I'll tell you what you can do with your "points"!

Sticking with this weight loss plan has been for me, what Mexico was for Bunny in "Ed Wood"-a nightmare. I have been following the Weight Watchers plan for so long that I always know how to tailor it to suit my needs. That means that I know exactly how much to eat to feel full and ultimately maintain what is my current weight.  Call it self-sabotage, no willpower, whatever, all I can say is that the past few months have been trying for me.  


One of my inlaws recently started doing the "Flat Belly Diet", which intrigued me, so about two weeks I got the book, read it and tried to do the plan, which started off with a four day anti-bloat cleanse type deal.  I enlisted Jay (my husband) because the plan requires you to not drink coffee or tea for the four day start, and I couldn't bear to not have any caffeine in my system and watch him guzzling the ol Irish Breakfast tea morning, noon and night!  Well, we made it ten hours, had headaches that would stop a herd of elephants, and decided that it wasn't for us.  This was not a bad thing however- here's why:


The plan talks about eating foods that flow easily through your *-ahem-* intestines-raisins instead of grapes, and other foods high in mono-unsaturated fatty acids (seeds, olives, olive oils, avocado...) which reduce stomach (belly) fat.  The concept wasn't new to me, but after reading the book I felt like I had a better understanding of how these fatty acids really work. This is something that WW does not touch-I feel like with WW they are leaving it up to you, in that yes, you can use your points on these fabulous minimally processed belly fat burning fatty acids foods, or you can load up and use your points on a super processed Smart Ones and oh my gosh-PIZZA!!....   


Anyway, the moral of the story is that I have eliminated approximately 95% of the processed foods from my diet, cut out coffee approximately 99% (I am a recovering coffee addict, my name is Marcella, and yes, I will have to force myself to sit on the sofa and count to ten to avoid getting up and having a steaming cup of java ONLY because I just saw Nurse Jackie drinking one on her way to work) and switched to tea.  The switch of coffee to tea also means that I've cut out cream, and replaced it with lactose free Almond Milk.  Oh- I am also a recovering diet sodie addict. I could down a gallon of Diet Peps a day and not blink, and now I am happy to say that I am two weeks diet sodie free! I had three 8 oz regular crappy high fructose corn syrup cokes with Jamaican rum last week, but I'm not counting that, we're talking diet sodie right now!!  I feel like just by eliminating the coffee and diet chemical drinks alone I am doing so well.  


Here's what I'm drinking instead of the diet sodie, it's from the Flat Belly Diet plan (they call it "sassy water", I call it floatie water and have to drink it kinda fast to avoid gagging sometimes):


1 pitcher of ice cold water (put ice in if you like)
1 medium organic lemon sliced thin with the seeds taken out
1/2 peeled sliced organic cucumber
1 inch chunk of ginger root peeled and grated
12 sprigs of organic mint (rinsed)

Mix this up, chill it, and enjoy. It's actually really really good and helps ward off that bloated feeling we all get from our daily eating, stress, and whatnot.


What is my point? Did I have one? Oh yes-- let's talk numbers... It has been approximately two weeks since my big epiphany, which honestly feels like someone has handed me a winning lottery ticket-I feel amazing, and my summer clothes from 2007 (the summer before I got pregnant and had the twins) are fitting loosely. Last spring/summer they were tighty McTighties.  Numbers... yes, I keep forgetting...
Pre epiphany: something something four (that is two pounds heavier than my original starting weight on my first blog entry btw)
2 Weeks Post epiphany: down to the next set of numbers: something something seven   (that would be down a total of seven pounds)


So onwards to my goal:  Forty pounds minus seven pounds equals: thirty three pounds to my ultimate goal weight!  


How I plan to keep going is the topic for another day... Have a fabulous weekend!