Hitting the Wall

The first week (7 days) of RESET yielded a 5 lbs weight loss which has landed me back where I was weeks ago. I have lost 20 lbs (but 10 of those pounds have been gained and lost a few times). I am grateful to be 217 lbs. I had to get new under clothes and a lot of my tops I bought in the winter for spring are too big. I even got a compliment at the gym today. During Zumba class, another woman (familiar stranger in class) stopped shimmying to say - you've lost a lot of weight!! Beaming, I said, yeah about 20 lbs so far. I'm doing the PINK Method! That one small comment boosted my confidence and I all of a sudden started working harder in my first workout since May 6.

But this past 7 days has been very challenging for me. Each day I have not done PINK to the best of my ability. I am weak in my resolve. I find myself tasting things I shouldn't. Finishing my kids' last bites instead of throwing it in the trash. I think about how I could be out of the 200s if I had stayed the course and stopped the yo-yo dieting. But isn't that the human condition? To always be thinking about what you don't have instead of living in the moment and rejoicing in it. I know I am feeling this way and acting out in this diet because I have hit THE WALL (duh duh duuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhh!).

I have tried many diet plans over the years and I am always gung ho in the beginning. I can hang in there for 2 to 3 months and then I get tired of all the pomp and circumstance. I mean I get tired of counting points, counting calories, being on the straight and narrow, feeling like I cannot enjoy myself at functions, and blah blah blah. So what happens is I cheat here, cheat there, bend the rules, here and there until I am like EF this EFing Bull crap I am having what I want, when I want. That's the wall for me. I gain weight and become depressed.

I am at the WALL. I was doing well, even on vacation and then I got back and got sick and tired of caring. I love the results. But I am tired. I have to find a way to stop thinking about PINK as a diet for now and to thinking of it as a blueprint for LIFE, a lifestyle that doesn't start and stop but is continuous and never ending. I am still a slave to the scale. I want to see that number going down but my actions are not bringing that about. Self-loathing mistakes daily are keeping me with my head banging against the wall.

Knuckles and forehead bleeding I am going to break through the wall this time.  I will not fall off and blow up and buy bigger clothes again. I want to live. I need to change. I will survive! (Just not sure exactly how yet but I am going through the motions. Time to re-read my PINK manual and do some written exercises or something. I may have to turn to my American Gladiator of a husband for advice (PRAY FOR ME).

Thanks for cheering me on ladies! PINK for LIFE!

La-Vie

p.s. If you're into crafting... check out my blog http://www.cestla-viedesigns.blogspot.com/
and my facebook fan page https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Cest-La-Vie-Designs-Unlimited-LLC/175247459236018

What had happened was...

Damn, Damn, DAMN!! What had happened was..... I was SO good on Royal Caribbean I had everyone in awe of my PINK practices. I refused bread like a champ! But I got spoiled. I didn't have to cook, clean, rear children, etc. I came home and didn't want to do SH%@! To boot, on the way home my "time of the month" started. So in addition to feeling like I was STILL on the ship for 3 days afterwards, the gravity pull from my cycle had me out for the count. And the cravings...jeez Louise! I was so out of control. So before you know it, I hadn't worked out or practiced PINK for a week. It was supposed to be my final week in phase 2 but I squandered it! I think secretly I am terrified of the phase 3 workouts with Basheerah who is THE TRUTH (baby insanity type workout).

During my week of hiatus, I did lose the weight gained on the trip, but not staying steadfast caused me to gain a couple pounds back. The week ended with a trip to the amusement park where I binged on deep fried oreos, funnel cake, red candy apple, Chickie and Pete's crab fries dipped in melted American cheese, ice cream, and fried chicken fingers. Afterwards I felt HORRIBLE and polluted.

So I put my foot down. I know what I need to do. PINK has taught me how and it's effective. I am tired of playing around with these 5 to 8 lbs that I keep gaining and losing. I am not travelling for the next few months so it's a perfect time to buckle down and get PINK done. On Monday, May 14th I started from scratch with a 14 day RESET to cleanse all the nonsense. This time I am going to act like I want to lose some weight FOR REAL. On that fateful Monday I was 222 lbs and I fully intend to be 199 lbs by the time I start Phase 2 again. Life is short. I want to live and experience all the things that extra weight has kept me from doing.

I will report back after RESET is done with my weight loss total and inches lost. And I will provide a picture comparison. It's war. No excuses. No going on a binge (cuz I am human and may have a bite or 2 of something good along the way). No turning back. No more 200+ when I step on that scale. No more getting in my own way!

