The Diet

I had quite the surprise this morning when I stepped on the scale.

First, I noted the baby powder I spilled the night before.  Second, I noticed my weight.

My weight.  No exercise but golf, and asthma attacks seem to be on the increase.  The summer of love and remodeling has left me at a hefty 181.4 pounds, which is 3.4 pounds more than I weighed when nine months pregnant.

Stuffed and flappy.

Now, I will be the first to admit I loved where a lot of my fat landed.  I got curvy for the first time in my life; my breasts going up two full cup sizes while the band stayed the same.  My backside, always curvaceous, grew rounder...in honesty, except for the fact my stomach dropped into my lap and my thighs looked like stuffed sausage, I liked how I looked.  I finally had a true hourglass figure!

I also looked pregnant.

The Buckeye told me I looked beautiful, and I know he wasn't lying.  I however, had no money for an entirely new wardrobe; literally 80% of my closet did not fit!!!  I knew my healthy weight was about 155 pounds; it's where I got stuck for months early in my fitness quest.  While before I strictly exercised and limited carbs, this time I knew if I dieted exercise wasn't going to be a focus.

Get this:  GOLFING, in a CART, burns about 550 calories.  Who knew?

So when I happened on an article about a diet that reversed diabetes that mentioned an existing similar diet, I was intrigued.  Diabetes runs in my family, so my weight gain made me more aware of it.  The article, Type-2 Diabetes Reversible?, referred to the 5:2 Fast Diet; a diet where you consume one-quarter of your calories twice a week.  The other days, you eat regularly.

I liked the sound of that.

Ice cream with mulberry jam.  Pure heaven (and I love eating regularly!)

I mentioned it to the Buckeye, who had suggested before we diet together.  He liked the idea of only two "diet days" and we agreed Monday and Wednesday would be our days.  Monday night we always had dinner together after Special Olympics, and Wednesday's we spent apart; often reuniting on Thursday (his Friday night.)  So on the Saturday before we started, I noted my weight, 181.4 pounds.  It is very likely the most I have ever weighed.

Last week was our first Monday, and we had planned on Sunday what our meals would be.  He had 600 calories and I had 500 calories; breakfast was easy as I had my coffee with sugar and he had his black coffee with two hard boiled eggs.  We split an avacado for lunch, and each added a tuna packet with unsweet tea to drink.   That afternoon I felt hungry, and ate a stalk of celery and some baby carrots for a snack.  Golfing was fine, with water ever present, and for dinner we each had chicken noodle soup.  We went to bed full, and expected to be ravenous the next day.

We were not.

Shockingly, neither of us felt the need to gorge, and we each admitted to eating smaller portions than normal.  Our awareness of calories did help us make better choices, but I won't say I ate healthy.  In fact, I had Chick-fil-A for lunch (3 piece strip meal with unsweet tea but 3 chick-fil-a sauces!) and Sonic for dinner (hatch chile cheeseburger, tots and unsweetened tea.  My awareness of calories made me choose two under 1000 calorie choices--and that's all I had for the day.  I ate fast food, but stayed under 2000 calories.  Wednesday was our second fast day, I had my coffee with creamer, and opened a can of chunky sirloin soup.  I split it in half, and added a full can of green beans to it for lunch.  It was delicious!  For dinner I did the same but added an additional can of mushrooms-sooooo yummy and sooooo under calorie I had 3 cups of popped popcorn sprinkled with fondor for dessert!!  At 500 calories I was FULL when I went to bed!

Thursday-Sunday I ate as normal; Saturday morning I weighed myself.  178.6 pounds!  I was down 2.8 pounds, in my first week!  The Buckeye clocked in right at 2 pounds lost, so we celebrated with half-birthday ice cream.

Yes.  Ice cream to celebrate weight loss:)

Granted, it was a small cup, but it WAS Cold Stone Creamery.  And yummy!

So yesterday was my third fast day; being stressed by life I forgot it was until standing in line at a coffee shop at lunch.  I had only had coffee (which the app Lose It! had told me was 100 calories sense I doctor mine with coconut oil...ugh!) so I grabbed a veggie box and I sweet green tea for lunch.  It was 56 calories...and then I played golf with only mild hunger.

I was totally distracted!

When we got home we had our same chicken noodle, which meant I had 164 calories I could still consume.  Remembering the sweet potatoe chips in the cupboard, I gleefully discovered that 17 chips made one serving at 160 calories.

I picked out the 17 biggest chips😎

So this morning, after a tough day of stress yesterday, I decide to weigh myself after coffee.  I figured I must have gained weight over the weekend.

I weighed 175.4 pounds.  I'd lost 6 pounds in ten days.

Yep.  Exactly how I felt, too!

So I'm shocked, as I had ice cream, fast food and other no-no's, but I admit to making less calorie food choices.  I also golfed three times, and the remodel of the house is requiring light physical labor.

I also seem to have lost my breasts....😳

I am excited to see where this goes; adding the Lose It! app I am able to easily chart my calories and plan to do so daily to fulfill my curiosity.  While a regular exercise routine other than golf is improbable at the moment, it IS exercise, much to my shock.  What a surprise this little thing has made...and as a good weight is part of fitness, I'll be sure to keep you updated!