Goodbye Cleanse.

Contender #1: Lazy Ass

Weight: 140 lbs

Last Week's Weight: ??

Starting Weight: 150 lbs

Loss this week: ??

Total Loss: 10 lbs

Goal: 125 (pounds to go: 15)

Contender #2: Fatty

Weight: 158 lbs (Hello plateau.)

Last Week's Weight: 158

Starting Weight: 170 lbs

Loss this week: 0

Total Loss: 12 lbs

Goal: 135 (pounds to go: 23)

Wow first month down already?! Time has seriously flown by.  I feel pretty good.  Want to know how I know I'm feeling good? Because I did a little indulging and I felt sick! So sick.  That means the cleanse has worked.  I have all the bad stuff out of my system and now when I taste it, my body rejects it. I am on the right track with everything! Weight wise I am not where I had hoped to be but I am still making progress. I have been running pretty much ever day in training for the half marathon that is in just a few weeks.  Both Lazy and I have put some weight back on, I am hoping it is mostly because of the exercise and increased muscle.  However we have still made a lot of progress! 

Last night we spent time playing outside with the kids.  The kids rode their bikes, scooters, quads (we ran after them and chased balls down the street). Then we went inside for dinner.  My niece and I made the zucchini cakes from the recipe I shared.  This was my second time making them, and they turned out better than the first time! It was so great to be able to cook healthy with her.  This is why I want to change my lifestyle so badly, not just so I become healthy and lose weight, but so my daughter and niece and nephew see me making smart decisions and learning how to make them as well.  It was also great having an assistant that could help out, you know like squeezing all the water out of the zucchini, hey it feels all icky when I do it...why not let the kid "help"?  We sat down as a family, the kids ate (well M and H ate, my little decided that running around was more fun. Her loss, this was a great meal!)  We enjoyed chicken, zucchini cakes, and steamed veggies.  It was a great day. One of my favorite days in fact. 

I've joined some weight loss forums lately just to try to see what others are doing, and see if I can connect with others who are doing or have done a paleo diet and/or gluten free diet.  What I have come to realize is that I am so lucky to have a partner to help me stay on track and motivated.  Not only do I have Lazy Ass, but I have a really amazing BF that helps keep me on track.  When I get a craving, like that oreo cookie cake thing at chills the other night, he convinced me I really didn't want it, even though I kept telling him I did.  In the end I would have regretted it, and he knew it.  So my big suggestion this week for anyone who is working on this resolution of weight loss/ healthy lifestyle etc, find a friend/family member anyone to do it with you or at least support you in it.  It makes such a difference!

Chips-and-dip-aholic

Well I really did it....I went WAY off track last night.  Not completely off the diet/cleanse, but I way overate and I'm paying for it.

Let me set the scene for you, family dinner, birthday celebration, Mexican restaurant.  I love mexican.  I was nervous at first.  Last year when I did the cleanse I think I had way more self motivation.  If my family was going out to a restaurant last year, I would skip it unless it was on my approved restaurant list.  (There are really only like 2 in the area that I feel are okay to eat at during the cleanse.)  However last night I was weak.  It was Lazy's birthday and man I have been craving Mexican.

I had no idea what I could order...everything has dairy and I already had my dairy this week.  I have been trying to limit my dairy even though it was cleared for me to eat after the cleanse last year.  Looking over the menu I thought I found something safe- the taco salad, minus the sour cream.  I left the cheese on it as it is just a little bit sprinkled on the top.  Pinto beans, lettuce, chicken, tomatoes.  Not a bad meal to be honest.

However the chips were 100% corn.  You know what that means? GLUTEN FREE.  Chips are my downfall.  I'm a huge chips and dip girl.  I don't think you can really ever go wrong with chips and dip.  Some good restaurant corn chips with in house made salsa....the best of the chips and dip family.  I easily ate a basket of chips all by myself.  Then I demolished my salad.  It was like I had never seen food before. By the end of the meal I was SO STUFFED I thought I would literally explode.

Was it worth it? Normally I would say yes, I love food.  But this time I'm really disappointed with myself.  I had a goal to hit 155 before the end of this cleanse and I am not so sure it is going to happen now as I have gained some serious weight from my fun eating last night.  Hell it was really more like binge eating. Add that to the binge eating from Sunday's game and what has happened is I have really back tracked.  Why is my motivation so much different this year than last year?

