Phase 2 Day 30 and 31

Well today (really yesterday as I'm posting late!) I completed my first day without the drops. It actually went okay. I am finding that I am getting a lot hungrier in the mornings, but it does pass after an hour or so. The last couple days I found that I wasn't as turned off by the food I have been eating, which is a blessing because I didn't know what I was going to do if that continued! I have been doing this for a month now, and honestly I still feel like the absolute hardest part is the mental "game". I have always been an emotional eater...I eat when I'm stressed, celebrating, sad, happy, depressed...food is comforting in all situations for me. Sam and I have also built our marriage partially around enjoying and rewarding with food. If one of us is having a hard day, the other one would pick up a "treat", or if something wonderful happens...we go out for dinner! I do really miss our date nights at Earls, and grabbing a Starbucks together...but it is SO important that we break the habit of expecting this. Habits are so easy to form and so hard to break. In the last month I had hoped that my dependence on food would disappear into thin air...no such luck. I definitely realize that this is a lifelong struggle for me, and any progress in breaking these habits is good progress.

On Friday I will be starting a two-week holiday, first to the Okanagan for a wedding, then to Vegas for 5 days, and finished off with a week at my families trailer. It is going to be amazing, but I have been desperately trying to find a way to make my meals easier and on plan. I am so relieved that I will be on Phase 3 by then so that I can at least have a mixed salad for a meal. The funny thing about vacations is that we give ourselves license to EAT, am I right? Sam and I even have a recurring joke about this when we want to get something unhealthy (rationalization mixed with denial, I know!) In light of this, here are some of the things that I am doing to make my vacation eating easier:

In the Okanagan
- protein powder and my shaker bottle for on-the-go smoothies
- little baggies of nuts in my purse for an emergency snack attack
- eat a filling, on plan lunch before the wedding ceremony
- drink 2-3 glasses of water before going to the buffet
- stick to raw veggies with minimal dressing and scrape off sauce from the meats
- eat from the fruit platter for dessert
- get my family to keep me in check :)

In Vegas
- protein powder and my shaker bottle for on-the-go smoothies
- little baggies of nuts in my purse for an emergency snack attack
- at restaurants/buffets eat from the salad bar
- go to Walmart (there's one near our hotel, woo hoo) and buy some sugar-free candies to ward off a sweet tooth
- on anniversary night...eat what I want...but in VERY small amounts
I know that we are going to go out for our anniversary and I want to be able to eat "normal", but I plan to eat very little of the things that I shouldn't. For instance if there is sauce, it will be on the side and I will just use a bit. Or if there are carbs...I will sub a salad or mixed veggies with a little dressing.
- AVOID alcohol completely!

At the Trailer
- bring recipes for coconut flour pancakes for breakfast and coconut flour "bread" for lunch and dinner (I need to do this sparingly still...)
- the coconut flour bread can be wedged into "nacho chips" and served with cheese and salsa
- pre-bake phase 3 appropriate brownies and peanut butter cookies
- buy natural peanut butter, sugar-free jam and syrup to make breakfast more accessible
- use strong cheese (parm, blue, feta) to add lots of flavour to meat and veggies...it will feel like cheating :)
- drink A LOT of water
- gets lots of exercise by swimming and hiking
- make a no-sugar yogurt berry smoothie when the gang goes to my favorite ice cream place!!
*This will be the hardest to say no to I think!*

This is everything I have thought of, and prepared for. For me, I think this is probably the most important part, because I need to set myself up for success or else it will be way too hard to think of "on plan" things in the spur of the moment. If you have any other tips, feel free to share!!

Homemade Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:
1 can (28 ou) Crushed Tomatoes
*make sure the ingredients are only tomato, water and salt*
1-2 Tbsp Oregano, freshly chopped
1-2 Tbsp Basil, freshly chopped
1-2 Tbsp Parsley, freshly chopped
1 tsp Garlic powder
1 tsp Pepper
1/2 tsp Salt

Place everything into a saucepan, heat and serve! I will portion the rest into servings and freeze!

 

I served this with zuchini "spaghetti" and chicken breast. I even dipped my breadstick into the rest that was left on my plate...it is SO yummy!

