November Update

It's the end of November, and I'm doing pretty well keeping the weight off. Total loss has been hanging around 7 pounds. Looks like the paper doesn't want to run the review until after the holidays. Who wants to diet BEFORE the holidays?!

Just in case someone does, I'll give a shorthand review and say that this is not a bad diet. It works, slowly, which is the way weight is supposed to come off so that it stays off. Working out is key. I'm sticking to three to four time a week to keep my metabolism up.

Have a great Thanksgiving--and NO DIETING this Thursday. It's against the Constitution. Or something....

:)

Final Weigh-in

Final Weigh-in--Loss of six pounds over 32 days.

The Wii clued me in to my ideal weight and I'm 2.4 pounds over at this point. Seems like I may continue for another week or two to see what happens.

Today's calories: 1550

Review soon!

Day Thirty-two, the Flat Belly Diet

I was at the grocery today and found myself picking up Flat Belly Diet foods: avocado, cashews, chocolate, frozen fruit, yogurt. My favorites caught my eye, too--Lays Sour Cream and Onion chips, Pepperidge Farm Verona cookies, Dove Ice Cream Bars--but I couldn't bring myself to even go near them. I feel like I'm doomed if I pick them up. I really have been feeling pretty good--not bloated or uncomfortable, and all the nutty oils have finally made my skin kind of glow-y. It wasn't that way at the beginning of the diet. In fact, I looked sickly, as I recall. P definitely said that I was NOT glow-y.

Didn't do too badly today given that I really felt like I was at the end of a long haul.

Weight: unchanged
Workout: 45 min treadmill, heavy abs, light upper body

Breakfast: Peanut butter and wasa cracker

Lunch: Tuna, pita, Avocado, cheese

Snack: Movies--a few cups of popcorn, Smoothie, cashews

Dinner: Homemade veggie pizza, Ice Cream w/ walnuts, carrots

Calories: 1730 (not exactly 1600, but okay by me)


I did it!

Day Thirty-one, the Flat Belly Diet

Halloween was tough. I didn't think it was actually going to be. I spent the morning doing the book fair at the kids' school. Managed to grab breakfast beforehand, so I wasn't tempted by the cookies. Came home for lunch. Have found that having to eat out is quite hard when it comes to this diet--so little control over actual calories.

Breakfast: wasa cracker and peanut butter, 105 cals dark chocolate

Lunch: 1/2 pita, Turkey, Avocado,, lettuce, laughing cow cheese; macadamia nuts

Snack: Smoothie; 105 cals chocolate

Dinner: Milky Way Bar (We were trick-or-treating and starving and I told someone I really liked their house and decorations and they gave us each one!), 1/2 cheeseburger, salad w/ pasta house dressing.

Not bad: 1700 for the day.

Workout: none

Weight: up 1.5 pounds (darn pizza) after being down 1.1 yesterday

Last day tomorrow!!!!!!

Day Thirty, the Flat Belly Diet

Again, way, way too late!!!!

Breakfast: Cream of Wheat w/ raisins, Walnuts, square of chocolate

Lunch: Panera onion soup, 1/2 orchard harvest salad w/ 1/2 TBL dressing

Snack: Banana, Macadamia nuts, chocolate chips

Dinner: One large slice cheese pizza, pear, 1 square chocolate, 20 pretzel goldfish, a few walnuts (Not a whole MUFA serving)

Yes, I'm a slacker....

Day Twenty-nine, the Flat Belly Diet

It's way, way too late for me to be even vaguely coherent about what I ate today. So here's the list: (Oh, and THREE MORE DAYS!!!!)

Breakfast: Peanut butter on Wasa cracker, Chocolate square

Lunch: 1/2 whole wheat pita, turkey, avocado, Coffee w/ h&h

Snack: Macadamia nuts, laughing cow cheese spread on Wasa wafer

Dinner: Shrimp & 100 cals of pasta, Salad, 1 teas newman balsamic vinaigrette, walnuts and chocolate covered raisins, 15 pretzel goldfish, 1 prune

Calories: 1680

Workout: Got my hair cut and blondied instead. Priorities!

Day Twenty-eight, the Flat Belly Diet

Brownies are evil.

The day started out with a challenge. Out for breakfast. Had MUFA walnuts before I left because I was getting cranky. Good start. Plus, I was down 1.5 pounds. But it made me cocky.

Breakfast: Walnuts, 1/2 scrambled egg, 2 pieces bacon, 1/2 sm grapefruit, a little melon. Decaf w/ half and half.

Lunch: Cheese stick, Macadamia nuts.

Snack: Brownie, banana, 2 chocolate squares, cashews

Dinner: Salmon & snow pea recipe w/ avocado. But then I had some brownie, 2 squares of chocolate, a fig newman.

Later: a 1/4 cup dark chocolate raisins.

I'm so doomed.

Day Twenty-seven, the Flat Belly Diet

I don't know whether it's this diet or the suddenly cold weather that's making my hair look like straw. I pick the diet.

