Hold on . . .

We just arrived home last night from our SECOND trip, which was to the US Grand Prix in Indianapolis. I've got some catching up to in my real life after being out of town for so long. I'll be back with y'all shortly!

As a preview, I till tell you that I've been eating nothing but crap and road food (been eating almost exclusively at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for two days) and I expect a hefty gain. I plan to start a new eating and exercise plan tomorrow, so you can all follow along on this latest journey.

Type to you soon! While you're waiting, check out the new pics.

Greetings from Appalachia

I have a few hours of down time this morning so I thought I'd check in with all of my Extrapounds buds. Life at the Snowbird Lodge is lovely. I couldn't have chosen a more perfect spot to vacation in the Smoky Mountains. It's secluded, peaceful and has amazing views. In fact, it's deterred DH and I from doing any seriously long hikes--why bother?  The payoff of a hike is always the view. We've got that already.

We have been very active however. We've been on some short hikes (2 miles or less) in the Joyce Kilmer forest, had picnics on flat rocks beside some waterfalls and rushing streams. We've also canoed on beautiful Lake Santeetlah.

Yesterday, we decided to take it easy to rest up for whitewater rafting today. We decided to do some geocaching in the area. We picked several caches that were close to paved roads. However, I really should pay more attention of the difficulty rating on the caches. We wound up going on a hike to a waterfall that was only .2 miles (that's point two) long, but was probably the most physically strenuous thing I've ever done. Then when we got there we climbed all over the rocks and walked all through the icy cold water and never even found the stupid cache. DH took an accidental swim in the water when his foot slipped on a mossy rock. This isn't called the Slickrock Wilderness for nothing!

Now, my calves, shoulders and glutes are screaming in pain today and we're about to embark on an all-afternoon rafting trip. Oh, dear. I'll probably spend all day tomorrow just lying around and popping Aleve like candy.

The food here is delicious, but is severely lacking in veggies and fiber in general. There's cream and cheese on everything. They make a homemade granola that I make sure to eat every morning, and I try to grab an apple to have with lunch as well. Despite all the exercise, I can tell I've gained a lot and am severely bloated from the salty food. I cannot button my jeans or any of my new capris. I showed my DH how I was a good two inches from buttoning a pair of pants I bought while shopping with him just last week. He asked how anyone can possible gain that much in one spot in such a short amount of time. "I'm just special that way," I said. I'm just praying that when I get home, I'm not over 160.

Packing up

I'm trying to pack up all our stuff for our Smoky Mountain vacation. We'll be gone for 9 days. I still haven't decided if I'm going to take the computer or if I'm just going to cut myself loose from the world the entire time. The lodge doesn't have television but they do have wireless internet (?). I'm on my way to the library now to pick up some good reading.

Thanks to Kache for coming to my rescue yesterday on her lunch break with a bottomless bag of bathing suits! It was like having my own personal shopper! I found two that look great on me. If she has 12 spare unworn bathing suits, I wonder what other goodies she has in her closet. Kache, two words: "yard sale." Let me know when and where and I will be there!

Well, Ladies, I have to go--much to do and not enough time to do it. I'll check in if I can!

What was the point?

After finishing up our week on the detox plan, I opted to NOT fall completely off the wagon. We had planned to eat at P.F. Chang's Sunday night, but I said, "No, I don't want to wake up Monday morning and be up three pounds due to salt. That would just really bum me out after all the hard work I've put in." DH agreed.

So, I just phased in eggs and yogurt, and we enjoyed some lean buffalo meat. Then on Monday, we had a family picnic, where I made some turkey subs with an olive tapanade dressing. The rest of the family brought super healthy salads and fruit. The only indulgence was a couple of oatmeal cranberry cookies. There were not  chips or foods heavy in salt. The next day, I ate out with my department and had a turkey wrap with cheese in a tortilla with no chips. The rest of the day was a normal on-plan eating day.

And of course this morning showed the scale back up nearly THREE POUNDS. I couldn't believe it! I went and got my tape measure and saw that my bust and waist are still down, but my abdomen (big belly roll) was back where it was before the diet. I tried on the pants I mentioned earlier and they were tight and uncomfortable again.

