GM Diet update, leg/hip/thigh update and a treadmill too

Hello readers,

After my last post, I wanted to provide an update to the GM Diet.  I followed the diet for one week as I blogged and then I took one day off and started again.  The second week of the GM diet was a little more difficult to follow (or obey).  I was about 60% on the GM diet until about Tuesday.  From there it all went downhill.  In my defense, I had a LOT on my plate Tuesday including a very difficult decision about our puppy.  But, despite all that, on Friday morning I was 129.4 at home and finished our weight loss competition at 130.4 in the office.  That's a 14lb loss in the 9 weeks we did the competition.

Overall, my rating of the GM diet was a 9 out of 10!   It is easy to follow, strict but flexible, affordable and produced great results without starving me to the point of binge eating!   I liked it so much, I started it again today for week #3!  Following Easter weekend I was up to 133.4 this morning so I would like to get back to that 129 and keep that number going down, down, DOWN!

For those of you who have seen me in person over the last eight months, you might have recognized my slight limp.  Or more like a complete dragging of my left leg.  After doing every possible test, four weeks of PT and even contemplating surgery, I was finally introduced to a doctor who knew exactly what my problem was and more importantly, how to fix it.

About a month ago, I received my first set of "trigger point therapy" needle injections to stimulate a spasm in the muscle belly that runs down your inner thigh.  This is the most painful experience of my life - including child labor.  To be fair, I had two epidurals during labor so maybe my view is a little foggy.  But let me tell you, trigger point therapy hurts like a Be-witch!!  After another appointment two weeks ago, and four more needles in my muscle belly, I am feeling so much better.  It amazes me that I went this long being completely mis-diagnosed!  That being said, I am on the road to complete recovery and could not be happier.

So.....it's time to get moving again!   I was contemplating joining the gym again now that I am able to go but tonight I re-evaluated and chose a more efficient and hopefully useful alternative.  I opted to buy a very "no-frills" treadmill from Amazon that I plan on putting right in my living room to hopefully encourage *force* me to get moving.  I have also committed to Cooper that we will go for a bike ride at least 3-4 nights out of the week.  This can mean me riding, walking or running beside Coop and his new bike!

Stay tuned, I plan on being a lean, mean, sexy mama-machine this summer!   Vacation is 60 days away!!!  

Another day.....another diet

I booked our summer vacation last week and it has inspired me to start yet another diet!   Our vacation is going to be on Sanibel Island in June.  It just happens to coincide with my 32nd (ouch) birthday!  I wonder how that happened!  ha

So it's time to get in shape!   Time to lose those nasty 10lbs that have been hanging around since Cooper was 4 months old.  Yes, your math is correct - 7 years or so!  

I have to admit that the weight stayed off pretty well after the BPC. For the most part I kept off about 5lbs.  But then, as it usually does, my demented psyche got the best of me.  I was noticing that I could have a snack or two each night and not gain. So that lead to more and more "cheating" and don't you know those 5lbs came rushing back!  Why is weight loss so damn frustrating?

The new diet is called the GM diet. It was designed for General Motors back in the 80s.  It sounds pretty ridiculous but you have to understand, I NEED the structure of something like this diet. It tells me exactly what to eat every day for a week.  7 days of lots and lots of fruit and veggies.  Very little else.

Day 1 - Starting weight 136.8
Only fruit today!  ONLYfruit. Nothing else!  I was doing pretty well until about 4pm when I got a bit of a headache.  But I finished the night off strong with some pears from South Africa (YUM!) and some canned pineapple.  I felt pretty good for only eating fruit but my belly did look and feel very bloated.

Day 2 - 135.4
Only veggies today.  The diet recommends you start your day off with a baked potato.  Do you know how hard it is to choke down a baked potato at 7am?  I cheated a bit and had my chai tea K-cup with my baked potato.  The rest of the day went well.  We had lunch out for a coworker's birthday so I had a big house salad and some sweet potato fries (maybe 15 at most) I wasn't hungry at all until about 7pm and I really wanted something sweet!  I resisted!

Day 3 - 134.2
Veggies and fruit day.  Started off the day with a green monster.  We were headed to Cape May for the day so I made sure to pack a big salad for lunch and lots of fruit.  I did great until dinner.  We went to the Lobster House and although my intent was good - my dinner was not.  I ordered a crab salad thinking by the description it was a green salad with crab on top.  Yes, I know crab is not a fruit or a veggie but we were in Cape May!  It turns out it was a crab salad on ONE piece of lettuce.  Some carrots and tomatoes helped but I did polish off  the yummy crab salad (and a slice of their oh-so-good bread!)  OOPS!

