Ok... so, this is sort of embarrassing... and I would be lying if I said that I didn't feel like sort of a loser for admitting it.. but I've lived in Chicago for 3.5 years and I really don't have any close girlfriends to show for it. Sad, right!?
Making friends, outside of a college-environment is incredibly difficult. People are busy... lots of people my age are married, working full-time, or parents! Finding fun, like-minded women to hang out with is like finding a needle in a proverbial haystack. Add to that the fact that I am naturally a homebody... and my dislike for crowded bars and clubs... it's ridiculous. I have a couple girls that I can call to hang out with... and a few that I really love and connect with - but life always interferes: kids, husbands, work, grad school, BLAH!!
Honestly, I'm yearning for the type of friendship that I had with my college BFFs... the kind where we'd laugh nonstop about stupid stuff that no one else understands, make late night trips to Wal-Mart and sing Backstreet Boys karaoke in aisle 3..... wear sweatpants and eat Nutella straight out of the jar.... the kind of friendship that doesn't require planning or penciling someone into your already-crammed datebook.
Does this kind of friendship exist in your late-20's?? Does anyone else feel this way??
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Not Dukan-Related - but noteworthy all the same.
So, remember when I said I was going to go back on Dukan to lose another 6 pounds... yea.... that didn't so much happen. Part of the reason is that Fall is my favorite season... and part of Fall, for me at least, is enjoying delicious food (most of it pumpkin flavored)... so, when I thought about going back on Dukan and not being able to enjoy honeycrisp apples, pumpkin-flavored coffee creamer, and all the other autumnal deliciousness, it made me quite sad. I don't like being sad, so I didn't do it.
HOWEVER, after I returned from my New York trip - I had gained about 4 pounds which put me back up to around 140. Some of this was due, I think, to irregularity (sorry, gross I know) but it was also due to the fact that it is illegal (or should be illegal) to go to NYC without enjoying NY style pizza, hot dogs from vendors replete with sauerkraut, ketchup and mustard, and honey roasted chestnuts. So, I ate those things. Lots of them. And, to be honest, I don't regret it at all.
Going to New York also gave me a chance to visit with BF's parents - two completely delightful people whose company I thoroughly enjoy - whereupon, they told us their secret to daily health and never getting sick. BF's mom described how each morning she gets out her trusty blender.... and throws in all the fruits and veggies they have available along with nuts (almonds, etc) and some raisins and craisins..... and they both drink it. Sounds simple right? Simple and GENIUS - they haven't had a cold in 2 years. SERIOUSLY. And, their skin is beautiful - they definitely don't look like they should or could have a 27-year-old son.
So, when we got back to Chicago, I decided to try it. BF has been saying that he wants to eat healthier.... so, I figured this might be an easy way to get a ton of fruits and veggies into our diet. For the past week, we've each had a fruit/veggie smoothie in the morning... and then we've eaten normally for the rest of the day (although, admittedly, I've been trying to eat a majority of fruits and veggies throughout the day - along with whole grains).
I've lost all the weight I gained. I'm back down to 135. Best of all, it has been completely painless. And, I have felt great - the smoothie really does fill you up for a quite a while in the morning, and it's really really tasty. :)
Here are some of the fruits and veggies I've tried in various combinations:
Apple
Pear
Tangerine
Banana
Strawberries
Carrots
Celery
Broccoli (BF has tried this, I have not yet)
Iceberg Lettuce
Along with adding:
Almonds
Walnuts
Raisins
Craisins
and a splash of unflavored soy milk.
The only suggestion that I have is that you try to make sure to have as many veggies as you do fruits - its tempting to put mostly fruits in there - but trust me, you won't taste the veggies as much as the fruit. You don't need any sort of sweetener either. The sweetness from the fruit is more than enough to make the smoothie taste really good.
Give it a try! You might be pleasantly surprised at the results!!
HOWEVER, after I returned from my New York trip - I had gained about 4 pounds which put me back up to around 140. Some of this was due, I think, to irregularity (sorry, gross I know) but it was also due to the fact that it is illegal (or should be illegal) to go to NYC without enjoying NY style pizza, hot dogs from vendors replete with sauerkraut, ketchup and mustard, and honey roasted chestnuts. So, I ate those things. Lots of them. And, to be honest, I don't regret it at all.
Going to New York also gave me a chance to visit with BF's parents - two completely delightful people whose company I thoroughly enjoy - whereupon, they told us their secret to daily health and never getting sick. BF's mom described how each morning she gets out her trusty blender.... and throws in all the fruits and veggies they have available along with nuts (almonds, etc) and some raisins and craisins..... and they both drink it. Sounds simple right? Simple and GENIUS - they haven't had a cold in 2 years. SERIOUSLY. And, their skin is beautiful - they definitely don't look like they should or could have a 27-year-old son.
So, when we got back to Chicago, I decided to try it. BF has been saying that he wants to eat healthier.... so, I figured this might be an easy way to get a ton of fruits and veggies into our diet. For the past week, we've each had a fruit/veggie smoothie in the morning... and then we've eaten normally for the rest of the day (although, admittedly, I've been trying to eat a majority of fruits and veggies throughout the day - along with whole grains).
I've lost all the weight I gained. I'm back down to 135. Best of all, it has been completely painless. And, I have felt great - the smoothie really does fill you up for a quite a while in the morning, and it's really really tasty. :)
Here are some of the fruits and veggies I've tried in various combinations:
Apple
Pear
Tangerine
Banana
Strawberries
Carrots
Celery
Broccoli (BF has tried this, I have not yet)
Iceberg Lettuce
Along with adding:
Almonds
Walnuts
Raisins
Craisins
and a splash of unflavored soy milk.
The only suggestion that I have is that you try to make sure to have as many veggies as you do fruits - its tempting to put mostly fruits in there - but trust me, you won't taste the veggies as much as the fruit. You don't need any sort of sweetener either. The sweetness from the fruit is more than enough to make the smoothie taste really good.
Give it a try! You might be pleasantly surprised at the results!!
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Here we go again!
I've decided - after stepping on the scale this morning - to do another round of Dukan. Over the past few weeks, I feel like I've been struggling more with keeping the weight off. I've not experienced a significant gain... but the weight is not staying off as effortlessly as before. It could be that I'm more stressed and hurried now that that work and school have started up again. And there's something about the onset of cooler weather that makes me want to surround myself with carbs and pumpkin-flavored desserts.... SO... in the interest of heading that carb-addiction off at the pass, I am going to Dukan it for a few days and put things back in perspective.
Also - we're heading to NYC at the end of October... and I want to look svelte and fabulous for the Big Apple. :) Yea, I just used the word "svelte".... get over it. Prepare yourselves for regular blog posts again - and new menus!! Since this is my second go-around, I'm going to try to be more inventive and daring with Dukan recipes. This should be fun!
In other news, Fall has officially hit Chicago. Summer ended rather abruptly - apparently Mother Nature decided to strictly observe the Labor Day Unofficial End of Summer... because the weather has been cool and intermittently rainy since then. I, personally, have NO issue whatsoever with this. I'm looking forward to yanking the ACs out of the windows soon and enjoying the crisp loveliness of my favorite season. I even went so far as to put my summer clothes away yesterday. It was a bold move - seeing as how seasons in the midwest are notoriously unpredictable.... oh, well.
School and work, as I mentioned, are back in full swing. School moreso than work really.... I'm not sure that there IS a "full swing" for work... it is what it is, I guess. Classes are going well so far - I only have one physical class that I have to go to every week, the other one is online. This means that, inevitably, I forget about it all week until the day all the assignments are due.... then I panic and work all day to get everything submitted in time. It's not really an effective construct for learning... but I'm sort of beyond the point of caring by now. Being able to attend class in jammies is CLEARLY more important than actually LEARNING stuff... duh.
So, tomorrow starts Dukan 2.0.... I will be improvising with the groceries I have for now. I only have to do 2 days of PP, and 17 of PP/PV.... so I'm not that concerned about it. I'm also going to try to get back into working out at least a few times a week. Jillian Michaels has been staring balefully at me from the dusty cover of her workout DVD..... quite creepy actually.
Also - we're heading to NYC at the end of October... and I want to look svelte and fabulous for the Big Apple. :) Yea, I just used the word "svelte".... get over it. Prepare yourselves for regular blog posts again - and new menus!! Since this is my second go-around, I'm going to try to be more inventive and daring with Dukan recipes. This should be fun!
In other news, Fall has officially hit Chicago. Summer ended rather abruptly - apparently Mother Nature decided to strictly observe the Labor Day Unofficial End of Summer... because the weather has been cool and intermittently rainy since then. I, personally, have NO issue whatsoever with this. I'm looking forward to yanking the ACs out of the windows soon and enjoying the crisp loveliness of my favorite season. I even went so far as to put my summer clothes away yesterday. It was a bold move - seeing as how seasons in the midwest are notoriously unpredictable.... oh, well.
School and work, as I mentioned, are back in full swing. School moreso than work really.... I'm not sure that there IS a "full swing" for work... it is what it is, I guess. Classes are going well so far - I only have one physical class that I have to go to every week, the other one is online. This means that, inevitably, I forget about it all week until the day all the assignments are due.... then I panic and work all day to get everything submitted in time. It's not really an effective construct for learning... but I'm sort of beyond the point of caring by now. Being able to attend class in jammies is CLEARLY more important than actually LEARNING stuff... duh.
So, tomorrow starts Dukan 2.0.... I will be improvising with the groceries I have for now. I only have to do 2 days of PP, and 17 of PP/PV.... so I'm not that concerned about it. I'm also going to try to get back into working out at least a few times a week. Jillian Michaels has been staring balefully at me from the dusty cover of her workout DVD..... quite creepy actually.
Monday, August 29, 2011
8 days
8 Days... that's all that's left of my "mini" summer vacay. Part of me is happy... as having nothing to do (literally nothing) is both relaxing and nerve-wracking for someone like me. Part of me is nervous too... I am now in the second year of my Master's program and the clock is ticking down towards student teaching, graduation, and actually getting a job. Obviously, I'm excited by all this.... but I'm nervous about the transition from teaching in theory, to teaching in practice. I'm hoping that it will be everything I have envisioned.... I guess only time will tell.
As a consolation, BF and I are planning some excursions this fall. Fall is, after all, my most favorite season. :-) In October, we are flying to New Jersey/ NYC to see BF's parents and visit for a few days. I'm very much looking forward to this as I've not been out there since BF and I first got together (which, if memory serves was in '06 or '07). I've also never had the pleasure of seeing New York in the Autumn... which, I've heard, is spectacularly beautiful.
For Labor Day, I (and perhaps BF) will be making the journey to Minnesota to see my sister and her husband. We will also be joined by our parents and various newly-engaged and newly-married cousins... which, I'm sure, won't be awkward or pressure-inducing at all for BF and myself. (Although, honestly, wouldn't mind a *little* pressure on BF on that front!!)
Diet-wise... I've been eating REALLY badly. So badly, in fact, that when I stepped on the scale this morning I honestly expected nuclear-level fallout. To my intense surprise... still holding steady at 135. It is incredible. I feel like a braggart saying all this.... but I swear, it's the truth and nothing but the truth. So, another testament to the efficacy of the Dukan method I guess. :)
Happy Monday everyone!
As a consolation, BF and I are planning some excursions this fall. Fall is, after all, my most favorite season. :-) In October, we are flying to New Jersey/ NYC to see BF's parents and visit for a few days. I'm very much looking forward to this as I've not been out there since BF and I first got together (which, if memory serves was in '06 or '07). I've also never had the pleasure of seeing New York in the Autumn... which, I've heard, is spectacularly beautiful.
For Labor Day, I (and perhaps BF) will be making the journey to Minnesota to see my sister and her husband. We will also be joined by our parents and various newly-engaged and newly-married cousins... which, I'm sure, won't be awkward or pressure-inducing at all for BF and myself. (Although, honestly, wouldn't mind a *little* pressure on BF on that front!!)
Diet-wise... I've been eating REALLY badly. So badly, in fact, that when I stepped on the scale this morning I honestly expected nuclear-level fallout. To my intense surprise... still holding steady at 135. It is incredible. I feel like a braggart saying all this.... but I swear, it's the truth and nothing but the truth. So, another testament to the efficacy of the Dukan method I guess. :)
Happy Monday everyone!
Monday, August 22, 2011
I'm BAAACK!!!
Oh friends... it has been FAR too long... I do apologize for my lengthy absence from the blogosphere. But, I'm back now... (and the villagers rejoiced! Huzzah!)
The last half of July went by very fast. I had a WONDERFUL vacation with my parents in the mountains. It was actually sort of funny - I had been to those same places about a million times growing up - but I might as well have been seeing them for the first time. It is sort of shameful how little attention I gave to the beautiful scenery when I was a kid/ teenager. I took lots of pictures.... and my parents and I got along VERY well, despite the tight quarters. I think we're already making plans on where we want to go next year - hopefully BF will be able to join us as well!!
Got back in August... shifted abruptly from having WAY too much to do.... to having absolutely nothing to do. While that might sound blissful and awesome, for someone like me... too much free time is just as stressful and disconcerting as too little. I've been trying to throw myself into home improvement projects.... this weekend, for instance, we had a little yard sale outside our apartment. I'm planning on going out today too, to see if I can sell some more stuff. I'm getting rid of a lot of my "fat" pants.... since, thanks to the Dukan Diet, I don't need them anymore.
Now to the question you've all been dying to know the answer to: has she gained any of the weight back?! I'm happy to say that the answer is NO! About halfway through my mountain odyssey, I gave up on sticking to the Stabilization phase exactly. I tried not to go off the deep end... but when you're out on vacation you want to live a little and have a nice time. So, I ate in moderation... had lots of salads... and tried to get as much exercise as I could. My mom and I made a point to bring a scale along on the trip... but after about the first 3 days, neither of us used it. I decided to gauge myself by how my clothes were fitting. When I got back to Chicago - I weighed myself on my home scale and saw that my weight was still - after 2 weeks of non-Dukan eating - holding steady at 135 (give or take a pound or so on any given day). Since being back, I've been eating normally. Not adhering to any sort of "plan" just eating like I normally would... and the weight has stayed off. I'm very pleased.... and it's nice to be able to eat what I want. Everything in moderation! :)
Stay tuned for some vacation pics!
