Day 5 - Wanting to quit

I think I told myself I could quit and just try my best to diet but not restrict my carbs so drastically about 10 times today. I didnt give up but found myself getting angry at the diet... and myself.

Breakfast was hard boiled egg whites and a small left over piece of chicken breast.

Boring...

Lunch was a whole chicken breast seasoned with celery salt (just a tiny pinch, cause its not allowed) and... thats it :-/  

Boring...

Dinner was a sirloin patty, slice of turkey and a hard boiled egg.

Boring...

After I ate my dinner i was wanting something sweet so i mixed up a small container of fat free strawberry yogurt (not really allowed but needed SOMETHING!) with 3 or 4 large tablespoons of greek yogurt. I added a tsp. of Splenda and was pleasantly surprised at the outcome. 

Around about 8pm I was wanting that sweet fix. I made my galette with the strawberry/greek yogurt mix and it was pretty tasty. I had a little of the yogurt mix on the side and found it to be enough to satisfy my craving. 

I have stopped drink such huge amounts of water and tea. I am still getting at least 2 quarts a day in liquids but i was over doing it with the 3 and some times 4 quarts. I wonder how much of an effect it will have on my weight loss. I have to admit, I was disappointed when I saw that I had only lost about half a pound from yesterday to today. I dont know what to expect anymore... perhaps dropping 7 pounds in 4 days was too much and it gave me TOO MUCH hope. I still lack motivation, I still crave sweets, I still want that candy bar sitting in my fridge...

3 more days... 3 more till i can add veggies to my diet... can I make it?...

Until tomorrow...

Day 4 - Stomach issues

I am on day 4 and I have not (to put it delicately) went "potty". I have peed at least a hundred times over the last 4 days but everything else... well, it just aint happenin. I did go the morning of day one, but thats it. I am not uncomfortable and honestly, the only reason I am caring about it is that I know it could be a problem. I finally broke down and took a laxative to see if that helps... still waiting...

8:00am
Whipped up a quick breakfast of minced turkey slice, hard boiled egg, and my dijon sauce. I'm still rather enjoying it and I think I can put up with it till my 8 days are up. 


Sweet tooth attack! I ate 10 plain M&M's...eesh.

2:00pm
Lunch was easy enough. Cooked 2 sirloin burgers and ate just one. Around 3:30pm or so I ate the other sine I was feeling a bit hungry. 

9:00pm
I ended up sleeping right through dinner. I woke up about 8pm and quickly grilled a chicken breast and ate the slices on a herbed galette. not all that awesome but good enough to satisfy me.

All in all... a successful day (aside from the M&M's). 


***Down approx. 7lbs. since starting***

Day 3 - Cheater Cheater!!

Yes, I cheated last night. As I sat reading my book my mind kept drifting to the thought of making my son a small bowl of ice cream sprinkled with plain M&M's. I did everything I could not to cheat... started reading a horror novel (usually I get so wrapped up in it), tucked in my son, talked to my husband, played with the puppy. Finally I caved and had about 15 M&M's... no ice cream. I savored each one, allowing the tiny candies to melt in my mouth. It was pretty great :-) I am not sure why I expected to see that I had put on a pound by the next morning but, thankfully, the scale didn't move.

9:45am

After a 15 minute battle with myself on whether I should weigh myself or not, I finally broke down and stepped onto my digital scale. So far I am down just over 5 pounds. At first I was not really believing it. I adjust the scale on the floor, stepped back on and it read the same thing. Next I went to the old fashioned scale in my bathroom and (although my weight on the old scale does not match the weight on the digital scale) it also showed a decrease in weight. Although it is exciting to know that I have dropped 5lbs, I am also a bit "yeah, whatever" about it because I know it is water weight. And just how do I know this? I am running to the bathroom every 20-30 minutes! I guess its worth it though. 

Breakfast was heavily seasoned ground sirloin topped with Dijon mustard, and a scrambled egg. It was satisfying enough and I look forward to my baked pork tenderloin for lunch.

2:55pm

I made my baked pork tenderloin but didn't eat it. Saving it for later. I did eat a low-sodium turkey slice from my grocery deli with chopped up boiled egg. a dash of Dijon, a smidgen of fat free sour cream, Mrs. Dash, black pepper and FIN... it was delish! I also had a tea cup of Diet Coke. Yes, a Tea cup... I didn't realize how much sodium is in that drink!