Day 4 - 134.4
Banana and milk day.  Yes - only bananas and milk!  Back on track today after my derailment yesterday.  I a green tea for breakfast and wasn't even hungry for a banana until about 10am.  I had two!  And a big glass of milk.  For lunch I had two more bananas and lots of water. Dinner was a very tasty banana milkshake!  Cooper even stole some of it for his dessert! Another big glass of milk and another banana for snack and I was good.  I even resisted Cooper's cupcake after lunch and donut after dinner.  (I know, bad parenting but he is a skinny mini!)
PS - I made the "wonder soup" and it made my whole house smell like onions (or B.O.!)  eww.  I kept some in the fridge just in case I was starving but most of it went right to the trash.  Outside trash of course!

Day 5 - 133.6
Today is tomatoes and beef day.  Eww right?  What do you eat for breakfast?  Tea!  That's what I had since I could not stomach either tomatoes or ground beef for breakfast!   The rest of the day I was not hungry at all.  I forced myself to eat 3 tomatoes for lunch (with some oil & vinegar) and a grilled lean hamburger.  Dinner was a nice steak and more (ugh MORE) tomatoes.  Who can physically eat 6 tomatoes in one day?  I gagged down 5!

Day 6 - 132.6
Back to veggies and beef day.  Or so it was supposed to be.  I went to a business lunch and had the inside of a steak sandwich and a salad.  Ok and two pieces of calamari.  But then I realized the salad dressing probably wasn't alright and the steak sandwich had provolone.  Oops!   For dinner I reverted to a nice salad and carrots.

Day 7 - 132.4
Fruit juice, veggies and brown rice.  Again - not so much!  I had tea for breakfast.  Apple juice and veggies & dip (teeny bit of dip) for lunch and then more baby carrots and apple juice for dinner (on the run).  Not exactly following the rules but I wasn't hungry so I didn't eat!

Final weigh in following Day 7 - 131.4
WOOOOOO HOOOO!!!!!!  I lost 5.4lbs in 7 days!   Again, WOOOOOOO HOOOOOOO!!!

I decided to take today (Wednesday) off from the "diet" and start the GM diet tomorrow again!  I LOVE this diet!!!!  Until I find another one that is........3-day diet anyone?

Follow up from BPC

I've been asked a few times how the BPC ended and how I've been feeling, eating and doing since - so here's the update.   Following the cleanse my goal was to eat "clean" which in my mind means the famous mantra:

dont' eat it IF IT DOESN'T COME FROM THE GROUND OR HAVE A MOTHER

Well that was quickly out the window as our Friday sushi at work became a spur-of-the-moment (i.e. intentional way to vandalize my BPC success) trip to hibachi!   I LOVE hibachi!   I was pretty cautious of the volume I ate though - more out of fear that I would be severely punished for eating "real" solid food so quickly after being only on a juice cleanse.   I am happy to report there were no negative side effects to my hibachi lunch and I was still well within my calorie goal for the day.

The weekend continued with lots of fruits and veggies.  I even managed to obstain from drinking at a family birthday party (full disclosure: I did have cake though - who can resist chocolate cake with peanut butter icing?  Not this girl!)  As we were leaving the party Cooper came down with a stomach virus that left us housebound and him couch ridden all day Sunday and most of Monday.

I had to run to the office on Monday even though I had taken the day off to stay home with Coop for President's Day.  After our errands all around town we went to the diner for dinner.  I opted for a spinach salad with hot bacon dressing.  YUM!   Coop wasn't feeling well again so he barely ate.  And then....it happened.  I came down with the stomach virus at 2am Tuesday morning.

It. was. awful!

I'm pretty sure what we both had was some version of the ever popular NOROVIRUS!   I do not wish this stomach bug on my worst enemy.  I was supposed to fly to California on Tuesday but moving from the bathroom was physically impossible (let alone being in a window seat on a six hour plane ride).  So California was cancelled.

The virus lasted a good 48 hours and I swear to you I think I am still feeling the affects today.  My stomach has been one big pit of acid reflux ever since.  And other (unmentionable) side effects.  Some say it was the cleanse, but I am going to blame the virus.  I don't think even a juice cleanse could cause this much havoc on my insides!

So whether the cleanse was to fault or not, I'll never know!  But I doubt it.  Irregardless, a combination of the BPC and the virus kept me down 5 of the 7lbs I had lost during the cleanse.  

