A Pleasant Surprise

Wow, I'm really sucking at updating lately. I've been working so much and I think I'm just worn out. But, let's see...I was debating whether or not to move on to Phase II of the Ultra-Metabolism Prescription this week or not. I was thinking I'd extend it to four week instead of the three, because I wasn't 100% on plan the whole three weeks. I chose to move on, though, because the food options opened up so much and I really just wanted new food. So, on Tuesday I started Phase II. This phase is the "for life" phase. It reintroduces dairy, eggs and gluten. I haven't had much money for grocery shopping this week so I didn't ease them in like I was supposed to. The plan recommends adding them back in one at a time, with a few days in between so you can see the reactions your body has. I know I'm lactose intolerant, so I picked up Lactaid chewables so I can enjoy dairy. I know I'm okay with eggs, gluten I think I may need to be careful with. So, I'm paying attention. But, I've been so happy to have some yummy grainy bread, whole wheat pasta, and eggs! My food the last couple of days has been so yummy. I haven't been taking pictures, though. Breakfast has been what I've been looking forward to for three weeks - scrambled eggs with shredded cheddar, salsa and sour cream, and toast with peanut butter and a banana.

The pleasant surprise was when I got on the scale this morning. I am down 6.4 pounds! That is just since July 5th. I've never lost weight that quickly! I can only imagine what it would be if I had been 100% on plan! I have my Wii Fit goal as losing 8 pounds by August 5th, so I'm thinking it might actually be possible! I'm so excited and so motivated. I used to be happy to lose .2 pounds a week, so this is just crazy for me. And all I've done is change how I eat! In the past, the best weight loss plan for me has been being on both birth control AND Metformin, and twice that led to losing 15 pounds in 3 or 4 months, so I'm actually losing FASTER this time! It's amazing how simply changing what I eat is brining such amazing results.

It's Been Way Too Long...

I don't know why I haven't posted in 11 days! I mean, life has been busy, but, wow. I need to work on that. Now I need to think back and figure out what has been going on.

Well, first off, Donnie and I went camping this weekend. This was my first time camping and I loved it! I peed in the woods, swam in a lake, sat around and did nothing, cooked food over the campfire, slept in a soaking wet tent and saw beautiful night skies. It was a much needed mini-vacation for us, and I can't wait to do it again. I even got to knock two goals off of my 101 list - visiting a place in Michigan I've never been to and going camping. Foodwise, I was pretty good. I didn't intend on staying 100% on plan, so overall I was happy with how I handled things. I packed way too much food. I planned for more meals than we ate there and just wasn't hungry enough for a full three meals plus snacks. I made a big batch of smoothies at home and threw it in a ziploc bag, and had that for breakfast two of the three days. Donnie and I ended up going out to breakfast on Sunday and I went off plan and had a veggie omelet, hashbrowns, toast and orange juice. Oh man, did I pay for that. It was yummy, though! I definitely know that I need to avoid dairy (the cheese in the omelet, ugh), or at least get better about taking a Lactaid when I do have it. I have gotten so accustomed to just ignoring my lactose intolerance because I never got around to buying more Lactaid, and I just can't do that. I also had a very late night grilled cheese cooked over the fire, a couple of small hamburgers, and a couple of s'mores. Oh, and of course there was some drinking. Other than that, though, I had my smoothies, munched on veggies and my first (crappy) attempt at salsa, chicken kabobs, fruit and almonds. I am still sore from swimming which feels great but is upsetting and a sure sign that I need to start working out.

On the diet front, overall I'm doing really well. Donnie makes me so happy when he tells me how proud he is of me! I've been struggling more and more as life as gotten busier, but I'm doing the best I can. I had one night about a week ago where I wound up eating a bunch of crap and definitely paid for it the next day. As much as I hate feeling yucky, I like the reminder to stick to my guns. I had stomach problems for a long time, but shortly after starting the Ultra-Metabolism diet all was well and I couldn't be happier. I've decided to extend the Phase I detox to four weeks instead of the three it's supposed to be, since I've been straying a bit.