To start to compensate for my Mexican downfall from last night I went out for a run this morning.  I started out with my brisk walk to warm up sent a quick text to lazy to let her know I was out being active.  (she always makes me feel so supported and excited to run.) And then I went to put on my carefully constructed playlist.....that apparently was no longer on my phone....along with all of my music which has magically disappeared since last night.  Except one album.  Glee's Christmas album.  Well.  Some music is better than none.  At least I thought it would be. There is just something about trying to run to Blue Christmas that just isn't right.  My pace was horrible, I was not pumped up.  In fact I just really wanted to get home, get under a blanket and start a fire in the fire place.  It was really not good music to run to.  I got two miles down at my standard 15/min/mile pace.  I did not burn near as many calories as I would have liked, but I am determined to at least get back to 158, if not 155 in the next few days.

Lazy mentioned continuing with the cleanse for another month.  Unfortunately you cannot take the pills and the PaleoCleanse for more than the 28 days, on the bright side you can do the cleanse ever few months.  So my goal will be to keep up with the diet (gluten free, sugar free, soy free etc) as long as possible now instead of just staying gluten free.  I need to make up some serious ground for last night.

Heavy Medals

I had not originally intended this to be as long as it is however I have perfected the concept of the "word vomit" in the last few years (thanks for the term MiMi) so now when I go to write something brief, it ends up turning into a saga.  Sorry in advance for this word vomit. 

So have any of you ever ran any races? I remember when I was younger walking 5k's with my mom.  It was always so much fun for me. I got a little older and for a while a friend and I would run the 5k while my mom walked it.  Then I got even older and I had no interest in running.  Who likes running? I was the one who protested every semester when I had to run a mile and get timed.  What does it matter how fast I can run? I detested running.  

My mom and I finishing the Devil Mountain 5k

Lazy & I at the Devil Mountain Race

That was until last year. Lazy Ass and I started by walking in training for a 5k, then I jumped into run/walking 10ks, and with no training I ended up competing in my first half marathon (20k- 13.1 miles) in October.  It was one of the hardest things I have ever done, I'm not going to lie I think it was harder than birthing my daughter, it was definitely more exhausting. Apparently people train for these things...I kept having people ask me "so how are you training for this?!" "Training?....uhh I registered. I have to train?" Why? I didn't train to run a 10k.  Why train to run a 20k?  Thats only like two 10k's put back to back.  No problem!  I finally planned a 10k  race a couple weeks before my 20k.  That would work as my "training".  It seemed logical.  Something to know about me is that I am extremely competitive.  I do not like not completing something.  To me that is worse than coming in last. I also do not like coming in last.  However with running I do my best to not race the other people that are running with me, well they tend to more run past me. Instead I race myself.  I race against my previous times.  So when I was injured in the Walnut Creek Festival Run just two weeks before my first half marathon, I did not do the smart thing and just stop.  Nope. I had to go and finish the last 2.5 miles.  The worst part was that I was timing myself and with the added walking my time was going to hell.  I was so angry with myself that I would end up running as best I could until it hurt then walking until I could maybe sort of manage to run again.  Not that this was all that different from how I normally pace my run/walk, except this time the running didn't just exhaust me, it hurt. But I finished.  Sadly the 7 year old kid beat me to the finish line by about 30 seconds. I did however beat the 70+ year old man that was way too old to be wearing those running shorts. That's something to be proud of right?

So what was this poorly timed injury? Well it was a pulled Achilles tendon.  I am not new to this injury.  I have torn my tendon before (once from track in middle school, and once from volleyball).  Its not a fun injury.  This was the point right before I would tear it.  I could feel the strain with every move I made.  See this is what I get for training. If I had just sat on the couch like I had originally planned before people put the whole "you have to train" idea in my head this injury may never have happened.  What's that you say? If I had actually trained I may not have injured myself? Thats silly.

I rested for the next two weeks keeping my tendon as comfy as possible, working on stretching and walking.  I was not going to miss this event.  Mainly because I had spent the time and effort (and cash) to register.  That was a lot of work filling out that form on the internet and clicking that send button. My brain was going crazy with mathematical formulas.  I figured out my slowest pace to finish under 4 hours, which was a requirement to be considered an actual finisher.  so 13.1 miles into 4hrs (240 minutes) was approximately an 18 minute mile average.  fantastic!  My leisurely stroll is at an 18minute/mile pace.  I had this in the bag.  I could walk the whole way and still finish with a few minutes to spare. 

In my corral waiting for the race to start.

