Day 2 Anti Bloat Diet

So I worked out yesterday morning. And I did fairly well all day despite the crappy breakfast smoothie I had. (Note to self: smoothies are not a good way for me to go because they don't make me feel full and don't sustain me through to lunch). I missed my yoga class! I was super bummed about that. Before I knew it, it was 5:20 and by the time I got my stuff packed and to the car it was 5:35...no way to get to WPY by 6pm and changed (I'd brought my yoga stuff). I gave it a shot but didn't even get to the river until 6pm. So I went home.

The good news? I didn't dive into a bottle of wine after such a long, intense day (yesterday would have been a 2 glass night). I was really hungry though and totally screwed up my dinner. I came home and just had crackers and cheese and olives. Not such a horrible thing but the cheese was brie instead of string and was enough to put me over my calories. Then I had a salad. But the topper was...I ate about 1/2 cup of Graters peach ice cream. Again, not exactly a binge but more than I should eat if I want to LOSE weight and not MAINTAIN.

Then, I fell asleep on the sofa while watching The Closer. I think I saw about 15 minutes of it. At about ten 'til 10, I said good night and went to bed. I slept through the night. So I guess I was tired. I woke up this morning at 6 and decided to have two cups of coffee before getting on the treadmill this morning. Today will be a better day. Though I may not make it to yoga because I will need to leave right at 4:15 and that's going to be really hard to do since my boss is in town (when he's here we tend to work really long hours).

Speaking of bosses...I am meeting the new "prospective" VP of Marketing today. I hope she's nice...but really how can anyone tell anything about anybody in the span of a few minutes? Frankly, I doubt my ability to spot an asshole any longer. Most people can put a mask in place and hold it there for months before it slips. The good news is, she's a friend of my boss...and he's pretty awesome soooo I'm hoping she's a lot like him.

Day 2 Anti-bloat Journal: List four things that will help you succeed on the diet. Now write about what you are going to do to ensure that you get each of the four things you need.

Oh boy...hmmmm. Four things that will help me succeed on the diet?

1. Having a backup plan when things go unexpectedly.
2. The support of my partner.
3. Staying focused on my goals.
4. Getting results.

What am I going to do to ensure that I get each of those four things? Okay, having a back up plan means that I need to plan for the times when everything doesn't go as planned. Haha. Easier said than done, right? Well, what's awesome is that I already have a few lists of food ideas for when I come home and am famished and don't feel like cooking. I need to make copies of those and keep them handy in the kitchen. And when I miss a yoga class...I can go downstairs and either practice yoga with a DVD or simply plan to do just 2 relaxation postures like legs up the wall or something like that.

The support of my partner, I have. Cathy is really awesome about supporting me...she tells me I look good when I lose a pound or two (and she means it!) and she is usually pretty good about not bringing a lot of junk/trigger foods in the house when she knows that I am serious. And, to top it off, she is in healthy eating mode as well.

Staying focused on my goals...harder. When I am hungry and in a mood...focusing on my goals and caring about them is a fairly hard thing to do. What can I do? Maybe just stop and breathe through a 10 count and then remind myself of my goals...look better, feel better, be better. Oh? Is that my new mantra? Hmmm...I like it. Will have to keep that one in my back pocket!

And finally...nothing keeps me on track like seeing results. So I need to be sure to recognize all of the "non-scale" victories as well as how much weight I'm losing. Knowing that I'm making progress will help me stay on track and not chuck it all.

Okay...time to go workout.

Day 1 of Anti Bloat Diet

I ended up taking a couple of days to settle after the jumpstart...suggested by the program. But still, stuck with it fairly closely. Though on Friday and Saturday nights I did have 2 glasses of wine. And Saturday morning, I had 2 cups of coffee. (I'm having 2 cups this morning too!). And when I weighed yesterday morning, I had lost another pound. This has been kind of awesome because nothing bloats like that TOM and that TOM arrived last Wednesday. To get through that without gaining 5 pounds of water was very nice.

So, this morning I begin the 28 day phase...

I am encouraged to keep a journal for this phase so I wanted to share a bit of that here (and will do so over the next 27 days as well):

Write down at least three reasons why you have chosen to go on this diet. Describe how you feel about the 28 days ahead and what you expect from yourself.

