3.31.2008

Day 6 - 8: I want a cheese pizza and movie popcorn!!!

So, only four and a half more days. I'm ending a day early from this diet because well.. I'm doing the bridge run...walking the bridge run on Saturday morning, and then everyone is going to Red's after the race to drink beer and hang out.... so I'll be drinking. :) Oh, and Sunday... movie, I don't even care what movie it is... I just want POPCORN!!

So I'm enjoying my homemade salsa a lot, but I think I messed up my supplements at dinner tonight. I was eating dinner at my desk before heading to bowling....and I had packed my supplements you usually eat with dinner. Well, I noticed that two of the supplements (magnesium and L-carnitine) looked exactly identical and thought, "Hmm..that's odd... oh well" and took all three pills anyways. Well, I get home, and Magnesium is smaller than L-carnitine. So now I can't remember what the three pills looked like... magnesium or L-carnitine. So I either took the right dosage of magnesium and skipped my L-carnitine, or I overdosed on L-carnitine and missed my magnesium. So.... oops. Hopefully at this point, it won't make much of a difference.

I really wish I could get to bed earlier. I don't get enough sleep during the week, so I'm sure that's hindering my progress.

Tomorrow looks like another exciting day of turkey burgers and flaxseeds. Woo hoo. Although my sister just suggested a new recipe involving apples and cinnamon that sounds pretty good. Think I'll be trying that one out tomorrow... might be better than the salsa.

COMMENT!

3.28.2008

FFP - Day 4 - 5 -- Temptation tests passed with flying colors.

I don't have a whole lot to say about days four and five of this diet. I did learn not to freeze the smoothie overnight...because it never thaws out....even when you microwave it, even when it sits in your hot car all day.. it's still frozen.

I had two major tests the past two days that really tested my strength with this diet. Yesterday I ate lunch at this fast food type place (like a Zaxby's) with a friend... and it smelled so good, and my friend's salad looked so good. But I had pre-packed my little lunch: turkey burger w/ romaine lettuce, carrots and lettuce, cran-water. I was good. Today, some co-workers and I had a meeting in Gastonia, so on the way back to Columbia everyone wanted to stop for lunch. Guess where they all picked? Ruby freaking Tuesdays! Ok, so I used to get Ruby Tuesday's salad bar all the time when I lived in my apartment... to go... who gets salad bars to go? This girl. I even asked for Ruby Tuesday's gift cards for Christmas in 2006... and got them.... two of them... $50 a piece. They were gone in six months..... So as you can see, I was given the ultimate diet test today. Everyone around me had the mini burgers, with fries, AND the stupid salad bar. And at the restaurant, we're all crammed in this little booth, so there's no avoiding the sight and smells of the food. Grrr. So I go walking in with my bright turquoise lunch cooler.... pull out my wimpy little turkey burger, my sauteed in chicken broth onions and green peppers, my celery and carrots, and finally... my good ol' cran-water. I passed the test much to the amazement of my co-workers. I guess though, if you've tortured yourself for five days... why quit now?

So here I am passed day five. I don't feel like I've lost any weight, but my sister said that the first week you're getting your liver working back healthy again, and then the second week is when you lose your weight.

Not sure if I mentioned this in a previous post, but you also have a minor exercise routine you have to do every day with this diet. You have to walk for 20 min. and then do a rebound/jumping type exercise for 5 minutes.... so I just use my elliptical and do a slow pace for 20 min., then my jumping routine never fails to amuse me. It's an assortment of jumping jacks, boxer jogs, invisible jump rope type moves, and all out bunny hops and arms flailing. That'll do pig.

So this diet has officially ruined my social life... or at least for this weekend. Brandi and Jess -- headed to the Pub to see a band, wanna go Christy? Me -- can't. Co-workers -- Hey, big happy hour at Flying saucer, wanna go Christy? Me -- can't. How did I spend my Friday night? Went to two organic food stores and stocked up on vegetables I had to ask the store workers to help me find. Who knew that scallions is another word for green onions?? Apparently not me... So I come home and spend almost an hour chopping and mincing vegetables. The white onion chopping is always delightful because I literally chop it with my eyes closed because my eyes burn and tear so bad. My whole kitchen reeks of garlic and onions now. I mix all the veges (parsley, spinach, onions, garlic, and cayenne pepper) in a bowl with the ground turkey. Place ground turkey in small loaf pan, cover with organic, no-salt added tomato sauce. Bake for 30 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius....

Wait... Celsius? Yes, Celsius. Right before putting my Turkey Meatloaf into the oven, I suddenly realize that 200 degrees Fahrenheit is not the same as 200 degrees Celsius. Why does my FFP book say Celsius?? OH...Christy bought the European version of the book..... [insert Homer Simpson expression here]. Ok, well thank goodness for Google's converter.... and no wonder half the ingredients I had on my grocery list I didn't know what they were... because they are freakin' European slang! No wonder I couldn't find and gave up on finding the 'courgettes' that no one in the store knew what they were. A little googling later, and it's just a fancy smancy word for ZUCHINNI.

