Phase 2 Day 19

Well this morning I was pleasantly surprised with a weight loss of 1.8lbs! I don't know how that happened honestly, but I will take it. I am realizing just how important water is on this diet...I cannot go my day without flooding my system with tons of water. I have noticed a great improvement on the scale doing this, as well as in my hunger level and energy level. When I first read up on this diet, I thought...yeah, yeah, water is important...but I am now 100% convinced that it is necessary. So if you are on this diet or thinking about starting it, remember this tip...water, water, water!! Today was a busy, on-the-go day so I only drank 4 of my regular water bottle, and I have been drinking 5-6 consistently, that coupled with my big weight loss this morning will probably mean nothing tomorrow, but that's okay. I really enjoyed the food that I ate today, but looking back I realized that I used tomato for my fruit at both meals...I wonder if this will make a difference?

Here is what I ate today:
Breakfast: Water
Lunch: Curry Chicken with Tomato Soup
Dinner: Pork Loin Steak, 1/4 cup of my homemade tomato sauce, 2 melba toasts crushed (I mixed in salt, pepper, garlic powder, parsley as well) as breading for my 200g of zuchini rounds (so good!)

The funny thing about these zuchini rounds is that I made them all the time before this diet. I used way more Melba toast for the crumbs, egg for sticking the breading, and a ranch/sour cream mix for dip, but you know what?...these were so awesome too! I don't know whether it is because I haven't had any breaded food for three weeks, but I would make them this way all the time :)

Don't they look yummy?

Phase 2 Day 13, 14, 15

So, I have definitely not been keeping up with my blogging...but to be fair it has been a CRAZY weekend! On Friday I got to go watch my Mom graduate from her nursing program. She was the valedictorian and gave an awesome speech. I also had to go to a baby shower and birthday party this weekend, and of course I made all the gift that I was bringing. I made paper dolls, a tutu, 3 head bands, a onesie, baby blanet and burp cloth. I got very little sleep in the last week because of all these activities, but I LOVE doing this type of stuff so it is worth it!

As far as the eating, I have been doing great. This morning marks 14 lbs gone and I am still feeling great! Sometimes I catch myself wishing I had lost more weight, but honestly it is incredible that I have lost that much in two weeks! I am really looking forward to more results in the next week, including getting into the 240's, which is a place I haven't been in 5 years! These past few days have not been without challenges, I mean a shower with peanut butter chocolate brownies, a birthday party with cake and roasted potatoes, and tonight...I am baking for my year-end parties I hold for my students, as well as for the Grade 3 class. My favorite cookie is a sugar cookie and I just made, baked and iced 68 of them...it is a special kind of toture for someone who is doing a no sugar, no carb diet!

I wish I could say that I didn't sneak anything, but I did have a miniscule piece of dough...I couldn't resist. It was bad, but I think it will be okay tomorrow. My willpower will still stay, but I just "needed" to have a taste. At this point in the diet, I am feeling great but also starting to miss the way I used to eat. I am not having cravings for things, but I miss having a sandwich, or my homemade egg salad with rice cakes. I have definitely not lost perspective on why I am doing this, and I love the results so far. I am, however, looking forward to beginning to eat "normally" again because I have drastically changed the way I think about portions, food and eating habits in general. It will be nice to finally have control over my eating habits...thank you HCG!

Here is what I ate today:
Breakfast: Green Tea, Water
Lunch: 150g Cabbage (50 calories), 100g Ground Greek Chicken (114 calories), Green Tea
Dinner: 100g Chicken Breast (114 calories), 1/4 cup Homemade Tomato Sauce (25 calories), 200g Zuchini (32 calories), 2 Breadsticks (50 calories)

I am counting that tomato sauce as my fruit, and I FORGOT to eat my fruit throughout the day, but I am going to leave it because I am full and don't think I should eat if I'm not hungry. Anyways, I think I need to make my way to my bedroom to read because the smell of cookies and muffins is driving me CRAZY! (Oh, by the way I also made Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip muffins!)

Buffalo "Wing" Chicken with Celery Sticks

Ingredients:
100g Chicken Breast
150g Celery
20g Onion
1/2 T President's Choice Buffalo Sauce
Salt and Pepper to taste
Pam or vegetable spray

Spray a castiron pan with vegetable spray, and brown the chicken on each side for 2 minutes.

I chopped some of the 150g of celery, as well as 20g of onion for some flavour and added them to one side of the pan to brown and soften slightly.

Saute the celery mixture for 2-3 minutes, or until desired softness. Continue cooking the chicken.

 Then, shred the chicken right in the pan using a fork and knife. 

Toss together and then put mixture in a bowl.

I found this sauce at Superstore, and it is zero everything except for sodium! The plus side is that it has even less sodium than hot sauce. It is packed with flavor and you only need a little. 