4:15pm

After running a few quick errands I got home famished. With my pork tenderloin still waiting to be eaten, I whipped up today's galette. I thought a pork "taco" would be tasty so i opted for the heavily herbed galette with 1/4 inch thick tenderloin slices. Once again topped with my Dijon sour cream herb sauce (hohum), I am eating it with delight. It actually is satisfying my taste buds and hunger. I have sucked down 20oz. of plain water and nearly 60oz. of my home made Splenda sweetened ice tea. 

9:50pm

Dinner was a grilled chicken breast. Thankfully I have not gotten bored with chicken breast yet but I fear it is coming soon. I was desperate for something sweet and found out a little more about what yogurt I can have. I found a yogurt in the fridge that didnt list sugar as an ingredient, took a bite and found it to be too sweet. Shocking isnt the word to describe my reaction to that. I took the container and mixed it with the same amount of greek plain yogurt and it toned the sweetness down enough to actually enjoy it. now it is nearing 10:oopm and I want something to eat again. I know its normal to be hungry on this diet and that is why its ok to eat often, but I still feel like I am doing something wrong when I eat after dinner. I am thinking a hard boiled egg and some turkey slices to get rid of that hunger.

Until tomorrow...

***DOWN 5.4 POUNDS***

Day 2 - Food dreams

11:00am

The effects of not eating as I normally do has caused me to have some "foody" dreams. Not too crazy but enough to wish I could have a tortilla. I dreamt that I was eating a stack of tortillas late at night in the kitchen table with my husband. I had another food dream, but I cant remember what exactly what it was about other than it had to do with food :-/

Breakfast was late this morning... again. I need to try getting up at 8am even on the weekend if I decide to make pork tenderloin for breakfast. I finally at around 10:30am after I had seared and baked my pork. I whipped up a little dijon mustard (1 tsp.), FF sour cream (1 tsp.), fresh ground pepper, Mrs. Dash Salt Free Garlic & Herb, and a pinch of dried tarragon. It was a delicious piece of meat and the sauce was pretty tasty so I would say breakfast was a success. Perhaps chicken breast for lunch...


5:55pm
Lunch was not really lunch today. I wasn't really hungry around 2pm so I decided to throw together something sweet to munch on. I have always had a sweet tooth and not being able to have a bite of chocolate is pretty hard. I decided to make a "cheese cake" like spread of my galette...


1 tbsp Fat Free softened Cream Cheese
1 tbsp Fat Free Sour Cream
1/2 - 1 tsp Splenda (I used 1 tsp and it was really sweet)


Mix all ingredients together to make a smooth spread.

(The amount it yeilded was too much for my one galette so next time I will reduce the ingredients slightly.)

About an hour after my sweet galette I was still feeling like I should eat something more. Left over ground sirloin tastes awesome mixed with a tiny bit of FF sour cream, Dijon mustard and spices. FINALLY! I found a way to make it taste good enough to eat :-P

Dinner came only slightly early today. Chicken breast sprinkled with minced garlic, Mrs. Dash and Cumin cooked in a oil free skillet. Seared both sides and turned down low and covered to cook through. Topped with a little FF sour cream and dijon mix, and my dinner was pretty good. The only problem eat that early is I think I will probably be hungry by 8pm. Perhaps a late night snack on sirloin crumbles...


*I have not mentioned my water intake, and walking habits... 2 crucial points of the Dukan Diet. My liquid intake is WAY over 2 quarts a day... probably more like 4 quarts (yes, i run to the restroom like 10 times a day). My walking the first day was iffy... I walked quite a bit at the grocery store and while running errands. Today I walked for a half hour and felt pretty good about it.

***DOWN 1.5 POUNDS***

Day 1 - I'M READY!

10:00am

I am happy to say I started my morning by sleeping in :-) A rarity as of late. I had left ground sirloin and a chicken breast in the refrigerator and it was just a matter of which to make for breakfast. I decided to whip up 2 eggs (minus 1 egg yoke) and a ground sirloin patty. Honestly, that feeling of dread hit me again as I took my first bite of egg and beef patty. I had under seasoned my patty (next time I will double up on the salt-free Mrs. Dash) and the lack of that "splash" of milk and dash of salt I usually add to my eggs was enough to bring a tear to my eye. I sipped my delicious homemade Lipton Ice Tea (sweetened with Stevia.. delish!) and forced myself to eat what I could. Surprisingly I was able to swallow every bite... despite how dry it all was.