Wasn't very hungry today and had a horrible headache for most of it, so I found myself having had only about a 1000 calories. So I ate a 1" sq brownie.

Breakfast: Cream of Wheat/Raisins, Walnuts

Lunch: Luna Bar, banana, 1 sq chocolate

Snack: Cheese Stick, Cashews

Dinner: Sushi (w/avocado), 2 sq chocolate

Later: 1" brownie

Workout: 45 min treadmill
Cals: 1120

Day Twenty-Six, the Flat Belly Diet

*sigh* I was up .4 pounds this morning, according to both the Wii Fit and my regular scale. Still no change in the body fat % department. So maybe I'm just a total moron, but--given that I'm working out four days a week and have supposedly lost around five pounds--why in the heck hasn't my body fat % budged? I find this very puzzling. Does it mean that I'm losing weight yet gaining body fat? Is every pull-down or shoulder press opening secret belly body fat reserves or am I just converting muscle to fat? Does it have anything to do with the fact that I'm getting about half of my fiber from dark chocolate because, even within 1600 calorie days, I have little self control? (Why does calorie end in "ie?" Why isn't it "calory" and "calories?" Like pony and ponies or daisy and daisies?)

Breakfast: Peanut butter (always no sugar added/natural) and whole wheat bread, chocolate

Lunch: Leftover homemade mushroom/tomato/goat cheese pizza; avocado; PNewman O cookie

Snack: Sunflower seeds, Chocolate Raisins

Dinner: Chicken, rice, Apple, Strawberries, Walnuts, 2 squares of chocolate

Okay--so not exactly a delightful Flat Belly balanced day. But I stayed @ 1600 calories. I'm wearying.....

Workout--35 min treadmill

Day Twenty-five, the Flat Belly Diet

Yes! A week! Just a week!

Spent about a thousand dollars at the grocery store today. Have I mentioned that the stuff on this diet can be a little expensive? Still I guess it's cheaper than eating out. It's hard to eat out on this diet.

Breakfast: Peanut Butter on Whole Wheat. One square of chocolate.

Lunch: Rather grim flat meat turkey, 1/2 slice of terrible American Cheese, about 50 cals of potato chips and a MUFA of cashews.

Snack: Plum, 1/2 really awful Lemon Luna Bar, a lovely serving of yummy Dark Chocolate cover raisins (Hey, they're a fruit AND a freaking MUFA!!!!)

Dinner: Homemade pizza w/ mushrooms and sliced tomatoes and goat cheese (425 cals), carrots, Walnuts, a Paul Newman O cookie, more raisins.

Was under 1600 until I remembered the Luna Bar and the cookie. So let's call it 1750. Ouch. First time so over.

Weight: up .4 from last weigh-in on Thursday.

Workout: 15 mins pilates abs

Day Twenty-four, the Flat Belly Diet

On the mend, back on the diet (mostly). Just eight more days to go. I may or may not weigh tomorrow since I haven't worked out since Wednesday. We'll see.

I've noticed that I'm not my usual psycho-self as I approach the end of my cycle. I've had very little decaf coffee, and far, far less sugar. And I really am almost never hungry. Except for right now. Now, I'm very hungry.

Went back to the book's website to check it out more fully--it said something about getting 3 mos online free, but you have to buy the book. Also, it's one of those deals where, if you sign up, you have to cancel or they keep charging your credit card. They say you can cancel anytime. I already got jammed up that way with classmates.com.

Breakfast: Whole wheat w/ pb, 2 squares chocolate

Lunch: 2 WASA wafers w/ 2 cheese wedges, 2 more squares of chocolate, small plum

Snack: Fruit smoothie and 2 tbls sunflower seeds

Dinner: shrimp w/ brown rice and ginger and garlic, stir-fried in 2 teas olive oil and 2 tea soy sauce, 1/2 cup snow peas. 2 tlbs walnuts, 1/2 chocolate cookie

total cals: 1595

Day Twenty-three, the Flat Belly Diet

Grisly stomach flu. Can't even remember what I ate, though I vaguely recall a one ounce bag of feel-better potato chips. A lost day. But I spent much of it writing in bed. I could definitely get used to that part.

Day Twenty-two, the Flat Belly Diet

Was way too tired to post this last night....

No change on the weight--again! I'm like some kind of freaky science experiment who doesn't even have those usual girly water fluctuations. I did spend the entire day wanting to stuff everything I could get my hands on into my mouth. It reminded me of the kind of scary girl on that Super Skinny Me documentary. She began binging, unable to stop stuffing herself with random food. I wasn't even really physically hungry. I wasn't even craving carbs. It's all mental. I feel deprived and a little angry.

Here is how I coped: I ate three potato chips, several random cashews, an extra couple tablespoons of chocolate chips AND 1/4 cup of mint chocolate chip lowfat ice cream that I don't even like very much.

