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!!

Lemon Dill Tilapia with Lemon Garlic Asparagus

Ingredients:
100g Boneless, skinless Tilapia
1 lemon
1small bunch of dill
1 tsp dill, chopped
150g Asparagus, chopped into inch pieces
1/4 cup water, divided
1 garlic clove, crushed or minced
Spritz of Pam
Dash of Liquid Amino
Salt and Pepper to taste

 On medium heat, spray a castiron pan with Pam or zero calories vegetable spray. Place tilapia that has been seasoned with salt and pepper in the pan. Cook for 1 minute. 

Slice your lemon in half, and one of the halves into quarters. Squeeze the one half into the pan, slice one of the quarters and place on top of the fish. Add your bunch of dill on top of the fish and lemon. I also place the other lemon half down in the pan and it heats up, adds lemony flavour and you can continue to squeeze more juice out as it warms up. At this point I add 2 tbsp of water so the pan doesn't get dry.

Flip the fish, lemon and dill over. The dill and lemon will be in direct contact with the pan, but it serves as a flavour bed for your fish! Continue to cook for 4-6 minutes. While this is happening, place your asparagus in another pan with spray. Crush a garlic clove, and add that to the pan with salt and pepper. Saute this for 2 minutes, then add 2 tbsp of water and a dash of liquid amino. Continue sauteing until desired doneness. I like mine crisp tender, so they go for another 3 minutes, or until they turn bright green. 

 Place the asparagus and tilapia on the plate. I keep the lemons on that were in the pan and add the teaspoon of freshly chopped dill. Squeeze the remaining quarter of lemon on your asparagus. Serve and enjoy!

Calories: 130

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 4

I found out I have pink eye today...my eyes are tired and I am going to bed early! I promise I will update what happened today in the morning though :)

Good Night!

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 2

Today was a much better day! I didn't feel deprived at all, in fact I was never starving, which is great. When I woke up today I was pleasantly surprised as I was 265.2. This means that I have a net weight loss of 0.4 if you don't include the weight I put on in the loading phase...I am heading in the right direction that's for sure! Here is what I ate today:

Breakfast: Iced Green Tea

Lunch: 100g Ground Chicken Taco Meat (114 calories), 4 cups Lettuce (30 calories), Mustard Dressing

Dinner: 100g Tilapia (100 calories), 150g Asparagus (30 calories), 100g Strawberries (32 calories), Soda Water with Lemon

Dessert: Baked Apple Chips (72 calories), 100g Celery Sticks (14 calories), Melba Toast (20 calories)

Total Calories: 412

I can't believe I ate UNDER the 500 calorie allotment, but honestly I feel like I ate well and was satisfied...is that possible at that many calories? It is still so unbelievable to me! The BEST part of my day was going to the movies with my friend and NOT CHEATING! I was so so so proud of myself, and feel such an accomplishment. Well, it is late and I want to go to bed, but I will share the photos from my dinner, which was so yummy. I promise I will post the baked apple chips, and tilapia recipe very soon! Goodnight blogger world :) 

I combined my lemon soda water, fruit serving and a package of Stevia for a delicious and yummy drink!

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?