Friday, December 23, 2011

Two weeks and ? pounds later


It’s been two weeks since I last posted! So I will get you up to date quickly. On my second weigh in I had lost an additional 4 pounds putting me at a total of 10 lbs. Then on Wednesday I had my 3rd weigh in and lost another 3 pounds to put me at a total of 13 pounds in three weeks.
 
In the last couple of weeks I have…. made taco seasoning and have used it several times, I love the taco salads. Tom made taco chicken once and that was amazing. When I weighed in the first time I bought an Ideal Protein cookbook and we tried the beef and broccoli and it was AMAZING. The last couple of weeks have been fairly easy, I have become more accustomed to eating the IP way and that helps. I will try to keep this blog up to date a little better from now on, with Christmas I just have been very busy.

Friday, December 9, 2011

I miss bread!

Before I started this journey I would think of all the stuff that I thought I would miss. Pizza, mac and cheese, cheeseburgers, bananas, Mt Dew…. bread was not one of the things I thought I would miss. I think I miss it because it was such a staple in my life. I now spend way too long daydreaming about what it feels like to chew bread, the feel of it going down my throat. I know this is not a healthy obsession and I wonder if it is a sign that I am addicted to food. Last night and today have been particularly hard on me, I’m not sure why. I feel like I have been eating the same foods for the last week and a half and I want more flavor and options. The fact that I am EXTREMELY picky and my lack of culinary skills limit me quite a bit. After I am done with work today I will be going to the store and picking up the supplies to attempt to make taco seasoning from scratch (premade ones have flour in them to help thicken) I am hoping I can make a taco salad tonight.

I have found a couple of recipes online and one that I really like is cauliflower rice.
Cauliflower Rice
2 cups shredded cauliflower- I use a handheld grater and grate it, but you could use a food processor.  Just make sure it is small!
Seasonings to taste
Put the cauliflower in a microwavable container with a lid. (Do NOT add water)  Microwave for 3-4 minutes and add seasonings.
I hear you can make fried rice out of this but I haven’t tried it yet. I like to then take it and mash it and eat them like it is mashed potatoes.

I have noticed the last couple of days that my bras fit me better. I don’t feel like I am constantly falling out of them. The other thing that I noticed that I am not sure if I am happy about is my engagement ring is way too big on me now. I don’t want to get it resized until I am at my target weight but I don’t know how much longer I can wear it without the fear of it falling off. Right now it just keeps spinning and slides off easier than it should so we shall see.
How many of you reading this would start the ideal protein diet? What is stopping you from moving forward? Leave me a comment.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

My first weigh in and a little surprise.....

Today is day 8 of my Ideal Protein diet.  Last night I had my first official weigh in and I lost 6 pounds and just over 6 inches! I lost 2 inches just in boobs, which I think is great because my bras weren’t fitting before I started the diet and I WAS NOT going to buy new ones. I am really proud of myself! There have been some days that were harder than others but I have remained strong and keep telling myself that I won’t have to be on this diet forever. I often find myself daydreaming about food though. I like to plan and re-plan my “first meal” Today I’m thinking mac and cheese and hotdogs! I found myself dreaming of our local pizzeria last night. The one thing I love about this diet is that I don’t feel like I am starving myself. There are days where I struggle to eat what I am supposed to because the food they provide you fills you up.
 A couple of nights ago I was surprised to discover that I had gotten my period….because of the type of birth control that I am on I don’t get a normal cycle and haven’t gotten my period in over 6 years. I called up a friend who is also on the ideal protein diet and asked what she thought this could be from. She laughed and asked if our IP advisor told me that my birth control won’t work. This is one piece of information that she forgot to tell me. I asked her about it yesterday when I weighed in and she said that due to hormone variations some types of hormonal birth control become ineffective while on the diet. She told me that my type of birth control should remain effective but I should be careful the next couple of weeks until my hormones straighten themselves out. This is one part of the diet that I do not like!
Most of the foods that they offer are pretty good. Some of my favorites are the hot cocoa and chocolate shakes. I have run into a couple that I will NEVER eat again and some that I might try again but with different seasonings. One that I will never eat again is the omelet. I had an omelet for lunch today but I scrambled it (I may or may not know how to cook and omelet ;)) I added the scrambled omelet to my salad and began to eat lunch. I decided that I was not a fan of it, but didn’t want to waste it so I got some pickles and every time I took a bite of the omelet I took a bite of pickle to overpower the flavor. Well half way through my salad this stopped working and I had to make a mad dash to the restroom…..I made myself a hot coca and through away the rest of the salad.
If you are on the IP diet what is your favorite food so far?

Monday, December 5, 2011

my first 5 days!

You will consume around 850-900 calories a day while on this diet. Before I was on it I was consuming anywhere from 2000-3000 calories daily! My biggest concern was that I would feel like I was starving myself.  This has not been the case I have actually struggled to eat all of the food they recommend. You will eat several of the Ideal Protein items throughout the day and some of your own food also. You must drink a minimum of 64 oz. of water every day.  I am a VERY PICKY eater, yet I have found several of the ideal protein items that I actually enjoy. You can use most spices and seasonings to improve the taste of your food.

I am currently on day 5 and I would like to walk through these last few days. At the beginning of day one I was super excited! I started my day out and wasn’t having any problems until it came time to make the daycare kids something to eat. I wanted what they were having and bad, but I help myself back and then it was time for Tom and me to go to the store to get some extra stuff for me. Tom wandered the store and by the time we were finished I wanted to cry, everything looked SO GOOD, even the things that I don’t normally like. I explained how I was feeling to Tom by telling him it was like someone trying to quit smoking walking into a smoke shop.  He agreed that I wouldn’t have to do anymore grocery shopping until I was ready and as long as I made him a list he would do that for now.  The next few days have been fairly easy, I even went to our local Christmas celebration where there were lots of free samples and bake sales and it wasn’t too difficult to keep walking. (I’m not saying it was easy either). Last night I went grocery shopping again. I asked Tom not to linger and so we made a list and got what we needed and the only aisle we took our time in is the produce aisle, and I felt good leaving the store! I do not know how much weight I have lost, as I weigh in weekly and Wednesdays are my weigh in days, but I will be sure to keep you all updated!

Who am I and What is Ideal Protein?

Hello my name is Melissa, and I am on day 5 of my ideal protein journey! I am a 26 year old who works in the child care field. I own and operate my own center. I am getting married in August of 2012 to a great man named Tom. At my first weigh-in (Dec 1 2011) I weighed 186 pounds. I am hoping to lose 50+ pounds in 3-4 months. I have two main reasons why I want to lose weight: 1) I want to look great in my wedding dress J  2) After we get married I would like to start a family and I want to be as healthy as I can be for those future children (pregnancy and long after)

I have had a lot of people ask me what Ideal Protein is and although I am not an expert I will try my best to explain it the way I understand it. The best way I understand it is the insulin in your body has two jobs the first job is to regulate blood sugar levels and the second job is to grab excess calories and store it as fat. After many, many years of unhealthy eating your body produces more insulin than it really needs causing it to store more calories as fat. What the IP diet does is stabilize the pancreas (which produces insulin) while you eat fewer calories therefore helping you lose weight. Now that is the scientific version, which is what got my fiancĂ©’s attention and got him on board to help me lose weight. What got my attention is it’s something easy that actually works! If you are at all interested in this I suggest you check out their website http://www.idealprotein.com/us/home  and go to a meeting at your local IP site. There is an option on their website to help you find the place nearest you. I will talk more about the food in my next post.