Week 4 - 7 pounds

Yup, 7 pounds.

This week was a little bit tough because of the 4th of July. I mean, how can you not cheat at a barbecue where bratwurst is featured? I did have Dan's permission.

Besides some sanctioned cheats, I was really good about food this week. The awesome part of this program is that I honestly don't get hungry. I've gotten in some great walks (there's a good park not too far away and it's a great day trip for us, and I have a good friend that I like to walk with) and even done some weights. I need to do more, of course, but I'm doing great.

And I lost 7 more pounds!

That means I'm down almost 20 so far. Yippee!


Okay, so I want to talk a bit more about what I'm learning. The gist of this program (Total Health & Fitness) is retraining my metabolism through smarter eating and exercise.

Basically, you need to eat at least 5 times a day - every 2 to 3 hours. At those meals you need to eat carbs and proteins, but you should only eat enough to get you through to the next meal.

My menu hasn't changed much from the beginning, but here's what I eat:
First meal (7 or 8 am): small bowl of cereal (I've discovered Honey Kix - yum and very low cal) and an egg (I usually spray a small paper plate with Pam and crack the egg and poke it with a fork, then microwave for 45 seconds - perfect and no clean up)

Second meal (around 10): cheese stick (Western Family are all of the following: cheapest, lowest fat, lowest cal, and best at "stringing"), 5 Triscuits (doesn't seem like much, but amazingly it's plenty - I eat the best flavor ever... fire roasted tomato, or sometimes the rosemary and olive oil), and a piece of fruit (although today I substituted with 3 very yummy tomatoes).

Third meal (noonish): sandwich (Sara Lee Delite bread has only 45 calories per slice, sliced deli-type ham or turkey, and I found some flavored american cheeses with only 70 calories per slice - I got a cheddar bacon flavor and a garden veggie flavor, tomatoes and pepperoncini if I've got them), and a handful of Sun Chips (we're back on!). I also drink a lot of Crystal Lite lemonade. I love that flavor, almost as much as I love the cherry pomegranate. It helps fill in the holes.

Fourth meal (around 3): half a cup of cottage cheese and a yogurt (Activia is pretty low cal). I like to mix them, but I might continue the obsession with good fresh tomatoes and do cottage cheese and tomato and then do yogurt separate.

Fifth meal (6ish): chicken breast or fish (I like to microwave a frozen breast for about 2 minutes, coat it with crusting and spices, and then cook it in the toaster oven for about 25 minutes), half a cup of brown rice or a small potato (I have to admit I'm not a big fan of brown rice - I don't like the texture. I do love wild rice but it's super expensive.), and a bunch of veggies. If I do a potato, I'll microwave it in a baggie for a couple minutes, cover it with fake butter (can't believe it's not...), veggies, and a dollop of fat free sour cream. It's surprisingly tasty.

Sixth meal (8): Skinny cow or other such yummy cold treat - about 100 calories or less. Yeah, not much of a meal, but it's a perfect late treat.

Dan said if I eat later than 7 pm I should cut out the rice or potato. And if I stay up really late I can do a small snack of protein (like a cheese stick or egg or something).

Simple enough, right?

So the deal is, you raise the calories every week till you're barely losing and then drop them suddenly again - this keeps you from hitting plateaus and also trains your metabolism higher and higher. Pretty nifty trick, eh?

I'd put up another pic, but the numbers aren't changing yet. Not there anyway.

Week 3 - another pound down

One lousy pound. Dan said not to be worried though because that shows him where my metabolism is. Now we drop 300 calories per day to start training my metabolism to be where we want it.

Apparently by raising and lowering the calories, that keeps me from hitting a plateau, and I'm totally okay with that.

Of course, I have to follow everything by the numbers this week. That means I have to get all 1300 of my calories as specified (I can still mix things up within though, like doing fish instead of chicken at dinner). And I have to keep walking/biking and I definitely need to do the weights that Dan has planned for me.

Dan said I could cheat at the bbq on the 4th, but otherwise I need to be good. I think I can do that as long as I do some shopping. I need the variety and I'm almost out of cheese sticks.

Interesting to note this week. Dan said that to maintain my current weight I'd need like 2700 calories a day. I'd like to think that's gross, but that's what I've been doing. I guess the Italians weren't kidding when they called me golosa (glutton). And I was even skinny (comparatively) back then. Crazy stuff.

I can't wait till my metabolism is back to healthy.