(Happy now, Kathryn!?! hee hee!!)
The last half of July went by very fast. I had a WONDERFUL vacation with my parents in the mountains. It was actually sort of funny - I had been to those same places about a million times growing up - but I might as well have been seeing them for the first time. It is sort of shameful how little attention I gave to the beautiful scenery when I was a kid/ teenager. I took lots of pictures.... and my parents and I got along VERY well, despite the tight quarters. I think we're already making plans on where we want to go next year - hopefully BF will be able to join us as well!!
Got back in August... shifted abruptly from having WAY too much to do.... to having absolutely nothing to do. While that might sound blissful and awesome, for someone like me... too much free time is just as stressful and disconcerting as too little. I've been trying to throw myself into home improvement projects.... this weekend, for instance, we had a little yard sale outside our apartment. I'm planning on going out today too, to see if I can sell some more stuff. I'm getting rid of a lot of my "fat" pants.... since, thanks to the Dukan Diet, I don't need them anymore.
Now to the question you've all been dying to know the answer to: has she gained any of the weight back?! I'm happy to say that the answer is NO! About halfway through my mountain odyssey, I gave up on sticking to the Stabilization phase exactly. I tried not to go off the deep end... but when you're out on vacation you want to live a little and have a nice time. So, I ate in moderation... had lots of salads... and tried to get as much exercise as I could. My mom and I made a point to bring a scale along on the trip... but after about the first 3 days, neither of us used it. I decided to gauge myself by how my clothes were fitting. When I got back to Chicago - I weighed myself on my home scale and saw that my weight was still - after 2 weeks of non-Dukan eating - holding steady at 135 (give or take a pound or so on any given day). Since being back, I've been eating normally. Not adhering to any sort of "plan" just eating like I normally would... and the weight has stayed off. I'm very pleased.... and it's nice to be able to eat what I want. Everything in moderation! :)
Stay tuned for some vacation pics!
(Happy now, Kathryn!?! hee hee!!)
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Getting Ready to Go...
T-Minus 4 days until I'm on a plane to Iowa ... then it's off to the mountains! I'm starting to get excited... but I'm also completely overwhelmed by the amount of stuff I have to get done between now and then. I've been working as hard as I can to get as much school stuff done as humanly possible. For my Poly Sci class, I've only got one more written assignment, one quiz, and a proctored exam to do.... the other classes...don't ask. In addition, I've got laundry... cleaning.... grocery shopping for BF... packing.... and various work/ school appointments... plus, somewhere in there I want to make time to drop in on some dear friends who just had a baby girl! (Welcome to the world, Megan Joyce Feltes!!)
UGH!!!!
Truthfully, I should not be sitting here blogging when there are dishes to be put away and piles of laundry to be washed.... not to mention homework and packing to do. Oh well..... a few more minutes won't kill me I guess.
In other news, I got some truly ugly, but truly comfortable shoes today. I'm wearing them right now.... trying to break them in around the house before I road-test them on the trip. :)
UGH!!!!
Truthfully, I should not be sitting here blogging when there are dishes to be put away and piles of laundry to be washed.... not to mention homework and packing to do. Oh well..... a few more minutes won't kill me I guess.
In other news, I got some truly ugly, but truly comfortable shoes today. I'm wearing them right now.... trying to break them in around the house before I road-test them on the trip. :)
Oh, I also got my hair chopped off the other day.... I'm still adjusting to having it so short... but with the steamy weather, having less hair has been really nice! :)
Monday, July 4, 2011
Trust the Program
I've been avoiding the scale lately. You know when your grocery supply gets low in the house and you begin eating really badly because.... well, that's the only option? That was me this past week. It's been sort of slim pickins around here.... I've been insanely busy with class and we were sans car for a few days because my POS VW had MORE overheating problems.... so I began to "cheat" a little bit. Nothing too major - I've cultivated quite a strong sense of self-discipline through this little experiment - but enough that I thought for sure I was going to see some fallout on the scale.
I weighed this morning.... expecting to descend immediately into a cloud of weight-gain depression....only to find that I'm still holding steady at 135. Incredible. My body is trusting the program.... my brain, not so much. I AM nervous though about my upcoming vacation.... I know there's going to be a lot of temptation... but I'm hopeful that I can maintain my self-discipline, get lots of great exercise walking/ hiking in the beautiful scenery, drink lots and lots of water (and swim in some too!!), and inspire my parents to do the same!! This will be the longest uninterrupted span of time I will have spent with them since I graduated from undergrad in '07. I'm hoping that some of my new found good habits will rub off on them.
I'm going to stop apologizing for not posting as often as I'd like to.... because of all these classes, that's just how it's going to be... Obviously, I'm nearing the end of my Dukan experiment, Stage 3 ends in August or September... and then Stage 4 goes back to normal eating with a few modifications. I've discovered that I really enjoy blogging - and so I may, at that point, transition this into just a normal blog. I hope that those of you who've been reading will continue to do so! I promise to try to keep it interesting. :)
Oh, and ..... Happy 4th of July!
I weighed this morning.... expecting to descend immediately into a cloud of weight-gain depression....only to find that I'm still holding steady at 135. Incredible. My body is trusting the program.... my brain, not so much. I AM nervous though about my upcoming vacation.... I know there's going to be a lot of temptation... but I'm hopeful that I can maintain my self-discipline, get lots of great exercise walking/ hiking in the beautiful scenery, drink lots and lots of water (and swim in some too!!), and inspire my parents to do the same!! This will be the longest uninterrupted span of time I will have spent with them since I graduated from undergrad in '07. I'm hoping that some of my new found good habits will rub off on them.
I'm going to stop apologizing for not posting as often as I'd like to.... because of all these classes, that's just how it's going to be... Obviously, I'm nearing the end of my Dukan experiment, Stage 3 ends in August or September... and then Stage 4 goes back to normal eating with a few modifications. I've discovered that I really enjoy blogging - and so I may, at that point, transition this into just a normal blog. I hope that those of you who've been reading will continue to do so! I promise to try to keep it interesting. :)
Oh, and ..... Happy 4th of July!
Sunday, July 3, 2011
God Bless America!
The 4th of July is actually one of my most favorite holidays to celebrate in Chicago. Having grown up in Sioux City, Iowa where fireworks are uber forbidden - so forbidden that the CITY of Sioux City didn't even have a fireworks display, all the forlorn Sioux Cityans would have to gather by the Mighty Missouri and watch the festivities in Nebraska and South Dakota... it was very sad - it was quite a change coming to Chicago where fireworks are almost a nightly occurrence once the weather gets nice (or at least I tell myself that all the loud popping noises are fireworks... ssshh!! don't burst my bubble!!).
There isn't anything quite like 4th of July in the city.... in a small town you get the city fireworks display, you might have a few Morning Glories, bottle rockets, and sparklers for the family barbeque... but it's nothing spectacular. In the big city though - it's truly an extravaganza.
Our first year in Chicago, we weren't quite brave enough to venture downtown for the big display.... so we had resigned ourselves to sitting dejectedly in our un-air conditioned apartment watching Vanessa Williams sing patriotic favorites with the Boston Pops (Lame)... but as we looked out the windows, we were amazed that we could see fireworks going off for 360 degrees around.... close, far, and everywhere in between. The entire city was alight with fireworks. At that time, we didn't have a balcony or any outdoor space at all.... so we ran excitedly from window to window, hooting and hollering for the other one to join us when we saw a particularly good one... it was incredible.
While I know that most people look at the 4th of July as a time for barbeques, beer drinking, parties, and the reawakening of one's pyromaniacal tendencies.... I see it quite differently. Being a student of history, I have thought on many an Independence Day eve of the sacrifices of those first Americans.... and of many other Americans through the years who have fought and died to keep us safe and free. I've thought of the men who sat in a stuffy hall drafting and signing the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, forming the backbone of our American way of life. I like to think that when other people shoot off fireworks and celebrate the day that they are acknowledging these events too.... although, I'm sure most of them just like drinking and playing with fire...
Tonight I went out on my new balcony and watched the Pre-4th fireworks.... they're still going on as I write this now. I wonder if this is what it looks like in cities all across America right now.... if someone was watching from space, would they see a sparkling country celebrating its freedom and independence? I'd like to think so. :)
There isn't anything quite like 4th of July in the city.... in a small town you get the city fireworks display, you might have a few Morning Glories, bottle rockets, and sparklers for the family barbeque... but it's nothing spectacular. In the big city though - it's truly an extravaganza.
Our first year in Chicago, we weren't quite brave enough to venture downtown for the big display.... so we had resigned ourselves to sitting dejectedly in our un-air conditioned apartment watching Vanessa Williams sing patriotic favorites with the Boston Pops (Lame)... but as we looked out the windows, we were amazed that we could see fireworks going off for 360 degrees around.... close, far, and everywhere in between. The entire city was alight with fireworks. At that time, we didn't have a balcony or any outdoor space at all.... so we ran excitedly from window to window, hooting and hollering for the other one to join us when we saw a particularly good one... it was incredible.
While I know that most people look at the 4th of July as a time for barbeques, beer drinking, parties, and the reawakening of one's pyromaniacal tendencies.... I see it quite differently. Being a student of history, I have thought on many an Independence Day eve of the sacrifices of those first Americans.... and of many other Americans through the years who have fought and died to keep us safe and free. I've thought of the men who sat in a stuffy hall drafting and signing the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, forming the backbone of our American way of life. I like to think that when other people shoot off fireworks and celebrate the day that they are acknowledging these events too.... although, I'm sure most of them just like drinking and playing with fire...
Tonight I went out on my new balcony and watched the Pre-4th fireworks.... they're still going on as I write this now. I wonder if this is what it looks like in cities all across America right now.... if someone was watching from space, would they see a sparkling country celebrating its freedom and independence? I'd like to think so. :)
Friday, July 1, 2011
Cheating??
Ok, so last night - BF and I went out to Outback for dinner. It was a last minute decision... and when I got there, I couldn't resist eating some of that delicious dark brown bread they bring to the table... and having a wonderful bleu cheese wedge salad (although, to be fair, I only ate half because I very nicely split it with BF). The rest of my dinner was Dukan-approved - steamed veggies - no butter no salt (aka: no fun) and an 8 oz sirloin - hardly any fat at all (they overcooked it a bit too... I don't like it mooing at me, but this was a bit DRY). Normally I would just count this as my "Celebration Meal" except that.... I had sushi for dinner the night before....
what do you guys think? Did I cheat??
what do you guys think? Did I cheat??
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Oofta!
So, turns out.... 4 college classes in 8 weeks was maybe not the greatest idea. My absence from the blogosphere is due largely to the fact that I am literally suffocating under all the homework and reading that I have to do. Silver lining: I'm so busy with school stuff that I haven't had the opportunity or the inclination to over-eat or cheat on the consolidation phase. LOL!
For the past week or so, I've been veritably killing myself to try to get ahead on all this class work. I'm leaving for vacation with my parents in 2 weeks - by that time my Grad level class at DePaul will be finished (that was only a 5-6 week class) but I'll still have to check in online for my other three classes while I'm out in the wilds of Wyoming. My hope was to get most of the work completed before I go away, so that I just had to check in and do discussion board postings and whatnot .... I guess we'll see how far I get. If I really buckled down for 4-5 days and did nothing but homework and reading, I bet I could get it all done - but who has 4-5 days of completely uninterrupted time? .... Anyone!?..... Yea, didn't think so.
I feel like the "Little Engine that Could" this summer..... except that I'm more like the "Little Engine who HOPES she Can".....
Looked at the calendar last night and figured out that I'm going to be out of town for 20 days.... TWENTY DAYS!!! This is nuts.... I didn't realize, before seeing it very graphically represented that my little vacay was not exactly LITTLE. Poor BF.... although, he's left me alone for about that long this spring (albeit not all at one time) ... so I can't feel too bad about it. One thing I'm a bit concerned about is traveling in a small confined space with my parents for that long. Sleeping in a small trailer with them was fine when I was 12.... and even when I was a teenager. But now that I'm an adult who is used to having her own space - ESPECIALLY when I go to bed at night - I'm a bit apprehensive. In preparation, I bought a couple pairs of inexpensive noise canceling/ isolating headphones and downloaded a white/ relaxing noise and a sleep timer app on my iPod... my father, Lord love him, snores like a freight train..... Should be interesting.
Like I mentioned previously, I'll try to update the blog with pics while I'm out there ... I'm guaranteed to have wifi a few days a week at least - so I'll keep everyone abreast of all the happenings. :)
OH - speaking of being ABREAST!! I have another infomercial product to recommend: The Genie Bra.... so comfy - completely gets rid of back-fat..... trust me ladies (and perhaps well endowed gentlemen....) the Genie Bra is a must have. They're not exactly like... sexy.... but then again, neither are back-breasts... just sayin.
I'm small-chested, so I got the XS/S size... which fits perfectly.... but it goes all the way up to (I think) 4X.... you just order whatever size t-shirt you wear (Disclaimer: when they say this, they assume that everyone wears their t-shirts form-fitting - if you like baggy t's order whatever size you would be if you DID wear your t-shirts form-fitting.- if you're between sizes, order a size DOWN). Very good. Sort of pricey... and they kind of rape you on shipping and handling... but you get 6 bras (2 white, 2 black, 2 nude) so you should be set for quite some time!! I've had mine for a few weeks and haven't even worn all of them yet. Two thumbs up, Genie Bra!! :)
For the past week or so, I've been veritably killing myself to try to get ahead on all this class work. I'm leaving for vacation with my parents in 2 weeks - by that time my Grad level class at DePaul will be finished (that was only a 5-6 week class) but I'll still have to check in online for my other three classes while I'm out in the wilds of Wyoming. My hope was to get most of the work completed before I go away, so that I just had to check in and do discussion board postings and whatnot .... I guess we'll see how far I get. If I really buckled down for 4-5 days and did nothing but homework and reading, I bet I could get it all done - but who has 4-5 days of completely uninterrupted time? .... Anyone!?..... Yea, didn't think so.
I feel like the "Little Engine that Could" this summer..... except that I'm more like the "Little Engine who HOPES she Can".....
