I did it :)

Today is the last day of my Special K Challenge :)
I think I've lost about five pounds, but more importantly I've learned how to control what I eat so that I'm not eating healthy half the day and then ruining it at 9pm when I'm craving cookies or ice cream.
I'm ridiculously excited to go to the farmers' market after work and get some veggies and then hit the new Trader Joe's that just opened up to stock up on *real food*!!! I'll be sticking to a pretty strict regimen but it's not so much of a hassle now. I'm getting used to not over-stuffing myself and although there are foods I'd like to eat that aren't great for me, well I can eat them in little bits! Moderation is key I believe :)
I'm really proud of myself just for doing this for a whole two weeks. Of course I gave myself some "wiggle room" in this diet, but I never slipped and ate McDonald's or a big piece of cake, and I barely even had any candy on Halloween. The hardest thing was Sunday night when I was at my parents' house and my dad made spaghetti, but I drank my protein shake knowing that I had learned my strength and would soon be able to eat spaghetti in moderation :)
The new plan is smoothies for breakfast, nuts, fruit or cheese for snacks & salads, sandwiches with whole grain bread or chicken or fish dishes for other meals. Every once in a while of course I have to eat pancakes or Cook Out or something, but it will be much less often than before!

Hm...who knew that after all my triumphs in the U.K. I could still make myself proud at home??

Feeling Good

I've realized that I'm actually no longer craving sweet, starchy, carb-ridden foods for breakfast. This, I think, is going to be one of the best outcomes of this diet. Also, I still crave sweets after dinner, but I now manage to avoid them, or if I do sneak a piece of candy, it's only one piece, and I don't find myself continually going back saying, "just one more." Yes, I had a problem with that before.

I'm starting to think about what my diet is going to be like once the Special K challenge is over. My parents have a blender they're not using and I'm thinking a smoothie for breakfast may be my new routine. I definitely want to eat more fresh foods, fruits and veggies and less processed stuff like the cereal bars I've been eating every day. I'm thinking dried fruit & nuts for snacks instead.

Another thing I've been surprisingly not missing is cheese. I'm a huge cheese person, and while I've sneaked it in here or there, shredded on salads mostly, I'm not eating a whole lot of it and I'm not craving it either. Maybe it's the motivation to go through with this whole challenge, but I hope this feeling lasts after next Tuesday.

Yesterday someone told me I looked thinner, and when I asked Reid he agreed. My scale at home, however, is stuck at 280 instead of 0, and even when I do the math it tells me I've gained 5 pounds, which, while I don't think I've lost a lot, I find hard to believe.

So, I'm getting excited about trying new recipes and becoming a real couponer next week when this challenge is over. And I've been hesitant to do any real workouts for fear of gorging myself or just being really, really tired afterward from lack of nutrients, so once I'm eating 'real' food regularly again, I should be able to get back on the elliptical & weight machines, which I'm really looking forward to =) Pilates is fun and relaxing though, and definitely good for the abs (that's what I've been doing in place of harder workouts.)

So here's to my protein shake, cereal bars & lean cuisine today! The sun is out and I'm feeling positive!

newfound will power

I've completed the first week of the Special K challenge, and aside from Friday dinner followed by copious drinks and a Halloween sugar cookie Monday night, I think I'm doing pretty well.
It's been surprisingly easy for me to ignore my cravings and control what I eat. I don't have any sweets in my apartment, or much food at all for that matter. Since I started the challenge all I have is Special K stuff and Lean Cuisines for the one meal a day that I can eat outside of Special K products. A few times I've eaten that one meal out, of course, but I haven't really been cooking at all.
I feel a little thinner, but I don't think I look any different, and my scale is broken so who really knows if I've lost any weight. I'm into week two now and I feel that it may be the part that actually yields results.

Still goin strong...kind of

It's Day 3, and although I've felt a little hungrier than usual, I've also felt more in control of my eating habits. I will admit though that I haven't been following the rules exactly.

Yesterday I did pretty well, but for my 'normal lunch' I had a Subway chicken, bacon & ranch sandwich - BUT it was on wheat bread and I got light ranch! I didn't get any tea or diet soda or chips either.

