Week 3, Day 3

Yesterday was Day 3 and I did ok. Once again I unintentionally skipped a meal because of some health stuff. Ever take pain killers? If you have, you would know that it backs you up pretty bad. I felt like there was a cement block in my intestines. I didn't even have the urge to go and my abdomen hurt so much! I went to the pharmacy and picked up the dreaded bottle of magnesium citrate. Look it up. You get to drink it the day before a colonoscopy. Mmmm comes in grape flavor now!

Drinking that stuff makes me so nauseous, it sucked. So eating more food was out of the question. Things are better today so I'm trying my best to do this all the way! I did come to a realization last night that I need to do what my body is needing. Notice I didn't say WANT. If my body needs a little bit of carbs or protein because my blood sugar is low, then I'll do it.

I forgot to mention that last week I gained back 1 pound. Not a huge setback, considering it was a holiday week. But disappointing regardless.

Sorry for the TMI but my digestive system was a huge factor in yesterday's diet. I did get in the cardio though before my delicious, grape-flavored laxative. *sigh* Time to go walk the baby and the dogs. Cardio, cardio, cardio! (And pooping!)

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.

Week 2, Days 3-5

Well we made it through Thanksgiving! This week has been very hard to keep to the plan. I am not one to ignore or throw away yummy Thanksgiving leftovers unless they are spoiled. So I've been eating small post-TDay meals. And for the first time EVER my pumpkin pie turned out perfect! It's my favorite pie and I've had a couple slices of that heavenly yumminess.

Thursday night my mother in law and I went to Toys R Us to do some shopping. We stood in line to check out for almost two hours. YIKES! Standing was tough for me (and her) but we made it and I even found some awesome collectibles for myself! (More on that in a post to come.) Yesterday I got some good cardio and maybe today I can get a walk in the evening. We are having Elsa's birthday party today so there will be cake and all kinds of temptations. Again, I'm not going to gorge myself but I am going to have a piece of birthday cake, dammit.

Overall it feels like the week is a wash. I'm debating starting over on Monday with Week 2 but wonder if I should just plow through into the third week. I could have tried harder to follow the diet plan but, as Lady of the House, with guests, I have been trying so hard to make everyone feel welcome, make sure everyone has what they want to eat and drink, take care of the baby, and try to keep my health in check. I've definitely been overdoing it and not sleeping enough. Next week I have several doctor appointments so it's going to be tough to get any rest. Oh well, onward and upward! We'll see what I can do with these last two days of Week 2!

Week 2, Day 2

Once again real life has sprung up and thrown a wrench in the day! I didn't do the elliptical at all but instead I cleaned the house at least 4 hours. So that better substitute for the 45 minutes of cardio. Meals were ok but the very last one I splurged on a couple IPA's with supper, which had a bit more carbs than allowed. But I think I'll live. :)

Not much else to report! Some family is in town now and I will be busy busy until the house empties again next week. Trying to keep my strength and willpower!

Week 2, Day 1

I'm up early today, getting in my post for last night. My weigh-in for Week 1 was freakin' FANTASTIC! I lost 6.5 pounds! I kept stepping back on the scale because I couldn't believe it. Whoopee!

On to Week 2! Day 1 of week 2 was definitely more intense. In some meals there were foods added and some meals were smaller. Also the cardio requirements were increased. I did my best to get to that number but Elsa woke up from her nap and I had to go get her. It was really rough for me doing cardio too. It took a long time for me to be able to get the strength and energy just to pick up the baby. That part really sucked. I had to lay down for a few minutes to clear my head and try to regain some stamina. Plus I had this weird, awful pain to deal with. Other than that, I did pretty well.

I stopped by the grocery store yesterday and I swear, I must have circled through the bakery section at least a half a dozen times. I could feel myself drool over the sights of muffins, cookies, lemon bread, cupcakes, etc. After a third run around the chocolate chip muffins (one of my favorites) I checked the nutrition label and one muffin was 420 calories. Wow. I had no idea, or at least, I didn't want to know the yummy, awful truth. It took some willpower and whining from the baby to finally move on. That 6.5 lb loss kept ringing in my ears and I knew I'd need to save the treats for Thanksgiving and Elsa's birthday cake.

Time to get my head cleared and knock out the rest of the housework before my brother flies in. This week will be a tough trial to stay true to the Shred. I hope I'm up for it!

Week 1, Day 7

Another hectic day. We spent half the day furiously cleaning the house to prepare for our Thanksgiving guests. Then we attended a very fun birthday party for the kids of some friends of ours. Elsa partied like crazy! She danced and danced! Well, she did the little baby-bounce thing that they do when babies hear music. It was so cute and so fun to watch her play with the other baby. Love it!

There was also some very yummy food at this shindig. I will admit it, we lost our willpower and ate some forbidden yums. But we really didn't stuff ourselves, which I was shocked and proud to see. I ate some amazing guacamole, carrot cake and wine. It was so great to eat some of the food but not to go overboard. Have I been abducted by aliens? A healthy, cardio-busting cult?

To be honest, I've felt AMAZING this past week and the looser pants are great motivators to keep going. I am still very excited to be doing this. One challenge is that it does take time to really think and plan out what we're going to eat each day. Normally I only think about what I need to cook for supper. Breakfast in the past was a smoothie and lunch was either another smoothie or last night's leftovers. Now I have four meals to shop and plan for.

Tomorrow is the weekly weigh-in. I have no idea where I will be but I'm excited and nervous to see where I am. I did eat a lot of salty chips today so it's possible I am retaining water. Doh! I will report tomorrow!! G'night everyone!

Week 1, Day 6

Again, I was unable to blog last night. That thing called LIFE keeps getting in the way! Here's a run-down of Day 6.

I've noticed that the menu slowly adds in more carbs. Thank God! I personally find it hard to sustain exercise without a carb and protein recovery. My fave is peanut butter and banana on whole wheat toast. It tastes like heaven! It probably exceeds the calories permitted for snacks but I have learned if I'm light headed and shaking, I better give my body what it needs.

I really feel a difference in how my clothes fit. I've been avoiding a style of underpants sitting in my drawer because my hips and rear end are so big, the elastic really hurts my skin. Because we've been too lazy and distracted to do laundry lately, my supply of granny pannies has dwindled. I was forced into the "pinchy" ones, only, they fit now! I know most people would be posting about getting into their skinny jeans but dammit, I'm excited my damned underwear fit again.

We did a much better job at eating on time yesterday with me hollering SNAAAACK TIME!!! down the stairs while Ron was gaming. I'd hear a WHOOPEEE! in response. Again, my damn jaw only allowed me to eat about half of the veggies I wanted but such is life. The menu plan also states that you don't have to eat everything, just that you eat something every 3-4 hours. Ok, simple enough! At least, it's simpler on the weekend with two of us in the house to remind each other. So we both still need to work on getting our food consumed at the right times during the week.

Day 7 starts now so I'm off to experience this brand, new day. I hope to get Day 7's blog done on time tonight! Have a good one! Tschus.