Hi folks!
Thought I would give you an update about my progress with the 17 Day Diet, since the last time I posted about it, I told you that I had paused. Remember that prior to starting this diet that I was eating well-balanced, healthy meals with the occasional indulgence; this would have been a great plan if it wasn’t for the 2 1/2 month hiatus from any sort of calorie burning exercise – damn back injury! I re-started the “diet” on Monday, January 30th, and it’s mostly going well, though there have been a few roadblocks I’ve had to navigate around.
On Tuesday, I attended a PD session with Dr. Steven Layne (an excellent children’s author and expert on engaging students of all ages in reading – check him out; you won’t be disappointed! But I digress…back to the Diet). Before hand, I had been told by the powers that be that “there will be a variety of healthy options, including some vegetarian items.” Now, I have no desire to be a vegetarian, but that statement assured me that there would be something there for me that would fit the 17 Day Diet. Wrong. Would you like to know what “healthy” options my school division served for breakfast? Banana bread and scones, and a syrup-y fruit salad. Yum. For lunch we were served Caesar salad, dinner rolls, lasagna, vegetarian lasagna and cake. “Healthy options” my ass. They did try to appease the vegetarian people, so I suppose I’ve got to give them some credit for that. I did eat some banana bread and lasagna, but it’s a good thing I stashed a yogurt and two pieces of fruit in my purse!
Later that night I hosted book club* and that only happens once every month and a half to two months, so I had already planned a little indulgence. I enjoyed a glass of red wine (or four – who’s counting?) and sampled the appies (Spanikopita with Tzatziki, hummus dip, guacamole, pepperoni and cheese tray, and a cinnamon roll) in place of my regular dinner. My friend Tiffany also brought a delightful surprise dip that was like a Village Greek salad and hummus dip rolled into one (If you are reading this Tif, can I please get the recipe?). I know it’s sorta lame that I “indulged” on Day 2 of my diet, but I really believe that (unless food has become an unhealthy addiction for you) it’s okay to roll with the punches, enjoy foods that make you happy, and then get right back on track. So that is what I did.
I ate well all of Wednesday and all day Thursday, but enjoyed the Roast Beef buffet and a few beers at the Edmonton Oilers game Thursday night. That’s right – I was at that game. Sam Gagner tied Wayne Gretzky and Paul Coffee for an Oilers’ points record: he had 4 goals and 4 assists for 8 points total on the night. It was incredible…and there is nothing wrong with celebrating a little bit when a player from your team has that kind of night – even if I did start the celebrating before the game actually began!
Other than those few “indulgences,” I’ve been eating quite well: lots of fruit, veggies and lean protein. Today is Day 9 and I was down to 148.6 lbs this morning. That is a 5 lb drop from Day 1, and means that I’ve got 13 lbs more to go to reach my goal. I’ll keep you posted!
* We read John Grisham’s The Confession for book club, but I didn’t finish it (do you remember how hectic this past month has been for me?!). The other ladies in my book club all scored the book at 3 out of 5 fingers, and told me that I would be better off starting one of the books from my giant “to read” pile than attempting to finish reading The Confession. That probably tells you all you need to know about the book.
eat.laugh.love.sweat 