I can't tell you how disheartening this is. I can't eat LUNCH MEAT without gaining THREE POUNDS OF WATER?!?!?  Just imagine how much weight I'll probably gain on my vacation next week when I'll be eating nothing but the food the lodge provides. Gak.

The diet I was on last week was extremely restrictive and not sustainable. DH and I felt like a huge weight had been lifted when it was over. I can't believe that that's what it takes for me to lose weight. I CANNOT live like that! I just don't know what to do from this point forward. Should I just accept the fact that I'm going to be overweight forever? Settle in to a flabby size 12 when I should be a toned size 8?

It's been nearly a year and a half since I started trying to lose weight. I am tired.

Inch Report

Today is the end of my detox diet and I just ate the best damn tasting bowl of yogurt anyone's ever had. It's amazing how good something can taste (sugar, milkfat)  when you cut it out of your diet entirely for only 7 days.

I took my measurements to see if I had made any real progress. I suspected I had because some quick-dry capris I bought from a catalog a few weeks ago that were too tight seemed more comfortable when I wore them yesterday. I also suspected some inches lost because my poor boobs were looking more deflated than usual. Here's the result:

Chest: -1"
Waist: -1"
Abdomen: -3/4"

Not too bad for just a week. Of course, since most of that was water, I really have to be careful that I don't put it right back on.  I really feel I have so much further to go in my midsection. My waist is now 34", but I would like to see it in the 20s. My abdomen is 41.25", and I'd like to see it around 35". My hips are already at 39", which is pretty slim so the rest needs to catch up. My biggest goal is to see my abdomen smaller than my hips, like on a regular woman's body.  I think I would have to weigh in the 130s to have those measurements. :::sigh:::

In the "Progress ?" Department, I was trying on my bathing suit that I bought last summer to see if I could still wear it for our vacation. I knew it would be too big, but I thought I might could get away with it. Surprisingly, the one place where it just was huge was in the chest. The suit had pre-formed cups and I could look inside and see that there was room for a whole other boob in there. Shocking--and really not that flattering, I must say. Having my chest shrinking makes my large belly look even larger proportionally. Grrr. I guess I'm just not going swimming on vacation because I'm not spending another $75 bucks on a suit just for one week.

End of the Week Report

It's Saturday morning and I've survived almost an entire week of the UltraSimpleDiet. It's been hard, but I've lost 3.2 pounds. I believe about half a pound of that is fat. I think the DH has lost 13 so far and it really shows. His face has slimmed and he's already breaking out pants he hasn't worn in years. Instant results! For him, anyway. :::grumble, grumble::::

I think I'm at the point now where I've lost all the water and will start losing fat if I stay on it, but I really don't want to. However, I think I will compromise and step up to the more restrictive phase of UltraMetabolism, which allows more foods than this diet. I plan to stay off of all prepared foods for at least another week until we leave for vacation (I get all tingly just saying the word!).

Now that I have the scale moving in a downward motion for the first time in six months, I don't want to just toss progress to the wind. I'll give it another week. Plus, this week I should be able to hit the gym since we have half-days at work.

I have a plan for my return to the gym. I'm going to start lifting weights on my lower body only. I've discovered that any work I do--even in yoga--that involves my upper back and shoulders really causes me to knot up and have problems for days afterward. I need to build up my back and shoulder muscles slowly and gently.

The problem, I think, is that in yoga class, we often isolate a muscle group and work on it, which I think strains that group for me because the whole back area is weak. I'm going to start rowing again, which works the whole back at once. I'm going to go super gently at first--maybe only five minutes at a time--and slowly build up so that I can stop hurting my rhomboids and shoulder blades every time I do ANYTHING.

I'm going to start on my leg lifting today, as I am concerned about my general lack of fitness heading into this very active vacation. We're going to be hiking, and my legs are not in shape. In the past, it hasn't taken many sessions to notice a difference in my quads and calves, so I'm going to try to squeeze in at least three this week before we go.

