The Best Diet I Ever Did (Part 1)

I've been meaning to write a post about this diet for a long time.  If you follow my blog, you'll know this isn't the first time I've written about a diet. I've written about two others as well. And they both suited their purpose at the time. But a new time calls for a new diet, and this is my favorite one so far.  I'm really excited to share it and see if it suits anyone else.  It's called the 5:2 Fasting Diet.

First a little background:  I grew up thin.  I never had to think about dieting or eating right growing up.  I was vaguely aware of my mother being on diets off and on through my teens, but I never gave it much thought.  I assumed I'd be skinny forever.  I just ate whatever I wanted and was fairly active (there was very little TV and no other kinds of digital distractions back in the 80's and early 90's,) and I stayed thin.  Then my mid-20's hit and suddenly I noticed some fat around my waist.  Not a biggie, but some clothes that used to look good no longer did.  When I got married at almost 28, I would still have called myself slender, but I was a couple of sizes up from my college weight.  And by 2 years into my marriage....well, I looked at some pictures of myself and was shocked.  I had gone up 4 sizes and gained 20+ lbs from my college weight.  It was time to start a diet.

But having never done one, I had absolutely no idea what to do.  I had no concept of food restriction, no will-power built up to resist food, and although I grew up eating vegetables and whole grains, I didn't have a strong grasp on what eating healthy was like (mostly what NOT to eat).  So my first diet was Weight Watchers.  And it was a complete paradigm shift for me.  For the first time I understood what an appropriate portion size was -- and it was a LOT smaller than what I had been eating.  I became aware of how obscene the portion sizes in restaurants were (yet how we'll eat them because they are in front of us). I started to see which foods were pretty much ALWAYS on the naughty list and began to learn how to eat some of my favorite foods on occasion by cutting calories elsewhere.  I trimmed calories by avoiding fatty sauces and toppings, no second helpings, setting my portion sizes out before eating, and by changing the types of desserts I ate.  Truly, Weight Watchers gave me my first really practical look at eating appropriately.  It was a really good education in eating and I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't ever dieted or hasn't dieted successfully. There's no starvation, no all-out food restriction.  In fact you get to eat a lot of foods you really like...as long as you realize it will mean not eating something else you like later.  I exercised too during this time, but I think it was the food changes that worked the most. The weight loss was slow, but steady.  I lost 4 sizes in 6 months.  I got down to my weight at my wedding. And because they have a really good maintenance program on Weight Watchers, I kept it off for over a year.

But then came kids 1 and 2.  Although I didn't gain a ton of weight with those pregnancies, and most of it fell off pretty easily afterward, I was left with an extra 5 lbs after Baby 1 and another 5 after Baby 2.   And because they were back to back (I literally got pregnant with Baby 2 two weeks after I stopped nursing Baby 1), I had been either pregnant or nursing for 3 straight years.  I.E. I was eating whatever I wanted that whole time.  It was so ingrained in me to eat that way that I had forgotten how to restrict.  This time around Weight Watchers was really hard for me.  I found myself losing 1 lb here and 1 lb there, but then I'd gain it back the next week.  I seemed to be able to maintain, but not to really lose weight.  I just couldn't stick with it long enough to see a lasting result.  And I felt like I was ALWAYS dieting.  It was so frustrating!  So it was time for something more extreme.  Something fast and effective. Enter HCG.  This was the diet craze right about the time I was desperate to lose some weight.  And after seeing a couple of friends lose huge amounts of weight very quickly (between 15-45 lbs in a month), I decided to go for it.  You can read about that journey here.  But suffice it to say, even though it was super super hard, I lost 18 lbs in 2 weeks and was very happy.  I was 7 lbs lower than my weight at my wedding, my lowest weight since my early 20's!  I quickly went back to my Weight Watchers maintenance routine and kept the weight off.  (I know a lot of people who did HCG and gained the weight right back.  I didn't, and I completely attributed this to learning how to maintain on Weight Watchers) .

Then came Baby 3, and this one did a number on my body.  I was 6 years older than I had been with my first pregnancy, and I think those years made a huge difference.  I gained 3x more weight with this baby than the first two, and it did not fall off easily like it had the first two times.  I was up 47 lbs!  So after I finished nursing, I looked around for a diet.  I tried Weight Watchers again, but the quick-fix HCG diet had made me impatient.  The thought of constantly restricting for 6 months was depressing.  I wanted something that would work faster, even if it was more difficult.  Not HCG difficult--the thought of going on that diet again was terrifying!  But something that worked faster than 1 lb a week.  That's when a friend suggested the South Beach diet.  I bought the book (written by a cardiologist, with a lot of solid science behind it), and read it cover to cover.  I was enthusiastic about the claim that you could lose 8-14 lbs the first two weeks and then 1 -1 1/2 every week after that and that it was healthy for your body.  Although it's a bit more extreme than Weight Watchers (no carbs or sugars the first two weeks), it was not nearly as hard as HCG.  And it was successful: I lost 8 lbs the first week.  I then went to phase 2 (adding in fruits and 1 serving of whole grains per day), and continued to lose 1 lb per week.  Eventually I got down to a comfortable weight, slightly lower than I'd been at my wedding, and was pretty happy.  I'd keep a close watch on carb intake, emphasize lots of vegetables and only whole grains, and go back to Phase 1 of the South Beach diet every so often when my weight went up.  But I gave myself a 3 lb  range I called my "safe zone" to stay in   As long as I didn't go higher than the safe zone, I let loose a little (Phase 2 or 3).  But if I went above the safe zone, back to Phase 1 (no carbs).  I managed to keep around my comfortable weight for 3 years doing the South Beach diet.  Going back to phase 1 was not fun.  But it worked.

