Day 9 - Week 2 - Phase 1

Day 9 – Week 2

I woke up feeling…better, different, not bloated.  Hopefully I’ve passed the flu-ish period I&N discuss happening sometime during Week 1.  It has been a good day.  I didn’t have any trouble at all getting down my vitamins and supplements.  I had a chunk of fresh mozz and some almonds for breakfast, lots of water, and a satisfying lunch of left-over chicken and broccoli stir fry for lunch.  I feel so positive and motivated.  I’m happy, and I am in this for the long haul.

As for number 2... Who does it work for?  Me.  (Austin Powers reference, ugh).  Thank God, its like all the stuff that I had in me yesterday is gone.  No bloated feeling and that's what it is attributable to.

I did go back last night and go through “the book” again, only to discover that I&N did Phase 1 for 6 or 7 months, and recommend that dieters who have more than 25 pounds to lose should stay on Phase 2 for a while.  I suddenly realized that…I had only read the Phase 1 part of the book, and never gone past it.  So, I’m a little bummed about the Phase 1 thing, because I was looking forward to champagne and low carb chocolate truffles.  Now it looks like that might have to wait a while.  On the positive side, the good thing about going through I&N’s book again is that they are so encouraging, and some of the new text that I read really pumped me up, and helped to reaffirm my commitment to being healthy.  I like that they almost expect you to have cheated during Phase 1.  I feel good that I haven’t so far (and I don’t count sick day number 5 because I had no choice and I was still pretty freaking good).  I feel like an above-average dieter with a good chance of success (for the first time ever). 

My energy is up…like way up.  I feel in control.  I am not having any cravings, even though there was a big open package of chips ahoy sitting on the lunch table only 3 feet away from me today.  It didn’t phase me at all. 

I didn’t weigh myself this morning.  My sister (weight loss guru who has lost 120+ pounds since November 2009) cautioned me about hitting a plateau and giving myself grounds for disappointment if I weighed myself every day (as opposed to once a week, where its more likely your end of the week weight will show a more significant change).  So, I was almost afraid to weigh this morning.  I think I’ve been cured of my addiction to daily weighing.  Its almost like, last week, it was miraculous and, this week, I’m just hoping that the miraculous continues to happen and don’t want to find out that its not. 

I am still searching for a tape measure, damn it.  I keep forgetting, then when I remember, its so inconvenient to go out and buy one.  So, I’m going to put it on my shopping list for groceries, so I’ll actually get it done when I am at the store.

I was so pleased with my broccoli stir fry, I have to put the recipe in.  It is so easy.  See the recipe section.

Day 8 - End of Week 1 - Weigh In

So, today was Day 8, the end of Week 1 of Phase 1, and boy, was it a crazy week! Being sick occupied 2 full days, at least. I'm thinking that being sick probably made it so that I didn't want to eat - maybe it boosted my ability to avoid problematic, carby foods... Who knows? Looking back at my posts in the earlier part of the week, it seems that I definitely had a zest for food.

I weighed in this morning, after going to the bathroom 3 times (ugh, the remnants of the stomach bug). This morning's total weight was 225.5. That is 6 pounds lost this week, and 6 pounds lost total. That is without doing a lick of exercise. I am going to incorporate exercise in Week 2 and see if it amplifies the weight loss. Hopefully it will :)

I haven't noticed any change in how my clothes fit yet, and I feel a bit bloated about the middle. I wish that I had gotten my act together and measured myself, as India and Neris advise.
I'm going to get that measuring tape today, and start doing measurements on weigh in day, so that I can keep track.

How do I feel:

Full all of the time with no desire to eat. Almost uncomfortably full. No cravings at the moment. Yesterday we went to Stew Leonards to grocery shop, and I managed to avoid all of the carby samples without any trouble, even as my child munched them right in front of my face.

Number 2
Well, today, I'm definitely, uh, looser, than most people seem to be at this part of the diet. I attribute that to the stomach bug screwing with my intestines. This morning was gross, like someone waved a magic wand and proclaimed: "you shall expel everything you ate on Day 7, NOW!" It was gross, but I have to tell you, felt good since yesterday I was sickly full and waiting, somewhat desperately, to go (although not constipated). Bizarro.

The "flu-ish" day
India and Neris identify a period in the first week of Phase 1 (that would be my last week), where you feel like you have the flu, and you're listless and gross. They attribute it to carb detox. I may have hit that point last night into today. I felt gross-ish yesterday (as described), and very tired and achy in the afternoon. When we came back from Stew's at about 4, I just wanted to go right to bed and sleep, which is not normal for me. I ended up taking a benadryl last night, because I was having some kind of skin reaction to something. Today, I couldn't get up at all. I slept to 10 a.m., which I haven't done since my college days. I still feel a little dopey. Maybe its the benadryl, althought, I've taken a lot of benadryl in my time and never had a reaction. I think I'm just going through the "flu-ish" stage. Hopefully its done soon. I&N said that you just have to push through it, and you'll feel fab.

Bothered:
I am glad that I lost 7 pounds, I'm just bothered that I don't feel any lighter. I think I'm still waiting to, uh, vacate some stuff (see, number 2, above)

I'm going to go back and skim through I&N's book tonight and refocus for the coming week.