Hi Jersey girl,
I was just about to come in and do a Monday morning, Valentine's Day is behind us post, and found yours waiting.

I went out on friday night and ate some wonderful off plan food. Saturday went well, I made a lower carb pasta and pesto-broth concoction for dinner, the family had the same pasta and a cream sauce and did not notice that they were getting a soy flour dish, we ate a big saalad too. Then Sunday, was not so great, late brunch, a nibble of this a nibble of that, chocolate truffles from a friend, I ate 4 yesterday. But at 3:00, I called an end to it, feeling sick from sugar and rich food, I ate yogurt and salad for dinner. In past times I would have binged all evening. I weigh in on Fridays, I'm down about 12 pounds from when I first started 16 days ago. I don't know what impact my less than stellar weekend will have on me.

Exercise is still tough, I did WATP on Friday and had asthma all day, I think I'll do something stretchy and non-aerobic this morning, pilates, perhaps, not sure. I feel like I need to move but am some what limited.

I have my meal plan made out through Friday, shopping and fridge cleaning done. I am still reading through DP's book. I am taking vitamins, I installed a Pur filter on my kitchen faucet to make getting delicious water even easier. I am concentrating on getting lots of calcium by way of yogurt. I'm ready for the week.

Oh and I am drinking this beverage that a friend told me about. Green tea, with a teaspoon of lemon juice and sweetener, (stevia for me). I make up the tea in the morning and refrigerate it. The tea is supposed to help with fat loss and metabolic regulation, the lemon is a diuretic. I am trying to replace most of my coffee cravings with it. If I can get down to one cup in the morning, I will be very happy.

Hi,
I decided that no matter how you look at it Valentines Day isn't meant to eat right. Why fight go with the flow. That's ok. I got back on track on Monday and have been good. Exercise has been good all week until today. My doc put on Yasmin and it has been making me sick if I take it on an empty stomach. It happened twice last week and I just thought I was getting some sort of bug, but it happened again today right after I took it. I didn't feel like working out with my stomach churning. I think I will try to take it closer to lunch time.

I drink green tea every day. Last spring I was diagnosed with IBS (26 and falling apart already!) and my fiance told about his friend that has intestine problems. The guy was really sick and almost had to have surgery. Well he started drinking a cup a day and never had the surgery. The is doing great. So I decided I would try it and it works great. My doc put me on Zelnorm and I no longer take it. I have 2 cups a day. 1 in the morning and 1 before bed. I drink my hot with Splenda. I found that I like the flavored ones better. I usually get Lemon and ginsing or mixed berries. I have a mega sweet tooth and just didn't like plain green tea...too bitter. I only drink coffee on the weekends with my fiance.

My son turned 4 today so there will be cake around. I wonder how I will do. Right now I plan to have a small piece. I am making a vow to practice self control. I am actually trying to talk my fiance into going to friendly's instead of buying a cake. My son would rather go there and have ice cream. That there is not cake sitting in the kitchen for the next week.

Talk to you soon,
Jersey Girl

Hi jersey girl. I'm glad VD is behind us and now we can move on to a new week. Its funny, if we had blow outs on the Holidays VD, Birthday, Anniversary etc, and stayed on program the rest of the time, it really wouldn't matter. I hope I can get to that point some day.

I am finally all better! I'm off all meds, haven't needed my inhaler in days. Throughout all of this I have not abandoned the plan. I just kept making my daily plan, I skipped exercise for about a week but have stuck with the food plan. The last 2 days I have been doing the 1 mile WATP to get used to moving again, Today I will do the 2 mile. And tomorrow I am going to my first water aerobics class. Water works level 1- I am reallly nervous about it. I plan to go 3 days a week. I have to find a suit today.

I really feel like I am going to do it this time. The book has been helping. I am fairly allergic to Pop psychology, but I find myself doing more self-inventories now. When I think I may want to go stuff myself, I try to figure out why...

Also, the array of products out there to help with this journey is staggering. I now have yogurt with twice the protein and 3 carbs and little fat, could it be a more prefect after exercise snack? Or 45 calorie bread that tastes like real bread? Its amazing. Carb controlled is just so easy after Atkins. A smear of all fruit spread tastes like heaven.

I feel more optimistic about reaching goal than I have in a very long time. I don'
t feel like this is about willpower this time around. I'm not struggling, I'm learning new patterns.

Hi,
Sounds like your doing great. I have decided that carb controlled rather then no carbs is the way to go. I can't cut out carbs all together, but with this plan you get some carbs and that really helps with cravings. Not only that but I don't beat myself up if I do have a piece of cake or something along them lines. When I tried the no carb thing I felt guilty if I had cake or desert at a family event. I definetly like this plan. I have even cut out most of my chocolate which is a huge thing for me.

I did well last week. I only made it to curves twice. I walked my daughter to school though. And I have been doing some serious cleaning because my mom is coming to visit. So I decided scrubbing the floor on my hands and knees and doing laundry count as exercise I don't know how next week will be. I would like to say it will go well and I'll stay completely on plan, but I am now getting sick. Woke up yesterday with a sore throat and then this morning my chest hurt from coughing all night. I will be making a trip to the doc asap. Hopefully this doesn't start making my asthma act up. Seems like everyone in my house keeps getting bronchitis this year. I can't wait till summer gets here. ]
See Ya,
Jersey Girl

I am sending you no asthma vibes. My DD is super sick right now and I am taking every immune boosting thing I can find to try to keep it from getting me.
The sick girl has kept me from the Y. But i have been faithfully doing my WATP. I am on day 8 of daily exercise. My muscles have stopped hurting and it seems to be getting easier. I am going to stick with the 2 mile videos for a while longer though.

I printed out the meal plans and recipes on DP's site. I am not sure that its kosher to post a link here, or I would. Anyway, its been fun trying some new things. I need to find low carb tortillas though. I have a great pita bread made by the Ezekiel people, lots of protien and fiber but its super soft and tasty too. I've been making little tubs of hummous, super garlicky, to fight off the colds, and DH keeps eating it all... lol.

This week I bought some frozen meals to keep on hand for emergencies. I have a couple of lean cuisine pizzas and some dinners called "smart ones with" 10-15 carbs in them and a nice nutritional profile. So if DH brings home take-out this week, I am covered. *failure-proof environment*

I hope you are all doing really well.

Hello,
I am feeling much better. I have did nothing but sleep for 2 days. I must've needed it. I didn't exercise at all this week. oh well. Back on the wagon next week. I hope. My son was back at the doc this week. They are sending him to an allergist to figure out what keeps bringing it on. They also put him on singular. I guess the poor kid has my immune system.

The good news is I am now down to 193. I have lost a total of 5 pounds since I started this. It isn't coming off real fast, but that is ok.

I think keeping frozen dinners on hand is a good idea. I get these ones called Lifes Choice. They are for carb restricted diets. They only have 10-15g of carbs per dinner. My fiance is taking me to Philly for the weekend. So all I can say about my diet is...I make no promises. But I won't go out control. Have a great weekend.