I'll be honest. I've been lurking around the message boards daily...sometimes multiple times a day. Mainly for inspiration and information, but I haven't had the guts to post myself. I don't know if it was because I felt like I didn't have anything noteworthy to report or maybe it was just gathering some confidence to feel comfortable myself to be able to talk about my journey.
BACKGROUND:
I'm a 5'4"/starting weight- 165lbs/32 year-old vegetarian (no meat or seafood) and have a hypothyroid (so can't always indulge in soy as a protein either). Weight loss has always been a struggle. I have yo-yo'd my entire life as someone who is carb-dependent and when I saw a friend have tremendous success with this program, I thought - let me give it a go! This is the heaviest I've ever been
I haven't ever tried any other programs, but I have had a personal trainer once and that was an amazing experience (albeit very costly!). This diet fits my lifestyle a bit more (late hours due to work so not always able to exercise, so figured diet is something I can try to control a bit more with some focus).
I started the program on a Sunday to avoid the Monday start (which never has worked for me!) right at the end of September. I have been steadily losing a few pounds here weekly (week 1 - 4lbs, week 2 - 3lbs, week 3 - 2.5lbs). I should add that in between, I did have a weekend vacation that included drinking beer and poor eating/carbs for 2 days and another night out on a date that included 2 vodka sodas. As a single girl in my early thirties who is trying to be social with friends and date in a new city, to say this has been a challenge would be an understatement (I have even had tea on a date before to avoid drinking!). The non-drinking isn't so bad since I am not a heavy drinker normally, but eating out is extremely tough since my proteins are really just eggs and sometimes tofu and not a lot of restaurants offer good options unless you are doing brunch. I used to get protein from dairy, nuts, wheat, and beans and those aren't options right now in phase 1. I finally realized that I could either have some setbacks along the way and keep plugging ahead or I could go hardcore and lock myself away to focus for a few months, but then run the risk of binging when I finally do hit my goals. I chose the first (this is what worked best for me since the latter has happened to me before). I didn't stress while I was on vacation and then jumped right back on Monday morning when I returned. Truly a first for me.
Yesterday while doing some research, I found that two of the products I bought this weekend are restricted. There was someone subbing in for my coach when I went for my weigh-in last week and I asked him 2x if they were unrestricted products before I purchased and he confirmed they were. I can't tell you how upset I was yesterday when I found out the dill pickle zippers and the white cheddar ridges were restricted. I am still learning clearly and really look to my coach/his team to provide me the right guidance. I have been very diligent about not eating restricted foods from the get-go (outside of the times I knew I would not be on protocol) so I was really discouraged and lesson learned- I am now reading every label myself.
I don't usually weigh myself in between my actual weigh-ins, but today I decided to see what the damage looked like since I had been eating these products 3 days in a row. The unexpected happened-- I had my aha moment! Yes, I had a few setbacks (this is just real life though at times right?), but I have lost 12 lbs since I started (3.5 weeks ago!). If I lose 10 more, I'll be a weight I haven't been at since I was right out of college. I think this was the encouragement I needed to see to know that even though this has been tough, the science is working!
My roommate has mentioned to me that I am looking thinner but I really just haven't felt it so much (mental games with myself I guess), but I actually feel happy/proud today (which in hindsight, I should have been feeling all along with each pound lost). It really was that moment I needed to have to truly feel like this is working and I am encouraged to do this all the way!
Forgive me if this has been discussed before since this is my first post, but i'd really love to hear --- what has been your aha moment (first or many)?
My AHa Moment! What was yours?
Great post!
