Week 2, Days 6-7 AND Week 3, Days 1-2

Ok the family has left the casa de Bex and I will be able to blog (hopefully) daily again. I swear, I haven't had much quiet time at home to sit down and do this. The last two days have been filled with trips to the airport and doctors, doctors, doctors. Today we get a reprieve and tomorrow, one more doctor appointment. Whew.

The last two days of week 2 were also a wash. I was eating leftovers and only exercised one of those days. I am so pissed at myself but it's done. So on to week 3!!

Week 3 is HARD. This is the detox/cleanse week and you don't get to eat many solids. Each morning starts with lemon juice in water. Then you have protein shakes, smoothies, soup, etc for the four meals. The exercise is ramped up too, to about 40-45 minutes minimum. Thankfully I have had such sporadic meals in the past so drinking my meals instead of eating isn't a big sacrifice for me. My appetite is more controllable now so I don't feel intense cravings to eat everything in sight. However, I have rid the house of unhealthy temptations. Yesterday I threw out some leftover cupcakes and cake because they were getting dry and let's face it, I'd eat it dry or not as long as it's chocolate. But I got rid of it and only kept a few thanksgiving leftovers for Elsa to eat.

Last night I got in some good cardio so I'm really happy about that. I hope I can get some stamina to do it again today! I am seeing changes in my hips and legs from the cardio and that is one helluva motivator to keep it up.

Today I will do this 100% and kick some ass. Wish me luck!

PS: Some pics my brother took this week and weekend.

Prelude to a diet

It's that time of year again. It's the holiday baking, cooking and gorging season. I LOVE this time of year. I love baking up yummy, carb-laden cookies, cakes and breads. I also love cooking Thanksgiving dishes like roasted turkey, homemade cranberry sauce, and sweet potato casserole. And Christmas time? What's Christmas without cut-out cookies, fudge, snack mix and hot cider? See where I'm going with this? I love to eat just as much as I love to cook. This is not helping out the weight loss efforts!

I've been taking a supplement called Visi which really took the edge off of the insane appetite I have. I still take prednisone and recently added a couple more medications which have hunger and weight gain as a side effect. So it was working great up until the last couple of weeks when my appetite went off the charts again. I lost ten lbs and then gained it right back.

I also got my ass back on to the elliptical machine and that was great until my joints started to grind together in my knees and ankles. It doesn't really hurt but I can feel and hear the grinding and popping. I will definitely talk to my doctor next checkup but I'm not letting that stop me from trying to stay as fit as possible.

With all this going on, I happened to catch Dr. Ian Smith on our local Fox 4 morning show. If you have ever watched Celebrity Fit Club, then you will recognize Dr. Smith as one of the judges and consultants for the show. He is promoting an upcoming book and weight loss plan called Shred, The Revolutionary Diet. He asked people who were interested in his plan to tweet him @doctoriansmith to get a sample of his book. I did that and emailed him and next thing I know, I was accepted to be part of his nutrition and weight loss plan, representing the Kansas City group. So I start tomorrow on a whole new way of eating and thinking about nutrition. I've decided a good way to keep me honest and on track is to blog my journey through this 6 week plan. I think I'm crazy because this is the best time of the year, food-wise. It will not be easy to hold the hungry monster at bay over Thanksgiving! But I like challenges and am actually looking forward to giving this my all. If I do really well, who knows. I may be on the local news as a "success" story.

If anyone has links to low-carb recipes featuring Thanksgiving fare, please let me know! Thanks and I will let you know how Day 1 goes!! Tschus. :)