Close to Maintenance...

So I've decided that September 20th is the day I finally go on maintenace.
That would make it exactly 110 days since starting the Dr. Bernstein diet.

I know I won't reach my ideal goal weight of 125 lbs., but if I hit 130 lbs., I think I'll be happy (enough).

I'm having a great time burning through my credit card buying new clothes. I had to donate 95% of my clothing since I've gone down 5 sizes!

But along with this new found happiness, I have to be honest, I'm a bit scared... Now I'm starting to worry about thing like..."Will I start to gain back my weight? Will I be able to keep it off?"

Logically speaking, the next step should be for me to start working out. Gym membership? Yoga? Bootcamp? Kick boxing? Swimming?
So many choices... but will I commit to any one of those?

I guess we shall see in the next several weeks...


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August 30, 2010

Weight 137.0 lbs - down 5.2 (since my last post on August 10)↓

It's been a while...

Hi everyone.

I'm sorry that it's been a while since my last post. I guess it's been close to a month now. Ooops.

Things to update you on:

The weight is slowly coming off. Unfortunately not as quickly like it did in month one. I'm loosing about 1.5 to 3 lbs. a week. Not too bad, but it could be better. I'm thinking that it's because my body has gotten used to this whole Dr. Bernstein diet thinggy.

I've changed my goal weight a bit. I think realistically, it's going to be 130 lbs. Yes, of course I would like to lose more, but I've already paid 2 eight week packages and with all the extras like vitamins, protein bars, etc., it's really starting to hurt my bank account.

I'm definitely scared to go on maintenance for fear that I'll just "let loose" and eat my way back to my original weight.

The great thing is now I'm able to fit into much smaller clothing. Going from an XL to a S/M is wonderful. Recently I picked up a new pair of GAP jeans in a size 27/4. That's crazy, but it makes me very happy.

Right now I'm thinking that I'll stay on the strict portion of the diet till the end of August, maybe possibly till mid September. To be continued...


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August 10, 2010

Weight 142.2 lbs - down 8.6 (since my last post on July 13)↓

3 days in Disneyland

It was a pleasant surprise when my significant other decided to take me on a trip to Disneyland. I had never been there before, so I was very excited.

I was looking forward to the trip, but at the same time I started to feel extremely stressed. "What was I going to eat? Will I cave into temptation?"
It is a theme park, so it's obviously going to have stores and stands that offer items full of sugary goodies...

So I started to research the Disneyland website, experience/trip blogs, restaurant menus etc., to see if I could hunt down and pre-plan my eating menu. Yes, there were a few options, but not really anything that fit perfectly into the Dr. Bernstein diet regimen.

So, I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.

Here's what I ate during my 3 days in the magic kingdom.

Day 1
- Munched on 1 Proti Bar, had a cup of water with my vitamins and then had a few sips of caffeinated coffee at the airport before departing
- 2 cups of water on the plane
- No food or water till 3pm - transportation travelling time, etc.
- 1/2 Proti Bar and 1 bottle of water at hotel, plus vitamins
- 1/2 Proti Bar and 1 bottle of water

Day 2
- Breakfast buffet at hotel - 2 egg whites (asked for no oil, but it looked awfully shinny...), strawberries, bacon, ham, cucumber, tomatoes, 1 cup of water, 1/2 cup of coffee, plus vitamins
- 6 oz. fillet mignon (yup I splurged), salad with no dressing, apple slices, plus vitamins
- 3 bottles of water during the park stay

Day 3
- Breakfast buffet at hotel - 4 egg whites scrambled, 3 bacon, cucumber, tomatoes, strawberries, 1 cup of water, 1/2 cup of coffee, plus vitamins
- 1/2 Proti Bar and 1 bottle of water, plus vitamins
- apple slices
- 2 bottles of water during the park stay
- Large salad with tomatoes (no dressing) and 2 cups of water at the airport before boarding for home

Sweet, sugary, oh so lovely carb-temptations were everywhere. So if you are not strong and tend to cave into temptations, then going to Disneyland is not something I would recommend.

Things I would have loved to have taken a bite of...
- popcorn (both buttered and caramel covered)
- ice cream
- regular Coca Cola
- corn dog
- pizza
- freshly made toffee brittle
- Mickey Mouse shaped bread available on the California Adventure park side
- bread
- bread
- more bread
and finally Mickey Mouse cupcakes (see picture above)

Sigh...

Well I'm happy to say, I survived Disneyland!

And on Monday's weigh-in, I found out that I had lost 2 lbs. since Friday. Not too bad considering I had more protein than recommended.

One thing that did notice at the park was the large numbers of obese people, especially very young children. It was very sad to see them struggling to walk and trying to squeeze into the rides. Many of them were eating foods that contain no nutritional value. Disneyland is trying to introduce healthier options like fresh fruit stands, but it's just not enough. Especially when the ice cream stand is right beside the apples and oranges... As a child, which would you really choose?

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July 12, 2010

Weight 150.8 lbs - down 2.0 ↓

Finally at 20!

It's taken a while, but I've offically lost 20 lbs.

I thought I would get to this point much sooner, but oh well...

Since starting June 1st, I've been completely fathiful to the Dr. Bernstein diet. I have not fallen off the wagon and I've been determined not to cave into temptations. I am strong, but at the same time I have been pretty paranoid about my ketones levels and always thinking... "What am I burning at today? Am I burning during the evening too?" Also when you live with someone who loves to eat, cook and entertain, it's always a challenge.

Recently my daily food choices/selection has become pretty boring. I've become a tad bit lazy and just can't seem to be motivated to create new and interesting dishes.

Up to now, my BIG salivating tempations have included:
- Microwave popcorn
- Thai green coconut curry
- Pasta
- Deep fried chicken
- Ice cream

I guess it's not too many things...

Well my next big challenge is coming up this weekend. I'm heading to Disneyland! I've never been there before, so I'm very excited, but of course you know what I'm going to say next. Yup, I am completely paranoid about what I am going to eat. I'll be packing some Proti protein bars and my essential vitamins, but besides that I'm going to have to figure it out when I get there.

I sure hope that the food selection in the park won't be too bad and they'll have more than just burgers and ice cream.

I wonder if they have an all you can eat salad bar...

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July 7, 2010

Weight 151.0 lbs - down 2.0 (since Friday) ↓

Happy One Month Anniversary!

Happy One Month Anniversary to me!

Yes, it's been a month since I started my journey on the Dr. B diet. Some days it feels like I've been on the diet forever, but other days, not so much.

I've lost a total of 18 lbs., but I was really hoping for 20. As one of my friends pointed out, "Hey, that's as much as a whole turkey!" Don't ask me why they used that analogy... but heck, the amount of weight lost is much easier to understand that way.

I'm now on to month two. I hope to lose a further 15-20 lbs.

Also, I've finally received a copy of Dr. B's Simply Sensational Diet Recipes book.

It has taken exactly a month to get my book. A bit annoying, but I'm glad that I can now peruse through it to see if I can find anything interesting to make. I have to be honest... I've been eating pretty much the same stuff for the past month - it was staring to get very tiresome.

Tonight I might try the "Cheese Cake with Fruit Topping"... mmm... yup, straight to the dessert section of the book :P

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July 2, 2010

Weight 153.0 lbs - down 1.0 (since Wednesday) ↓