My Astute Observations...

So, while visiting Virginia this past weekend I made an astute observation about current fashion in America (or at least in the preppy south...). I am living at a never ending Horse Show...

What? You may ask...for years, it was normal to go to a horse show and see girls walking around in skin tight leggings (riding pants) with knee high flat boots (riding boots) with a long sleeve shirt and vest or a long sleeve shirt and fitted quilt jacket of blazer. What did I see people wearing at the pumpkin patch you may ask...leggings with mid calf or knee high boots, a long sleeve shirt, and a vest. While years ago this was simply practical since it made the transition for relaxed to show dress easy...now it is fashionable? Now, don't get me wrong, I have partaken in this craze of what I will deem "Horse Show Chic" and I actually very much enjoy the style; however, I was slightly taken aback several times when I had Las Colinas Fall Classic, Glen Rose Spring Awakening, and San Antonio Christmas Final flashbacks!

Fall in Colorado!

Well, I was going to go back to the center today and weigh-in to see how I was doing on getting back on track. Instead, I woke up to a true Colorado fall day...

My scale at home said I was down about a pound from yesterday, which verifies my thought that my weight gain was 70% water retention and 30% actual gain. Hopefully I will be back down to where I want to be by the end of the week. I will do an official weigh-in on Friday and then again on Saturday. Then next weekend I am in TX with my wonderful family! I can't wait to see everybody!

Not as bad as I thought...

+3.75...but I stayed under 140...so glass half full?

An Amazing Weekend!

I had an amazing weekend! I enjoyed my trip to Virginia so much. It was a much needed break from the struggles and headaches amassed in school and work and living alone. Shane and I went to an apple orchard and picked our own amazing Pink Lady Apples, drank homemade Apple Cider, and ate delicious Apple Donuts and Peach BBQ (Do I need to say my diet was out the window for the weekend?).

Saturday night Shane and I went to the Melting Pot for dinner. Is there a better place to throw your diet for a loop? I think not...We started with amazing cocktails and then proceeded through the full 4-course menu complete with Beer Pairings. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! We then had after dinner coffee drinks. It was a fabulous overall evening.

Sunday, Shane and I had a relaxing morning and ran a few errands. We then took a slow drive down the parkway and hiked back to a beautiful waterfall. The end of the weekend was a small birthday celebration at the house including a bonfire, Buffalo Burgers, Enchilada Soup, and Red Velvet Cupcakes! YUMMY!

We shall see the diet damage tomorrow morning...please pray for me!

Mentally Preparing to be Bad

So I have been using today to mentally prepare to be bad this weekend! I know that is crazy, but I do not want to be concerned about my food this weekend. I know I will retain water, I know I will gain a few pounds, I know I will be disappointed Tuesday morning. By mentally preparing myself for this I think that I will be better able to handle the number come Tuesday morning. I have kind of flushed my body today to help prepare for the sodium intake. YAY PARSLEY! hahaha. I will be at the airport for around 7 hours today so I will be forced to eat airport food. There is no subway (my fall back) at the Denver airport, so I have done my research and chosen Quiznos.

Friday should not be too bad. I am making Shane breakfast and lunch out of my Hungry-girl recipes so I know that they are healthy and fairly well balanced. We are also going out to Sushi for dinner, so that should be moderately healthy if I make good choices, eat sashimi, and ditch most of the rice. I know I will have a drink or two, but I should be okay since I am eating fish most of the day!

Saturday...all bets are off...I am making a very healthy Oatmeal for breakfast; however, for lunch, we are attending the Apple Festival at Carter Mountain Orchard. This is one of my favorite parts about visiting Virginia in the fall! This orchard makes the BEST Apple Cider Donuts, BBQ sandwich with homemade Peach BBQ sauce, and KILLER sides. So yeah, after the orchard we are heading to Charlottesville for the afternoon, which should equal a fair amount of walking (let's be hopeful...). For dinner, we are heading to my favorite restaraunt in the world...MELTING POT! ahhh...I dream about the goodness that is Melting Pot...Mix that with a bottle or so of wine, chocolates, etc...yeah chalk up several days worth of calories!

Sunday, we get a free breakfast from the hotel. I should be able to make good choices of eggs and whole wheat toast. We will then proceed to get lunch to go and head to the Blue Ridge Parkway for some leaf peeping and water fall hikes. This should be a fairly effective exercise day. I know of at least 2 short hikes that we are going to take. I don't know the plan for Sunday night yet, but, hopefully, I should be able to make good choices...Here's to hoping...

