Day One- I'm Starving

Day one- starting off with the 21 day challenge!
Neda, my sister’s best friend and fitness expert, has developed an eating plan for me to lose weight.

Maybe I should start at the beginning- I’m 27 years old and I now weigh 190 pounds. I’ve been with my boyfriend for almost two years, and I’ve “let myself go” as they say. It didn’t happen on purpose. It started off because Ben is a chef and he would make these incredible meals and I would have seconds, thirds and even fourths. When he moved in with me April 2009, I was about 150 pds. I’ve gained 40 pds and it seems to have been put on in every part of my body.

I have wobbly arms with dimples, dimples all over my thighs (my legs used to be my best feature in a bikini) and my stomach would need to go through airport security first as a separate person.

So it’s January 1^st- and I’ve enlisted the help of a fitness expert extraordinaire to help me lose weight. It’s going to be tough! It’s going to take everything I have.

I love Maltesers. I love chocolate and BREAD. Ohmigod I love Bread! I love pasta (I am Italian) and I love love love EATING! When Neda told me Christmas day that I would have to give up bread completely I literally cried. Tears streamed down my face as I contemplated a life bread free. A life without baguettes and croissants and even Dempsters sliced bread grilled cheese sandwiches.

The 21 day challenge is all about eating healthy- and Neda says if I do well I can have a cheat day! At this point it’s all about getting me to that day that I can buy a pack of Maltesers and munch away. (according to Neda your body gets so used to eating healthy that on your cheat days you don’t really “cheat”… right now my life is all about getting me to the point where I can buy a loaf of bread and rip it in half and stuff it in my mouth).

ANYWAYS- on to the actual diet:

I was supposed to wake up this morning at 8am to start eating but come on, it’s New Years Day. I woke up at 10am and started my breakfast:
20 grams of quick oats oatmeal with a small handful of blueberries
6 egg whites
(water to drink)

I have always detested oatmeal. It’s horse food, not people food. Now I remember why. I added less than a pinch of brown sugar and I still couldn’t stomach it. I ate about four bites and then gave up. I’ll try again tomorrow to acquire the taste for oatmeal (though on a side note I always thought you had to acquire a taste for the finer things in life like caviar and dry red wines- not horse food).

The egg whites weren’t bad if it were two or even three. After the first couple chunks I started to hate the taste and texture. It’s salt-free of course. Did I mention I LOVE salt?

I am not looking forward to two hours from now- snack time which consists of:
A protein shake
0% yogurt with strawberries to taste. I have a strong feeling the yogurt will taste like poop (the best word I could come up with under the circumstances.

12:00pm- The yogurt actually wasn’t so bad- put in a tiny bit of strawberry jam and its not as tasteless.
The protein shake is alright- I’m giving it the benefit of the doubt.

Lunch- 3pm
A chicken breast the size of my fist
Half a yam- grilled.

Lunch was yummy but missing something- BREAD!

It’s 4:35 and I’m so hungry I feel like crying! My stomach is playing instruments it’s so loud. My next snack isn’t until 5:30 and it’s a crummy combination of a rice cake and cottage cheese (which I actually like). I’m hoping I can make it the hour. Ben’s kids are here and it’s SO hard to watch them eat all these snacks like Pringles and freezies. I was ready for this though so it’s not so bad! (It sucks I just need to keep saying it‘s not so bad)

It’s 5:18 and I just cheated! I’m making sheppards pie for the kids and I just finished whipping the potatoes (with about ¼ cup of butter) and I took the whipping utensils and just thought I’d taste it (you know, to make sure it’s tasty) and I could not stop taking fingers full of mashed potatoes. I probably ate four spoon-fulls so at the end of the day it’s not a drastic cheat (I could have finished off a cheesecake at this point I’m so hungry!)

The broccoli is on the stove boiling- to punish myself should I double up in broccoli. Now that sounds like a punishment.

For supper at 5:30
Chicken Breast- again the size of my fist
Broccoli

I realized I missed the salad at lunch and I also missed the snack. I could have the snack now but I am just WAY too hungry for rice cake.

Two hours after supper I’ll go for the cottage cheese if I’m absolutely dying!

7:22pm- Just finished playing Kinect with the kids. Dancing game that gets you on your feet and moving around. I’m so hungry it’s unbearable. Neda told me the first two weeks would be awful and boy oh boy was she ever right! I’m definitely going to go for some cottage cheese soon. I get the portion size absolutely sucks but my brain needs to believe I am satisfied.

P.S. Xbox 360 Kinect is the best invention ever!

I’m signing off now! Promise in the future the blog won’t be a chapter book. I could have blogged about my first attempt to exercise today in two years. I do believe senior citizens could exercise more freely and without pain!