Almost there...

I am now 2 weeks into my 4 week Atkins Diet plan. After an amazing 5 lbs of weight loss in the first 3 days I was a little nervous about what the scale would say for my weigh-in today. So imagine my surprise when it showed another 3 lbs lost. !!!!! That means I have lost 8 lbs in the last 2 weeks. Now if you will excuse me for a minute, I would like to run around the room giddily.

(WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!)

Okay, I'm back. And I'm stoked. 2 weeks ago I was 15 lbs away from my goal weight. Now I'm only 7 lbs away. And today I actually left the house for a trip to the store wearing one of the three pairs of 'goal' jeans that I have not been able to wear for 6 1/2 years. It was still a tiny bit snug in the waist, but my only remaining pair of jeans that is the next size up are so loose that I have to wear a belt and cinch it up to almost the same snugness, so I figured it was just as easy to wear the smaller jeans and not have to mess with a belt.

I am SO close to my goal now, and I am SO excited that I am going to reach it well before my September 9th deadline (my 30th birthday). I started my weight loss journey on July 23rd of last year, with a goal of losing 62 lbs by my 30th. In the las 11 months I have lost 55 of those pounds. And pardon me for tooting my own horn a little bit, but I FREAKIN' ROCK. I am SO proud of myself for not only setting the goal, but having the faith in myself that I could actually acheive it. Not to mention finding the motivation on a regular basis. I've done really well with my exercising this year, but there were SO many days that I didn't want to get up and hurl myself around my livingroom at 5:00 in the morning. SO many days when I was too tired to get up and go but that I got up and went anyway. Not to say that I've been perfect, but I have willingly exercised more times in the last 7 months than I have in the previous 29 years of life. I have even managed to be an inspiration to other people through my various blog and Facebook posts. That, to me, is increadible. For the last 6 years I have been the one looking for inspiration. And now to be able to be able to inspire other people with my hard work and dedication... well, it's pretty awesome.

And who knows? I may decide to keep going with my weight loss even after I reach my goal (since my goal weight is at the highest end of what is actually healthy for me). We'll see. My only mission was to get back to the place where I felt really happy with myself, and I'm almost there. I'd have to lose an additional 20 lbs beyong my goal weight to get to my medically 'ideal' weight, and I just don't think I have it in me. But we'll see.

Today is Day 4 of my 4 week Atkins diet plan. I have done very well so far, managing to stay at or below my 20 grams of carbs each day, and even keeping my calories pretty reasonable. The up side of the diet so far is that I got on the scale this morning, and I have lost 5 lbs in the last 3 days. I realize it's just water weight, but it's 5 lbs and it still counts. It's also very motivating. And if there was ever a day I was going to need motivation, it's today. Today I'm baking several dozen cupcakes for a baby shower I'm co-hosting on Saturday (when I will also need an extraordinary amount of motivation). And losing 5 lbs in just a few days, water weight though it may be, gives me hope that my 4 week Atkins adventure will actualy pay off big for me in the weight loss department, when all is said and done.

The down side so far is that I'm having trouble figuring out what to snack on. The meals are pretty easy - omelette for breakfast, tuna salad for lunch and chicken breast for dinner. But snacks.... well, that's a tricky one. I open up my pantry and there is literally nothing in there that I can snack on. Crackers... cereal... popcorn... I can't have any of it. The only thing I have found to eat is bacon and string cheese. Not a bad snack for someone who's had to all but swear off bacon this year, but it's kinda wierd to me. I'm going to go online today and see if I can find other Atkins friendly snack ideas.

Lately I have been thinking about my diet, and the plateau I have been on for several weeks now. I decided to switch things up by going on the Atkins diet. I'm not going full boar with it (as in making a permanent lifestyle change) because honestly I would rather be fat than unable to have bread, alcohol or chocolate ever again. I decided to just do the induction period, which is the beginning of the program where you do not eat more than 20 grams of net carbs per day. But instead of doing the induction for 2 weeks I am doing it for 4, which will take me to mid-July (the week of my brother Kasey's wedding to be precise) and will hopefully take me most of, if not all of the way to my goal weight, which is 14 lbs from where I am at now.

Today is Day 1.
So far so good. I put in a stellar 60 minutes on the recumbant bike first thing this morning and followed it up with a hard boiled egg and a cup of coffee (which is not as sweet or creamered as I prefer it, but I can't afford to spend the carbs on extra sweetner and half & half). I know that soon, so very soon, I will be missing bread in ways I can't even imagine; I will ache for it like a blind man aches for sight, but right now I am so full from my 3 egg omelette with sauteed mushrooms and cheese that I don't really feel wanting for anything at this moment.

The Sun Cometh!

The sun has finally come to Kingston, and we are loving it!!
This weekend was the medieval festival in Port Gamble. We decided to go to it this morning, to spend time together as a family and to soak up that sun!

Food For Thought

Yesterday I watched the movie Eat Pray Love starring Julia Roberts. The movie itself was so-so, but there were several enjoyable scenes. My favorite one was, when Julia Roberts character was in Naples eating pizza with a friend, the friend was complaining about having gained 10 lbs and a muffin top since she'd been in Italy. Roberts' character replied that she had as well and that that was okay...

"I'm so tired of saying 'no', then waking up in the morning and recalling every single thing I ate the day before. Counting every calorie I consume so I know exactly how much self-loathing to take into the shower. So I'm going for it. I have no interest in being obese, I'm just through with the guilt."

I like that attitude. I'm not there yet, of course, as I still have 17 lbs to lose to get to my goal weight. But I hope that once I reach it I'll be able to have a more positive outlook on my relationship with food. I hope that I'll be able to create and maintain a balance with my eating, so that my food intake doesn't have to be (literally) feast or famine.