The Diet Diaries: Entry #5

So my diet is almost over. And I feel great! I have lost some weight, my immune system is back up and running, and I am finally able to digest food properly. Because of this great triumph, I have let myself slip a little bit on the diet. Which I know I shouldnt do, but I couldnt help it! I miss sanwhiches and cheese and butter and chocolate! (Note: I only had these things ONCE and in very small amounts).
I think the hardest thing about this diet was the wheat aspect. In my daily life I avoid dairy because my stomach does not like milk very much. But wheat is in practically everything that I eat! I never realized how much toast and sandwhiches and pasta I ate before I couldnt have it anymore! I would open my cuppord and my roommates English muffins would be begging me to eat them! I love english muffins, but I was able to say no and keep strict to the diet. The one time I ate bread was because for lunch I had a lot of fruit and sometimes my stomach gets upset with just fruit in it. So to counteract that, I got a slice of dry toast to go with it. I only ate half of it and it kept my stomach at bay.
I am hoping once I am released from the rules of this diet, I will not be so tempted to eat cookies instead of bell peppers. I want to be a healthy person and I want to be at a healthy weight and feel like the best I can feel. Right now I dont. I do not have a lot of extra fat. I do not have enough fat that my health is in the slightest affected, but I have enough that I sometimes do not feel good about myself. I know I can get to a weight that I love my eating healthy and exercising. I hope you will join me. This blog is not for me, its for my readers. (Going back to my High School Musical reference...) we are all in this together! So lets keep it that way.

Until next time
~~Lucy

The Diet Diaries: Entry #4

So I have found through my one week of dieting, that the diet gets easier the longer you do it. Also, being determined to stick to it must help hahaha. My brother was eating some hostess, whipped air, disgusting yet delicious thing yesterday and although I desperately wanted a bite of it, I stuck to my guns and refused to take a bite. He even offered me a bite multiple times! I don't know about you all, but I am rather proud of myself!

Today I woke up at my dad's house, but my health powder was at my mom's house! Instead of giving into my hunger and cheating the diet, I waited until I was showered and dressed then went over to my mom's house to get breakfast. I am not supposed to have breakfast until I have had the powder, so I just combine breakfast and powder into one delicious and nutritious smoothie every morning. Before dinner I have the same thing, just in smaller proportions. The dinner smoothie is usually more power and less fruit than the breakfast smoothie.

I am just glad I can have chicken! If I had to cut out all meat from my life during these 3 weeks, I would go NUTS! I am not trying to say anything against vegetarians! I would love to be a vegetarian. In fact, I was a vegetarian for a while, but I didn't get enough nutrients that I needed so I actually was very depressed and just unhealthy for that time period. After just a few days of eating meat again, I was back to myself. I applaud people who have the will power and the ability to be a vegetarian! I wish I could be one of you, but I believe some people's bodies were meant to have meat and others can live without it.
I still try to avoid eating chicken though. I usually only have a little on a salad or on the side with dinner. Like the other night when me and my mom were making lima bean soup, we cooked up a bit of chicken sprinkled with a bit of garlic salt, and just dropped them into our soup! It was something we had never done before and it was delicious.

Until next time,
~~Lucy

Mom Tip of the Week

This is a tip that my mom gave me while we were making lima bean soup (or green soup as it has been known to me my whole life).

READ THE ENTIRE RECIPE BEFORE BEGINNING TO COOK!!!

While making this soup, I only read the directions one step at a time. That left me almost adding ingredients too early, running around trying to find the right spices, and almost over cooking my lima beans. So please read the entire recipe BEFORE cooking. Make sure you have all the ingredients ready to go also. You do not want to get halfway into making pancakes and realize you do not have syrup!

Another good tip:
Wash dishes DURING the cooking process. If you are waiting for something to boil or something to bake, take that down time to put some hot water and soap in the sink and scrub a few pans. You are going to have to clean them anyway. Might as well do it while waiting for your masterpiece to finish.

