Pouch test review...

Day 1 - not too bad. Day 2 - the crevices of my belly burned from lack of substance. Day 3 - heaven. Day 4, Day 5 - more heavenly. After it was all said and done, I lost about 1 lb. After the weekend, I was back up 3 lbs. WTF?! We went out to a fish fry Friday night and that was probably my worst meal of the weekend...a little butterfly shrimp, baked potato. Saturday hardly anything at all except for 2 squares of pizza at the wonderful Cassano's. There must be a lb. of salt in each square because I always gain weight if we go there. Sunday, pretty much nothing until dinner when I made chicken piccata and fingerling potatoes. But all in all, no more than 5-6 oz per meal. It's really disheartening when you go through the pouch test to try and shake things up and nothing happens.

I know, I know. Pizza, shrimp. Not the most healthy things to choose. Knowing my personality, I'm trying to allow myself a few things here and there so I don't feel deprived, because that's the kiss of death for me. So the weekends are a little indulgent, but during the week I keep my diet pretty strict. I don't eat alot of red meat anymore. Mostly chicken (pan seared then baked) and baked fish. Protein shakes, cottage cheese, yogurt with Kashi cereal, etc. Elliptical for 30 minutes about 5x/week with 20-25 minutes on the strength machines. A heck of alot more than I used to do when I dieted, but for some reason, nothing's happening for the past month. I'm just asking for 15-18 more lbs. Please.

I'm trying to keep positive, that I feel better, look better, my knees don't hurt hardly at all anymore. More energy, no more back problems, sleep better, happier, and one heck of alot healthier. But like all - I want more. I guess I have to decide whether or not I want to put an absolute 100% into it, deprive myself of everything not "band appropriate" and take the risk that it may backfire on me psychologically.

I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing for now, give it another month and see what happens. In the meantime, I posted a couple of pics to remind me just how far I've come. The one picture is from 2007 - after I lost 136 lbs and gained the majority of it back. And the other pic is from a couple of weeks ago. A little deflated -

Day 3 - Pouch test

Okay...I would like to say the 2 days of liquid dieting were hell, but I can honestly say that until last night, it all went pretty well. No hunger pains until about 8:30 last night, then it was white knuckles until bedtime. Luckily, today is soft proteins. So I've had my requisite protein shake this morning, followed by 2 egg omelet and 2 oz of cottage cheese at lunch. Can't say I was really full, but not hungry either. And it did take me 25 minutes to eat it instead of 15. I had to wait about 5 minutes for the cottage cheese to go down, so I gave myself some extra time to eat. Can't tell you how good lunch was! Later on I plan on having a couple more ounces of cottage cheese and then a piece of baked tilapia tonight for dinner.

The scale rewarded me for my diligence this morning and I am officially at 166. 2 lbs from my mini-goal....16 from my ultimate goal. YES! Amazing how you can lose 3 1/2 lbs in 1 day. Must have been all the sodium in the chicken broth from the last 2 days working its way out.

I have to say that this little test has helped to put me in the right frame of mind again. Even though I have chocolate...GOOD chocolate in the house, I haven't touched it since this began. Not once.

DH and I have been working out 4-5 times a week at the "Y". Monday, we went to the one in Minster since it was closer to our tax preparer than our local one. They have totally different strengthening machines than our local "Y" and I'm still feeling the effects on my inner thighs and arms. Pretty much look like an 80 year old walking around work today.

I'm thinking by the next week I can get off these last 2 lbs for my mini-goal. It's nice to see a "new" number for a change! Plateau's stink...even if there only for a couple of weeks. I'm not a patient person when it comes to the scale. I need validation...a "gold star", for a job well done from my scale. Not the same number over and over again like someone's got their big toe on the end of it. Who doesn't like a gold star? We get so little of them these days!

We ended up not having our support group meeting last night due to the weather. I'm so very tired of snow. Oh wait, ICE. Tired of ice. Tired of feeling like I'm stuck at home, even though we've been out and about. Stueycat is even tired of it. There is only so much you can watch the birds eating out at the feeder you know!

