21 days to break a habit

I think this must be true because even though I never had any problems the first few weeks it got even easier after the third week. Here is what I've noticed. 1. I think having a few more carbs in the restricted foods has helped my brain function(not that it will ever be good);) 2. Food no longer consumes my thoughts. This program is so easy that you don't really have to think about food. In the morning I plan what meat I will have for dinner and set that out and everything else is taken care of. The hardest thing I have to do is pick a packet. 3. I no longer feel like I need to go to the fridge every few hours for a snack. My body feels completely satisfied and even when it's time to eat I'm not starving. 4. I physically feel better and I feel better about myself which makes me happier! I think everyone around me is happier when I'm happy so all in all things are going great! Still, the only thing that I get hung up on is knowing I will be doing this for a looong time and feeling sorry for myself, but one day at a time I will keep on trucking.

Week 4

I just finished my weigh in after being on the program for four weeks and I was down exactly 3 pounds, for a total of 20.6 pounds! I feel great and am so excited. This last week was lots of fun trying the new foods.

4 week pictures!

Before

After

Tomorrow it will be four weeks since I started Ideal Protein. Somebody please tell me that you can tell a teenie little bit? Sorry, the first and third pictures are the same "before" pictures and I don't know how to get the extra one off.

Almost four weeks

Tomorrow is my weigh in day and I can't wait. I was kind of worried because this week I was allowed to eat the restricted food items. I was excited for some new variety, although I was fine on the non restricted foods, but I wondered how so many more carbs would affect me. I think the food is really good. There have been very few foods that I havent liked. I have tried some really good recipes that I will share. My scale at home is very temperamental. I can weigh three times in a row and get three different weights so my official weigh in is always on the office scale but from what I can tell this should be another good week on the scales!;) Another wonderful thing happened. We cleaned out our closet and today I fit into 4 pairs of jeans that haven't fit me in almost 3 years! I don't even remember the last time I wore jeans! I'm so excited to put some of my wardrobe that I have saved "just in case" to use! I will keep you posted on the weigh in tomorrow.

Week 3

For the first few days of week 3 I saw no loss on the scale. I think probably because of my binge at the end of last week. All continued to go well in week 3. I really enjoy the food and except for my one weak moment I am having no problem sticking with it. They say a woman will loose 3-4 pounds a week and at the end of the week I had lost another 3.2. Really great and I am thrilled but I wonder what would have happened had I not blown it. I guess the good news is I moved on and started right back at it and now I am down 17.6 pounds in 3 weeks! I can tell a big difference in how my clothes feel and I have so much more energy. I am once again excited about life!

Week 2

The second week was pretty uneventful I just kept following the program and waited for weigh-in. When I started I took one of each of the packets so I enjoyed trying each one and finding my favorites. I noticed that if I didn't drink all of my water I felt more hungry. The best thing that happened is that I had no cravings! I made my daughter cupcakes and had no desire to sneak a taste. I also went to a superbowl party and was surrounded by yummy food and had no problem. I've never been on a diet where I didn't need to just have a little nibble, so I thought that was awesome. I guess it is because your blood sugar levels have stabilized and so you don't have all the nagging cravings. Hovever I did have one little stupid problem. On weigh in night we were going to some friends for dinner and I volunteered to bring potato salad because I had some potatoes that I needed to use. I was doing fine and then I weighed in. I was down 3.8 pounds. Now this is a pretty respectable weight loss for a week but I wanted another 10 pound loss! The disappointment was too much to handle and I caved and had some potato salad. Maybe I would have been ok but next I was on to the birthday cake and I was out of control! Of course afterwards I felt awful. Emotionally and physically. My tummy wasn't used to those kinds of foods so I didn't feel so good, I decided then and there that it wasn't worth it. Not only had I messed up the diet, but I didn't even enjoy doing it I was so out of control I didn't even pay attention to how the food tasted or enjoy it. The moral of the story is your second week you obviously wont loose as much as the first so be prepared. 3.8 lbs down is great and that makes 14.4 pounds in two weeks!

Week 1 (AKA Hell Week!!)
I was so excited to begin and right from the start felt pretty good. I did notice that I felt more tired on the first couple of days but I was also sick so I'm not sure which was causing that. On the second and third day I had a headache but I learned this was caused from a lack of sodium. These products have very little salt so be sure to add sea salt. I don't normally salt my food so this took some getting used to, but made me feel much better. For the first few days I kept having the urge to go get a snack, but mostly out of habit more than hunger. I just paid attention to whether I was really hungry or not and usually I wasn't. If I really felt like I needed something to eat I drank some water and waited 2o minutes and then if I was still hungry I would have a dill pickle. During the first week you can have up to 5 packets or eat some of your vegies for a snack if you need to. I was fine without ever having to do that. By the third day into it I think I was in ketosis and all hunger went away. I sometimes even had a hard time getting all of my required packets in. I loved having some warm hot chocolate or pudding before bed because I don't usually have dessert and this felt like such a treat! Although I really liked most of the meals my favorites were the yogurt berry smoothie for breakfast, chicken soup for lunch, and I really enjoyed being able to eat dinner with my family. On 3 or 4 nights a week I make the same meal for them maybe adding rice or rolls to their dinner. On the other nights I make them tacos, spaghetti, enchiladas, etc and I use the main meat in their meal as my meat and just add veggies. I didn't want to totally change their evening meals and have them regretting my diet. So far, no complaints. My kids are even loving asparagus. On the occasional evenings when we are in a hurry to get to ball practice or something I will make myself 2 scrambled eggs with mushrooms and zucchini on the side and that is really yummy. The one thing that worried me during week one is that it didn't take long to get sick of salad with nasty dressing, so I made up my own salad dressings using ingredients that are allowed and I love them. Now my salads are no problem. I will include the recipes for those dressings. I didn't weigh myself all week so I couldn't wait to see what the results were and they were so worth it. In one week I was down 10.6 pounds and had lost 4.5 inches in my waist! I think from being bloated on carbs! I was so excited and already I felt so much better than just one week ago!

Catching up!

I am almost finished with my 4th week on Ideal Protein, and I thought it might be valuable to share how the diet has worked for me and the experience that I've had following the Ideal Protein protocol.

Since I've already been doing the diet for a few weeks I will back track so that I can let you know how it was for me especially during the first week and how my weight loss has gone so far.

I am writing this blog to offer ideas and hopefully some inspiration as well as to inform those who may be curious how the program works. I would really appreciate comments related to others successes, frustrations, tips, and recipes, and I hope we can all find success as we strive for better health!