Until next time!
~~Lucy

The Diet Diaries: Entry #3

So far so good! My parents have been helping me out A LOT this past week. My mom made me a salad for lunch the other day. It was delicious! It had balsamic vinegar dressing and she cooked some eggplant for me. I am not supposed to have tomatoes, but she forgot until after she made me eggplant. She added a bunch of sun-dried tomatoes with the egg plant and grilled it all in some olive oil. I avoided eating the tomatoes, but the eggplant still had some of the taste and was very good. (Sprinkle the eggplant with salt about 10 minutes before you grill it and it sucks out some of the bitterness that eggplant sometimes has)
My dad made me another salad for dinner. He put teriyaki chicken in it and with the vinaigrette dressing, it was AMAZING. One of the best salads I have had in a while.
Today I moved onto having the healthy powder before breakfast AND dinner. There really is not much else to do with it except throw it in the blender with some fruit. So far I have been sticking to blueberry and banana smoothies. its really delicious! The powder has a light vanilla flavor and adds something to the smoothie. Its not the BEST tasting thing in the world, but its good for me and I have no trouble putting it down.
I'm thinking now that I should have been recording my weight since I started this diet.... But I do not have a scale at my apartment in LA so it would have been difficult to weigh myself up there!

Until next time,
~~Lucy

The Diet Diaries: Entry #2

So far I am doing well today! I was craving Coffee Bean while in the shower, but i reminded myself of the small amount of money I actually have and decided to make a smoothie instead. It had bananas and blue berries, and mango juice and a little bit of plain yogurt. I also added my nutrition powder and it was delicious! and filling.
I think I'm going to have a salad for lunch. and tonight me and the family are going out to dinner so we shall see what is available for me where we go.

Until next time!
~~Lucy

The Diet Diaries: Entry #1

A few weeks ago I was put on antibiotics for a throat infection. Some people don't realize this but antibiotics do not just knock out the bad bacteria in your body, it kills the good bacteria as well. and yes, you have good bacteria in you! The bacteria helps you fight off sickness and some even helps you digest your food. So after I finished my course of antibiotics, (and also finding out that I am allergic to penicillin...) I started having some stomach problems. I would get gassy and have stomach aches after I ate. NOTHING was digesting properly. So yesterday I started on a diet that will get my system back up to par. The diet involves eating mostly vegetables and every day having a spoonful of a powder that will help my immune system. Among the things I cannot eat is beef, dairy, eggs, and caffeine.
I have tried dieting before and its always been very difficult for for. So to make it easier, I am going to blog to you good people about my trials and tribulations during these next 3 weeks. So here you have it, the Diet Diaries.

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Yesterday was the first official day of the diet. I woke up pretty late so it was easier to stick to the plan. I only drank water (minus the chocolate almond milk I mixed the powder in with). For dinner I had a chicken sandwich. I am not supposed to have a lot of bread, but i needed SOMETHING to put the chicken on!
I grilled a small piece of chicken and put it on the bread. After, I spread on a small amount of mayonnaise and mustard. I also sprinkled on a small amount of cajun spices so a bit of extra flavor. For the greens, I put on organic Spring Mix. It was delicious! For a side I had cut up bell peppers. I love bell peppers so it was the perfect side.

This morning I had my almond milk & health powder mix as well as an apple with peanut butter. I know that peanut butter is not exactly on my approved health foods, but it was very tasty and a little bit of peanut butter never killed anyone. You know, unless you're allergic. Then it really would kill you....

So thats how the diet is going so far! We shall see how it goes but I'm feeling good about it so far!! wish me luck!

Until next time,
~~Lucy

UPDATE: Cheated again. had corn chips and artichoke-jalapeno dip. not the WORST thing to cheat with, but still a cheat. I feel badly. I really want to lose some weight and I want to get my health back. I use to be the girl who was never sick. Never. My entire first year of college, I was sick ONCE. ONCE! that is amazing for a regular college person! I fought off every sickness that plagued our school INCLUDING the bout of Swine Flu that came through. I will be more diligent.
The reason I am putting on all my cheats here is to make it more public. So if I cheat, its not just ME who I am cheating, its also my readers. I would be rooting for you guys as I hope you are rooting for me. Tomorrow is a new day and a new will to live healthily.
Until tomorrow