Calories: 25 calories (1/4 cup)

Beef Stuffed Tomatoes

Ingredients:
100g of ground beef (originally cooked with salt, pepper, dried parsley, and garlic powder)
1/2 tbsp of liquid aminos
200g of tomatoes, weighed after being hollowed out (around 3)
1/2 tbsp of fresh parsley
1 Melba toast, crushed

Saute the whole package of extra lean ground beef, keeping in mind how many servings to get out of the total amount. Added salt, pepper, garlic powder and dried parsley to taste.

Portion the beef into 100g portions. (The 4 bags infront hold my ground chicken taco meat).

Take one package of the beef and place it in the castiron frypan with the liquid aminos and parsley. While this is warming up, hollow the tomatoes. Fill them with the beef mixture and top with melba crumbs. Put them in a 375 oven for 5 min, just until warmed through (I don't like the tomatoes soggy). Top them with a little bit more liquid amino, parsley to garnish and serve immeadiately.

Calories: 193

Phase 2 Day 3

This morning was the best morning ever...I was down 4 pounds!!!! It is unreal that I have technically lost 6.8 pounds since Monday, so far this is working! So how has my day been? Pretty good on the hunger front, but I have a bit of a sore throat and a hoarse voice, which is not awesome.

One thing that I love is that I have learned so much about myself in such a short time. I am beginning to realize that I was completely kidding myself before this diet. Was I really eating healthy, was I really eating the right foods? These past three days I have thoroughly enjoyed everything I have eaten, and it doesn't feel like a hardship at all. I have to say that the cravings have been super hard, but I am realizing more and more that the way I was eating was habitforming. I convinced my brain that I needed a sweet snack after dinner, and I convinced my brain that a HUGE portion of a healthy meal was okay. I am encouraged by the progress I am making, not only with my waistline, but with my mindset.

Here is what I ate today:
Breakfast: Iced Green Tea with Lemon
Lunch: 100g Fake n Bake Chicken (114 calories), 4 cups of Lettuce (30 calories), Mustard Dressing, Melba Toast (20 calories), Apple Slices (72 calories)
Dinner: 100g Extra Lean Ground Beef (137 calories), 200g Tomatoes (36 calories), Liquid Amino, Melba Toast (20 calories)
Snack: Apple Crisp (72 calories and recipe from my SIL here)

Total Calories: 501

My dinner was SO yummy! I would eat this all the time, and I don't even really like ground beef. In my everyday life I see this as a main dish, with a big salad on the side. I was wondering though, if on Phase 2 the tomatoes could count as a fruit and then I could have other vegetables on the side. I might try that at some point.

Beef Stuffed Tomatoes
100g of ground beef
Salt, pepper, garlic powder, dried parsley to taste
1/2 tbsp of liquid aminos
200g of tomatoes, weighed after being hollowed out
1/2 tbsp of fresh parsley
1 Melba toast, crushed

I sauteed the whole package of extra lean ground beef, keeping in mind how many servings I had to get out of the total amount. I added salt, pepper, garlic powder and dried parsley. I portioned these into 100g servings. I took one and put it my cast iron frypan with the liquid aminos and parsley. While this is warming up, hollow the tomatoes. Fill them with the beef mixture and top with bread crumbs. Put them in a 375 oven for 5 min, just until warmed through (I don't like the tomatoes soggy). Top them with a little bit more liquid amino and serve immeadiately!

Phase 2 Day 1

 I WROTE THIS LAST NIGHT, BUT FORGOT TO POST :)

This is just some of the stuff I have portioned in the fridge, and a post about everything I did to prepare for the diet is coming up soon!

I WAS STARVING for most of the day today!! I woke up not feeling great, but also feeling hungry, and right there I knew that this was not going to be the best day ever! I took my iced green tea that I had brewed the night before (recipe to follow) in a travel mug and set off on my day. First thing, I had a meeting with my new boss...oh by the way, I AM A GRADE 1/2 TEACHER now!!! I am incredibly happy about this, but moving on. My stomach gurgled and growled the whole meeting, I was mortified. Anyways, then I went to school, got busy teaching and was able to hold out until lunch. By 4:00pm, I was starving again and munched on my celery and melba toast VERY SLOWLY until I got home. Needless to say, I am worried about the rest of this diet...can I hold out until the end? I WILL, I WILL, I WILL!

