Day 5 - finally some food

So, today I got to eat the following:

Toast with cashew butter (that I made myself!  like peanut butter, but with cashews) and raisins.

A turkey bacon cranberry cheese muffin sandwich with cashews -- this is so yum I want to eat it all the time.

Black bean dip with cheese, cumin, garlic and olive oil (again, that I made myself) and carrots to dip in it.

Pepperoni pizza and wine.

Okay - so a couple of things about this.  You should hear the inflection in my voice when I say "I made it myself".  There is a little head swagger that goes along with it.  Why?  Because it tastes so yummy.  I didn't finish all of the black bean dip stuff, but mostly because I was embroiled in a work thing.  I had to even bring it to my meeting to eat and I felt like a fool because I was eating in front of senior management.  But whatever, have to stay on the diet, right?

Again, I felt hungry after the breakfast, but that might be because I SCARFED it down before my first meeting rather than taking time out.  I mean I did take 6 whole minutes to eat it.  There is something to be said for enjoying food.  I was hungry when I went to eat the bean dip, but that's mostly because it was TIME to eat.  I was about a half hour late to eating (outside the 4 hours), so, I'll let that one pass.

I was NOT hungry however the entire time before the pizza.  Which is pretty cool considering I didn't eat all of the bean dip.  And, speaking of the pizza.  I had to improvise with some of the ingredients because my grocer didn't have some of the things on the list.  So, I've had to improvise a bit, but I'm sticking to the amount of calories in each meal.  I did have two glasses of wine with dinner, which is NOT part of the calories allotted.  But I've been really working on working out, so I don't feel badly about that.  And the book says that you can have alcohol in moderation AND if you account for it in the caloric intake of your day.  So, I did.  Besides, I'm going to be working out Saturday and Sunday in the gym.  So, I'm not going to take ANY guilt at all about this.

Day six has some other interesting food, so, we'll see how that goes.  I'm airing all my secrets about the things that I'm NOT doing that the book says to do, but I think I'm pretty proud of myself for sticking to the caloric intake and the exercise regime.  I did watch tv last night while I was eating the pizza, but I took more time out than normal to chew each piece.  And it kind of makes a difference.  The only part I don't like about that taking longer thing is the way the consistency of the food feels.  It's really mushy.  Now, I know that's the way it's supposed to be, but it takes some getting used to.  I'm a person who works at a million miles an hour as a pace, so it's hard for me to slow down.  But I think I'm trying.

Off to another successful day!

Day 4 - kind of amazing

So, I have to show you a picture of what is generally sitting on my living room table when I get home.  Mikal is sick and it's the only thing he asked for.   I have resisted for FOUR days the ENTIRE bag of Reeses Peanut Butter cups.  I have not had one.  It's pretty amazing.  And yes, for real, the stuff that has been sitting beside that bag are 1) my Sassy
Water - which Mikal says smells, but I really like it.  It has kick. 2) My Flat Belly Diet book.  I find this amusing.

As for What I ate yesterday:
Oatmeal
Dried Plums
Chopped Cashews with Cinnamon
Rice Krispies
Skim Milk (twice)
Raisins
Cinnamon Toasted Sunflower Seeds
Strawberry Smoothy
Turkey cutlet
brown rice
sauteed summer squash
Lots of Sassy Water

What I did:
Walked to Work
The Metabolism Workout
Walked at Lunch (shopping - and even got Mikal some presents)

How I feel:
Well, today was kind of tough.  I was hungry for my meal that I have at 11am and I was hungry for my meal to have at 3pm, but not as bad.  And I was hungry for my meal I made for 6:25.  But I also didn't follow the advice of taking time out for ANY of those meals.  I sort of did for dinner and it took me the longest, but really, I eat while I work and don't slow down.  But I should.  So, for next week, I have a goal of doing that for at least three of my meals.  Gotta start small right?

But for Day 5 - I'm excited.  I prepared all the food (and then some) for the next couple of days.  I have SO MUCH food in the house compared to the porportions I'll be making with that food.  So, I have a lot of things in the freezer and in plastic storage.  So, it should be interesting to see how much of it I use over the next weeks.

