Jeans Party

The other night I decided to have a "jeans trying on" party because my favorite pair of jeans from Old Navy are just flat worn out. I have worn them and my "jeggings" just about everyday since happily waving bye-bye to my 14's. The seams around my inner thighs were wearing pretty thin and I was growing weary of a major wardrobe malfunction at work one day soon.

I have a pile of jeans in my closet I have not touched since I got pregnant with Logan over 2 years ago. I had no idea what size they were or what they looked like, so I had a little trying on session. Side note: It's amazing what you realize you have in your closet when you do this.

Come to find out, they are all 12's! I thought they were 10's. I don't know why I thought they were 10's because I have not been in a size 10 since about 2003.

And the better news is... THEY ALL FIT... or were on the verge of being TOO BIG! It didn't matter what brand, cut or shape, they fit. My GAP Long and Lean jeans were my favorite and they fit great. I wore them the next day to work and they "grew" throughout the day. That's a good sign that I am on my way to a 10!

By the way, I am rounding up week 7 with QWLC and have lost a total of 19 lbs. When they measured me last (almost 2 weeks ago) I had lost 1" in my hips, 4" in my waist and 1-1/2" in my chest! Since that measurement, I have lost about 6 lbs. so I will be measured again this coming Monday and hopefully have more good news to report!

Speaking of QWLC... I hit a plateau really fast. I had a hard time getting past about 12 lbs. Right now I am averaging 2.7 lbs. a week. They moved me down to "Plan 2" which means no more eggs in the a.m. (thank God, I hated cooking one every morning) so my diet consists of:

Breakfast: 1 fruit, one starch (Toast with cinnamon and diet butter, and grapes) vitamins, 4oz. skim milk, QuickBoost
Snack: Drink mix (I am loving the Hot Chocolate) and a fruit (apple, usually)
Lunch: Protein and 2 Veggies, 1 starch (Like today, I had Chicken Breast and Zucchini "fries" (breadcrumbs), QB
Snack: Protein Bar (Caramel Crunch has consistently been my favorite) and a fruit
Dinner: Protein, 2 Veggies (Like tilapia or salmon with mixed veggies)

Seems pretty boring right. It is, but it's worth it.

1 Month Progress Report

Last Friday was my 1 month mark. Monday was the start of "week 5". My total weight loss in 1 month is 12 lbs! I personally get excited about that number because that is a lot of weight in 1 month! Of course, the center says I am "behind" because I needed to be between 15-20 lbs down the first 4 weeks. But I am still going to pat myself on the back because 12 lbs. is a lot!

I have some really sweet co-workers that say they have noticed the difference in my clothes. I am 1 size down and some of my shirts are getting pretty loose.

Month 1 Report:
Weight Loss: 12 lbs
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Total Weight Loss: 12lbs
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Weight: 188 lbs
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Motivation: B-*
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Self Esteem: B+
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Mental: B
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Physical: B+
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*Disclaimer for the motivation:
For some reason my body has decided to hold at this 12 lbs. for a week and a half. That is pretty discouraging when you are eating leaves and crumbs for breakfast, lunch and dinner. So once I get over this hump, I will feel better.

On top of the hold at 12 lbs, I have not pooped in a week and a half either. I asked my counselor what to do and she told me to drink hot water with lemon. I asked her about taking Miralax and she said it would count as a carb! Can you believe that? Well, this weekend I was willing to try anything. I did both. Nothing worked. I even sacrificed (HAHAHA) my diet and went for the "Sweet Potato Cheese Cake with Praline Crust" at my birthday dinner with my girlfriend Josie, thinking the junk and sugar would knock things around, and I promise that was the only reason, not because it sounded so good, or because I love sweet potatoes and cheese cake, and not because it was the BEST thing I have ever eaten in my life...

So I went in to the center Monday at the start of week 5, and they gave me this "cleansing tea". 3 cups later, I was home free. Boy do I feel better. And maybe I lost 5 more pounds because of it... we will see Friday!

One more thing... they added cheese back into my diet! I was soooooooo excited about this. I don't have to eat an egg for breakfast everyday anymore. I can have that or 2 oz. of Monterrey Jack or Mozzarella cheese with my grapes and crackers. I thoroughly enjoyed that on the way to work this morning!

It's the little things.

And no more cheating at least until Halloween. I am in it to win it until then. ;) I'm so bad...