This week was a bit of a challenge in regards to my food intake.  Let's just say there was a very unpretty binge after realizing a size 4 dress fit well with room to spare.  Yes, I know this is backwards logic (the dress fits - yay - I'll go binge eat ?!?  huh?)  but that is why I have a problem with dieting and food and weight!   My brain is backwards!

But ....two weeks out of the BPC and I am still 5lbs lighter than I started.  For that I say THANK YOU BPC!!!!!

Would I do it again?  Probably - but only if I had a wedding or function that I needed to quickly get a flat belly for.  Oh wait - I do have a wedding this weekend.  If only I could afford to do it again - I definitely would!  Green juice and all!

BPC Foundation - Day #3 and Wrap Up

Day #3 on Blueprint Cleanse - Foundation


Day #3 went by without a problem.  I was actually impressed with how easy it was to drink the juices and not eat anything around me (including the 10 dozen cookies I was making).  I actually found myself wishing I could keep going on the cleanse for a few more days.  But alas - it came to an end!

BPC Wrap-Up:

Let's get right down to it - I lost 7lbs throughout the whole process including the two days of vegan eating before the cleanse.

Breaking the cleanse was fairly easy.  I had some watermelon and blueberries for breakfast.  Our whole office was going out to hibachi for lunch so I reluctantly joined in.  I really wanted to stay at the office and eat my salad that I had brought but I didn't want to be the only one not going.  So I went.  And I caved.  I had shrimp hibachi but the good news was I didn't eat the fried rice or noodles.  Just the shrimp and veggies.  Not exactly how I was supposed to break the cleanse but it was better than a total crash!

I felt pretty gross after lunch, I have to admit!  I really wanted to have a nice, big "movement" but it didn't quite happen.  In fact (sorry - TMI) it hadn't happened since the first day of the cleanse.

I'm anxious to see if the 7lbs was just water weight that comes right back.  Overall, I would say I was not that impressed with the cleanse.  I felt exhausted the entire time and pretty irritable on Day 3!  The weight loss was awesome don't get me wrong but I am not sure it was worth the cost.

At least it's DONE and I can move on with Eating Clean!

BPC Foundation - Day #2

Day #2 on Blueprint Cleanse - Foundation

Day two and I'm on a roll.  Today started off with a Green Juice on the way to work.  Seven AM is way to early to be drinking celery!  But I sucked it down and moved on.  I was a little tired this morning but more because Cooper woke me up at 4:45AM.  Also WAY TO EARLY!  

With the Green Juice down at 7am, I moved on to the lovely Pineapple Apple Mint around 9:30.  Much better than yesterday I have to admit.  Lunchtime brought another lovely Green Juice but luckily no hunger pains!  Around 2:30 I broke into the Spicy Lemonade!  Surprisingly, it had lost a little bit of it's spice since yesterday and I was able to finish the whole bottle (yay me!).  

This is where it gets interesting.......wait for it.......I was hungry around 4pm.  I debated breaking out my final Green Juice of the day a little early but decided to hold off until just before 5pm so I could enjoy it in all it's deliciously green wonder.  Again to my surprise, this time the green monster wasn't quite as bad as I remembered.  Either that or I was just in a hurry to chug it down and head home for the day, I'm not sure!  haha 

In an ironic twist of irony, I had to come home and bake 5 dozen cookies for a colleague.  It is very hard to resist fresh baked cookies when your whole house smells like FRESH BAKED COOKIES.  I don't think I have ever been more aware of my sense of smell!  It's a good thing I could finish the night off with a lovely Cashew Milk drink.  And tonight it was actually quite delicious!  I'm sure the cookie would have tasted better but again I was proud of myself for finishing the drink. 

Day #2 is done!   I am shocked to say this but I'm actually not craving anything tonight.  The cookies smelled great but didn't tempt me to cheat.  The candy that is all over the house was more annoying than calling my name like they usually do!  

I am trying to plan the breaking of my cleanse on Friday.  I have the one Green Juice leftover from yesterday that I plan on having in the morning.  Friday is usually our sushi day at work but I think I will stick with a light salad and maybe Wonton soup.  Dinner will probably be a nice salad too.  

This weekend is going to be a bit of a challenge because we are going to my sister's for my nephew's birthday party.  Kelly is making Mexican food, birthday cake and ice cream and of course drinks!  I'm more worried about how to explain to everyone that I'm not drinking because I just finished a juice cleanse and don't want to ruin the results than I am about the actual temptations!   But hopefully everyone understands and just lets me veg on some veggies rather than taco's!  

On to Day 3 .........

