Monday Morning Weigh-In

Fall is definitely in the air here, but today I had a huge spring in my step!  This morning I stepped on the scale and to my total delight it came in at a nine pound total weight loss.  Yes, that is NINE pounds!! I was doing a happy dance in the bathroom at 3:30 am.  Starting weight, 168 current, weight 159!!

I have been doing fairly well following my food routine Monday through Thursdays.  The weekend I deviate somewhat, but I still feel triumphant when I can bypass sugar.  Take this past weekend for instance.  Saturday myself and a couple of friends of mine volunteered to help out at a K-9 Cancer fundraising event at our local Vet Clinic.  We worked the food table, and ended up standing behind the table with all the donated baked goods.  It was our job to push these delectable delights.  Are you kidding me?  A sugar addict pushing bakery?  Proudly I have to say I was only slightly tempted by the mouth watering brownie bars with frosting and crushed oreos on top.  I refrained, you can ask my friends who were busy stashing goodies away for themselves to take home. Instead I grabbed a loaf of Parmesan herb bread! 

No thanks!  I don't want any!!

Anyway I do have a basic food routine that I try to stick to. Breakfast usually consists of a large serving of low-fat cottage cheese, 6 triscuit crackers, and a greek yogurt.  Mid morning snack is an apple and string cheese.  Lunch varies between a Smart Ones frozen dinner, a sandwich on multi grain bread with deli turkey or other deli meat, lettuce, and mayo or hummus.  Mid afternoon snack is either a handful of almonds or a chocolate rice cake with natural peanut butter.  Dinner is whatever I make for my family or whatever I want if we go out to eat on the weekends.  I try to get in my 4 cups of veggies a day.  I know some of these things have sugar in them but I am not really that strict when it comes to non desert items.  The rice cake and the peanut butter have minimal sugar content. I have been more mindful of my white flour intake also as I know this converts to sugar rapidly in the body.

Since I have lots more energy taking the amino acids and cutting out all those sugary treats I have been able to stick to a walking routine.  Still, my goal is to do more resistance training.  I am thinking of joining a local Zumba class with a friend.  I also would like to try Yoga.  I find I do much better in the exercise area if I am doing it with a friend.  Going to a gym on my own does not seem to work for me.  Walking does since I have an energetic dog that is practically waiting for me everyday when I get home with her leash in her mouth!

I feel great, have tons of energy, and I know I am on the right track.  I am very pleased with what I have done so far.

If you have not read the Diet Cure yet, next week I will explain the role the amino acids are playing in my weight loss.

Week Four And Down 2 More Pounds

Week four is coming to a close! I will be honest with you, I never thought that I could go this long and not have one craving for a sugary delight. I have managed to go to a family reunion and not even come close to the desert table. Then last weekend we were at a party that had some awesome looking bars and a cake and I was not even tempted when Rick was eating a piece right in front of me.

Is this some sort of miracle? For me it is! Or is that L-glutamine really working on those cravings. I'd like to think it is, together with the other amino acids I am taking. Whatever it is, I feel great and actually have extra energy left in the day to get a walk in.

I did get on the scale Monday morning and was down another 2 pounds which makes a total of 6 pounds lost! Ive managed about 7 miles total walking this week so far (not alot, but better than what I have been doing)

I'm going out on a limb here and making my total goal official. Down to 145 pounds, which would make it a total weight loss of 23 pounds from my starting weight. It is scary for me to actually type those numbers, cause it makes it very real. I am totally commited now for the whole world to see.

So my weekend begins. I'm planning on keeping the eating out to a minimum this weekend. Focus on making healthy meals at home with the exception of Saturday night when we have a wedding. Yikes more temptation! I am sure there will be the dreaded wedding cake but I am sure I will be able to walk past it and not give it a second glance!! I'll keep you posted and wish me luck!

Back On The Dukan Diet Bandwagon

As you may know-last September/October I started the Dukan Diet to much success.  I shed 11 pounds on it and felt great!  Then the holidays and my busy life got in the way (along with my sugar habit) and the weight slowly crept back up.
Two weeks ago after a terrible Memorial Day weekend I decided enough was enough and I had to jump back on the diet.  I did 6 days on the attack phase and managed to drop 6 pounds.  I also downloaded two apps to help me out.  One is called Slimkicker for my Ipad and Map My Walk for my android phone.  I did blog about Slimkicker in a previous post.  Map My Walk uses the GPS on my phone to track my route, MPH, time, pace and you can share your success to Facebook and Twitter.

I am now on the Cruise phase and have dropped another 3 pounds according to my scale this morning.  The thing is, is that I have been doing great during the week.  Being on a strict schedule with work works well.  Everything is timed.  I pack all my food the night before.  I am on a great schedule with walking our great trail system in town almost every weekday when I get home from work.  It works great having a teenage daughter who is now home for the summer and helps me out doing chores which frees me up to get my daily walk in.

The trouble is weekends.  My Friday, Saturdays, and Sundays are a REAL challenge.  We tend to eat a couple meals out which is disastrous for me.  Portion control is painful since I am a lifetime member of the clean plate club.  I'm busy doing cleaning , gardening and getting leisure activities in with friends and family.  The last thing I have on my mind is planning meals and exercise. I try to make sure I have plenty of Dukan approved food in my fridge.  If you peek in my fridge now you would see a supply of cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, boiled eggs, and lean meats.  Plus some fresh cut veggies for veggie days.  I have not been perfect on the weekends, and that is where I need to improve.  Why is it so hard to remember how great you feel when you are eating right and working out?

So here we go again...but this time I will do it.  How is it that I have traveled half way around the world without anyone I knew and yet I have such a hard time trying to lose 20 pounds?  Gosh, losing weight and staying healthy is hard!  Hopefully with the help of writing this blog and sharing Dukan recipes plus support from friends and family, I will be a diet success!

So....I Had A Piece Of Cake

Yesterday was the first time I had cheated on my Dukan Diet. It was just a little piece of cake that's all.

Now I went into this with the intention to stick it out for the long haul, but yesterday I knew I would have a hard time. It happened to be my cousins daughters first birthday party. I knew there would be plenty of food and oh no a (gasp!) birthday cake.

I did fine during the lunch having just my protien and veggies since it was veggie day. There was a great selection of fresh veggies. The problem came when all the presents were unwrapped and out came that cake! Well my mouth started to water so much that i could have used the birthday girls bib. My thoughts immediately started a wrestling match in my head do I or don't I. As the cake was being cut and served I still was trying to work up the courage to say no. It came to my turn and the "do it" won out. I had the smallest piece cut and gave my daughter the red balloon out of frosting on the top of my piece. I stuck my fork into that piece of cake and it was heaven when it hit my mouth. The inner layer of frosting was slightly lemony. I savored it, eating slowly. When it was gone I did feel a little guilt, but that went away.

Was it worth it? It sure was. Today I got right back on that horse and am back in full swing. I do have to say that I think my slight stomach ach this morning had something to do with having that piece of birthday cake yesterday. It's a good reminder that I'm serious about losing the weight this time and keeping it off!