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?

HCG Phase 1

You read that right, I am doing HCG! After a lot of thought, conversations, research and prayer, I have decided to give this a try. I know seven people personally who have lost weight and kept it off with HCG, and honestly at this point I would just love anything that could help me take the weight off faster. So the loading days...they sound like fun right? For those of you who don't know, the first two days of this diet are "eat as much as you want, as often as you want" days...awesome right? Not as great as it sounds. There was so much pressure to eat crap, and believe me, I did. Pizza, perogies, sausage, cookies, chocolate bars, donuts, slurpee, breadsticks, salad (healthy, but so yummy), pasta, cupcakes, it was SICK (and not sick in the awesome way). Nevertheless, I "sacrificed" for the sake of the diet. I am really excited about the idea of eating healthy for the next little while, that's for sure! I took some before pictures of myself that I will share, and I have decided to share my weight as well. I HATE the idea of people knowing what I way, but then I think about it and realize that it is not like people can't see that I am fat...so what does a number matter? So here it is: (NO JUDGEMENT PLEASE!)I ended Day 2 at 268.0lbs, which I expected, however I HOPE this will be the last time I get to see that number on my scale!

Productive Day!

I thought I would take a break from my productive day to blog! I love the days when I am productive...I wish I could say it was all the time but often I let the computer, movies, reading etc...take priority. Not that these things aren't great, but I have been trying to grow in this area of productivity and motivation and I like seeing progress! Does anyone else find that it is WAY too easy to just sit around rather than do the things you know you need to get done? It's funny, I am very on-top of things in other areas of my life, but I find that I have never been disciplined with housework. The first few years of our marriage I let things just get out of control in our house all the time. I wouldn't do laundry until we needed it, or do dishes until I didn't have a pot to cook with. Then I would have to spend hours cleaning everything...it has taken me years to discover the advantages of cleaning all the time in order to maintain a clean house. Don't get me wrong, as I write this I am looking at a craft/sewing strewn house and I have a pile of clothes and laundry to fold and put away! It is not always spotless and I don't always keep up. However, I am A LOT better and A LOT more disciplined than I have ever been. After I get everything done, and have nothing hanging over my head, I feel so much better, calm, peaceful and at rest. I definitely take after my Dad that way, he also needs to have everything done to be able to relax. I suppose the importance of discipline carries over into many areas of our lives; whether it be health, fitness, eating habits, relationships, bible reading or medication. I realize that I need to begin to develop more discipline in my exercise and eating habits if I want to eventually get pregnant and lead a healthy life. Discipline is HARD, isn't it? In the blink of an eye we can let ourselves be distracted, or can offer an excuse that allows us to evade the things we need to do. So, in light of these thoughts, my goal for this upcoming week is to establish more routines and systems that will help me be more disciplined. I am thinking about ways to help with my "sweet tooth snacking", exercise plans for the week so I am not unsure and tools/visuals that will help keep my motivation up! I am thinking of something like this (thanks Pinterest):

Here's to a good week :)

"Isn't it ironic, don't ya think..."

Three pregnancy announcements in less than a week...God has a wonderful sense of irony, doesn't he? So I guess I am supposed to be learning a lesson in contentment. Jeremiah 29:11 ~ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. AMEN!