Back on it!

Sooooo, I was bad over the last couple of weeks. I needed to take a break from this crazy program for a little bit, plus, I wanted to have fun while I was on Christmas vacation. The downside to that is that I gained 3-4 pounds back over the last 2 weeks. I know exactly why. Here's how:

1. Lots of bread
2. Quite a few sugary alcohol beverages
3. Wassel!
4. Not enough water to drink and too much salt
5. A little something called Apple Crunch Coffee Cake with vanilla ice cream and caramel syrup
6. That Jamocha shake from Arby's with curly fries I JUST had to have

I'm sure I could list a few more things but you get my point.

Today I am back on it. Here I am feeling a little poofy...

I am sort of starting out with the 3 day cleanse diet like I did at the beginning of the original 13 weeks. I had 2 eggs for breakfast, downed my QuickBoost. Had half of an orange for a snack with my Hot Chocolate Protein drink, and for lunch I plan on eating chicken breast with salad greens. (You are supposed to eat a protein and an unlimited amount of raw veggies for lunch and dinner for 2 days along with 64 oz. of water.) For an afternoon snack I have the other half of my orange and a protein bar. Then, I will start the diet again but maybe not exactly like QWLC wants me to.

I decided I am not going back there. They keep calling me "wondering how I am doing" but I know it's to get be back in there to spend more money. I know their diet works, and I have been doing it for 3 months now and feel like I can go at it on my own. My plan is to do the cleanse, do the diet for 6 more weeks, then reassess where I am and where I wanna be.

The other thing I need to research and decide about is the protein supplements. Over the past 2 weeks I have not taken them and I have pooped like normal. Those things make me extremely constipated and I end up drinking some nasty tea that gives me bad stomach cramps all day until I finally go. I found some Kashi protein bars that have more fiber and less protein... maybe I will try those for a while. The supps from QWLC are $50 a week for what I need, and I just can't spend that any longer. So I will be spending some time deciding what to do about that this week when they run out in my pantry.

The bottom line is that this whole experience has created a new lifestyle for me. I know I ate junk at Christmas... who doesn't... but from now on I eat from the outside walls of the grocery store, skip the middle aisles as much as possible, grab some frozen veggies, avoid the yummy bread in the deli and be on my way. No soft drinks, no pre-packaged processed foods (sodium), no sweets unless it is a special occasion.

So you guys are my accountability now. I'll let you know how I am doing every week or so. I still have 20 pounds to go to be where I would like to be health wise. And then, 10-20 pounds after that to be "high school skinny" again... but we will see what happens over the next few weeks. If I lose 4-5 pounds a MONTH by September I would be a size 6 (140 lbs. or so ) by my birthday... the BIG 3-0!

Week 13 at QWLC, Last weigh in

Sooooo, it is my last week* at QWLC on the main diet plan. After 13 weeks of a strict diet, supplements and lots of water my total weight loss is 24 lbs! (or a good S-H-I-T away from 25 lbs, which is what I like to say around the office...)

Here are the stats:
13 Weeks (3 Months)
24 lbs (1.85 lbs/week average)
6 inches in Waist
4 inches in Hips
4 inches in Chest
3 sizes in pants (14/16 to 10)
Size 10/12 dress size (from a 16)

What was easy: Drinking lost of water and giving up coke
What was hardest: Avoiding my favorite things to eat like Crazy Bread and Toffee candies (which both I had 2-3 times over the last few months... oh well...)
Where I didn't cheat: Breakfast. I have not had one McGriddle with hash browns in 3 months... and don't intend on it!
Where I did cheat: I love my red wine too much
What I am going to do differently over the next few months: Stay true to no fast food, no fried foods, no packaged/processed food

Although I did not make my goal of losing 40 lbs YET, I am so proud of myself for actually close. I am healthier, more confident, and I am wearing a pair of size 10 skinny jeans today!

For those of you that have not been following the last few weeks, here is my official "Before" pic:

And here is a pile full of clothes that are too big more me (mostly pants, sized 12-16):

It doesn't look very big in the picture but it is a PILE. It comes up to the seat of the chair and consists of about 15 pairs of jeans, a few pairs of "work pants" and a couple of tops.

As far as my disclaimer at the top goes, this is where I start ranting and raving. I need to talk about next steps with QWLC. I went in to weigh today during lunch and just about lost it on a sassed-mouth employee that was obviously having a bad day. 

Last week I went in and talked to this really sweet lady about next steps. I told her that when my 13 weeks was up with them, I just wanted to get through Christmas time not worrying about everything I consume, have fun and then continue to lose weight after the New Year. She agreed with me and said that sounded good, and I could go on "stabilization" (adding back in more food/regular foods) when I was ready. 

I came in today and was told that I either had to pay to keep losing more weight or I had to go on stabilization now. I asked "well, what if I lose weight while I am on stabilization?" and was told that I should not be losing any weight because I should be eating more food. So they basically have me in a  trap to where I have to keep a food diary, check in with them every week, and if I lose any weight I have to go back on the diet and pay them for the weeks I lose weight. 

Can I get a "HEEEEELLLLLLL, NOOOOO!"

And then she proceeds to ask me if I would have any challenges this weekend to stay "on plan" and I said yes... Denny's grandmother's macaroni pie! And she asks what I plan on doing to stay on plan and I wanted to shove my food diary where the sun don't shine. Do they REALLY expect people to be good at Christmas???

I know the diet works, I know the accountability works, I know the supplements do help but don't EVEN tell me I have to pay you to continue to lose weight. I WILL continue to do this on my own. It is a lifestyle change that I am used to, and my family as well! Yes, I cheated, yes, I drank alcohol, yes, I ate my Christmas cookies my grandmother made me. Shut up BITCH! At least I know that I will keep the weight off because I made better choices and lost 1-2 lbs a week (doctor recommended) vs. their 3-5 lbs. 

I bought my supplements and left cussing her under my breath. 

Merry Christmas everyone. I love you all and thanks for the support. I am going to keep going after the New Year (and try to be as good as possible over the next few weeks.)

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
________________________
Total Weight Loss: 12lbs
________________________
Weight: 188 lbs
________________________
Motivation: B-*
________________________
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!