Day 13 - Ted (Sunday)

Brunch:
• Egg frittata
• Kefir Smoothie
• Coffee

Snack:
• 2 boiled eggs, smashed up, spritz of butter flavored spray, warmed.

Dinner:
• Ground turkey stuffed pepper (Excellent!)
• Green Tea

Snack:

• Hot tea

Water:
• About 40 oz

Observations: Lucy made stuffed peppers that were excellent. I'll see if she can post the recipe. I'm looking very forward to having the leftovers for lunch Monday. Overall Sunday wasn't too bad, no major cravings and I was satisfied with the amount of food we had.

Lucy - Day 13

Yep, Ted's right...that little venture to the Italian restaurant was HELL! Smelling the pizza and garlic rolls was pure horror, but we got through it.

We slept in a little later than normal today since we saw a very late movie and didn't get to bed until after 1am. I had every intention of exercising today, but am having a bit of a hip problem. It's not a new thing, just one that creeps up every now and then. Comes from having a bit of a crooked spine, apparently. It could be from having the incline on the treadmill set too high or sitting on the hearth in front of the fire too long last night. Whatever it is, it's gotten better since very early this morning, when standing up was hard. So, I decided to skip the walk. I'll try again tomorrow morning.

Drinking enough water on the weekends is tough. During the week, I'm sitting at a desk where my water bottle is right in front of me all day; a constant reminder to "drink me." Also, when I have co-workers come by my office, it's a easy way to shut up and listen. Weekends are so off-schedule, though, I literally have to stand in the kitchen and just drink 20 oz. uninterrupted. And trust me, with all the protein and salad, water is essential.

Ted and I planned our menus for next week last night, and I completed them today for the week after that. We try to make enough for dinner so we can have leftovers for lunch, making preparation easier. Next Friday, we start the 1st day of Phase 2, which, allows us to add in shellfish, beans & peas, some starchy veggies, lean beef and pork, and some yummy breakfast foods like oatmeal, grits and cream of wheat.

However, Phase 2 is tricky since the idea is to confuse your body: starches 1 day, no starches the next day. So Friday, we can have oatmeal for breakfast, protein and starch for lunch, and shellfish for dinner, then Saturday, we go back to the Phase 1 meal plans with no starches or beef/pork/shellfish. Just like "muscle confusion" when you exercise so your body doesn't get used to the same exercises, the 17-Day Diet is confusing your body by doing something different after the 1st 17-days, which is more like a cleanse. In order to make sure we're on track, writing down our menus is imperative to us with the busy life we lead. Otherwise, throwing a potato in on the day we're suppose to be eating off the Phase 1 menus would be too easy.

I like to plan my menus and grocery lists, and post the menus on the fridge, kinda like you're back in middle school and you're checking out the lunch menu each day. Not only does it give us something to look forward to, but it actually helps avoid buying things we don't need, and not having meals prepared. How often have you planned to have something for dinner, gotten home and though, "Man, I really don't want that. I think I'll order a pizza instead"? Yep, used to happen here all the time. And if we DO get that feeling, there's another menu on the list that's not going to blow it just waiting.

I'm looking forward to next Friday when I'm allowed to weigh again. And I promise, I really will wait. Fridays seem to be good days for me.

Day 12 - Ted (Saturday)

Brunch:
• 4 Eggs over medium - 2 whole, plus 2 egg whites
• Fruit Salad
• Coffee

Snack:
• Greek yogart

Dinner:
• Grilled Chicken Garden Salad

Snack:
• One grilled chicken tenderloin (boneless skinless chicken finger) with salsa
• Hot tea