Looked at the calendar last night and figured out that I'm going to be out of town for 20 days.... TWENTY DAYS!!! This is nuts.... I didn't realize, before seeing it very graphically represented that my little vacay was not exactly LITTLE. Poor BF.... although, he's left me alone for about that long this spring (albeit not all at one time) ... so I can't feel too bad about it. One thing I'm a bit concerned about is traveling in a small confined space with my parents for that long. Sleeping in a small trailer with them was fine when I was 12.... and even when I was a teenager. But now that I'm an adult who is used to having her own space - ESPECIALLY when I go to bed at night - I'm a bit apprehensive. In preparation, I bought a couple pairs of inexpensive noise canceling/ isolating headphones and downloaded a white/ relaxing noise and a sleep timer app on my iPod... my father, Lord love him, snores like a freight train..... Should be interesting.
Like I mentioned previously, I'll try to update the blog with pics while I'm out there ... I'm guaranteed to have wifi a few days a week at least - so I'll keep everyone abreast of all the happenings. :)
OH - speaking of being ABREAST!! I have another infomercial product to recommend: The Genie Bra.... so comfy - completely gets rid of back-fat..... trust me ladies (and perhaps well endowed gentlemen....) the Genie Bra is a must have. They're not exactly like... sexy.... but then again, neither are back-breasts... just sayin.
I'm small-chested, so I got the XS/S size... which fits perfectly.... but it goes all the way up to (I think) 4X.... you just order whatever size t-shirt you wear (Disclaimer: when they say this, they assume that everyone wears their t-shirts form-fitting - if you like baggy t's order whatever size you would be if you DID wear your t-shirts form-fitting.- if you're between sizes, order a size DOWN). Very good. Sort of pricey... and they kind of rape you on shipping and handling... but you get 6 bras (2 white, 2 black, 2 nude) so you should be set for quite some time!! I've had mine for a few weeks and haven't even worn all of them yet. Two thumbs up, Genie Bra!! :)
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Still Going Strong!
Oh my, I seem to find myself apologizing A LOT lately for not posting - so, I apologize. This week has been insanely busy... BF got home on Sunday, and it's been a whirlwind of homework, rehearsals, observation at a local high school, class, and gigs ever since. Cray-zay!
Consolidation is going well. I even had a "celebration meal" on Monday evening... although, in retrospect, I might've eased myself into it a bit more. HA! I had a greasy hamburger and fries from the burger place around the corner.... LOL.... It was what BF wanted when he got back. I don't know if it makes it better that we walked there and back to get it... (probably about a quarter mile all together..) But my body felt like a bloated, constipated, yucky mess until today.... gross. I think my next celebration meal will be something slightly less toxic... I've really been craving sushi and thai food... so I'll probably spring for that!
Figured out today that I can have bread... and milk.... and eggs.... and you know what all of those things combined make??! FRENCH TOAST! Boo YEA!!!! I swear, I was sitting in a high school classroom when I had this epiphany this morning.... I had to stop myself from fist pumping... awkward? Needless to say, the first thing I did when I got home was eat French Toast. Delish.
Having my "starchy food" tonight - baked french fries ( the fat, zig-zaggy kind - crinkle cut maybe??) - probably not a 100% kosher choice... but they looked so good (I was originally making them for BF) that I thought a few couldn't hurt. :)
Consolidation is going well. I even had a "celebration meal" on Monday evening... although, in retrospect, I might've eased myself into it a bit more. HA! I had a greasy hamburger and fries from the burger place around the corner.... LOL.... It was what BF wanted when he got back. I don't know if it makes it better that we walked there and back to get it... (probably about a quarter mile all together..) But my body felt like a bloated, constipated, yucky mess until today.... gross. I think my next celebration meal will be something slightly less toxic... I've really been craving sushi and thai food... so I'll probably spring for that!
Figured out today that I can have bread... and milk.... and eggs.... and you know what all of those things combined make??! FRENCH TOAST! Boo YEA!!!! I swear, I was sitting in a high school classroom when I had this epiphany this morning.... I had to stop myself from fist pumping... awkward? Needless to say, the first thing I did when I got home was eat French Toast. Delish.
Having my "starchy food" tonight - baked french fries ( the fat, zig-zaggy kind - crinkle cut maybe??) - probably not a 100% kosher choice... but they looked so good (I was originally making them for BF) that I thought a few couldn't hurt. :)
Monday, June 20, 2011
Consolidation Day 4
Good News!! I weighed myself this morning and, after three days of consolidation, my weight is still holding steady at 135! Woo Hoo!!!
I've decided to do my mandatory PP day today - as BF gets home tonight and I'm sure that I'll want to use my celebration meal sometime in the next few days.
I got an awesome new water bottle (lame, the things that excite me these days) that has a straw - I've figured out that drinking out of a straw greatly increases the amount of water I drink in a day. I got it at WalMart for $4!! Sort of a more affordable version of those pricey Camelback bottles that seems so ubiquitous at DePaul... (UPDATE: I have drunk 4 32 ounce bottles today - That's insane!! Seriously everyone must go out and buy a water bottle with a straw. Post Haste!!)
Not much else happening - planning on doing homework for most of the day, seeing if I can jump ahead a week - I'm going to need that edge if I'm going to take all my finals two weeks early so I can go out west on vacation with my folks! :) (Be prepared for some AWESOME pics on the blog THAT week!!)
Menu
Brunch:
Oat Bran Porridge
2 eggs sunny-side up
coffee w/ fixins
Late Lunch:
2 Turkey Hot Dogs
Low-Fat Cottage Cheese
Imitation Crab
Very late Dinner:
1 chicken thigh (boneless/ skinless) 1 chicken leg
low-fat cottage cheese
shrimp - cold
Snack:
Apple Cobbler non-fat yogurt
Fat-Free Ice Cream Malt
I've decided to do my mandatory PP day today - as BF gets home tonight and I'm sure that I'll want to use my celebration meal sometime in the next few days.
I got an awesome new water bottle (lame, the things that excite me these days) that has a straw - I've figured out that drinking out of a straw greatly increases the amount of water I drink in a day. I got it at WalMart for $4!! Sort of a more affordable version of those pricey Camelback bottles that seems so ubiquitous at DePaul... (UPDATE: I have drunk 4 32 ounce bottles today - That's insane!! Seriously everyone must go out and buy a water bottle with a straw. Post Haste!!)
Not much else happening - planning on doing homework for most of the day, seeing if I can jump ahead a week - I'm going to need that edge if I'm going to take all my finals two weeks early so I can go out west on vacation with my folks! :) (Be prepared for some AWESOME pics on the blog THAT week!!)
Menu
Brunch:
Oat Bran Porridge
2 eggs sunny-side up
coffee w/ fixins
Late Lunch:
2 Turkey Hot Dogs
Low-Fat Cottage Cheese
Imitation Crab
Very late Dinner:
1 chicken thigh (boneless/ skinless) 1 chicken leg
low-fat cottage cheese
shrimp - cold
Snack:
Apple Cobbler non-fat yogurt
Fat-Free Ice Cream Malt
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Consolidation Days 2 and 3
Sorry guys! I keep forgetting to post! It's because I moved the bookmark on my browser from the toolbar to a drop down menu.... had to make room for the online class links... ugh.
Everything is going well. I'll admit to being afraid to weigh myself. I haven't weighed since I started consolidation... and I'm fearing that I've gained weight. I don't necessarily FEEL like I've gained... but my inner critic is doubting the program in a big way. I'm going to try to work up the courage tomorrow or Monday.... yikes!
Friday:
Breakfast:
Oat Bran Porridge w/ 1 chopped strawberry
Coffee w/ fixins
Lunch:
Sandwich w/ turkey, mustard, and hard boiled egg
1 low fat string cheese
Dinner:
Tilapia Filet
Brussels sprouts
Strawberry/ Blueberries - 1 serving (combined)
Snack:
"Malt" made with fat-free ice cream and milk blended w/ a little lowfat whipped cream
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday:
Breakfast:
Oat Bran Porridge
Coffee w/ Fixins
Lunch:
Sandwich with roast beef, turkey, mustard, ff cream cheese and hard boiled egg.
1 low fat string cheese
1 strawberry banana nonfat yogurt
Dinner:
Salmon Filet
Sauteed Kale
Strawberries - 1 serving
Snack:
Fat-Free Ice cream malt (I love these, I wait all day for one!! :) )
Everything is going well. I'll admit to being afraid to weigh myself. I haven't weighed since I started consolidation... and I'm fearing that I've gained weight. I don't necessarily FEEL like I've gained... but my inner critic is doubting the program in a big way. I'm going to try to work up the courage tomorrow or Monday.... yikes!
Friday:
Breakfast:
Oat Bran Porridge w/ 1 chopped strawberry
Coffee w/ fixins
Lunch:
Sandwich w/ turkey, mustard, and hard boiled egg
1 low fat string cheese
Dinner:
Tilapia Filet
Brussels sprouts
Strawberry/ Blueberries - 1 serving (combined)
Snack:
"Malt" made with fat-free ice cream and milk blended w/ a little lowfat whipped cream
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday:
Breakfast:
Oat Bran Porridge
Coffee w/ Fixins
Lunch:
Sandwich with roast beef, turkey, mustard, ff cream cheese and hard boiled egg.
1 low fat string cheese
1 strawberry banana nonfat yogurt
Dinner:
Salmon Filet
Sauteed Kale
Strawberries - 1 serving
Snack:
Fat-Free Ice cream malt (I love these, I wait all day for one!! :) )
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Consolidation - Day 1
I had a sandwich today.After over a month without bread, I'm not going to lie... that sandwich was sort of epic. Granted, it could've been greatly improved by some mayo.... but at this point, I'm not going to be nitpicky.
One thing I'm noticing is that foods like bread, cheese, and fruit that I've not eaten in quite a while have A LOT more flavor to me now than they did before. Or, maybe, I'm just savoring things more ... in any case, I never previously noticed how sweet strawberries were, or how salty cheese is. It's sort of like experiencing it for the first time... very surreal.
I think the first day of consolidation went well. I ate all the elements I was supposed to have. Dr. Pierre says that the "new additions" are not OPTIONS - they are commands. You HAVE TO eat all the foods you've been eating on Cruise (meat, fat-free/ low-fat dairy, veggies, oat bran) AND add the 2 slices whole grain bread, 1 serving of cheese, 1 serving of fruit. All in all, it makes for quite a bit of food throughout the day.
I have to remind myself that this phase is not about weight LOSS - it's about maintaining. I'm trusting the program. I'm nervous about it, but I'm doing it anyway. I haven't yet taken advantage of one of my two starchy foods or my celebration meal - I'm saving the celebration meal for when BF comes home. T-minus 3 days!! :)
Menu:
Breakfast:
Oat Bran Porridge with 1 strawberry (chopped) stirred in.
Coffee w/ fixins
Lunch:
Turkey Sandwich w/ mustard and hardboiled egg
Romaine and artisan lettuce salad w/ Dukan Balsamic Vinaigrette (small)
Banana Creme non-fat yogurt
Dinner:
Salmon Burger Pattie
low-fat Cottage Cheese
Sauteed Kale (from my garden!!!!) and Spinach
1 lowfat string cheese
1 serving sliced strawberries
WOW - that looks like a ton of food - to give you some perspective - I ate my dinner off of a dessert plate. So it's not really as much food as it sounds like. I promise!!
I'm contemplating some fat-free ice cream as a night cap - haven't quite decided whether I want it or not! :)
Oh, btw - the book says that the length of the consolidation phase depends on how much weight lost. 5 days for every pound lost. I lost 11 pounds x 5 days = 55 days. :)
One thing I'm noticing is that foods like bread, cheese, and fruit that I've not eaten in quite a while have A LOT more flavor to me now than they did before. Or, maybe, I'm just savoring things more ... in any case, I never previously noticed how sweet strawberries were, or how salty cheese is. It's sort of like experiencing it for the first time... very surreal.
I think the first day of consolidation went well. I ate all the elements I was supposed to have. Dr. Pierre says that the "new additions" are not OPTIONS - they are commands. You HAVE TO eat all the foods you've been eating on Cruise (meat, fat-free/ low-fat dairy, veggies, oat bran) AND add the 2 slices whole grain bread, 1 serving of cheese, 1 serving of fruit. All in all, it makes for quite a bit of food throughout the day.
I have to remind myself that this phase is not about weight LOSS - it's about maintaining. I'm trusting the program. I'm nervous about it, but I'm doing it anyway. I haven't yet taken advantage of one of my two starchy foods or my celebration meal - I'm saving the celebration meal for when BF comes home. T-minus 3 days!! :)
Menu:
Breakfast:
Oat Bran Porridge with 1 strawberry (chopped) stirred in.
Coffee w/ fixins
Lunch:
Turkey Sandwich w/ mustard and hardboiled egg
Romaine and artisan lettuce salad w/ Dukan Balsamic Vinaigrette (small)
Banana Creme non-fat yogurt
Dinner:
Salmon Burger Pattie
low-fat Cottage Cheese
Sauteed Kale (from my garden!!!!) and Spinach
1 lowfat string cheese
1 serving sliced strawberries
WOW - that looks like a ton of food - to give you some perspective - I ate my dinner off of a dessert plate. So it's not really as much food as it sounds like. I promise!!
I'm contemplating some fat-free ice cream as a night cap - haven't quite decided whether I want it or not! :)
Oh, btw - the book says that the length of the consolidation phase depends on how much weight lost. 5 days for every pound lost. I lost 11 pounds x 5 days = 55 days. :)
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
135!! I made it!!
I weighed myself this morning and was delighted to see 135! At long last!! Knowing that the moment was at hand this past weekend, I did buy all the *new* stuff I could have on Consolidation ... but I've still been eating as if I'm on Cruise. I'll admit to be being a little scared to move on - happy, but scared. I know what to expect from Cruise - Consolidation feels somewhat akin to opening the floodgates of control that I've so carefully kept closed the past 42 days.
I realize that, in comparison to normal eating, Consolidation is still quite strict. But the addition of whole grains, cheese, fruit, and starches is sort of mind boggling to me at this point. I've been longing for, and apparently dreaming about, these foods for so long... that the idea that I can now enjoy them (albeit in extremely controlled moderation) is almost unbelievable.
I think my fear is coming from the idea that somehow I will gain the weight back when I move on from Cruise. In my head, Dr. Pierre (who is wearing one of those cliche French black-and-white striped shirts and a beret) is wagging his finger at me.... and telepathically admonishing me to "trust the program". It has worked pretty much the way he said it would thus far, so why wouldn't this phase work too??
