of the day. Am I eating enough? I'm eating what the book is telling me to eat, and I'm not hungry...so I guess we'll see! When I hit a plateau the first thing I'll be doing is eating more, as crazy as that sounds!

Oh, and my new favorite breakfast? Organic, whole milk yogurt...french vanilla flavored! I put about 10 raspberries in one cup of yogurt and sprinkle it with one packet of stevia. OMG, it is one of the best treats, and I get to eat it for breakfast! The whole milk means it sticks with me longer and I don't get hungry for lunch for several hours. It's fantastic!

The other discovery I made is uncured turkey bacon. I bought some at Trader Joe's and it is completely nitrite free. I freakin' love it! It is a thousand times better than the turkey bacon I was buying at the local chain grocery store. It's meatier, tastier, and not even more expensive!

Ok, so that's all of my little tidbits of joy this morning. Hope you're having a fantastic day!

Be Healthy!

P 10, Day 1

Today I started the Perfect 10 Diet (P 10). I weighed myself and measured my waist (yikes, on both accounts!), but I don't know that I'm ready to share that here just yet. My first thought was that if I told y'all how much I weigh and how big my stomach is, you would be able to better appreciate the progress that I will make. My second thought though was "What if I don't stick to this and I don't lose anything? Then everyone will know what a cow I am!" Unfortunately, I went with my second thought and will keep track somewhere else until I've seen some major improvements! I know you're not supposed to weigh yourself everyday, but I can't help it. I'll update with my weight loss (or gain) everyday and will track my exercise here too!

Anyway, on to food and exercise. This morning for breakfast I ate 2 eggs cooked in real butter (since I'm not allowed to use cooking spray). I should have eaten more than that, but I wasn't prepared, and didn't have a lot in the house. After breakfast I put my 2 year old in the stroller and we walked for just over 30 minutes. For lunch I ate a leftover chicken breast and a honeycrisp apple. Amazingly, I'm not really that hungry. I'll have a handful of almonds for my mid-afternoon snack and then something light and healthy for dinner...I'm thinking maybe soup, since it's easy!

I'm wondering if I'll be able to get my husband on board for this way of eating. He typically follows the South Beach Diet principles, but with his own twist. The problem is that he eats a lot of processed foods that contain preservatives, artificial sweeteners, hydrogenated oils, etc...It will be hard to convince him to give those foods up since he is still maintaining a healthy weight. I guess time will tell! I'm also wondering how to apply this diet to my kids eating habits without having a revolt on my hands. Baby steps...

The New Me in the Making

I have struggled with my weight virtually my whole life. My body really likes to be about a size 12 or 14. Unfortunately, my inner self would really like to be an 8 or a 10. Somewhere in here is a skinny girl just dying to get out! And like most people, I've tried just about every diet, and I've joined several gyms, and I've just not been able to stick to anything long enough! I hate feeling deprived of the food I love, and I hate giving up other activities so that I can go to the gym. I'm selfish...I'll admit it!

As of a few weeks ago, I'm now 33 years old. My body is showing the wear and tear that having 3 kids has put on it! My skin is a mess, and I'm starting to worry about things like wrinkles, age spots, and spider veins. Fortunately, I don't have any of those things yet, but I don't want to have them this young either! A friend of mine, whom I walk with a few nights a week for exercise, recommended a book to me that contains a way of eating that is supposed to help you lose weight while getting all of your hormones into balance. Having balanced hormones is good for so many reasons, but I'm looking to steady my mood swings, clear up my skin (I never though I'd have breakouts at 33), and make sure that the rest of me is healthy too! The book is called The Perfect 10 Diet and is written by Dr. Michael Aziz. I'll be doing a post about the book itself on my other blog, but suffice it to say that I'm hooked!

The biggest changes I will be making with this new eating plan are: 1. No sugar or artificial sweeteners (that means no Diet Coke!) 2. No cured meats (i.e. bacon, canadian bacon, lunch meat) 3. tapering my eating throughout the day so that my biggest meal is breakfast and my smallest meal is dinner 4. No Diet Coke (that one is going to be tough!) 5. No processed oils (corn, safflower, canola, etc) 6. Full fat (although limited) dairy

I went to Trader Joe's today for the first time to get some organic and fresh foods for my new "way of eating." Notice I'm not calling it a diet? It's intentional. Anyway, I spent $113 and only had 3 bags of groceries, but I still found the prices to be really good! I thought it would be way out of my price range (I typically like to coupon and get stuff for really cheap). I bought fresh fish, fruits and veggies, steak and chicken, fresh herbs and spices, among other things. I am really excited about finally learning how to cook fish and vegetables that aren't canned or frozen!

Wish me luck on my weight loss journey and pray that I get healthier in the process!

Hello old friend!

I started this blog back in 2007 as a way to just talk...to myself, and anyone who might be reading. I wrote about myself and some controversial topics in the news. Now that it's been well over a year since I posted anything, it was my first inclination to just delete all of my posts and start fresh. I've decided I want to use this blog kind of like a diary of my life. But instead of starting with a blank slate, I'm going to leave up the personal posts and just continue on. I think that the older posts will give people insight into who I am, and what I am about. It's also a good reminder for me!

I have been writing another blog for a few months called 52 Books. It's about my personal challenge to read 52 books in a year! So far I've only read about 4 or 5, but I'm working on finding the balance that I need, so that I have time for that, and everything else that I need to fit into my life! Eventually I may find a way to merge that blog with this one, but in the meantime...here I go--embarking on yet another blog adventure!