10 lbs. down!

Well, I do have a few things to report today.... I get my spa pedicure reward, because I made my 10 lb. goal! Happy Birthday to me! (Well, my birthday is Friday, so I plan on taking a nice long lunch and treating myself then!) I fit comfortably in my size 12 old navy jeans that are my favorites... ("The Sweetheart"), with no "cutting off the circulation lines" on my legs or waist!

(Do be alarmed, this picture was taken while I was using the bathroom...)

I got measured at QWLC last week (at 7 lbs. down) and had lost 1/2" in my chest, 1" in my waist and 1" in my hips. This is funny because my brother saw me this weekend and said "Hey, it looks like you are losing weight... right in this area especially." and he points to my chest area. I was like yeah... You know how it is ladies, ol' Lucy and Ethel lose the pounds first.

So I am 1/4 of the way there. People are starting to notice which really keeps the motivation fire burning. My ass looks smaller, clothes are fitting a whole lot better, but I do have 30 more to go to make my goal.

I do have to be honest, I did cheat this weekend. My adviser at QWLC wanted me to lose 2 lbs over the weekend, which I did do... but I ate a whole lot of celery to cancel out the "no-no's" I did eat. I spent the weekend with my mom for her birthday and we had a great time. This is what we did:

One, we went to see The Lion King in 3D. I did great here. I sipped on my unsweet tea I smuggled in from McDonalds and had maybe 3-4 little kernels of Carly's popcorn.

The next day we did a lot of walking! We went to yard sales and to Antique places which I love to do with my mom and James because we always score pretty big. Then, we ate lunch. It was my mom's birthday. We went to eat Mexican food. I assured my family I could order something there and not to worry about it. I ordered beef fajitas with no seasoning and asked for corn tortillas. Totally on plan. Then I asked the waiter to bring my mom a Sopapilla for her birthday, and yes, I ate some. Not on plan. Oh well.

Third, we went to THE FAIR... the sights and sounds and smells of Funnel Cakes, Fried Onions, Gyros, Cotton Candy and, gulp, Corn Dogs. I had one. There. I said it. And it was freaking good. I only ate 3/4 of it. But I cheated. AND did I write that on my paper to share with my adviser on Monday? Hell to the no.

And to top it off... I ate cookie cake on Sunday. Again, mom's birthday and I had turned down enough food from her that "I can't eat" but I did not turn that down. And I wrote "2 servings of green beans" on my food diary and went on with life.

I'm not saying I will cheat like that every weekend, but I have been on this diet for 3-1/2 weeks and it was about damn time. And when I weighed myself Monday morning after cheating some the weekend before and the scale said "191" I became more motivated than ever! I was at 9 lbs...

So, many of you might be asking if I am getting bored with the food. yes, I am. I have had enough chicken breasts and broccoli to fill up 2 potato sacks, and I am tired of it. So to keep hopes high and my motivation up, I made 3 new things last night that I would like to share. They are all from the QWLC cookbook, so they are all "on-plan".

Zucchini Fries
Cut up a few peeled zucchinis into little fry shapes
Wash and drain
Take the Melba Toast crackers and make bread crumbs (I placed them in a Ziploc and hammered them...)
Toss the bread crumbs into a bowl with some Italian seasoning, Morton's Lite salt and pepper
Coat the zucchini cuts in the bread crumbs and place on a cookie sheet sprayed with PAM
Cook at 350 degrees for 25 minutes

THESE ARE YUMMY! And a very healthy alternative to french fries and Logan LOVED them.

Chips and Salsa
For the salsa:
Chop tomatoes, green onions (with the stems) and a green pepper and place in a food processor.
Add Morton's Lite salt, onion powder and garlic powder to taste
Add Chipotle powder to hottness desired.
Mix it all up and Wah-la!

Chips:
Take 10 or so corn tortillas and cut into triangles (I used a pizza cutter and cut each into 4 triangles)
Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 8 minutes
Salt them with Morton's Lite salt
Place in an air tight container

People, I will never buy store chips again. I swear these tasted so fresh and were soooo yummy, I will always make my own chips. It was so easy!

Cucumber Veggie Dip
Chop 1 cucumber, 3 large green onions (with the stem), 7 radishes and place in food processor
Add 7 oz. of cottage cheese and blend
Squeeze about a tsp. of lemon juice in and add a tsp. of dill
Blend, blend, blend and you have a delicious greek tasting snack!