Eventually, though, I was so sick of always dieting, always feeling like I had to restrict myself, constantly craving pasta and sweets, and always feeling guilty guilty guilty about everything I put in my mouth that internally I kind of gave up. I began to cheat more and let loose too often.  Of course, my weight began to hover more around the top of my safe zone than the bottom.  And if I splurged too many days in a row, I was above it instead of inside it.  Soon I slipped 1 then 2 then 3 lbs above the TOP of my safe zone.  I hated to go back to Phase 1, but I knew I had to.  But when when I did, I got a much poorer result.  First 6 lbs in two weeks.  And it lasted a shorter time.  The next time I went to Phase 1, I only lost 4 lbs.  Then eventually I lost only 1 lb after 10 days of strict carb restriction! That surely wasn't worth it at all!  So as I saw the 4th lb above my safe zone show up, I knew I needed a new diet.  Simply "trying to eat well" wasn't cutting it anymore, and Phase 1 wasn't working anymore either.  I was too prone to cheating and oh so sick of "eating right."  

That's when I found out about my new favorite diet:  The 5:2 Fasting Diet!

To be Continued......

South Beach Phase 1 Wrap Up

So I finished Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet on Sunday. (It was a 2 week phase.) Let me give you the breakdown on how it went:

Total Weight Loss: 5 lbs. That is actually a pretty good loss for 2 weeks. But I am a bit disappointed it wasn't higher considering that the book says you'll lose 8-14 lbs the first two weeks. AND because I lost four of those 5 lbs the first week and only 1 the second week. In fact, I lost that 5th pound the first day of week two, and nothing thereafter, so watching my weight plateau for 6 straight days was frustrating. Still, I can't complain too much for dropping 5 lbs so easily.

How It Went: I stopped doing daily play by plays of my food intake and stuff because I didn't want to bore anyone. But I continued to eat either eggs or my spinach pie muffins for breakfast with a glass of milk, usually a salad for lunch (or sometimes leftovers), and a lean protein with vegetables for dinner. My snacks mostly consisted of string cheese, nuts, hummus with cucumbers, or a PB eggnog. Except for the occasional feeling of being "proteined out," it was a pretty satisfying diet.

As far as hunger goes, after day 3 I hardly ever felt hungry. In fact, my hunger was way less on this diet than it normally is between meals when I'm not dieting. See, aside from the strong sugar cravings we all know we get from eating sweets, not eating any carbs made me realize that carbs in general are what cause hunger, that gnawing "I'm starving!" hunger. Because once I stopped eating carbs altogether, I simply didn't think about food and never felt starving. I often didn't eat breakfast until 9 or 10 (after waking up at 7) and often delayed meals and snacks because I simply wasn't hungry. What a novel experience...to be on a diet and not be hungry!! For that reason alone, I can highly recommend this diet. And the sugar/dessert cravings that usually plague me 3-4 times a day just went away. It's been 3+ weeks since I've had a single treat and although I'd enjoy one, I hardly miss it. But the main thing about this diet is, I feel good. I know the extra greens and veggies have done my body good. Like I said, occasionally my stomach has felt over-proteined and heavy, but then I'd eat a big salad and I felt fine again. So other than that, this has been the easiest and body-friendliest diet I've ever done.

Now on to Phase 2.

Phase 2 of the South Beach Diet is where the real weight loss is supposed to take place. Not at the high rate of Phase 1, but Phase 2 is the long-term diet. Phase 1 is really only supposed to cleanse your system of all the carb-havoc you've done, get rid of the cravings and the insulin resistance you've built up, and allow you to diet for real without feeling hungry and craving sweets. On this phase of the diet (which lasts as long as you still want to lose weight), you are supposed to lose 1-2 lbs a week. You slowly reintroduce good carbs into your diet (whole grains and low glycemic index fruits and veggies). In week 1 you have one serving of either fruit or whole grains a day. You monitor what your body does--if it doesn't gain weight or start up your cravings again, you go up to two servings of either fruit or whole grains a day in the 2nd week, and so on.

Yesterday, I started off with my new carb being a strawberry smoothy. I used to eat those on HCG--just strawberries, non-fat Greek yogurt, milk, ice and Truvia--and they are satisfying and healthy. But at lunch my whole grain Kashi tv dinner was calling my name, so I ate that (which had a small portion of whole grain rice-ish stuff). Then I decided maybe I'd take the whole day off my diet, and I had fajitas (with two tiny tortillas) for dinner. So I actually had 3 carbs yesterday instead of one, but today I feel fine, no extra cravings or hunger, and no weight gain. And the break was nice. I feel totally ready to go back to super-low carbing.

So, today I'm not sure what whole grain or fruit I'll have, but I'm only going to weigh myself 2x a week now--Monday and Friday. As long as I'm not gaining, I'll feel OK to increase to 2 carbs next week.

South Beach Days 5 and 6

Yep, pissed was a good word for it. When I weighed myself on day 5 (yesterday) I had GAINED A POUND. What the? I'm not sure why. I kept to the diet pretty well the day before. I had one small cheat where I ate 1 of bid daddy's coconut shrimp when we went out to dinner. Shrimp is allowed, but coconut is not allowed. And there was probably approximately 1/2 tsp of flour attached to the coconut breading, also not allowed. But other than that, I did really well. Even going out to dinner, I ate very well. Salad, no croutons. (But there were carrots. Hmmm.) Vegetables for my side dish. And Halibut Oscar for my entree. I even drank a, gasp, DIET Coke. So I don't know. Maybe water weight being recouped from my stomach bug? Who knows. But I was not happy about it. I decided, however, to stick with the diet, even after 3 days of no weight loss. And I'm happy to report that today, Day 6, I'm back down that 1 lb I gained yesterday, and within .4 lbs of my lowest weight on this diet. So it's not all bad. Still, after nearly a week, I'd hoped to be down more than 3 lbs. I guess I still have today.

