Completion of Week 3!

Today is officially day 20, but it's Monday, and as we all know by now, it's the weigh in day. This morning I went to my appointment, and the results sort of amazed me. I weighed less today on the doctor's scale than I did on mine, which is a switch! I was a little nervous, because for some reason I seem to think I'm going to have gained 2 pounds in the drive from work to the office-I obsess just a little bit over this!

I got there today, stood on the scale and found out that this week I lost 6.4 pounds for a total of 18.8 pounds so far. The medical assistant was thrilled, kept saying everything was great and I was doing fantastic. I'm sure she says that to everyone, but I feel really good about the progress.

I've still not deviated from the program. It's just not worth it to me. I'm motivated, I'm starting (finally!) to see a difference in my clothes, in my face and just overall the way that I feel. I've actively started a workout program on Wii Fit and do 45 minutes of Basic & Advanced Step 4 times a week. I have noticed that this actually makes me want to go to sleep a little earlier. That's definitely a good thing!

A couple of people had encouraged me to take new pictures of myself every week and post them here to show the progress. Well, I haven't been doing that, I think it's a little too much of me! But this weekend my God-daughter and her family were here and her mom took a few pictures so I could see if there was any progress.

I'm still debating on wheter to post the picture that I have that shows me at probably my heaviest ever weight. It was 3 years ago, next month. Just after starting my job, and when I look at that, I'm really amazed. I've decided not to post that picture quite yet. Someday, I'm sure it will be here!

So, here's the progress from October 2008:


And the start of the program:


And....yesterday, three weeks after the start of the program:


So, at this point, I'm fantastically happy with the progress, and don't anticipate any challenges that I haven't already made it through. I've determined that I can still occasionally eat out and still stay on plan. There's something I can eat everywhere, as long as they have grilled chicken and salad, I'm good to go! I am determined and focused and ready to meet the goal.

In closing, I just want to point out---some people emailed me or messaged me on Facebook and said they were unable to comment on the blog. If you don't have a Blogger ID or a Google account, you can post using the "Anonymous" option and just leave your name (if you wish) in the comment itself.

“Don't wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful.”

Work Week Challenge-MET!

I did it! My last post talked about how I felt as though I might struggle with drinking a gallon of water while being on the road on Thursday. It was almost easier than a regular day!

I brought a bottle (3 liter) of water with me in the car and my 1.5 liter, obnoxiously large, water bottle that I drink out of at home. I finished one full 1.5 liter bottle before even reaching our first agency appointment. Then I drank another throughout the day and of course, water with lunch. I then went out to watch the BCS game and drank what felt like another 1/2 gallon of water during that whole night. What a great game!

So, the water challenge this week definitely wasn't Thursday-but it's almost been a struggle every other day this week! Today I'm trying to fight a cold. You'd think that with all the fluid and vitamins I've been consuming, I wouldn't get sick, but alas, I am!

I really want some comfort food. When I don't feel well there are two things I like and want. I want a grilled cheese sandwich and gatorade. Neither of which I can have. It's a good thing I don't have any bread! I was going to make scallops and snow crabs for dinner, but I want to enjoy it and tonight I don't think I would!

It's been a quiet day, lots of Lifetime Movie Network and lounging on the couch. It was a beautiful day and I missed the whole darn thing! I hate being sick, but I met my challenge and I'm thrilled about that!

“Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try.”

Completion of Week 2!

Today was the official weigh in for week # 2 on the program. I'm happy to say that in two weeks, I'm 20% to my goal! I weighed today with a 4.2 pound loss from last week for a total of 12.4 pounds in two weeks.

Last week I blogged about upcoming challenges being New Year's Eve and Girls Night. I've blogged about New Year's Eve already. Girls Night was much the same as New Year's Eve. NO issues with wanting what I couldn't have.

Girls Night has been at my house, so I get to plan the menu...of course, this time I just assumed it'd benefit me! I planned a menu of flank steak stuffed with spinach and cheese (mine, minus the cheese) a huge, yummy salad with portabella mushrooms, red peppers, cucumbers and spring lettuce mix, we also had steamed broccoli and mashed potatoes (none for me, thanks!). Dinner was great, but with this awesome group of women, it's definitely not about the food. I'm still sore from all the laughing!

I didn't do the appetziers I usually do, instead I asked the girls to bring appetizers and dessert. They looked amazing. There was a cheeseball (cheese is my weakness) and crackers and fresh sliced tomatoes with fresh mozzarella and french bread. Didn't touch any of it---celery is my new snack of choice! Dessert looked great too, but I stuck to fruit and water. Not even a pomegranate martini!