Water:
• About 30 oz

Observations: Wow, Day 12 was the hardest so far.  Most of it was our fault however. I can only blame a portion of it on the diet. Weekends are tough for us. One of my favorite things to do on the planet is sleep a little later on the weekends, which throws off your body's schedule. That schedule is imperative to sticking to this diet. So try your best to keep the same schedule every day. I probably jinxed myself yesterday by saying that my cravings had been better than I expected, Day 12 was tough. I will say it was a hard day not because I was craving things I can't have as much as being hungry after dinner. Eating post dinner has always been an issue for me. We got up a little later and had brunch, then a late afternoon snack before meeting friends for an early dinner. So my food intake wasn't enough before dinner and wasn't spaced out very well. This I blame on myself. Lucy and I have eaten out three times since starting the diet. Met friends at an Irish Pub where we had grilled chicken salad. Not too difficult since we were separated from the rest of the crowd and wasn't subjected to seeing a lot of yummy food in the dining area. We went with a friend to Red Lobster one night and got grilled fish with steamed broccoli with salad, also not too difficult. But last night was a total kick in the head. We went to a family style Italian restaurant.  Huge bowls full of pasta, slices of New York style pepperoni pizza and warm Italian sandwiches. Part of the issue wasn't just the food, it was that I was so hungry going in and no amount of water, green tea and grilled chicken salad was going to fill me up. After dinner back at the house I needed something that didn't taste like lettuce and was disturbed at the lack of options. This part I blame on the diet. Eggs, sorry, no thank you. Veggies, nope, can't do it. Can't have fruit and probably shouldn't have yogurt. But I wanted something warm. I finally broke out that grilled chicken tender along with a few cups of hot tea. We then grabbed a late night movie with a few pieces of sugar free candy (go easy, sugar free doesn't mean calorie free.) Tough day, but we'll keep pushing though.

Also, Lucy is correct. I have not weighed yet. More on this later.

Anyone out there had a day so far that was significantly challenging?

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.

Day 11 - Ted

Breakfast:
• Kefir Blueberry/Strawberry smoothie
• Green Tea

Snack:
•Apple

Lunch:
• Left over Chili

Snack:
• Boiled egg whites
• Carrots

Dinner:
• Grilled salmon
• Homemade Caesar Salad

Water:
• About 60 oz

Observations: Doing good. I've been pleasantly surprised at my lack of cravings for the bad stuff and aside from the constant food imagery we are inundated with daily I've had plenty of yummy goodness placed in front of me at the office (more on this later.)

We were planning on having company this weekend which fell through at the last min. Thus most of our menu plans were now null and void. On the way home last night I was feeling some grilled salmon. One of the only actual cravings I've had and I'm not sure I'd call it that. Stopped off at the store and grabbed some fresh salmon steaks. Wasn't concerned about the 36 degree weather outside, I was grilling some salmon. Fired up the grill, got it real hot and sprayed the steaks with a little canola oil. Sprinkled then with Old Bay.

Now I was going to steam some broccoli, but instead I thought I'd give a shot to making a Caesar Salad. Obviously a Caesar Salad is largely defined by the dressing, which I haven't been able to find in Fat Free form in the store. So I made my own, which turned out pretty darn well. Here you go is you'd like to give it a try.

Caesar Salad:
- Chopped Romain Lettuce
- Fat Free Ranch Dressing mixed with Fat Free Balsamic Vinaigrette and grated parm.

Mix in a bowl the Ranch and Vinaigrette and parm. Beat really well. Then pour over the chopped greens. Toss.

I rarely measure when I cook, so you'll just have to add these ingredients to taste. I know it sounds like you'd definitely go over your allowed dressing amount, but just add a little at the time to the greens and toss really well. Then taste. A little goes a long way. Maybe on stage 2 or three I can figure out some croutons.

Thoughts on cooking

We got a good bit of 97% lean ground turkey at Aldi with the intention of making several of the recipes from the book and a few other of our own. (Lucy makes a mean stuffed pepper)

The taco salad we had a few days ago was excellent. (A few words on that in a bit)

But last night we made the turkey chili. Before I proceed a bit of history is needed. I was raised in my mothers kitchen and my mother couldn't follow any recipe without doing what we call "doctoring up." Maybe it's genetic, but I can't help myself. Everything needs just a little something extra. A dash of this, a pinch of that. Maybe an additional main ingredient or a change in the cooking process. It's almost required for me to sleep well at night. Lucy gets irritated with me since I can never just stick to the recipe and I never time anything when cooking. The same thing happened with the chili. Lucy followed the recipe and I felt like it needed a little "doctoring" up. Chili by definition contains chili peppers. So we added some. Here's the thing. The recipes in the book are good, but I have to doctor them. I can't help it.

