So few pounds, so much time

Well it's been a while since I've blogged my progress. My boss had some sudden projects for me for a change. Usually I can blog during one of my several breaks in the day but I've been sent on outside errands the last couple of weeks. Nothing much happened. Today I weighed in at 126.6 lbs. A bit of a loss. I'm over my last plateau but I seem to lose 1-2 pounds and then stay at the same weight for 1-2 weeks. Progress is slow. I'm not discouraged though, just a bit restless with the time it is taking to lose the weight. I can see that eventually it will all come off but I need to be patient and accept it will be a longer process than I anticipated. I am 5.6 lbs away from my original goal and they say the last five pounds are the hardest to lose. I want to revise that and say the last ten pounds, even twenty is the hardest to lose. I am more afraid of gaining weight now because I remember how hard and slow it has been to lose it. If I even gain three pounds back I'll probably resort to the first deprivation phase of the diet to go back to the goal weight. These are little plans I'm forming in my head.

I am sticking to my plan with the occasional cheat. Yesterday for example, I came home after my run and was so hungry. I still needed to make dinner and wanted to reach for a naughty treat. I resorted to eat a handful of fresh strawberries. That may seem harmless but I had already had both my fruit servings for the day. So this was an extra serving. Also, yesterday I had two fat servings. I put some butter on my toast, less than a teaspoon but then I had a full teaspoon of olive oil at dinner on my salad. I've decided to skip fat at breakfast altogether and save it for my dinner salad. Anyway I can still put sugar free jam on my toast so I won't have dry toast. Peaches are so in season right now and they have been a real treat for me. I've been eating my apple a day to keep me on a regular schedule. It's been working but very slowly.

One thing that has helped is staying away from the LA Delite cookies. I had been having them on the same day as my LA Slimdown shakes. I spoke with Jenna, a counselor, and she advised not to have them on the same day since both have a high carb and sugar content. I had already finished my supply so just decided not to buy anymore. I have cereal bars left but I think I'll just save them when I am allowed more carbs. Anyway, the slimdown shakes are the best lunch solution because I don't have to spend my mornings weighing out leftover protein servings or making more protein servings in the AM. Of course nothing beats real food but the ease and time savings is worth it. I either drink a shake accompanied by a vegetable or a fruit. The chocolate and vanilla are really good. I'm going to take supplies with me when I go to my cousin's wedding in San Antonio this weekend.

That is what I'm really worried about. I'm afraid I'll go crazy at the buffet table. I'm just going to get in all my foods before going to the wedding as much as possible and just drink diet coke when I get there. Well, I take that back. The last time I did that I overate because I ate all my foods before going to a party and they had such lovely food there that I could not resist. So I'll just save a protein, starch, dairy or fat and vegetable serving for that evening. If I don't get all my foods in at the wedding I can still come home and have a midnight snack. I just hope I don't gain any weight back over the weekend. It's very easy to over holidays. The positive is this is the last major holiday of the season. The next one will be Thanksgiving and I should be at my goal weight by then. Then the challenge will be maintaining instead of losing. Losing just takes so much mind control. I swear I want to throw in the towel sometimes and just say 'ok, I'll just stay at the current weight'. But I paid my money so I'm going all the way. I think the part of me that wants to give up every once in a while is the hungry girl who wants more fruit. It's funny how my cravings have changed. In the beginning I was always hungry for pizza and stuff. I've gone so long without it I just forget to want it anymore. When they took away one fruit serving I was suddenly wanting it back. I had eaten a cereal bar for one of my fruit servings so I was eating two real fruits a day already. But then when they took one fruit serving away I wanted it back to take advantage of it and eat real fruit. Also, I used to hate fat free cream cheese. I bought it one time and wanted to spit it out. Then when they gave it to me as a free food I was suddenly excited about eating any kind of cream cheese that I was grateful even if it had to be fat free. I have to say, after you've been denied cream cheese, full or 1/3 less fat, even fat free seems like an indulgence. I'm going to try to stick to the plan as much as humanly possible this weekend. If I slip, then I slip but I'm not going to plan to slip. I'm planning on sticking to it. I honestly don't want to gain any of what has been so hard to lose.

