Goals?! Do people really reach them?

I’m not a great goal setter. Correction, I’m a great goal setter, I’m a terrible goal achiever. For most of my life, I’ve had plans to accomplish great things. At eight I wanted to be a teacher. When I was thirteen I wanted to be a coroner/mortician. When I was sixteen I wanted to be a missionary. When I was eighteen I wanted to be a business tycoon. By twenty I’d decided that being a florist was more fun than college. And at twenty-two I obtained my MRS. degree. At twenty-five I decided to be a professional dog groomer. At thirty I was a banker. And now I’m a professional student and housewife. If you’d ask me today what my dream job would be I’d still tell you coroner or mortician, but I don’t have the will power to make it through medical school and I really stink at science. I seem to be the type of person who always takes the road of least resistance. I’m naturally lazy, I suppose. I make all these grand plans for my life – dream big and even convince myself that I could achieve those dreams – and then reality hits me and those dreams wilt as fast as a spinach in a pan of hot bacon grease!

When it comes right down to it, I’m a realist. I’m an optimistic (and sometimes naive) realist, but a realist none the less. So when Sam and I started the South Beach diet back in February I was very supportive of him – after all, I don’t want him to drop dead on me – but somewhere in the back of my mind I was certain that this too would be a short-lived exercise in futility. I mean, look at us. We’re fat people. We both like to cook, and we love eating even more. We plan our vacations around food. We took a cruise because it had unlimited dining possibilities in five countries! I photograph and blog about cooking (and eating) for crying out loud. So I was pretty certain that past experience was going to play true on this one. But you know what, so far past experience has been foiled!

Sam and I are seven months into our new lifestyle. South Beach is truly a lifestyle for us. And in that choice there has come tremendous freedoms in the way we eat and think about food. We’ve both lost significantly, and neither of us are obsessing about food. We still have “hungry” days, and we both still have the occasional strong craving, but we’ve learned to adjust to it. No, we still can’t eat stuffed crust pizza or chicken chimichangas, but we have found foods that satisfy our cravings for certain cuisines and still allow us to lose weight.

When we first started this diet, I was certain I’d never be able to live without my nightly trough of cereal; or pasta, or bread, or rice, or potatoes on a daily or even weekly basis. And making the switch from full fat-full flavored coffee creamers to sugar-free creamer nearly killed me. But now, my body and my taste buds are so used to it I almost can’t stand the ‘regular’ stuff now. And yes, we still have the occasional “cheating day”, but it is just that – occasional – and usually we feel really cruddy afterward because our bodies aren’t used to eating junk food anymore.

And the best part about this whole lifestyle shift has been reaching some long overdue goals. For the first time in eleven years I weigh less than I did when I graduated from high school. I am wearing regular sized clothes again and can shop in nearly any store that pleases me. I can walk into a room of strangers and not feel like the hippo in Fantasia. I don’t mind having my photo taken since I no longer have to cover up all my chins! I can wear a bathing suit comfortably and not feel like everyone is wondering who let Shamu in the pool. I can move and bend and stretch and reach and twist and walk and jog and even………..see my toes again! I’m over half way to my goal weight and I feel great!

I know that I can do it this time – I really can and I really will! When I get there, I’m gonna celebrate – but not with food (well, it’s not entirely out of the question that there might be a piece of chocolate truffle cake, but it’ll likely be a very small piece). I’m gonna celebrate and do something I’ve never been able to do before like ride a zip line, or rock climb, or go horseback riding through the Rockies, or maybe I’ll just buy a bikini and actually wear it on some exotic beach location. I’m gonna dance naked in front of a wall of mirrors (alone of course…with all the blinds closed, and the doors locked and no cameras in sight!). I’m gonna buy myself a sexy little black dress and ask my husband to take me out someplace romantic. And I might even sneak a peak at one of those Victoria Secret catalogs and buy myself somethin’ real purty.

If I, the self-proclaimed ‘Queen of will-powerless-ness’ can do it, so can you!