Now for some PCOS stuff. My cycle is completely irregular when I'm not on birth control. I went off the pill back in January because my prescription ran out and I just haven't gotten to the doctor yet. I'm thinking I want to stay off of medication if I can, though. I want to see how my body is naturally functioning and how the lifestyle changes I'm making are effecting the various health issues I have. Anywho, so, my period has been every 2-3 months since going off the pill. My last period was July 18. So, color me surprised when Sunday brought on a new cycle! That means I had a 33 day cycle! WTF?! I'm being optimistic and thinking it's because my body is responding to the new way of eating and it's already having a positive effect on my hormones. I'm really hoping this is what it is, because that would make me SO happy! I can't wait to see all of the other changes I will see as time goes on.

Here are some pictures of food I've had lately.

This was salmon I made with a honey dijon sauce recipe I found on All Recipes.


Homemade hummus and veggies...mmmmmmmmmm



This is what I got when we ordered Chinese - steamed veggies, shrimp, chicken, scallops and lobster. So good! I skipped the brown sauce and forgot to specify brown rice so I had to make my own. I'm so excited to be able to order Chinese without worrying!



A yummy tuna lunch



Cilantro lime chicken with peppers, onion and rice



Italian herb and lemon chicken with artichokes and rice

It's Feeling Like a Lifestyle...

Friday was kinda hit and miss on the food front. Food was a big focus for the day, because I spent awhile messaging back and forth on Facebook with Donnie's cousin about our camping trip next weekend. I'm kind of nervous. I really want to stick to my diet as much as possible but it will be hard in that sort of situation, with limited storage space and everyone else eating differently. I have a big list of foods I want to take, most of which I can prepare ahead. It's just a matter of narrowing it down enough to be able to fit in a cooler. I'm confident, though. I may not get through the weekend 100% on plan, but I will do my best and enjoy myself and be proud of sticking to my guns. I got on the scale a couple of days early this morning and was down 2.6 lbs since Monday! If that's not motivation for me to stick to this plan as much as possible, I don't know what is.

I watched two movies yesterday, as well. Only one gets to go toward my 101, though. I watched Miss Conception, which was a lame romantic movie with Heather Graham using an English accent and trying to get pregnant when she finds out she only has one egg left and is about to ovulate. Cute, but lame as expected. It lets me knock M off of my list, though! When I got home Donnie and I watched Shrek the Third, because I hadn't seen it yet and want to see the new one. So cute! I love Shrek!!!! I'm also excited to report that we finally got the washer and dryer hooked up and I was able to wash two loads last night. It's crazy how big of a difference in your life simply being able to do laundry at home makes!

Yesterday wasn't overly exciting food-wise. I had my usual smoothie for breakfast, and totally bombed on lunch. I brought the leftover arugula salad, topped with some more baby spring mix greens and the golden vinaigrette dressing, a can of tuna and some white beans with dijon. It should have been yummy. But, there was so much oil in the dressing that it just ruined it all. I even went in the bathroom at work and drained some oil out but it was still gross. I ate as much as I could and gave up. I ate my almonds and went home and had a grapefruit. I sincerely believe this was the first time I've ever eaten a grapefruit without sugar! Yum! Donnie wasn't very hungry when I wanted to make dinner, so I just threw together a bit of a stir fry. I had an uncooked chicken breast leftover from the other night and some leftover rice. I cut up the chicken and cooked it in some EVOO with garlic and ground ginger, tossed in a bag of frozen bell pepper strips and some edamame. It was colorful and yummy and with some low-sodium soy sauce it was totally my kind of meal!