Serve with Wasa crackers (whole grain)

So, I woke up this morning and weighed myself and the scale said 190.4! I even made up a little song I sang in opera about losing 10 lbs. It was amazing. Maybe not so much to my family, but that's what I felt like doing.

So at this point (contrary to the 3-5 lbs a week QWLC wants you to lose while on the program) I am averaging 2.5 to 3 lbs. a week and I am happy with that. ;) I feel like if I go at this rate I will keep it off when this is all said and done. So I am going to pat myself on the back and keep doing what I am doing.

P.S. I left my sweet mom's house with cash to get me 2-3 weeks worth of my "supplements" from QWLC and groceries for the week. Everyone knows eating healthy is expensive... so I just wanted to publicly thank her. Moms rock!

Well, ain't that about a b****

So, it has been a week and a half since I started this diet. Although I am seeing results and I am happy I am doing it, I do have a complaint.

I know, I know, but I deserve to complain about it because all you ladies know how this goes.

Girl goes on a diet.
Boy supports said girl on her diet. Says go for it!
Girl eats nothing but protein shakes and plain chicken and broccoli for a week. Rabbit food.
Boy decides to join in and participate on the healthy dinners but has whatever he wants the rest of the day.
Girl looks at a slice of cheese cake and gains 2 lbs.
Boy does a couple of sit-ups and loses 10.

Now ain't that about a bitch!

Yes, Denny has lost 10 pounds since Labor Day. As proud of him as I am, I am so jealous of guys. They barely have to do anything and they lose it.

There is my short rant for the day. Deep breath. Carry-on.

Reminds me a little of myself...

I am reposting an article I saw online today about a contest for American Apparel to recruit models for their new XL clothing line by sending in pictures of "photos of you and your junk to back it up.” First of all, American Apparel has been around for more than 20 years and has NEVER catered to anyone above a size 10. So they are calling all "plus size" models for a contest to represent the new line of XL hipster wanna-be clothes. Guess what sizes the "XL" line will consist of? Size12-14.  Really AA? Really? Way to throw us "fatties" a bone.

Here is a link to the article: http://shine.yahoo.com/the-thread/american-apparel-s-feud-with-photo-contest-winner-heats-up.html


Nancy Upton is my hero for this. She thought that the contest was rude and appalling and so she sent in a series of shots where she is suggestively eating chicken and potato chips and bathing in ranch dressing. "Her photos, intended as both a joke on the company and a social commentary on how marketers represent the plus-size demographic".  


I love her confidence and her "go-get'erness" to hire a photographer and shoot such a funny statement concept. And she actually won the votes from the contest. But AA has lashed out at her saying "while you were clearly the popular choice, we have decided to award the prizes to other contestants that we feel truly exemplify the idea of beauty inside and out, and whom we will be proud to have representing our company."


Shut-up AA! If you think that "plus-sized" women are beautiful on the inside and out, then why has it taken you 20 years to offer the size? You can keep your plainly designed, over-priced t-shirts and "scene" pants to your self. Us "curvy-women" don't want your stupid clothes anyway. 


And to Nancy: I love you dear. You are beautiful!

Moment of Weakness

So. My friend Ronda saved my diet today. She is a true friend and was really looking out for me. If you have read previous blog posts, I have already had a few obstacles with food to overcome. I refused cupcakes on Saturday, my Friday night wine, multiple goodies on the back table near me at work, but TODAY I had a moment of weakness. This is why:

Today I came into work without packing my lunch, but I knew there were fast food options out there that are on my diet. So when I went to my lunch buddy Ronda to see what was up for our lunch break, she suggested Jim n' Nicks. I told her I was too weak to go and sit in there and smell BBQ and french fries... and the infamous cheese biscuits. If you have not been to this place and had them, you are missing out. They are like the garlic cheese biscuits at Red Lobster but in sweet corn bread form (AND you can actually eat other things on the menu without being disgusted!)

But she knows me well, so she says we will just order it to-go and not go in. She knows my diet so well that she actually orders for me. "Yes, we need a Pig in the Garden salad with Smoked Chicken instead of pork and a large Sweet tea with Splenda." Ronda and my friend Nicole order their salads too and we go back to the lunch room. On the way back to the office Nicole asks "Can I have your cheese muffin?" I told her yes. I was not even aware it came with my salad, but yes.