3:15pm

I started my errands about 11:15 and I guess the time got away from me because I got home about 2pm. After getting crabby with my husband over something so trivial (actually, i did that 3 times in like 10 min..sorry honey) I made my lunch. I seasoned a chicken breast (with Mrs. Dash salt-free) cooked it in a skillet. While that cooked I tried my hand at "Hunter's Sauce" from the Dukan Diet book. Uhhh, yea... if you decide to make this, don't be surprised when the shallot/vinegar/water mixture doesn't thicken as it says in the recipe. In any case, I followed the recipe as it was written but cooked it a few seconds over a low flame to cook the egg yoke through. What I came up with was a lumpy pale yellow glop. I spooned it onto my plate and hoped for the best. I guess my hoping worked because my chicken breast and lumpy "sauce" were a perfect match. Now all I have to do is come up with a good way of preparing my ground sirloin :-/ 


9:00pm
All things considered, I think this day was pretty successful. It was about 5:00pm when I made my first Dukan Galett (kinda like a pancake, but not as yummy). I was going nuts with a sweet tooth so I decided to add a dash of Splenda to the mix. It was pretty tasty and at first did not satisfy my sweet tooth. But, I forced myself to push on, and continue reading my book. After about 15 minutes, the "need" for something else to snack on was gone and I was relieved. Once again, the time got away from me due to errands and I didnt end up eating till about 8pm. Unfortunately, I was not able to turn my expensive ground sirloin into a delicious masterpiece. I tried adding egg whites and double up on the seasonings but I was still disappointed. I whipped up an herb galette to eat the hamburger with and was only mildly please with it. After 2 failed attempts, I am not going to give up. I still have enough ground sirloin for at least 4 more meals... somethings bound to taste good.


10:00pm
I couldn't sit in my living room anymore. the more I sat, the more I wanted to raid the fridge for "real" food. So, I headed off to bed to read some Stephen King and listen to a few podcasts. 


Until tomorrow...

My Goals & Weight History...

Diet Start Date: June 10th, 2011

Starting weight: Perhaps I will admit it at some point in this blog, but for now... NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS :-P

Goal: drop at least 30 pounds by November for a trip to Cincinnati

Weight Loss History:

At my heaviest, I weighed 515lbs. Yes, I know... shocking. In 2002 I had a full gastric bypass. None of that wimpy lap band, tiny incision operation. I was cut from bra line to bellybutton. 56 staples later, I had a teeny tiny stomach and the horrible urge to eat. Thinking back, I would say I was not entirely mentally ready for the surgery. I should have been more prepared to not be able to eat what I wanted. 

After about 3 years, I was down to about 265, had a tummy tuck, and had excess skin removed from my arms. Man oh man, I was SO EXCITED. I kept it all off through extremely rough times in my life... the death of my sons father, the ensuing punishment for whatever reasons I could come up with, drugs, alcohol.. I kept it all off. Till the day came when I realized I had found a man who would love me and my son no matter what. Yep, I wanted to spend ALL my time with them so I stopped going to the gym 3-4 times a week, started eating out at nice restaurants (Italian ones, at that.. delicious but not that healthy), began eating fast food (something I gave up for over a year), and eased back into my sedentary life. 

I have been with my husband for 4 years now and I have put on about 50-60lbs. It wasn't all love I guess. I went through surgery that kept me from being even a little active, depression, stress of planning a wedding, etc. etc. etc. Despite it all, my husband is still constantly trying to get me into the sack, kissing on me and well... loving me as much (if not more) now as he did back then.

We were married March 12 of this year and every day that passed before that I feared I wouldn't fit into my wedding dress. After seeing my wedding pictures (i did look fabulous, weight or not), I wasn't the sized I wanted to be on that special day. After spending time in a wheelchair after an accident and knee surgery, I had put on about 15lbs in 3 months. I think that was the final straw...

And so begins my attempt at getting back to my happy weight of 265lbs. That doesn't sound like a weight many people would be happy at but I am 5'10 and large framed... no way am I going to get down to 175 like the doctors say I should. I don't think people would like to see a skeleton walking around.

I don't even remember how I heard about the Dukan Diet. I must have been browsing the internet of something. I downloaded the Dukan Diet book, was skeptical the first 20-30 pages but as it got into the real "how-to's" of the diet I thought "this is doable". So, after a few days of reading the book, wrestling with my compulsion to eat sweets on a regular basis, I decided I would bite the bullet and get myself moving...

So here we go... day 1 has already been written...