Valentine's - starting anew

DH and I had a great weekend together. Saturday we actually WENT to a movie...the first in probably 4+ years. DH would rather watch them at home. Me? I like the whole experience. He found a movie he wanted to see (that I also would see) in Dayton, so we drove down there for the day and saw Crazy Heart with Jeff Bridges, had dinner, went to the mall and a few other places and then back home. Sunday, we went to Huber Heights and goofed around strip mall shopping, grabbed a bite to eat and lounged around on the couch and caught the end of the Daytona 500 - which I taped before we left and it was STILL on when we got home! Wow, what a marathon. Glad to see Junior did well - still my sentimental favorite.

I began the 5-day pouch test today. After 3 days of heavy eating and eating all the wrong foods, and eating even when I wasn't hungry, I figured it's time to go back to basics. I haven't done the liquid thing since surgery and can't say I'm looking forward to it, but since the doc said at my last visit that I had a slight dilation, it's probably wise to give the old thing a rest. Ugh! But, a good week to do it since I'm busy tonight getting our taxes done and tomorrow with support group meeting. By the time I hit the "Y" after, it will be 9pm or so and that should be easy enough to finish the day up without eating since I don't like to eat past 8 anyway.

I've never done the 5-day pouch test, but a few people from our weight loss center that have said it really helped them get back in the right frame of mind. Let's hope. I'm way too close to screw up now. This morning the scale punished me with a 2 lb weight gain since Saturday. Hopefully we'll be friends by the end of the week. I am wanting to get to my mini goal weight by the end of next week - 164. By tomorrow I'm sure I'll be hungry enough to eat wood. Lord, please give me strength on this one!

Okay, here goes the dress

We are getting blasted with snow right now. I had taken the day off to get some things done at home. Since DH was off too, we called up my folks and took them out for lunch and then played cards afterwards. The snow started coming right as we ended our walk this morning and has continued all day long. The problem is, the wind also kicked up and the drifting is causing alot of problems. So it's nice to be hunkered down this evening while the wind is blowing and the drifts continue to build. Our supposedly busy weekend just may end up being us holed up in the house if it decides not to let up.

So, with time on my hands and clothes of various sizes in my closet, I got to work cleaning out more stuff I don't need. And tried on "the" dress I had on when I first met my hubby on a blind date. It's still tight, but could't resist. Another 5-10 lbs and it should look pretty good. Not that I have anyplace to wear it, but it sure feels good that I am THAT close to my mini-goal.

I think the rest of the race will be slower than a Turtle

Well I jumped on the scale this morning to find that I'm FINALLY 1/2 lb down after about 2 weeks. Thank you Jesus! I still can't figure out my pretty consistent weight loss and then suddenly the somebody just slams on the brakes.

But, that being said, this is one of the weeks that I should be losing, so I'll keep my eyes peeled in the morning. I have one 1 lb to go for the Valentine's Day Challenge which makes me feel pretty good. I've hit my goal weight on all but 1 so far. I'd be afraid to put anything down for another at this point. I applaud anyone who can perservere through a plateau. Being the drama queen that I can, I think 2 weeks is horrible. Months would send me off the charts!

Well, this week I feel like I'm stuck in the Groundhog Day movie...same routine every day until Friday. Boy am I glad I took friday off, and DH doesn't have to work, so it will be a nice 3-day weekend, even though it may be a little busy. We're expecting snow friday, so I don't know if we'll be going anywhere but the "Y", but friday is my day of relaxation since the weekend will be pretty busy. I need to stop by my parent's house for sure. I got the routine phone call from Dad asking what I been doing (which really means, you haven't been around to visit in awhile). So, I will need to check in and see how they are doing. Maybe if the weather holds out, we'll go out for lunch on friday.

I just started on Farmville this week on Facebook and I'm getting a little obsessed with it. Even Dr. Phil thinks it's addicting! A nice little way to pass the time while DH watches TV.

Well, I'm watching my Stueycat dreaming next to me. Love it when he growls in his sleep and his whiskers twitch. He turns into a really pussycat at night. And, thankfully at the end of the day...even when the day has been shitty, he lets me know that I'm the most important person in his life. And this is from a former dog person. mmmm...