And I have to tell you, I am AMAZED at the change in my body. Not how I look, but how I feel. I have pretty much stopped being hungry! I am eating far less calories a day than I have for the last year (around 1200-1400 a day) and I am NOT HUNGRY. Last night, for example, we went to a family reunion. We were all asked to bring our favorite hors de oeuvres. Knowing I probably wouldn't be able to eat anything there but maybe a burger patty, I made deviled eggs, which I can eat. Then right as we got there, Pippa had a blow out. By the time I got her changed into new clothes and a fresh diaper, nearly all the food was gone. And there were no burger patties there at all. It was ONLY hors de oeuvres. So all I got was a scoop of spinach salad, some of that cream cheese covered with shrimp and some red sauce (no crackers), a couple of Swedish meat balls, and some bean dip. Not even a single deviled egg! It was about half a plate of food. And yet, I wasn't hungry for the rest of the night. It's amazing how little I think of food now. I don't get cravings for desserts, and I can subsist very comfortably on way less calories than I should. So that's one thing I can say for this diet--getting my body off the carb cravings has been very eye opening to how powerful they can be and how much they cyclically make you hungry for more.

So the results for today? Down 1 lb, down 3.2 overall.

And I feel very encouraged about continuing this diet. Especially since those spinach pie muffins turned out DELICIOUS and I've been eating them every day for breakfast, hallelujah no more eggs.

South Beach Day 4

I have to say, this diet is getting easier. I'm getting more used to what I can and can't eat. I'm feeling less and less hungry. And I miss carbs so much less now. Yes, I'd still like a nice big slice of chocolate cake every day. But I don't crave it. And I don't miss carbs at lunch and dinner so much. I even went to a party last night where there were plates filled with fresh fruit, cookies, candy, and fresh salsa with chips and I didn't have any of it! I did, however, eat quite a few chunks from the cheese plate. Thank goodness for cheese. ( I also may or may not have had a dream about making out with a gooey chocolate chunk cookie. Allegedly.)

Really the only hard time for me is breakfast, like I've said. It's when I do my best job of loading carbs directly onto my hips. But I am trying a recipe today that may help. Have you ever had those Greek spinach pies (spinakopita)? It's a recipe for those with no phyllo dough. I got the recipe here. I put mine in muffin tins so I could heat up a couple for breakfast (it made 11 spinach pie muffins).

Here's what I ate yesterday:

Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs + 2 slices of turkey bacon. 1/2 cup 1% milk.
Snack: Peanut Butter Eggnog (no egg. My stomach felt too off for a raw egg.)
Lunch: 6 oz broiled Dijon salmon, steamed lemon spinach
Dinner: Cobb Salad + 8 squares of various cheeses
Snack: Celery with Laughing Cow Cheese on it


How It Went: I think I was still feeling the effects of the stomach flu, so I wasn't terribly hungry yesterday and nothing really sounded that appetizing. So eating minimally was pretty easy.

Result: 0.2 lbs gain. :( I can't say I'm completely surprised. I got very dehydrated from that stomach bug, so I think my body has been trying to recoup all liquids for the last two days. BUT...if I'm not losing weight again by tomorrow, I'm going to be very sad. No, pissed. Pissed is more the right word.

South Beach Diet, Day 3

So my stomach flu continued all day yesterday. I had been up all night with Beck, who was puking. Pippa slept through the night, but she puked a lot during the next day. So between my runs and those two kids' issues, it was a long hard night and an exhausting day. And my appetite never returned, so I ate very little. My calorie counter put me at about 850 calories.

Breakfast: 1/2 cup Carnation Instant Breakfast, 3/4 cup low fat cottage cheese. (When I woke up and got hit with a huge wave of nausea, I had to put something in my stomach immediately that would calm it so I wouldn't barf. So even though this was a cheat, it was a lifesaver for my nausea.)

Lunch: Turkey burger patty with provolone cheese and 1 TBS guacamole

Dinner: 1 1/2 cups bean with bacon soup.

Late night snack: two handfuls of pistachios


How it Went: Surprisingly easy! LOL. Nothing like an upset tummy to squelch your cravings. I didn't even want any faux dessert.


Result: 0 weight loss. Yeah, that was a disappointment because, after eating so little, I'd expected a couple more lbs loss. But maybe I ate so little that my body went into starvation mode. Or who knows. But after the 2.4 lb loss the day before, I'm still down 3 1/2 lbs for 3 days of dieting, which is super awesome.

So far, overall, this diet isn't that hard. It's not that hard leaving off the carbs at mealtimes. I don't really crave the rice or pasta I usually eat with dinner. It would be nice to have it, but it isn't killing me to go without it. Breakfast, on the other hand, is hard. I don't really like eggs. I have to choke them down. So right now, with my stomach still being off, there's no way I can attempt eggs. And low fat cottage cheese just isn't that filling or delectable. So I'd kill for a bowl of oatmeal or a piece of toast right now.

Also, there is a general lack of fullness you feel when you're not eating ANY carbs. Even when I had that delicious piece of salmon with veggies, and the taste and amount were totally good, there's a feeling of satisfaction you get in your stomach from carbs that just doesn't come from protein or veggies. You always feel just a little bit hollow, even when you're full. I'd love to have just a half a slice of whole grain toast with each meal. I guess once I get through this 2 week cleanse, that's precisely what I'll be doing. And it will feel GREAT.

South Beach, Day 2

Day 2.

Breakfast: Peanut Butter Egg Nog* (This is a little thing I ate a ton growing up. It's not like the rich, decadent eggnog you have at Christmas. It's a thinner, poor man's version, made with milk, not cream. You put nutmeg in the original version, which gives it a vaguely egg-noggy taste. Or you can make the peanut butter version, which ups the protein quotient and gives it a yummy flavor. See the recipe below for my South Beach version).

Snack: Hard boiled egg (about the only way I actually enjoy eating eggs.)