Just to be safe - I'm doing one last day of PV today (I'll update this post tonight with my menu) and I'll start consolidation tomorrow. Give myself a day to mentally prepare. :)
I would like to thank all my readers (or perhaps... just reader.... I don't know how many people are actually reading the blog each day) for helping me stay the course - knowing that I was accountable to you all made me stick it out far longer than I might've had I been doing it on my own. So, thank you!!
For consolidation - I'm wondering if I should still post daily menus? I'm on the fence about it - so if any of you have strong feelings about that issue - please let me know! I can certainly do it, if it is helpful to anyone trying to follow the diet themselves! :)
Menu:
Breakfast:
Oat Bran Porridge
Coffee w/ Fixins
Lunch:
2 Turkey Hot Dogs with mustard
turkey lunchmeat
Low-Fat Cottage Cheese
Strawberry-Kiwi non-fat Yogurt
Dinner:
Salmon Burger Pattie
Asparagus
Romaine Lettuce Salad w/ 1 hard boiled egg
Dukan Balsamic Vinaigrette
Low Fat Cottage Cheese
Snack:
Fat-Free Chocolate Vanilla Swirl ice cream. :)
I realize that, in comparison to normal eating, Consolidation is still quite strict. But the addition of whole grains, cheese, fruit, and starches is sort of mind boggling to me at this point. I've been longing for, and apparently dreaming about, these foods for so long... that the idea that I can now enjoy them (albeit in extremely controlled moderation) is almost unbelievable.
I think my fear is coming from the idea that somehow I will gain the weight back when I move on from Cruise. In my head, Dr. Pierre (who is wearing one of those cliche French black-and-white striped shirts and a beret) is wagging his finger at me.... and telepathically admonishing me to "trust the program". It has worked pretty much the way he said it would thus far, so why wouldn't this phase work too??
Just to be safe - I'm doing one last day of PV today (I'll update this post tonight with my menu) and I'll start consolidation tomorrow. Give myself a day to mentally prepare. :)
I would like to thank all my readers (or perhaps... just reader.... I don't know how many people are actually reading the blog each day) for helping me stay the course - knowing that I was accountable to you all made me stick it out far longer than I might've had I been doing it on my own. So, thank you!!
For consolidation - I'm wondering if I should still post daily menus? I'm on the fence about it - so if any of you have strong feelings about that issue - please let me know! I can certainly do it, if it is helpful to anyone trying to follow the diet themselves! :)
Menu:
Breakfast:
Oat Bran Porridge
Coffee w/ Fixins
Lunch:
2 Turkey Hot Dogs with mustard
turkey lunchmeat
Low-Fat Cottage Cheese
Strawberry-Kiwi non-fat Yogurt
Dinner:
Salmon Burger Pattie
Asparagus
Romaine Lettuce Salad w/ 1 hard boiled egg
Dukan Balsamic Vinaigrette
Low Fat Cottage Cheese
Snack:
Fat-Free Chocolate Vanilla Swirl ice cream. :)
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Day 40 and 41 - PV - Remember when I said I would post more regularly? Yea, I lied.
It's only Tuesday... and already this week has been sort of nuts. All the whacky craziness has prevented me from posting like I said I would. I apologize for this. Feeling sort of sluggish tonight - which could be because I had to get up super early in preparation for the electrical wiring debacle.... a debacle that I will have to chronicle at a later date, because I'm almost too tired to keep my eyes open.
I've been suffering with a toothache for the past two days - completely unrelated to the diet, I'm sure - but I'm currently weighing the severity of my dental situation deciding whether I should go to the dentist. I sort of want to be a big baby about it and wait until BF comes home - then he can accompany me. For now, I'm taking ibuprofen and Anbesol... and hoping that the toothache will disappear on its own. UGH....
So, without further ado, here are the vitals from today and yesterday:
Monday:
Breakfast:
Oat Bran Porridge
Coffee w/ fixins
Lunch:
Leftover Salmon Burger
Shrimp
Sauteed Kale
Snack:
Passion Tea/ Ginger Ale Spritzer
Fat-Free Chocolate Vanilla Swirl frozen yogurt.
Dinner:
Salmon Filet
Sauteed Spinach and Mushrooms
Asparagus
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday:
Breakfast:
Oat Bran Porridge
Coffee w/ fixins
Lunch:
Imitation Crab
Strawberry Banana non-fat Yogurt
Dinner:
3 eggs - Sunny Side Up
Sauteed Spinach
2 turkey hot dogs
Banana Creme Pie Yogurt.
I've been suffering with a toothache for the past two days - completely unrelated to the diet, I'm sure - but I'm currently weighing the severity of my dental situation deciding whether I should go to the dentist. I sort of want to be a big baby about it and wait until BF comes home - then he can accompany me. For now, I'm taking ibuprofen and Anbesol... and hoping that the toothache will disappear on its own. UGH....
So, without further ado, here are the vitals from today and yesterday:
Monday:
Breakfast:
Oat Bran Porridge
Coffee w/ fixins
Lunch:
Leftover Salmon Burger
Shrimp
Sauteed Kale
Snack:
Passion Tea/ Ginger Ale Spritzer
Fat-Free Chocolate Vanilla Swirl frozen yogurt.
Dinner:
Salmon Filet
Sauteed Spinach and Mushrooms
Asparagus
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday:
Breakfast:
Oat Bran Porridge
Coffee w/ fixins
Lunch:
Imitation Crab
Strawberry Banana non-fat Yogurt
Dinner:
3 eggs - Sunny Side Up
Sauteed Spinach
2 turkey hot dogs
Banana Creme Pie Yogurt.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Sunday Update - New Recipe and Yard Sale Swag!
I've been trying to be innovative with foods on this diet - as I've stated before, one almost HAS to be somewhat innovative or you'll quickly run out of appetizing things to eat. Luckily for us, we have a wonderful little invention called "the internet" which helps tremendously with creativity.
I found this recipe a few days ago - and tonight when I went grocery shopping, I had a chance to pick up the necessary elements. In short:
Dukan Cheesecake (2nd variation):
1 packet of sugar free, fat-free jello - any flavor
8 oz Fat-Free or lowfat cream cheese
Prepare Jello as directed on the box - except with only 3/4 of the water. (The box calls for 1 cup hot and 1 cup cold - so I did 3/4 cup hot, 3/4 cup cold). I mashed up the softened cream cheese with a fork a little bit, then added the jello slowly while mixing with a hand mixer on low.
Pour the mixture into ramekins or small bowls - I got about 5 ramekins worth. and put in the fridge to chill.
What you will come out with is something akin to a mousse.... it's not technically a "cheesecake" but the cream cheese does give it a cheesecake-y flavor. All in all, very good! Might even be good enough for non-Dukaners! :)
Also - I wanted to share some pictures of the yard sale swag I picked up today. I strolled around the neighborhood with a friend - and we stumbled across 3 yard sales in the space of 2 or 3 blocks! :)
I found this recipe a few days ago - and tonight when I went grocery shopping, I had a chance to pick up the necessary elements. In short:
Dukan Cheesecake (2nd variation):
1 packet of sugar free, fat-free jello - any flavor
8 oz Fat-Free or lowfat cream cheese
Prepare Jello as directed on the box - except with only 3/4 of the water. (The box calls for 1 cup hot and 1 cup cold - so I did 3/4 cup hot, 3/4 cup cold). I mashed up the softened cream cheese with a fork a little bit, then added the jello slowly while mixing with a hand mixer on low.
Pour the mixture into ramekins or small bowls - I got about 5 ramekins worth. and put in the fridge to chill.
What you will come out with is something akin to a mousse.... it's not technically a "cheesecake" but the cream cheese does give it a cheesecake-y flavor. All in all, very good! Might even be good enough for non-Dukaners! :)
Also - I wanted to share some pictures of the yard sale swag I picked up today. I strolled around the neighborhood with a friend - and we stumbled across 3 yard sales in the space of 2 or 3 blocks! :)
 |
| Two shirts and Two pairs of shoes - one of them J.Crew! - for $19 |
 |
| this is a Nine West silk blouse - TWO BUCKS!! :) |
 |
| possibly my favorite find of the day - yes, these are PURPLE leather shoes - the previous owner got them in Barcelona and NEVER WORE THEM. $10 |
 |
| This is a Moroccan shirt - I'm planning on using it as a swim-suit coverup - It, too, had never been worn. Still had the tag on! $2!! |
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Day 37-39 - PV - Home Sweet Logan Square
 |
| Me at the Farmer's Market |
Hello All! I apologize for not posting for the last few days - yesterday was super busy and Friday I was helping BF get ready to go on his Alaskan Cruise! So, now it's Sunday - and I've got a little bit of time. The pictures I've included in this post are from this morning - I decided to venture down to the Logan Square Farmer's Market. :)
It was a beautiful morning for a walk - very sunny, but cool and a little breezy. Normally on Sunday mornings, I'm unable to go anywhere because I have to give BF a ride to his church gig on the south side - so, his absence has given me a rare opportunity. Needless to say, I took it!!
Not a whole lot else to say really. The pictures are pretty self explanatory.
Diet Wise - things are still going well. I need to go stock up on groceries - which I'm going to do either today or tomorrow
(I did pick up some pretty incredible looking asparagus at the
Farmer's Market - but that's not quite sufficient!!). Because I've, shamefully
not posted for a few days - I'm not going to rehash menus. Just know that I've
not cheated and everything is continuing pretty much as normal. :)
I will get back to my daily posting schedule tomorrow! :)
Happy weekend All!!
 |
| Logan Square Farmer's Market |
 |
| "band" at the Farmer's Market |
 |
| Veggie Stall at the Farmer's Market |
 |
| View of Milwaukee Ave from "the square" |
 |
| Beautiful Norwegian church on the Square - still does services in Norwegian!! |
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Day 36 - PV - The ridiculousness of Tele-Web Classes
It was 58 degrees today. Craziness ya'll... I'm not going to complain though. This is a wonderful change from 100 degree temps yesterday. We actually have only had the fans on today - just because our apartment held much of the heat from the previous two days - it took a while for everything to cool down.
The strawberry pot, in case any of you were concerned, has begun to bounce back. It still looks funny.... but the rain and cooler temps have done much to improve things.
Today was sort of a hodgepodge day - had to go get the car (which is working quite nicely - knock on wood!) and was supposed to have had the electrician here - but that got pushed back to tomorrow (at the butt crack of dawn no less).... so I've spent a good deal of time getting a jump on the course work for my community college classes.
Two of said classes are what are termed "Tele-Web" classes.... which is a sort of 90's term for online classes with a television or video component. You would think, because we're an advanced technological society and it is, in fact, 2011 and not 1974 that any modern college would offer the video component for these classes as streaming web videos.... you would think that, and... you'd be wrong.
I suppose I shouldn't be surprised after the registration experience that the City Colleges of Chicago have, again, failed to realize that this is the 21st century - but the ridiculousness of this Tele-Web thing is just almost too much to believe.
SO - this is what they want me to do:
There are 5 new half hour lectures airing each week on Chicago Public Television (it's like cable access - just like Wayne's World!!!) which - by itself - isn't that bad.
Wait for it.... here's the kicker.....
These episodes air at 3:30 AM.
LOL!!!!
Really Community College??!? REALLY!?! HA!
Yea, I'm sorry... this is not happening.
Seeing as how I don't have a DVR... and Comcast has, in their infinite evil, made it impossible to hook up a VCR through the cable box.... I will be skipping the video component for this particular class. Nope. My other option would be to schlep down to the Community College Library and watch the videos there. No doubt they have them on film strips.... or maybe they're silent films that you watch while a man plays out of tune ragtime piano. At this point I wouldn't put it past them.
Oh, my.... *wiping away laughter tears*.... 3:30am.... that's a good one.
Menu:
Breakfast:
Oat Bran Porridge
Dukan Cheesecake (yep, Cheesecake for breakfast - don't judge)
Coffee w/ fixins
Lunch:
2 Turkey Hot Dogs
2 Hardboiled Eggs
Cherries Jubilee non-fat Yogurt (only ate half because it tasted like cherry cough syrup... gross!)
Snack:
Cheesecake (yep, more cheesecake... stop judging!!!)
Diet Ginger Ale
Dinner:
Pork Tenderloin with garlic sour cream sauce
French Style Green Beans
Hot Tea w/ Lemon
Intended for today to be a PP day - got to dinner and realized that I had run out of anything PP related that could serve as a side dish... oops... So, PV it is!
The strawberry pot, in case any of you were concerned, has begun to bounce back. It still looks funny.... but the rain and cooler temps have done much to improve things.
Today was sort of a hodgepodge day - had to go get the car (which is working quite nicely - knock on wood!) and was supposed to have had the electrician here - but that got pushed back to tomorrow (at the butt crack of dawn no less).... so I've spent a good deal of time getting a jump on the course work for my community college classes.
Two of said classes are what are termed "Tele-Web" classes.... which is a sort of 90's term for online classes with a television or video component. You would think, because we're an advanced technological society and it is, in fact, 2011 and not 1974 that any modern college would offer the video component for these classes as streaming web videos.... you would think that, and... you'd be wrong.
I suppose I shouldn't be surprised after the registration experience that the City Colleges of Chicago have, again, failed to realize that this is the 21st century - but the ridiculousness of this Tele-Web thing is just almost too much to believe.
SO - this is what they want me to do:
There are 5 new half hour lectures airing each week on Chicago Public Television (it's like cable access - just like Wayne's World!!!) which - by itself - isn't that bad.
Wait for it.... here's the kicker.....
These episodes air at 3:30 AM.
LOL!!!!
Really Community College??!? REALLY!?! HA!
Yea, I'm sorry... this is not happening.
Seeing as how I don't have a DVR... and Comcast has, in their infinite evil, made it impossible to hook up a VCR through the cable box.... I will be skipping the video component for this particular class. Nope. My other option would be to schlep down to the Community College Library and watch the videos there. No doubt they have them on film strips.... or maybe they're silent films that you watch while a man plays out of tune ragtime piano. At this point I wouldn't put it past them.
Oh, my.... *wiping away laughter tears*.... 3:30am.... that's a good one.
