Well it has been just a few weeks since my last post. I got super burned out of the diet-- I stayed on it for 51 days!!! At day 51 I was so miserable and grouchy I just thought it best for all if I stopped. The first weekend I struggled and gained 2.5 pounds! BUT since then I've lost another five pounds-- and have been "maintaining" quite nicely. Here's the skinny of the diet now: Low carb (which is no sugar and no starch), and eat just about anything else! I am still losing a tad each day, between .2-.8 pounds a day which is fantastic because I hit another goal of 155!! (which is 15 pounds shy of my *ultimate* goal). I feel FANTASTIC, I am able to eat so many different things finally, and this diet has made me a..... gasp...... red meat eater!! I actually CRAVE steak. Which has never happened in my entire life. As we speak, I have New York steaks marinading in my fridge for tonight. I have a week and a few days of this diet left and then I can start incorporating regular foods back in SLOWLY. However I'm doing so great and FEELING so great I may do this phase a little longer to see if I can get down a little closer to my goal. None the less I have learned a few things from this diet.
1- I no longer crave things that I used to-- I haven't had chocolate in two months, and I'm quite fine with that.
2- I watch portions-- I no longer feel like I have to go back for a second plate (I use a smaller plate too, which helps trick my mind)
3- I drink at LEAST 72 oz of water a day, because that just makes me feel good!
4- I control what I eat, my theory is that over-processed snacks and foods, although quite tasty at the time, leave you feeling empty and wanting more. However home cooked- or healthy snacks leave you satisfied! Same goes for meals
5- I've worked my butt off (literally) to lose 38 pounds, and don't want to screw that up!
6- It's okay to indulge once in a while, and if you make a mistake you can fix it! It's not "the end" of a healthy life style if you splurge and eat a piece of cake. ENJOY that piece of cake, and understand that you CAN work that off, it's not the end of the world.
7- Food isn't supposed to cause us tummy aches-- if it does, you should think about cutting that food out of your diet. Is a bad night REALLY worth whatever you ate?
8- REAL cooking is quite healthy, it saves money, give you needed nutrients, and cuts out of processed junk.
9- I control my body weight. If I have a bad day (I had chinese food on Monday and gained .8 pounds!) I just start right back to eating healthy the next day (and I lost .6 pounds!). I have been learning which foods my body likes, and which have negative side effects.
10- sleep is key to a healthy diet, that's when our bodies repair themselves from the work we put them through.
So these are just a few of the things I have learned on my journey. I am joining a weight loss support group tonight with one of my good friends. She has been in it and has lost 30 pounds! I think it's important to consciously put effort in to our food, and the way we take care of our bodies. We're only given one-- and I've finally learned how to take care of it! I start at the gym in two weeks with one of my co-workers, I plan to "tone" my new body, and exercise just feels good! Plus, being active allows me to eat a few little treats without feeling guilty!
So here is a picture of me, well just my face, I took it two weeks ago, and since I took it I've lost about 2 more pounds, but you can see how different my face looks. My friend said that I've lost my "baby" cheeks. FINALLY! Oh and I'm almost in to a size 10, I should go and buy them very very soon, I never thought I'd get there!! So here are my stats...... for now!

Day:::::::::::::::::::::: I lost track. lol
Starting weight:::::: 193
Current weight:::::: 155.8
difference::::::::::::: -38ish lbs

I have app. 7 more days of HCG left in my bottle. That makes me happy!! However I had the worst week as far as weight loss goes :( I only lost 2.4 pounds the ENTIRE week. Of course I was on my period, but that shouldn't make THAT big of a difference! So today I get to do my first apple day (starting at lunch I eat ONLY apples, whenever I"m hungry I eat an apple, and that continues until tomorrow at lunch- you can only eat 6 apples though throughout that day) It's supposed to help your "stall" and with this being the last week that I"ll be on it, I'll be pretty sad if I get another loss of just 2.4. I feel like I"m getting sick too. Which is NEVER good on this diet because it makes it ten times worse! So we'll see what this next week brings. so here are the stats!
Day:::::::::::::::::::::: 47
Starting weight:::::: 193
Current weight:::::: 158.0
difference::::::::::::: -35 lbs