Breakfast: Luna Nuts Over Chocolate bar, Squares of dark chocolate (yeah, I know)

Lunch: Chicken salad w/ mostly nf yogurt, avocado, grapes, dark chocolate (yep. again)

Snack: Wasa cracker and cheese, Macadamia nuts (is there a place called Macadamia?), misc above, cup of Sleepytime tea

Dinner: Scallops and salad recipe from book (recipe uses shrimp-almonds were the MUFA), Wasa cracker, awesome Irish Cheddar cheese, aforementioned ice cream

Calories: about 1700 give or take
Workout: 40 mins elliptical, abs like a madwoman, upper body

TEN DAYS TO GO!!!!!!

Day Twenty-One, the Flat Belly Diet

A weird diet day--I think it's because I wasn't home for much of it and worked out as soon as I got out of bed. Made the day VERY freaking long!

We ended up at Panera for breakfast. I also ended up there for dinner. Ate in the parking lot. Burned my tongue on soup.

The WiiFit was a pain today. My balance is still nigh-on perfect, but my weight won't budge. The last drop was 1.1 pounds around the weekend, I think. So far I count five pounds gone. But I'm using my regular scale as a reference. The Wii freaks me out. My body fat % isn't budging either. I feel like I'm in the diet Twilight Zone. (But I only have eleven more days!!!)

Breakfast: 1/2 plain bagel w/ 1/4 serving of cream cheese. Two squares of chocolate. 1/2 banana. Walnuts (at some point late in the morning.)

Lunch: Wasa wafer w/ laughing cow wedge and 2 oz salmon. Macadamia nuts.

Snack: Cheese stick. 1/4 c sunflower seeds. Pear.

Dinner: Cup Panera lf chicken noodle (the book recommends veggie veggie, but, ew.) 1 oz whole grain baguette.

Went mad when I got home from driving volleyball and soccer kids around in the dark, not being able to figure out how to turn the heat on in my car. Ate 1/2 Golden Oreo with chocolate cream and threw the rest in the garbage because this diet has ruined my taste for hydrogenated sugary stuff, dammit. Settled on a 2 tbls light sour cream and a serving of 43 pretzel goldfish. I know I should've eaten a MUFA, but I'm out of chocolate and feel like I may grow testicles if I have to eat any more nuts!

Calories: 1462

Day Twenty, the Flat Belly Diet

I like round numbers. And I can easily subtract 20 from 32 to get only TWELVE MORE DAYS on this diet!

No weight change, but I had perfect balance on the WiiFit, which was something--although it still nagged me.

Breakfast: I thought I better finish off that box of Kashi (gag) Puffs, but then I looked at the nutrition info and saw that it only had one gram of fiber. I'm way too old to feel like I have to eat shredded cardboard just because I bought it. There's more fiber in dark chocolate.

So I opted for a banana, walnuts, cottage cheese and chocolate!

Lunch: 3 pieces leftover homemade pizza, avocado, plum

Snack: Strawberry/Cherry smoothie, macadamia nuts

Dinner: two soft corn taco shells, 2 oz chicken, homemade salsa w/ avocado, 1/2 Tbl sour cream, 1/4 cup fat free refried beans

Instead of the gym, did major housecleaning all day at a great rate of speed.

Day Nineteen, the Flat Belly Diet

As I write this there's some awful BBC program on called Super Skinny Me. Two Brit celebrity journalists decide to take five weeks to get down to a size zero. It's horrifying to see how these women warp themselves, slipping into bizarre, punishing behavior to mold their bodies.

It makes me see that this particulary diet is borderline sensible--and 1600 calories a day seems wildly extravagant.

I ate them all today. No workout.

Breakfast: PB and Whole wheat, pear.

Lunch: Cheese, smoked salmon, bread--Misc nuts and a cracker and a square of chocolate.

Snack: Cottage cheese, 1/4 cups chocolate chips

Dinner: Chili (111 cals), 1 oz pasta (110), cheese (55); walnuts, 3 prunes.

3 goldfish pretels

Total 1600

As of today I've lost 4.5 pounds. Hardly world-shaking, but respectable. This is in the middle of my monthly cycle, though. We'll see what happens in the next ten days....

Day Eighteen, the Flat Belly Diet

Now I know why I don't do well on diets. I think I just get bored easily. I can't seem to shake the notion that I could just eat 1600 calories of reasonably healthy food and work out five days a week and I would eventually lose weight. Have been taking brief walks or having some kind of activity after eating and have been averaging four days or so of exercise. blahblahblah....

Had some fun today at Makanda's Vulturefest--I'll do a regular blog on that sometime after Octoberguest! at Notes from the Handbasket. Ate a few nibbles of the boy's Funnel Cake and counted it as 100 calories. Came home and watched an amazing Euro horror film called The Abandoned and had lf popcorn and 1/4 cup chocolate chips for my MUFA. Small treats.