Menu:
Breakfast:
Oat Bran Porridge
Dukan Cheesecake (yep, Cheesecake for breakfast - don't judge)
Coffee w/ fixins
Lunch:
2 Turkey Hot Dogs
2 Hardboiled Eggs
Cherries Jubilee non-fat Yogurt (only ate half because it tasted like cherry cough syrup... gross!)
Snack:
Cheesecake (yep, more cheesecake... stop judging!!!)
Diet Ginger Ale
Dinner:
Pork Tenderloin with garlic sour cream sauce
French Style Green Beans
Hot Tea w/ Lemon
Intended for today to be a PP day - got to dinner and realized that I had run out of anything PP related that could serve as a side dish... oops... So, PV it is!
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Day 35 - PV - Graphs are dumb.
I started my online classes at the community college today. I'll be honest and tell you that I went into it with a bit of ego.... you know, the "I'm a graduate student with two bachelors degrees and this is a lowly community college class" sort of ego? Yep, that was me.... and then... Macro-Economics happened.
I like to think that I'm a smart person. I know how the economy works - better, I daresay, than many my age. I can tell you what a negative amortized mortgage is..... I know why the housing bubble burst.... Adam Smith and his invisible hand? I've high-fived it! But.... graphs and charts... have never been my forte.
Today, I took a "math/ chart and graph reading pre-test" for the macro-econ course. I don't think it was graded.... I think we just had to "complete" it... but, embarrassingly, I struggled with the damn thing. I don't get graphs and charts. I just don't. Especially when said graph and/ or chart has to do with SLOPE. Whoever the Einstein was who thought it would be a good idea to graph slope needs to be throat-punched. Yea, I said it. THROAT. PUNCHED.
I'm hoping that we won't have to graph slopes in this class... because, if this pre-test is any indication of how that would go for me...yea, not so good.
In addition to graphs being stupid - and me apparently being stupid at interpreting them - there were other stupid things that happened today:
1. Car repair is going to cost almost $450.... AWESOME.
2. Electricity being sort of sketchy again - just in time for the heat wave. SUPER AWESOME.
3. Heat wave yesterday absolutely BAKED the strawberry pot out on the porch. Was able to bring it back to life - but had to cut off a bunch of leaves. It now looks like a little kid who got his hands on scissors and gave himself a super cool haircut.
It's been a bang-up day ya'll. For realz.
A couple good things did happen - the house stayed a much more comfortable temperature today (ie: I won't have to take an ice-cold shower in order to cool myself down enough to sleep) and Paisley's kitty tent came!! (Paisley's the cat, by the way, in case anyone missed that). So Paisley will finally get to venture out on the porch - this of course will go one of two ways, she will either love it and sun-bathe contentedly in her tent or she will be scared shit-less (quite literally) and I will have to clean terrified cat poo out of the tent. We shall see.
Here are some cute pictures of her enjoying it!
Menu:
Breakfast:
Oat Bran Porridge
Iced Coffee w/ fixins
Lunch:
Salad w/ Lobster, hard boiled egg, broccoli and cauliflower
Dukan Balsamic Vinaigrette
Snack:
Dukan Cheesecake w/ Strawberry non-fat Yogurt
Dinner:
Chicken pinwheel - no skin
Sauteed Kale and Spinach
I like to think that I'm a smart person. I know how the economy works - better, I daresay, than many my age. I can tell you what a negative amortized mortgage is..... I know why the housing bubble burst.... Adam Smith and his invisible hand? I've high-fived it! But.... graphs and charts... have never been my forte.
Today, I took a "math/ chart and graph reading pre-test" for the macro-econ course. I don't think it was graded.... I think we just had to "complete" it... but, embarrassingly, I struggled with the damn thing. I don't get graphs and charts. I just don't. Especially when said graph and/ or chart has to do with SLOPE. Whoever the Einstein was who thought it would be a good idea to graph slope needs to be throat-punched. Yea, I said it. THROAT. PUNCHED.
I'm hoping that we won't have to graph slopes in this class... because, if this pre-test is any indication of how that would go for me...yea, not so good.
In addition to graphs being stupid - and me apparently being stupid at interpreting them - there were other stupid things that happened today:
1. Car repair is going to cost almost $450.... AWESOME.
2. Electricity being sort of sketchy again - just in time for the heat wave. SUPER AWESOME.
3. Heat wave yesterday absolutely BAKED the strawberry pot out on the porch. Was able to bring it back to life - but had to cut off a bunch of leaves. It now looks like a little kid who got his hands on scissors and gave himself a super cool haircut.
It's been a bang-up day ya'll. For realz.
A couple good things did happen - the house stayed a much more comfortable temperature today (ie: I won't have to take an ice-cold shower in order to cool myself down enough to sleep) and Paisley's kitty tent came!! (Paisley's the cat, by the way, in case anyone missed that). So Paisley will finally get to venture out on the porch - this of course will go one of two ways, she will either love it and sun-bathe contentedly in her tent or she will be scared shit-less (quite literally) and I will have to clean terrified cat poo out of the tent. We shall see.
Here are some cute pictures of her enjoying it!
Menu:
Breakfast:
Oat Bran Porridge
Iced Coffee w/ fixins
Lunch:
Salad w/ Lobster, hard boiled egg, broccoli and cauliflower
Dukan Balsamic Vinaigrette
Snack:
Dukan Cheesecake w/ Strawberry non-fat Yogurt
Dinner:
Chicken pinwheel - no skin
Sauteed Kale and Spinach
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Day 33/34 - PP/ PV - If you can't stand the heat....
So remember me complaining about how cold it was in Chicago a few weeks ago?? Yea, I take it back. It is 8:05am currently... and temperature is already 81 degrees. It is supposed to top out at 98 today - although, I wouldn't be surprised if it got higher than that. YUCK! Luckily, we already put our ACs in .... so the house is nice and cool for most of the day.... my car, however, is a much different story.
The plan for today (Tuesday) is to take my poor little VW Beetle to the mechanic.... he's sick! The AC in the car does not blow cold air and if I drive it around for too long, the engine overheat light comes on. Yikes!! Word to the wise - VW's are the most convoluted, counter-intuitive cars ever made - especially Beetles. The cuteness factor pales in comparison to the inevitable pain-in-the-ass factor when you're plagued with every imaginable electrical problem and it costs you twice as much for routine repairs because they've crammed a full size engine into roughly the space of a deck of playing cards.
UGH
This is not exactly how I wanted to spend my day today - the first of two days of no classes before my summer courses start on Thursday. Yes, Spring Quarter wrapped up yesterday - I was busy submitting final papers and such which is why I didn't post.
BF leaves again this weekend - on an Alaskan Cruise with his family. I was invited to go too... but my extreme fear of large bodies of water and boats... and the fact that I have summer class/ tests etc. sort of made it impossible for me. He'll be gone for another week - which will give me the opportunity to re-tidy the house back to the levels it was at when he was in Taiwan. I love him, but he's just inherently messy.
OH - we ARE going to talk about how stupid Bachelorette Ashley is that she cried over Bentley the Villain's untimely departure last night - but I missed half the show because we were out so I'll have to Hulu it later. Expect a rant though because Bentley is pretty much a douche-bag and Bachelorette Ashley is apparently a moron.
Monday
Breakfast:
Oat Bran Porridge
Coffee w/ fixins
Lunch:
Turkey lunchmeat
2 hard boiled eggs
cottage cheese
strawberry banana non-fat yogurt
Dinner:
Salmon Filet
2 Turkey hot dogs
Cranberry Rose Tea
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday:
Breakfast:
Oat Bran Porridge
Coffee w/ fixins
Lunch:
Pineapple-Coconut non-fat yogurt
2 hard boiled eggs
2 turkey dogs w/ mustard
Diet Ginger Ale
Snack:
turkey lunchmeat
Dinner
Turkey patties w/ artisan lettuce
Sweet Corn (I know corn is a limited veggie - I only had a little bit!!)
Cold Shrimp
Dukan Cheesecake w/ Key Lime Yogurt on top (surprisingly good - but not the same as REAL cheesecake)
The plan for today (Tuesday) is to take my poor little VW Beetle to the mechanic.... he's sick! The AC in the car does not blow cold air and if I drive it around for too long, the engine overheat light comes on. Yikes!! Word to the wise - VW's are the most convoluted, counter-intuitive cars ever made - especially Beetles. The cuteness factor pales in comparison to the inevitable pain-in-the-ass factor when you're plagued with every imaginable electrical problem and it costs you twice as much for routine repairs because they've crammed a full size engine into roughly the space of a deck of playing cards.
UGH
This is not exactly how I wanted to spend my day today - the first of two days of no classes before my summer courses start on Thursday. Yes, Spring Quarter wrapped up yesterday - I was busy submitting final papers and such which is why I didn't post.
BF leaves again this weekend - on an Alaskan Cruise with his family. I was invited to go too... but my extreme fear of large bodies of water and boats... and the fact that I have summer class/ tests etc. sort of made it impossible for me. He'll be gone for another week - which will give me the opportunity to re-tidy the house back to the levels it was at when he was in Taiwan. I love him, but he's just inherently messy.
OH - we ARE going to talk about how stupid Bachelorette Ashley is that she cried over Bentley the Villain's untimely departure last night - but I missed half the show because we were out so I'll have to Hulu it later. Expect a rant though because Bentley is pretty much a douche-bag and Bachelorette Ashley is apparently a moron.
Monday
Breakfast:
Oat Bran Porridge
Coffee w/ fixins
Lunch:
Turkey lunchmeat
2 hard boiled eggs
cottage cheese
strawberry banana non-fat yogurt
Dinner:
Salmon Filet
2 Turkey hot dogs
Cranberry Rose Tea
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday:
Breakfast:
Oat Bran Porridge
Coffee w/ fixins
Lunch:
Pineapple-Coconut non-fat yogurt
2 hard boiled eggs
2 turkey dogs w/ mustard
Diet Ginger Ale
Snack:
turkey lunchmeat
Dinner
Turkey patties w/ artisan lettuce
Sweet Corn (I know corn is a limited veggie - I only had a little bit!!)
Cold Shrimp
Dukan Cheesecake w/ Key Lime Yogurt on top (surprisingly good - but not the same as REAL cheesecake)
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Day 32 - PV - I CHEATED.
I cheated today. I am openly and unashamedly admitting it. I was faced with the most delectable strawberry I have EVER seen... and I had to have it. I figured, what harm could ONE strawberry do? Admittedly, it was sort of an enormous strawberry... but I don't regret it... even if I gain a pound in the morning... that strawberry was worth it.
In other news - I'm contemplating re-framing my weight loss goals and moving to the consolidation stage early. Right now, I'm between 136 and 138 pounds.... My "true weight" according to the Dukan website is 132.8.... but I don't know that I can, realistically do cruise for another month. I'm having DREAMS about cheating on this diet. I'm not even joking - last night, I dreamed that someone gave me a cream cheese danish... (sort of an odd thing to be dreaming about - since I rarely, if ever eat Cream Cheese pastries even if I'm not on Dukan) and I was about to bite into it and, no lie, in my dream I had a Tourette's style swearing fest about how I was on this BLEEPING diet and I couldn't have that... and that if I ate it, it would ruin everything. IT. WAS. BIZARRE. So, either my subconscious is more carb-addicted than I realize so it's trying to tempt me to quit.... or I've just mentally had enough of denying myself stuff that I like. The Jury is still out. I'm going to see if I can lose a few more pounds... maybe get to 135.... by doing a mini-Attack redux this week. 135 is a nice even number... then I can move on to Consolidation which is a more normal eating plan.
Consolidation Stage:
- All of the foods from Attack and Cruise are still allowed in unlimited quantities - added to the "allowed meats" list are: Leg of lamb and cooked ham
- It is no longer required to alternate PP with PV days - you replace this alternation with one set day of PP per week.
- 2 Tbsp of Oat Bran and 1.5 liters of water are still required.
- Exercise goes back to 25 minutes a day.
- Added to the "approved/ required foods" list:
- 1 serving of fruit per day (all fruits are allowed except bananas - sad panda - grapes, cherries, dried fruits and nuts)
- 2 slices of 100% whole grain bread per day
- 1 serving of cheese per day (!!!!!) (except fermented cheeses like bleu cheese, goat cheese, feta, etc)
- 2 servings of "Starchy" foods per week - including pasta, rice, lentils, and Legumes - which Dr. Pierre summarily lambasted for "causing flatulence"!!! LOL!!)
- 1-2 "Celebration Meals" per week - during the first half of the Consolidation period - Dr. Pierre allows 1 CM per week, it moves to 2 during the second half of Consolidation.
- A "Celebration Meal" is the freedom to eat ANYTHING YOU WANT - the definition of a "meal" according to the book is: 1 starter, 1 main course, 1 dessert, 1 glass of wine (!!!)
- You may not have second helpings of anything
- You should obviously avoid having two celebration meals in a row - space them out.
Doesn't that sound A LOT nicer?!?! Bread, Cheese, FRUIT!! Normalcy! Being able to have sushi and tacos and go out to eat or have friends over!! The luxury.... I'm am very much looking forward to beginning this stage.
Some of you may be wondering why, if I'm so fed up with Cruise, I don't just quit all together and go back to calorie counting and exercising like normal. Believe me, the temptation is there. BUT - according to the book - in order to maintain the weight loss I've already achieved it is important to gradually reintroduce the foods I've been denying myself. To go straight back to previous eating habits - no matter how healthy they are - would mean almost certain weight re-gain. Anyone who has done Atkins, Dukan, or similar low-carb diet will tell you that the sudden reintroduction of carbs without some sort of plan or strategy = epic fail. Also - in the interest of follow-through - and since I've obviously hooked you all in with riveting accounts of my weight loss odyssey - I want to finish what I started! :)
So - I'm going to try to make it to 135... and then CONSOLIDATION!
Menu:
Breakfast:
Oat Bran Porridge
Coffee w/ fixins
Lunch:
Iceberg Lettuce Salad w/ broccoli, cauliflower, and crab
Dukan Balsamic Vinaigrette
Strawberry Banana nonfat Yogurt
Snack:
1 DELICIOUS FORBIDDEN STRAWBERRY
1 can Diet Rite Soda
Dinner:
Center Cut Loin Pork Chops with herbs and garlic
Sauteed Spinach
leftover broccoli and cauliflower
Hot Tea w/ lemon
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Day 30 and 31 - PV - So far so good!