I got to the race early and found my corral.  I have to say it was nice to be placed into corrals based on estimated pace.  It was great because then I could take a visual note of the people around me and do my best to stay with them.  My goal was to stick with the group of ladies wearing bright pink from head to toe.  I figured they would be easy to spot in the crowd. The adrenaline was insane.  None of the other races I had completed made me this hyped up at the starting line.  Even crazier- it took 12 minutes for my corral to get to the starting line after the gun was fired.  Thats how many people were there.  As with every race, I started out running as long as I could.  I didn't make it very far, which was fine.  I was actually feeling okay. My tendon was playing nice. I kept up my stride trying to not get too distracted by the live bands and all the people lining the streets cheering. I even met up with a nice girl who was running her first marathon.  Funny thing- she did this whole training thing for it.  With a trainer. We had the same estimated time of arrival for the finish line so I thought- let's hang out with this chick, she will make sure I finish on time.  Mile one down- 12 minutes. Sweet! This was going to be cake.  The next couple miles I averaged about 14 miles- closer to my normal time. Then my trained partner really started slowing down.  The next mile took about 20 minutes.  I freaked.  The math monkey in my head was screaming at me 18 minutes... you have to stay under 18 minutes!  So I explained to my new running partner what my math monkey is telling me and that we need to pick up our pace to finish in time.  She tells me to go ahead, and that she will catch up. That was the last time I saw here during the race. It was like one of those moments in a horror movie where everyone splits up and you know you're never going to really see each other again.  But I was determined to finish.

I was on my own again.  A lone runner on the road....in a sea of countless of other lone runners. Okay so I wasn't really alone, but it was lonely without someone to talk to the whole way. I was seriously rocking this whole Rock n Roll half marathon.  I had signed up for this tracking thing that would send out a text message as I passed certain points in the race with how long it took me and how far it was.  I asked Lazy as well as the BF and my mom to track me with the condition that if I stopped making progress that they call 911 and explain that somewhere along that 13.1 mile race there was an overweight, out of shape untrained fatty that had most likely died. I might sound like my fear was exaggerating, but I had a friend tell me a story that they watched a woman die of a heart attack a year earlier in the same race.  And apparently that woman looked like she was in good shape. I was scared I might not make it to the end of the race. I promise this tangent is going somewhere. 

So I've been making pretty good progress.  I am right on to finish under my goal of 3 hrs 30 minutes, and my tendon is not causing any problems... yet.  Right around the 8 mile mark I realized that the tape I had used to try to support my ankle was now doing more harm than good.  My swollen leg and ankle was causing the tape to be too tight and it was hurting.  I couldn't run at all.  So the next first aid station I came to I sat down and waiting and had them cut the tape off of me.  Man that felt good.  The circulation was doing better, and the pain was going away.  Unfortunately it took about 8 minutes for them to get to me and cut it off. I had time to make up.  I started out at a fast walk to see how my tendon was holding up without the support then took off running.  It wasn't bad at all, at first. By the 10 mile mark I could barely run, though I kept trying. What I had not thought about was the there people that were told to keep track of my progress. I pulled out my phone to check my pace and realized I had a bunch of texts, "Are you alive?......Hello?......Should I call 911?" Ooops, my time had really suffered from the stop at the first aid station and having to walk so much- I had not passed the next marker at the same pace and no one had heard from me. Although I must say...no one actually called 911.  What if I needed help?! Thanks people. Luckily I was fine and just moving slower.  After what felt like forever I recognized some familiar territory, I was nearing where I started the race.  I was close to the finish.  People were walking on the sidewalk in the opposite direction with the medals around their necks yelling "NOT MUCH FARTHER KEEP IT UP!" The adrenaline hit.  I ran as much as I could, I was going to make sure I was running when I crossed that finish line.  

By the way those people need to think about their definition of "not much farther" it felt like the farthest part of the race even though I was only a mile away.  It took forever.  But I made it.  I ran across the finish line and was handed my first medal for running ever.  In that moment I was so proud of myself, I just completed 13.1 miles in 3hrs 28 minutes. Thats two minutes under my goal that I gave the event management when I registered.  Two minutes under with an injury. I was so excited.  I started walking around the finishers area.  My ride had not quite made it back with all the traffic so I just kept walking in circles.  I had one of those moments where I was worried if I stopped moving I might just pass out. About 20 minutes after I crossed the line and was walking trying to figure out a good place to be picked up, I saw my "partner" from the beginning of the race.  She was so not happy.  She was on the phone, swearing up a storm.  "F them for not giving me one...so what if it was over 4 hours, I still crossed the finish line.  I paid the money...".  Part of me felt so bad, I know if that was me I would had been pissed, but I think I would have been pissed with myself for not finishing in time, not the event staff.  Although my smart ass side got the better of me, all I could think was "ahh...so thats what training gets ya...." It made me realize that all the training in the world cannot replace determination and self motivation. 

Right after the race..Man I look good after 13.1 miles.

My first Medal! 