Breakfast: Walnuts 92, Peanut Butter and Whole Wheat, Coffee w/ half and half

Lunch: Walnuts, Applesauce, Moza cheese stick, Large Banana

Snack: Popcorn, chocolate chips

Dinner: 3 pieces leftover homemade pizza w/ goat cheese and mushrooms, Edamame, Square of dark chocolate

Weight: didn't want to know!

Day Seventeen, the Flat Belly Diet

Felt horrible this morning! The bloat came back immediately after I fell off the wagon. I felt a little better after the gym--I had to drag myself there. It was also hard to get back on that darn wagon. I felt in danger of backsliding all day....

Breakfast: Cream of Wheat and raisins. Walnuts. One square of chocolate.

Lunch: Whole wheat spread w/ cheese. 1/2 avocado. Pear.

Snack: Smoothie, walnuts, Dove square

Dinner: Made pizza w/ mushrooms and goat cheese for 370 cals. Went mad and had a square of chocolate AND a golden oreo! Can you tell I was craving carbs?!

Total cals: 1660
Weight: +.4

Day Sixteen, the Flat Belly Diet

Weight: no change
Workout: none

Breakfast started with--gasp!--a Pop Tart. It was all downhill from there. You just don't want to know. (And it ended with Alka-Seltzer.)

*sigh*

Day Fifteen, the Flat Belly Diet

Finally! Wii said I was down 1.5 pounds--I think the clothes weight was a little off, so I'll settle for 1.1.

Yes, it's possible to get tired of nuts and chocolate. It surprises me to say it, but there it is. Snack was late this afternoon, so I wasn't very hungry and not motivated at all to fix dinner. (Will not divulge terrible non-flat belly food I served the family!) Watched the family eat, had bread and peanut butter and applesauce and a square of chocolate. Twenty Goldfish pretzels later.

I have to say that the tiny weight loss today motivated me to go to the gym after my radio appearance this morning.

Breakfast: Darn those muffins were tempting! But I had my Luna bar and 100 cals of cashews anyway.

Lunch: Out with P to 17th st barbeque. Ordered chicken caesar (lovely smoked chicken) w/ dressing on the side--did eat a few of the to-die-for croutons. Figured it at about 300 cals. 2 squares chocolate.

Snack: Fruit smoothie, Cashews 100

Dinner: PB and bread, applesauce, chocolate, pretzels.

Total cals: 1550

Workout: 35 mins elliptical, abs, upper body

Day Fourteen, the Flat Belly Diet

I am totally bored with this diet and understand now that I'm probably done losing weight on it. I don't know what's up.

I probably ate too high a percentage of fat in my food today--but whatever.

Breakfast: Luna Bar, Sunflower seeds

Lunch: Hummus, pita bread, Applesauce, Dove square

Snack: Apple, Sunflower seeds, 1 cup popcorn

Dinner: Slice of provolone, turkey patty, avocado, chocolate

Total cals: 1392
Weight: No freaking change

Got a flu shot today and have a raging headache. Excited to be talking Halloween books on WDDD tomorrow morning--hoping the headache is gone...

Can I stick it out another 2 weeks + ?????

Day Thirteen, the Flat Belly Diet

Just nineteen more days to go! It would feel better if I were at least halfway...My family is beginning to rebel against my uber-healthy MUFA dinners. Seems I forgot that they hadn't signed onto the diet, too, and they're missing things like our weekly homemade pizza night, pasta, low-fat burgers, and chili--which I haven't made since the spring anyway. And they absolutely rejected the notion of turkey burgers and chili w/ ground turkey. Seems I'm on my own. And I'm obsessive--but in some good ways, I guess.

Wii said that I was up .9. Great.

Breakfast: Cottage cheese, cashews, strawberries, square chocolate, applesauce

Lunch: Salmon on whole wheat slice w/ LCow wedge, Walnuts, 3 prunes

Snack: Yogurt & raspberries; WASA crackers w/ cheese wedge

Dinner: Artichoke/Lemon chicken, salad w/ Paul Newman dressing, chocolate

Total cals 1590

Workout: 30 min pilates

Day Twelve, the Flat Belly Diet

Wii say I was down .9 today. Seems like good news. Still feels like this is happening very slowly....

Breakfast: Peanut Butter on Whole wheat, banana

Lunch: 1/2 Harvest whatever salad at Panera w/ cup of onion soup (no croûtons, but I think they accidentally sprinkled a little cheese on top (MUFA Pecans/salad oil) 460 cals

Snack: Hummus and pita---150, Chocolate 220

Dinner: Roast chicken, Avocado, Strawberries 401 cals

30 min treadmill
Cals: 1601

REALLY hard to pass up the popcorn and ICEEs at Target today!

Day Eleven, the Flat Belly Diet

P says this is the Flat Belly Diet, not the Lose Weight Diet.

That could explain why I was UP .7 pounds on the Wii this a.m. Though I'm kind of off track because the last two mornings I was so frustrated that I turned the Wii off before it recorded my weight--so although I was up those two mornings, I'm actually exactly where I was last Tuesday!