With the Taco Salad, here's my change.

Saute the turkey in a non-stick pan with a tsp of oil. We used the Smart Balance oil. But make sure to cook all the moisture out and start to get some "crust" on the meat. Then stir in chopped onions, and once again cook out the moisture. Then add in the pack of taco seasoning. It's seems counter intuitive to cook such a lean mean to such a dry point. We all know how dry lean ground turkey can get. But following this process will yield very flavorful meat as it forms the crust. The onions will then add that moisture back in. Cooking out most of the onion moisture is you call. It just depends on how much of that moisture you want transferred to your salad. I for one hate a soggy salad.

The Chili.
Peppers, that's the key. Fresh or dried, hot or mild. This is what I'd do. Get a bag of dried or fresh mild chilies, something like an Ancho. Just look for large red ones. Usually the smaller the chili, the hotter the taste. Remove the seeds. If they are dried soak them several hours. Then blend them into a soup in the processor. Just add water to get them flowing. Dried ones you'll need to strain through a fine mesh to get out the peeling. Then add to your cockpot in place of water or stock. We then let it cook about 8 hours. The turkey that was used we followed the same process as with the taco salad. The only difference is after the onions cooked down we added mushrooms. Add a spoon full of fat free sour cream and a sprinkle of fat free cheese and you're in business. The chili was excellent.

Little tweaks like this can really punch up the flavor with no additional calories, fats, carbs or sugars.
So experiment.

Day 10 - Ted

Breakfast:
• Eggs
• Green Tea

Snack:
• Kefir
• Strawberries

Lunch:
• Left over BBQ Chicken and Carrots

Snack:
• Boiled egg whites
• CarbMaster Yogart

Dinner:
• Turkey Chili (recipe per the book)

Water:
• About 70 oz

Observations: Feeling good.

Lucy - Day 10

Yep, I've been a slacker with my posting. Apologies. Work has been crazy, and the extra time spent cooking and preparing lunches and breakfast for the next day takes every spare minute. If you're gonna do this, you have to make time to do the things that are necessary.

I've been getting up early to walk on the treadmill. For me, it's a great way to start off the day. For Ted, not so much. He says it makes him want to go right back to bed. I feel like it jump-starts my day. It does throw off having the lemon water as the very first thing in the morning since I usually down a bottle of water during and after my work-out. I don't think that would mess up the process.

If you've been reading Ted's food lists, I'm eating all the same thing. We might have different yogurt or fruit during the day, but everything else is pretty much the same. You'll find that just fixing a LOT of 1 thing makes preparation easier.

I haven't weighed again...Ted won't let me. I'm one of those that would weigh everyday, but Ted's a good reality-checker for me...he knows I'll get down if I don't go anywhere. I think we've decided to weigh again on our last day of the 1st Phase, which will be February 17.

There's turkey chili waiting at home for us in the crockpot (oh, how I love my crockpot!). Very excited to see how that turns out. Here's the recipe for the curry chicken salad Ted wanted me to post:

1 large can white chicken
1 Tbsp plain Greek yogurt (not vanilla)
salt and pepper to taste
curry powder to taste

Mix REALLY well. We used Romaine lettuce leaves as "boats" to put the salad in and topped with red grapes. Good way to get your fruit in before 2pm.

Day 9 - Ted

Breakfast:
• Eggs
• Green Tea

Snack:
• Kefir

Lunch:
• Left over turkey and veggie soup

Snack:
• Boiled egg whites
• Carrots

Dinner:
• Grilled BBQ Chicken (recipe per the book)
• Carrots
• Creamed spinich

Water:
• About 70 oz

Observations:
The BBQ chicken turned out well. We had to work on the sauce a little, it started out just tasting like tomato sauce.