Lunch: Spinach salad with spicy pecans, feta, and dried fruit. Yes, I did eat that 1 TBS of dried cranberries and pears that came with it. I thought about throwing them out, but I don't love spinach THAT much, so I guess that counts as my first cheat.

Snack: Cucumber slices with hummus. YUM! Not terribly filling, it turns out, but super delicious. Also, I ate a sugar-free fudgsicle. In case you've never tried one (and why would you...you're sane, right?) let me just say, they are only vaguely reminiscent of fudgsicles. Slight buttery taste, very slight chocolate flavor, a faint sweetness...pretty gutsy trying to pass those off as a dessert, Fake Fudgsicle People, but better than nothing at this point, I guess. How diabetics do it, I don't know.

Dinner: Chicken Cordon Blue, roasted veggies.

Desssert: South Beach Peanut Butter Cup (Which is a sugar free fudgsicle, 2 tsp lite cool whip, and a TBS natural peanut butter all stirred together until smooth. It was so delicious I literally LICKED THE BOWL.)


How It Went: Better than yesterday. No hunger headaches. I felt mildly hungry several times during the day (mostly at/after snack times, which are usually my big carb load ups), but nothing awful. And knowing I could go have another snack if I really wanted to helped me from feeling deprived and wanting to gorge on dark chocolate truffles just to show my stupid diet who's boss. (I'm not the only one who does this, right? I just hate a controlling diet, always telling me what to do!)


Result: 2.4 lbs loss!!! (Now before you get too excited, I need to add that I got the stomach flu in the very early morning hours, and by the time I weighed myself, I'd already made about 7 trips to the bathroom. So, this is not a normal weight loss.)


*South Beach Peanut Butter Egg-Nog
1 1/2 cups low fat or fat free milk
1-2 TBS natural peanut butter, depending on how peanut-buttery you like it
3 Packets Truvia
1 egg
Mix in a blender or with a hand blender until frothy.

South Beach, Day 1

I've just finished my first full day of the South Beach Diet, so here's a little breakdown on how it went.

First, if you don't know anything about the South Beach Diet, its simplified version is pretty logical and sound: Eat less processed sugar and white carbs, eat more whole grains, lean meats and vegetables. It was started by a cardiologist who invented the diet for his patients to make them more healthy and improve their "blood chemistry." But he noticed a lot of weight loss occurring, so he tweaked the diet to make it a more mainstream weight-loss diet.

Phase 1, the first two weeks, you eat NO CARBS. None. No sugar, no flour, no grains, no fruit. Nothing. The idea being that we've all become totally insulin dependent and our bodies are completely whacked out from all the refined flour and sugar we eat. So this a sort of cleanse to get your body responding normally to food again. During this phase, you DO eat as much as you want of the approved foods, so it's not about starving yourself. Approved foods include most vegetables, most meats (no bacon, sausage or super fatty cuts of beef, though), eggs, dairy, nuts, olive oil, and even full-fat dressing! After HCG, this feels positively liberal. You're supposed to lose 8-14 lbs during Phase 1.

Phase 2 lasts as long as you want to continue to lose weight. You are supposed to lose 1-2 lbs a week. In this phase you slowly re-introduce whole grains and fruit back into your diet. Oatmeal, whole grain bread, brown rice, whole wheat pasta, etc. are all allowed now, as well as fruits.

Phase 3 is basically eating normally. The hope is that your new "normal" includes lots of whole grains, lean meats, veggies and fruits and very little processed sugar and white flour. However, it does allow you an occasional indulgence, as long as you don't overdo it. If you do overdo it, and you notice a weight increase, you go back to Phase 1 until you have it under control.

Sounds good, right?

So here's how it went yesterday...

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with ham and cheese
Glass of milk

Snack: String Cheese

Lunch: Chef Salad, Crystal Light

Snack: Pistachios, Dt. Mountain Dew, later a piece of lime-marinated turkey breast

Dinner: Pan-Seared Salmon and Sauteed vegetables

Dessert: Sugar free hard candy


How it Went: First of all, I don't really like eggs. So eating eggs for breakfast each day is going to be very hard for me. I choked them down (they're more palatable with cheese and ham, but still not that great). By 10:30 I was pretty hungry. So I had some string cheese. Within half an hour I was so hungry I had a headache. I usually do fine with a salad for lunch, but I think the lack of carbs for breakfast and no carbs for a pick me up left me feeling quiet hungry after lunch. So I ate some pistachios and took some Advil with my Mountain Dew, just in case it was caffeine related, not hunger related. I was still really hungry after that, and my headache was still there, so I found a lime-marinated turkey breast from a few days ago in the fridge and ate that. That satisfied me for quite a while. By dinner I was hungry again, but my headache was gone and I wasn't starving. We ate out and asked them to replace our potatoes with more vegetables. It was a fantastic dinner and left me feeling very satisfied all evening. I got a little hungry before bed, which I always do. I thought about making an approved dessert (there are a few), but I decided not to eat any calories before bed. Instead I just sucked on some fruit candy, and, surprisingly, that kept my mouth and mind off food. Overall, it wasn't too bad. I definitely could have used a slice of wheat toast with lunch, but the rest of the day didn't feel too different.

Result: 1.2 lbs loss! WOOT!

Falling Off The Wagon (HCG Phase 2)

When you finish the 500 calorie + injections phase of the HCG diet and move on to the maintenance phase, you're supposed to feel a great sense of relief. You're supposed to have so many more food options open to you, it should feel like a feast after a famine.

But you still can't eat carbs or sugars. And so I'm finding that I feel almost as deprived on this phase of the diet as I was on Phase 1. Just not as hungry. But deprived isn't all that far from hungry, I'm discovering. Think about it. You can't have cereal for breakfast. Or pancakes. Or oatmeal. Or waffles. Or toast. Or any of the other wonderful breakfast foods you'd normally eat. What does that leave you? Eggs. Yes, and bacon, sausage, ham and all the breakfast meats. But you can't just eat breakfast meats for breakfast. And an egg without toast is not that enticing. Even if you can choke it down, you can't do it day after day. So what do I end up eating for breakfast? A strawberry smoothie. Same as before.

