Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! I hope everyone has been enjoying time with family and friends. This year seemed to be an extra wonderful holiday... I was able to take some time off work to bake and relax with my fiance and pup, and spent the past two days with our families enjoying their company and delicious food! This was Lyndon's first Christmas so, of course, she was spoiled with lots of treats and toys. She also experienced her first "real" snow on Friday and loved it! She was happy to just sit outside, sniff the air, and eat snow; one of her new favorite activities.

Just in time for the holiday excitement, my very first VoxBox from Influenster arrived in the mail (appropriately) on Christmas Eve! Who doesn't love to get mail, especially a box full of goodies! I'm really excited to be able to test some products and share my reviews with you. In case you're wondering what a VoxBox is, Influenster sent me these complimentary products for testing purposes... I will be trying out everything within the next few weeks and will be posting all about it! Check out what arrived in my VoxBox! 

Diet Summary

I wanted to post a quick summary about the "Eat Your Heart Out" diet. It was successful because I did lose weight. My lowest weight was on day 6. I went up about one pound as of this morning so my total weight loss over the seven days was 6.2 pounds. I'm thinking part of the gain back was as a result of the sodium in the broth for the cabbage soup. This was a tough one and, while I didn't lose the "10 plus" pounds it promised, it still worked pretty good. I'm not sure I would do it again though because of how bad I felt for about a day or two when I had no appetite and just felt blah. I've had just as much success dieting the "right way" even though it may take a little longer.

Day 7! Hooooray!

I made it! Down 7.4 pounds as of this morning. Today was soup day which was made of mostly cabbage in beef broth with some other added veggies. I actually thought the soup was pretty good, so today wasn't difficult at all. I am still craving sweets, though. I will do one final weigh-in tomorrow morning for my final weight loss through this diet.

If nothing else I'm really proud of Erik and I for sticking to this and making it through, even when there were temptations to quit. Going a week without carbs and cheese was also part of the challenge. I have to admit that I didn't miss cheese at all, but I do miss the carbs. I have a serious sweet tooth. :( Just a few more hours go to! I promise I'm not waiting until midnight and pull out a Snickers bar haha...

Made it to day 6!

Today was a much better day... The challenge continues! But thank goodness tomorrow is finally the last day. The good news is I'm down 7.2 pounds and Erik is still at 11. I'm not sure if I'll make it to the 10 pound goal, though. Sadly, my cravings are back and all I wanted today was chocolate cake (I don't even like chocolate cake), ice cream, a snickers bar, and Chinese food. What I actually ate today was a turkey patty for breakfast (same as yesterday) and lunch and dinner was balsamic vinegar chicken topped with tomatoes and mushrooms. I found this recipe on Pinterest and it was actually very good. Let the last 24 hours begin!  

Recipe found on Pinterest, follow me!

Day 5 and I'm Still Alive

Today was Turkey/Chicken and tomatoes. While I was down 6.2 pounds this morning (Erik is down 11), this diet is really starting to get to me. At least I think its the diet... I'm lethargic and strangely I'm lacking in emotion, which is completely unlike me. I have next to no appetite and couldn't come close to eating enough today. My calorie intake is growing extremely insufficient; it's not that I don't want to eat, I can't eat.  I really want to finish this out to the end because I only have two more days, but I'm not sure if I can. ...Not because I want to give in to cravings or because I'm hungry, but because I feel terrible. I wish I could tell you I was hungry. Sadly, the first few days made me feel great. I'm hoping that tomorrow will be a better day and I can continue because I really want to make it. I came so far already on this little 7 day journey and I don't want to give in at the end! It will have made the whole project a waste. Erik is not struggling as much as I am and has been able to maintain his appetite and even went to the gym after work today (serious kudos to him). The only thing bugging him right now is how bad he wants a peanut butter sandwich. So, not such a great post today! Hopefully I have better news tomorrow or I may be pulling the plug on this experiment.

The picture above shows lean ground turkey patties with tomatoes... this was breakfast today. Lunch and dinner was turkey breast and tomato chunks cooked in the crock pot. 

