.birthday hiatus.

Alright. Confession time. I am going to be cheating on my diet for a couple of days. I'm sorry, but I refuse, REFUSE to pass up cake and other goodies on my birthday.

Perhaps I should remain strong. Perhaps I should stay the course. Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps...

Oh, well. I'm going to have dinner with my husband and baby at a restaurant and I am not going to count calories or measure my portion sizes! There is also a strong possibility that I will have at least one large serving of some kind of sinful, fat-laden dessert. I'm just warning all of you, and my scale, that I am breaking away... if only for a day or two.

Don't fret! I shall be back, sweet diet plan, I promise. I will be back with my food scale and meal journal. I will be back to exercise my heart out and eat lentils and avoid sugary foods of all types. Please forgive me for straying, but seriously, who is expected to diet on their birthday?!

.and so ends rotation one.

Alright! One round (that's three weeks) of 'Extreme Fat Smash' under my belt! How did it go? Well, the concept of eating essentially only beans, brown rice, and veggies for every meal was pretty intimidating, but I found that after the first couple days, I was able to stick to the diet pretty well. I was hardly ever hungry and didn't really feel deprived. The results? 7 pounds lost! *Insert happy dance here*

Okay, 7 pounds may not seem like a lot, but it is... at least for me. So, I am slowly, but surely, smashing the fat with great efficiency. I plan on doing at least one more rotation before Pirates Cove in May.

Here's to hoping I can meet (or exceed?!) my 15 lbs total weight loss goal and get a cute new swimming suit for the trip!

Oh, and of course you get to eat more than beans, brown rice, and veggies on this diet, but sometimes it doesn't feel like it! ^_^

.eat this, not that.

A friend of mine posted a link on Facebook today to an article at MensHealth.com. The article gives a small sample from the popular book series, "Eat This, Not That!", focusing on drive-thru meals in particular. If you've never heard of or read one of these books, they are quite fascinating. The books are like an expose on all the foods you put in your gob without thinking about it, telling you what some of your favorite fare offers in the way fat, calories, and overall nutritional value.


The information can be hard to swallow (pun intended), but to soften to blow, the books kindly offer "substitues" for your favorite unhealthy foods that are lower in fat and calories. Hence the title: "Eat This, Not That!"

Granted, swapping out one cheeseburger for another may not be the healthiest nutritional option, but I'm a firm believer of the notion that it's really important to know what you put in your body, even if you don't always choose a side salad over a side of fries.

Here's a few samples from the article:

-Worst "Healthy" Fast-Food Option:
     Arby's Roast Turkey and Swiss Market Fresh Sandwich
     708 calories
     29 g fat (8 g saturated fat)
     1,676 mg sodium
  Choose this instead:
     Chicken Cordon Blue Sandwich (grilled)
     488 calories
     18 g fat (4 g saturated fat)
     1,560 mg sodium


-Worst Salad:
     Chick-fil-A Chick-n-Strips Salad with Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
     800 calories
     60 g fat (12 g saturated fat)
     1745 mg sodium
  This is a better option:
     Chick-fil-A Southwest Chargrilled Salad with Fat-Free Honey Mustard Dressing
     360 calories
     8 g fat (3.5 g saturated fat)
     1170 mg sodium


-Worst Dessert (had to include this, being the dessert fiend I am):
     Dairy Queen Large Strawberry CheeseQuake Blizzard
    990 calories (say WHAT?!?!)
    39 g fat (24 g saturated fat)
    114 g sugars
  A much better choice:
     Small Chocolate Sundae
    280 calories
    7 g fat (4.5 g saturated fat)
    42 g sugars

And here it is! Drumroll, please! Title of 'The Worst Drive-Thru Meal in America' goes to... The Carl's Jr. Double Six Dollar Burger with Medium Natural cut Fries and 32 oz Coke. This meal packs an unbelievable 2618 calories! Most people need 2000 calories a day, or less, to meet their energy needs. But that's not all.

This meal doesn't forget the salt or fat factor with 2892 milligrams of sodium and 144 grams of fat, 51.5 of those grams being of the saturated variety. Need a little perspective? According to the article at MensHealth.com, that is as much saturated fat as 63 strips of bacon! 63! Strips of bacon! 63! In one meal! In one sitting!  Does that not seem like insanity to anyone else?!?! No wonder our nation is so overweight! 63 strips of bacon, people!

The recommended substitute? The Carl's Jr. Famous Star burger with Side Salad with Low Fat Balsamic Dressing and 32 oz Iced Tea. Your gut (and heart, and digestive system, and pretty much every other part of your body) will thank you for choosing this option that comes in at 685 calories, 38 grams of fat (10.5 grams of saturated fat), and 1520 milligrams of sodium. Again, that is still almost half your calories for the day, so it's really not a healthy meal, but it ain't no 63 strips of bacon, that's for sure!

