Dress Shopping

Went dress shopping with Stephanie for our maid of honor dresses. annnnd I tried on my first green dress since I started dieting.

Not my favorite style at David's Bridal, but I did think it was a good photo to document my progress with my diet. I posted the yellow one too, because I thought it was really cute on me, and I didn't know yellow was a color I could pull off. Who knew? The yellow one I might buy just for an awesome cocktail dress if I get one of the job's I'm manifesting. (See my Girl in the Green Jacket Blog.)

An example of the Ideal Protein Diet

So a lot of people have been asking me the specifics of this diet. In a nutshell I say "Atkins with additional protein supplements." The first phase (the one I am in now) requires three packets a day plus lean meat and veggies and a shit ton of vitamins and supplements. So here's an example of a day's menu:
Breakfast:
Glass of water
wildberry yogurt IP packet
vitamins: multivitamin, potassium, fish oil, probiotics

Lunch:
-vanilla pudding IP packet (My absolute favorite IP food-tastes like cake batter)
-2 cups of chopped cucumber, radishes, and celery with splash of vinegar, mustard, italian seasoning and sometimes 2 oz of tuna or a slice of deli ham
-I can also have unlimited salad but not the biggest fan of zero calorie/zero carb dressings so I refrain unless I want to have a spinach salad with olive oil and vingar (and spinach is part of my allotted veggies.)

Dinner:
7 oz of shrimp
1 cup of chicken broth
2 cups chopped green peppers and okra
garlic
splash of olive oil
cajun seasonings
more vitamins: multi, calcium, magnesium, and something else I can't remember off the top of my head.

and somewhere in there I have a third IP packet that has been a hot chocolate mixed drink or pink lemonade. If I'm super hungry still I can add protein or veggies. So usually I just grab a slice of deli ham.

So it boils down to this: 3 packets, 4 cups of approved veggies (which is A LOT!!!), 5 oz of chicken, beef, pork or 7 oz of seafood, and unlimited salad. It's not too bad, but it is amazing how much I miss fruit and sweet things that aren't artificial. But I'm getting by, and the result of losing 8 pounds is motivation enough to keep going because I know it's working and it's worth it.

Two Weeks Into Ideal Protein

So I went with IP. I figured out how to cover the initial costs, and now I'm two weeks into it with only a few slip ups. The most exciting news to report is I've lost 8 pounds so far. Three the first week and five the second week. Add that to the 4 pounds I lost prior to starting IP and I've lost 12 pounds. I don't see it yet, but I'm starting to feel a difference in the way my pants fit, and at this rate, I'll definitely see a difference in another week or so.

As they warned me, the first few days was really hard. My body craved all the food I had been eating that I had to eliminate (mainly, cheese, fruit, carbs, POPCORN, wine and bread) and I was very tired. I did slip up the first week by making the mistake of buying girl scout cookies that I thought I'd hide, and I ended up eating half a box on Valentine's Day because I was alone, and felt like chocolate was a good substitute for a date. That's why I only lost three pounds the first week. The second week I treated myself to some popcorn and cheesy toast after a night of vodka and soda waters at a concert, and still lost 5 pounds by getting back on track immediately, and working out.

I'm not supposed to work out really hard on this diet, because that could fatigue my muscles...and the point of this is to burn my fat stores and no eat away at my muscles. The first 10 days or so I was really good by working out 5 times a week with a variety of pilates, yoga, strength training and going to the gym in Durango. But spending two days in the car interrupted my routine, AND I got really really sick to my stomach last night and stuff am hurting so I've only gotten 2 1/2 (the 1/2 is 10 minutes of pilates I did to focus on my abs)workouts in this week. Uhg. But I think I'll get back into the swing of things this weekend. If my tummy allows it I'll get a good 30 minutes of my pilates/strength training/yoga routine in tomorrow, and then I'm off to hip hop yoga at Soul Tree Studio on Saturday. My cousin is now teaching a pilates/props class at the studio on Monday nights that I fully intend to attend.

Ideal Protein?

So tonight I went to an informational meeting at my Chiropractor's office. She is offering a thing called Ideal Protein. It's slogan is "Your Last Diet" and the guy who presented said it was more of a fat loss program than a weight loss program. It is designed to reset your pancreas and direct your body to burn fat cells instead of carb and sugar cells which most bodies are used to doing because of fluctuating and off balanced insulin levels.

The first phase requires eating three Ideal Protein supplements a day combined with certain vegetables, 6 oz of protein and as much lettuce as you want. They claim that you can lose 3-5 pounds a week once you retrain your body and metabolism to burn off those fat cells.

Not going to lie, I'm super duper interested. I'm usually really skeptical about such diets....however I trust my chiropractor, and I don't think she would sponsor it if she didn't believe that it worked and that it was healthy. The only catch is it costs about $290 to start it off and about $80-90 a week after the first week until you acheive your weight loss goal.

Yes, that's a lot of money; and no, I don't have that much to start off with. But I feel like I could afford it if I weren't eating out, getting coffee or grocery shopping for major things. Yes it would be a lot of hard work, but my chrio seems to think that since I'm young I could lose the 30 pounds in 6-8 weeks. Part of the intial cost also includes supplements. The different supplements help offset the nutrients and minerals you wouldn't get on a regular diet. After the weight is lost you ease back into eating fibers and carbs and fats and learn eating habits that promote weight loss maintenance.