FOOD RECOMMENDATION: Before I go, I must tell you about my new discovery, which is The Spice Hunter's Spring Salad Mix. It's an herb blend of dill, shallots, garlic, and chives that is good on just about every damn thing. The way we use it the most is to mix it with a little olive oil in a pan to get it reconstituted. Heat it up a little, then sautee your veggies as usual. We've found this technique good for tossing in pasta or eggs. It adds an amazing dimension of flavor.

Have a great Saturday everyone.

Day Three and a Three

Well, I saw a number on my scale this morning that I haven't seen in months: 3! That's right, 153.8. PHEW! I guess the Great Bloat Purge of 2007 is working. I'm down 2.5 pounds since Sunday morning. Of course, the DH is down 10 POUNDS now. Great Googly Moogly.

I'm still a little headachy and cranky and I really want this to be over, but I'm chugging along. I had a small slip yesterday afternoon. It was about an hour before I could go home and I was feeling a definite energy crash. I had no snacks left and felt like poo. And there it was: a Fun Size Twix. I ate it, and it was good. I felt better right away and was able to continue working until I could get home for my real snack, The Ultrashake made of silken tofu, frozen berries, soy milk, flaxseed, and macadamia nut butter. I did what I had to do--didn't want to risk another headache.

Well, Ladies, I have one more small set of papers to grade and I am FREE of grading for ten weeks! Woo! Of course, I'm not out of school for another week, but I'm free of students. Yay!

Here I go . . .

Day Two Detox

Well, Day Two was much better. I haven't been able to get off the coffee entirely. I still had a half a mug mid-morning to stave off the headache along with a banana. (You know you're eating in a crazy diet world where eating a piece of fruit is cheating.)

I included some leftover salmon with my lunch and found it much more satisfying. I enjoy eating such fresh food. However, I saw this morning that we're almost out of food already after stocking up just this Saturday. Man, it really goes fast when both DH and I are eating. I've never really experienced that before as he's not a big veggie eater. He likes them, but doesn't eat them in quantity.

Though I didn't feel horrible yesterday, I did notice that both DH and I were super cranky last night and found it best just to avoid each other. I hope that will have passed by tonight.

Well, gotta go work . . . type to you later.

Day One Report

Well, I didn't really choose the best day to start a Detox diet, but such is life. I had started TOM Saturday--the day I had attended two over-the-top out of town weddings. I think I ate three pieces of cake and lordknowswhatelse in a span of 24 hours. Basically, I ate everything I could eat.

So . . . from that lofty peak of sugar and alcohol consumption, I began a spartan diet of restriction starting at lunch on Sunday. The fall was harsh and painful. All day yesterday I had a headache and was so fuzzy-headed that I couldn't type--AT ALL. It was funny, really. I would think coherent thoughts, but jibberish would come out of my fingertips. Even though I'm on a strict deadline for grades, I couldn't grade much of anything. I had to leave school after lunch and go home for a nap.

I thought about nothing but food all afternoon and kept calling DH to see how long it would be before he got home so we could EAT!  Jeez--it's like the bad old days of dieting again. Glad I'm only doing this for a week!

The good news is that I lost 1.2 lbs of water the first day. Yay! Crossing my fingers for lots more . . .

UltraSimple

Greetings All! Today, we're (the DH and I) are starting the one-week UltraSimple Diet. This is a plan created by the same doctor who wrote the Ultrametabolism plan that I follow. It's a quick-start detox plan that is supposed to purge my body of all bloat and inflammation, thus kick-starting my metabolism.

The plan involves drinking a home-made broth, smoothies, and eating meals of brown rice, veggies, and lean protein. It's very basic. There's a long list of foods we cannot eat. I'm hoping to drop at least three pounds of bloat I've been holding on to.

There was a preparation week that I skipped (because I'm already on Ultrametabolism) but my husband did. He had to cut back on caffeine, and cut out alcohol, sugar, and white flour. If you can believe this, he lost SIX POUNDS! Just in the preparation week! And according to my Ironman scale, that weight was ALL FAT!

I'm so happy for him, but it just seems so unfair sometimes how easy it is for men to lose weight. But, hey, if it gets him to see the benefits of cutting out the junk, I'm all for it!

Well, I've got to go grade the last mountain of papers. See y'all in a few days!