BPC Foundation - Day #1

Day #1 on Blueprint Cleanse - Foundation

On Sunday I received a "welcome" email from BPC regarding the start of the cleanse and how to get off to a good start (prepare, prepare, prepare!).  I spent Sunday and Monday on a 98% vegan diet and I have to say this morning I woke up with a headache that lasted until lunch today.  I had some watermelon/kiwi and green tea for breakfast at 9am.  By 10am I was worried that my juices would not arrive in time to get them all in today if they didn't come by noon.  Luckily, I gave them until 12:30 to get here before giving in to a salad for lunch.  At 12:20 they arrived!!!!!! 

I was so excited to open the box and check them out!  Unfortunately, BPC did not send me the little cooler I was so excited to see.  But after a quick email to them, they promptly responded saying it will be here tomorrow.  Anyway, back to the juices.  I failed to realize just how heavy 18 juices would be (6 per day times 3 days).......15lbs of juice!  I quickly put them in the fridge (as instructed by my first BPC email)

But not before a quick photo op:

Juice #1 at 12:20pm - Green Juice described by BPC as "6lbs of leafy greens in one little bottle.  The cholophyll-packed green juice lowers acidity and balances your pH.  Stay alkaline.  Stay healthy"  I describe it as.........gross!  Salad in a bottle.  But gross!

Juice #2 at 1:30pm - P.A.M. or Pineapple Apple Mint described by BPC as "pineapples contain bromelain, an anti-inflammatory agent that helps fight heart disease and arthritis".  I say....sweet!  Not bad but very sweet!

Juice #3 at 3pm - Green Juice......a little easier this time.  Went down faster but still not "good"

Juice #4 at 5pm - Spicy Lemonade.  BPC calls it "cayenne pepper boasts metabolism and gets your blood pumping while lemons are a natural expectorant, full of antioxidants and highly alkalizing.  That's hot."  My take on the spicy lemonade......sPiCy!!!!!  spicy SPICY!!!!!

Juice #5 is another green juice but I was so full from the first four being crammed into a 5 hour timespan that I chose to skip this one.  BPC advised skipping the lemonade if I was going to skip one.  I should have listened!

Juice #6 is called Cashew Milk and deemed by all review posts to be the best of the worst!  They describe this by saying "cashews contain zinc, which rebuilds the body's collagen supply and prevents wrinkling, stretch marks and other potential "body roadmaps".  My take on this one.......it's nutty and creamy and milky.  It is the best of the rest I will say!  


Quick questions answered:

• Am I hungry?  No
• Am I dizzy or lightheaded? Yes, but in fairness I woke up with a headache and a bit dizzy
• Am I going to the bathroom every 20 minutes?  YES but only to pee
• Do I feel nauseous?  Not at all
• Do I miss "real" food?  I would like to chew something but I am not hungry so I'm not.
• Did I cheat? Yes - I had one - yes 1 - M&M.  It's Valentine's Day people!  Have a heart!  (pun intended!)

Blueprint Cleanse experiment

These little bottles are the only things I will be eating/drinking for three days.  It's called the Blueprint Cleanse and you can read more about it here for all of the details.  But the gist of it is a great way to jump start a clean eating or healthy mindset by forgoing all carbs, refined sugars, caffeine, alcohol and solid food (oh yeah, that too!) for a few days to "reset" your internal system.

My reason for choosing the Blueprint cleanse was simple.  A friend of mine did the cleanse (thanks MM) and I thought to myself "hey, if he can do it, I can certainly try!"  So after a few weeks of debating the cost, I finally decided that I would go ahead and purchase the drinks.  They will arrive on Tuesday in their cute little BPC cooler.  I ordered the "Foundation" cleanse because I didn't want to go with the beginner cleanse (I'm too cool for that) and I was scared to death of the extreme cleanse.

Let me clarify that the idea of the cleanse is to break down the toxins that are trapped in your body.  Not to actually cleanse your colon or anything frightening like that!   Although there may be some "waste" leaving your system, most testimonials I read stated that they actually experienced little to no difference in that department.  Enough on that topic!

BPC is kind enough to send you an email three days prior to your BPC arriving.  They give you the details on the logistics of your juice arriving and then a nice little paragraph about how to prepare.  It starts by saying "Prepare, prepare, prepare......we can't stress this enough."  So I decided to heed the warning and today I am preparing!   All fruits and veggies for two days prior to the BPC and two days after.  That's the plan anyway - I will keep you posted.

Off to enjoy my fruit for breakfast!  Wish me luck!