Diet wise, we're getting low on groceries in the house - so its been sort of slim pickins for the past few days. planning on making a trip to the store on Monday. Also contemplating just ordering PeaPod.... I'm a little low on time with classes wrapping up, papers due and whatnot... So, if you're noticing that there are strange combinations of food on my menus... that's why. I've got strange combinations of stuff left in my almost barren refrigerator!
Alright - must get down to paper writing! Happy Saturday everyone!
Friday
Breakfast:
Oat Bran Porridge
Coffee w/ fixins
Lunch:
Romaine Lettuce Salad
w/ broccoli, cauliflower, crab, and hard boiled egg
Dukan Balsamic Vinaigrette
Diet Rite Soda
Snack:
2 Turkey Hot Dogs w/ mustard
Banana Creme non-fat Yogurt
Dinner:
Pork tenderloin w/ sour cream, garlic, mushroom sauce
French cut Green Beans
Broccoli and Cauliflower
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday
Breakfast:
Oat Bran Porridge
Coffee w/ fixins
Lunch:
Two Turkey Dogs
Key Lime non-fat Yogurt
Dinner:
Leftover PorkTenderloin
1 Tilapia Filet and 1 Whiting Filet
leftover broccoli and cauliflower
Activity:
Gardening!!
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Day 29 - PP - How does your garden grow....
I've never had much of a green thumb.... in fact, today, BF told me I have a brown thumb. Despite (or perhaps IN spite of) this, I have developed a strong desire to garden - and now that we have an (almost complete) outdoor balcony I can finally have my own little container vegetable garden! Today we went to the Garden Center to pick out this year's "crops" ... I wasn't fully prepared for just how large this particular garden center happened to be. IT WAS ENORMOUS!! BF was in hog-heaven - strolling around picking out the biggest plants he could find. I had to talk him out of a particularly voluminous hanging fern at one point....
After a 2-3 hours of strolling around both the Garden Center and the Walmart garden section nearby - we came home with a lovely assortment of veggies and green plants to Christen our new porch. I'm also going to order some beautiful carrot seeds that grow carrots in all sorts of wacky, crazy colors! PURPLE CARROTS!! My inner 3-year-old cannot contain her joy. :) I even found a wonderful strawberry pot - with strawberries already on it for only $11 at Walmart!! Walmart sucks in just about every aspect - but deals like that keep me coming back for more!
So, I guess we'll see how it goes. Lucky for me I have a friend who lives close by with a Masters in Horticulture... so if something starts to go horribly wrong, she can steer me back to the path of righteousness. Once we've got the plants situated out on the porch - I'll try to take some pictures and post them! :) Yay for gardening! :)
Menu:
Breakfast: (I didn't eat breakfast until around noon due to some errand running this morning- forgive the odd combo of foods)
Oat Bran Porridge
Coffee w/ fixins
2 turkey hot dogs (LOL! - it just looks wrong doesn't it?)
Lunch:
2 hard boiled eggs
chicken lunchmeat
imitation crab
fat free cottage cheese
Dinner:
2 Whiting Filets (that's fish for anyone who doesn't know)
1 chicken thigh - baked
scrambled egg whites with chives.
.Snack: Vanilla non-fat Yogurt
Tiramisu/ Mascarpone Rooibos Tea w/ sweetener
Activity: Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred - Level 1 - 25 minutes
2-3 hours walking/ strolling @ Garden Center
After a 2-3 hours of strolling around both the Garden Center and the Walmart garden section nearby - we came home with a lovely assortment of veggies and green plants to Christen our new porch. I'm also going to order some beautiful carrot seeds that grow carrots in all sorts of wacky, crazy colors! PURPLE CARROTS!! My inner 3-year-old cannot contain her joy. :) I even found a wonderful strawberry pot - with strawberries already on it for only $11 at Walmart!! Walmart sucks in just about every aspect - but deals like that keep me coming back for more!
So, I guess we'll see how it goes. Lucky for me I have a friend who lives close by with a Masters in Horticulture... so if something starts to go horribly wrong, she can steer me back to the path of righteousness. Once we've got the plants situated out on the porch - I'll try to take some pictures and post them! :) Yay for gardening! :)
Menu:
Breakfast: (I didn't eat breakfast until around noon due to some errand running this morning- forgive the odd combo of foods)
Oat Bran Porridge
Coffee w/ fixins
2 turkey hot dogs (LOL! - it just looks wrong doesn't it?)
Lunch:
2 hard boiled eggs
chicken lunchmeat
imitation crab
fat free cottage cheese
Dinner:
2 Whiting Filets (that's fish for anyone who doesn't know)
1 chicken thigh - baked
scrambled egg whites with chives.
.Snack: Vanilla non-fat Yogurt
Tiramisu/ Mascarpone Rooibos Tea w/ sweetener
Activity: Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred - Level 1 - 25 minutes
2-3 hours walking/ strolling @ Garden Center
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Day 28 - PV - "We're clapping cuz it's over... "
When I was a little kid, I would sometimes have to do piano or voice recitals.... as I spent most of the time being nervous about performing I never really noticed how long they were. Well, as an adult having just sat through not one but TWO piano and voice recitals, I can tell you that they are INSUFFERABLY long. I never really understood, before tonight, why my father, after sitting through my recitals would always say that people weren't clapping because they liked it ... they were clapping because it was OVER. O.M.G.
At least I was getting paid to be there.... as it was part of my job.... but it was still insanely long. So long that I'm now too tired to write anything substantial. In short, the diet is going much better now that I've been doing more PV than PP - lots easier to stick to. I've also been doing Jillian's 30 Day Shred every morning... which is great. For anyone who has NOT tried a Jillian DVD - you need to go out immediately and purchase one. 30 Day Shred is a great one to start with, I really like her 6 Week 6 Pack and her Yoga Meltdown workouts as well. :)
Menu:
Breakfast:
Oat Bran Porridge
Coffee w/ fixins
Lunch:
Romaine Lettuce Salad
w/ Broccoli, Cauliflower, Crab, and hard boiled egg
Dukan Balsamic Vinaigrette
Passion Tea
Snack:
Vanilla non-fat Yogurt
Dinner:
Tilapia and Salmon
Sauteed Kale and Spinach
1 hard boiled egg
Activity: Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred - Level 1 - 25 minutes.
At least I was getting paid to be there.... as it was part of my job.... but it was still insanely long. So long that I'm now too tired to write anything substantial. In short, the diet is going much better now that I've been doing more PV than PP - lots easier to stick to. I've also been doing Jillian's 30 Day Shred every morning... which is great. For anyone who has NOT tried a Jillian DVD - you need to go out immediately and purchase one. 30 Day Shred is a great one to start with, I really like her 6 Week 6 Pack and her Yoga Meltdown workouts as well. :)
Menu:
Breakfast:
Oat Bran Porridge
Coffee w/ fixins
Lunch:
Romaine Lettuce Salad
w/ Broccoli, Cauliflower, Crab, and hard boiled egg
Dukan Balsamic Vinaigrette
Passion Tea
Snack:
Vanilla non-fat Yogurt
Dinner:
Tilapia and Salmon
Sauteed Kale and Spinach
1 hard boiled egg
Activity: Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred - Level 1 - 25 minutes.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Day 27 - PV - We're Switching It Up!
I've been struggling with this diet lately... mentally and - apparently - physically as my weight has not changed in about a week. I've not cheated at all... but I have been mentally unfaithful to the plan... maybe that inner doubt is manifesting on the scale? I don't know...
In any case, I went back to the book - and saw that, for people with only a little weight to lose, a more doable rhythm for the Cruise phase is the 2/5 rhythm: 2 days of Pure Protein (Mondays and Thursdays), 5 days of Protein + Vegetables. For some reason, I feel more successful on the PV days - perhaps because its easier to stick to it and feel satisfied... PP days end up being a hodgepodge of whatever meat products I can throw together on a plate. Not very appetizing. The 2/5 rhythm will also set me up for both the Consolidation and Stabilization phases where Pure Protein only happens a few times/ once a week.
In addition to my struggles with the diet portion - I've been REALLY struggling with the daily activity component. It's difficult to get out for a walk every day - I know that sounds pathetic and unbelievable, but it's true. SO - I'm going back to my daily Jillian Michaels regimen - probably going to do the 30 Day Shred again. Originally, when I began the Dukan Diet, I wanted to do everything exactly as Dr. Dukan described... since, in addition to losing weight, I was interested to see if the plan actually worked as written. But, it's getting to the point now where I want to get OFF the cruise stage... and anything I can do to speed that process along, I'm going to do ..... purity of the experiment be damned!! I'm also starting to lose some of the muscle definition in my arms that I had gained while doing Jillian workouts consistently before beginning Dukan - and I don't just want to be thin, I want to be TONED.
So - to recap - we're now doing Mondays and Thursdays PP, and the remaining days of the week PV - with 30 Day Shred daily. Hopefully that will kick this process into high gear.
Menu:
Breakfast
Oat Bran Porridge
Coffee w/ fixins
Lunch:
Romaine Lettuce Salad with chicken breast chunks and 1 hardboiled egg
Dukan Balsamic Vinaigrette
Passion Tea - Cold.
Snack:
Coconut Pineapple non-fat Yogurt
1/4 cup Lobster Chunks
Passtion Tea/ Ginger Ale Spritzer
Dinner:
Leftover pork tenderloin w/ sour cream over french style green beans (pasta/ rice stand-in.. I'm making it work)
Sauteed Kale
Passion Tea
Activity/ Exercise: Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred - Level 1 - 25 minutes
In any case, I went back to the book - and saw that, for people with only a little weight to lose, a more doable rhythm for the Cruise phase is the 2/5 rhythm: 2 days of Pure Protein (Mondays and Thursdays), 5 days of Protein + Vegetables. For some reason, I feel more successful on the PV days - perhaps because its easier to stick to it and feel satisfied... PP days end up being a hodgepodge of whatever meat products I can throw together on a plate. Not very appetizing. The 2/5 rhythm will also set me up for both the Consolidation and Stabilization phases where Pure Protein only happens a few times/ once a week.
In addition to my struggles with the diet portion - I've been REALLY struggling with the daily activity component. It's difficult to get out for a walk every day - I know that sounds pathetic and unbelievable, but it's true. SO - I'm going back to my daily Jillian Michaels regimen - probably going to do the 30 Day Shred again. Originally, when I began the Dukan Diet, I wanted to do everything exactly as Dr. Dukan described... since, in addition to losing weight, I was interested to see if the plan actually worked as written. But, it's getting to the point now where I want to get OFF the cruise stage... and anything I can do to speed that process along, I'm going to do ..... purity of the experiment be damned!! I'm also starting to lose some of the muscle definition in my arms that I had gained while doing Jillian workouts consistently before beginning Dukan - and I don't just want to be thin, I want to be TONED.
So - to recap - we're now doing Mondays and Thursdays PP, and the remaining days of the week PV - with 30 Day Shred daily. Hopefully that will kick this process into high gear.
Menu:
Breakfast
Oat Bran Porridge
Coffee w/ fixins
Lunch:
Romaine Lettuce Salad with chicken breast chunks and 1 hardboiled egg
Dukan Balsamic Vinaigrette
Passion Tea - Cold.
Snack:
Coconut Pineapple non-fat Yogurt
1/4 cup Lobster Chunks
Passtion Tea/ Ginger Ale Spritzer
Dinner:
Leftover pork tenderloin w/ sour cream over french style green beans (pasta/ rice stand-in.. I'm making it work)
Sauteed Kale
Passion Tea
Activity/ Exercise: Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred - Level 1 - 25 minutes
Monday, May 30, 2011
Day 26 - PP - Happy Memorial Day!
I hesitate to say "summer has arrived!" in Chicago.. since we've had more than a few false starts this Spring - but today - the "unofficial start of summer" - certainly seemed summery to me! I didn't happen to see what the temperature topped out at - I think it was forecasted to be 92 degrees at the warmest part of the day. Very sultry! BF and I took a short walk around noon - it was beautiful outside, but my fair skin and the elevated humidity made a longer walk difficult.
Thankfully, the electrical woes of yesterday seem to have abated - just in time, too! If I hadn't been able to turn on the AC in the living room today, I never would've lasted... I'm hoping that it was just a glitch yesterday - a side-effect of the torrential rain storms and not a black omen of more electrical problems to come. I know my landlady will join me on that one!
Tonight was yet another thrilling installment of "The Bachelorette" (BTW, get used to it guys, every Monday night for the next 10 weeks you're going to have to hear about Ashley and her hoards of strapping lads... sorry) I really do live for Mondays - although I'm finding that I'm not enjoying this season as much as Brad "The Wombat" Womack's season... it is early yet.
The most compelling "character" right now is Bentley the Villain - who, in an unexpected twist, couldn't really give a crap about the Bachelorette and has actually said as much! Fascinating! Way to keep us on our TOES ABC execs! You see, NORMALLY the Villain/ Villainess of the season is the one who is certifiably crazy, maybe just a bit trashy, and completely believes that this person that they met 3.5 minutes ago is legitimately the one for them..... Bentley is a new breed of Villain who is the opposite of all those things (except for maybe the trashy part.... I believe he said his daughter's name was Coozy... or Coochy ... or something- TRA-SHY!!) and is really just staying in the game to amuse himself and get some free publicity. He is pretty cute though.. perfect fodder for lots of lady "hate". Scrumptious.
Who needs CARBS when there's the never-ending drama of The Bachelorette to keep me entertained!?!
Menu:
Breakfast:
Oat Bran Porridge
Cherry Vanilla non-fat Yogurt
Coffee w/ fixins
Lunch:
Seafood Trifecta (lobster, shrimp crab - cold)
1 hard-boiled egg
Cottage Cheese
Ginger Ale
Snack:
Vanilla non-fat yogurt
Passion Tea/ Ginger Ale Spritzer
Dinner:
Pork Tenderloin w/ sour cream Garlic Sauce
scrambled egg whites w/ chives
cottage cheese
OH! I almost forgot!
Happy Memorial Day everyone!
A big thank you to our service men and women - past, present, and future - Thank You for reminding us that FREEDOM ISN'T FREE!!!