I leave Lynchburg EARLY Monday morning, so the plan is to do three Very High Protein shakes for three days to flush my system and jump start it back in to action. I know after a weekend like the one described abvoe, that will be the LAST thing I want, but I know it is what I will need. Therefore, I will do it...

2 weeks later it is off to a fun-filled weekend in Texas.

2 weeks later it is off to Italy.

My goal for all of these trips is to come back NOT weighing more than 140. This gives me about 4 pounds of wiggle room...hmmm...

Doing Good!

So, I have been a very good girl this week! I have followed my Balance plan and I have been making good choices! I am very happy with where I stand at the moment. I am back down below 136, which is good. I would like to be able to be below 135 consistently, but it is what it is...

I leave to go see Shane in Virginia this weekend! I am so excited to see him and his family and get away for a while. I am going back to Sweet Briar to visit some old friends and I am going to RELAX. I love the fall weather.leaves on the east coast more than anywhere else, so that is also plus! Overall, I am doing well and everything is chugging along as it should!

Insanity

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results...

I sabotaged myself again this weekend. I don't know if I would say I expected different results since I know what eating a lot of bad for me food will do...but I do keep doing it over and over even when I know it is wrong. Saturday night our newest neighbor had a Mexican (my BIGGEST weakness) BBQ to welcome himself to the community. The food was AMAZING and I enjoyed it...too much. I felt like crap afterwards and was so upset with myself! Well, Sunday I jumped right back on to plan and was a good girl. I started today with a Very High Protein shake to jump start my metabolism. I was only up 1/4 pound from Friday so that isn't horrible, but I TOTALLY screwed up my "Maybe I will be almost at 130 by the time I leave for VA in 4 days" plan...oh well.

So now I am back on plan. I am focused and I want to do really well for the next 4 days. I know that my weekend in VA will probably not be the most dietetic, so I want to be in a good place/frame of mind when I get there!

Here's to hoping!

Weekly Realizations

1.) My legs do not run together when I walk

2.) My once "skinny" jeans are now my "super comfy, lounge around, I don't want to get dressed up but need to look nice-ish" jeans

3.) I enjoy grocery shopping, especially in the produce aisle

4.) Cooking is fun when you can play around and adapt them to be healthy!

5.) I enjoy clothes shopping

6.) I can adapt recipes to be healthy

7.) I can eat too many M&Ms, because I know how to correct for it and move on

8.) Sweets and Carbs are not the devil, in moderation

9.) I eat at night when I am not hungry

10.) My body really does tell me what it wants and how much it wants, if I will listen!

Baffling

I think that my body was not getting enough food.

I am going to discuss this with my counselor on Saturday morning when I go in. This morning I saw ANOTHER huge drop on my scale. Since adding 2 servings of Dairy and moving to some of the higher calorie snacks my body is dropping weight like there is no tomorrow. At this rate I MIGHT actually hit my goal by the time I leave for Virginia. Now, that is a huge stretch I realize since I leave in exactly one week, but it has been done, just saying...I wasn't going to weigh-in tomorrow but I kind of want to just to see my drop; however, I think I wills sleep in as planed and go Saturday! HA

Saturday I am also going to the Aveda Institute to get my hair cut and colored. I am thinking that I am going to go a caramelly color with highlights and lowlights to give my hair volume and life; however, I am not sure of the cut. I don't want to go too short, but I do want a change. Any ideas on either?

Saturday I am also getting a new pair of Ugg boots! My amazing aunt bought me a pair last year for Christmas; however, they were the wrong size and I already had that style. Well, I waited too long to take them back and the store didn't have any others. So, they gave me a gift card and told me to come back this fall when all the new styles came out. I am so excited to go shopping for free!

Sunday I am going to get a bunch of homework done and start packing for my trip! YA!

My Body Loves Balance!

I checked in at the center this morning and I had lost 1.25 pounds since Monday! WHAT? I know CRAZY stuff. Apparently my body needed the jump start and a little variety boost. I also had my balance class today and learned how we are going to slowly introduce calories back in to my diet. Geez, it seems crazy how many calories my Max is (1700?). Considering I was gaining weight before that means I was eating over 1700 calories a day...WOW! Right now I am eating around 1,000 so I will slowly add calories back, probably staying around the 1300-1500 mark for a regular day and then having the extras for any special occasions and stuff. The big thing over the next 4 weeks will be to learn how to choose the RIGHT calories and not eat 1400 WRONG calories. This is all pretty common sense seeming, though obviously not since I was 40 pounds over weight...