Then there is snack time. What would you eat for a snack normally? Some crackers with cheese? (No crackers allowed). A granola bar? (Guess again). Chips and salsa? (Ixnay on the ipschay). Seriously, it is HARD to think of stuff to snack on! So far I've come up with nuts. A handful of nuts. I should feel grateful that I can eat nuts. But I'm so used to thinking of them as fattening, that even though they're allowed on this phase of the diet, I am paranoid about eating them.

And then there is meal-time. I still eat my lean meats--shrimp, fish, chicken, turkey, steak. But I can't add carb-based side dishes to them. No potatoes au gratin, no rice pilaf, no noodles, no bread, no fries. So what can I eat with my meat to meet my daily calorie goal (1500-2000 calories)? More veggies? For real??? A couple of fruit choices that I couldn't have before? Whoopdeedoo. I'm not joking, people. Not eating carbs is freaking HARD!

I don't mean to be such a whiner. I know I should be grateful that I can have cheese now. And nuts. And full-fat dressing. But either I'm so paranoid about eating them because of the fat, or they just don't offer me any kind of satisfying feeling. Because I still find myself obsessing about carbs and sugar. Way worse than any diet I've ever been on before.

Which explains why, today, when I had a complete lack-of-sugar meltdown, I made cookie dough and ate three heaping spoonfuls of it, plus two cookies, and sucked them down with the same fervor and joy that a person would do to water after wandering in the desert. It was like I was eating for the first time in years. That's how it felt. It was AMAZING.

The aftermath? I'm sure it won't be pretty. Despite a lot of exercise today (walking a mile while picking up trash with the Scouts, playing volleyball and Frisbee golf, washing the cars) I may see a big gain tomorrow. But for right now, while the memory of brown sugar and butter and flour and chocolate chips is still lingering on my tongue, it was heaven. And it was worth it.

HCG - The Final Analysis

Final Weight Loss: 10.2 lbs in 22 days. (Average ~ 1/2 lb per day)
Final Inches Lost: 19 inches (arms, legs, waist, neck, hips, chest)
Final Sizes Difference: Shirt - Medium to small, Pants - size 10 to size 6

Final Comments: This was a hard diet, but this was also a very worth-it diet. As I said when I started, I just couldn't seem to get over that hump with diet and exercise. Whether my body was clinging too tightly to that weight I'd been at for 2 years, or I just didn't have the motivation to keep it up long enough, I knew I needed something to push me to a new level. And this worked!

I know everyone is on pins and needles now to see if I can keep it off. So am I! I'll tell you one thing, my first day off the VLCD and on to the Maintenance Phase, was hard! Even though I should feel like I have a lot more food options available to me (nuts, eggs, all meats, dairy, all fruits and veggies), I still have a hard time thinking what I can eat when carbs are forbidden. I had an awards dinner for my husband and turned down the juice spritzer, the rolls, and most of the mashed potatoes. I did, however, lose my gumption when it came to the cheesecake dessert. I ate most of it. Shame on me! I just couldn't help it. It was my first dessert in 3 weeks!!!!! (That is pretty much a complete mircale for this girl!) But let me also tell you, I felt like I was going to burst after 1 1/2 pieces of the 3 slices of pork roast I was served, some asparagus and a baby carrot, 1/4 cup of mashed potatoes, and 1/2 cup of cheesecake. I thought I would die! And I wasn't hungry again at all until 7pm. Then I had a chicken salad (full fat dressing, yum! thank goodness that is allowed now) for dinner and 2 1/2 hours later I still feel so full I want to barf. I guess that is one thing about eating such small amounts over the last 3 weeks...it has totally shrunk my stomach down and I just don't want large quantities of food anymore.

Other observations:
- I drink way more water now.
- My joint pains have almost disappeared (curious, huh?). I wonder if it's from all the fruits and veggies or less fat or what.
- My nails are super thick and strong (unlike usual, when they're super weak)
- My skin is very dry (no fats or oils in lotions were allowed)
- I have totally gotten over my pop addiction
- I automatically think of adding fresh veggies and fruits to my meals
- I am pretty satisfied with a 50 calorie strawberry smoothy for breakfast. I may keep that up. (But I will allow a real snack later since the smoothie isn't terribly long-lasting.)
- I feel like, in a lot of ways, I've reprogrammed my brain and body to eat healthier, smarter, fresher, and lower calorie. It's like when I first did Weight Watchers and I suddenly realized that there was a better way of eating. This has done the same thing, I think. Even more so.
- I'm actually excited to exercise (I know, hold the phones!). Not a brutal work-out, but a nice run outside in the warm weather or a swim in the pool. Even though, on the whole, I hate exercise, I'd gotten so used to it that my body misses being more active.
- I did not reach my goal weight. I am still about 4 lbs away. I feel good where I am, and am very relieved about the difference in the way I look, but I would still really like to reach that weight, just to give myself a little more cushion.
- Pretty much nothing I own fits me. Except these jeans that I didn't know what to do with. (I'm so glad I hung onto them!) I need a whole new wardrobe. Literally, I hardly have anything to wear. And I can't afford $2000 to rebuy every pair of jeans, capris, skirts, dresses, shirts, pajamas, sweats, etc. I guess I'll be dressing really boring and repetative for the next little while!


Stay tuned for a few more updates on how the Maintenance Phase is going. If I can keep up with it, I should be able to make a new set-point for my body. Who knows, I might even lose a few more!


*originally written 4/12/10

p.s. I was going to post before and after pics, but honestly they don't look that all that different.