Today wasn't too hard.

Breakfast: Kashi, 1/2 cup skim, 2 tbls cranberries, 2 tbls macadamia nuts

Lunch: Chicken Sammie from Quiznos, 200 cals chocolate (yes, a horrifying lunch, I know)

Snack: strawberry, peach & yogurt smoothie; 100 cals cashews

Dinner: Amazing Herb and Mesclun Salad w/ Shrimp recipe from FBD Book, including pita w/ homemade hummus

Ate a pear and a square of chocolate for dessert to pick up calories from afternoon snack and because I wanted to.

Total cals: 1500

45 min treadmill/abs

Lunch out after church will be tough tomorrow....

Day Ten, the Flat Belly Diet

*sigh* Yes, the Wii told me in no uncertain terms that I was up another 1.1 pounds, just like yesterday. It's getting a little tough to take--and I'm not really holding onto that whole muscle weighs more than fat thing.

I will say that my pants are fitting better, and P says I look more slender, but I'm quite attached to the scale and would like to see some movement there. Body fat % was up .3 today, but body fat % is so changeable. You're supposed to check it 3 times a day and take an average. Mine is usually highest in the afternoon, lowest at night. But I'm just going by the morning measurement as a baseline.

Also, I am changing the way I eat. I'm almost never, ever hungry. I ate lunch around 1:30 and wasn't hungry at 3:30 or 4:30. And haven't had any headaches. That could be lack of decaf (had a cup today) or hormones or whatever....Good news, though. I watched Tim Gunn's style show while I had lunch. Very motivating. I wish, wish, wish Tim would make me over! (But I wouldn't want him to see my unfashionable, rather untidy house.)

Breakfast: Cliff Barn (yuck), Walnuts, 20 cal skim in coffee.

Lunch: Avocado, roasted chicken, homemade pico de gallo, 1 corn tortilla, 110 cals Lindt (2 MUFAs--probably too high % of fat, but whatever.)

Snack: 2 tbls Macadamia nuts

Dinner: Out on a sushi date! Lo-sodium soy sauce (couldn't resist). Tuna, Salmon, Yellowtail sashimi; 1/2 cup chicken broth, 1/2 spicy tuna roll, 1/4 cup steamed rice--about 1/3 cup edamame after shelling.

Movie treat: Chocolate serving: 200 cals. Best I can figure, dinner was about 675 calories--but I had saved some from snack and breakfast. Maybe a no-no, but I still stayed at 1567 calories! (No popcorn at the movie--that was tough!)

Gym--40 min elliptical trainer/upper body

Day Nine, the Flat Belly Diet

Started off the worst yet this morning with the Wii Fit--1.1 pounds up! The good news is that my Body Fat percentage has been going slowly, steadily down. If it weren't I'd be even more discouraged than I am right now. All this measuring and figuring and making my family eat nuts instead of pretzels is driving me a little batty.

My energy at the gym is better, I confess. Though I don't think I could handle the Body Combat class. (WTF? I wish it were actually people slamming into one another, but mostly it's just 35 yr-old Donna Karan mommies sweating a lot.) After kicking my own butt with 45 minutes on the elliptical trainer and heavy upper body yesterday, I stuck to 55 min on the treadmill today with some abs. I've been cursing the gain all day. I know that building muscle can actually add weight and that it's better in the long run--but I'm skeptical. I'm thinking that 1600 calories a day is going to take the weight off very slowly--even though I've had several days where I stayed well under.

Breakfast: Peanut butter on whole wheat. 1 cup grapes.

Lunch: Plain yogurt with raspberries. Banana. (No MUFA--first time)

Snack: 1/2 pita w/ 2.5 oz turkey and Smiling Cow wedge, Grape tomatoes and lindt chocolate (3 squares--almost a whole MUFA)

mini-snack: banana

Dinner: 4 oz broiled salmon, 1/4 cup brown rice, 1 cup blanched green beans, Macadamia nuts. Dove square for dessert because I'm stupidly tired and will-powerless. Put me 12 cals over for the day!

Total calories: 1612

I really, really want sushi tomorrow. Can I bear sashimi w/out soy sauce?

Day Eight, The Flat Belly Diet

Weigh-in: Down (for once) .7 pounds

Breakfast: Cream of Wheat/Raisins, 2 tbls sunflower seeds after the gym.

Lunch: Turkey w/ 1/2 whole wheat pita w/ wedge of Laughing Cow garlic and herb cheese, 2 squares Lindt dark. Later 1 pear.

Snack: 220 calorie smoothie, 2 tlbs cashews

Dinner: Birthday 2.0! Everyone else had actual meatball subs (bengal's choice). I got to have 1/2 pita w/ veggie meatballs and marinara, 1/2 cup carrots and--wait for it--a decorated chocolate cupcake. Still stayed around 1500 cals.

