Comfortable

15 pounds lost today! Can you believe it? I hardly can. I think what I have working for me this week are hormones and switching the order of my work out. I was doing cardio and then weights but I think it helps to do the weights first so that my muscles have to work a little harder during the cardio portion. I also upped my free weights on some sets from 5 lbs to 8lbs. This morning, I fit VERY comfortably into a size 10 and into a shirt I bought last spring that was a smidge too small, now, it's a smidge too big. I can't believe I'll be seeing the 140's soon. I didn't see 140 anything in all of 2009. So...good good day.

Good Week

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It's still going great. It's actually, dare I say, easy. This is just our life now. I made Lasagna the other night with zucchini instead of noodles. It was awesome. It totally satisfied the comfort food notion, but it was guilt-free with homemade sauce, fat-free cottage cheese, fat-free mozzarella, and low fat ricotta. Tony took it to work the next day for lunch. When he got home he said, "I think that zucchini lasagna is better than regular lasagna." I think he's just forgotten what pasta tastes like. We've had the Pioneer Woman's lasagna and it is unforgettable.

Last night I made lettuce wraps, they were sooo good and so pretty. I put the link to the recipe on Annadotes.

Oh, and by the way, 153 this morning. GO ME!

Not so bad

This weekend wasn't as bad as I thought. I did indulge a little but it was totally manageable. Still maintaining 155 so far. And these, if you haven't had real sweets in three weeks, taste like a Samoa Girl Scout cookie...my fave.

Yesterday we splurged big time at Tony packo's. I was in pain by the time we left and am not even getting on the scale today. I really hope I didn't do too much damage, I'd really like to be at 154 by the end of the week.

156.4 this morning

I want to kill the scale. I think I've hit a plateau. I think I'm going to do my Shred DVD today instead of cycling and see if the change in work out helps, plus tomorrow I go to the gym instead of cycling so that should help too. Everything I read says to make sure you're eating enough (I am) and change up your workout, to increase the intensity. Will do.

155

155
155
155
155
155
155
!!!!

156.2 you are the death of me!

Grrr....I have YET to see 155 on the scale. 155.9 even, I don't care. I'm just REALLY tired of 156.2. I've lost eleven pounds so far, which feels really really great. I'm really happy that my clothes are not so tight and I'm feeling a lot better. The Zone diet is really a smart way to lose weight since you bypass the crazy cravings. We've definitely figured out it's much more of a life change than a diet. I'd really like to have lost 20 pounds before we go public. I'm still going. Oh, BTW, we tried a slim-fast snack. It was a free sample that came in the mail. It was so good. It was really high in carbs so you'd have to have it as a part of a more balanced snack, but for 50 calories it was a nice treat.

We made it!

We made it through another weekend! I did stick to my plan for the family party and I ate this super yummy homemade snicker dessert. Mmmm...sooo good. I didn't make it to 155. So...the goal is still in my sights, I'll let you know when I get there. I have lost THREE whole inches off my waist and that makes me feel fantastic.

Book Review: Somersize Desserts

Cover of Somersize Desserts

I've been waiting for the Zone cookbooks to come in at the library and it seems like it's taking forever. I guess we're not the only ones who made New Years Resolutions. Anyway, I was at the library the other day and I thought I'd go through the healthy cookbooks and see if there was anything I could, "Zoneify." I've heard myths of Zoneified Lasagna and Enchiladas. Anyway, I passed by this book on the shelf, Somersize Desserts by Suzanne Somers. My review, two thumbs down. The book is really just an advertisement for her sugar-replacement product called, "Somersweet." The recipes just exchange sugar for this Somersweet. All the butter, heavy cream, caramel sauce, whole milk ricotta are still called for. It's sad that these are the recipes proclaimed to help someone lose weight. Unless this Somersweet is cut with Ephedrine I don't think anyone is going to be losing weight eating these indulgent sweets. Granted, she does have some healthy smoothie type recipes, but really not enough to counter the cheesecake, creme brulee, and souffles the book is stocked with. Guilt-free? No, I think not. "Losing weight never tasted so good." She's got it half right.

Butter? Is that Butter I taste?

Tonight, I went to my monthly book club. I knew the host would have a lovely (and fattening) dessert prepared. I went into it a little unsure about how I would handle the situation...should I eat it? Should I ask for a small portion of whatever it is, etc? I was worried that in the face of temptation I would ate the whole thing. So...this scrumptious chocolate-chip coffee cake with a crumb topping was placed before me. I took a bite. It was so good I had almost forgotten about butter, but this certainly reminded me. I remembered the "three bite rule," someone had mentioned in a success story in Shape Magazine so I decided to try it. I had three, normal sized bites and enjoyed each morsel. Then I added it into my "Lose It," app where I keep track of all my calories and realized that a serving of coffee cake is really fattening. So, I added in my little three bite serving and was totally happy with what I had and what I gave up. I felt like I was being a little rude to the host by not finishing it, but I wasn't the only one and I'm glad I did. I'll definitely have to get the recipe.