Sunday Update:  Spent the day eating only veggies and fruits.  Breakfast was green tea & fruit salad (watermelon, kiwi and strawberries - 1c.), lunch and dinner were salads with iceberg, spinach, cukes and avocado and a few more green teas throughout the day.  I'm a little hungry and really wishing I could devour the 60+ Valentine's Day cookies I made this weekend BUT I am on a mission.  I hope to be as disciplined tomorrow!  Until then........

Monday Update:  Down 1.8lbs this morning.  I guess being "vegan" for a day is pretty good for you.  Today was easier than I thought at work!  I cannot wait for my BPC to arrive tomorrow.  Not sure what time FedEx will get there - hopefully early!  I did cheat a bit tonight with a few Hershey Hugs/pretzels with M&Ms from Valentine's day.  I did not have the V-day cookies that were eyeing me up all day though.  Huge win for me!

Stay tuned tomorrow for Day #1 of the Blueprint Cleanse.  I hope to update throughout the day with how I'm feeling, how the juices taste, etc.  We'll see how that goes........

I love to bake, I love to bake, I LOVE TO BAKE!!!

Have I mentioned that I LOVE to bake?

I know this doesn't sounds like a "problem" for normal people but it is when you are trying to diet and you absolutely LOVE to bake and eat the food you bake!   So when I find a good "diet" recipe to bake, I am in heaven!

This recipe comes to you from Skinny Taste blog and it is delish!  I changed the recipe slightly to be Raspberry Squares instead of strawberry because I couldn't find strawberry pie filling that the recipe called for.  Why do they only make apple, cherry, light cherry, dark cherry and some more cherry pie filling?  I found some little jars of raspberry "dessert filling" that is really just jam I think but whatever, I was sold!

So tonight, I baked!  I have to say, this is one very yummy "diet" baked good!

It is especially fun when you are baking and it just looks pretty!!

I took the picture before I dusted with powdered sugar because I am not a very good duster and it sometimes covers up what I am trying to dust!  

The final product!  It was so good for only 134 calories.  I will be having quite a few of these over the next few days.  

What's funny about my baking habit is that I equally love to share my baked goods!  My colleagues have always been the lucky outlet for my baking habits.  Some of them thoroughly enjoy and appreciate it and some of them curse me for bringing in tasty treats that they cannot stay away from!   

Next up - cake pops for the 4th of July.  That will be my task for Wednesday and Thursday night!  

Au Natural

It's that time of year again to get myself in bathing-suit-ready shape.  Unfortunately, I haven't been in true "bikini-ready" shape for many years!  Each spring comes along and brings the challenge of a new diet, new exercise plan and new motto of being "healthy".  This Spring was no different.  We were actually competing in a weight loss competition at work and I came in 2nd at the finale before Memorial Day.

I have chronicled my weight loss journey on another blog - haphazardly I might add.  It has helped but it has never quite worked.  Who knows if this time will be different!  I don't pretend to think I've found the secret to what will make me skinny or healthy or athletic.  But again, I try.  So this is my game plan:

Start date:
June 20, 2011

Start weight: (gasp!)
138.0

Mini Goal weight:
130.0
Mini Goal target date:
July 23rd (start of our week at the shore)

THE PLAN: Eat clean - little to no processed foods.  All natural foods.  If it doesn't come from the ground or have a mother I'm not eating it.

Exercise goal:
Run a 5K with ease

Exercise goal timeline:
July 23rd (I want to be able to run with my sister on the boardwalk)

Exercise plan:
Run three times per week building up to 3 miles
Strength train three times per week
Abs five times per week

LONG TERM GOAL WEIGHT: 125lbs!

I know I cannot eat clean 100% of the time or even 100% of the day.  After all, chocolate doesn't come from the ground or have a mother does it?  But my goal is to spend 95% of my caloric intake on healthy, clean food choices!  That leaves little room for cheating but just enough for a "treat" each day.

Today was Day 1:
B - Steel oats w/ strawberry rhubarb
S - Almonds (4)
L - Sweet potato w/ apples and walnuts (leftovers from the grill last night)
S - Mini York peppermint patty and almonds (4)
D - Egg white omelet and venison sausage
S - Frozen blueberries

Exercise - Ran 20 minutes, walked 15.

**I track my calories and calorie burn at this website.  "Friend" me on Livestrong and you can follow my daily diet, exercise and even weight entries!

Now, I know what you're thinking!  Why would she be honest with her blog audience?  Doesn't everyone lie about their weight?  I figure if I am honest with myself, it won't matter who else knows.  It's when I start fooling myself that I lose myself.  So, yes, it is embarrassing to publish my weight and my struggles.  I hope it will help me to achieve my goal.  And I also hope it will help you to get to know me.  Good, bad and cellulite!