Ideal Protein - Day 33 - Sept 15 2011

I am now in week 2 of Phase 2, which means that I am eating lunch, which is super awesome! The meal plan in Phase 2 is:

• Breakfast : Ideal Protein Food
• Lunch: lean protein + 2 cups of veggies
• Snack: Ideal Protein Food
• Dinner: Lean protein + 2 cups of veggies

EASY! 

On day 23 I went for my weigh in and measurements. I was down 10 pounds and 15.75 inches. Incredible, but I was still worried about going on to phase 2. Although 10 pounds had been my original weight loss goal, I had heard that when you start eating carbs again you can put back on up to three pounds.  I was wondering if 13 pounds would be a better weight loss goal? After going over all my numbers, including my percent of fat vs muscle, my visceral fat number and my "body age"  which was now 38 instead of the original 44, I decided to move on to phase 2.  I went home and ate lunch!

Day 24 I was down another .6 pounds and every day after that I was either down or maintaining despite the fact that now I was eating a great meal at lunch every day. I had more energy and was really happy to spend more of each day feeling full!

Day 28 something exciting happened!  The kids and I were out and about and we ran into Sprartycat and Feligno from the Ottawa Senators. Without hesitation the kids and I jumped in for a picture. Now usually, I would have grabbed a photo of them, but this time I hopped right in! I actually liked the way I looked in a full body picture!! I definitely cant remember the last time that happened! I was so excited I sent it to all my friends and posted it on Facebook. Definitely the best thing about this diet is that it gives you back your self confidence.

On Monday - day 30 - I started a cardio kickboxing class. It's 45 minutes of extreme cardio, it was so hard but so amazing. I was happy not only that I was able to get through it, but that when I put on my sports bra...I actually liked the way I looked!

So, here I am at day 33 and I am at 116.8 pounds. I have not been that weight since high school.

This week I ran out of multivitamins so I purchased a generic multivitamin at the grocery store. It did not have every mineral in it that the Ideal Protein vitamins do, but it had 90% of what theirs did.  I figured that since I was a week away from starting phase three (where I get to eat fruit) I was ok to do that.  This week I am going to do the same with the calcium-Magnesium pills. I am sure they are cheaper at the grocery store and in phase three you start to eat on dairy products as well.

Overall - I am super happy at where I am at. I didn't really think I would reach a weight where I felt like I had lost enough. I am exercising with the kickboxing class once a week and then doing some exercise ball and elliptical at home twice a week as well. I am so excited to keep the body I have now!

As always, I welcome questions or comments!

Ideal Protein – Day 20 – September 2 2011

Current weight 119.8 - I thought I would lead with the good stuff!!
So by this point I thought I would be on phase two, but stupid me cheated! So here I am still on phase two. I only lost 2.5 pounds last week, and here is why! On Saturday I took part in an Aerial Adventure at Lafleche, it was a grueling workout. That morning when I got on the scale I had officially lost 10 pounds. Those two things combined made me believe that a small fry from a chip wagon in Quebec was a good idea. :(
What actually happened is that I lost three days of weight loss! My body stored those deep-fried carbs in my Glycogen reserve and it was like starting the diet all over again! It took 3 days for my body to then deplete that reserve and start losing fat again. I am such an idiot! I went through the whole first week all over again. I was tired, hungry, low energy levels. The moral here is DON'T CHEAT! omg so not worth it!
I have my next weigh in and measuring on Monday at noon. I can't wait! I have been really good this week and have been following these tips that seem to be helping:
1- Eat my salad and restricted food at lunch, then have my lunch shake as my afternoon snack. This means I am eating less as the day goes on and eating more in the beginning of the day. As you move through this program and back to regular food the motto is: At breakfast eat like a king, at lunch eat like a prince and at dinner eat like a poor man. I figure if I start applying that now it is going to prepare me for the next phases.
2- don't get the restricted food! I thought that you had to, but you don't! In phase 1 have 3 shakes, in phase 2 have 2 shakes, phase 1 have 1 shake. They are lower in calories and will make the weight come off faster!
Last Monday I was down a total of 13.75 inches, can't wait to see what this monday brings!!! Monday I also start phase 2 as I have actually surpassed my weight goal (which was 120)

Ideal Protein - Day 13 - August 26 2011

Here I am at day thirteen! On day nine I went for my official mesurements. I have lost 11.5 inches! I could not beleive it! I have lost 2 inches in my chest, 2 in my torso, 4 (YES I SAID 4) on my waist 2, on my hips and 1 on my thighs! I see a huge difference! All my clothes are loose and comfortable again, some ever now even too big!! But, where I can really see the difference in is my face. I will post 2 pics below, see if you can choose the before and after!

I am still finding this a really easy diet and my energy and hunger levels are now what I would consider to be normal. This week the weight loss has slowed somewhat, I have only lost one pound since Sunday, but I am still seeing small incremental changes. From 122.8 to 122.6 to 122.4 so at least I am going in the right direction.

My next weigh in is on Monday and I can't wait! Seing the tally of what I had lost on inches alone was great! But also my viceral fat has decreased from a 6 to a 5 - "Visceral fat is different from other body fat. Visceral fat, also called intra-abdominal fat, refers to the fat that surrounds the internal organs" "Visceral fat is harder to lose than subcutaneous fat because it is more deeply embedded in the body's tissues." - and as I had noted on my home scale my overall body fat had decreased by 2%.