Three reasons...1) I don't like how I look in clothes, 2) I feel better when I'm carrying less weight, 3) I want to do something for myself that I know will make a big difference in my quality of life.

I am somewhat nervous about the next 28 days...will I be able to do it? Will I stick with it? What is going to happen to derail me? But I'm also kind of excited about it because if I have as much success as I had on the 4 day, then I will lose about 10 pounds and be that much closer to my goal.

I expect that I will have good days and not so good days. I am going to think positive here and say that I totally believe in myself and anything that I've ever wanted to do, I have done. I have the tools at my disposal. I have shopping lists, meal plans, quick 'grab & go' ideas for when I have about 2 minutes to pack my breakfast and lunch and get out the door, I have motivation, I have determination, and I have a secret weapon. I have made the decision to purchase an unlimited pass for yoga for the month of September. This means, I'll be able to take 4 classes a week (I could take more but there are 4 that I want to take).

There are two things that I'm nervous about...the exercise portion and vacation. The exercise portion consists of 6 days of workouts per week. Walking everyday for 30 minutes and weight training everyday as well. Which means that I will need to do these workouts every morning before work...which means, getting up at and getting to it early. Now, this shouldn't be too much of an issue, if, ideally, I'm not drinking coffee on weekday mornings and drinking wine on weekday nights (because I should be sleeping better when I'm not having caffeine and alcohol on a daily basis)...which means, I should be able to get up earlier and not engage in my usual time killer of drinking a few cups of coffee while I check my email and watch the news. But I'm a little nervous about this piece of the 'diet' because I haven't been very successful in the past few years of getting on a morning workout routine. However, positively speaking, I can do it! I have done it for short periods of time in the past two years, surely I can do it for a few weeks.

Hah. That was convoluted, I know...hope you were able to follow that "logic"...

I am most worried about vacation. Again, ideally, it should be a good, healthy vacation. We plan to be pretty active while there and we are staying in a cabin with a full kitchen so we are going to take our own food but getting out of my routine and missing yoga classes and the treadmill is going to be a problem for me. I mean, yeah, I can go for walks in the morning and could do some yoga on my own in the evenings...buuuuuut.

But. What is the alternative? Because I'm so nervous about screwing up when I go on vacation I don't even start the 28 days??? There's always going to be something that gets in the way of routine...I can't live like a hermit until I lose weight. My life is not like the Biggest Loser where I can live sequestered on a ranch with a bunch of other people who are focused on losing weight. In my world, I'm the only one who cares about my weight and the only one who will keep me on track.

And so...day 1 begins. (Yoga tonight! Yay!).

I'm Gonna Kick Fat's Ass...

The results are in from my 4 day jumpstart. Lost 4.6 pounds of bloat and 2 inches off my belly. Pretty much, all I drank was water and I stayed well hydrated.

Today kicks off the 28 day version.

I am starting the day feeling a bit tired. I woke up around 2:00am last night and tossed and turned for a good two hours before I fell back asleep until 6:00. So I am having coffee this morning! Oh coffee, I kinda didn't miss you. Surprisingly. I think I can be good with 2 cups (by the way, as was just pointed out by our last weekend guest, we use small coffee cups...like I can barely fit 1 cup of liquid in the cup and I generally don't fill it to the rim with hot coffee...I'm just not coordinated enough to walk from the kitchen to the living room with a full cup of piping hot coffee). Oh and trying a new non-dairy creamer...it's coconut milk. And I gotta say, yummy! I really like it! It's called So Delicious Coconut Milk Creamer. I found it at Whole Foods. (I've had their ice cream before and it's really good too...).

So, anyhoodle.

I'm supposed to reflect upon the last 4 days and think about the following:

• What were the hardest things for you to cope with?
• What turned out to be not as bad as you had feared?
• When did hunger rear its head?
• Which mind tricks helped the most?

The hardest? Not having coffee in the mornings and drinking a glass or two of wine in the evenings.

What turned out not to be so bad? Not having coffee in the mornings and drinking a glass of wine in the evenings. I know I just said it was hard but the thing is, it turned out not to be so bad. Especially since I woke up and had a nice big glass of water instead and in the evenings I took a yoga class (which took the edge of the day off without the wine!). And, for full disclosure...as I mentioned in my previous post, I didn't take yoga last night. So when I got home, I asked Cathy if she wanted to go up to Marty's Hops & Vines for a glass of wine. So there's my clue by four! (another clue for me - the wine I had is probably what caused me to wake up in the middle of the night and feel so tired this morning).