Well, at least this diet is teaching me the ins and outs of healthy eating...and teaching me that I definitely didn't eat healthy before because I have no idea what half of these healthy foods are. I did notice EarthFare has an awesome salad bar set up that I will have to check out after I get off this diet. Does anyone else think EarthFare smells like flaxseed oil? Eck! Who are these freaks of nature who live amongst us and spend double the amount of money to eat food that isn't really food? Food that has Chinese writing on the boxes and things like 'Brownie Mix! With no eggs, dairy, or butter!' Then what the hell is in it??

I also think that this diet is making me moody... but I also think that there are people at work who are really annoying lately and so diet or not I'd be moody. I won't go into detail because we hear on a daily basis how john doe blogged about work and now everyone's talking about it at work and he's brought into the boss's office for a talking to. Are people really that interested in their co-worker's lives? Ok, that sounded heartless... maybe the diet IS making me moody... whatever, bah humbug.

BTW: My sister is doing the diet also, at the same time I am. Again...she's doing it again. So we're talking to each other about it and sharing our pains. We talked about what our first meal would be after the diet... I'm not officially done deciding, but I'm thinking the following:
  • Movie theater popcorn -- with popcorn salt
  • Five Guys fries
  • Double cheeseburger from McDonalds
  • Snickers Blizzard from Dairy Queen
  • Bud Light and/or Diet Coke
Mmm...sounds delicious and super healthy, yes? I guess I'll be gaining back all of the weight I lose during this diet on the first day after my diet. :)

Wish me luck..laugh at my misery....Comment.

3.26.2008

FFP - Day 1 through 3 -- hanging in there....

So, I've made it through three days on the Fat Flush Plan. It hasn't been hard resisting foods, but I do have pretty bad cravings -- so far I'm seriously craving pizza, with lots of cheese -- and movie theater popcorn...with lots of salt. Despite the cravings, the only other side affects I'm experiencing is a little fatigue and weakness. It kind of feels like when you're super busy at work and you have no time to sit down and eat lunch, and so by the time you get home, you're starving, but you've gone so long without eating, that you don't really feel like eating... Or when you wake up on a Saturday morning after sleeping in till 1pm and you think, well, I might as well just wait till dinner to eat. It's kind of that feeling of not having eaten, but not bad enough where you have stomach pains.

The meals aren't bad. You eat enough all day that you're never really hungry...yet I can tell I'm starving myself, lol. I don't have a lot of time to prepare meals, so this is basically my meal routine every day:
  • As soon as I wake up - Cran-water with 1 tbspn of ground flaxseeds
  • While getting ready for work - Warm glass of water with half a lemon juice squeezed into it
  • Breakfast at work - 8oz cran-water; two hard boiled eggs OR strawberry protein smoothie; one a day for weight loss vitamin, evening primrose oil gel pill
  • Mid morning snack at my desk - one apple or one orange (I switch it up), 8 oz cran-water
  • Lunch - Carrots and Celery with flaxseed oil on top (eck!) OR sauteed oinions and green peppers in chicken broth (low sodium, no salt); Turkey burger OR Grilled chicken w/ garlic seasoning; 8 oz. cran-water
  • Afternoon snack at work - Two hard boiled eggs OR an apple or an orange; 16 oz. cran-water
  • Dinner - same thing as lunch; 8 oz cran-water; evening primrose oil gel pill; L-carnitine pill; Magnesium pills
  • Right before bed - Cran-water with 1 tbspn of ground flaxseeds
Sounds yummy doesn't it?? Don't be jealous. I actually don't mind the cran-water as much now, I've developed a taste for it. The ground flaxseed mixture in the morning and at night surprisingly doesn't bother me. I stir it up and drink it with a straw in like four big gulps (thank you alcohol chugging experience). Today was the first day I made turkey burgers (thank you George Foreman grill) with small bits of green peppers and onions in them. They were actually really good. So, as long as I don't get bored with the same meals every day, I should be fine. Surprisingly I haven't craved Diet Coke, Beer, or Cigarettes. Proving that I'm not a smoker, I am not an alcoholic, and I am not addicted to sodas like the rest of the world.

The hardest part of this diet for me is the flaxseed oil. My sister doesn't mind it, but it has this wood taste that is so gross. I almost gagged when I was eating it with lettuce on the first day. A co-worker suggest flaxseed gel pills... I looked in the book, and you have to take 18 flaxseed gel pills a day to equal the 2 tablespoons you're supposed to have each day. So I went and bought them, but what I've been doing is doing 1 tablespoon of flaxseed oil as the real stuff -- putting it in my smoothie, putting it on vegetables, etc. Then the other tablespoon I take nine pills for (five at lunch, four at dinner). I'm hoping this will still be affective in the diet. If I only lose three pounds, I'll blame that...but I just can't stomach the flaxseed oil... it's so gross!