Day 8 - Ted

Breakfast:
• Homemade Kefir strawberry smoothie

Snack:
• Apple and a few grapes
• Green Tea

Lunch:
• Greek Yogart Curry Chicken Salad lettuce wraps, a few grapes added to the top
• Green Tea

Snack:
• Boiled egg whites
• Carrots

Dinner:
• Taco Salad - per the books recipe (Which was awesome by the way!)
• Carb Master Yogart

Water:
• About 50 oz

Observations:
Feeling good so far. There were a few days last week where I felt a little lighter in the morning but since the weekend I've felt a little puffy and its probably a cause of too little water, too much food later in the evening and maybe salt. Just shows how getting off schedule will throw things off.

Over all I haven't noticed any increase in my energy level although digestion seems to be going well.

One thing I have noticed is heart burn seems to be a thing of the past, for now anyway.

Day 7 - Ted (Back to a work week)

Breakfast:
• Eggs with fat free cheese
• Green tea

Snack:
• CarbMaster Yogurt - Carrot Cake

Lunch:
• Turkey lettuce wraps with fat free cheese and mustard

Dinner:
• Grilled chicken garden salad - Balsamic Vinaigrette

After Dinner:
• Cup of Miso Soup
• CarbMaster Yogurt - Spiced Pear
• Two lettuce leaves with a spoon full of Greek Yogart Curried Chicken Salad

Water:
• About 30 oz

Observations:
Here's the thing about Monday. We met some friends from out of town for dinner at an Irish pub. They picked the place so we sorted through the menu to see what would work. Sadly almost nothing. I finally went with the standard garden salad. They added grilled chicken for me and I had them hold the cheese and croutons. They didn't have a low fat or fat free dressing on the menu so I went with the balsamic vinaigrette and used the fork dip method as I normally do now with salads. Lucy had the spinach salad that I'm sure normally comes drizzled with hot bacon grease, but she asked that the bacon and blue cheese be held in place of grilled chicken, she also had them add cucumbers. Most places are happy to help if you're just nice about it. The larger issue was the size of my salad. After having gotten use to eating larger than average salads as complete meals and not a starter or side I found the salad to be small and not satisfying in the long run. By the time we got home I was hungry again. So I had some yogurt and miso. Yes, I know. Two probiotics at the same time when I had already had yogurt earlier in the day. Mess up on my part. The two lettuce leaves were a test snack of a chicken salad Lucy made off the recommendation from a friend using Greek yogurt and curry. I'll see if she can post the recipe.

Over all another day not too unlike the weekend, just trying to do the best I can.

Day 6 - Ted (Sunday)

Breakfast / Lunch:
• Homemade Kefir strawberry smoothie
• Pear
• Eggs with salsa
• Green Tea

Dinner:
• Turkey Veggie Soup

Water:
• About 40 oz ?

Observations:
The issue with Sunday was sleeping late. Thus Breakfast got combined with lunch. You're probably not supposed to do that, but I was hungry. I also think maybe the salt from the soup might have caused some water retention in both Me and Lucy, gotta get back on that water.

Day 5 - Ted (Saturday)

Breakfast:
• Homemade Kefir strawberry smoothie
• Green tea

Lunch:
• Eggs with salsa
• Green Tea

Snack:
• Carrots and water

Dinner:
• Grilled Trout, steamed Broccoli and a side garden salad

Water:
• About 30 oz

Observations:
Saturdays are tough. I don't have as much trouble when I have a set schedule like I do during the work week but through a weekend at me and things get out of synch. A buddy of mine and I took in a basketball game Sat afternoon and then when out to eat Sat night. So I did the best I could.

And the weekend begins...

Weekends are always the hardest for me on a diet. My weekday s are so regimented, and my weekends are so NOT! We were able to get started with the lemon water and some snuggling (shut up). While Ted took a shower, I fixed Kefir strawberry smoothies and salsa verde, fat-free mozzerella egg whites.