When did hunger rear it's head? Usually I was good to go for breakfast and lunch. Usually around 3pm I started feeling hungry so it was a good thing I had a snack. And by dinner I was usually pretty hungry. Though going to a yoga class helped to temper that.

What mind tricks helped the most? I don't know if I used any mind tricks. Though a couple of times, in the evening, after dinner, I wanted something sweet...but thought, it's only a few days and I really want to see some results on the scale. I guess that would be reminding myself of my goal.

All in all...I felt really good for those 4 days. I especially felt good on Tuesday. I woke up feeling refreshed and not bloated. I felt energized and looked forward to the end of the day for the yoga class instead of the wine glass.

Looking forward to seeing how the next 28 days go!

Day 4 of Anti Bloat Diet

On the last day of the anti-bloat diet. Did I say it's just a jumpstart? There's actually another "phase" that last 28 days. It's a bit easier, I guess...basically, instead of 3 300 calorie meals with one 300 calorie snack, there's 3 400 calorie meals with one 400 calorie snack.

I think, taking a yoga class every day I was on the jumpstartwas very helpful. It kept me focus and on track. There isn't a class, tonight, that I'm interested in and I have plans to make dinner for a friend, so I'll be "off" tonight. That kind of makes me nervous because I am generally the kind of person who sticks to an "exercise" program by momentum. If I get thrown off, then it's harder for me to get started again. However, I am planning to go to another yoga class tomorrow and then again on Sunday.

I thought I could come home today and get on the treadmill to keep that momentum going. Or I could practice yoga myself. With the next 28 day phase definitely recommends 30 mins of walking a day and a weight training session each day as well. So that's something I'm going to have to plan for.

Another update tomorrow!

Day 3 of Anti Bloat Diet

I am feeling much less bloated today! And I'm down 3 pounds. I am very hydrated...drinking plenty of water. No wine or coffee though. And took a kick ass yoga class yesterday. Sooo...feeling pretty good.

Plan to take another yoga class today...gentle yoga with Alison at WPY. Should be lovely...though I must say, I'm missing Yoga Tiffany! Got to get on her schedule for September. :)

Lots of work to do today but I intend to glide through...get as much done as one woman can and leave the office early so that I can make it to WPY in time for class.

Short update, I know...just wanted to touch base!

Day 2 of Anti-Bloat diet

So there's an idea out there that certain foods cause bloating and water retention and chronic inflammation. I am fairly active and don't binge or eat fried foods (or fast foods) and many times I will restrict my calories to try and lose some weight. As you know, I'm frequently frustrated by my efforts. So I did a little research and discovered that there's actually evidence to support that what we eat can lead to chronic bloating and inflammation; two symptoms that I struggle with day after day.

This diet is one way to wipe the slate clean and start to see if inflammation and bloat are the reasons that I'm having issues losing weight. So instead of starting my day with coffee, this morning, I'm drinking a big glass of water. I don't think there's any processed white sugars and bread/grains. In fact, there's no bread. There's unsweetened corn flakes at breakfast and brown rice at dinner but that's it. There's no wine or caffeine.

I have committed to taking a yoga class each day.

After Wednesday, I will bump up my daily caolorie intake by 400 calories and be sure that I am having a monounsaturated fat at every meal. The principles of this way of eating are similar to every "good" diet out there...3 meals and one snack all 4 hours apart, clean eating/whole foods rather than "food" made up of chemicals (re: fat-free, low fat, processed, etc.), and counting calories. The difference is the addition of the monounsaturated fat at every meal and the focus on not eating foods that cause water retention or bloating (like salt - switching to herbs or something like Ms. Dash).

I keep trying to find a way to get to a healthier place...I try not to give up entirely. And if I see results following this plan, then I will continue down that road.

If I felt skinny...

My local radio station, WKRQ, is running a contest. I applied tonight. The morning show host, Jenn, is looking for some ladies to join her in a 12 week weight loss program.

I think I'd be a great candidate...I could certainly offer support and motivation to my team mates...

But, more than that, I think I'd make a good story. I've got 50 pounds to lose. I could do that in 12 weeks, or come damn close. I'd be taking lots of workout classes and with the support of other women, I am positive that I could do it.

Wish me luck! :)