So now I'm weak and exhausted... time for bed...but wish me luck with this diet.. I am stubborn, so I'm going to get through the 11 more days. This weekend will be tough because I won't have work to keep me occupied... maybe Lifetime Movie Channel will keep me occupied. :) And I guess I should mow my lawn... blah.

Oh, and to reply to Beth's comment on the last post -- I really don't think that I gained my weight from alcohol. For seven years while I was in college and grad school I maintained the same weight... and I drank WAY more than I do now. I'd say I have heavy drinking maybe once or twice a month now, as compared to VERY frequently while I was in school....especially when I worked at the Tap Room. So, no, I don't think it's the alcohol that created the extra five or so pounds. I really think it has more to do with the fact that I work 8 to 5, so now I'm less active during the day. Sure I have my ballet and my elliptical, but I'm still sitting in meetings and sitting at my desk 8 hours a day, five days a week...and I think that's enough to slow anyone's metabolism down. I think if this diet can get rid of this extra 10 pounds, my exercise (and eating a little less crappy -- I'm not giving up beer) will help me maintain the weight. My sister has only gained back three pounds since she did the diet, and I don't think she's been that strict about what she eats, etc. So... we'll see. I'm just trying not to get my hopes up that I will lose a ton of weight in case I don't.

I also have another theory that I've built up more muscle over the past two years dancing at Columbia City Ballet. I danced all through college, but it wasn't intensive and I wasn't being pushed. Here, I'm taking advanced classes that have really pushed me back into the level I was in during high school. I bled through my pointe shoe two weeks ago if that tells you anything.... So... I also wonder if I've gotten some more muscle definition from the increased ballet training...... I'm not saying all of my weight gain is because of that....but it's a theory I have. :)

Ok, bed time. Comment.


3.25.2008

Fat Flush Plan - Two weeks of hell for bathing suit weather!

Ok, so I know I'm not obese, or even 'fat' although I call myself that from time to time, but even size 0 girls call themselves fat. But I do know that I am no longer the weight that I maintained all through college...and through grad school... I stay in good shape with my advanced ballet classes that leave my feet covered in blisters (sexy) and one of the best investments I've ever made, my Precor elliptical -- that is not a clothes hanging item, but actually gets used on a frequent basis. So I'm in good shape. I've always been athletic (because of ballet) and have always weighed heavier because of my muscle.

Recently I made the mistake of buying a scale. I was prompted to do so after going to the doctor for a routine appointment and discovering I now weigh about five to six pounds heavier than the weight I've maintained for almost seven years. Bathing suit season looms... and despite my best efforts to eat healthier (I'm a beer and sweets coniseur), I have abuot five pounds of stubborn water weight that I just can't get rid of.


If you want to see for yourself, check out a picture of me from Easter two years ago:
http://christyweb.com/pictures/4_16_06/100_0881_2.jpg

Now check out a picture from this past weekend Easter. I'm obviously about five to ten pounds heavier, right? And it's not because of the darker hair:
http://christyweb.smugmug.com/photos/270181567_7qjE7-M.jpg

Enter Fat Flush Plan.

About six months ago my sister ventured on a diet after reading a book by Ann Louise Gittleman titled Fat Flush Plan. She lost 14 pounds in two weeks!! And for those of you who know my sister, she doesn't even look like she has 14 pounds to lose. Two of her friends tried the diet as well (some of them even cheating) and lost about 10 pounds. So needless to say, I bought and read the book.

The diet is a two week diet where you basically (starve) eat organic foods, drink cranberry jucie (pee a lot), and take healthy vitamin stuff. To be more exact, here's what you have to consume on a daily basis for 14 days:
-2 tblsps flax oil (high lignan)
-2 eggs (omega-3 enriched)
-8oz protein
-unlimited veggies

-2 fruits (limited choices)
-8 8oz glass of cranwater
-2 LLCs (cranwater with ground flaxseeds)

- Plus multi-vitamin, GLA supplement, Magnesium, weight loss formula vitamin

So I bought the book and read it, bought the recipe book. And I spent about $250 dollars at Earthfare (organic food store), and this doesn't include the $100 I spent at Publix before my sister informed me that the fruit and vegatables you buy have to be organic. Sigh. So... I waited until yesterday to start because I needed two weeks of uneventfulness to do this diet so I could follow it right (and because of course no smoking or drinking).

I'm going to use my blog to 'journal' about my experience on this diet. I was too exhausted yesterday to write anything, but I'll create new entries for Day 1 (yesterday) and then later tonight I'll blog about today. It was encouraged in the book to 'journal' about the diet, but I don't 'journal', so I'll just write about my starvation and suffering here so you can all laugh at me, especially when I report in two weeks that I lost probably only three pounds. If that's the case, I'm going to go straight to Five Guys and order a large fry and a giant burger... maybe two burgers. Mmmm...burgers. :*(

If you're interested, here's the link to the book:

3.20.2008

3.14.2008

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P.S. Don't forget to check out my Vegas pictures...awesome trip... 60th floor of the Wynn, made five times the money I took, and so much more... I love Vegas... I think we've decided to make it a yearly trip from now on.