So now a new year is upon us and there is a new goal.  Last year it was to compete in and finish my first half marathon. This year it is to complete at least 2 in the Rock n Roll series so I can pick up a "Heavy Medal"

Complete 3 races and get the Triple Crown Heavy Medal

Complete 2 races and get the Rock Encore Heavy Medal

So along with some other races, I am hoping to add one of these amazing medals to my collection.  The first race I am hoping to complete is in just a few short weeks. And you guessed it...I haven't been training.  The first one is in Pasadena on February 19th.  The next rock n roll event I am hoping to make is in June in San Diego, and finally I will bring it home to compete in the San Jose event in October.  The first two will greatly depend on traveling and whether I can afford it or not but plans are in the works to make them happen!  I really cannot even begin to explain the excitement from finishing one of these things.

So are you still here reading?  Thanks.  Thanks for making it all the way through the entire word vomit that is this post. 

What's Perfect?! End of Week 3 Weigh-in

Contender #1: Lazy Ass

Weight: ?? lbs (Dead Scale)

Last Week's Weight: 138lbs

Starting Weight: 150 lbs

Loss this week: ? lbs

Total Loss: 12 lbs

Goal: 125 (pounds to go: 15)

Contender #2:  Fatty

Weight: 158 lbs
Last Week's Weight: 161 lbs
Starting Weight: 170 lbs
Loss this week: 3 lbs
Total Loss: 12 lbs
Goal: 135 (pounds to go: 23)

I have to say I am so excited I passed my week goal to get below 160!  TAKE THAT WHALE-TWIN hah! Although the problem is I was thinking 160 was going to be my plateau number.  Oh how wrong I was.  158 is the new 160.  I hit 158 on Wednesday.  Thursday 158.  Friday 158. Saturday 158.  SUNDAY 158.  I'm really getting sick of seeing this number.  Its starting to feel like some creepy horror movie. I think my scale has a sick sense of humor.  I mean I would really even settle for 157.9 at this point just to get rid of this number that is in my nightmares now.  My goal for this final week of the cleanse is to get to 155.  I am really hoping I can make it and based on my weight loss of the last few weeks it is attainable.

So Lazy Ass just talked about how amazing I have been during this, and I am so flattered. However I am no where near perfect with this cleanse! I have had my moments where I have eaten things I know I shouldn't (can we have those crazy wave things and have a flash back moment to where I went on about how I JUSTIFIED the french fries because they were potatoes and olive oil?)  And I can guarantee today is going to be a serious cheat day.  Why? it's game day, I'm at a party and I only have so much self control.  However I will NOT be having gluten.  That is my big goal this year is to keep gluten out of my diet as long as possible.

During the classes we tool last year with a nutritionist along with our cleanse, we learned that the removal of most of these things during the cleanse is to partially find out if you are allergic or intolerant to them.  We were told if you find out you are not allergic or intolerant to lactose, that it is okay to have dairy next time you do the cleanse.  Last time I had NO issues when dairy was slowly added back into my diet.  This time I knew it would be okay to have some dairy, and that has been my main cheat.  Once a week I have had something with cheese.  Today will be my cheat day.  I will be making nachos and they will have cheese.  Everything else on them will be gluten free and go along with the cleanse.  It however does not go along with my 3 shake a day plan as I will be snacking on actual food all day.

I think one of the important things for both Lazy Ass and I is that we are not perfect.  No on is.  We are real people struggling every day with decisions and temptation.  Some days we will be great and will be able to say no.  Other days we might waiver and end up with eating something we know we shouldn't have.  But what this whole experience comes down to is we are learning.  We have a year long goal to be healthier.  This is only the first month. We both have 11 more to figure out how to work our goals into our life styles.  To think that we could be PERFECT from day one and never have any issues is insane! Learning to live with our temptation and giving in just enough so we can learn balance is what I am hoping we both can take out of this experience.  There will always be parties and cake. And sometimes I think its okay to have your cake and eat it too, in moderation.

This brings us to the last week of the cleanse.  However this is not the last week of our journey. This last week continues the goal of 3 shakes a day. On Saturday we are going to be heading to The Counter in Walnut Creek for our first victory lap.  It has been a long 3 weeks, and this last week will bring more challenges.  Come join us on Saturday for good food at affordable prices! 

weigh ins and a scale on strike

tomorrow is weigh in day. the problem? my scale is broken. every time i step on it, it says Err. i've taken this to mean one of two things a) i've lost so much weight my scale has freaked out and is out celebrating or 2) i've gained all the weight back and my scale has given up hope. i really hope it's the first and it will be back in a few days with a nasty hangover causing it to leave off some extra digits.