Thankfully, the electrical woes of yesterday seem to have abated - just in time, too! If I hadn't been able to turn on the AC in the living room today, I never would've lasted... I'm hoping that it was just a glitch yesterday - a side-effect of the torrential rain storms and not a black omen of more electrical problems to come. I know my landlady will join me on that one!
Tonight was yet another thrilling installment of "The Bachelorette" (BTW, get used to it guys, every Monday night for the next 10 weeks you're going to have to hear about Ashley and her hoards of strapping lads... sorry) I really do live for Mondays - although I'm finding that I'm not enjoying this season as much as Brad "The Wombat" Womack's season... it is early yet.
The most compelling "character" right now is Bentley the Villain - who, in an unexpected twist, couldn't really give a crap about the Bachelorette and has actually said as much! Fascinating! Way to keep us on our TOES ABC execs! You see, NORMALLY the Villain/ Villainess of the season is the one who is certifiably crazy, maybe just a bit trashy, and completely believes that this person that they met 3.5 minutes ago is legitimately the one for them..... Bentley is a new breed of Villain who is the opposite of all those things (except for maybe the trashy part.... I believe he said his daughter's name was Coozy... or Coochy ... or something- TRA-SHY!!) and is really just staying in the game to amuse himself and get some free publicity. He is pretty cute though.. perfect fodder for lots of lady "hate". Scrumptious.
Who needs CARBS when there's the never-ending drama of The Bachelorette to keep me entertained!?!
Menu:
Breakfast:
Oat Bran Porridge
Cherry Vanilla non-fat Yogurt
Coffee w/ fixins
Lunch:
Seafood Trifecta (lobster, shrimp crab - cold)
1 hard-boiled egg
Cottage Cheese
Ginger Ale
Snack:
Vanilla non-fat yogurt
Passion Tea/ Ginger Ale Spritzer
Dinner:
Pork Tenderloin w/ sour cream Garlic Sauce
scrambled egg whites w/ chives
cottage cheese
OH! I almost forgot!
Happy Memorial Day everyone!
A big thank you to our service men and women - past, present, and future - Thank You for reminding us that FREEDOM ISN'T FREE!!!
Day 25 - PV - who needs electricity anyway?
I had great intentions for today - I really did. You know those days where you get up and you say to yourself "self, we're going to do this, this, and this today... being productive is awesome! Go US!" and then promptly upon getting up out of bed... everything, and I do mean everything, conspires against your perfect, productive plan? Today was one of those days.
The morning? Not so bad... except for the fact that it was raining and overcast, so much so that it felt like night time.... I took BF to church, then came home with every intention of working on homework. This was not to be. As soon as I sat down to eat some lunch.... the power went off. Thinking that it had something to do with the torrential rainstorm, I channeled my inner zen master, finished my lunch... and went down into the creepiest of creepy basements to investigate. It turned out to be a tripped circuit... breathing a sigh of relief, I reset the circuit and tromped back up the stairs determined to get back on track.
I settled myself on the couch ready to delve into some history... when... yep, you guessed it... the power goes off again. Now, I wouldn't say that I'm necessarily like an energy hog.... I mean, I'm not running every major appliance in the house, the lights, and all that stuff at once... I really only had a lamp, some twinkle lights that we decorate with, and the tv going... not enough to trip a circuit.... so the fact that the circuit was repeatedly tripping was troubling to say the least...
Well, to make a long story short, the circuit ended up tripping 4-5 times total in the space of 30-45 minutes. This is most definitely not normal... and it is probably a warning sign of bad electrical juju floating in the walls. Bad News Bears ... The last time it tripped, I just decided to leave it off. After text and phone conversations with my landlady and some troubleshooting... the power did come back on and stay on, but I'm anxiously awaiting the electrician's visit tomorrow or Tuesday - at which point I will be sure to ask what sort of idiocy inspired the idea to put over half the apartment's outlets on ONE 15 AMP CIRCUIT. STOOPID!!!
So yes, my plans were thwarted by electricity ninjas.... it's a good thing that tomorrow is Memorial Day and I don't have class. Because of this, I'm ending my day on a note of "mildly annoyed" instead of "irate"... as Martha Stewart would say: "It's a good thing!"
Menu:
Breakfast:
Oat Bran Porridge
Banana non-fat yogurt
Coffee w/ fixins
Lunch:
Small NY Strip Steak - leftover
Sour Creme/ Garlic dipping sauce
Brussels Sprouts
Cottage Cheese
Snack:
1 hard boiled egg
Vanilla non-fat Yogurt
Dinner:
Tilapia Filet
1 salmon burger pattie
Green Beans
The morning? Not so bad... except for the fact that it was raining and overcast, so much so that it felt like night time.... I took BF to church, then came home with every intention of working on homework. This was not to be. As soon as I sat down to eat some lunch.... the power went off. Thinking that it had something to do with the torrential rainstorm, I channeled my inner zen master, finished my lunch... and went down into the creepiest of creepy basements to investigate. It turned out to be a tripped circuit... breathing a sigh of relief, I reset the circuit and tromped back up the stairs determined to get back on track.
I settled myself on the couch ready to delve into some history... when... yep, you guessed it... the power goes off again. Now, I wouldn't say that I'm necessarily like an energy hog.... I mean, I'm not running every major appliance in the house, the lights, and all that stuff at once... I really only had a lamp, some twinkle lights that we decorate with, and the tv going... not enough to trip a circuit.... so the fact that the circuit was repeatedly tripping was troubling to say the least...
Well, to make a long story short, the circuit ended up tripping 4-5 times total in the space of 30-45 minutes. This is most definitely not normal... and it is probably a warning sign of bad electrical juju floating in the walls. Bad News Bears ... The last time it tripped, I just decided to leave it off. After text and phone conversations with my landlady and some troubleshooting... the power did come back on and stay on, but I'm anxiously awaiting the electrician's visit tomorrow or Tuesday - at which point I will be sure to ask what sort of idiocy inspired the idea to put over half the apartment's outlets on ONE 15 AMP CIRCUIT. STOOPID!!!
So yes, my plans were thwarted by electricity ninjas.... it's a good thing that tomorrow is Memorial Day and I don't have class. Because of this, I'm ending my day on a note of "mildly annoyed" instead of "irate"... as Martha Stewart would say: "It's a good thing!"
Menu:
Breakfast:
Oat Bran Porridge
Banana non-fat yogurt
Coffee w/ fixins
Lunch:
Small NY Strip Steak - leftover
Sour Creme/ Garlic dipping sauce
Brussels Sprouts
Cottage Cheese
Snack:
1 hard boiled egg
Vanilla non-fat Yogurt
Dinner:
Tilapia Filet
1 salmon burger pattie
Green Beans
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Day 24 - PP
PP days are the worst... I'm just not even going to sugar-coat it. I dread PP days. It's hard ya'll.... but I'm powering through. Today - I feel like I've been eating non-stop... I'm eating all the approved stuff, and I know unlimited quantities are allowed, but my rational brain ( or maybe it's my IRRATIONAL brain) doesn't want to believe that that's ok...
I've never been one for emotional eating really... but eating out of boredom? Now, THAT is definitely a problem. One that the Dukan plan is really devoid of is really good go-to snacking food. Portable, easy, satisfying... ya know like chips, nuts, or a cookie... those kinds of things. This is where I run into trouble, and why I inevitably end up eating 4 things of yogurt or 3 hard-boiled eggs over the course of a day.
Sigh - so this, to me, is definitely a flaw of the plan. Maybe the French don't snack?
Menu:
Breakfast:
Oat Bran Porridge
Caramel non-fat Yogurt
Coffee w/ fixins
Lunch:
Turkey Lunchmeat
2 turkey hot dogs with spicy mustard
cottage cheese
fat-free vanilla fro-yo
Snack:
Strawberry Cheesecake non-fat Yogurt.
Diet Rite Soda
Dinner:
NY Strip Steak w/ sour cream and garlic dipping sauce
Sauteed Shrimp
Cottage Cheese
I've never been one for emotional eating really... but eating out of boredom? Now, THAT is definitely a problem. One that the Dukan plan is really devoid of is really good go-to snacking food. Portable, easy, satisfying... ya know like chips, nuts, or a cookie... those kinds of things. This is where I run into trouble, and why I inevitably end up eating 4 things of yogurt or 3 hard-boiled eggs over the course of a day.
Sigh - so this, to me, is definitely a flaw of the plan. Maybe the French don't snack?
Menu:
Breakfast:
Oat Bran Porridge
Caramel non-fat Yogurt
Coffee w/ fixins
Lunch:
Turkey Lunchmeat
2 turkey hot dogs with spicy mustard
cottage cheese
fat-free vanilla fro-yo
Snack:
Strawberry Cheesecake non-fat Yogurt.
Diet Rite Soda
Dinner:
NY Strip Steak w/ sour cream and garlic dipping sauce
Sauteed Shrimp
Cottage Cheese
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Day 23 - PV - Dinner with Friends
Sorry for the late post all! Got home last night and was so tired that I just couldn't fathom doing anything!
Fairly uneventful day yesterday - BF and I stayed around home for most of the day, poor thing - he's finally starting to feel some jet lag from his 13 hour time switch. We were talking yesterday and have decided to make a morning walk part of our daily routine. I'm expecting that this will start on Monday though... as this weekend is sort of busy for us!
Last night, we had dinner with some friends. We had a great time - good food, good company - but my willpower and resolve was severely tested throughout the course of the evening. I'm very proud to say that - even in the face of Doritos, pasta salad, and S'mores - I did not cheat. Not one unapproved morsel passed my lips. Knowing that we were going to be having hot dogs with all the traditional accompaniments, I even packed myself a nice big salad and ate hot dogs with mustard and no bun. I'm not going to lie and tell you that it wasn't a little sad.... but I felt good nonetheless that I was able to resist all those yummy things. :)
Menu:
Breakfast:
Oat Bran Porridge
Coconut Pineapple non-fat yogurt
Coffee w/ fixins
Lunch:
Salmon Filet w/ mushroom sour cream sauce
2 Eggs - sunny-side up
Brussels sprouts
Dinner:
Romaine Lettuce Salad w/ Shrimp and hard boiled egg
Dukan Balsamic Vinaigrette
hot dogs with mustard and relish
Diet Rite Soda
Snack:
Chicken lunchmeat
Passion/ Earl Grey tea with sweetener
Fairly uneventful day yesterday - BF and I stayed around home for most of the day, poor thing - he's finally starting to feel some jet lag from his 13 hour time switch. We were talking yesterday and have decided to make a morning walk part of our daily routine. I'm expecting that this will start on Monday though... as this weekend is sort of busy for us!
Last night, we had dinner with some friends. We had a great time - good food, good company - but my willpower and resolve was severely tested throughout the course of the evening. I'm very proud to say that - even in the face of Doritos, pasta salad, and S'mores - I did not cheat. Not one unapproved morsel passed my lips. Knowing that we were going to be having hot dogs with all the traditional accompaniments, I even packed myself a nice big salad and ate hot dogs with mustard and no bun. I'm not going to lie and tell you that it wasn't a little sad.... but I felt good nonetheless that I was able to resist all those yummy things. :)
Menu:
Breakfast:
Oat Bran Porridge
Coconut Pineapple non-fat yogurt
Coffee w/ fixins
Lunch:
Salmon Filet w/ mushroom sour cream sauce
2 Eggs - sunny-side up
Brussels sprouts
Dinner:
Romaine Lettuce Salad w/ Shrimp and hard boiled egg
Dukan Balsamic Vinaigrette
hot dogs with mustard and relish
Diet Rite Soda
Snack:
Chicken lunchmeat
Passion/ Earl Grey tea with sweetener
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Day 22 - PP - Strolling in Andersonville
Man alive! Chicago weather has been REALLY bipolar lately. One day it's hot... the next day, its not just cool... it's COLD. It is 48 degrees today. This is just not right!! I mean, I don't want it to be 100 with 80% humidity or something... but c'mon! This is just a little bit ridiculous.
Ugh, well - despite the unseasonable weather - BF and I managed to have a very nice day! We decided, after lazing around for the first half of the day to go explore a Persian Tea shop that a friend had told me about in the Andersonville neighborhood of Chicago. It was fantastic! probably 30-40 different types of tea - green, black, herbal, fruit teas... a veritable tea drinker's heaven. Also, very reasonably priced - for 4-5 oz of loose tea - $2.95. NOT BAD!!!
After perusing the tea shop... and making a few purchases.... we decided to walk around Andersonville - originally a Swedish neighborhood on the North side of Chicago. Discovered a couple more cute little shops - including a lovely, if somewhat poorly presented, antique shop where we purchased a cute olive green teapot with a kitschy bamboo handle! All in all, very nice day. :)
Now we're sitting in our chilly apartment (because we put our ACs in when it hit 95 a few weeks ago) enjoying some Spring Melody (Green tea with Strawberry and Orange bits) in our new teapot - and watching the season premiere of So You Think You Can Dance - or, Dance BITCH! as BF calls it. LOL!!
As far as the diet goes, I've been sort of hitting an emotional brick wall. I am losing weight - so its working - and I haven't cheated at all. But it is now getting to that inevitable part in every diet when I start to really miss eating normal food (like Pizza, potatoes, canned soup, strawberries for God's sake!!) and when I start to seriously doubt whether I can last until the end of the summer without ice cream, hot dogs, potato salad, and all the yummy summer staples that I live for during warm weather.
According to my calculations, I'm going to be on Cruise until July 10th.... and then I have to be in Consolidation until early September - which means that basically the entire summer is wasted. SO - I need to get REALLY creative and figure out ways to re-tool my summer faves to be Dukan Friendly - I also need to hurry up and reach my desired Cruise weight so that I can move on to Consolidation - when I believe I get to add whole grains and some fruit back in... plus one "celebration meal" a week. In the meantime - any advice/ words of encouragement for me?? I'm pining for junk food!! Help!!
Menu:
Breakfast:
Oat Bran Porridge
Banana non-fat Yogurt
Coffee w/ fixins
Lunch:
2 leftover chicken thingies from last night
2 hard boiled eggs
Kiwi-Strawberry Sparkling Water
Snack
Chicken lunchmeat
Vanilla non-fat yogurt
Spring Melody tea w/ sweetener
Dinner:
Chicken Breast with herbs (baked)
Cottage Cheese
cold shrimp
Passion Tea w/ sweetener
Ugh, well - despite the unseasonable weather - BF and I managed to have a very nice day! We decided, after lazing around for the first half of the day to go explore a Persian Tea shop that a friend had told me about in the Andersonville neighborhood of Chicago. It was fantastic! probably 30-40 different types of tea - green, black, herbal, fruit teas... a veritable tea drinker's heaven. Also, very reasonably priced - for 4-5 oz of loose tea - $2.95. NOT BAD!!!