Total weight loss to date: 61 pounds
Total weight loss to go: 53.5 pounds
Desired goal weight: 134.5 pounds (yes, that’s even less than I weighted in college – but only by a half a pound!)

South Beach Diet update

I just noticed that its been a few weeks since I gave any kind of update on our weight loss progress. Let me put your minds at ease…

As anyone would expect, we didn’t remain completely SB friendly while we were in the Dominican Republic, although I will say that the food there wasn’t really that enjoyable.

Two of the things that really stood out to us food wise while we were there is the fact that bar drinks (even virgin ones) are loaded with sugar. Everything was super, sickly sweet – even the sodas. The second thing that was glaring in the food aspect was the amount of carbohydrates that are served. Most of the meals that were provided were buffet style. And like any buffet they had a fairly large selection of items, but as our eating habits have evolved we found ourselves really disappointed in the selection since 85% – 90% of the foods were starch based (rice, potatoes, plantain mash, oatmeal, breads, pastas, desserts, etc.). Even the veggie dishes were loaded with creme sauces and butter, which is really not the best for your system.

When we got home I found out that I’d gained a solid 5 pounds during our trip, which is the top end of what I thought I’d gain – and I do contribute it to all the beverages and desserts that I kept stuffing into my gob. But I’m happy to report that as of today I’ve not only lost the 5 pounds I gained, but an additional 3.5 pounds on top of that; bringing my total weight loss to 41.5 pounds so far – only 62 more pounds to go.

On a side note, I am fast approaching my first major weight loss goal, which was to drop below 200 pounds (my current weight today is at 207.5) so I know I’ll be celebrating that accomplishment in the next couple of weeks – yeah! Once I drop below two bills I will also be celebrating another milestone in this weight loss journey – I’ll be at 50% of my weight loss goal, which is 40% closer than I’ve ever been before! As Sam has pointed out to me already, I’m in uncharted waters right now as I have not been this low in weight (relatively speaking, of course) in over ten years. I love it. I do have more energy, and while I still don’t love the way I look I do feel more confident in my appearance, and I’m not quite as shy about having my photo taken now. Things are really starting to change.

South Beach Diet Update

Well, Sam successfully won the weight loss contest for his work and we’ve continued to stay strong on the South Beach Diet. To date, Sam’s lost 32 pounds and I’ve lost 35.5 pounds. When we started this program we took our measurements, and today we decided to re-measure ourselves. Overall, we’ve lost not only weight but also inches.

Here’s what I’ve lost so far:
Chest: 3.25 inches lost
Waist: 4.5 inches lost
Hips: 3.5 inches lost
Thighs: 2.25 inches lost
Arms: 1.75 inches lost
Neck: 2.25 inches lost

We leave for our vacation in the Dominican Republic in less than two weeks, and while I’m slightly nervous about gaining weight and making good food choices while I’m there I can still positively say that I love the South Beach Diet!

Thank you Jesus!

Since starting the South Beach diet, I have been ever so pleased with the nearly limitless possibilities for dining options. In almost every case, I’ve been able to come up with some type of South Beach alternative to the foods that we love. And even if it’s not exactly the food that we want, we’re still able to achieve a similar flavor to the one we’re craving.

However, as one would suspect I have not been able to find a suitable flavor alternative to a good ol’ greasy pizza. For one thing, the crust is a big no-no. I do have whole wheat flour and a bread recipe that I think I can tweak enough to make some kind of crust like base, but I find whole wheat anything quite dry and mostly repulsive. So for the past six weeks, we’ve spent out Sunday nights dreaming about a yummy, gooey, delicious, greasy, salty, pepperoni pizza with extra cheese and yet eating salad or leftovers from lunch.