This was what I ate today:
Breakfast: Iced Green Tea
Lunch: 100g Chicken (114 calories) 4 cups Lettuce (30 calories) Strawberries (32 calories)
Snack: Celery (14 calories) Melba Toast (20 calories)
Dinner: 100g Steak (287 calories) 3 cups Spinach (25 calories) Melba Toast (20 calories)
Snack: Baked Apple Chips (72 calories)

Total Calories:  614 (oops, a little over)

For the green tea I took out a juice jug, brewed 4 tea bags of green tea, added 12 drops of stevia and placed it in the fridge. I just pour it in my travel mug, over ice, add some lemon if I am feeling like it and I am good to go!

I will also post the recipe of the baked apple chips tomorrow. I REALLY hope that today's hunger will equal WEIGHT LOSS! Don't these look awesome?

Mid-week Report Card

Well, if I had to give myself a grade on the week so far I would give myself a B. I have been eating really healthy, getting all my veggies and water in! I am making wise cooking choices, and am resisting the urge to snack afterschool and at night. I started a new knitting project, which has been helpful as well! On the other hand, I have been pretty awful at journalling this week. I did it Saturday, and haven't done it until today again! I have been counting the points in my head, but it is never the same because you too easily miss things when you do it in your head. I have also only exercised once this week, and I really wanted to do something at least twice this week...I guess that means that I will have to do something Thursday or Friday :) I am really looking forward to another great weight LOSS this week, and I would love to lose 2lbs or more so I can get my first "bravo" star...lol, I am such a dork!

On a different note, I was at youth tonight and some of the girls asked if they could pray that I would get pregnant! They don't know my situation at all, but I was pretty touched that they asked me if they could. It worked for one of the other youth leaders so, you never know :P

What a good day, and it's only 10am!

I am already having a great day and it's only 10am! I went to Weight Watchers this morning and I lost 3 lbs exactly! I was definitely not expecting that at all! I bought a bunch of Weight Watcher snacks at the meeting, learned some useful tips and was feeling SO GOOD that I got home and immediately went for a run/walk! I am now going to "splurge" and have squirrly bread with cheese whiz, YUM!

Knitting: The Dieting Miracle?

It's not really news that I am trying to lose weight. Really this is something that I have been "trying" to do my entire late teen/adult life. This time it is connected to something bigger, having a baby, so I am trying to be really serious about it! In light of this, I joined Weight Watchers last week. I have had some moderate success on my own the last year, but I feel like I need the accountability of a program. I have my first weigh-in tomorrow morning and I am not optimistic for huge numbers, although I am sure that I did lose weight. Mental Note: Don't start Weight Watchers on the week of Thanksgiving :)

It is amazing to me how much my thinking has changed even in this past week. I have always been concerned with eating healthy meals, but this week I was so much more aware of what I was choosing to eat. For instance, tonight Sam and I wandered around the grocery store for 45 minutes just to figure out what to eat...everything we wanted turned out to be high in points. Surprisingly we ended up with a pasta-veggie-alfredo toss for only 9 points!! It was delicious and I feel like I ate a gigantic meal!!

I have also been trying to think of ways that I can curb my late-night eating. If there is one thing that I love, and crave, it is eating something sweet at the end of the night. I know all the research says that eating after dinner is awful for weight loss and for digestion, but I have such a sweet tooth!! Anyways, I was driving home from work today and all of a sudden it hit me: when I have a knitting project on the go, my hands are busy, I don't think about snacking, and I don't eat the extra points! I LOVE knitting and I LOVE that it helps me stop snacking! It is my dieting miracle!! I have three new projects in mind already: a blanket for my niece (her request lol, and how could I resist?), a cowl for myself, and a Christmas present that I won't share just in case the person is reading this! I hope that this will be the beginning of a beautiful friendship between my shrinking body and my knitting needles :)

Cheers to weight loss and knitting!!