After perusing the tea shop... and making a few purchases.... we decided to walk around Andersonville - originally a Swedish neighborhood on the North side of Chicago. Discovered a couple more cute little shops - including a lovely, if somewhat poorly presented, antique shop where we purchased a cute olive green teapot with a kitschy bamboo handle! All in all, very nice day. :)
Now we're sitting in our chilly apartment (because we put our ACs in when it hit 95 a few weeks ago) enjoying some Spring Melody (Green tea with Strawberry and Orange bits) in our new teapot - and watching the season premiere of So You Think You Can Dance - or, Dance BITCH! as BF calls it. LOL!!
As far as the diet goes, I've been sort of hitting an emotional brick wall. I am losing weight - so its working - and I haven't cheated at all. But it is now getting to that inevitable part in every diet when I start to really miss eating normal food (like Pizza, potatoes, canned soup, strawberries for God's sake!!) and when I start to seriously doubt whether I can last until the end of the summer without ice cream, hot dogs, potato salad, and all the yummy summer staples that I live for during warm weather.
According to my calculations, I'm going to be on Cruise until July 10th.... and then I have to be in Consolidation until early September - which means that basically the entire summer is wasted. SO - I need to get REALLY creative and figure out ways to re-tool my summer faves to be Dukan Friendly - I also need to hurry up and reach my desired Cruise weight so that I can move on to Consolidation - when I believe I get to add whole grains and some fruit back in... plus one "celebration meal" a week. In the meantime - any advice/ words of encouragement for me?? I'm pining for junk food!! Help!!
Menu:
Breakfast:
Oat Bran Porridge
Banana non-fat Yogurt
Coffee w/ fixins
Lunch:
2 leftover chicken thingies from last night
2 hard boiled eggs
Kiwi-Strawberry Sparkling Water
Snack
Chicken lunchmeat
Vanilla non-fat yogurt
Spring Melody tea w/ sweetener
Dinner:
Chicken Breast with herbs (baked)
Cottage Cheese
cold shrimp
Passion Tea w/ sweetener
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Day 21 - PV - BF is HOME!!!! :)
Yes, everyone, BF has returned from the wilds of Taiwan. Surprisingly, not as crabby as I thought he was going to be after 3 airports, 2 3-hour layovers, and 22 total hours of travel time. :) What a trooper my man is! I'm very glad to have him home. I also introduced him to our newly CLEAN apartment - and promptly threatened him with bodily harm if he messed it up! HA! Such love....
Obviously, since BF is back.... I'm not going to write a lot tonight.... So, here's the good stuff:
Breakfast:
Oat Bran Porridge
Banana Creme non-fat Yogurt
Coffee w/ fixins
Lunch:
Romaine Lettuce Salad with hard boiled egg and crab
Dukan Balsamic Vinaigrette
Dinner:
2 chicken breast filets (not a whole breast- they're these super flat breast things... idk)
Mushroom Sour Cream Sauce
sauteed spinach
cottage cheese
1/2 Diet Rite Soda
Snack:
Green Tea with lemon and sweetener
Fat Free Vanilla Fro-Yo
Obviously, since BF is back.... I'm not going to write a lot tonight.... So, here's the good stuff:
Breakfast:
Oat Bran Porridge
Banana Creme non-fat Yogurt
Coffee w/ fixins
Lunch:
Romaine Lettuce Salad with hard boiled egg and crab
Dukan Balsamic Vinaigrette
Dinner:
2 chicken breast filets (not a whole breast- they're these super flat breast things... idk)
Mushroom Sour Cream Sauce
sauteed spinach
cottage cheese
1/2 Diet Rite Soda
Snack:
Green Tea with lemon and sweetener
Fat Free Vanilla Fro-Yo
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Day 20 - PP - Talk pretty to me!
I don't know about the rest of you... but for me, one of the best compliments I can get is that I look thin (or thinner!). I'm going to go out on a limb and say that MOST women love hearing this. We like being told we're thin more than being told our hair/shoes/ clothes/ kids are cute..... it is like.. the ULTIMATE compliment.. ESPECIALLY if you've been carb-deprived for over 2 weeks. Somehow outside acknowledgement that your body is responding is more gratifying than a number on a scale....
Today I got told 2 separate times by 2 different people that I looked markedly thinner than the last time they'd seen me. The first was even a GUY.... and not a very observant guy. (And, no - it wasn't BF - he's still in Taiwan) He walked in the door to my apartment today - and literally the first words out of his mouth were "Whoa, are you on a diet or something?! You look way thinner!" My outward reaction was to wave my hand dismissively and play it down - inwardly, I sounded something like this: "EEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!" :)
I have been noticing in the last few days especially that my clothes are much looser. The cropped jeans I'm wearing now for instance, when I bought them last summer they were a tad snug - now I can take them off without unbuttoning/ unzipping them.... and that's FRESH from the wash - not after 2 days of being worn and stretched out. Progress? I think so!
Oddly, I weighed myself this morning - and there has been no change on the scale. I'm thinking that this might be partly due to the fact that my scale is... frankly, a cheap piece of crap... due to budgetary constraints, however, I'm dealing with it.
Menu:
Breakfast:
Oat Bran Porridge
Strawberry Banana non-fat Yogurt
Coffee w/ fixins
Lunch:
Imitation Crab
1 Hard Boiled Egg
Snack:
Cherry Vanilla non-fat Yogurt
Dinner:
Leftover Pork Tenderloin/ Turkey Meatballs w/ cream sauce (cheated a little - it's a PP day, but there were mushrooms in the sauce - oops!!)
Fat-Free Cottage Cheese
Fat-Free Vanilla Fro-Yo
Did anyone else watch the Season Finale of The Biggest Loser tonight?! I loved the fact that sisters Hannah and Olivia made it to the top three together - I found them very inspirational. I connected with Olivia since she too is a classical singer - but, I'll admit that I was rooting for Hannah to win!! I won't spoil the ending for anyone who's planning on Hulu-ing it tomorrow. But for anyone trying to motivate themselves to lose weight and get fit - BL is great inspirational/ motivational show to watch with great fitness/diet tips. I'm SO going to miss Jillian next season - I'm sort of disappointed that they've chosen Anna Kournikova to take Jill's place. (I know... WTF?! RIGHT!?) - Anna's got some mighty big shoes to fill. MIGHTY BIG!
Today I got told 2 separate times by 2 different people that I looked markedly thinner than the last time they'd seen me. The first was even a GUY.... and not a very observant guy. (And, no - it wasn't BF - he's still in Taiwan) He walked in the door to my apartment today - and literally the first words out of his mouth were "Whoa, are you on a diet or something?! You look way thinner!" My outward reaction was to wave my hand dismissively and play it down - inwardly, I sounded something like this: "EEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!" :)
I have been noticing in the last few days especially that my clothes are much looser. The cropped jeans I'm wearing now for instance, when I bought them last summer they were a tad snug - now I can take them off without unbuttoning/ unzipping them.... and that's FRESH from the wash - not after 2 days of being worn and stretched out. Progress? I think so!
Oddly, I weighed myself this morning - and there has been no change on the scale. I'm thinking that this might be partly due to the fact that my scale is... frankly, a cheap piece of crap... due to budgetary constraints, however, I'm dealing with it.
Menu:
Breakfast:
Oat Bran Porridge
Strawberry Banana non-fat Yogurt
Coffee w/ fixins
Lunch:
Imitation Crab
1 Hard Boiled Egg
Snack:
Cherry Vanilla non-fat Yogurt
Dinner:
Leftover Pork Tenderloin/ Turkey Meatballs w/ cream sauce (cheated a little - it's a PP day, but there were mushrooms in the sauce - oops!!)
Fat-Free Cottage Cheese
Fat-Free Vanilla Fro-Yo
Did anyone else watch the Season Finale of The Biggest Loser tonight?! I loved the fact that sisters Hannah and Olivia made it to the top three together - I found them very inspirational. I connected with Olivia since she too is a classical singer - but, I'll admit that I was rooting for Hannah to win!! I won't spoil the ending for anyone who's planning on Hulu-ing it tomorrow. But for anyone trying to motivate themselves to lose weight and get fit - BL is great inspirational/ motivational show to watch with great fitness/diet tips. I'm SO going to miss Jillian next season - I'm sort of disappointed that they've chosen Anna Kournikova to take Jill's place. (I know... WTF?! RIGHT!?) - Anna's got some mighty big shoes to fill. MIGHTY BIG!
 |
| CAN ANNA KOURNIKOVA DO THIS?!?!!?! |
Monday, May 23, 2011
Day 19 - PV - Just another Manic Monday...
Hello my people! I'm going to be completely honest and just say that I'm far too tired right now to write a whole lot.... so my witty, charming banter and funny anecdotes about dieting and life will have to wait for tomorrow.
Here's the basics:
Menu:
Breakfast:
Oat Bran Porridge
Coffee w/ fixins
Banana Creme non fat yogurt
Lunch:
Romaine Lettuce Salad with Crab and Shrimp
Balsamic Vinaigrette
Venti Starbucks Passion Tea w/ sweetener
Snack in between classes:
turkey lunchmeat
2 hard boiled eggs
Orange Bliss non-fat yogurt (Isn't that a great name for yogurt?! It WAS rather blissful.)
Dinner:
leftover Pork Tenderloin with mushroom cream sauce
leftover Green Beans
leftover Brussels Sprouts
Fat Free Vanilla Fro-Yo
More tomorrow... once I've slept!!!
Night all!
Here's the basics:
Menu:
Breakfast:
Oat Bran Porridge
Coffee w/ fixins
Banana Creme non fat yogurt
Lunch:
Romaine Lettuce Salad with Crab and Shrimp
Balsamic Vinaigrette
Venti Starbucks Passion Tea w/ sweetener
Snack in between classes:
turkey lunchmeat
2 hard boiled eggs
Orange Bliss non-fat yogurt (Isn't that a great name for yogurt?! It WAS rather blissful.)
Dinner:
leftover Pork Tenderloin with mushroom cream sauce
leftover Green Beans
leftover Brussels Sprouts
Fat Free Vanilla Fro-Yo
More tomorrow... once I've slept!!!
Night all!
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Day 18 - PV - Super Sunday
What a nice day! Spring finally returned to Chicago - it was a sultry 83 degrees at the peak of the day. Perfect sundress weather! Sadly, I had to spend most of the day inside doing homework - but I did wear a sundress and open the windows and the blinds to take full advantage of the sunlight and warmth.
Despite my reticence towards remaining indoors all day, I was able to get a TON of work done. A fact that I'm quite happy about.... will make going to class tomorrow a much more pleasant experience. Speaking of class, tomorrow is actually my last official class meeting day! Very excited about that! Then it's just finishing up projects and papers and handing things in. FUN.
There is another reason why I'm not exactly dreading tomorrow... tomorrow night is the premiere of The Bachelorette!!! The Bachelor/ Bachelorette franchise is one of my guilty pleasures... I cannot get enough of it... even though the relationships rarely work out in the real world, I love to see the drama... and the cheesy one liners. It's awesome. What makes it even better is that each week I have an online gab-fest with my good friend Kathryn while we both watch in our respective locations (Me in Chicago, her in Minnesota)... its not quite as good as she were here with me drinking Moscato and eating popcorn (neither of which, due to Dukan, I can currently have!) but it's the next best thing!!
Planning on weighing myself tomorrow - hoping to see 139 or 138 ... I've been doing a good job of sticking to the plan and have, thus far, not been too tempted to cheat. Going to the movies and smelling the movie theatre popcorn was about as bad as it has gotten... and I withstood that!! :)
Going to be doing another day of PV tomorrow - it's just easier with class and everything.
Menu:
Breakfast:
Oatbran Porridge
Coffee w/ fixins - drank this throughout the day - had to let it chill in fridge, too hot outside to drink hot!!
Noon snack:
Key Lime non-fat Yogurt
Lunch:
Spinach and Broccoli Slaw salad w/ crab and hardboiled egg
Balsamic Vinaigrette
Dinner:
Pork Tenderloin w/ Sour Cream Mushroom sauce
Green Beans
Brussels Sprouts
Evening Snack:
Fat-Free Vanilla Fro-Yo
Despite my reticence towards remaining indoors all day, I was able to get a TON of work done. A fact that I'm quite happy about.... will make going to class tomorrow a much more pleasant experience. Speaking of class, tomorrow is actually my last official class meeting day! Very excited about that! Then it's just finishing up projects and papers and handing things in. FUN.
There is another reason why I'm not exactly dreading tomorrow... tomorrow night is the premiere of The Bachelorette!!! The Bachelor/ Bachelorette franchise is one of my guilty pleasures... I cannot get enough of it... even though the relationships rarely work out in the real world, I love to see the drama... and the cheesy one liners. It's awesome. What makes it even better is that each week I have an online gab-fest with my good friend Kathryn while we both watch in our respective locations (Me in Chicago, her in Minnesota)... its not quite as good as she were here with me drinking Moscato and eating popcorn (neither of which, due to Dukan, I can currently have!) but it's the next best thing!!
Planning on weighing myself tomorrow - hoping to see 139 or 138 ... I've been doing a good job of sticking to the plan and have, thus far, not been too tempted to cheat. Going to the movies and smelling the movie theatre popcorn was about as bad as it has gotten... and I withstood that!! :)
Going to be doing another day of PV tomorrow - it's just easier with class and everything.
Menu:
Breakfast:
Oatbran Porridge
Coffee w/ fixins - drank this throughout the day - had to let it chill in fridge, too hot outside to drink hot!!
Noon snack:
Key Lime non-fat Yogurt
Lunch:
Spinach and Broccoli Slaw salad w/ crab and hardboiled egg
Balsamic Vinaigrette
Dinner:
Pork Tenderloin w/ Sour Cream Mushroom sauce
Green Beans
Brussels Sprouts
Evening Snack:
Fat-Free Vanilla Fro-Yo
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