Day Seven, the Flat Belly Diet

Remembered today that I'm supposed to take a five minute walk after each meal. Ah, one more thing to do...Tomorrow is Bengal's actual birthday, so I saved 240 calories today so I could have one of his cupcakes for birthday dessert. Less appetizing are the veggie meatballs I'll be eating on my whole wheat pita sub while I watch the family enjoy the real thing! Diets are dumb. Are you as bored with this as I am?

Weigh in--oh, yeah! UP .4 pounds!

Breakfast: Kashi 7 puff--one cup w/ 3/4 cup skim and 100 cals of dried cranberries. Had 100 calories of cashews (the MUFA) about an hour and a half later. Total: 330

Lunch: The lunch recipes are, for the most part, involved--or they have olives. Yuck. I adjust by keeping the fat content reasonably low. The MUFAs (oils, nuts, seeds, avocado, dark chocolate) add lots of calories.

Slice of whole wheat bread, one ounce of goat cheese (chevre), 1.5 oz smoked salmon, 82 cals of walnuts, 3 dried plums. Total calories: 378

** Won't eat all 400 calories together again this early in the day. Felt overfull and a little sick.

Snack: Couldn't face a smoothie or a Luna bar. Had a banana (90) and 3/4 MUFA dark chocolate serving (165) Total: 255

Dinner: Made the Lime chicken and salsa w/out the lime marinade. Had 2 corn taco shells, avocado and 1/4 cup fat free pintos instead. Total: 405

Day total: 1368

Wish me luck with the TVP meatballs!

Day Six, the Flat Belly Diet

I'm overwhelmed! I spent much of today looking through all the recipes in the book, trying to figure out what to fix for lunch and for dinner. Best as I can figure, the book comes down to this: eat small amounts of organic, fresh foods. Cook some of those foods in heart-healthy oils, or sprinkle avocado or nuts on them. The recipes are all quite simple--several marinades, lots of grilling and raw options. I'm a little hamstrung because 1) I have to eat every two hours, 2) I truly dislike olives, red and green peppers, and sweet potatoes, 3) I want to do a realistic review of this book--but I'm discovering it's not an easy program, 4) all the super-fresh, organic, fabulous food is, well, pretty expensive. I spent a small fortune at Wal-Mart getting some of the staples, more at the produce store (Wal-Mart's produce is icky), and much more at the natural foods co-op. And I could only figure out four dinners to make!

Weigh-in: No change since Saturday.
Workout: 45 min on the elliptical trainer, upper body and some abs

Breakfast: Whole wheat bread and peanut butter. Panera fresh fruit cup after the gym.

Lunch: Slice whole wheat bread w/ envelope of tuna fish and a slice of provolone. 2 tbls walnuts.

Picked up some Lindt 70% chocolate at Wal-mart, ate 2 squares.

Snack: carton fat free yogurt and 1/2 cup raspberries. 110 cals macadamia nuts.

Dinner: Shrimp sauteed in olive oil, cooked with tomatoes and feta. Salad with greens, mushrooms and cucumber. 2 Tbls Annie's Goddess dressing--1 sq chocolate for dessert.

Went 47 calories over--Ack! Probably no loss tomorrow. Again.

Day Five

I'm exhausted, so this may be brief (or not).

Now I know why the four day intro to this diet was so painful and dull--It was to make the next four weeks seem absolutely thrilling!

This morning I got to have 2 tbls of peanut butter on bread for breakfast, and yogurt and actual raspberries for my morning snack/breakfast! Yay! I'm on the road, so it's been a challenge, but today was actually kind of fun.

All four meals have to total a max of 1600 calories: 400 per meal. Woke up at my sister's house in the Suburb of Giant Hills and Houses with Three-Car Garages. Took a power walk, starting on a giant hill that may have opened up new highways in my lungs. I probably should've eaten something first. I felt a little loopy by the time I got back and had my peanut butter.

Lunch (after Chuck E. Cheese at 10 a.m.) at Quiznos. Had a 200 cal Sammie with balsamic chicken. Later a cheese stick.

Snack--After a trip through the mega-mall and the Apple Store. 1/4 cup of sunflower seeds and a Luna Nuts for Chocolate bar, which tasted just like a Quaker Chocolate Chip Granola bar with a charcoal and sand finish.

Dinner--Was going to make a yummy salmon recipe from the book. P had salmon for lunch, so I subbed Mahi Mahi. Served over steamed snow peas, drizzled w/ soy/ginger dressing, topped with avocados and 1/2 cup tomatoes on the side. 2 Tbls semi-sweet chips for dessert.

Total day 1300 calories, but never got too hungry for most of the day.

No weigh-in since I was out of town. Life is good.

Day Four

Finally! The last day of the purge--I mean flush--or whatever it is. Travel day, big challenges, plus a birthday party....

Breakfast--Cream of Wheat with chopped up prunes. (kind of getting old) Prunes--oh, I guess they're called dried plums now--aren't quite the same as raisins, but they weren't bad.

Got on the WiiFit. Lost 1.1 pounds. Am almost back where I started. Grrrr.