Chugging Along

Yesterday was so hot, work was miserable. I'm really hoping we can find a new a/c unit for the office ASAP because it's been 90 degrees in there the last few days and I've been miserable and crabby. The heat didn't help when I went to make lunch and realized the leftover Moroccehh Chicken I brought needed to be warmed up and with the extra Masala simmering sauce we added had a bit of heat to it. I nuked it a little and then let it cool down and it was still ehhh. Breakfast was yummy, though. I changed up the flavor of my smoothie and went with strawberry banana. I chopped up a couple of bananas and froze them overnight. Yum! So, this was Day 3 on the plan, and so far so good. It's proving a bit tougher when I don't have specific recipes to follow, and I will have to make a trip to the store tonight or tomorrow to get a few things. But, I'm absolutely loving cooking every night, and who would have thought that actually USING the kitchen would help to keep it cleaner! I'm also loving cooking for Donnie, who is a cook, and watching him enjoy not only the meal I made but a HEALTHY meal. He actually told me yesterday that he wants to start eating healthier, and I was so excited. He came home and tossed the leftover KFC we had in the fridge! My only problem now is we are going camping next weekend. We are going with his cousin and her boyfriend and she texted me last night asking if I wanted to get together before to plan meals and go shopping. I realized I have some serious planning to do if I'm gonna make it through this trip staying as close to on plan as possible. I think that if I can get through next weekend without too much damage, I can stick to this plan no problem.

Dinner was unplanned, so I figured I would just throw something together. I decided to make some Tilapia and an Arugula salad that was in the UltraMetabolism book. I really had no idea how to cook the tilapia, but found a yummy lemon butter recipe on the package so I went with that and it was a HUGE hit! I really have no idea if I'm able to have butter, as it's simply not listed under either "foods to enjoy" or "foods to avoid", but oh well. I figure that as long as I don't go crazy on it all of the time, it's okay. Moderation, right? (Don't mind my nasty stove in the pic, it got a good cleaning after!)



We also watched a couple of movies, so I get to knock 2 more letters off! We watched Public Enemies, which was a little slow and could have been WAY more exciting for what it was about, but was good overall, and I loved the eye candy cast - Johnny Depp AND Christian Bale in the same movie, playing cops and robbers? Oh yeah, I'm all over that one! We also watched The Gamer. Totally not my thing, but I needed to take care of G! It was an interesting concept. Donnie loved it because it had everything a guy "like him" wants: games, boobs and violence. Haha!

Morrocehhhh Chicken and 101 Update

Donnie stayed home from work today so I was able to enjoy some uninterrupted video time in the office. Since I didn't have any new shows to watch I got in Episode 2 of Season 1 of True Blood - damn Megavideo for cutting me off half way through episode 3! *sigh* After that I decided to just watch some movies online from Netflix. The first was I'm Reed Fish. This was a cute movie. It had a nice twist that I didn't expect and I enjoyed the story and loved the cast. Then I watched Confessions of a Shopaholic. It was totally lame but cute. Tonight we watched Halloween II, the Rob Zombie version. Oh my. I didn't think it was as gruesome as I had been told, but still pretty gory! I'm excited about all of these movies, because I hadn't seen any of them before, so I can check I, C and H off of my list for my 101! Woo hoo! That's 4 out of 26 movies already! I'm also on Day 6 of my restarted 365 Project. All of my photos are posted under the 365 Project tab.

Today was a good food day. Breakfast and lunch were the same as yesterday, with the addition of a banana with breakfast. I didn't finish my lunch because it was 90 degrees in my office (with the a/c AND a fan), so I didn't have much of an appetite. When I got home I made a new snack recipe out of the UltraMetabolism book. Artichoke Paste. It was super easy and yummy. I had it with Trader Joe's Multigrain and Flaxseed Water Crackers, which sadly aren't really 100% on the plan, but they're not far off and were the best flax crackers I could find when I was shopping.




For dinner I made the Moroccan Chicken recipe from the book. It's supposed to be with cauliflower, but I forgot to buy it, so I just threw in some green peppers instead. The recipe called for Garam Masala but I didn't figure out what that was beforehand so I just got some Masala Simmering Sauce instead. It also called for Pomegranate Molasses but I couldn't find that either, so I just eliminated it. I made some brown rice to have along with it, and to bulk it up. It was pretty bland as it was, so Donnie and I both added more of the Masala sauce after and that helped. Needless to say, I'll be eating leftovers but I probably won't make it again. Super filling and not too bad in the end, but not something we'd jump to eat again. I'll definitely play around with it and the way it's cooked, though.



For dessert I had a few pieces of Trader Joe's Organic Super Dark Chocolate. Now, I'm not a big fan of dark chocolate, but I know I need to become one. It wasn't too bad!