TTOM

It's that time of the month. I'm going to stay off the scale for the next few days. The weight gain has been minimal but it's still discouraging to see the numbers going up and not down. I know it's temporary, and the nice thing is, that I haven't had the cravings for all the salty, starchy junk I usually do around this time. Still going strong.

A coincidence? I think not.

So the year I decide to get serious about losing weight is the year that Taco Bell pushes their Fresco menu with their "Drive Thru Diet" campaign. It's like it's pleading with me...don't leave us. See...we have healthy choices, we can still be friends, right? I did really good this week, I mean, really good. I wasn't tempted by the unfinished carton of ice cream that is in the freezer or eat after dinner any night this week. I have been working really hard and it's paying off. I was really worried going into the weekend that I would royally mess things up, but I didn't. I stayed the course, and I can tell you, Monday morning, it was worth it. I lost 7 pounds last week. I know a lot of it is water and that the weight loss will slow down a lot this week, so I set my goal for this week is to lose just two pounds (as it will be for every week from here on out) so I got on the scale this morning and I was already down another two pounds, so here I am at 157.8! That's almost ten pounds!!!! So, my new goal is to be at 155.9. If I could just see 155. I'm having some hormonal changes this week so I know my exercise and water intake will be critical but hopefully I can get through it okay.

Good things that happened last week: I didn't eat after dinner at all. (A big problem for me)
I worked out 6 days. (No exercising on Sunday...Sacrament meeting with a toddler is enough of a work out)
I turned down sour candy at the movies!?! Can you believe it!?
I ate taco bell on my diet. Let me repeat that. I ate Taco Bell on my diet. The fresco crunchy tacos are great, they fulfill my fast food craving and are a good mix of fat, carbs, and protien which is what this diet is all about...balance.

So to sum up, I kicked booty last week...I'm hoping this week will be just as good.

Bad things that happened: I am TOTALLY sick of salad. Already. I think it's the dressing. I'm going to put on low fat cottage cheese as the dressing today and see how that goes. I'm just getting tired of chewing lettuce.

One obstacle coming my way is my annual family Christmas party on Saturday. I know it's after Christmas but our family is huge and by huge I really mean gigantic. My Grandmother has over 100 great-grandchildren. I think the number is up to 107 or 108 and seriously, it seems like my cousins are multiplying by the day. Anyway-the food there is fantastic and I'm not going to deprive myself but I have come up with a plan. There is a pop table but I will bring my water bottle. I will eat a normal breakfast in the morning, which these days has been a peice of fruit, some almonds, and a boiled egg. I will have one plate of food, whatever I want, and one plate of dessert, whatever I want, and that's it. Then I'll have a peice of fruit and some almonds on the way home around normal dinner time and call it good for the day.

Until next time.

Almonds

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Almonds are a healthy addition to your balanced diet. They are a good source of fat, protein, trace minerals, vitamin e, etc. They are high in calcium and have shown in clinical studies to aid in weight loss as part of a healthy diet.

I can not stand raw almonds. I can choke them down if I have to, but they are not good. They have a bitter flavor and get stuck in my teeth-yuck. So, since I happen to have a bag of raw almonds here (donated by my MIL, an avid almond consumer) I've been trying to eat them. But, I just can't. For the first couple days of the diet I tried to chew them up quick and follow it with some water to wash it down but still, they are sick and I realized, if I'm not enjoying the food I'm eating, I'm not going to enjoy my diet and I'm not going to be able to stick to it. So, I roasted them myself!

I put about a half cup of almonds in a baggie with about a teaspoon of vegetable oil and then laid them out on a foil covered cookie sheet. I lightly salted them and baked for 10 minutes. They turned out great! I'm not feeling bad about the oil or the salt since they were just thinly coated and the salt makes them taste so much better and we have almost nothing processed on this diet so I'm not overly concerned with my sodium intake. They are great! So much easier to eat and much tastier. I also did some with cinnamon for a sweet treat. They are okay...they're good, but I do miss the sugar. I'm thinking I might just add a teaspoon of sugar next time and count it as an "unfavorable" carb. I've been consistently under my calorie allotment for the day so I think it's not a big deal and feeling like I'm getting a treat is worth it.

You can read more about almonds at the Almond Board of California's site.

Until next time.

New Year, New Us.

This year, Tony and I have started the Zone diet. Let's see...I woke up this morning at about 7:30, it is now 2:30, so it's been 7 hours and so far, so good. Last night I prepared our breakfasts and lunches. We're having a modified version of the South Beach Veggie Quiche Cups and for lunch we had a really good chicken and black bean salad with oregano dressing. The breakfast was alright, but the lunch was really great. All the flavors helped me not feel so hungry. I almost didn't finish it all. I did have a snack in the morning, but I wouldn't really call it a snack...

Ah, duty calls...

Until next time.