Round 1 Phase 2 Day 24

Well, the on the first week of the diet, I decided to sort my jeans into sizes. There were the big (or stretched) 16's, regular 16's, then the larger fit 14's, then the smaller 14's, and then the 12's. I have never in my adult life been below a size 12. So I have been slowly working my way down the line. Big and regular 16s are too big, larger 14's are comfy, but as of 4 days ago, the small 14's were still too tight to wear...well, today I put on a small 14 and it fit! So I have to celebrate that. What a change in 3 days (Even though there wasn't a massive loss so far this week!). Just like I was saying to someone on facebook - we beat ourselves up so much, we never know when to give ourselves credit! BIG THING - CELEBRATE YOUR NUMBERS!!!! When I was heavy I was always jealous and in awe when I saw someone lose a lot of weight, well guess what, that is me now!!! So I was reading back over my posts and I realized I left out some tips from the first three weeks that have helped me so here you go:

• Drink water till your eyeballs float (I know I have said this, but its so important!
• Invest in smooth move tea it keeps everything moving a long if you know what I mean (and you can't say it doesn't help with the scale)
• The ACV cocktail, yes it tastes bad and it burns my throat, but I do think it helps
• For some, the detox bath helps, it can't hurt (well, it gives me headaches) but it really does help some others
• Black coffee with vanilla creme stevia and a sprinkle of cinnamon seriously reminds me of my favorite Pumpkin Spice Starbucks coffee. Its a good way to get some caffiene in the mix if you are a recovering addict :) )
• Two hours before bedtime and your done. I don't even drink any more water after that point because if I don't get rid of it during the night, it could show up on the scale the next morning.
• Make sure you are counting calories (including vegetables). I have to give a shout out to Phyllis from facebook on this one. Many of us, including me, were just eating by protocol, but not measuring the vegetables and fruits. Since protocol was sort of vague with "handfuls" and I have heard "2 cups" for the vegetables people are eating all sorts of amounts, but IT WILL AFFECT YOUR WEIGHT LOSS. WEIGH EVERYTHING. I use www.sparkpeople.com . It is free and you can easily search for what you ate, enter in an accurate amount (grams, oz, size of fruit, etc.) and it will spit out your calorie content.
• Give yourself and your body a break and don't exercise. I love to exercise, and I have tried it twice but my body said "hold up, you are asking a little too much, and this is where I draw the line". I am eager to get back to it when maintenance begins, but I think its just best not to do it.

Okay, so yesterday here is what I ate:

Lunch: 100 grams of chicken breast (poultry spices from HCG recipe book, grilled) and one orange (my cucumber at work was squishy and I wasn't going to make that mistake again)

Dinner: 100 gram Laura's Lean Beef premade burger patty (all natural only super lean beef) with the all purpose spices from reciped book and a grilled vidallia onion with 10 strawberries (sweetened with a packet of stevia

After Dinner: ACV Cocktail

Total Calories: 458 (I should have eaten another vegetable at lunch, but didn't have one)

Results: Weight Lost Today: -0.4 lbs (is always lower the day after I lose more than a lb)

Total Weight Loss To Date: 19 lbs (7.4 to go by next Friday to meet goal)

Total Weight Now: 172.4 (Oh and I am 5'5")