If you have a minute, check out the article on MensHealth.com to see more fast food monstrosities and their slightly less menacing cousins. You can find the books in the "Eat This, Not That!" series on Amazon and in almost any book store.

Makes you think twice about hitting the drive-thru, right?

.let's smash some fat.

Okay. New plan: Extreme Fat Smash Diet.

Is the title cheesy? A little. Does it work? Supposedly. Will I test it for myself? Most assuredly. And, finally, will I keep you updated on said "testing?" Absolutely.

Basically, this is a day-to-day meal and exercise plan. Firstly, you find out your diet type (alpha, beta, or gamma - I'm a beta, btw)  and then you just follow the plan Dr. Ian Smith has laid out.

Everyday varies, if only slightly, in the foods you eat and the amount of exercise you do. From what I understand, it helps to boost your metabolism and change the way you think about what you eat.


Here's a sample page:

 
The back cover states that you can lose up to 12 pounds in the first 3 weeks. Uh... 12 pounds? Count me in! I can't guarantee that I won't cheat a tiny little bit (come on, I have a sweet tooth!), but I'm gonna give it my all.

Updates to come!

.a small success.

Huzzah! Today, I do my happy dance. "Why?" you ask? I'll tell you. I just finished getting ready for my brother-in-laws wedding tonight and opted to wear a dress I bought for a friends wedding in November.

When I purchased said dress, it was quite form-fitting. Its pencil skirt hugged my hips tightly and the sleeves squeezed my arms a little too much for my liking. It was almost to the point of being too small (*groan*), but I made it work... mostly because I couldn't bear to go up another size.

Today, however, I put the dress on and... it is almost too big!

Hallelujah! My faith has been restored! Cutting calories and being a Nazi about everything that enters my mouth has had an effect! Granted, it's a relatively small effect, but it's something.

This is the boost I needed to continue on my diet plan. There is a light at the end of the tunnel! Now all I have to worry about is wearing a baggy dress to the wedding...

.holiday dieting: bah humbug.

Okay. It's official. I picked the worst time to start a diet. It seems like everywhere I look, there is some tasty treat just begging to be sampled. Cookies, pie, candies, molten chocolate cake (mmmm...), fudge... I could go on, but I'm starting to feel some ominous hunger pangs.

I think all in all, I have done pretty well so far. Granted, I have still "sampled" almost every Christmas treat that has wandered my way, but to my credit, I have not overindulged as is my typical tendency.

For some reason, I have become a bit of a two year old when it comes to food in the past couple of years. An odd metaphor, I know, but it's an appropriate one. I have always had some odd little... compulsions... but lately I feel like I absolutely have to scarf down enormous amounts of food when presented with anything delicious. I am like a selfish little kid who wants to eat all the candies in the candy jar to make sure no one eats them before she can get her fill... even if she is feeling a little queasy.

It's like my mind thinks it may be my very last chance to taste mashed potatoes or pink frosted sugar cookies or cheese pizza. So, better eat 'til I'm beyond full and slightly sick.

I have only just started to really notice it because now I am trying to watch what I put in this gob of mine. I often reach for food when I'm not hungry. I may be bored or stressed or "munchy," but not hungry.

So, I take pride in the fact that now I can have one piece of fudge, instead of rationalizing reasons to eat my second, third, and tenth piece, and not feel deprived. I can't guarantee, however, that come Christmas day I won't let the diet slip a little. 'Tis the season, after all!

.in it to lose it.

Alright. That's it. I'm done. Done with this "baby weight." Done with not fitting any of my old jeans. Done with feeling awkward about my body and uncomfortable with the way I look. Done with feeling unhealthy. The weight is coming off starting NOW!

My husband's family is planning a family reunion for May in... Pirates Cove! Pirates Cove! If you don't know what Pirates Cove is, view this video. Anyway, I must, must, must be able to wear a swimming suit. In my current state, swimwear ain't happenin', my friends. Swimwear ain't happenin'.

So, here's the plan:

• Watch my caloric intake
• Exercise
  
• Drink loads of water

And finally...

• Stick to the plan! 

I'm hoping that documenting my quest for skinny jeans and bathing suits here will give me motivation to press on... if not to brag about my uber successful endeavor, rather than endure total web humiliation.

And so, it begins... wish me luck! 

P.S. Don't worry, I will still be posting oodles of yummy recipes here and on my "official" recipe blog, The Queen of Cuisine. I'm a foodie! I can't help myself!