I'm torn. Between my frugal side, and the side of me that just wants to see the pounds melt away, and believes that this may be the solution. It took me 7 months to lost 21 pounds during my first 'transformation." Now this time, I want to lose more in less time. I'm going to have to do some serious number crunching to see if this will work.

Good night.

Today was a good day for my body.

Today was a rest day I guess. I treated my body right. I got enough sleep. I did a few sit ups and core work (but didn't break a sweat or get out of breath...so it still counts as a rest day, and some work for my main target area.)

I ate a healthy breakfast (cream of wheat with blueberries, a dollop of vanilla yogurt and a few chocolate chips. As a mid morning snack I had an earl grey latte with skim milk. Unfortunately they pumped a bunch of syrup into it at Starbucks that I didn't realize was part of the recipe, but it's something to keep in mind for the future.

For lunch I made an excellent salad with deli turkey, blue cheese crumbles, cucumber slides, avocado and olive oil and balsamic vinegar with a handful of wasabi peas and some dried mango slices. My mid afternoon snack was an apple--gala, my fave!

After work I went to my Chiropractor's office for an adjustment and massage. The masseuse sent the entire hour just on my back, shoulder and neck. It was phenomenal. All for only $40-$20 for the chiro and $20 for the massage.

Then I came home and made one of my favorite meals from the Food Network. I really dislike frying meat, but with the salad it's a good balance of delicious flavors and healthy goodness. I've made the recipe so many times I usually adjust it depending on my mood....but instead of explaining it, there's the link.

And now I must go to bed to continue being good to my body. I am exhausted and need to sleep.

Day 2/3

Wow, I have been sore today, and yesterday. Yoga/pilates really kicked my ass, combined with the amped up work out on Saturday. But that's how it should be.

I was expecting a full-on pilates class at Soul Tree Studio in Lafayette, but the instructor was sick, so it was a yoga class with focus on core work. It felt soo good to work through a series over and over again. When I do yoga on my own, I just do the few poses that feel good and that I can remember, but going through sequences makes you discipline yourself, especially in a class because you want to keep up, but you can always modify to your own comfort and/or limitations.

I'm hoping to make it up there once a week for yoga and or pilates. There are a few classes that interest me. An intro to mat pilates class Monday evening or paylist yoga Saturday at 5:30 or all levels yoga on Sunday afternoon. Knowing Meghan motivates me to go, and also it's cheaper than your average studio. I looked into a place in the Cherry Creek area that was $25 for drop in classes!!! OUTRAGEOUS. Meghan's are $10 drop in or $8 or $9 per class for punch cards.

Anyways, after pilates I went out to coffee and it took a lot of self control to not get a sugared up late. Instead I went for a cafe au lait with skim milk and just one pack of real sugar. I really can't do strong straight coffee or splenda, and I figure one packet of sugar wouldn't hurt since I never drink coffee.

Then my brother met up with me and we went out to dinner (my mom bribed us with $50 if we did something together, lol) and we ate delicious Tapas as a place called The Med. Such a phenomenal restaurant. I didn't have as many veggies as I would have liked, but I was able to limit what food I did eat, and let Chris chow down on most things while I just had a bite or two of each Tapas. That's the nice thing about going out to dinner with my brother, he'll always eat your extra food you don't want.

Time spent with my brother in Boulder is different than in Durango. In Boulder we're on our own, and being together is a form of comfort. In Durango we've got different dynamics with our parents and friends around. I like the Boulder 'us' vs. the Durango 'us'.

Anyways we had a good talk and catch up session and he informed me his goal was to gain 10 pounds this semester. Hahaha the little shit is such a bean pole that he really does need to gain weight. I sometimes wish I got his tall lanky genes. Instead I got the short curvy genes.

At the risk of sounding like I'm making an excuse for eating out last night, I do feel that it's important to have those amazing meals that just knock your socks off. That's how my dinner was last night. I prepared for it by eating little throughout the day, and I worked my butt off in the pilates/yoga class. And it's all about moderation, right?

As for today, I didn't go for a walk as planned because I was sore. So I did a weight loss yoga routine that I got from an awesome yoga blogger named Tara Stiles. Tara Stiles is a HuffPost blogger and I am shamelessly addicted to the Living page for most fitness and diet tips.

I then walked to the grocery store. It wasn't fast, but that counts as a walk right? haha. Through different research on the internet I found something that said when you check out the grocery store do a quick scan of your cart and make sure it's 50 percent produce, 25 percent whole grains and 25 percent lean protein. I was pretty darn close, mostly produce. And then bread and cream of wheat and yogurt for breakfast, because my breakfast options were dwindling quickly.

Tomorrow I will amp it up with my routine from the personal trainer Elke. Or as I will call it in the future, Elke's routine. I have a chiropractor's appointment and a massage tomorrow after work. I'M SOOOO EXCITED.

I hope this isn't just a bland blog documenting what I eat and how much I work out. I promise I'll spice it up a bit. But really, having someway to document both of these things will really help I think because it stops me from eating something because I don't want to make shit up for this blog. I want to be accurate, and I want succeed at this.