You have to indulge a little.. it's vacation

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well, I didn't do awful while I was on vacation. If you don't count the pizza, a few fries, and the few candies then I did well (I forgot I was on a diet). I did have alcohol which I rarely do. I ate closer to every four hours than I thought I would. I tried to cut my portions down. I didn't get to eat a MUFA at every meal. The scale only said 167 when I got on it this morning. I don't know if that is water weight, weight weight, or what but that's only .5 lb up from before I left.

I am getting better with substituting away from the snack combinations the book gave me. I'm going shopping in the next day or so to get more whole foods. I'm staying away from chemicals and words in the ingredient list that I don't understand, processed foods, high fructose corn syrup, and a few others that seem to be a no no. I miss the sassy water, so I think I'm going to get some different things to put in water, maybe some limes, and not make the true sassy water. I have to get back into drinking water again. It's been 100 degrees outside lately and I know I haven't been drinking nearly enough and I really just don't sleep well when I'm not hydrated.

Diets are not easy. You have to stay dedicated and pay attention to everything you are eating. I have the discipline to do it but I'm also a foodie and don't want to miss out on the Dunes fries when I'm on vacation with my friends. Dave and I have decided to join a gym together. To try to keep us motivated to go. I will walk on the treadmills (I hate running) or I will do the eliptical or bikes. Just some cardio to help the heart.I typically like step classes or classes that jump you around but for $10 a month, an eliptical will be fine.

To weigh or not to weigh that is the question...

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Yesterday I decided I was not going to get on the scale every day. That it's very disconcerning. Then today I turned around and got on the scale to see 166. That's not bad. It's not 170, it's not 168 even. It shows progress.

I get nervous when I stray from combinations and recipes that aren't in the book. I feel like I need permission to make substitutes or to create my own dish. I'm afraid I'm not within the 400 calories. When I stray from the book I feel like I'm cheating on the diet. It's not bad guilt, because I want to try so hard to follow the diet and pay attention to my portion sizes and eating every four hours. Next week I want to try a lot of the recipes in the book. As long as I find recipes with nutrition information that I can work with I will probably feel better. Speaking of Nutrional Information. When I'm buying things what should I be looking at? Calories, Fat.. Sure.. but what about Carbs? Sugars? Sodium? Cholesterol? What are better numbers, what are numbers I should avoid? The book doesn't say anything about that.

I leave for the beach tonight with friends. We will see how well I do with alcohol, eating out, and everything else that will be thrown my way.

Adventures Continue with Whole Grains

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Today the scale said 166.5. That's still beter than 170. I really like the food selections they provide in the book. It's easy to just grab things on hand, portion them out, and throw in my lunch box in the morning. Today was 3oz Turkey, 1 laughing cow wedge (and really anything that uses laughing cow just feels like cheating) and walnuts and craisins on a whole wheat english muffin. I had pecans with breakfast. I really find I'm eating a lot of nuts as my choice of MUFA, I need to mix in more more oils and dark chocolate. Eating whole foods is expensive.

Last night I had a Kashi meal when I got home from tennis. I was a little nervous 'cause the southwest chicken smelled like cigarettes when I got it out of the microwave. It ended up tasting better than it looked. It was a quick replacement for dinner.

I haven't ventured into any recipes yet (other than the jump start smoothies). I may try to start making them and saving them for leftovers ahead of time, it has to be cheaper than buying flaxseed waffles all the time (which are delicious). I'll wait until I get back from 3 days at the beach (which I know is going to be a challenge). Tonight I might make the pita pizza for dinner.

Since this is a woman related week for me, I'll be interested to see any fluctuation in my weight. I'm not drinking as much water as I did on the Jump Start. I may need to make the sassy water just to keep drinking water. No change yet in my waist measurement

I survived the weekend (Sort of)

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So my first weekend has past on the diet. I didn't do too bad. Eating every four hours was the hardest, as I had expected. Things get in the way and you just cant' eat when you are supposed too. I went to my friend's bbq on Saturday I was worried I wasn't going to get a MUFA in. Then I saw they had a bowl of peanuts on the table. SCORE! Salted, but that's better than no MUFA at all.

I thought the bbq was going to be the hardest but going out to eat on Sunday ended being the harder part. I don't like olives or avacados which would make this a lot easier and I thought they would have some salad with nuts on the menu somewhere, but no. I ended up finding a bread stick that is brushed with olive oil and baked and had that with a side salad. I tried to keep my portions down from what I would typically be able to eat. But when you aren't able to eat lunch or a snack and you are already at dinner, you are hungry so I did double my portion because I didn't eat anything else. Rather have more calories than still be hungry. I also treked 13.8 miles on my mountain bike. So I even got some exercise in.

I didn't sleep well at all last night so I forgot to get on the scale and measure my belly. Hopefuly I will remember tomorrow. Next weekend I'm at the shore with friends for 3 days. I will try my best to eat 400 calorie meals, every 4 hours, with a MUFA at every meal. The book says "just tell your friends you are on a diet and how important it is to them and they will understand and respect that" it's really just awkward. "We have to stop having fun and doing what we are doing because I have to eat now." Or we can't eat there because they don't have any nuts on their salads, really doesn't seem polite. I would rather not tell anyone I was on a diet. I realize that contradicts my writing a blog but it seems different telling anonomous readers that are probably trying to consider the diet vs friends who I talk to every day. It just seems a little personal. Like a open admittance that I'm overweight. Who wants to tell their friends they are fat?

I didn't believe it until I saw it...