But as it often does, inspiration struck me out of the blue. On Friday night we were discussing our weight loss and exercise options, and Sam mentioned a lady that works for him who goes to the gym every morning at 6 a.m. She is a faithful workout queen, but never really seems to lose any weight. Sam had taken some turkey pepperoni for a snack that day and happened to be eating it while talking to her and she mentioned that she loved it too and usually ate it with melted cheese. Hmmmm. Melted cheese, you say?? The minute I heard that, my mind started to whir and buzz. Melted cheese? Lets think on that for a while. That might actually work.

So last night as we were commiserating our lack of Sunday night pizza, I dug out the bag of turkey pepperoni and some 2% reduced fat mozzarella cheese. I lined up three rows of the pepperoni on the tray – making sure all sides touched each other, and then sprinkled a generous amount of the mozzarella on top of it. I popped it a 425 degree oven for about 8 minutes, until the cheese was all melted and gooey and golden brown. I slid the entire sheet off onto a plate and let it set for a minute. Sam and I both tore off a piece, said a little prayer to the pizza gods, and gave it a taste.

I’m sure that I heard angels singing somewhere. I became instantly light headed, and I was sorry that I didn’t have more pepperoni. SHEER BLISS I TELL YOU!!!!

Oh, by the way, for those of you who are following my little weight loss foray, I’m now down a total of 29 pounds since February 23rd! I love the South Beach Diet!

Irony is a good thing

Yesterday my morning Bible study class had a mini fellowship time in honor of all the January, February, and March birthdays. As Christians, we’re never one to pass up snacks, so most of the ladies brought goodies to share; and we spent a good 45 minutes sitting around the kitchen table chatting about various things. Inevitably the discussion turned toward weight loss, since a couple of gals were refraining from the sweets (me included). I found it quite hilarious to listen to a bunch of women gabbing about “how small they used to be back when…” all the while they’re munching down on carrot cake and donut holes. Yes, irony is a good thing.

The Treadmill

Like so many people, we have a treadmill. It’s a really nice one, in fact. Unlike most people who have one and don’t use it, ours is not in our bedroom, nor is it a convenient place to hang clothes – it’s in the basement. We initially bought it to use in exercising the dogs when the weather was just too bad to walk outside. That lasted about an hour. To be fair, Iris and Dream do fine on it – well, Dream isn’t as keen on it because we think alike (exercise is still exercise and why should we do it?). But Guinness absolutely abhors the machine. He becomes a nervous wreck even to just turn the stupid thing on. He starts slobbering and twitching. He pulls back on his leash – he’d rather choke himself than get anywhere near it. Even with treats, we can’t persuade him to get on it.

But, I didn’t write this post because my dogs use the treadmill – but to announce that I’ve officially started my exercise program. I feel at this point that I’ve lost enough weight that I need to do something to get my blood pumping and to reintroduce the concept of toned and sculpted. Yesterday I was rooting around in one of our many unpacked boxes in the basement when I ran across a couple of photos of myself from college – man I looked good…and young (it was after all 14 years ago). I had stems – not tree trunks! To say I pulled the ripcord when I got married is a complete understatement, but it’s not too late for me to reverse the abuse I’ve laid on my body. Looking at these photos made me realize that I’m not too old to have that body back. Well, me in a size 8 again might be a bit of a stretch, but a girl’s got to have a dream, right?!

Sam’s doctor prescribed exercise for him five times a week, in hopes he’d do it three times, but so far he just hasn’t had enough time or energy. So with a little bit of motivation from the scales this morning (I’m down another 2.5 pounds since Monday) and these photos floating through my mind I thought I’d set the example and get started myself. It’s not like we don’t have a treadmill and an exercise bike just sitting in the basement begging to be used.

Even though it wasn’t even 8 a.m. I grabbed my running shoes and a bottle of water and headed downstairs. Optimistically thinking I’d be able to just pick up where I left off twelve years ago….yes, it was still early and I was still groggy. I’ll be the first one to admit that I’ve never been a great athlete, but when I got married I could at least run for a couple of miles – when I had to.