This week I have to decide if I am staying on phase one or moving on to phase two. Originally I had a numeric weight in mind as my goal, but now, I am changing my view as I see the inches melt away...I beleive I will wait until Monday, see what the weigh in says and go from there. At this energy level I beleive that I could start working out again and do phase one for one more week. I can see how this could get addictive!

Anway, check out the pics an see what you think!

Ideal Protein - Day 6 - Aug 19 2011

BOOM! 124 Baby! I am so excited! Last night I had a steak stir fry for dinner. The Diet says don’t fry...but I tend to think that means don’t deep fry? Or don’t fry in oil? I fried the steak in a bit of water, then drained off all the drippings and then added garlic, broccoli, green pepper and zucchini. It was delicious! The great part about it was that everyone ate it and I just served theirs over noodles! I think that the best part about this diet for me is that I can have the same meal that my family is having. In a family of four, I couldn't make myself a different meal every night, that would just be annoying!
Tonight everyone is having pizza, except me. I will have chicken and zucchini! With the weight loss I am seeing, I really don’t think that I will mind not eating pizza. I know that once I am done this diet, I will be able to have it from time to time, so I am ok with not having it one time! I really see this diet as something that is worth doing, so why not do it 100%? I know that cheating will set me back and I just not interested in doing that. When I make something for the kids that I am not allowed to have, I don’t even lick my fingers! Of course this is also easier because I am a rule follower, not a rule breaker! I drive the speed limit, I don't download pirated copies of movies and I don’t cheat on my diet. It's just who I am.
I'm also excited to lose this weight because part of the weigh in process included calculating my metabolic age...it was 44 - not cool. So I really feel like I am doing something not only for my outward appearance but for my health in general. Why carry around 10-15 extra pounds that my body doesn’t need? It's just healthier to be a better weight...and I am well on my way!

Ideal Protein - day 5 - aug 18 2011

Last night's dinner turned out to be amazing! Thanks to a suggestion from a friend and my list of approved foods. I combined the ground beef with green peppers, hot sauce, garlic and salt and pepper and baked it like a meatloaf. It was super delicious and it is how I will probably continue to make meatloaf in the future! My son tried it and loved it! I know it is much healthier for him than how I usually make it.
When I went to bed last night I had a bit of a stomach ache, I think it may be indigestion issues but I woke up this morning feeling great! I
got on the scale and I was down another half a pound, and my body fat was down 2%. YAY!!!
Today I had the cappuccino drink for breakfast and I really love that, it is such a great start to the day and feels like a treat and not a diet. I had cucumbers as my snack today and then at lunch I had broccoli and cabbage as my veggies.
It is now 3pm and I have not even had my lunch shake yet! I am going to have it on my way home which will help keep me full until dinner. I
may not even have my snack today! Wow, I didn’t think that I would say that! I was pretty hungry my first couple of days.
Tonight dinner may be late because I have to run to the store  first, but I think I will be ok, and then home to have steak and veggies. Today was the first day that my body should be burning fat instead
of carbs, and I feel like I have the bad breath that was warned in the  "side effect" as my body changes into that mode. I am curious to see  what will happen from now until my weigh-in since I have already had a good  loss for this week.

Ideal Protein - Day 4 - Aug 17 2011

Good Morning!
This morning I woke up STARVING! I was hoping that meant that my body was hard at work eating all my calories overnight!
I got on the scale...and I had lost another pound! 125 baby! I was so excited!!!
Todays meals are:
Breakfast: IP Cappuccino drink - super delicious! I threw in some crushed ice and it was really great to have during my drive in to work!
Snack - 1/2 cucumber with vinegar (11:19 am)
Lunch - strawberry pudding
Snack - Dill pickle flavoured Zippers (like chips)
Dinner - this will be a challenge. I have meatloaf and broccoli planned, but I certainly cant eat that! all the rice, and sauce etc... So I am trying to figure out what I can do with my portion of the ground beef? (suggestions welcome)
I am definitely feeling more energentic today and when I see the numbers on the scale that are constantly going down it really is motivating. At work there is currently muffins and fruit sitting in the kitchen, usually i would load up a plate and have a morning snack, but I have a surprising amount of self control and I am really happy about that! My son't birthday party is on Saturday, there will be loads of stuff I cant have, but I really think I will be ok! I am trying to figure out what to wear to show off my weight loss!! :)

Ideal Protein – Day 3 – Aug 16 2011

Woke up this morning feeling great! I got on the scale – and I was 126! I have not seen that number in a long time! I felt super about that! It brings my weight loss to 5 pounds in 48 hours – that is nuts! Breakfast today was a chocolate shake and lunch will be a blueberry pudding. I have cucumbers and cabbage for snacks plus a peanut butter bar, I love those!
Dinner is eggs and zucchini, this will be tough because I can’t put ketchup on my eggs and I have to make my scrambled eggs with water instead of milk…oh well. I think the best thing about this diet is that when you see these results it makes it REALLY easy to stick to the diet and not cheat because I really want to keep seeing the pounds fall off!
UPDATE: I went and picked up all my food for next week today. I even traded in the stuff I was not fond of, what a great system! I made my eggs last night and added green peppers, onions, cherry tomatoes, garlic, sea salt and pepper. It was amazing. With that I also had zucchini, done up in olive oil and garlic. I had a huge plate full! I almost took a picture of it as proof that you can do this diet and still eat! I can see already how this diet changes my eating habits and my thinking when it comes to food.
I ended up in bed early last night with a headache. They do warn that this can happen in the first couple of days, I took a Tylenol and fell asleep quickly.