So, here's the big news:
Weight: 173.5 - loss of 5.5 lbs
Left Arm: 13" - .5" loss
Right Arm: 13.5" - .25" loss
Waist: 33" - 1.5" loss
Belly: 40" - .5" GAIN
Chest (below): 35.5" - .5" GAIN
Boobs: 40.5" - 1" loss
Right Thigh: 23.75 - .25" loss
Left Thigh: 23.75 - .25" loss

Overall loss in the last 96 hours
5.5lbs
2.75" overall

Though, I do have to say, my clothes don't fit any better.  I wanted to put a picture with this post, but the problem is that my magic mouse died in the middle of this posting, so I probably won't be able to post this even to facebook.    Wait, I just got it to work - geez, a thing should warn you about low batteries.

Okay, okay, I don't get points because it's "artistic".  I just like this photo type.  So, most of my pictures of me will be like this.  Maybe it'll show whether or not I'm losing.  That's for you to decide.

Anyway - I'm excited to eat some good food.

Day 3 - a couple more things

I spent about an hour at the grocery store trying to put together the amount of food for the three days after the first four days.  It cost me $94.  WHAT????  Plus it was really hard to find some of the things on the list for the recipes.  So, I had to make due with some non-list stuff.  I'm hoping I can figure out the calorie thing.

The other thing I must confess to is 1) I still am not taking time out to eat except at dinner and 2) I went 4.5 hours between eating rather than the MANDATORY 4.  I missed dinner by about a 1/2 hour, but that was because I was shopping and I had to cook when I got back.

Does anyone know how little 3oz of meat is?  It's little.  I feel hungry now and it's 9:11pm. . . so, I just have to drink some water and try to move on.  I'm hoping that on Day 5 when I get to eat NORMAL non boring food I won't be hungry.  The book CLAIMS I will be not hungry.  We'll see.

So, the thing the book wants me to journal about tonight is being mindful about my meals.  Taking the time without tv or reading or anything. ..

I don't particularly like looking at the wall and for real, the food is too boring.  I could if he food wasn't boring, but it is, so I don't want to just think about eating it.  But maybe that will change when I start the "real" part of the diet.

And here's another thing - I haven't had a crap in three days.  This is NOT NORMAL.  I know this is over share, but they say that you can lose up to 7.5 pounds in the first 96 hours. . . but I imagine that means you must expel things and this is a non bloat part of the diet and it's meant to compact stuff in your intestine (I know this is gross, but they do talk about it in the book).  The book explains all of this - and it's actually pretty interesting.  Okay - enough gross, but I just wanted to say. . . geez.

Okay what did I eat today

Rice Krispies
Skim Milk
Raisins
Cinnamon covered toasted sunflower seeds (YUM)

Peach smoothy (actually very good)

Turkey slices
Tomatoes (ANOTHER PINT - I dare anyone to say this isn't a lot when you eat them)
String cheese

Lemon marinated chicken
Green Beans
Roasted potatoes with olive oil and herbs (YUM)

LOTS OF SASSY water.  But I'll be having more water.

The good thing about today is that I did the belly buster work out and it was easier than on Monday.  Which is a bonus.  You do it every other day (alternate with the Metabolic one), so I get to look forward to something different every day.

I walked about 4 miles today too.  In fact, the last .5 mile was with 30lbs of groceries.  They were so heavy I had to carry them on my Shoulder.  It was tough.  I'm a weakling.

Lot's of love.  Tomorrow is the LAST day of the boring part.  I'm looking forward to Friday for SURE!

Day 3 - I've figured it out a bit more

So, today doesn't suck as badly.  But mostly, I think that's due to the fact that I figured out how to eat all of my sunflowers AND It tasted good.  And that I'm NEVER going to have what I have for lunch yesterday. 

Spices - it's all about spices.  I'm not a allowed to have salt, but they do tell you that you can have lots of spices.  I never really knew anything about spices before. . . but boy, am I going to have to learn.  Don't they all look de-lish?

Yesterday I toasted my sunflower seeds.  TODAY, I toasted them with cinnamon so that when I put them in my Rice Krispies with my raisins, it tasted DELICIOUS!   And I ate them all.

When I was doing my cooking of the turkey cutlets (they could be pretty boring without salt), I tried some chili spice, oregano, thyme, and rosemary with Lemon.  It didn't turn out exactly right, but it definitely made me realize (especially with my cinnamon discovery today) I want to try and find out how to do more and more spices.