I will tell you that with my knees and hip problems it became apparent to me within the first couple of minutes that running was not going to happen today, and probably not tomorrow or the next day. For one, I’ve got to find a better support system for the girls before I attempt it again. I nearly threw my back out. So I opted for moderately-fast walking. No, there wasn’t any power walker’s hip rolling or arm flailing going on either. I’m not about to look like an idiot, even if it is just in the privacy of my own basement. But 45 minutes isn’t as long as it seems when you’ve got the tunes cranked up and you’re completely focused on a goal. And focused I am. I want my butt back!

Good news on this proper Scottish day

Well, our unusually sunny and warm weather of early last week has turned to proper Scottish rainy, cool weather as of Friday. But none the less, I was able to find good news amidst the gray skies and rain drops. I lost another 4 pounds this week! Total weight loss is 16 pounds in three weeks – only 82 pounds to go!

I will confess, that I stayed on Phase 1 for an extra week – just to make sure I didn’t cheat myself out of any extra rapid weight loss, but now, despite this weeks 4 pound loss I’m moving into my first week of Phase 2. I get to start adding some carbs/starchy veggies and fruits back into my diet. I’m nervous about it all, because carbs are what led me to my current size, and I’m afraid I won’t be able to control the cravings, but I’m going to trust the system and go for it anyway. Today I think I’ll start out my day by having a piece of sprouted grain toast with some natural peanut butter on it, and a bowl of sweetened Greek style yogurt for breakfast.

I’m melting!

Once again, the South Beach diet has exceeded my expectations! Yesterday completed our first two weeks on the program – technically known as Phase 1, and I managed to lose another 5 pounds, bringing my first two weeks weight loss total to 12 pounds! I know it’s not huge, but for me it’s gargantuan. I have such a slow metabolism that on every other diet program I’ve done it would have taken me 5 or 6 weeks (maybe even longer) to lose that much weight. And the best part is, I’m really starting to feel like I’m losing weight – I’ve noticed that some of my clothes are starting to fit a bit more comfortably again, especially my jeans and capris, and I even think my face looks less puffy than it did two weeks ago.

For those of you who’ve been thinking about trying a diet plan and are wondering what kinds of foods you can eat on the South Beach diet, here are a few of the things that have kept me full these past two weeks.

For those of you who’ve never tried the Laughing Cow Light cheese wedges, you’ve cheated yourself out of a wonderful cream cheese alternative. I’m not really a fan of cream cheese on its own – much too tart for my palate, but these little gems are fantastic with veggie dippers, on eggs, in a roll-up, over crackers (which we can’t have on the SB diet, but I know it’s true from my carb eating days), and many other things. They are terrific!

Eggs are one of God’s best sources of protein for our bodies. They are tasty, versatile, and in moderation a good source of cholesterol. Not to mention great for breakfast. And I will admit to you, that before I started the SB diet I was definitely not a breakfast eater. I don’t enjoy breakfast. I don’t wake up and think about food – that just turns my stomach. But every day for the past two weeks I’ve had a 2 egg omelet. Some days I have cheese and veggies in it. Some days just garlic and pepper. Some days there has been turkey or ham or turkey bacon in there as well. I’ve topped it with salsa, eaten them plain, and had them Spanish style as well. They’re filling, and they have helped start my day off right. I never thought I’d say this, but I’m starting to enjoy eating breakfast.

Turkey bacon is an unusual thing. How can something that does not contain any pork make bacon I ask you? The answer is, it can’t. But science can! And they did. Normally I’m not a bacon lover – never have been – in the breakfast meats department I prefer sausage. But this stuff is not too bad if it’s cooked in the oven. I use it in my scrambled eggs, as a snack with lunch meat and cheese, and Sam has been wrapping it around his boiled eggs.

