Day 38: In transition

Today-Saturday is the transition from P2 to P3 of this diet. It's been a crazy, crazy ride. I remember starting and thinking there is no way I could really do it. It was too hard. Too regimented. Too limited. I was skeptical. I was afraid. I was an emotional mess.

Now, on day 38, I'm a different person. I realized somewhere along the line that I am doing this not because I want to be skinny, not because I have to hit some arbitrary ideal weight that I thought I had to reach to be a success in life and to feel beautiful. I am doing this because I was just flat out tired of who I was. I wanted to be different. I wanted to feel different about my body. I wanted to be confident. I wanted to feel beautiful. I wanted to reflect my inner beauty on the outside.

In the last month, I've realized I want to choose to be different. I want to be healthier. I don't want to go back to the way I used to eat all the time. I want to enjoy a piece of chocolate and some pizza every now and then. But, I want to feel healthy and strong more than that. I want to keep these first 25 lbs off. I'd like to lose more. I'd like to lose another 15-20, realistically (I know that doesn't reflect the goals on the side of my blog, but I'm starting to wonder if I've been so obsessed with being a number on the scale that I've forgotten some other things).

I am looking forward to learning how to eat with more options in my diet. I'm sure it will be a trial and error kind of experience. I'm sure I will have days where I completely blow it and days where I completely succeed. I'm learning to be okay with that.

This year, I drew a line in the sand. I said I either have to be okay with my body the way it is or I have to change it. I chose change. And it's been hard. But it's been so worth it.

Day 37: Skinny jeans and all

I was really hoping for another pound of weight loss today, but only had .4. I'm trying to resign myself to the fact that I won't hit my next goal before this round is over, but I'm not quite giving up yet.

In very happy news, I am wearing "skinny jeans" for the first time in my adult life. This may not seem like a big deal to most people. But, to someone who readily wears baggy, hide my body clothes at every and any opportunity, the concept of skinny jeans was always ridiculous. I wouldn't want to show off my body like that. I wouldn't want to show off my curves. I wouldn't want people to see me.

But, I needed more jeans. So, I went shopping last week and bought a pair of skinny jeans - on purpose. And, I'm so thankful for Liz, who I texted at an obscenely early hour in Chicago this morning just for her assurance that I really could pull them off. I will admit, I'm feeling a little sassy in them. Oh, and now I want boots!

Day 36

Woo-hoo! A 1.4 lb lost this late in the game is definitely something to celebrate. I'm just 2.6 from where I wanted to end this round, with until Saturday to do it. I feel like that's something I can accomplish if i drink lots of water and stick to the approved list pretty closely!

YAY!

I've been looking at recipes for what I'm going to start eating next week. Strangely, I'm most excited about salads - big salads with lots of different veggies.

I'm telling you, these Walden Farms dressings have CHANGED my life.

After this initial 40 days, I will continue blogging on this site, but I will not be writing every day. I want to keep checking in and being held accountable, though!

Day 34 & 35

As I suspected, I didn't lose anything Sunday morning. I'm convinced it had something to do with weighing in earlier than normal.

Now, it's Monday. The last Monday of this phase of the diet. As much as I have been looking forward to this week, I am a little terrified. I'm still just a few pounds away from where I would like to be for this phase. I really want to reach my goal. At the same time, I'm finding myself more and more tempted by other foods and wanting to eat more variety!

My prayer is that I take reintroducing new foods into my diet slowly and don't gain back the weight. I've worked so hard the last 35 days!

Day 33: Almost done blogging every day

...and that's probably a good thing. Because I am OUT of things to say.

So, i lost a bit today. It would be disappointing, but i look at the whole picture and i've lost 2.4 pounds in basically 2 days. Focusing on the positive.

In other news, I ate some nasty Tuna mixture for lunch today. Or tried to. It was gross. No lunch for me.

Day 32: Counting Down instead of Up!

Just a few more days to go. I'm going into my last full weekend of this phase and I'm excited about that. At the same time, adding calories and integrating more food into my diet is looming and I'm so nervous about that!!
I managed to be down another pound this morning. YAY! Right now, though I'm struggling to get all my water in and just don't want to drink any more of it. So, hopefully I can power through and tomorrow will be okay, too. Just a few more days, just a few more pounds. I read a lot last night of how people doing this move on the P3. Some have great luck, some have horrible luck and bounce around a lot. I'm really hoping I'm one of those great luck people!!

Day 31: Six pounds. Nine days. Let's do this.

High protein day yesterday was a success! Now, if only I had done that on Monday :) Still not the huge weight loss that I wanted, but I think I broke through my set weight. I hope so, anyway. Tomorrow will be the big test...as long as the scale keeps moving DOWN, I'm good. Back on program today. I'm not hungry at all anymore, so I actually have to remind myself to eat :) Which is a strange, but very good, thing.

I would really REALLY REALLY like to lose 6 more pounds before this phase ends. That means I have to lose about a half a pound a day through the end of this phase. That sounds like a lot, but it's totally doable. I woke up this morning determined to get that blasted T-shirt that has sat, wrapped, on top of my dresser for 18 months. I WILL be wearing it in 9 days. I believe in myself. It helps that I have some awesome readers who also believe in me :)

I made some tomato soup the other night. It was super tasty, AND diet friendly:

2 Cups vegetable broth I used organic stock because it had less calories
2 Cups fresh to tomatoes, diced and seeded
2 T garlic, minced
2 t garlic powder
5-6 basil leaves
oregano, marjoram, salt and pepper to taste

Blend everything together until smooth. Put in soup pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for 20 minutes. Garnish with fresh basil. Makes two 1 cup servings. Counts as a vegetable serving.

It was warm and yummy. I made Tim tomato soup out of a can that night. I think I liked mine better :)