The Green Plan

I weighed in at 129.6 lbs today. No weight loss since Monday. On the positive side no weight gain either. I'm trying to think positive. Shannon, seeing there was no change, decided to transition me into the Green Plan. She let me know the Green Plan was for losing the last five pounds and that even though I was not at 125 yet she thought it best to transition me to get the remaining weight off since I was teetering the plateau. The Green Plan reduces my vegetable and fruit portions by one serving each so I'm getting two servings less per day. That's the negative. I didn't think I could make it on less food.

The positives are, I can have plain, lowfat soy milk as my dairy serving, 4 oz a day. Beef is removed from my list, but that's ok because I've only eaten it about three times since I started at the end of June. Another positive is the addition of starch choices and free foods. Whole wheat pita (1/2 of 4") is a new starch choice and fat free cream cheese (1 tbsp) is a new free food. I'm so excited I'm going to buy some pita and cream cheese today. Currently the only free foods I take advantage of are vinegar and salsa. I'll trade a tablespoon of vinegar for a tablespoon of cream cheese any day. I've never liked fat free cream cheese either but I'm so excited about having the new option that I'll make an exception.

I hope the absent portions of fruit and vegetable make a difference and get me to my goal of 121 lbs. Shannon will put me on the stabilization diet when I reach my goal. I've considered staying on the weight loss phase for a few more pounds but will revisit that later when I reach my goal which doesn't seem that far way unless the scale stays the same.

Over the Hump

Well, I've made it over my plateau. I weighed in at 129.2 lbs today. I'm in the next phase of my weight loss journey with eight more pounds to go. If I make it to 121 lbs I've decided to go for another six. Eight pounds will take another four weeks and a remaining six will take three more weeks. A total of 7-8 weeks left, unless I hit another plateau which would not surprise me. I upped my dosage of FB 500 to three per day. I take it prior to breakfast, lunch and dinner now and I'm taking lemon water in the morning and the evening along with psyllium cocktails every other day. I think the FB 500 is what got me over my plateau. I think it kicks my weight loss mode in high drive but then takes a little siesta after three pounds. We'll see what makes me plateau if anything next. I've also been exercising more regularly which I did not do during my plateau. I was not feeling any energy, had been in a rut, tired of the same proteins and vegetables from my list. Variety only goes so far on this program. I asked Shannon at my consult today if I could eat Eggbeaters all week if I felt like it when I reach my 6 egg limit for the week. She said I could eat unlimited egg beaters as long as I adhered to the portions for each meal. I just can't eat another piece of fish, turkey or chicken. I don't really like beef. It is allowed on the program a minimum of twice a week but I only eat beef a few times a year. Veal is allowed but I only eat veal cutlet or scallopine. The scallopine cuts at Central Market are too expensive for everyday dinners so I buy cutlets instead, but even those come out to $9.99/lb so I can't buy those very often. The majority of my protein has come from frozen fish and turkey breast. I eat chicken but not as often. I prefer turkey to chicken meat. Plus eggs which I have on weekends because of the limit. That leaves a small list of proteins from which to choose from. I'm not allowed tofu on my program because I am not on the vegetarian plan. The plan I'm on is formulated to work with animal proteins. People can successfully lose weight on a vegetarian plan but they have to follow the full plan. There is not a plan at LA Weight Loss that mixes animal and vegan proteins. I can't wait for eight weeks to be here. That should put me at the beginning of October. Just in time for my four year wedding anniversary. Maybe I can celebrate by going somewhere tropical and not being embarrassed about wearing a bathing suit. The count down to eight weeks begins.

A New Number

I went to my consultation this morning and weighed in at 130.8 lbs. Mindy met with me first. She smiled at me and let me know I lost a pound. I wasn't so sure though if it was water weight or lack thereof. I told her about my session on Wednesday with Shannon and told her how we had been considering putting me on a "Plateau Break". The program requires eight 8 oz glasses of water a day. I had been drinking double that from the beginning of the program. I am really thirsty from morning til about 2pm and drink the majority of my water intake in the AM. Shannon had advised to cut my water down to 80 oz. She did not think so much water was a good thing, even if it has been a hot summer. The days I work out I definitely need extra or I get a headache that doesn't go away until the next day. The way I have to monitor every morsel I ingest keeps me from taking aspirin or pain meds of any kind.