The Dreaded Banana Day

The banana day was, as expected, dreadful. The good news is I was down 5.8 lbs as of this morning. I don't have anything too exciting to tell you about what I ate today since it was just bananas and milk (or yogurt). I pretty much hate drinking milk so I opted mostly for the yogurt. I couldn't find the Weight Watchers yogurt, so I substituted Chobani plain non-fat Greek yogurt. I only ate half my allotted bananas and can't force myself to eat anymore. I did just ok on my milk and yogurt too. I added bananas to the yogurt and it tasted good, but I did have to add a little Splenda and a few drops of vanilla to the yogurt. Basically today wasn't the best day and I really couldn't eat as much as I should have.

Erik and I precooked our meals for the next two days, and we are allowed meat tomorrow. To cook the turkey and chicken, we had to use some olive oil and added spices for flavor. If everything turned out ok, I'll post pictures and recipes once we try everything. We are officially over half way done now! Four days down, minus 5+ pounds!

Day 3, Fruit & Veggies

Today was fruit and veggies and was just a combination of day 1 and 2, but without the potato. ALL I want in the whole world right now is a pizza from Ginos. Erik said he would just be happy with a giant loaf of bread. ...As you can tell, we are starting to lose some momentum, but we haven't cheated! As of weigh-in this morning, I am officially down exactly 5 pounds and Erik is down 9. Seeing results is the only thing keeping me going at this point. I am desperate for any food that isn't a fruit or vegetable.

Here's what I ate... Breakfast was leftover applesauce from day 1. We did have to slightly bend the rules today as we were out Christmas shopping all day and needed to eat lunch. I researched ahead of time and we planned to eat at Panera Bread because their classic hand-tossed salad was within our "rules" since it was just mixed field greens and romaine lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and red onions. We substituted an apple for the baguette that normally comes with it and added a fruit cup. The catch? The salad had reduced fat balsamic vinaigrette dressing. This is where I feel like we slightly bent the rules. I researched the ingredients and it seemed the only ingredients in the dressing that I feel any guilt over were soybean oil and sugar. The other ingredients are water, vinegar, salt and garlic. This is the first time I had this specific salad there and, even as simple as my meal was, it was delicious! I actually decided to update my review for Panera on Influenster (Check out the other reviews for Panera on Influenster) They deserve an A. I love that place and they saved me from going hungry today while we were shopping! Finally, dinner was steamed stir fry veggies courtesy of Birdseye again, and strawberries for dessert. 

I was originally dreading tomorrow, because it is "banana day" but I'm actually really excited about being able to eat yogurt now after having nothing but fruit and veggies for the past three days. Although it's been hard, I have to admit that I can feel the difference in my body from giving it a break from "bad food." Although Erik and I generally make a point to eat healthy, taking a break from carbs and sugar has made a huge difference. I feel pretty good.

Lots of Veggies...

Day two and I haven't cheated yet! And it's been hard because, at this point, all I want is a sandwich. And chocolate. ...Oh, what I wouldn't give for some chocolate. I do have to say I think today was somewhat easier than fruit day. Here's what I ate... Breakfast was 1 cup of sweet corn (Birdseye Steamfresh). I snacked on red and green bell pepper slices at work and had 1 and a half cups of stir fry veggies (Birdseye) for lunch. Dinner actually functioned as "real food" and consisted of a salad (lettuce, red peppers, carrot slivers, mushrooms, and peas) topped with baked potato wedges. Instead of making a normal baked potato with butter, I baked potato slices with with a little olive oil. Erik and I eat these "fries" often because they are healthy and d.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s. (see below for the super easy recipe). They are great eaten alone or topped on a salad. For dressing, I used red wine vinegar. I don't have much of an appetite today and have no idea whether or not it is related to this diet. In fact, I took carrot sticks to work that I never even touched and I couldn't finish my salad at dinner. To somewhat satisfy a craving for sugar this evening, I made tea with a packet of Splenda. Craving gone! And of course, the most important question... did I lose weight yet? YES! I weighed myself Thursday morning on day one, and then again this morning and I was down 2.2 lbs. At least this was motivation for me to eat right again today. Nearly two days down, five more to go!

Healthy Fries: Cut potato into wedges; 1 medium potato per person. Put them in a zip lock bag or a container with a lid and add a little bit of olive oil (about 1/2 a tablespoon per potato, or until it is enough to lightly coat the potatoes). Sprinkle in a little bit of Italian seasoning and any other spice of your choice; sometimes I use a little onion or garlic powder. Shake the bag or container until the potatoes are coated, place on a metal cookie sheet and sprinkle with some sea salt, but just a little! Sometimes I don't use any salt at all since the seasoning gives it enough flavor. Bake at 450 for 20 minutes, flipping the potatoes after 10 minutes. Hope you love these!