Anyways, I am very excited to have some extra dairy this week, extra starch next week, and extra protein the following! It all seems so within my grasp now. I think my mental break weekend and now adding back foods has been good for my mind, body, and soul!

The "official" final stats are:

Weight: 31.75lbs lost
Waist: 6 inches lost
Hips: 4 inches lost
Thigh: 2 3/4 inches lost
Arm: 1/2 inch lost

Total inches lost: 17 3/4

They even gave me a pretty ribbon that was 17 3/4 inches long with my weight loss and everything on it! I can't believe those stats...I look in the mirror and I get it...but not really...

Inspiration from another blog

SO, yesterday I replaced one of my meals with a VHP (Very High Protein) shake from Slimgenics. This was easier than the last time because, since I am in Balance, I can have an extra dairy serving. So, I used Greek Yogurt as my extra serving. Therefore, I basically still got 3 full meals of protein. It was nice to say the least! Yesterday, I also transitioned from 3 "supergenic" snacks to 1 "supergenic" snack and 1 "regular" snack. A protein bar has never tasted so great! I was so sick of pudding, chili, and smoothies! I also got my milk serving back! Anyways, I felt great last night and even made a kick ass chicken enchilada soup! Then, this morning when I weighed, I saw the lowest number I have ever seen on my scale! YAY! Now, I don't report those numbers and I don't count them, because I want my results to be "official" on the Slimgenics scale. That awesome result gave me the kick in the ass I needed to push through though! Today is/will be a perfectly on plan day! My food?:

Breakfast: 1oz. Light Swiss Cheese, Strawberry Smoothie Protein Mix, 12 frozen strawberries, Orange Extract

Morning Snack: Wasa Cracker with 1oz. light swiss cheese

Lunch: Mixed Greens Salad, 2 hard boiled eggs, mushrooms, FF Sundried Tomato Dressing, Sugar-Free Vanilla Skim Milk Latte

Afternoon Snack: Slimgenics Crunch Os

Dinner: Whiting Fish Fillet with homemade salsa

Dessert: Apple with cinnamon and sugar

YAY! Another thing that I have noticed is that my tastes have changed dramatically! Foods that I NEVER liked before this diet are some of my favorites now! For example, apples baked with cinnamon and sugar. Baked apples used to give me nightmares; however, now I make them myself and love them (the idea of restaurant baked apples and fruit pies still give me the heeby jeebies). I also now like Eggplant, Squash, Zucchini, and CHOCOLATE. Yes you read that right, I used to not be a huge chocolate fan, but it is growing on me now!

Anyways, now for the real purpose of this post, as promised by the title. I was reading a fellow Slimgenic blogger's blog yesterday and came upon a post that really got me thinking. I have had this conversation with my mom and my sister both and this blogger put it really well. Diet's only work if you are ready for them to work! Here, I'll let her explain:

"One thing that has become abundantly clear to me in the last week: wanting to change is the majority of the battle with weight loss. It doesn’t matter which diet you choose if you aren’t ready to make the changes!

     I’ve had moderate success with other diets in the past, but SlimGenics has truly been something amazing for me. I mean, 60 lbs in less than 5 months? That’s INSANE. The difference? I think I finally got fed up enough with being overweight and prayed enough about it that I was ready to do what needed to be done to see these changes in my life.

     Does that mean that I didn’t want to be thin and healthy in the past? No, of course not. But wanting to be thin and wanting it bad enough to be willing to do the work, (I mean REALLY willing to do the work) are definitely two separate things.

     I’ve seen so many other people have major success on the SlimGenics diet, but then when I went to the SG message boards I also saw so many people really struggling. After reading some of their posts and what they were struggling with, I realized it sounded like me when I was doing weight watchers a year ago. Yeah, I wanted to lose weight, but it wasn’t a priority, I wasn’t ready like I was when I shelled out the money for SG, etc. etc. And I knew it then, but I would never have admitted it. I didn’t want to stop eating bacon. I didn’t want to stop eating cheese. And those things were overriding the fact that I wanted to be healthier and thinner.

     By late summer, I realized that I was ready, because I knew I wouldn’t have to give up those things forever, but it was worth it to give them up for the time it took to lose the weight.