La-Vie

Does PINK and Vacation Mix? (The Saga Continues)

I'm back to continue the PINK vs. Vacation saga. If you missed part 1 check it out here. 
Now, where were we... ah hah! I gained 9 lbs on a 4-day vacation and needed a game plan to lose the weight. Michelle (the other PINK in the Pod) suggested that there was NO way I gained a true 9 lbs on a 4-day vacation. Some of it had to be water retention and maybe doing a 4-day RESET (as is required between the phases) and continuing on to phase 2 would be sufficient instead of starting from square 1. She also reminded me that I could use the PINK drink as a meal replacement for 2 meals if needed.

I pondered this (I was soooooo down in the dumps and pitiful about this weight gain) and decided it made a lot of sense. For more motivation, I listened to all of the live web chat recordings online to make sure I understood what could and couldn't be done on this plan. For example, I found out I could have air popped popcorn. It was bothering me ... not being able to have a snack ever again. This took the edge off at times. But organic air popped popcorn is not a tasty snack by far (FYI).

I lie to you NOT! The first day after I got back I didn't eat PINK or workout but I lost a couple pounds. The next few days I did RESET but with a shake for breakfast and dinner and a meal for lunch. I lost all 9 lbs and then some in 4 days. AMAZING!!! Seeing that scale go down and down again was motivation enough. I was back on track! But....

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Phase 2 came in like a bear! I hadn't worked out in almost a week and jumping up to 10 and 12 pound weight lifting routines (from 3-5 lbs) and this crazy cardio was kicking my butt! But I has to persist because soon I'd be leaving for another major vacation - a cruise to the Bahamas with a group of girlfriends. But this time I would be ready! I consulted an expert on the message boards for advice on how to handle things and prepared for my trip.

First I bought a magic bullet so that I could make my shakes for breakfast, I bought a smaller bag of my protein powder to travel with and purchased fiber powder because I found out on the web chat that Cynthia prefers the whey to have fiber in it (and mine doesn't). My plan was to purchase shelf-stable individual drink boxes of the unsweetened almond milk from a grocery in Miami before boarding the ship and to get strawberries from the breakfast buffet each day. Easy peasy!

Now, the mind is a beautiful/horrible place.... even with all this preparation, the same thing happened to my mind as it did before the other trip. I convinced myself that since I was going to be on vacation soon and off plan anyway, it was OK to cheat now. IT MAKES NO SENSE but I started getting extra here, extra there (extra = girl scout cookies from the freezer, cheese sticks, rice cakes, baked kettle chips, candy, etc.) The binging was growing and growing.

For me, travel will always be a part of my life so I had to figure out how to deal. The good news is, you can be PINK and go on vacation if you have your head on straight. On the cruise I gained only 5 lbs by making my shake and making better choices at meals and cutting down on the drinking and desserts. I also brought my tiny DVD player and my pink workouts. Some of my friends even joined me in the workouts. It was a little awkward plugging up and doing it but it was a crowd pleaser. We got compliments from others in the gym on how hard we were working out. I made sure to start my day with the workout and the PINK drink. The next trip I take will = no lbs gained. You watch!!

But OH LAWD, after ALL THAT, guess what happened when I got home...........................
dun dun duuuuuuuuuunnnnn... stay tuned...

La-Vie

Does PINK and Vacation Mix?

Life is a moving target and mine has been on hyper drive in the last month! I have written about 5 blog posts in my mind (all witty and cute) but never made it to the computer until today. Please excuse my absence. I have been on 2 major vacation in the past month and thus have been MIA on this blog. To make up for it, I will update you in the next few posts. I'll start from where I left off in my last post.

My husband took me to Aruba for 4 days/3 night for my birthday (love my hubby!) this year. We had never been away from our 2 kids for a vaca of this magnitude AND I had never been on vaca on a plan like PINK. I was supposed to be on RESET between phase 1 and 2 but decided to stay on a modified phase 1 plan while on vaca and regroup once I returned. We arrived at lunch time after travelling for hours upon hours and this was my first meal.

Ok, this meal is not PINK. But it was soooo good! My goal for the trip was to have fun but not go too far overboard. I didn't want to feel oppressed on vacation but I didn't want to gain half the weight I lost back either. So I worked out 2 of the four days (because the other two days we were travelling) and TRIED to make sensible choices. While I did have drinks at the swim up pool bar and at dinner, I didn't drink all day and night long. I could hear Cynthia saying something like - if your liver is processing liquor it's not processing fat. I made sure at each meal I had vegetables and no more than 2 servings. If I didn't like something I didn't bother eating it. In the past I might have eaten it just because.