We sit down and start unpacking our food. I put my splenda in my tea, stirred it around and opened up my to-go box. There they were, sittin' pretty. Yes "they". There were 2 of them. But I sat them aside and ate my chicken. And then I ate my salad without any dressing because I forgot my spritzer. When I was finished I look up and there they were in all their glory. Staring at me. I ignored them. They were calling my name. They even jumped up on my shoulders like two little cheesy, melt-in-your-mouth, sugary devils, poking me with their little salty forks chanting "eat me! eat me!" I had a stare down with them, and then I picked them up and gave one of them to Nicole as promised.

This is when it got nasty.

As I started to offer Ronda the other one, my right hand decided to have a mind of it's own and tear off 1/3 of the muffin. The right hand so desperately wanted to feed the mouth that was oh-so watery for it. But what happened next happened so fast. In a flash, Ronda took that bad hand of mind and scooped that muffin out! I, in return, about went after her hand with my mouth like a starving, salivating and possibly infected with rabies, WOLF. I wanted it bad.

But she said she wasn't going to let me do that. She took it all away from me and said she was only looking out for me. Then I snapped out of it, came back to reality and thanked her for being a true friend and for all the support.

1 Week Mark - 5-1/2 lbs. gone!

Goooood morning everyone!

So today is the 1 week mark.... and I got on the scale (again, butt-naked, FTITM) and I have lost 5-1/2 lbs! So it IS actually working. I met with my counselor yesterday and she took a look at my food diary. She laughed at a couple of things, which scared me, but she said I was doing really well and could tell I was "really trying". But she pointed out that I cannot have deli turkey, which is what I ate throughout the cleanse and the a few times over the last week. I told her I asked for the "low sodium" kind and she still said it had too much sodium. So I guess if I want to eat turkey slices on my sandwich (which consists of 1 slice of bread) I have to bake a whole damn turkey and slice it up like it's freaking Thanksgiving day. Oh well... lesson learned right?

She did clear up the schedule a little bit for me so I could understand what I needed to be eating when:
Breakfast: 1 egg, 1 fruit, 1 starch, skim milk OR 3/4 cup of Special K Protein cereal with skim milk, 1 fruit. And of course your QuickBoost, Vitamin, 2 KLB-5 and Fish Oil
Mid AM Snack: 1 Fruit and the Protein drink mix
Lunch: 1 Protein, 2 Veggies, 1 Starch, QB, 2 KLB, 1 FO
PM Snack: 1 Fruit (option to have protein bar here, or save it for later)
Dinner: 1 Protein, 2 Veggies, 1 Starch, 2 KLB, 1 FO
(Side Note: After dinner you could save that protein bar for dessert if you need something to eat, but no more than 2 hours before you go to bed. Dinner should be 4 hours before bed, no fruit after 6pm.)


How I feel:
Honestly, I am getting so used to the diet that I don't miss some of the things I HAD to have everyday, like my nightly cheese and crackers or my glass of wine with dinner or my morning Coca-Cola. I am a little constipated though... I really wanna go eat a hash brown from McDonalds because I know that would give me a good  trip to the bathroom. That might be my other 1/2 a pound!

I have set up some "rewards" for myself and they are the following:
I did have one for 5 lbs, but that happened so fast (and was pretty easy), so...


10 lbs: A spa pedicure
15 lbs: Birthday Cake! (My birthday is at the end of September)
20 lbs: Trip to Charming Charlies
25 lbs: Girls Night Out, wine!
30 lbs: A MAC makeover
35 lbs: A shirt or dress from Anthropologie
40 lbs: Shopping spree!

I also think it is time to start adding some exercise into this diet. Even if it is just briskly walking on my lunch break (enjoying the Fall weather too!) I need to do something because I don't want to go to the movies when this is all over and have a bag of popcorn and blow up like the Snoopy float at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.

And with that being said, here are MORE reasons for weight loss:
I want to get in pre-pre-pregnancy jeans
I want to plan a wedding dress wearing party with the girls and my dress be too big!
I want someone besides Mexican men to check me out at the mall
I want to wear this Halloween costume (Sucker Punch Baby Doll - see it!):

(But only if the stretch marks agree) ;)
I want to get a family picture done at Christmas that I actually like.

Stay tuned my friends!