i have not been perfect in this journey. for some reason, i can't find the will power to say no as i was once able to. i have learned a big reason why it's so much harder for me this time though. i'm getting up really early to get a cranky kindergartener and a defiant toddler ready to leave the house within 3 mins of school starting. i then have to take the toddler to his grandfather's house only to rush back and put on a decent pair of clothes and jet off to help in the kindergartener's class. after helping, i head to pick up the toddler who is now ready for a nap even though we have to go get his sister in an hour so i'm seriously entertaining him to keep him awake. after picking up the big, i have to make lunches then nap both of them. at this point, i've had an insane amount of coffee and my stomach is on the verge of a boycott and i'm using the last bit of energy to throw in a load of laundry and straighten up for round two. they wake up cranky and demanding to be held as i'm getting them ready for afternoon activities. by 5 pm, i'm starving and we're rarely home at that point. my choices for food are narrowed and my inhibitions are lowered. i need food. any food. i would eat cat food at that point. i cave and eat something mildly okay then have horrible guilt and end up eating some crap food later on swearing i'll do better the next day. realistically, it never happens that way. i'm on a vicious rinse/repeat cycle swearing the next day will be different.

i'm starting to come up with a solid plan though. i need to wake up earlier and force myself to eat. before i hit the on switch for the coffee pot, something better be cooking. when i pack the kids lunches, i will make extra baggies of approved snacks for me to carry along, even if its just to get me to my next meal. i will make sure we come home for dinner, even if it means preparing extra snacks to hold the kids over until we get home. i wish i had come up with this plan sooner. i wish i could walk away from this saying 'i did it! i accomplished something!' but i honestly don't feel like i did. for this reason, i'm going to continue on with the program for an extra month. i will celebrate what i did manage to do at the end of this month. i will enjoy a burger but maybe skip the bun. i will praise my efforts more and be a little less hard on myself. i will not cave to the feeling of 'oh, i already failed, what difference does it make.' i look at my partner in crime (Fatty) and am amazed at how well she has stuck to this. her will power and desire to change her life is amazing. she is going to be my role model for the upcoming months.

oh, and i will also attempt to do that exercising thing.... ugh. wish me luck.

Missing: Lazy Ass

So Lazy Ass finally went out and got herself an iPhone.  Yep she has a reliable smart phone now (for those of you wondering she is coming off a long-term relationship with a series of crap-berries).  I was so excited! I thought this means that she would have more access to the site and blog a little more.  But just the opposite has happened now that she has it she is so preoccupied with taking Instagram pictures and sending videos and actually being able to send/receive text messages that she has forgotten all about the ability to blog.  So this post is to remind her to download the blogger app and get going!

On another note: the Bible has seriously gone missing.  So I guess we are winging it.  I remember there was something strange during these last few days but I think as long as we both stay on track for the most part we will be good! I also have not been making it to the gym as much as I had hoped, but I made a small change, I take the stairs as much as possible now. I NEVER took the stairs before.  One floor of stairs? Oh wait! Look! An elevator! SWEEEET.  Now even with baby in arm I do my best to take the stairs up and or down.  There are still moments where I do take an elevator but its little things that I think help. I am also working on getting into a sleep pattern again so I can get up earlier and get to the gym at 6am like I did last year.  For some reason I was way more dedicated doing it that early, or at least just getting out first thing in the morning for a run/walk.  I say this as it is starting to look like East Bay is going to get the first rain its had in months, but hey being cold is motivation to run faster. Seriously.

Further, I am starting to compile  a list of runs/races in the area that I am hoping to compete in.  They were great motivation for me to stay active and I hope they can continue that motivation this year. During the cleanse the exercise has not been so important to losing the weight, but after when I can add things like dairy back in I will need to find my balance between diet-exercise again.  For anyone reading this- Do you do any races in the Bay Area? I know of a few that I did last year but I am sure there are many other great ones out there!

Lastly, what I am most excited about is that I have not lost my willpower or motivation completely during this.  There was a moment when I realized I was not losing weight as quickly as I did last year that I started to fall back into my "What does it matter?!" Mind-set but I kept my mind on my goal and stuck with it. 9 days left on the cleanse and I'm going to finish it!

Oh and if you're looking to hang out next Saturday, I will be at the counter. Enjoying my first victory lap of the year withs one sweet potato fries and perhaps I might even be crazy and try out that gluten free bun.

Half-Time! Weigh in & Hello week 3!

Whoa, half way through the cleanse already?! Where has time gone? I'm not really complaining or anything as I really really miss dairy-foods. The gluten free is getting easier each day. Although I'm still dreaming of eating some bread.  This last week was packed full of mixed berries and PaleoMeal.  I haven't been feeling that great so I've been more sedentary than I would have liked.  I have to say that overall I am feeling better. My energy still needs to make a bit of a comeback but I'm finding I am not as tired at the end of a standard day.  Although whoever said exercise gives you energy is crazy. I'm always ready for a nap when I get home from the gym. 