After Ted left to hang with a buddy, I cleaned the kitchen, started a load of clothes, and took some time to walk on the treadmill while watching some syndicated "Glee" on Oxygen. By the way, a great show to walk to...always a different song to keep in step with.

Afterwards, I tried some cucumber water a friend recommended, and had a pear, then a shower. I chopped some cucumber (not too small if you're drinking from a regular bottle) and put it in the freezer for a few minutes. It's super cold and very refreshing!

The rest of the day holds shoe shopping...what? Boots are on clearance, and there's no point in buying clothes when I'm just going to lose weight! Ted and I were thinking about possibly trying to go out for dinner. Maybe someplace we can get grilled chicken or fish and veggies. It's so easy to get burned out on cooking.

If we can plan our meals on the weekends, too, I think that will make the fact that we keep no schedule on these days. Just remember to eat your carbs before 2pm. That's tough even during the week!

Day 4 - Ted

Breakfast:
• Homemade Kefir berry smoothie
• Green tea

Snack:
• Apple

Lunch:
• Leftover Baked Asian Style Tilapia, Salad
• Green Tea

Snack:
• Yogart
• 2 Hard Boiled Egg Whites

Dinner:
• Turkey lettuce wraps with mustard, cucumber and tomatoes
• Green Tea

Water:
• Around 60 oz

Observations:
Feeling pretty good, the Carb withdrawal seems to be past. The biggest issue was walking into  the office to see a bag full of fresh baked bagels that a co-worker had brought in, but I resisted.

Day 4 - Lucy: 4 Pounds in 3 Days

That's right, I've lost 4 pounds in the 3 days I've been on the 17-Day Diet! Whoo Hoo!

The kicker is that I won a platter of sub sandwiches from Jimmy John's yesterday. Are you kidding me? I dropped my biz card in months ago, and they call me 2 days AFTER I start a new diet? When I told the manager, who was as nice as nice can be, that I couldn't eat the sandwiches, but I'd take them and share them with my co-workers, she was extremely sympathetic. So, she offered to make me an UnWich. A what?

http://www.jimmyjohns.com/menu/nutrition.aspx?section=lowfat&id=13033


This is basically a lettuce wrap that's the size of a Moe's burrito...yes, it's huge! it was very filling, and I actually felt like I ate a sandwich. Who can best that? Check out the site above and you can see the nutitional value before you even order it. It's going to be a great saver for days we have to run out someplace, and need to grab a bite.

Still craving a little something sweet after dinner, but I'm getting used to ignoring it. We tried the Kefir smoothie this morning, and it was really good. Here's the recipe:

1 cup unsweetened Kefir
1 cup frozen berries
1 Tbsp flaxseed oil (we used olive oil since it's allowed and it's what we have)
1 Tbsp sugar-free fruit jam
Ice cubes

Mix all the ingredients and blend. This is a serving of probiotics, fruit and good oils. It's a great way to start the day, and the fruit helps stave off the carb withdrawals the rest of the day.

It's just after 1pm, so I have to go eart my other serving of fruit. No carbs after 2pm! Thank goodness for email reminders!

Thoughts on Green Tea

I love tea. I grew up on tea. Southern style iced tea. Now unlike most southerners I actually wasn't raised on "Sweet" tea. AKA Sugar Tea. My mother used saccharin. Yes, good old "warning this product has shown to cause cancer in mice" saccharin. And we drank it by the gallon. Remember the little tablets of saccharin you bought in the bottle at the store. I remember we put anywhere to 20-24 per pitcher of tea. So, although I didn't drink sugar tea, I did drink a lot of artificially sweetened tea.

After I moved away to college I actually was able to slowly switch to completely unsweetened tea. But over time I went back to saccharin, although at less than half of Mom's amount per gallon. Now I still make unsweetened tea by the gallon, and I drink it a lot. But I now sweeten individual glasses at the time with Sweet-N-Low. Yes, I know it's still saccharin based but we do what we can. I've tried Equal and Splenda but they both don't taste good to me. Plus Splenda doesn't melt in cold. Truvia is a new purchase for us and although I'm ok with the taste, it still doesn't dissolve in cold very well.

