Ode to 17 Days

It seems I started yesterday
17 days have gone so quick!
I've eaten enough chicken,
...to make a hungry fox get sick!

Lemon water in the morning,
then smoothie's that are so grand!
Got creative with the spices,
so the food wasn't so bland.

No more ugly muffin tops,
that hang over my pants!
15 pounds down the drain,
time for a happy dance!

PotAto or PoTOTo,
you can give me either one!
Baked, hash brown, or french fries,
potato goodness here I come!

I hope the scale likes this cycle,
like it sure did with the last!
I'll be a sexy mom in no time,
and fat will be the past!

You heard it right!!!! Today is lucky number 17!!! It seriously doesn't feel like it! I cannot believe that it has been 17 days without bread, processed foods, or a drink! I love beer like a 5th child. And with this many children, the love of beer is a requirement to keep you from drowning yourself in a toilet. But I have done it! Don't know how, but I have! Not once did I cheat. The closest I came to cheating was having a itty bitty bite off of a banana to get my 2 y/o to eat it.

So what have I learned during the last 17 days?

• Get a diet buddy! I found one on the 17 DD fan page. We were both starting the same day, and our lives paralleled in many areas, including being managers to our own short person basketball team. Since she is 3 hours ahead, she writes every morning about the good, bad, and ugly (Hi Jennifer!!). It's a neat thing to have for a few reasons. 1) I am sure your friends and family get sick of hearing about your diet. Who wouldn't? 2)They are handy when you want to cheat, and hopefully they can talk you off of the ledge. 3)You get to swap ideas back and forth, and get someone else's input. 4) The utmost best thing about a diet buddy is you make a wonderful new friend! :o) So I want to thank you Jennifer! You have kept me interested, motivated, and out of trouble! This journey wouldn't have been nearly as fun without you walking with me! Love ya, girl! And congrats on your milestone as well! You did an AWESOME job! I am so proud of us both!!

• All yogurts are NOT created equal! Originally I thought I was making a smooth move buying a "light yogurt". I couldn't have been more wrong! It had crazy sugar and carbs! I then switched to Fiber One yogurt which was the 2nd best choice. I finally found "Carbmasters" yogurt, made by Kroger. While some people don't like it, I do... but like I have said, it doesn't take much to impress this lady! My favorite flavors are strawberry, cherry vanilla, and carrot cake is pretty good too! But, if you do buy carrot cake, buy just one to try. LOTS of people hate it!!!

• I don't like green tea. Well, I don't like the ones I "can" have. They only one I can stand is "dieters green tea". I add a little truvia, and lemon. However, this tea has natural laxative properties. While it didn't effect me, I am a horse of a different color.

• With that said, be prepared to get BACKED UP! Seriously. I was to the point of taking 2 laxatives a day, on top of the "tea". I couldn't figure out how this was possible with all the fiber I was getting! Well, I think I have it figured out! Green tea will stop you up, like rush hour on a L.A. freeway! Therefore, I bought green tea capsules at Wallgreens pharmacy.
  

• Eggplant Parmesan is to die for! If you are sick of chicken and fish, try it! Don't wait like I did! Also, I added a bit of FF mozzarella and cheddar. It reminded me of a pizza!!

• I can do anything I put my mind to! If I can do this, so can you! I have about as much willpower as a drunk locked in a beer cooler. But I did it! Anytime I wanted to cheat, I reminded myself that it is was ONLY 17 days! 17 days is a little more than 2 weeks. TWO WEEKS! I also wanted to end the 17th day with a clear conscious. I didn't want any "what if's". With that said, I have cheated more than my fair share on other plans. If you do, it's not the end of the world! You won't be labeled as a cheater with red ink on your forehead! Just jump back on the bus! The destination is worth it!

• Last but not least, I want to thank my readers. Without you, I may have been prone to cheat. There was no way I wanted to log in with the title "Diana's trip to the all-u-can-eat buffet!!" I dunno if I have told you, but I live in Nevada. Where casinos are as thick as grass in a cemetery. Casinos and buffets are best friends. Casino owners add these delicious venues to get people there, especially locals like me. They know if they have an all you can eat crab, lobster, prime rib buffet for $20.00... locals will come. Then they will put a dollar or two into a machine on the way out.

And since we are done with all the mushy, Oscar like tidbits... here is my menu from C1D16. I found an AWESOME app for my iPhone 4. It is called "Fatsecret", and I hear it is also available for the Droid. It allows you to scan the barcode of foods, and comes back with all of the nutritional info, as well as the capability to add to your daily food journal. While it looks like I had plenty to eat yesterday, the calories tell me a different story. 726 calories is not nearly enough, nor is it healthy. When you live on that amount of calories, your body begins to think you have moved to a starving village in Africa, holding onto every ounce of fat, because it knows you will be chased by a cheetah at any moment. This probably explains why I gained 6 tenths of a pound this morning! Obviously it wasn't enough to actually gain anything, and I had PLENTY of water!

• Lemon water
• smoothie with 1c. strawberry yogurt, 1c. Keifer, 1 c. blueberries
• snack- 1 c. of yogurt
• Lunch- 3 turkey sausage links, salad w/ 2 tbls. of FF ranch
• Snack- Red apple
• Dinner- salmon marinated w/ lemon and orange juice, orange zest, basil, and spray butter. Steamed green beans.