Loser

I'm a loser...but not the BIGGEST loser as I was hoping to be. I just completed week 2 of my new diet. I am down 8.5 lbs and 14.5 inches. I know this is really good, but when they told me my loss for the week was only 3.5 (I lost 5 the first week), I felt this immediate rush of disappointment...and it made me want to cry. My clothes feel looser and overall I feel better, but I still have these expectations every week that can easily crush my enthusiasm for the whole program if they are not met. I guess I was hoping to be at 10+ lbs lost and 8.5 just isn't good enough. I have always been someone who needs to see those numbers dropping by leaps and bounds. I also feel like I am giving up so much for this program and it is so HARD, that I want the numbers to show me that it's really working...and to get me excited...and to make me believe that this is the last 'diet' I will ever need to be on. I will get over it and I'm not giving up, but the disappointment is there right now. It probably didn't help that they gave me copies of my 'before' pics today which put me in a state of panic... No, you won't be seeing these pics until a drastic amount of weight has been lost. If I show them to you now, the embarrassment will be more than I can bear. If I wait until I've changed, at least I can say that was the Andrea of the past!

Anyway, in talking with my health coach I did discover some things that I need to do better this upcoming week. They also happen to be things that could be slowing down the weight loss process...

1. I HAVE to eat the full 2 cups of veggies at both lunch AND dinner. I cannot eat less than those 2 cups. The reason this has been difficult is because you cannot count lettuce as part of your 2 cups. The 2 cups has to consist of veggies that are NOT lettuce. You might not think this is too bad, but it's a LOT of veggies!

2. I HAVE to eat the full 5-8 oz of meat at dinner. A couple of nights this week I only ate half the amount. I truly was not hungry and couldn't imagine eating the rest, but I guess I'm going to have to force myself to do it.

3. I HAVE to eat ALL of my 3 protein packs each day. Again, a couple of days this week I did not finish the full pack that I was eating at the time. Gotta watch that...

4. If I eat onions they CANNOT be cooked. Cooking onions carmelizes them and produces sugar...which is a no-no.

5. WATER...WATER...WATER... I'm not getting enough in each day. This is going to be hard for me. I'm already feeling waterlogged...ugh...

6. I need to be better prepared when eating out. I had to eat out several times this week with family and/or friends and all 3 times I forgot to bring my own salad dressing. I ended up using the dressings that the restaurants offered and they were not approved dressings.

I feel like I'm getting pretty comfortable with the program, but obviously there are some things I need to be aware of (like the things I just listed), which could affect my weight loss. They seem like small things, but they can all add up to be big things. This week I am going to try to be as 'perfect' as possible on this diet and see how that affects the results next Monday. It will be a good test for me!

Oh...some quick 'successes' for me for the week...

1. When I went to Chuck E Cheese with the fam, I did NOT have ANY pizza!!! I ate some raw veggies and dip instead.
2. I did not eat dessert when Drew and I went with friends to Fogo de Chao for a birthday celebration.
3. It's been 2 full weeks without any soda of any kind. I was BORN drinking soda, so those who know me KNOW this is a HUGE achievement!!