The Bitter-Sweet Reality of Getting Rid of Four Boxes of Clothes

Six years ago I was a size 12. A tight size 12. I was teetering on moving up to a 14. But I was determined not to go there.

Still, I didn't know quite what to do. I had been thin my whole life until recently, and I had no idea how to change things.

Then I went on a cruise. And when I got home and got the pictures back, I was shocked at how fat I looked.

It's funny how you can delude yourself about how you look in the mirror every single day. But you can't escape the cold, hard reality of a photograph.

So I went on my first diet. And I lost 18 lbs. And I was a size 8.

So I took all my size 12 clothes and packed them into boxes and put them in storage. Just in case.

Then I bounced back and forth between an 8 and a 10 for the next four years.

I went on another diet and got back to a small 8 with a brief dip to a 6 that lasted a couple of months.

I never was a size 12 again. Not even after my two kids.

But I hung onto those 12's. Just in case.

Now I am a size 6 again. And with any luck, I will lose another 5 lbs.

(I don't know what size I'll be then because my wide hips have pretty much always prevented me from being any smaller size. It'll probably just come off my boobs.)

So I'm ready to give up my size 12's for good.

And it feels right.

It's sad to think of all the money I've spent on those clothes that I will be pretty much throwing away.

But it's more of a happy thing than a sad thing.

I'm ready to say goodbye to 12, forever.




(I might keep my size 10's, though. Just in case.)

HCG Day 23 - The End In Sight

So I haven't posted much on the HCG Diet lately. It's been pretty status quo. But I just finished my last dose of HCG this morning, so I thought I'd do a little update...

Everything went pretty well until late last week. Then I started feeling way more tired and empty and hungry. There is a sectoin of the HCG Protocol where Dr. Simeons talks about this happening when a person is reaching a natural body weight for their height/age and begins to run out of fat stores. They no longer have the fat calories to support a lower calorie diet. So they begin to feel lethargic and hungry. And that's exactly where I was. In that case, says the manuscript, the person should go up to a 800-1000 calorie diet, but continue to take the HCG for the full 3 weeks. So on Friday and Saturday, I increased my meat portions by 50% and increased my veggies/fruit somewhat. And I felt much better. I also didn't lose any more weight, which is what is supposed to happen. You're just supposed to stay steady until the end of the 3 weeks.

HOWEVER, then came Easter. Saturday night as I (I mean the Easter Bunny) filled the baskets, I (I mean the Easter Bunny) decided to eat a few pieces of candy. And then the next day was our semi-annual Big Daddy's Family Conference Brunch. It's a big eating event, chalk full of wonderful carb-based and fat-based delights. I knew there was no way I would be able to go and not eat. So I planned on blowing off my diet that day, but still trying to keep things within reason. I did pretty well. I ate some more candy (maybe 10-15 pieces), 1/2 cinnamon roll, 1 1/2 servings of breakfast casserole (egg-based, full of veggies, so not entirely outside the diet), a helping of mixed berries (totally on the diet) and a tiny piece of ham. Then for dinner I stuck to the diet completely with just shrimp and veggies. No more candy or other sweets. And when I tallied up my calories for the day, I was just under 1200, pretty decent for a day of mini-binging.

I did gain 0.1 lb by Sunday morning and 1 full lb by Monday morning. But then I went back on the diet hardcore yesterday and lost 1 1/2 lbs, putting me at my lowest weight in 10 years!

So where do I go from here? I have three days of "detox" where I continue the 500 calorie diet while the HCG leaves my system. Then on Friday I start the maintenance phase. It's where I don't have any calorie restrictions, I can begin to eat fats again (dairy, eggs, nuts, higher fat meats), I can eat all fruits and veggies, but no starches or bad-for-you sugars. That lasts for 3 weeks. My weight should stay steady and it should help my body's set-point be reset to my current weight and not try to regain my old weight. After that, it's just recommended you bring in carbs slowly and keep an eye on your weight. (There is a contingency plan for if you go more than 2 lbs over your last HCG weight, but let's not talk about that. I hope it doesn't ever happen).

So that's where I stand. I feel great today. I was hardly hungry at all, thanks to the carbs from Sunday. I am hoping to drop maybe 1 or 2 more lbs in the next 3 days that the HCG is still working. And then, hopefully, I will maintain until I can resume my normal "exercise and eat reasonably for ever and ever amen" semi-diet program.

Any questions?



Daily Weight Loss: 0.8 lbs
Total Weight Loss: 9.4 lbs

Random Musings About Weight Loss

Several things have occurred to me in the last couple of days, since my weight is down about 7 lbs...

-It is really cool to take out and fit into clothes you haven't fit into in years.

- It is even more awesome to take out a pair of pants you haven't fit into in years and find a $20 bill in the pocket!!!

- It is sad when you take out pants that suddenly fit you that you used to love when you bought them years ago only to find that the style is no longer "in." Crapity.

- It is nice when your gut no longer hangs way out over your belt.

- It is nice when your belt sits a hole tighter.

- It is sad when your boobs have shrunk a cup smaller.

-It is exciting to find that you have the self-control to not eat dessert three times a day.

- It is sad when a Worthers sugar-free caramel tastes like the most delicious dessert you've ever eaten.

-It is exciting to know I weigh less than when I got married.

-It is sad to know that my diet ends in a week and I still have 6 1/2 lbs to go to reach the weight I was when I started college.

-It is exciting to think that in one week I can eat cheese and eggs and bacon again!

- It is sad that pancakes are still off the menu for another month. REALLY sad.

- It is nice that some people will comment, and offer encouragement, and share their own stories about losing weight.

- It is sad that so many people can be discouraging about someone trying to do something to help themself lose weight.

- It is worth it to know that I can do something that took a lot of self-control and determination because I wanted to feel good about myself and look good for my man.