Yumminess and 101

Today was the first day of my UltraMetabolism Prescription. Phase I is a three week detox, avoiding dairy, eggs and gluten, and focusing on whole foods. I was hungry most of the day, so I know I have to make some adjustments tomorrow, especially with breakfast. I'm used to filling, fatty, high carb breakfast sandwiches so the smoothie I made was a big change.

For breakfast I made the Berriest Smoothie recipe from the UltraMetabolism book. Super yummy! With these super hot days we're having right now, this will be a pretty common breakfast!


For a snack at work I had an orange and some almonds. After work I had an apple and almonds, and later on a banana.


Lunch was the White Beans on a Bed of Greens recipe from the book. Donnie even tried some and liked it!


Dinner was super yummy. I made the Wile Salmon with Rosemary, Sweet Potatoes and Lemon Asparagus recipe, minus the asparagus. The recipe called for dry mustard, which I couldn't find, so I used dijon mustard. So good! Donnie really liked it, too, and said he'd definitely want it again.


I knocked another letter for my 26 movies off of my list today. We watch S. Darko: A Donnie Darko Tale. It wasn't as good as Donnie Darko, but still weird and interesting. So, 2 letters down, 24 to go!

Grocery Shopping and New Diet Plan

Tomorrow I'm starting the UltraMetabolism Prescription. I decided to skip the 1 week preparation as I didn't feel it was necessary for myself. I think it's a great idea to have people ease into no caffeine/sugar/high fructose corn syrup/pre-packaged foods, but I don't have problems with most of that stuff and I really wanted to just get started on the plan, as I had originally planned to start the preparation last week. I did a big grocery shopping trip today at Trader Joe's. I haven't been there in over a year and was so excited to go. I had picked out a few recipes from the book and was bummed that TJ's didn't have everything I needed. It's okay, though, I got alot of great stuff and am really excited for the yummy meals I'll be making over the next three weeks! I will say, though, I can't wait for the three weeks of this Phase I detox to be over! I'm already missing my eggs, cheese and pasta! I'm really excited to see how my body responds to this new way of eating. I'm obviously hoping for some great weight loss, but I'm also really hoping to find a healthy and natural fix for my insulin resistance. I will be using my blog as a daily journal to keep track of how I'm feeling and such. I will also post pictures and recipes. For all of my PCOSers out there, I'm really hoping I have found a new lifestyle that will get my body working how it is supposed to, PCOS be damned!

My 365 Do-over

I didn't really think that taking a picture a day for a year would be that difficult. I was wrong. I did great the first few days, mainly because I was actually out of my routine a bit, doing more than just going to work and coming home. So I realized I missed a few days. Not wanting to lie to myself about a challenge I chose to do, I'm starting over. I now have a new Day 1 and Day 2 photo and my new 365 Project started July 2, 2010. I *will* do this!

Only 99 Left!

So, today marks the day that I was FINALLY able to mark an item off on my 101 in 1001 list! And I actually get to mark off TWO things! Woo hoo!!!! I had to run to Office Depot during work today and picked up a 26 folder file case - with a handle! So, when we got home from work I sat down and made a list of all of the bill/paperwork categories I could think of, wrote out the labels and labeled the folders. Then I collected all of the bills and paperwork and put them away. Super lame and simple, I know, but everything I filed away was so scattered around the house, so it's really nice to finally have it all organized! I'm feeling such a sense of accomplishment and responsibility. For the first time in my adult life I'm able to pay all of my bills, and I'm so excited!

The second item I can check off is buying a washer and dryer! I just bought a set from a friend's estate sale at her mom's. We'll be picking them up tomorrow! I'm overly giddy about the idea of being able to do laundry at HOME tomorrow night! I haven't been able to do that in over a year. It's another small thing, but I'm thrilled.

I'm really loving working on this list. While these two items were tiny, they're things that needed to be done, that will help me in other areas and really give me a sense of accomplishment. Little things like this can be easily overlooked, so it's nice knowing that I knew something needed to be done and I did it. GO ME!

2 down, 99 to go!