Here we go...

Alright, we're officially starting our "lifestyle change" tomorrow. Official weigh-in for me, 132 lbs (yeah, not sure where that extra couple of lbs came from, being a woman is AWESOME), for Paul 219 lbs. On the menu tomorrow for me is, for breakfast I'm going to see if I can handle an omelet, I'm not fond of eggs, but we got substitute for me and I'm going to load it up with everything I can get my hands on, and a V-8, 1st snack: celery sticks with low-fat laughing cow cheese; lunch: salad with homemade balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil with green peppers, mushrooms and garbanzo beans with a sugar free gelatin dessert; 2nd snack: lettuce wraps with low-fat cheese, ham and tomatoes; dinner: grilled chicken, mashed "potatoes" (made with cauliflower-I'll let you know how it turns out), grilled veggies; dessert: ricotta cheese (part-skim) with unsweetened cocoa powder, vanilla extract, instant coffee and mini chocolate chips.

Had to share that because this is the weirdest diet, I never eat this much food, and definately rarely eat breakfast, so that's what's going to be hardest for me. Eating breakfast and giving up potatoes (for two weeks). I can still have my coffee although it's recommended to only indulge in 16 oz. of caffeinated stuff which shouldn't be a problem, since I recently gave up all soda with caffeine and haven't cracked in five days. I'll allow myself the occasional diet dr. pepper, but didn't buy a 12-pack. Too much temptation there. Paul is most freaked out about giving up his bread for two weeks, but he loves eggs and fish, so he's two up on me so far. I'll keep you all posted on our progress and hopefully, soon we'll be at our respective goals of 115 lbs and 195 lbs. and Paul will have great cholestoral and triglycerides (although I'll never know since he won't go to the doctor and get tested). What surpised me the most so far, is the price of the food for the diet. We got enough food for 1 to 1-1/2 weeks and we only spent about the same as we usually do with all the processed foods, chips, frozen pizzas, etc. I thought this would be way more expensive since we were buying so many fresh veggies, but it wasn't! We're following the SB diet to the letter for the first two weeks and see where that gets us, then we'll start adding back in good carbs, like whole grain breads, etc. Then once we hit our goals, we can move into the lifetime management phase, which we can pretty much have almost anything with good carbs, fruits, etc. Though no more beer :(

I'm hoping we can stick with this, but I've heard that day 3 of the detox can be really rough. Mostly people feel tired and out of sorts. I figure this must be the same as quitting smoking. Your body completely rids itself of the nicotine by day three and that's usually the worst day. Maybe your body cleanses the carbs out by day three and that's when you feel it the most. We indulged tonight and had spinach artichoke dip with chips and Paul had a steak with mashed potatoes and Texas toast (I even gave him mine, not too big on bread), and I had steak tips with taters too, and Paul had his final beers.

So, wish us luck and hope we can handle this and pretty soon, it'll me in a bikini this summer and Paul in a Speedo (hahahaha, yeah right).

Love,
B