HCG Day 2

Day 2 was awful. I couldn't even begin to eat all the fatty horrible stuff I was supposed to. I was still completely full from the day before and my stomach did not feel good. What is amazing to me is that there are people who eat that way ALL THE TIME. Fast food, greasy food, high sugar and fat content, processed food... my body did not like it. I can't imagine anyone's body likes it. So I toned it down quite a bit for day 2, even though I was supposed to be living it up.

For breakfast I had 1/2 bowl of Mini Wheats.

For lunch I had a fish taco and a beef taco, a little rice and beans, a few chips with guac, and an apple beer. Not exactly excessive. But normally I would have had only one taco, no chips, and probably no drink.

For a snack I had two Tag-Alongs (Girl Scout Cookies) and 3/4 cup of milk.

For dinner I had a bowl of lobster bisque soup and 1/2 a can of Coke.

For dessert I had a piece of cheesecake.

So overall, not terribly over-the-top. But my stomach felt awful all day and I could not force myself to eat the turkey, spinach, artichoke sandwich I had gotten to go with my soup. It's still in the fridge. Anyone want it? It's delicious, I'm sure.


Now I'm at the start of Day 3, the day the real diet begins. Big Daddy and I went shopping last night and bought all the food we'd need for the next three weeks: halibut, shrimp, crab meat, ground beef, steaks, ground turkey and turkey breast (which isn't actually on the diet, but chicken is and turkey probably didn't exist in Italy in the 1960's when/where the doctor wrote this diet, so I'm sure he'd have put it on if it had.), cucumbers, asparagus, radishes, lettuces, tomatoes, a few other vegetables that I can't recall off hand, apples, strawberries, grapefruit, lemons, and oranges, hard breadsticks, and melba toast (these are the only carbs allowed). Plus some herbal tea and some Truvia. Truvia, if you haven't heard of it, is a natural sweetener from the Stevia plant. The leaves and stems are very sweet but contain no calories, so it truly is nature's perfect sweetener. We also bought some seasonings and stuff to dress up our meat. So this is what we will eat for the next three weeks:

100 grams of protein 2x a day
vegetables 2x a day
fruit 2x a day
melba toast/breadstick 2x a day
tea and water as much as possible
1 TBS of milk is also allowed (for coffee or tea, or wherever, I guess)

I took all the meat out and cut it down to the 100 gram size last night, which is just shy of 4 oz, and it actually didn't seem that small. I really don't think I'll be starving. Probably not 100% satisfied, but not starving I hope!

I'll update you tomorrow on how the first day of the real diet went.

And if you're bored by all the HCG talk and just want to know how much weight I'm losing, you can scroll down to the bottom of every HCG post and just look for this:

Daily Weight Loss: -0.6 lbs, Total Weight Loss +0.8 lbs

A True Christmas Miracle

After all the bitching and moaning I did about my weight this past year, I'd like to make an happy announcement:

After going off my diet approximately six weeks ago, and eating exactly whatever I felt like eating until yesterday, and not exercising at all the last 3 weeks (in fact, lying around quite a bit doing absolutely nothing) because of my eye ulcer and then my surgery, I got on the scale today and....

I was DOWN 1/2 lb!

And that, my friends, is how I know there is a Jesus.



p.s. Don't hate me. I've done my time in diet hell, I swear.



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(High Sugar) Food For Thought

My husband emailed me this and I just couldn't help but pass it on. Some of it is actually quite startling.



Sugar Cube Math. Each cube is a teaspoonful.






































So what they're saying is, I should cut out my Cinnabon and McFlurry breakfast? SONOFA.



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Recommitted And It Feels So Good

About two and a half years ago, I joined up with Tiburon's Biggest Loser competition. And I lost 18 lbs. Then, about a year later, I joined up again, this time with Big Daddy (he for boys, me for girls), and he lost 22 lbs and I lost 11 (some of it was the same lbs). I was about at the weight I'd been at the end of college, and 1 lb lower than I was when we got married. Fortunately, Big Daddy wasn't at the weight he'd been in college. I think he weighed less than me then! But he was at the weight we were when we got married, which was a great weight for him. We both felt good and looked good.

We devised a plan to keep ourselves from gaining back the weight we'd lost: We both set a maximum allowable weight (M.A.W.) and decided that as long as we stayed at or below that weight, we wouldn't "diet," we'd just try to maintain through reasonable eating. This worked pretty well for quite a while. I think I managed to stay below my M.A.W. for about 8 months. But once the holidays hit, I got slack. And by January, I was 4-5 lbs over my M.A.W. So over the last 9 months, I've worked at getting that down to my M.A.W. again. But I just haven't been committed. I've exercised pretty regularly. But my eating has been less than stellar. I have had such a sweet tooth my whole life; it's the thorn in my side when it comes to dieting. I don't snack much. I don't care for chips or crackers or salty snacks. I don't eat large quantities of food. But I feel the necessity to end every meal with dessert, and also dessert in between if at all possible. So my biggest challenge over the last 3/4 of a year has been to not undo all my exercise with sugar.

Well, as of today, I've decided to recommit to losing this weight. Right now I've got about 3-4 lbs to go to be at my M.A.W., and 5-6 to be below it with a little cushion. So below are my strategies for getting there. They're not extreme. If I were a robot or had an iron will, I'm sure I could do more and get there faster. But I'm also trying to be realistic. If I set goals that I can't maintain, I'm going to quit sooner. So here are the things I'm going to do until I'm below my M.A.W:

1) Exercise every other day at minimum, every day if possible. This usually means P90X at home twice a week, yoga on the opposite days, going to gym for water aerobics or to run on the treadmill or eliptical and do weights.

2) Take Hoodia. I've found that taking Hoodia takes the edge off my hunger. It's not a massive change, but I think about food just a little less.

3) No full-sugar pop. Water for all drinks, but one diet pop a day if I need the caffeine rush. Or some flavor.