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One day you are on the scale and it says 173 then the next day it says 168.5. I just averaged the two together and said 170 as my starting weight last week when I decided to go on the FBD. Then Monday it droped to 166.5 then went up a lb each day of the 4 day Jump Start plan and I was getting very discouraged. Then I got on the scale today and was SHOCKED that it read 165.5! What, that worked? I really didn't see those 4 days making any difference.

I did go to the grocery store last night and get other foods for breakfast/lunch/dinner and snacks. I bought nuts out of the bulk bins. I bought natural peanut butter and whole wheat english muffins. Just standard things that would hold a good shelf life and work with the 400 calorie + MUFA rule. I picked a dozen combinations out of the book to start with. I have gotten every book related to the FBD (even the one for men) to make sure I have all the possible options in recipes and food combinations.

Today I had some organic flaxseed frozen waffles and warm apple sauce with walnuts. LOVED IT! Warm apple sauce is one of my favoriets, the instructions said top the waffles with the apple sauce but I like to warm it up and eat it on the side.

Lunch was a whole wheat english muffin, one laughing cow cheese wedge, and 3oz turkey. Why have I never thought to put laughing cow cheese on a sandwich. Delish! I'm not sure how I'm going to make it through the weekend yet with a baseball game tonight, and a pool party tomorrow but I will try to eat every four hours and in moderation of 400 calories.

Jump Start Diet Day 4

Today is the 4th and final day of the FBD Jump Start diet. Whatever, I'm not impressed with the Jump Start. I haven't lost any lbs or inches, in fact the scale has said I've gone up again. I swear I have been following everything it says. I did buy a new food scale so I can be even more accurate when measuring things out. On the plus side, I did get used to the 400 calories meals every 4 hours. I'm not sure how weekends and eating out are going to factor into this diet but I can be pretty resilient during the week with work.

I'm going to make a shopping list for this evening of different things to make for breakfast lunch and dinner. I'm looking forward to going back to frozen waffles and better smoothies. I am kinda done with the sassy water. It will be a nice change to mix in but I'm not going to drink it as much as I thought I was going too. Maybe I'm just having girl issues right now and that's why this hasn't been uber successful but I'm willing to keep giving it a try for a little while longer.

Jump Start Day 3

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Well, I've read rave reviews about this jump start diet and that you lose weight and inches to keep you motivated to move on to the 28 day program. But I've only noticed the scale going up. I'm drinking at least 90oz of water a day. I'm measuring everything out and eating in 4 hour increments. I'm following everything exact with the exception of the variety. So I will be interested to see if these 4 days were worth it or if I should just move into the regular diet and recipes. I'm hungry again this morning, the smoothies may just not be cutting it for breakfast for me. I'm looking forward to the chocolate waffles. I'm also hungry between my snack and dinner but I think that's just 'cause I'm sitting on the couch watching tv and want a snack, I don't need a snack. I know this is a fad diet, but the question is, does it work at all?

Jump Start Day 2

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I am really enjoying the sassy water. I think I will continue to drink it even after the 4 day jumpstart. Its so easy to drink that I have found that I'm drinking it all half way through the day and then run out. I almost need to make 2 pitchers. It also means I'm going to the bathroom more than I ever have in my entire life. I have to go more than my friend who is 6 months pregnant.  Going back to drinking plain water is going to be really difficult when the price of lemons goes up.

Yesterday I ate all my food except for the 1 cup of green beans, maybe it was my scoop that I was using but 1 cup looked like a LOT of green beans, so I had 1/2 cup. Other than that I ate everything I was supposed too. I was a little hungry later in the evening and really wanted something bad for me, mcdonalds or ice cream. I don't know where that came from but I just ignored it, I think that craving was womanly related.

Jump Start Day 1

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Today is day 1 of the 4 day jumpstart. I had to adapt the plan a little bit because I don't have a blender at work and I don't like fish. For cost reasons I'm duplicating meals over the 4 days. So I'm probably already causing problems because I'm not following it directly. I love the variety of foods you can choose from but it's a little too much for someone on a budget. I don't mind a little repetitiveness if it tastes good. So I had my smoothie snack for breakfast, I'll have my rice krispies cereal for lunch and i'll have my turkey as my snack. 4 meals a day, WOW! It actually feels like I have to eat alot of food. I made the sassy water. I was a little hesitant about this, but it really is surprisingly fresh and yummy. I'm noticing as it gets close to noon I'm becoming a little more hungry, the rest of the afternoon should be easier because they meals will be a little bigger than the smoothie. I just have to get out of this 4 days with smoothies and I'll be fine or maybe I should have started on a saturday when I had my blender at home. I did discover today that I love pumpkin seeds. I never had them before, and I loved them. I'm also supposed to eat a whole pint of cherry tomatoes a day. I say bring on the challenge, tomatoes are my favorite thing.

It's time...

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I recently got on a scale and was shocked at the number looking back at me. I've been a little more casual about eating than I thought. I'm the heaviest I've ever been to date and it's time I do something about it. My clothes just aren't fitting well anymore, and I'm not liking what I see in the mirror. So this is my blog about my attempt at a thinner belly using Prevention Magazine's Flat Belly Diet. My weight has gone up and down since I was 15 and I always seem to gain it in my gut nowhere else. I go through phases where I exercise all the time to not exercising at all. I have tried many diets in the past and I have seen some success with all of them. But after I see results I always go through a slump where I'm back to being a couch potato and eating whatever I want. I'm tired of exercise, I'm tired of counting calories and points. I'm looking forward to just being told what to eat and seeing it make a healthy change. I'm curious if I will like the FBD because I don't like avacados or olives. Two of the five important MUFA's. I do love all kinds of nuts and with the exception of canola oil because I'm alergic too it, and look forward to cooking with different tasting oils. So I'm off to the grocery store to get everything I may need for the 4 day Jumpstart of the FBD.