Finished with Week one on 17 Day Diet... Weigh In Results!

Week 1 over with on the 17 Day Diet and I'm down 13.5 lbs. Ivan has lost 13 lbs. This was a remarkably easy week. No cravings for carbs at all, which shocked us! The only day that was difficult for me was Friday, due to not having any meat... I'll be better prepared this week for that.

My feet are way less swollen, which is a huge accomplishment for me... so gone is THAT discomfort. I haven't been super great about walking... Back and leg still an issue, but will definitely try to be more mobile each and every day. I have about a month to prep for the walking we'll be doing at the Science and Engineering convention in DC. I feel I'm on the right track, though.

We took a pic on Saturday... we'll use this as our before photo, even though we were both about 9 lbs down... but since it was just water weight, it should be good enough to start with.

Realization!

I am posting this in my blog so that I can read it over and over and just when I feel down and defeated... over again and hope that it makes me THINK hard!

I've tried plans most of my adult life... and the fact that I'm here and starting the 17 Day Diet at age 44 and at near my highest weight ever... it just means that I've QUIT each and every one of those times.

For me, I get to the point where I feel that it's coming off so slowly that it won't matter if I go off for a day or so... as I can jump right back on and then continue losing it.. but I never do get back on track... All those wasted years...

Well, let's just think this through. WORST case scenario... I don't LOSE anything for every single day I'm on a "plan"... well... at least I'm eating healthier and if I'd have stuck with THOSE diets, I'd not be 100 lbs more than I was then!

OR... maybe I'm losing SUPER slow.... (1 lb a week). Well, multiply that by 52 weeks and what do you know? I'm down 52 lbs by this time next year. I'll TAKE IT!

Let's say I've lost say 7 lbs a month... doesn't seem fast enough for me at all... BUT.. 7 x 12 is 84 lbs... now, I'm almost 1/2 way to goal... WOW... to think that in 2 yrs I can be at GOAL??? That definitely isn't the path I've been on til now, but I truly want to be on that path!

Marie... breathe. Believe in yourself. You CAN do this and it doesn't matter how fast you do it... just that you DO IT. Do NOT give up. Enjoy that in a year you'll have lost a considerable amount of weight and that for the first time in years, you are closer to seeing the goal you have been striving for. I believe in you!

Eager Me... very typical, actually.

I never stick to what I say I'm going to do when it comes to telling myself to weigh in only once per week. I get all excited to see if it's working and at least when I'm this motivated, it doesn's always make me stop... so after going to bed last night with a hugely swollen foot, and waking up with a fairly normal sized one... I stepped on the scale... Only TWO full days on this 17 DD completed and I lost 7 lbs already. I KNOW it's only water, but I swell alot, so water is one of the best things for me to lose! I'm happy this is going on the right path. Right now, I'll be happy if the 7 lb loss still shows on Monday of next week.

I've also been struggling with the exercise. My back is very sore all the time.. and it seizes up on me where I just can't move. I did walk last Friday and saturday (not alot, but some)... but didn't on Sunday or Monday... and yesterday, I cleaned so much that I worked up a sweat here at home, so I just didn't bother... I don't live in a horrible place, but walking around my neighborhood just isn't that motivating... so I think that starting today, I'm going to take advantage of my 15 minute breaks at work and walk for however long I can... sit when I have to and get back up again and hopefully move some more. I'm hoping to really get used to this and have my back loosen up enough to where I can get to the point of walking w/o stopping.

Well, that's it for now... Hope everyone has a great day!

Dinner tonight C1R1D2

I can get used to this low/no carb diet! artichoke with creamy salsa sauce and taco boats! Yumm!

17 Day Diet - Days 1 & 2

Hi everyone... here we go again! Maybe I can keep up with the blog now that I am on this diet and wanting to document it.

I actually got my husband, Ivan, to commit to doing this with me. I am keeping my fingers crossed that we both can last and have it really take off the bulk of the weight we want to lose.

I started this yesterday, March 19th, 2012 (Monday). First day... well, not super bad at all. Spent most of it in the bathroom at work. You wake up to a hot water with lemon to get your digestive juices flowing... then drink a green tea with every meal. Not to mention the 8 glasses of water a day... I suppose I'll report a water weight loss next Monday. I'm ok with that... Rather have it off then on.

I sort of made a mistake the first day... not a mistake by going off the diet in any way... but I had spent Sunday night, prepping for the week... and that included cutting up celery and carrots to munch on. Well, I basically took my meals for breakfast and lunch at work... and all I had left at the end of the day were these raw veggies. Nothing against them, I might add, but it definitely feels like you are dieting when munching on them. I won't be making that mistake again! It wasn't fun and very bland.

One thing I've been dealing with lately is major back pain. Well, to be honest, been dealing with it for years now... Anyway, been trying to start walking, which should be done with this diet (well, exercise basically, not just walking)... but my back has been seizing up so bad that I can't move. Today, I took the day off to rest my back. I went to the store for some Aleve and picked up a few more things for the fridge to make this week bearable.

Picked up some precooked turkey and chicken... way more expensive, but with Ivan working... and my back the way it is... We just aren't down in the kitchen cooking all day. We did boil eggs for the week. Cut up veggies, as I mentioned earlier... Tonight, I'm going to brown some ground turkey and put taco seasoning in it... I'm imagining the meat rolled up in napa cabbage or romaine which should be a fairly easy thing to take to work. Bought some greek non-fat, plain yogurt for a probiotic, which is seriously a yogurt I could never stomache. I'm sure I'll get used to it. I ended up dipping my morning apple in it and it was more bearable just that way.

Ivan and I do tend to keep things simple when trying to watch what we eat. We seem to repeat meals alot... we aren't ones to scour cookbooks looking for new ways of eating things. However, I did glance through my 300 under 300 HG cookbook and found a few things in there that I'll work with. One is just a simple dip for my veggies or the artichoke I intend to make tonight with dinner... just a bit of the greek yogurt with salsa. Sounds simple. Hope it's good, too.

We are only going to weigh in once a week (Monday mornings)... and then post our results here. Wish us both luck! We are getting older, as we all are and just can't not do this and wait for another time... this is it. We will prevail!