Diet Christmas Story

'Twas hours before a concert, and all through the day, I knew a new outfit was coming my way. I had to find something to wear on the stage, so I ventured to Kohl's where my outfit I'd gage.

I found a few tops with their printed designs, but the pants I would need were a difficult find. I shuffled and shifted through all the racks, looking and searching for pants to take back. I found a size six, which is smaller than me, and thought to myself, "I'll just try these and see."

My arms full of choices, the fitting rooms full of clothes, I reluctantly wandered into a stall that would close. I prepared for the worst and pulled on the tops, then looked at the pants wondering where they would stop.

When what to my wondering thighs did appear?

They buttoned and zipped, AND looked good in the mirror!

I went to the concert in size six pants, and on the stage I wanted to dance! I've never been this size, you see, and can't express how happy I am to be me! I started the plan in a size eighteen, but now I'm more confident than I've ever been!

The diet was hard and self-disciplined too, but I believe it was worth it, I definitely do!!!

As I leave you today to go eat my lunch, I wish happy holidays and love by the bunch!

34.5 inches smaller!

The numbers are in! I've lost 17.25 inches since October 17th! Apparently I'm one of those people who loses size rather than pounds, but I'm not complaining! This makes for a total of 34.5 inches that I don't intend to find ever again.

I've lost a little bit of muscle, but that's not a big deal. I got permission to actually work out again, rather than just doing my cardio, so that will take care of the muscle issue. The In-Body machine says I only have 52lbs. of body fat now as opposed to the 73.8 I had when I started, and my BMI is down to 24.7 which is in the normal range FINALLY. (for the record, it was 29.4 in August.)

I only have to eat 3 medifast meals per day now, plus my lean and green, an extra serving of veggies, fruit, and now I can have dairy!

Yay for progress! I'm gonna go shop for our thanksgiving dinner stuff now. Happy holidays, friends! =)

Cheater Cheater Pumpkin (bread) eater!

I'm in stabilization now and can eat one extra serving of veggies AND fruit! I'm weighing in at 143, which has been pretty stable for the past week or so. On the other hand, I've been cheating quite a bit lately... The following is my confession:

Saturday I went to Greek Fest and bought baklava. There is no resisting such things when they are so easily accessible. On the justification end, I've sliced them in half, so I'm not a total calorie hog.

Monday was my birthday, and Bobby took me to Cheddar's before flute choir rehearsal. We had a cookie monster just because it was my birthday and I wanted dessert. My not-so-bad action was to leave part of my cookie, the most of the whipped cream, and one whole scoop of ice cream on my half of the skillet.

Tuesday Bobby took me to Texas de Brazil, which is RIDICULOUSLY expensive. I didn't gorge myself, and I did well eating meat and veggies... but I did eat half a slice of carrot cake. I took the rest home and finished it off for lunch on Wednesday. (and there's my wednesday confession)

Thursday I went to a fancy jewelry store to try on a half-million dollar diamond ring. It was great fun...but I went with my parents who hadn't eaten and ended up eating a chopped brisket sandwich (minus the bread...see, I was sort of good).

Today, well, today was rough. We had a half day at school yesterday for parent/teacher conferences and when the kids came back today they were just wild. So at lunch, I went to starbucks and had a slice of pumpkin bread (hence, my clever blog post title) and a peppermint mocha.

I have my next in-body test tomorrow to see how my muscles and fat and water and blah blah blah are doing. Here's hoping for a good report. My size 8's are somewhat lose on me (but I don't think I'll EVER be in a size 6) and I've been working out more lately, so I don't think I have anything to worry about.

Speaking of working out... my trainer from this summer emailed me the other day asking if I've still been going to the gym. He said he hasn't seen me around and they have some good deals going on for training sessions if I'm interested. I'm almost tempted to sign up for one and rub it in his face that his workout plan totally did not "work out" for me. But then again... he was helpful as far as toning and building muscle and whatnot, so I don't want to be a complete jerk.