 

Toss the celery and chicken mixture with 1/2 - 1 tablespoon of sauce, depending on how spicy you like it. Scoop onto your plate, along with the rest of the 150g serving of celery, which I made into sticks. You could also chop the celery and make a lemon juice or apple cider vinaigrette instead.

  Serve and be prepared for a flavor-packed lunch or dinner!

Calories: 143

Phase 2 Day 5

My weight today was 257.6, which brings me to 8 lbs down from my start weight. The funny thing is that I looked at that number and was disappointed for a second, and then I was like: REALITY CHECK...losing 1-2lbs every day is incredible...then I felt better lol :)

Nothing too eventful happened today, I was home from work today and I am pleased to say that I followed the diet plan perfectly today. I wasn`t even really tempted at all...there was one moment when I saw the chocolate chips on the counter and thought, just grab one, but I didn`t! I woke up late so the timing of my drops is all different today, as well as my meal times, so I am interested to see if that will affect my weight loss at all.

Here is what I ate today:
Breakfast: Water
Lunch: 100g Ground Chicken (114 calories), 100g Broccoli (34 calories), Apple Slices (72 calories)
Dinner: Beef Stuffed Tomatoes (202 calories), Melba Toast (20 calories)
You can find the recipe in this post.
Dessert: Strawberry Sorbet (64 calories)

Total Calories: 506

For my wonderful lunch, I place the broccoli on a dinner plate, with a spash of water and liquid aminos. Microwave for 1-2 minutes. Then toss in the liquid, add the chicken meat (which I had previously seasoned with homemade taco seasoning and fresh cilantro and froze) and microwave for another 1-2 minutes, depending on your microwave.

Add a little bit more liquid aminos, salt and pepper and you have a wonderfully filling lunch!

This is what I am drinking my water from everyday. Today I drank 6 of them, which is about 120 ounces of water, or one gallon. I am not kidding when I say that I am running to pee every half hour!

Have a good night, and here's hoping for another 1-2lb weight loss tomorrow morning!!

Phase 2 Day 4 ... a little late :)

I woke up this morning and I was 259.6, which means I have lost 8.4lbs total, and am 6lbs down from my start weight. I am super pleased with my progress so far, and I have to say that the fast results are SO motivating! I am also feeling awesome on the diet, not only am I not hungry, but I am not feeling lightheaded, low-energy or drained at all. I woke up this morning with an even worse cold, red eyes and a foggy head. Other than that, I am feeling great on this diet and am super motivated to keep going with it!

I have to tell you all about the hardest moment I have had since the diet started though...after school I went to the clinic because my eyes were so red, swollen and starting to have "goop." I knew that it must be an infection, so I went and sat for an hour to get in. I finally got in, and was told to go fill a prescription for antibiotic eye drops. I drive to Shoppers and right away I am in the land of temptation! Cookies, candy, pop, chips, chocolate, popcorn and every other kind of delicious, delectable goody that I simply cannot have right now was in arms reach. I shielded my eyes, went straight to the counter and filled my prescription. The woman grabs the drops and I am thinking, YES, this won't take long and I can get out of here! She then says the five words that send my willpower out the door: IT WILL BE AN HOUR...I am crushed, almost wanting to cry. My eyes are in so much pain and my willpower is out the window. Apparently they have to test the drops and can't just give them to me...but the woman saw that I was upset and said she would try to hurry. I began wandering around the store and even though I didn't want to, I went to the candy isle and just stared. First, I picked up the skittles that were on sale, then I picked up the Junior Mints, or and Jelly Beans were on sale...all of these delicious sweets, and I was SO close to buying one and scarfing it down. I texted my husband and was encouraging me to stay strong...and you know what, I didn't want to! All I wanted in the whole world was to eat that bag of skittles, but I am proud to say that I DIDN'T!! I don't think I can express how happy I am about this...I mean I actually resisted temptation in a time when I would have ALWAYS used food as a comfort. Food has never been just sustinence, it has been a crutch, a comfort, a reward...but today I broke that habit for the first time since I can remember. My mentality has always been to say, oh well I'll start again tomorrow, and instead I said, start today! If you are reading this and you are in a similar situation, I just want to encourage you...and I know how hard it is, excrutiating even! Keep going and choose to start now, not later!!

Here is what I ate today:
Breakfast: Iced Green Tea
Lunch: 150g of Broccoli (51 calories), 100g Ground Chicken (114 calories), Liquid Aminos, Melba Toast (20 calories)
Dinner: 200g of Asparagas/Zuchini (36 calories), 100g Tilapia (100 calories), 2 Melba toast (40 calories) Recipe here.
Dessert: 200g Strawberries made into a sorbet (64 calories)

Total Calories: 425

Today was an okay day for eating. I loved all the meals I made, but didn't drink enough water and had one extra melba toast by accident, and had to mix vegetables at dinner because I didn't have enough of one type. I also popped a piece of gum by accident today, so all in all it was not the most protocol day I have had, and hopefully I still lose tomorrow!

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?