The weight loss has been going slower this time around than last, which I had expected but I was still hoping that I would drop a pound a day like last year. (Wouldn't that be great?!) I'm still trying to figure out how I can pay someone to go work out for me and just transfer the calories they burned into my body. Although I cannot really complain.  I'm walking around in my size 12 jeans that 10lbs ago could barely button.  Now they look great! I"m totally kicking my whale-twins butt, even if it is slower than desired. 

The next few days of the cleanse brings 3 shakes a day.  Not a whole lot of "real" food for us. Once I find my cleanse bible I will give a more detailed explanation of what is coming over the next week but it has been MIA for a few days.  

THE WEIGH IN

Here it is! Weights from the end of week 2 beginning of week 3.  

Contender #1: Lazy Ass

Weight: 138 lbs

Last Week's Weight: 140 lbs

Starting Weight: 150 lbs

Loss this week: 2 lbs

Total Loss: 12 lbs

Goal: 125 (pounds to go: 15)

Contender #2: Fatty

Weight: 161 lbs

Last Week's Weight: 165 lbs

Starting Weight: 170 lbs

Loss this week: 4 lbs

Total Loss: 9 lbs

Goal: 135 (pounds to go: 26)

My personal goal for this week is to get under 160.  I know that it is really only 2 lbs and I should have no issue with it. However in my past loss I get stuck at certain numbers.  I was stuck at 180, nothing I could do would get me below it until I plowed through it.  Then I was stuck at 175.2  for MONTHS it was so frustrating getting on the scale every morning and seeing 175.2.....175.2.......175.1 wait no 175.2.  Towards the peek of my weight loss I was able to get down to 160, but never could break it until I worked my way back up to 165, and finally at the end of last year 170.  So now I'm back to my latest plateau and I really hope I can smash this one out of the water this week. 

Gluten Free! YAY

Okay so a few days ago on a post by The Counter in Walnut Creek, I commented mentioning that they need a gluten free bun.  GUESS WHAT?! They have one! I am so excited.  I still need to stay away for the next 2.5 weeks because I know I will not be able to resist the sweet potato fries, but I know where my cleanse victory dinner will be! The Counter! Have you not been there? You should check it out.  I'm telling you the sweet potato fries are to die for.  They also have burgers in a bowl (sans bun) which is a gluten free option as well, but knowing I can go for the bun without sacrificing my goal to stay gluten free is great!

Here is one of their burgers...not gluten free but they are just so great! You get to pick everything that goes onto the burger from the type of meat, weight, cheese, veggies, toppings, sauce etc. I normally go for the bowl option and get the organic greens, but next time I just might try the gluten free bun! Restaurants are making it easier and easier to be gluten free.  So who is down to join me on my victory dinner? I'm hoping that I can drag Lazy out as well.

One Week Down! Weigh-ins & More

While cravings of cheese and bread still dance in my head, week 1 is DONE! This is really exciting.  Here are our weigh ins from Sunday.  

Contender #1 Lazy Ass

Weight: 140

Starting Weight: 150

Loss Week 1: 10lbs!!!

Goal: 125 (pounds to go: 15)

Contender #2 Fatty

Weight: 165

Starting Weight: 170

Loss Week 1: 5lbs

Goal:135 (pounds to go: 30)

Week 2 starts the shakes and the cleanse part.  Also we go from taking 2 pills of both the LV-GB pills and the antiox pills to 3 pills of each daily.  

This week our servings will be as follows:

2 Shakes a day (these are meal replacement shakes.)

PaleoCleanse: 1 scoop 2x/day

PaleoMeal: 1/2 - 1 serving 2x/day

PaleoFiber: 1tsp total/day

OmegaAvail: 1tsp/day

I am still missing the Omega Avail as the gym is out of stock! I hope that's because all you amazing Fatty and Lazy followers have run down to Club Sport and bought out our supply.  

The images of what I do have are to the right.  I am also including a picture of the PaleoGreens, which again is optional and I sometimes add them in now that the shakes make up so much of my food intake each day.  Again, the greens add servings of veggies into the diet.

So what is an example of one of the meal replacement shakes? I actually really enjoy the PaleoMeal and the fiber is not too bad when added to the shakes.  However, I'm not going to lie, the PaleoCleanse does not taste good.  Last year I couldn't even get any shake down that had it in it without feeling queasy.  I'm really hoping this year goes better.