I'm off work for the next 9 days for fall break. Praise the Lord! The kids need to reset, and the teachers need a break from trying to reset them! I anticipate a fattening thanksgiving holiday, but at least now I know how to manage it.

Here's hoping I don't cheat too bad this week.

Last week... 6 days to go.

I'm on the end of my "losing" portion of the diet. I have 6 days left and 8 pounds to lose. (I'm a little skeptical, but I'm positive that taking a break from the diet when I was sick set me back a week or so...) I HAD to buy new jeans yesterday because we have a jean day tomorrow at work and the Junior's size 13's I have are literally hanging off of me. I had hoped to wait a little longer to buy new jeans, but these are a pinch tight around my belly, so I'm betting that after I lose these last 8 pounds, they'll be loose too, and I won't have to worry about it.

It's been really hard being "true" to my diet the last couple of weeks... I'll admit, I've cheated a little. But I only allow myself to cheat one time per day, and depending on the caloric intake, I make up for it by NOT eating either one of the meals or however much less of my lean and green meal.

I'm actually feeling pretty good lately... I still have a rattle in my chest when I breathe, but I'm starting to just get used to that. I think I'm going to go to the gym this evening before Bobby gets off work. I haven't been in forever, and I'm a little curious to see just how out of shape I am.

Here's a stat update:

• Week: 11 of 11
• Countdown: 6 days to go before the goal date
• Current Weight: 146
• Total lost (since April) : 31 pounds
• Total lost with MediFast: 24 pounds
• Jean size: 10
  

We're almost there... then I go into "stabilization." Ugh... I think that will be the hardest part. I'm already pretty sick of veggies.

8.5 weeks

These MediFast ladies are just cruel. I found out two things today at my weekly counseling meeting:

1.) I could have been eating their carb-mimicking snack foods for three weeks and no one told me (crackers, pretzels, etc).
2.) I can have mayonnaise, a little bit of relish, and tuna with my snack crackers that I haven't known I could eat for the past three weeks.

Stinkers. I finally have a shot at eating something I would normally eat, and they leave me in the dark. Next thing I'll find out is I COULD have been eating sandwiches this whole time..... haha, not even close. But its worth daydreaming about!

Here I am at 8.5 weeks in my new size 10 pants...

Pant shopping

I seriously put on a pair of size 10 dress pants today. They zipped, buttoned, and were still a little loose. I now have two whole pairs of pants for school, lol. The real test comes after I've washed and dried them.... still, it was pretty rewarding to grab those semi-loose 10's rather than the tight 16's...

27 days left, 12 pounds to go. I'll post pics when I don't look like I've been sick for two weeks anymore. (har har)

Blegh.

Well, that one day turned into 11. I have been quarantined in my house for the past 11 days and I'm going crazy! I had stopped the diet because all of the meds I was on really messed up my appetite and I was doing well to keep soup and grilled cheese sandwiches down. Needless to say, diet food did not in the least bit seem worth trying. I'll most likely start it back up tomorrow or Monday, now that I'm finally feeling a little better.

As for my stats, I have been at 150 since Wednesday, which totals 27 pounds off from April. I have NO clothes that fit right, and I absolutely love my belly... or lack there0f! I can see the muscle lines in my legs (something I've NEVER been able to accomplish), and my "love-handles" are slowly melting away. I can actually feel my hip bones (I have to "dig" a little, but they're there)....its mind boggling. I have one pair of jeans from high school (Junior's size 13) that are baggy, but they're the only things that stay up without a belt, so I suppose I should start thinking about buying some new pants... I still have another 15 pounds to lose, which could easily be two more sizes, but I can't really go to work in jeans everyday, so I think I'm going to have to bend and purchase some temporary pants to get through this weird size thing.

Of course, now that I'm teaching art I might could plead for an all-jeans dress code. Oooh, or some corduroys. Those are always cool artsy pants... I don't know. I might just have to stick to those old skirts that have been hanging faithfully in my closet for the past 5 years. Sheesh, I don't even know if they're still in style.... Still, skirts, mary-janes, and art aprons HAVE to look adorable together...right?