Now, that brings us to Green Tea.

The diet calls for a lot of it,  pretty much a cup with every meal. I like green tea but I do have trouble drinking something hot with every meal even in this cold weather we've been having. We've been trying to brew it using 10-12 green tea bags and pour it up by the pitcher.  Using the coffee maker we make a full pot, pour it into a gallon container and fill the rest with water. I'm not sure if scientifically it has the same effect as a single cup of brewed hot tea but I was hoping maybe we could make it up in volume. A sweeter and a splash of black tea help to cut the bitterness.

Anyone know is the beneficial effects of green tea are the same hot to cold?

Day 3 - Ted

Breakfast:
• Egg whites with mushrooms & asparagus
• Apple
• Green tea

Snack:
• Yogart

Lunch:
• Leftover Baked Chicken Salsa Verde, Brussels Sprouts, Cauliflower, Creamed Spinach
• Green Tea

Snack:
• Yogart
• 2 Hard Boiled Egg Whites

Dinner:
• Baked Asian Style Tilapia, Garlic Parm Mushrooms, Leftover Cabbage from Day 1
• Green Tea

Water:
• Around 60 oz - Did much better on Day 3

Observations:
The carb withdrawal started to ease off yesterday and by the end of Day 3 I felt fine. Woke up this morning (Day 4) with a slight headache but was better after breakfast. No major cravings on Day 3, felt pretty good and was pretty satisfied with the amount of food I was getting.

Lucy - Day 3: I Think I Can!

I actually feel lighter! Maybe that's because I'm peeing all the time from the water and the green tea with each meal. I realized that I have at least 16 oz. of liquids before I even get to work: the lemon water and the green tea with breakfast. So, after my cup of coffee (which IS allowed...just no fatty creamer or sugar; go with non-fat powdered creamer and sweetener), I could barely walk down the hall! And all of that liquid doesn't go toward my "water intake." Whew!

I'm with Ted: the carb withdrawal hit me about 9pm last night, and I'm a little woozy. I did the same thing by having an apple with my breakfast of scrambled egg whites with mushrooms and asparagus. I think we're going to try the Kefir milkshake tomorrow. We got some individual-sized fruit Kefir, and they were quite tasty. Lots of live active cultures to work in the digestive system.

I will say that my tummy grumbles all the time. I think it's a by-product of all the probiotics and veggies. I confuse it with being hungry sometimes. Trying to remember that I can always have protein or veggies if I'm at my 2 servings of probiotics or fruit.

Here's a yummy recipe I discovered last night for dinner: Creamed Spinach

1 package frozen spinach, thawed

1 Tbsp fat-free sour cream

Dried minced onion (to taste)

Garlic salt (to taste)

Squeeze the liquid out f the spinach, and put in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave the spinach for 3 minutes. Add the sour cream, minced onion and garlic salt. Microwave for 3 more minutes. Stir thoroughly. Ta-da!

I think I can...I think I can!

Carb Withdrawal

Well, I knew it would happen. It hit me about 10am yesterday. The dreaded carb withdrawal. Headache, loss of focus/concentration, etc. After trying Atkins that time I remember this. I would complain but I guess I understand it. The human body runs on carbs. Mine runs on more carbs and sugars than most so I knew attempting to reboot the system was going to have some side effects. The good news is that after your body accepts it's new reality, all is well. But you have to force through it.

Today is Day 3 and it does feel a little better so far. Made a point to eat my apple with breakfast to get in that sugar early. Still feel a little "not right." It's an odd feeling to explain. Almost as if you don't want to turn your head very fast.

I did make a mistake during Days 1 & 2 of not having quite enough fruit, so maybe it hit me early.

Let me point out, this is NOT a NO CARB diet. It is just carb restrictive for the first phase of 17 days. After this, many important carbs are added back in slowly.