Fatty's Fav Shake

1 Serving PaleoMeal Chocolate

1/2 Cup Frozen Mixed Berries

1/3 cup Hazelnut Milk

1/2 tsp PaleoFiber

Ice

Then if I want I add in the PaleoCleanse Serving into that. I also really enjoy having a banana in my shakes, but if I have too many bananas in my diet I do not lose weight as well.  So I try to stick more with the mixed berries for my fruit servings. 

Day Meal Plan 

 Breakfast:

-LV-GB & Antiox Pills

-Water with Cayanne Pepper & Lemon

-Shake #1

Snack:

 -Carrots

Lunch:

-LV-GB & Antiox Pills

-Shake #2

Snack:

-Almonds

Dinner:

-LV-GB & Antiox Pills

-Grilled Chicken with salsa

-Brown Rice

-Steamed Veggies

So far I have not been able to kick my butt into a gym routine although I did make it last week for some cardio.  It wasn't pretty.  I went with the bike as I needed to multi-task and read my Econ Book as well.  I set up a 3/4 split on the machine so I would have 4 minutes of a more intense level on the bike and 3 minutes to recover at a lower intensity.  I think if I had not been so dedicated to finish reading my Econ chapter I would have wussed out after 20 minutes.  Although I made it the full hour!  I was all happy with myself until I looked over at the 80 year old man next to me who was 5 levels of intensity higher than I was, and had been there for 30 minutes longer than me.  Oh and he was still going and looked like he had no intention of stopping any time soon.  Oh and he looked like he was just going for a leisurely ride on a nice day while I looked like I just biked up Mt Diablo...twice.  I was sweaty and I could barely breathe.  The moment I got up I experienced that oh so fun dizzy feeling, you know where your blood starts rushing all over the place because its used to movement and you just stop.  I think I really need to get back in shape so the 80 year old men at the gym don't make me look like a wuss. 

uh oh! mommy's on a diet and we're all gonna die!

my friend Mama Kas is doing a weight loss blog as well and posted this picture the other day. i found it fitting. now i need to find one for my husband. i'm pretty sure i could hear his eyes roll from San Francisco when i told him about this plan.

oh look! i figured out how to add a picture. i better be careful or people will assume i'm not really lazy after all. never mind. it's pretty damn obvious.

Transfer Calories Burned.

Isn't Lazy the best? She is going to go do my work out for me.  Guess I'm the lazy one today.  I really think scientists should get on a way to really transfer calories burned from one person to another.  Think of it...all those guys that love being in the gym all the time can do that then just sell their calories that they burned in excess to what they need.  It's really genius. 

Where did my self control go?

Well I was doing amazing. And no you're not re-reading Lazy's blog. The funny thing is we both had errors on the same day.  Mine were partly out of frustration and partly over the fact that I have been feeling like I am starving all the time. I wake up in the middle of the night hungry.  I remember the last time I was hungry the first week and never felt satisfy or full with my food, but I don't remember it being this bad. 

The only rule that I have bent until yesterday is the one about organic eating.  It is really expensive and really hard to eat purely organic so this time unlike last time I made the exception to help out my not bottomless money fund.  (If anyone has the winning lottery ticket they want to share with me, I will eat organic for the rest of the year.) I've been taking my antiox pills and my LV-GB pills, which can I tell you they smell bad and they taste worse.  Swallow them fast because they will start to dissolve on your mouth! I skipped the red meat at family dinner and the onions that were grilled in butter. I had no issue skipping the bowls and bowls of candy and cookies etc at my grandmas house while helping her take down Christmas decorations.  I went out to eat at Chows (if you do not know of this place check it out! Organic foods! One in Danville and another in Lafayette. ) and I resisted the urge to just get a sammich or yummy pasta or so many other things they had to offer. I stuck with my plain jane grilled chicken with no sauce or seasoning and plain jane steamed broccoli.  I've found some things that I can snack on okay throughout the day as I start to feel dizzy and super hunger like some almonds.  I've even been starting each day with the dreaded cup of hot water complete with Cayenne pepper and lemon juice. I've been dead on with my calories. 

But yesterday was different.

I hurt my back  a couple days ago and have been bummed out that I cannot get my cardio in.  On top of that I'm not losing weight. Last time around I lost a pound to two pounds a day.  I'm devastated! I started the morning feeling super hungry and unlike the previous few days was craving all the wrong things. When certain things are pulled from your diet its funny how you start craving them.  A glass of Milk.  Simple, doesn't seem like a big deal, but I think I would kill a bunny for a class of milk right now.  I'm a huge milk drinker.  Well big on dairy period! Cheese. I miss my cheese. I made taco salad the other night and watched as the BF piled large amounts of cheese and sour cream onto his plate and man I was jealous. My taco salad consisted of the veggies and the meat.  Not only did I want dairy, I wanted bread. Just a piece of it.  Hell even just a bite of it.