I have officially made a count down chain of the days I have left: 14 days left on HCG and 16 days left on VLCD (very low calorie diet). Every morning I get to break off one chain--- it makes me feel good. So this week I've been trying to get 2 liters of water in every day-- and can I say it REALLY works. I usually average .6 pounds a day, but with that I was around .8 pounds per day! It also probably helped that I can no longer stomach to eat chicken if it's grilled (oh gosh makes me want to throw up) after 40 days of eating chicken straight I can say I'm DONE. I'm even starting to feel that way towards brocolli. Just 14 more days!!! After that I start the portion of the diet I call "the atkins portion" because it's basically no starches or sugars. I do that for 3 weeks, and I'm DONE. But I don't think I'm going to quite hit my goal of 145 pounds so I think I'm going to do weight watchers, especially during the Holiday Season. I've worked my butt off (literally I've lost 11 inches around my hips. lol) and I'm not going to let it slip away! So every day I have to motivate myself to stick to it. Only 16 more days!!! And then I can have Ham, bacon, tuna fish, more fruit, stir-fry, oh gosh things will just get so much better! I have a feeling this will be a VERY slow week-- it's my TOM (time of the month) and I feel like complete pooh! The HCG effects that aspect too-- it makes it WORSE! So I'm a big bloated grumpy girl with a constant headache. Man!

So this weekend we were SUPER busy, but had a ton of fun. Saturday we went shopping and took Taylor to the duck park (in Layton). That night I had a girls night with Bella- we watched Quantum of Solice (not very good) Valkyrie (I was bawling at the end and had Bella licking my face) and Moulin Rouge-- had to get at least ONE chick flick in there! Sunday Tim and Taylor came over and we went to the ZOO!!! I haven't been since high school, and there have been quite a few new additions, like the chinese exhibit (which SUCKED cuz all the big cats were hiding) and the elephant exhibit (which also just had one elephant in it for now because the baby isn't on display yet) We still had a complete blast, I was probably just as excited as Taylor was! Then we went to Del Taco and I got a chicken taco del carbon (only 150 calories!!!-- but a little high on carbs obviously) I figured I had walked SOOO much at the zoo that I had a little wiggle room- and I was right! I lost .4 pounds the next day. Tim and I both had Monday off. We had grand plans to sleep in, but of course Bella had other plans. My roommate moved in last week and she has ODD schedules, so Bella has to bark everytime she comes home (around 1am sometimes 4 am-- YUCK) It's such a pain. But we needed a day for just ourselves. We went shopping, explored Ogden. lol. And went and saw "Extract" It was pretty funny! Then we went home and tried to nap-- once again Bella wasn't up for that! We went shopping and came back and made dinner and then watched a movie together (state of play-- really good!) and just enjoyed each other! I must say he's very VERY supportive of the diet. It's hard when I'm grumpy and get mad when he's eating pizza and I"m stuck with what-- cottage cheese? But gosh only 16 more days of it.

Oh!!! I PAID OFF MY CAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I feel SOOOOOOOOOO good to not have that hangin over me anymore! It's still pretty new-- an 06 with 45,000 miles on it. I paid most of it off with the first time home buyers tax credit (THANK YOU OBAMA!!) and then just finished the rest off this month. I'll be pretty broke for a while, but I'm almost outta debt (except for that HUGE mortgage. LOL).

So I know I"m COMPLETELY random-- but hey, that's just me :D. Here are my stats:
Day:::::::::::::::::::::: 41
Starting weight:::::: 193
Current weight:::::: 160.0
difference::::::::::::: -33 lbs

Baby meerkats
Baby Giraffe

Baby Taylor-- Oops! I mean he's as a big as a todler gorilla

My two boys

He LOVED the elephant