Then when it was time for my cereal dinner I was starving so I had a pretty big bowl of cereal - probably not the suggested amount but I'm not trying to starve myself here. I think that extra cereal helped me ignore the cookies on Reid's bedside table and the Taco Bell he ate for dinner...Also, I did have a latte yesterday because I was feeling sluggish, but it had skim milk and only half a Splenda!

One thing that keeps nagging at me is that where before when I would get a sense of control and happiness from my eating habits, I could be sure that what I was doing was healthy. Now, I know I'm eating mostly processed foods, so it's not the same. After watching that Slate V video that I posted yesterday in its entirety, I realize the psychological effects fad diets can have.

Still, I don't feel like I'm in danger yet. I'm still eating, and possibly still less of what I eat is processed compared to what many other people my age eat.

Day 1

The Special K Challenge was not too much of a challenge today, thankfully. I had almond & cinnamon cereal and a banana for breakfast, a vanilla crisp cereal bar for a snack, a strawberry protein shake for lunch, a few crackers for another snack, and then I was allowed to eat 'normal food' for dinner. I had pasta with chicken - yum leftovers.

I also had some coffee and wine today, which are not on the diet, but I don't think they will make much of a difference. At least I hope they won't.

The hardest part is going to be after I finish this post and have to a)convince myself to put in the Pilates DVD after I feel I've digested sufficiently and b)keep from raiding the pantry or the Halloween candy dish.

I made a menu for the next couple of weeks with crayons last night. I guess I was trying to make it seem more fun.

I also had a pretty productive day, which was helpful in not thinking about food. I did actually have my stomach grumble at work, though. And when my colleague, Blackman, mentioned something about how we could all use some Dunkin Donuts, I almost freaked out because he's been known to bring them in. Thankfully, I think he forgot shortly after mentioning it.

So Day 1 is complete but I know not to get cocky because tomorrow will be harder.

Annnnnd I just got a phone call from Reid, who asked me if I had eaten yet, which means he is going to pick up dinner at McDonald's or Cook Out and eat it here while we watch Glee together. *wimper* ....

In White House v. Fox, Kaus Wins

I don't usually read the Kausfiles on Slate, just not really interested most of the time. But Mickey Kaus has caught my attention with this post about Fox's journalistic integrity, or lack thereof. He explains why he agrees not that Fox "isn't a real news organization" but that it is different from other news organizations in the way that it's not independent. He makes a good point when he says, "The idea of the First Amendment isn't that everyone will be fair. It's that everyone will be free, and out of it all the voters will come to their own conclusion about what's fair--right?"

Right. I hope.

Special Kait

Mmmmm. Right now I am stuffing my face with lemon poppyseed muffin. Why? Because when I wake up tomorrow, I will be in boot camp. Will power boot camp. Tomorrow I begin the Special K Challenge.

If you're asking why I would do this to myself, I will probably be right there with you in a few days...or hours. The thing is, I've been wanting to lose a little bit of weight for about two years now, and I always have some excuse - oh I'm sick, I have my period, it's really cold outside (???), I have a test to study for, I'm still too sore from two days ago...Then I was laying on the couch watching Cake Challenge and debating whether or not to get another 100 calorie Oreo bar and I randomly decided, I'm going to try Special K.

Supposedly if you eat 5 times a day - 4 of them a Special K cereal or waffle or protein shake or cereal bar, one of them a regular meal - you will lose a pant size in two weeks. I'm going to do this with a few modifications and a daily 30-minute Pilates regimen. But I need your help.

I like to blame my love of food on many things: my Italian heritage, my mother being a great cook, my hereditary sweet tooth. I've made some changes in the past few months by eating more vegetables and cooking for myself far more than I eat out, but I still falter often. I find myself wondering, isn't the happiness I get from eating this huge piece of cake more important than a few pounds? The thing is, though, it's not just a few pounds. This is about long-term health for me.

Yes, I know eating tons of Special K products isn't exactly healthy, but I plan on using this experience to teach myself the self-control I need to stick to a healthy diet and exercise plan, as well as lose a couple pounds for motivation.

But I know it is going to be hard. I've tried things like this before and never made it all the way through. Two weeks seems like a long time right now. I like this diet because it will let me eat some regular food and won't make me excrete a black snake. *shudder*

So, I'm nibbling on the crumbs of my lemon poppyseed muffin and asking for some cheerleaders - help me find my will power!