No I didn't go down and make myself a grilled cheese sammich with a glass of milk.  Although I really wanted to.

My mistake came yesterday afternoon. I was starving.  I had run errands all day, forgot to pack myself a snack for my purse and just needed food.  I was at the point where I was starting to get a headache and was a little dizzy. My mom and I ran into Target to grab some things and I walked isle to isle trying to find something I felt was acceptable to eat. After much searching I was empty handed at the check out lane. But then I saw them.  Cuties. Little small delicious oranges. A giant box of Cuties. Well, my brain starts thinking.  Raw, fruit, I'm good. I buy the box and I'm guarding these things with my life. We get out to the car, the kid is in, the bags are in, I get in and buckle up and stare at my oranges.

I start eating them.  One of the things I hate about oranges is peeling them.  I've never been very good at it and I always have so much skin left on the orange that it doesn't taste very good. But cuties are different. They peel like a knife cuts through butter. And after not having any sugar for days, they taste like the sweetest thing I have ever had in my life.  I must say this is one of the good things of this diet.  You really can start to taste your food. I ate a good 8 of these things (Side note- I have no idea how many calories each of these things is nor do I want to. They are going to be my dirty little secret on the rest of this cleanse.) 

We met up with my grandparents to help out with some things they had going on and they suggested lunch.  I was hoping they would remember that Chows was one of the few places I could and should eat but they didn't, and as they had just gone to Chows with me I felt bad suggesting it.  First suggestion was a Chinese restaurant.  Ehhh, I can get rice.  Most likely I could not eat anything else as it has soy in it.  I'm okay with rice, I'm just starving. Somehow my mom got them to realize I could not eat much there so they said "how about Max's?"  I don't know if you're from the area or not but Max's has a slogan and its "This is a bad place for a diet".  They are not kidding.  The proportions are huge and you would probably die if you knew the calorie count of what you were consuming. However I knew they had steamed veggies and grilled chicken.  I was good.

I have to torture myself by looking over the menu and all the delicious food they have.  I was shocked to find they have a gluten free menu! However I still could not eat anything on it- gluten free but full of dairy and soy. However I would have to remember this for later on in the year. When it was time to order I stressed to the waiter that I had an Allergy to Gluten, Soy and Dairy. No I know I'm not allergic to soy or dairy, but I've found its really the only way in a restaurant to make sure your food does not contain these things.  They never seem to take diets seriously enough to make sure your food wasn't cooked in butter, but if you tell them you're allergic to it, they will even have the chef come out to let you know it was cooked properly.  I asked for chicken breast grilled with no sauce or seasoning, and plain steamed broccoli again with no sauce or seasoning. 

It looked so good! I ate so quickly and was not even close to full.  And there staring in front of me was my daughters french fries.  Can you see them up there in that picture.  Right there in the background.  They are like calling to me.  When the waiter came back I asked them what kind of oil they use to fry things.  Olive Oil.  Hey! I can have that!  Starches are on the avoid list, but last time I had the occasional serving of sweet potato fries. I look at my mom and she helps me justify it.  It is fried in olive oil after all and I can have that. I resisted temptation for a good 10-15 minutes while everyone else was still eating. I thought about ordering another chicken breast, which would have been the smart thing to do.  However I sat there staring at these fries like they were the first ones I had ever seen in my life.  I broke down.  They were telling me to eat them.  I swear.  One got up off the plate did this little dance and told me to eat it.  I ate a serving of fries and immediately felt guilty.  That was the last thing I ate yesterday.  I realized the amount of calories I took in was most likely way over my goal and it was better to just live off water for the rest of the night. 

My plan to keep this from happening again- keep some cuties in my purse so I don't get starving.  That and some almonds. They are a great snack and the protein is great.  And, I'm going to start with my meal replacement shakes today.  Its a few days early, but I think I need to start getting in a quick and easy meal throughout the day to help curve my appetite.  I'm also hoping Lazy and I can get into one of our classes at the gym we used to take.

The Starting Line

WARNING: The following images are not for the faint of heart!

Here they are. Our beginning pictures and weigh-ins. Now it's official.  Our most embarrassing images have been posted on the web. This means we HAVE to follow through with our plans right?

Contender #1: Lazy Ass

Weigh-in January 1st, 2012

150lbs (pounds to go: 25)

It's like being pregnant without a baby at the end. BTW lazy- Thanks for still looking great in what should be our crappy before photos. <3 Fatty

Contender #2: Fatty

Weigh-in January 1st, 2012

170lbs (pounds to go: 35)

Quick look! It's proof of that land walking whale I was telling you guys about! OH crap....that's still me. Yikes guess all that holiday eating did add up!