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!! :)

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 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

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!! :) )

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. :) 

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. :)

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.

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! :)

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!!

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!!

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!

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

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)

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

       

  

Day 30 and 31 - PV - So far so good!

 So, as you can see, the Garden is a reality! BF and I worked on it this afternoon - even though I really should be writing a paper.... and I'm pretty pleased with how it came out so far! We've got strawberries, kale, romaine lettuce, beans, peppers, tomatoes, green onions, cucumbers, squash, and a few ornamental plants to boot. I'm thinking that we still need to add some flowers though - the spread is lacking a little bit of color. As we were finishing the garden - a storm rolled in... so we sat outside and watched the storm (our porch is covered - although a little rain did get through. It felt really nice, after all the time we've live here, to have outdoor space of our own! We're both tremendously happy and delighted that the porch is at long last done and able to be enjoyed!

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
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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!!

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

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.