But like I said about yesterday, I spend the evening last night plotting to take over the world (wait, that was pinky and the brain) = plotting  to take over with the really good food.  It actually sounds pretty good without any salt or spices, but I'm going to experiment.  PLUS I'm totally going to exploit my chef friend to help me put together some good spice combos.  SPICES SPICES SPICES.  . . never thought I would be so excited about them.  In fact, I'm so excited I remember this place down by the market that is in this old building full of spices.  I'm totally going there this weekend.  It's called World Spice Merchants and if you like spices, you should check it out. 

Anyway - Success - I'll write more later since there is more to tell!

Day 2 - it sucked

So, day two wasn't as good as day one.  Mostly because I'm not exactly following all advice.  What that means is that I'm not stopping and eating my meals without interruption.  I eat at my desk.  Other than that - I'm totally following the exercise and food diet part, just not the psychological stuff. . . well, at least not all of it.

I know, I know, tell me to follow the advice. . . but I have a lot of work.  But to be honest, I think it makes me take longer to actually finish my meal.

The other thing- again, I didn't exactly finish all of the food again.  Really it was only the sunflower seeds. I toasted them this time so they were much better to eat, but I tell you, it's really hard to each 1/4 cup of sunflower seeds.

I wasn't exactly hungry after the food, so that's good.  But I did want to eat before I needed to at 11am.  So, that was a bit hard.  And I didn't like the food for the day.  Here's what I ate

Pineapple smoothy - yuk and I won't be doing it again
pineapple pieces
rice krispies
skim milk
steamed carrots (I ate them cold b/c I ate them at my desk and they tasted what I imagine baby food tasting like, so they weren't my favorite)
tuna - plain - tuna plain is hard to swallow
string cheese (high light of the day)
mushrooms sauteed
turkey cutlets
brown rice (not a fan, but I'm following it)
sassy water - I actually really like this.

So, all in all, I didn't like the pineapple, the brown rice, the tuna, and the steamed carrots.  So it was not a good day.  Today is going to be better because I get to have raisins and potatoes.

Only two days of the bad time to go.  So, what did I do tonight to prepare?  I spent the time watching NCIS while reading the recipes for what I get to eat starting Friday.  I wrote down the 12 meals I get to eat for the three days after these first four hellish day.  It was kind of fun.  I put together all the like meals so the shopping would be consolidated.  It should be good to eat, I think. . .. so I'm telling myself it'll be worth it.

About exercise?  I did the metabolism work out, then walked 1.5 miles to work.  Then, the elevators didn't work, so I climbed 11 flights of stairs.  . . . I took the bus home rather than walking.  My legs hurt! So, I'm still on track.  I'm following the plan (except for that "take time out for meals" part.  I can't imagine that is going to make a huge difference.  I might start to when I get to have better tasting food.  I'll let you know.

Thanks for all the support and sarcastic comments.  I love it.  It keeps me honest.

Day 1 - the embarrassing part

Name: kp Ramsdale
Age: 35
Weight: 179 (note that this is only 1lb less than my highest weight which was about 8 years ago)
Belly (the largest part around my mid area): 39"
Waist (the real waist line): 34.5"
Hips (including the butt): 42"
Left Thigh: 24"
Right Thigh: 24"
Bust (the below part): 35"
Boobs: 41.5"
Left Arm: 13.5"
Right Arm: 13.75"

UGHHHHH!!!!!  So, you probably don't know what that looks like.  Well, lucky for you, I have pictures.  I actually took two sets.  One for you all (because I'm willing to bare MOST of myself) and one for me (because I'm NOT willing to bare that part and DO NOT plan on being in a bikini any time in the near future but still want to make sure it's working every where if you know what I mean).

So, here they are. . . the pictures of my fat ole self.

Things to note about these pictures.  

• I am TOTALLY aware of the blackmail that will ensue.  But oh well.  It's not like some of you haven't seen me on the street.  But it is really terrible to actually post something like this.
• My goal that I mentioned yesterday, these are those jeans - SIZE 10.  I kind of have to paint them on and pull to close the button at the top.
• It's a medium Old Navy tank top.
• yes, my belly is poking out.