Fruit Day

Today was day one! The day is nearly over and I'm still alive! Woo! Here's what I ate... Breakfast was a pear and an apple, lunch was fruit salad, and dinner was warm strawberry applesauce. Doesn't sound like much but I'm actually not hungry right now. I'm not exactly satisfied, but I'm not starving either. I did crave salt a few times today, but other than that, it really wasn't too bad. The downside is I really feel like I want to eat something. Maybe it's habit or maybe it's because my body knows I didn't get all the nutrients I should have today. The upside is I actually feel pretty fabulous. Just one day of not putting an ounce of "crap food" in my body and I already feel better. I'm in a good mood and have a decent amount of energy. And I'm down 0.6 lbs since I last weighed myself 24 hours ago! One thing I'm thankful for is I did have my "survival kit" that went to work with me today. I allowed myself to chew sugar free gum and drink hot tea with Splenda. The gum was good when I felt like totally blowing this diet thing already and getting crackers from the vending machine. The tea helps too. So, day 1... so far so good.  Now to figure out what I'll eat for breakfast tomorrow on vegetable day... there isn't a better way to start your day than a nice bowl full of baby carrots.

Eat Your Heart Out!

I usually don't fall for weird fad diets... but I found this on Pinterest and I actually want to try it. It's probably not the safest or healthiest diet, so even if it works, I probably won't recommend anyone try it. My plan is to follow the diet (it is a 7 day diet) and post a blog each day about how it's going. The instructions are somewhat vague so I'm just going to follow it exactly as it says while at the same time using an app on my phone to keep track of my calories. I went shopping tonight to get all the "supplies" needed and spent about $105. Keep in mind my fiance', Erik, and I are doing this together so this was the cost for two people. I also don't know if I bought enough or too much food since I don't have specific amounts for a lot of things.

Day one is fruit day.  I think this could potentially be one of the easier days for me. I'm REALLY not looking forward to banana day (day 4). I'm not a huge fan of bananas in the first place so I anticipate being extra grouchy that day. To be honest, this week will probably be really hard. It's not just a "lose 10+ lbs in 7 days" diet.... it will probably be more like "be a huge grump and cry myself to sleep every night because I'm starving and I hate bananas" kind of diet.

So good luck to me! And Erik...

Diet found on Pinterest, follow me!

Excited to Blog Again!

Hello! This is my first attempt at blogging again after several years and I am excited! I like to share snippets of my life and have been on Facebook since I was in college... but it seems Facebook has changed a bit and I don't feel it necessary to post every little thing I do there anymore. Basically, my page turned into a way for me to announce major life milestones and to post more pictures of my dog than anyone else would care to see.  I'm a proud "parent," what can I say? I've considered starting a blog for a while because it would be my place to just say whatever I want without annoying anyone. ...But what really convinced me to break down and actually get this stated was my sister. She was showing me a website on Thanksgiving called Influenster where you can rate and test products and write reviews. I was so interested in this I immediately requested an invite (you can't just sign up, they have to want you). So I submitted my request and waited two long days, checking my email what seemed like every half hour, waiting like a crazy lady for them to give me the news. FINALLY I got my invite yesterday and felt like a little kid waiting for a package in the mail when it came. I am so pumped because, let me tell you... I'm such a sucker for advertisement and a huge critic of customer service. I spent years working in the field of providing client service and know how important it is. I have no tolerance for anything but excellent service because I have been there... so, I'm pretty tough when it comes to this. I'm thinking that this is going to be a great adventure. I can't wait to start sharing my findings with everyone! When I find something awesome  you will be the first to know. And when I find things that are NOT so awesome... I'll be glad to warn you.


Well, I am off to decorate the house for Christmas today! Much to my fiance's dismay, I am making him bake cookies with me today, listen to Christmas music, and decorate the tree! Don't get me wrong, he isn't a total scrooge... I just get far more excited than he does. I got Pillsbury Christmas cookies to bake JUST for our occasion today... Like I said... I'm a sucker. Enjoy the rest of the weekend everyone!