     And it’s been worth every sacrifice because I WANT THIS!! I know now that I can finish strong and be where I want to be before it’s time for summer clothes again! "

I think that Angie hit the nail on the head! To that I want to add that everyone has to want it in their own way. For me it was the looming summer, knowing that I was living alone, knowing I had the means, and finally just DOING it. I had also "dieted" while living on my own; however, I never put my whole heart in to it. I tried the special K diet, but I didn't measure that 3/4 cup of cereal (so I probably ate 2 cups). I tried Slimfast; however, my "regular well balanced dinner" consisted of fast food (why not, all I had all day was a freaking shake!). I was never ready to fully commit. Once I was ready I took a deep look inside myself and asked what I really wanted out of this. I decided that I wanted encouragement, guidance, and support as well as the tools to make it on my own once I hit my goal weight. That wasn't too much to ask right? One morning I saw an ad on TV for Slimgenics, I looked it up online and booked a consultation. Now, some people may call me impulsive; however, I just rationalize things very differently and VERY quickly in my head. I don't like to "stop and think" about something because I have already thought about it and if I "stop and think" I will move on to other things. I must commit in the moment. This, to me, is different from being impulsive and just wanting something right then. I met with the center's manager and instantly clicked. I knew that this would be the program for me and that I was ready! And I was right! Have I spent more money than I should have? YES!, but I am happy with my decision.

I am not saying, by any stretch, that Slimgenics is a one size fits all. I think that a lifestyle and habit changing plan needs to be right for each person. For some that may be a plan where pre-portioned food is delivered to your door, for others it may be the ability to splurge or cheat every now and then, for me it was a rigorous training and counseling tool to teach me and reprogram my cravings. Whatever your goal or prescribed change, you must be ready for it. You must have reached that point in saying that "You know what? I deserve this! I deserve to look the way I want to look and I am ready to do whatever it takes to get there." Yes, losing weight may feel and can be restrictive, but it is about reprogramming your relationship with food as well as your thoughts about what you deserve. Do you deserve that pint of ice cream because of your promotion, or do you deserve to be healthy and achieve your dreams? The answer to that question is the start to many many more!

Mental Break

So this past weekend I took a much needed break from the diet front! I start Balance today so I figured I would take a weekend to relax and chill. Now don't get me wrong, I didn't head over and eat an entire Awesome Blossom (though I think that would BE awesome) followed by a gallon of ice cream. I did stay fairly to plan though I had some fun as well. I tried out a couple recipes that I have been eyeing for a long time. One of these was a kick ass easy to make guilt-free pumpkin bread. All you do is take one box of Duncan Moist Spice Cake mix and one can of 15oz. Libby's Pumpkin (not pie filling, pure pumpkin). I separated the mix into four miniature loaf pans and baked it. HOLY MOLY it was yummy. The bread was light and dense at the same time. It had the perfect amount of sweet and savory. I took three of the loafs to the three people that will be caring for Trinity while I am out of town and kept one for myself (another way to keep it guilt-free...don't keep it!). Once the bread cooled I cut it into 6 pieces (therefore it was only 1/24th of the recipe per slice. Since the "bread" was so dense the slices were plenty for a little snack. I baggied them up separately and placed them in the fridge. Each slice of my guilt-free pumpkin bread is only 94 calories (if you only eat one).

I also made some roasted tomato salsa! You see, the Student Life Division (that I work for at DU) planted a HUGE garden on our third floor patio this summer. Well Friday we had horrible winds and most of the tomato plants got blown over. Therefore, they had to harvest the tomatoes or lose them. I took about 1/4 of the tomatoes home and I made salsa! I brought about half back for the office and kept half at home for me!

I tried two other recipes that turned out to be amazing, but I can't talk about them here because I am making them for Shane as a surprise when I visit in a couple weeks!

One thing that I did finally get the courage to try were the Tofu Shirataki Noodle Substitutes. Hungry-Girl.com uses them in recipes all of the time. I am slightly scared of tofu so I was so nervous to try these, but I got up the courage and made the Hungry Girlfredo. These "noodles" are AMAZING! They are only 40 calories for a whole bag and super low carb and moderately high in protein. You must follow the instructions on drying them (they come packed in water), but I am serious when I tell you...you will NOT be able to tell the difference!!! CRAZY

So anyways, as I said, I took a mental break had an enjoyable food weekend and relaxed this weekend. It snowed Saturday morning which was a nice, but cold, surprise! So, I faced the music this morning and went in to the center to weigh-in. I caveat-ed my weigh-in by telling them I took a much needed break and that I wasn't going to be upset by what I saw on the scale. Low and Behold I only gained 1/2 a pound. Not too bad I should say! I am jumping right back on the Balance Train today and surging ahead. Hopefully I will drop a bit here and there but if not, whatever.