Greek yogurt and I have been courting for a while now. I’ve never been a huge fan of plain unflavored yogurt – really of yogurt period. But there’s just something special about the uber-thick and creaminess of Greek style yogurt. It’s especially good with lots of honey in it…unfortunately honey is very taboo on the South Beach diet. This week was my first time to try the non-fat version of Greek style yogurt. My only experience with non-fat yogurt has been the traditional American style non-fat yogurt we use in cooking. That stuff is super watery and loose, and the flavor is really tangy – too tangy on its own for my taste buds. So it was natural for me to feel a bit of trepidation over the non-fat Greek yogurt. Boy, was I ever wrong. This stuff has the same ultra-thick and creamy consistency as the full fat version, and I don’t find it nearly as tangy as the American style yogurt. We’ve been using this as an ice cream alternative. A half a cup of the Greek style yogurt with a Splenda French Vanilla Coffee Blend sweetener and a drop or two of regular vanilla in it is to die for, truly. Heaven on your spoon. Try it!

Okay, I know lots of people don’t like V8 vegetable juice, but I really do. Always have. I especially love the Spicy Hot variety – it puts a nice tingly burn in the back of your throat. So good. This stuff has been a lifesaver for me. I have a glass in the morning with my breakfast, then another glass at some point during the day – usually at dinnertime. I’ve never been a big vegetable lover, so this ensures that I’m getting all the veggies my body needs, in addition to the added vegetables I’ve been eating with my meals. And it helps take away that immediate hunger surge I have just before eating – the one that makes me inhale my food as if I’ve never eaten before in my life…

Part-skim ricotta cheese – who’da thought?! Again, like the Greek style yogurt, this stuff has been so very useful. I’ve used it in cooking as well as desserts. It’s creamy, and light, and so very divine. Yesterday I mixed a half cup of this with a packet of Sweet-n-Low, a few drops of vanilla and a sprinkling of cinnamon and I had a dessert that was equal in flavor to tiramisu. So very yummy!

Surprisingly, this diet plan allows us to eat cheese – reduced-fat, of course. When we were at Sam’s club last week, we found a large tray of reduced-fat deli slices and that has lasted us for a week now. Sam and I are both huge cheese mice – and that’s one of the things we miss most on many other diet plans. South Beach allows us almost unlimited access to fat-free and reduced-fat cheese. Thank you Miami!

Here’s another variety of yummy cheese that we’re allowed to indulge in. String cheese. You know, before South Beach I didn’t even know or understand the joys that string cheese can bring to you. It’s tasty and fun. And a wonderful distraction for small children. I know because I’ve watched Sam spend 5 minutes trying to pull the cheese apart one ‘string’ at a time!

Splenda Coffee Blends – if you haven’t tried these guys you really should. Now, we don’t like them in our coffee. In fact, we’ve pretty much gone completely off of coffee. For us coffee is all about the flavored creamer anyway, and since they don’t yet make a good Fat-Free Sugar-Free coffee creamer we’ve gone to hot teas in the morning. It doesn’t give you quite the boost that coffee does, but it’s equally as enjoyable – at least for me it is. However, these little Splenda Coffee Blends make so many other things delightful. Sam sprinkles the French Vanilla flavor over fresh sliced strawberries, and I swear to you they taste like strawberries and cream! We have used them in the Greek style yogurt and the ricotta cheese. You’ve just got to try them.

So far, Sam and I both agree that the South Beach diet has been one of the best eating plans we’ve ever been on. Thank you doctor for prescribing it! We both have enjoyed the cooking freedom that it has allowed us – and you really can cook on it if you want to. In fact, Sam’s office held a book fair last week and he managed to pick up three practically new South Beach diet cookbooks that I know we’ll get used over and over again. The recipes are just fantastic – it’s real food, made with real ingredients, and served in real portion sizes! And the fact that I’m not having to obsess over the number of points and calories and serving sizes I can eat has made my life so very easy. I realize that before long the rapid weight loss will diminish to a couple of pounds a week; and the newness of it all will wear off eventually, but for the first time in my life I feel like this is a program that could genuinely become a lifestyle for me. And as an eater, that’s saying something.

S.B.D., Phase 1, week 1 recap

Its been a couple of days since I posted anything about the diet – I figured y’all were getting sick and tired of my rantings on it. But it has been a full 7 days now, and I thought I’d give every one an update on exactly how week one went.