So I let Mindy know that perhaps the loss was water only and not real weight and I wanted her to be sure before she just sent me on my way. She felt better having Shannon look things over because she had seen me on Wednesday. Shannon came in and let me know I could go on the Plateau Break if I wanted to but that she would rather wait until Monday to make a final decision. The fact that there had been a change no matter how slight made her think I might be over the plateau. I let her know my weight in the mornings is still the same and that I had not been drinking as much water before I came in. Even so, she would rather wait to see Monday's results. However, she understood that I was anxious to lose the weight and said if I really wanted to I could go back to the first phase of the program. I let her know I would give it the weekend and see what the numbers looked like on Monday. It is a relief to know I may be over the plateau and I can move forward with good results ahead. A part of me was hoping to go on the Plateau Break. This reverting to the first phase of the program would give me unlimited amounts of protein and vegetables with limited amounts of fat. If they had put me on the Plateau Break I would have looked discouraged and given in to my cravings at dinner tonight in the form of extra servings of vegetables or dessert then jumped back on the straight and narrow first thing Saturday morning. But hearing encouraging news I am still on the wagon and have not deviated from the plan. I had started the last two days drinking a cocktail of hot water with lemon. Shannon advised to drink the cocktail in the morning and again at night so I will continue this ritual. The lemon offers enzymatic properties that cleanse acting as a light diuretic and burn fat. I hope the change is real and I am really over my plateau.

Still Riding the Wave

I'm still riding the wave weighing in at 131.2 lbs. today. Thank goodness today I didn't meet with Mindy, a diet counselor at LA Weight Loss. I started thinking she had been assigned to me since I'd seen her four times in a row. We just don't click. I feel like she's just going down a checklist when we meet. She'll ask if I am getting all my foods in, if I have any special weekend plans, etc. But I get the feeling she is not genuinely interested in my plans. Anyway, today I met with Shannon. She looked over my chart and saw I had been at the same plateau for almost two weeks. She determined I was not deviating as she looked at my food diary. Also, deviation results in some weight gain higher than 4-6 ounces. She let me know she would give the program until Friday and if I still have not lost anymore weight by then they can put me on a "Plateau Break" which results in some changes to the current program. One of those changes would be no more free foods which I do partake everyday. I use up to two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar on my salads. On weekends I use one of those tablespoons as salsa on my eggs. I will really miss vinegar and salsa. Those are the only free foods I use. Also to be excluded are fast foods and frozen foods. I haven't eaten any fast food while on the program but I have had two frozen entrees since starting. If the "Plateau Break" is issued then I will have to exclude beef and limited starches such as rice, potatoes and pasta. These starches were allowed in 1/2 cup portions once a week. That won't be the case if I don't break the plateau on my own. I will be confined to the one slice of 40 calorie diet bread for my starch. I'm hoping I lose by Friday but if not then I will have no choice but to restrict my diet more. If the "Plateau Break" does not work Shannon let me know there are other measures that can be taken to insure a weight loss. Hopefully, I won't have to find out about those. The one positive is that the Center is willing to step in and make some changes to my program to help me lose the weight. It's nice to have that support. Every diet I've tried on my own always had a plateau but when I would reach the plateau I didn't have any alternatives and would just give up. I feel good knowing there is at least a light at the end of the tunnel.

New Plateau

I've hit my second plateau at 131 lbs. I hit my first plateau at 135 lbs and seemed to overcome that when I switched my fat blocker supplement to morning and lunch rather then lunch and dinner. Now I can't seem to get below 131 lbs. I did realize I was overeating by 2 oz of protein per day last week and have since reduced my protein portions accordingly but still did not lose any weight over the weekend. I did deviate on Friday. I had a huge craving for a michilada, a cocktail I usually like to have in the summer which is a mixture of Dos Equis with a bloody mary, minus the vodka. I instead substituted sparkling mineral water with Knudsen's Low Sodium Tomato Juice and lime. It didn't measure up but it did satisfy my craving for a cocktail. I just put it in a pretty glass. I miss drinks. I re-read my guidelines and did notice that when eating salads I'm supposed to combine complete servings of each vegetable. For example, I should mix a complete portion of cucumber (1/4 medium cucumber) and tomato (1 small tomato) to form a salad that equals two vegetable servings. I made a salad last week of roasted eggplant, tomato, portabello and garlic. I mixed this with chopped parsley and celery and add a tablespoon of cider vinegar with a half cup portion. But since there are so many different vegetables in the salad it may have thrown off my portions. I should probably limit my salads to two ingredients (how boring) and save the third portion for another meal. I was trying to add some variety to my diet because the foods I've been eating seem very bland lately. Also, eggplants are in season and the roma tomatoes were so colorful, so were all the other vegetables. I just couldn't seem to stop at two vegetables. At least seasonings are not considered vegetables so the garlic and parsley don't count. Rather than waste my beautiful salad I'm going to try to freeze it and hopefully I can revisit it in about five weeks. I hate to waste food, part of my problem to begin with. We'll see how the complete portion salads go. Hopefully I can get beyond my current plateau. I've been looking at the same numbers on the scale for more than a week now.