For breakfast I got one serving consisting of egg white omelet with spinach and all the veggies with turkey sausage and unsweetened green tea. With a little fresh fruit and a croissant or two (I'm human people!!) I was good to go. My biggest problem was dessert at dinner time. Instead of having a dessert, I would make a platter of all the desserts I wanted to try. Some I would finish, others not and some I would get seconds of. In the end I was stuffed.

In hind site, my portion sizes were too large, the sweets, bread and alcohol factors played a part in my weight gain. Let's not even talk about the late night snacking. Not being in control of the contents of your food meal after meal for days is not good. I didn't keep up with my water intake either. The only things that helped me were the workouts and high physical activity during my trip.

Here are the PINK positives... I did realize that the RESET broke my addiction to carbonated beverages such as diet soda and flavored water, artificial sweeteners and now I can take salt a mile away. Those are lasting effects. I was able to fit into clothes I haven't been able to fit for a while and I received more attention from the opposite sex than I have in a long while.

Me on my birthday ready for my special dinner

So I returned home to find a 9 lb weight gain. That solidified in my mind that my vacation goals did not match my PINK method goals. I had to skae things up! I wanted to throw in the towel and start from Day 1 of the plan but Michelle, the other PINK in the Pod shared her thoughts on how she thought I should proceed based on my experiences. Tune in next time to read all about that advice and what I ultimately chose to do.

La-Vie

Back On Track

Hello Pinkies,

I am back on track!  I've been back on Phase 2 for a week now and things are going well.  I've lost weight and inches.  I feel good and have tons of energy.  I've also figured out that I need to switch things up as far as the PINK workouts.  I need FUN workouts to keep me going and wanting to workout.  The Pink workouts are hard and even though, I push through and do more than I thought I could do, they are NOT enjoyable and I have to stop more than I would like.  When working out I like to keep moving the entire time and complete the workout.  When doing the PINK workouts I don't feel like I've completed a workout because I can't do everything to completion.  Don't get me wrong, I absolutely know they have made me stronger and I will continue to do them, but I will alternate with my 4 Mile Fast Walk video, Donna Richardson, Masala Bhangra and other workout routines that have music that keeps me moving and make me want to keep moving.  :-)

Well, that's all for now.  As usual my meals are below.

Until my next post...

Think P.I.N.K

                                                    4 Mile Fast Walk - Leslie Sanson

                                         Sweating In The Spirit - Donna Richardson

                                                   Masala Bhangra - Sarina Jain

                                                                        MEALS

                                                Breakfast: One hardboiled Egg
                                                                  One sliced pear
                                                                  Cup of coffee


                                                Lunch:  Pink Drink#1

                                                 Dinner: Grilled Pork Chop
                                                               Roasted Red Potato
                                                               Sauteed Asparagus

Uh Oh! Wagon Falling, Restarting

Hello Pinkies,

First let me apologize for not posting in a few weeks.  I fell off the wagon for a while :-(  I thought I would reward myself for doing so good for 5 weeks.  Well, that turned out to be a very bad idea! The reward is the weight loss.  I repeat, the REWARD is the WEIGHTLOSS, not a glass of wine or something fattening to eat!  It will just lead to you drinking another glass of wine and more fattening food.  Now, I didn't eat that bad and did exercise some, but not like I should have.  I did only gained 2 pounds and 2 inches (waist) back.  Most would say, that is pretty good for not sticking strictly to the program for 2 weeks.  However, 2 pounds and 2 inches takes alot of hard work to get off.

So, I restarted Phase 2 today and I will not have a glass of wine or fried catfish until I have reached my weightloss goal.  I realize now that I didn't have enough time under my belt of eating right and exercising consistently to be able to eat or drink something that is not on the program and not get off track.

Please take heed to this so you don't fall into this trap.

Today's meals are below.  I forgot to take a picture of my breakfast, which was 1 hardboiled egg a cup of strawberries and a cup of coffee after drinking 32 oz of water.

Until my next post...

Think P.I.N.K

                                             Lunch: Garden Veggie Burger
                                                           Grilled Eggplant
                                                           Sliced Tomatoes

                                               Dinner: Grilled Cumin Chicken Breast
                                                             1 Roasted Red Potato
                                                             Spinach