Day 1: I weighed myself, and then I cried. I didn’t suffer from hunger much – probably because my brain was still trying to process the HUGE number the scales produced for my weight. I know it may sound strange, but I know I’m fat – every time I pass a mirror or a huge reflective window and I catch a glimpse of myself, I think, “holy cow woman, you really pulled the ripcord, didn’t you!” But if I don’t see myself and I don’t step on the scales, I don’t mentally feel like a fatty. So overall, in the hunger department day 1 wasn’t too bad.

Day 2: This day started out really well. I had ladies Bible study, so I was happily distracted for several hours in the morning, unfortunately when I arrived home just afterward I was starving and I struggled with hunger all day long. I felt okay for about an hour after each meal or snack, but then I would be struck with intense hunger out of the blue. It was tough, but I made it through.

Day 3: This may be one of the few days in my entire life when I actually woke up hungry! I’m normally not a breakfast eater – in fact, I prefer to not eat anything until after 10:30 a.m. unless it’s sweet, and even then I really have to be awake for it. But this day I rolled out of bed with the sounds of tummy gurgling. It was disturbing. It was distressing. And it was a fitting portents for the rest of the day. I couldn’t get enough food. I willingly ate my eggs and V8 first thing, and then I was counting the minutes until snack time….and then lunch time….and then snack time again….and then supper….and then snack time again…..and then bed time, when I wouldn’t be as likely to sit and dwell on the ache gnawing at the insides of my gut.

Day 4: Ah, the hunger seems to be subsiding a bit. Maybe there’s something to this argument that around day 4 your body will start to adjust to amount of food that it’s consuming and your brain will stop triggering the hunger pains….maybe. Overall, not a bad day – I needed it too, I was starting to wonder if I was going to make it another day on this diet, especially if day 4 had been a repeat of day 3.

Day 5: Again, not the worst day of my life, although I had a terrible time between 4 p.m. and dinnertime. I just felt ravenous. The rest of the day had been just fine, but out of the blue the hunger took over. Maybe I was focusing too much on what I was planning to cook for dinner. Who knows. Fortunately for me, I had some refried bean dip left over from day 4 (a fantastic recipe by the way) and a bag of celery sticks. It seemed that I had found my savior for the day.

Day 6: Probably the best day of the program by far. We had loads of shopping to do. Saturday’s are reserved for our bi-weekly Sam’s Club and Harry’s Farmer’s Market trips since it’s a ways from the house. I love both of those stores, but I was a bit worried also – we have a tradition on Sam’s Club Saturday – lunch at Williamson Brother’s BBQ. They have the best BBQ quesadilla and stuffed baked potato I’ve ever eaten, and I LOVE their sauce. Even while we’re standing in the checkout line my mouth starts watering in anticipation. So before we left the house that morning, Sam and I went on the defensive. We at a good breakfast, drank our V8, and then I packed us some SBD friendly snacks. Some leftover chicken breast from the night before, some jell-o cups, some pistachio nuts, and a few extra V8’s. While we were at the store we bought several varieties of low-fat cheeses as well. We sat in the parking lot in-between trips to each of the stores and snacked – that way we wouldn’t fall prey to the sights, sounds, and smells all around us. And you know what? It worked! We weren’t hungry in the least bit! It was awesome.

Day 7: Yesterday was terrible for weather – we had rain, sleet, and then a little wet snow. The wind was whipping around like mad, and it was going to be impossible for us to grill our fire sticks (another fantastic recipe for all you meat eaters). What would we do? We decided to tempt fate and try eating out. We decided on a steak restaurant since we knew we’d be able to eat meat. All the way there we were planning out what we’d order. No potatoes, no rice, no starter, we’d even refuse the complementary loaf of bread we knew would be brought to us. Because of the weather we got right in, and we headed right for the steak portion of the menu – not allowing ourselves the option of lingering over the starters or desserts, or even the chicken and pasta selections. We were specific in our ordering, determined to make good choices. And in the end, while I felt extremely guilty eating out this early in the game (I’d weighed myself on Saturday and was dreading the possibility of “undoing” some of the weight loss from the week) Sam continued to assure me that the SBD book talks specifically about not fearing restaurants. I was still skeptical as usual, but I went with it.