So, at my weigh-in I met with Jimmy, who is the manager and the guy who originally signed me up. He told me that we would take my after pictures on Wednesday and that he wanted to submit them to the marketing department for an official PHOTO SHOOT! He thinks that I have made a drastic improvement and that I should have an official Slimgenics Photo Shoot! AHHHHH! I am so excited!

The next phase...

So I went in today for my final weigh-in of my weight loss phase. I was the same as I was on Wednesday (SHOCKER!), but I was happy. I caved yesterday and had a cupcake, so I can't be too "woe is me" since I wasn't strictly on plan. I DID get a sneak peak in to the Balance phase which is extremely exciting. I am getting back dairy (milk or CHEESE!) and some fruits and veggies that I have really missed (Mango, Purple Grapes, Bananas). So, I am in a good place right now. I am happy with how I look and I am happy to be able to start eating some new food varieties!

New Fact...

SO I learned something about myself today...I need to chew! You see, this morning I made an awesome, creamy, strawberry smoothie for breakfast. For a snack I had a Wasa cracker. For lunch I had blended Greek Yogurt with berries...now, it is 3:30 in the afternoon and everything chewy in site looks like I need to eat it. I think my smoothie and Greek Yogurt (while delicious, high in protein, and healthy) did not give my brain enough of a sense of eating. My body is nourished; however, my brain is searching, searching, searching for food.

Fact of the day: CHEW something at lunch!

Bouncy, Bouncy, Bouncy...

You guessed it...down 1 pound today. I know I should be more excited about this; however, I have been here before. I spoke with the manager of the center for about 20 minutes on the phone yesterday about adding weeks verses moving on. He thinks (and I agree) that it is time for me to just move on. I reached my original goal and I have become so fixated on getting below the 130 mark that I am probably stalling my weight loss. He believes that if I just move in to balance and add the variety that my stress will go down and I still may loose some weight. Additionally, there is nothing to say that one I hit the Maintenance phase I can't do a week of weight loss here and there to help me get a little lower. I am inclined to agree with him. I am going to finish this week out as strong as I can and just plan on really being good until all of my trips and seeing how it goes. I am happy where I am and this needs to NOT consume my life!

They confirmed it...

So my weigh-in today confirmed that I am up 1.25 pounds from my lowest weight and up .75 pounds from my weigh-in on Friday. I am so frustrated. I try and try. All I can think is that I may have had extra sodium in some hot sauce I used, but I used extra lemon and drank a bit of extra water to help flush it! My counselor was at a loss and I can tell that she was trying to be sympathetic. She is going to talk to the manager and see what we can do. She is hoping that I can possibly get a few extra weeks to get my weight down. This would mean that I am on weight loss until I leave for VA and then I would be in balance until I leave for Italy and then I would be DONE! YAY! It is all about maintenance from there...So we shall see.

To help jump start the weight loss some more I am going to keep working out. I had kind of let this goal slide because of the hours and time it takes to use the free gym at DU. Luckily, Netflix has a fairly good assortment of videos on instant streaming. My goal is now going to be a 30 minute video in the morning and 30 minutes on the Wii in the evenings at the VERY least...we'll see how that goes...

Whats a Girl To Do?

So...I finished the Nutribooster plateau breaker and ate on plan for the first time in five days. I did fairly well. I probably had too many veggies and I had some extra Fat Free Dressing and an extra Splenda. Well, I am up a half pound today...GRRRR

Maybe it was that I had 1/2 a potato instead of bread? Maybe it is the fact that I am finishing up my cycle. I don't know. I am getting in my lemon and my Apple Cider Vinegar. I am weighing my proteins and measuring my fruit and fat. I am taking my supplements and drinking my water and using my Mortons Lite Salt. I just don't know what to do any more. I will go and weigh in on Monday and hopefully get some advice. I am trying really hard not to be depressed about it and trying REALLY hard to be upbeat and say that I am happy where I am; however, I would really rather be down to least another 2-4 pounds at the least and be balanced and eating real food...

Le Sigh...