So, my first day. . . it wasn't as bad as I thought.  There are two things I want to say right off the bat

1. MAN, did I have to pee a lot today.  I'm not used to drinking so much water, and 2 liters is a lot.
2. I didn't finish all the food.  THERE WAS A LOT.  So, I basically didn't finish some of the sun flower seed and some of the tomatoes.

Other than that, there are several journal guidances in the book to go through. . . so I'll try to answer those questions and tell you how it went today.   Really, all in all, it wasn't that bad.

First they ask me to write down at least three reasons why I have chosen to go on the flat belly diet and they want me to describe how i feel about the 28 days ahead (well really 32).  They ask me what I ate and my hunger rating before and after eating and my mood and any challenges.  So here goes.

Reasons:

1. I miss my old belly and I want to feel better both about myself and feel better physically
2. I want to fit in my old clothes
3. I want to be able to stick to something

How I feel about my impending doom:

Actually, I only feel impending doom about the first 4 days.  After that, I'm not worried - the food looks really good and I like cooking.  Plus I feel like when I look at the recipes and food options that it's a lot of food, so I'm not scared.  In fact, when I shopped yesterday Mikal and I were so surprised at all of the food. . . 

What I ate:

Rice Krispies

Skim Milk

Sunflower seeds

Blueberry smoothy

Applesauce

Turkey

Green Beans

Tomatoes

String Cheese

Potatoes

I may have had something else, but I can't remember.  

I'm tired now, so I'll be off to bed, but I do want to say that I also did the belly workout and the first day of the walking.  But I walk to work regularly anyway, so that's not much of a surprise.  The Belly workout SUCKED!  SUCKED SUCKED SUCKED!  There were five exercises and I could only stand 2 of the types.  But I only had to do 10 reps (1 set) so, I did them all.  That is what I'm not looking forward to tomorrow.  

But I did stick to it for one day.

Enjoy the horrible picture fodder.

I want a flat belly

Don't you?

Either you have one or you don't.  And I have noticed over the last year (basically since I've been dating and happy) I've gotten what people call the boyfriend layer.

I hate it

My clothes don't fit, I look ridiculous and feel really fat.  Generally, it makes me pretty unhappy.  I was just going to accept it and be fat (or fat in my opinion).  Then this weekend, I went with Mikal to his mailbox - he has to drive there as it's outside of Seattle.  He used to have a magazine subscription to a health magazine so he often gets free stuff in the mail.  And today was one of those days.

He came back to the car with three books.  The first was called Flat Belly Diet.  The second, Flat Belly Cook Book and the last was My Prevention Day Calendar.  After sarcastically accusing Mikal of actually getting them for me (he still swears he didn't - I know he didn't, but I like to poke him about it), I started reading the first book.

It was interesting.  And exactly what I was looking for but not willing to buy or start without something happening. . . and I guess it did.  Do you believe in Signs?

After one day, I read the whole book.  And almost the entire cook book.  The first four days look to be VERY painful, but the recipes and food they mention actually look wonderful and full of things I really like.

So. . . .

I'm going to try it.  And you get to watch.

I've taken photos of myself (it's scary to me) and measured myself in all the places you're supposed to measure yourself.

I figure if I tell all of you and some of you actually are watching, I might actually stick to it.  I don't normally stick to these things, so I really really want to and any advice or criticisms you have might be helpful to me over the next 32 days.  Yep, only 32 days.  I think it should be fine, but we'll see.

Tomorrow I'll post the pictures of myself and all the measurements.  I've already shopped for my first full  four days of food and made my first 2 liter batch of Sassy Water (it actually is kind of calming just to make it).

Just so you know AND so I make sure I give credit where credit is due, this is all from Prevention Magazine editors.

One of the things they say to do, is journal every day.  So, you're going to see my journal.  Be it good or bad, you'll see it.  I'll try to be as honest as possible.

The bottom line is that we all feel bad about ourselves one time or another.  This is my time.  I don't like my body and it makes me unhappy.  My ultimate goal is to fit into my size 10 jeans again without the muffin top - it's not a lofty goal - but lofty goals are much more difficult to obtain.  So, if I get to this goal in 32 days, I'll be happy.  This is for me - to feel better about myself again.

Here we go. . .