Remembered to make up several 1/4 cup baggies w/ sunflower seeds, packed Cream of Wheat and prunes. Left the house. Totally forgot cup of milk--grabbed a string cheese at the store. Ate seeds and cheese stick. Meant to pack a tuna envelope and tomatoes, but forgot.

Lunch--So on the regular portion of the diet, it lists McDonald's Asian Chicken salad with lf Newman's own dressing as okay and under 400 calories. Figured I could eat only some of the dressing. Surprise! Micky D's in Redbud, IL doesn't serve that salad. So, stuck at the counter. Spied a "Fruit and Nut" Snack Salad and ordered it. More surprises. It's 1/2 an apple cut up with a grape, a few tbls of sweet yogurt and five CANDIED freaking walnut pieces for 210 calories. Ate the apple, tried a walnut piece, which was awful. Ate two prunes.

Arrived at destination and ate 2/3 can of tuna in water. So, I'm figuring the apple was 35 cals, prunes 40, tuna 60--need 165 calories and am a little stuck. And hungry.

Snack--Am supposed to do a smoothie. Maybe I can get to the store and get frozen fruit. Don't know if my sister has a blender. And the kids will probably want some. Not such a bad thing....

Dinner--Panicking. Must participate somehow--then there's that cake. Hm.

Went to the very well-stocked grocery. How I sigh for a Dierberg's in Southern Illinois! Picked up provisions for this weekend and to take back home: avocados, unsweetened Kashi sticks of some kind, grape tomatoes, natural peanut butter, bread, yogurt and fresh raspberries.

Ended up with 2 prunes to get me to the grocery store. Rest of snack was 3 small sample cheddar cheese cubes, Dannon plain, nf yogurt w/ raspberries. Not a smoothie, but very tasty and well under 300 calories.

Didn't blow it completely (I think). 1/2 barbequed rib, 3 oz pulled chicken (a little spicy), 1/2 cup microwaved new potatoes, 1/4 pint grape tomatoes, AND a very small square of birthday cake. Extremely hungry now, so it must've been okay--though I felt pretty full afterwards. The cake seemed extra sweet! It wasn't the approved way to finish the purge thing--I'll be interested to see if my wedding ring is tighter tomorrow.

After checking out the rest of the diet, I think they put the four day thing at the front to make one VERY grateful for fresh fruit, bread, power bars, popcorn, etc. I know I'm looking forward to tomorrow. A big bowl of cereal that looks like sticks and grub worms for brekky. Yum! But at least I get fresh raspberries on my worms.

Day Three

Isn't Day Three always a crucible day during a diet? This one sure was.

Breakfast--Cream of Wheat again (still no sugar-free cornflakes) with 2 tbls raisins. Glass of water. (Still can't bear the Sassy Water.)

Confronted the Wii Fit. Down .7 pounds--whoopee. So I'm only 1.3 heavier than three days ago! It congratulated me on a downward trend. How sweet. Went to the gym and did 45 min on the treadmill and then arms. Perfume lady was there again, but a couple machines down. Had good energy again, which was nice. Stupidly forgot my sunflower seeds snack. Was very hungry by the time we got home. Had seeds and the glass of milk to finish my breakfast.

Lunch--3 oz turkey (again) with a cheese stick. Water. Couldn't bear the whole pint of grape tomatoes, so ate a handful.

Snack--Made peach/blueberry smoothies for everyone while we watched Iron Man. What a fun film. Robert Downey jr is my new hottie hero, though he'll never replace Daniel Craig.

Dinner--What a mess! Had to go pick up one of the cars that had been serviced. Was planning 3 oz chicken (plus 1 from lunch) and last night's rice w/ greenbeans. Got a panicked phone call from my daughter that I had to work the concession stand at her v-ball game. Seems the coach had sent the email to Pom's account--not mine! Sent the boys off for dinner on their own. Stopped by the co-op and wolfed down what I hoped was 4 oz of roasted chicken parts and a serving of brown rice. All the veggies were too seasoned. Was irritated about the change in schedule and so bought a decaf Honest Tea with 17 calories/serving and drank the whole serving bottle. Probably sugar in the tea--what? Maybe a teaspoon? Am pondering 1/2 cup of applesauce or maybe 2 dried plums. Can't bear greenbeans this late!

Cheats: 1"sq of roasted chicken skin because I couldn't resist!

This weekend will be a big challenge. Celebrating Bengal's birthday in St. Louis with cousins. There will be ribs. And cake. He sounded very, very sad when he asked if I could eat some birthday cake on my diet. Then Chuck E. Cheese (ack!) on Sunday, which is the start of the 28 day phase of the diet. Just have to stick to 400 cals per meal and include a MUFA (monounsaturated fat) along the way.

Puzzled as to why I'm not seeing any of the fabulous weight loss mentioned during the four-day early phase. (in fact gained!) Looking at the adjustments I made in the last few days, they all seem to be within the diet--and I've stayed below 1,200 calories. P says I will lose a bunch of water tomorrow. We'll see!