So, what’s the final prognosis you ask? It was better than I could have hoped. I felt I could realistically lose 3 pounds, since that’s the most I’ve ever lost on other programs in the first week or two. However, as realistic as I am, I wasn’t going to go through all this work without at least hoping for more weight loss. I felt if I could just squeeze out a 5 pound loss it would have been worth it. I would be a fool if I didn’t say that SBD has exceeded my expectations for the first week though, as I managed to lose a full 7 pounds! Honestly, I’m ecstatic! I don’t think I’ve had a weight loss like this in over a decade – maybe not ever!

So, as I move into Phase 1, week 2 I’m more than optimistic. I feel like I can tackle this week with hope and determination. I can’t expect another whopper weight loss like this week, but if I can lose even half of what I lost this week I’ll have done better in two weeks on the SBD than four to five weeks on other programs. I know there may be some rough days this week, but phase 1 will end on Sunday and we’ll move into Phase 2 – that means we’ll be able to start slowly adding some carbs and fruit back into our diet. Oh, I realize it won’t be in the quantities that I’d like for it to be, but that’s what got me into this mess in the first place.

P.S. We bought some interesting foods to be introduced in Phase 2, week 1 – so stay tuned for their revelation.

Get In My Belly…………

So its day two of Phase 1 on the South Beach diet. As you can see from the time stamp on this post I’ve waited all day long to post something, which is probably good because my day has been a true roller coaster ride.

If I’d posted early this morning like usual the title would probably have looked something like “Day 2: Boot camp’s for sissies….” So far, no real problems on the program. South Beach diet is a blast. I haven’t had any issues with hunger and my will power hasn’t even been pricked……..

I of course spent a couple of hours this morning at my ladies Bible study group, which is an amazing distraction to me…that is until they start talking about where they’re going to eat for lunch. Uh-oh! Hunger check…yep, my stomach is growling. *Gulp* Will power test coming right up…..I took the opportunity to duck out of lunch today, all the while recalling the books advice on eating out…”go ahead and order those fajitas. It’s perfectly fine to indulge in the grilled meat and veggies”…..I paraphrase, of course. Whew, dining disaster averted. When I arrived home I promptly fixed myself a program friendly snack and considered writing my post for the day. If I’d done so, the title would have read something like, “I found out walking on hot coals is possible….”

But alas, I decided I’d give myself a bit more time to ‘reflect’ on how the program was really going. Especially since I hadn’t experienced any of the dreaded detox yet. No headaches, no super strong cravings, no tears, no crabbiness….and then it happened….as if I was struck by a bolt of lightening on a clear day…all I could think about was cereal…..and milk……and Swiss cake rolls…..and potato chips……and the potato rolls I made last Friday…and more cereal….and all the snacks we’d given away this weekend. My mouth is watering just thinking about it now.

All of a sudden, I was starving. I was sure I was going to collapse from hunger and no one would find me until I had completely chewed off my own arm. My stomach started rumbling. Then it started gurgling. Then my mouth started watering. Even the bottles of multi-vitamins and flaxseed oil next to my computer started to look good. I ate a piece of chicken. Nope, nothing. So I ate some celery sticks, and I can tell you that they did NOT taste like donuts. What was I going to do? This is getting serious….I chugged a big glass of V8 chased with two mugs of herbal tea. And still I can feel my stomach gnawing on my spine!

Sam’s not home yet. There’s a whole chicken in the oven. If he takes much longer he may be left with a clean carcass and some mashed cauliflower for dinner! I’ve never wanted to eat pages out of my cookbooks more than I do at this very minute….hence the title of this post…..

Dear Lord………….HELP. ME……….PLEASE!!!!!