New School Year...New Fertility Approach

I am heading into a new school year, my third as a teacher, and I can't help feel that "turn over a new leaf" feeling. September has always been one of my favorite times of year because of new school supplies (I have a weakness for pens and notepads), new school clothes, and a new class! This year, I am the teacher in this scenario, but those feelings are still evoked nonetheless. In keeping with this new leaf, I decided to go to a different doctor. This was one of the best things I could have done. He has such a different approach to whats going on with me. In our first session, I felt like more was done than there had been in the past year. He is confident that I will get pregnant, and he was honest that it is going to mean some hard work and dedication from me. He was blunt about my need to exercise and lose weight, and doesn't believe in pumping me full of hormones or fertility drugs just yet. He wants to see me in two months and see progress with my weight. Talk about incentive...I can't just show up and not have lost any weight. Honestly, I don't really know why this time is different...its not like I didn't know that I needed to lose weight, but having a doctor give you a deadline is kind of a wake up call. He suggested that I join Weight Watchers and join a gym, and make these a major priority in my life. I have to treat this like a problem I have. I have never really thought of my weight this way, its always more been a weakness in my eyes. I have to treat this like I have high blood pressure, or type 2 diabetes...something that I need to work to maintain.

So, in light of my new doctor and my new beginnings I am going to join WW and begin an exercise regime. I am going to be honest, every other time that I have attempted to maintain exercise or weight loss, I have failed. I am still working through and thinking of ways that I am going to be able to keep this up. My major incentive, of course, is having a baby, but I am thinking that I need to put up reminders around the house that remind me of this! Or perhaps a reward system: every month I lose weight I get to buy something for our future baby. I am still thinking through this, but if there is anyone out there who reads this and has ideas for perseverance, I would appreciate anything :)

This summer has flown by and I can hardly believe that I am looking toward a new school year in just a few weeks! I have many hopes, dreams and goals for this year, and as soon as I have them all figured out I am going to blog about them so I have a constant reminder of what I really want out of this year! Now to narrow down all the things I want to do/have...could be a big task!!

Mel :)

Decisions, decisions, decisions...

The last week or so I have been pondering whether I should give Clomid another try. I tried it for 4 months and it did not get my body to ovulate. After that I explored the naturopathic route and have been doing that since March. It has not worked either, although for the past three months my period has come on time...which is a miracle! I am wondering if the Clomid might be more effective now that my period is more regular. I would keep the vitamins and supplements going, and also do the Clomid. I don't like the idea of the effects that the Clomid could have on my body, but at this point it is the only thing different that we can afford to try. I am trying to be careful not to let my desire for a baby cloud my judgement about this...but most days I feel desperate to just try or do something!!

This summer I am also going to be working on losing weight. The doctors have tested me for, what seems like, everything under the sun, and there is nothing wrong. What is wrong, is that I am about 100 lbs overweight, and this is the only thing they can think of that could be causing it. This is very specific to the woman as there are many women who are much heavier than me and they have conceived. For me, the weight seems to affecting my hormone levels, causing excess estrogen and therefore not inducing ovulation. My hopes for the summer are that I stick with my exercise plan, continue to make healthier eating choices and lose 25 lbs! I have committed to doing my Couch to 5km program, as well as walk...A LOT! Sam and I are going to also be walking in the evenings, and geochaching, which is good exercise if you choose the right area to walk to!

I am very hopeful that with losing more weight in the summer, exercising, and continuing to take the vitamins and supplements that I will get pregnant before the year is out! It saddens me in a lot of ways that I am thinking so far ahead, but I understand that this is a process...and it will feel good to lose more weight before I get pregnant anyways!! I am going to be blogging my journey through the summer...all the nitty, gritty details of the ups and down, and all the real numbers...yikes! I am looking forward to it, and hope that this will keep me a bit more accountable!

In other news, my sister is nearly a month away from her due date, and I cannot wait to meet my little niece or nephew!! My sister and I have always been close, and in some ways I think her baby will feel like the closest thing to my own, until I have my own. I am very excited to share all those special moments with her, and I love that she comes to me with baby questions still, even though I have never had one!! In some ways, this is like I pictured it...I get to help and support my sister through this, even if I have never experienced it myself. I have begun knitting a baby blanket for the new babe, and when I make a bit more progress, I will post pictures!

As I right this I am staring out the window at pouring rain, and am finding it hard to believe that it is the middle of June! I cannot believe that this is the last week of school. Of course, as a teacher, the work doesn't stop when the students stop coming, there are exams and study sessions and my tutoring students to help as well. I am working and tutoring non-stop right now, which is extremely tiring and exhausting! The countdown is on to June 28th, which is when my much-deserved restful and relaxing summer begins, I cannot wait!!