4) One small treat per day. Preferably a Smart Ones or Skinny Cow. I'm being realistic here. I can't go cold turkey on the sugar. But I can limit myself.

5) Lean Cuisines for lunch. I've been adding a lot of calories lately by eating lunch out or eating leftovers from dinners out. Lean Cuisines are an easy way for me to cut calories during the day.

6) Smart choices for snacks. This means doing some shopping to get low-cal popcorn, light yogurt, rice cakes, wheat bread, and reduced fat versions of everything else I like to eat.

7) Smart choices eating out. If you know anything about me, you know that eating out is my favorite past time, bar none. I love it. So I'm not even going to pretend for one second that I'm going to give up going out to eat entirely. But if I can limit it to once a week, and/or make myself choose wisely when I go out (i.e. no apps, no pop, share a dessert, lower fat entre), I can fix one of my biggest sources of undoing all the progress I make from exercise and eating right during the week.

8) STOP BAKING. This is my biggest downfall, other than going out to eat. My kids want some chocolate chip cookies, or on the weekend I decide that Big Daddy and I deserve a treat. But then I make a whole batch of cookies or a whole pan of brownies. And then, of course, I continue to eat them all week until they're gone. I never go hog-wild and eat a bunch at once. I have at least that much self-control. But I do nibble all week (see 2nd paragraph above). If those treats weren't there, I wouldn't eat them.

I'm up for any other suggestions. Do you have any little tricks or tips that you use to shave calories when eating or burn calories through physical activity?

Sometimes There Just Aren't Enough Swear Words

There is nothing so depressing as getting on the scale and realizing you just gained back the 4 lbs you lost only 3 weeks ago. Already. And that you will now have to forego everything wonderful and sweet and delicious that you love to eat and drink. For another month. Just to get back to where you were before you decided to "let go a little" last week.

^&%F*$!@#!!*%$!!GR?*!!!!



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Ceeeeelebrate Good Times, Come On!

I lost almost 2 lbs this week!!! 1.8 lbs, to be exact. I am STOKED. Especially considering that as of 3 weeks ago, I was down exactly zero lbs since the beginning of Biggest Loser, 2 months before. I guess finally cutting out sweets, exercising even more, and getting rid of some water weight worked. Hmmmm...diet and exercise works? Who knew?!

So in order to celebrate, I'm going to use my 30% off coupon at Old Navy and buy my kids their summer clothes. Who knows, I might even buy something for MYSELF. That would be novel. If you didn't see my post about the Old Navy sale, I'm sharing my 30% off coupon with all of you (it's also good at Gap and Banana Republic). Click here for details. It started yesterday and goes through the 15th. Plus, they're already having a sale on kid basics where t-shirts are only $4 and shorts are $5 and jeans are $9. So with the 30% off, it's really good shopping.

Here's another way to save: Restaurant.com is having an 80% off sale on their restaurant gift certificates. So like a $25 gift certificate would normally cost you $10, so you'd be getting 60% off already. But now you're only going to pay $2 for that gift certificate. Meaning, you get $25 for $2. Who can do the math on that and tell me how much you're saving now? I know it's a lot. Sweet, right?


There is some fine print--like what days you can use the certificates (some only allow it M-TH) or if there is a minimum you have to spend (like a $20 minimum to use the $10 certificate). But if you already eat those places, it's not a big deal. I got $160 of gift certificates to restaurants I already eat at like Yapona, Madeline's, Taste of Thai, and Star of India for $11.60!!! Of course, I can't use any of them until after biggest loser. Except maybe Yapona. Sushi is delightfuly low cal, low fat. Just click on the link above and put in your zip code to see what restaurants near you will take these gift certificates.

Anyway, I hope you can enjoy these deals. Have a great weekend!

Spark Person

Have you heard of www.sparkpeople.com? It's a free website that's kind of like Weight Watchers. You can track your calories there, track your exercise, get diet and exercise tips, join support groups, get healthy recipes, and in every other way you can think of, force yourself to lose some freaking weight. So with a renewal of purpose last week, I joined sparkpeople in an effort to get my eating under control.

My eating, in case you haven't noticed, is sporadically healthy, at best. Looking at my blog, in fact, it probably seems like I do nothing but eat sweets. While I WISH this was the case, it isn't. I just don't blog about the carrot sticks WITHOUT dip that I eat. Or the no sugar applesauce. Or the lowfat cottage cheese. Because who wants to read about that stuff? (NOT ME, in case you were thinking about blogging about low fat cottage cheese). But even with all the healthy stuff I do eat in between blogging about cheesecake and chocolate truffle cookies, I'm still not where I want to be. I guess I haven't been committed enough to this weight-loss thing to avoid ALL treats, especially when it's not my diet blow off day (which usually falls on Friday, the day of weigh-in, because either I'm so pissed off that I didn't lose much/any weight that I binge out of anger. Or I'm so glad that I finally lost some weight that I reward myself with a binge day).

So, in order to try to gain some self-control over my sweets intake, I'm going to use you wonderful people as my personal diet police. Every day when I blog, I'm going to add a p.s. that tells how I did the day before on diet and exercise. And if I eat sweets and it's not a special occasion or my diet blow-off day, you all have permission to spank me. Slap me. Beat me down like a....like a....what's that analogy? Anyway, like that. Verbally of course. I don't want anyone showing up here with a heavy wooden paddle or anything. I like my hiney round the way it is.

Ok, thanks for your participation. Tune in later to see if you get to do your first session of verbal abuse. You never know, you might even get some of your personal aggression out. It'll be like free therapy! 'Cause I'm giving like that.

Bless Me, Father, For I Have Sinned

It's been a long time since I've been in the same room with both a Frosty and fries from Wendy's. This is what happened....

(It's delicious. I swear. The salty and sweet together.....mmmmm.)

Don't worry. I'll do 50 Hail Marys and 20 Our Fathers, and hopefully my thighs will forgive me.


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