Lucy - Day 12 - Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire

Ok, I know I said I wasn't going to weigh until the end of the 1st Phase, but I can't help myself (kinda like Ted and his "doctoring" recipes)! Weighing actually motivates me. I didn't exercise the last couple of days, and when I weighed yesterday morning and saw I'd lost 2 more pounds, it made me want to get up earlier today, even though it's the weekend, and get some exercise in. Ted hasn't weighed at all since Day 1.

Does anyone else feel like weighing is a motivating tool?

As you can see by Ted's posts, we've gotten creative in the kitchen. In Phase 1, I think you have to. You're very limited in what you can eat and how you can eat it, so creativity is a MUST. The chili was excellent, the taco salad didn't even need chips, the Kefir smoothies are satisfying, and cooking scrambled egg whites in a pan you've just had taco seasoning and lean ground turkey in makes for a surprising breakfast.

I'm noticing I can't eat as much at one sitting. I was able to make it through 1 salmon fillet and the salad last night, but the 2nd fillet had to go into leftovers. I also had a cup of hot tea just before dinner, so I'm sure that helped. Today, I ate all my eggs and about half my fruit salad. Again, I had a 16.9 oz. bottle of water before we ate. But even when I don't have a large amount of liquid ahead of time, it's hard to finish everything I fix myself to eat.

I had a tough time in the beginning trying to figure out when I was full. The book actually gives you a scale to measure this, but when you're used to overeating, it's not so easy. About 3 days ago, I started noticing that I felt full long before I'd finished my meal. So, I stopped eating. About an hour and a half later, I was feeling hungry again, so I had a snack. Again, full. I think these are good signs.

Ok...there are some things your body will go through from eating less and better: I'm noticing a decrease in my bowel movement size. I know, it's gross, but you have to pay attention to these things to make sure what you're doing is working. I also noticed that, as a girl, I was spotting like I was about to start my period. Yikes! I'm on the pill that you take for 3 months straight! It's not unusual to have spotting in between your 3 months like the ads say, but I've never had that problem. It scared me a little, then I remembered that I'm not eating as much, I'm drinking water like a fountain, and I'm eating a lot more fresh foods and less processed ones. As girls, we know that stress and changes to our environment can cause this to happen. Luckily, it was a one-time thing, and I haven't seen it since. But 6 pounds off will send signals to your body that something's up.

We're planning a vacation to the beach in a few months, and are getting really excited. We were actually talking about how to continue incorporating our eating habits into vacation. Once we can add oatmeal and grits in Phase 2, we could easily make very satisfying breakfasts. And fresh seafood at the beach? Who needs hamburgers and fries?

I'm so proud of us. I love that we've started this early in the year so we can make it a part of our lives all year round. We didn't start January 1 since we were still researching what was the best for us, but I think it will make for good habits when holidays come around at the end of the year.

So, yes, I lied when I said I wasn't going to weigh, but I think it's turned out to be a good thing. Whew. I feel better posting the truth.