Day Two

Woke up VERY hungry!

Big mistake. Drank a cup of Sassy water on an empty stomach. Almost threw up. Will probably never drink Sassy water again. Maybe should give it a few days.

Breakfast: Had Cream of Wheat and Raisins again. Regular water.

Got on the Wii Fit which told me I was up two pounds! Not encouraging. Asked if I knew why I gained weight. I said "no." It proceeded to lecture me about not eating late at night--which I never do. I turned it off.

Went to gym. Got on the treadmill and five minutes later an elderly woman gets on the one next to me and she's wearing strong perfume to which I'm allergic. (Massive headaches--I'm seeing a trend) Was afraid she'd be offended if I moved, so I stayed--the fans blew most of the smell away. But she was hanging around the abs machine later, so I had to do actual crunches, which was okay. Ate 1/4 cup sunflower seeds while waiting for P to finish. One good thing was that I seemed to have lots of energy to do my forty minutes on the treadmill!

Lunch--4oz of turkey meat is a lot, but the expensive Applegate Farms stuff is pretty tasty. Had to eat the PINT of grape tomatoes in two sittings--one before lunch, one with. And the cheese stick was tasty.

Snack--Smoothie with unsweetened blueberries and skim milk. I'm guessing no yogurt for this part of the diet because it's fermented? Tummy was upset, so waited on the tbl of sunflower seeds until later.

Couldn't find anything in the book that said I absolutely have to eat the monounsaturated fat part of the meal with the rest of the food. Nothing online either....

Dinner--Late! Cooked brown rice this afternoon. 3 oz chicken breast was supposed to be grilled, but, really there was no way after Bengal's soccer practice. Sauteed it in a few spritzes of olive oil, so it may have added 25 calories. Also cooked the cup of mushrooms with a few spritzes instead of the teaspoon called for, so maybe I broke even. (Would have been easier if someone hadn't requested that I bring him home a Whopper for dinner?!)

I really miss salt. I know a girl who started giving up added salt for Lent when she was about five years old. She really loves salt, so I love that it's a real sacrifice for her.

Cheats: Ate one fruit loop. Am planning right now to eat 1/2 cup serving of unsweetened applesauce--I'm starving!

Day One

So, I'm reviewing the Flat Belly Diet book that's coming out at the end of October (08). Since I'm no nutritionist or medical expert, I thought I'd give it a shot for the 32 days it recommends.

Day One:

It's the first day of their four day anti-bloat menu. Pretty name, huh? So, for breakfast, I was supposed to have a cup of unsweetened cornflakes, 1 cup skim milk, 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce, 1/4 cup of raw unsalted sunflower seeds.

I'm off to a great start! Forgot to buy sunflower seeds. Nowhere in town has unsweetened cornflakes. Skip to day four's menu with Cream of Wheat, Milk, sunflower seeds, 2 dried plums. Have you ever eaten Cream of Wheat without anything in it? Ugh. 2 tbls of raisins are on Day 3 breakfast. Have CofW w/ Raisins. Have 1/4 cup unsalted peanuts (Okay, I washed them) an hour later. Skim milk an hour after that. (Skim milk=weird snack)

Have I mentioned that I have to eat every 2 hours or I get massive headaches? The diet says every four hours, so I have to spread meals out. No gym first day.

Hopped on the Wii Fit--it complained that I hadn't been on in 125 days. (Shut up!) It tells me my BMI is normal, but how much do I want to lose? Okay. Eight pounds sounds good. We agree.

Lunch--Day one is Deli turkey, string cheese, PINT of grape tomatoes! Oh and a glass of Sassy Water, which is water w/ cucumber, mint, lemon and ginger in it. Sits in the fridge and stews. It's okay if it hasn't been stewing too long. Couldn't get to the co-op to get organic turkey, so had day 3 lunch: 3 oz tuna in water, 1 cup steamed carrots, string cheese, Sassy Water. Ate carrots raw. I'm turning orange, I swear! Tuna envelop was only 2.5 oz, so I put 1 tbl fat free yogurt in it so I could choke it down.

Snack--Supposed to make a Blueberry smoothie. Had to go out--quickly looked up Panera Strawberry smoothie calories = 290. Since all meals/snacks are about 300 cals, this seemed okay. I know the strawberry glop they use is probably sweetened, and def the Stonyfield lf vanilla yogurt is, but decided it was okay.

Dinner--Broiled tilapia, roasted red potatoes, green beans cooked 2 min in boiling water (yum!). Squirted lemon over everything. 1/2 cup potatoes (without salt!) isn't very damn much!

Cheat: one organic wheat thin cracker and 4 raisins.

Bought sunflower seeds--still couldn't find cereal. Went to bed way too late--very hungry. But I got a Diamond cred on Xbox Karaoke for Ma Cherie Amor. No replacement for chocolate, though.