Whole Lotta Enchilada!

I've been f__king up big time in my portions, as I learned today. I feel so dumb. In my Gold Plan the food card specifies portion sizes for everything. For chicken it specifies 6 oz and fish is 5 oz. etc. , but these are raw weight measurements and I'm supposed to subtract an ounce if I'm weighing them cooked. I've been weighing them after they're cooked and eating the raw weight portion! It's just easier to weigh out my portions after the food is already cooked. I read it the way it made the most sense. Reviewing the literature further today I realized I have been wrong all this time. The literature states to subtract one ounce if weighing after cooking. I realize this has resulted in a two ounce protein surplus everyday. Give or take. I really believe meats shrink differently and portions should be specified in both cooked and raw weights. I think the use of "subtract one ounce" is just to keep the numbers even. Well, either way I will start abiding by this rule and see what happens. I had been saying my protein portions were very satisfying, now I know why. I'm surprised that I have been able to lose weight despite this mix up. Today I weighed in at 131.4 lbs.

I had a huge craving for some Tex-Mex today and ate an Amy's Black Bean-Vegetable Enchilada entree at lunch with my salad. It was very satisfying to my craving. I can't have this entree very often. It is one of the higher fat and sodium entrees on the list. When I first looked at the food label in the grocery store I thought the entree would fit very well into my program. Now if I wasn't on the program I would eat this entree without guilt but being on the program I can't help but have guilt. It was very filling and satisfying and now I know why. I have been saving the food labels from certain items so I can make comparisons when I go grocery shopping for similar items. When I was analyzing the label on my Amy's enchilada more closely I realized there are two servings per container. The nutrition information listed was for one serving. At first I was a little upset with Amy's but then thought "it's really my fault for not reading carefully enough". Afterall, the labels are included to meet the FDA rules but the marketers can spin the information anyway they want. I will have to read the labels very carefully from now on as I've always known. But again, I'm thinking the manufacturer is thinking practically like me. They aren't, they are thinking of the marketing aspect of presenting their product.

It's still dumb though. Why would I buy one frozen entree and only eat half? What should I do with the rest, re-freeze it, save it for later, share it with a friend? So one enchilada is one serving and has enough nutrients and not so much bad stuff, but two might as well be the Taco Bell full meal deal. Two servings/two enchiladas contain 340 calories, 10g fat (1g sat. fat), 780mg sodium, 52g carbs, 6g dietary fiber, 4g sugar, 10g protein. When divided by two the calories, fat, sodium, carbs and sugar don't look so bad. So I will be sure to read "Servings per container" and "Serving Size" part of the labels first from now on.

I've noticed my guilt meter is less tolerant these days. Every diet mishap is concentrated by ten. I mean, I felt so bad for making the protein weight mistake and even worse for my delicious enchilada. The entree is on my program, it is just listed as a one time per week allowance but it still counts towards my protein and starch servings, is vegetarian and still, I feel bad because it has 10g of fat and 780mg of sodium. I haven't eaten this much meat in so long either. I can't wait to eat some tofu again. Ever since that bad chicken experience I've just stayed away from chicken altogether. Turkey and fish I still like.

This was just a tough diet week. I'm in the middle of the program. It took me a month to get down to 131 lbs and maybe I'm just not looking forward to another month in the diet mode. I'll just have to be more positive. Those missing two ounces of protein better make a difference!