One difficult thing I realized this week is that I love to cook, mostly for other people. This is not typically a problem, however, I like to cook homemade things and I'm pretty limited as to what I can eat. I still very much enjoy cooking what I can't eat for other people, it's a small way I give back. My very good friends, Chris & Wayne are out of town for 8 days working, so I offered to make them some food to take with them since they are living in a hotel for so many days. I made my homemade chicken parmesan and a baked pasta dish. One thing I used to do is taste as I was cooking, to make sure there was enough of this or enough of that. Well, neither dish is on 'the plan', so I didn't taste as I went. I didn't even lick my fingers! Not that it was difficult to go through that---but my issue is I cooked for them, I care about what I made and have no clue if it is even any good! I told them if it sucked, I was sorry, but I didn't taste it first to make sure it was okay. God, I hope it's good! LOL

At the visit today, I did ask the questions that I had. I asked about the eggs--she said occasionally have a scrambled egg, but that in the hard-boiled ones sometimes people throw away the yolk. I certainly wasn't doing that. She also said that balsamic vinegar is fine to use as well. I'm actually getting used to the taste of red wine vinegar with salads though.

I talked to a friend from high school today who was curious as to what I was doing when I posted a Facebook status showing the total weight loss. She had an appointment to start a similar thing on Wednesday and wanted to know the real scoop. I know you'll do great, A! Call me if you need some more information and DRINK THAT WATER!!

I've started to actually notice a bit of the difference in losing 12 pounds. I can finally see in the mirror a difference, albeit not much, in my sides and in my face a bit. It's just more self-determination to continue on.

My friends and family have been super supportive, much more so than I expected. I thought my father would be upset that I was paying all this money for this, that I was taking medication to do it, etc... but I was willing to take that risk to get to my goal. Well, he certainly wasn't upset. He's thrilled and encouraging...(especially when he heard the words physician monitored!). My mom was here this weekend, and while I had nothing she wanted to eat on Sunday before she left, she was happy as well. I love hearing the encouragement and it helps immensely to get up and do it all over again the next day.

People at work are pretty much aware now and it's not the 'big secret' I thought I was going to make it. Funny how that works! I guess the more people that know, the more encouragement I'm going to get! :) DUH!

In closing, I thought this was a great quote...considering my start time for this program!

People are so worried about what they eat between Christmas and the New Year, but they really should be worried about what they eat between the New Year and Christmas. ~Author Unknown

A great start to 2009!

Happy New Year!

Today is day 9 of the program and it remains something that has been relatively easy to do. This morning, by my scale I was down 13 pounds. I seem to weigh about a pound more at the official weigh in, but I hope that I can attribute that to heavier clothes, the time of day (I weigh in at the doctor at 4:00 in the afternoon) and the fact that, typically by then, I'm pretty much done drinking the gallon of water. Either way, I'm very happy with the progress and the ease at which I can say no to any temptations.

Last night I was at Chris & Tina's New Year's Eve pajama party. We had dinner and the only thing I couldn't have was the potatoes, but the grilled vegetables and pork were fantastic. I also was able to snack on grapes and some of the veggies. There was definitely things that I liked, that I didn't have, but I don't think I had any less fun because I didn't have those things. One of those things was alcohol. At one point, Wayne asked what would happen if I did drink. The program strongly advises that you don't because of the medication side-effect potential. I told him I didn't know, probably nothing, but that it didn't matter, because I wasn't going to "cheat" by having a drink. Instead, I drank water.

At 11:55 I was pouring champagne into glasses for everyone to toast. I had decided I would toast and have a sip of champagne. Midnight struck, we all shouted Happy New Year, hugged and kissed our loved ones and toasted to 2009. I toasted and dumped my champagne into someone else's glass. I didn't do it. Not even a sip!

I've also managed to figure out meals. In the beginning I was having this or that and struggling with breakfast and the like. I've determined I can make an omlette with egg whites, fat free sharp cheddar, deli ham and green peppers and onions and it's pretty dang good! Tonight I made salmon baked with dill, cucumber and onions and steamed broccoli and fresh veggie sticks. It just takes a little imagination, and maybe a "focused" trip to the grocery store!

Yesterday I cleaned out my pantry and freezer of all of the things I can't have on the program. There was probably 6 bags of groceries I brought over to Chris & Tina's house so that it would get eaten instead of going bad and being thrown out. I still have one more party this week to get through, girls night dinner at my house on Saturday, but I've got the menu planned and should be good to go.

I'm anticipating Monday's weigh in and have a few questions about the food plan to get straightened out. I'm allowed 1 hard-boiled egg as a serving, or two egg whites. I get why the difference, but the thing I don't quite understand is why the egg has to be hard-boiled. Why can't I have one scrambled egg? It's just odd that the list is specific to hard-boiled. Also, I want to know can I have balsamic vinegar-it specifically says rice vinegar or red/white wine vinegar. I'm not sure again of the reasons there. Lots of little clarification pieces. It is what it is, but I just want to understand it!

That's all the latest from here. I hope you all had a safe and happy New Year's celebration and are looking forward to a fantastic 2009.

Completion of Week 1

So, today was the official end of the first week and the weigh in and medication refill. I made it through the week at 100% on the program and it's been relatively easy, with no deviation from the program at all.

Saturday was my most difficult day so far. For some reason I was hungry all day. It was Day 5 and the start of phase 2 of the program, where I am able to add fruits and vegetables and unlimited amounts of "diet gelatin" YUM!

I anticipated Saturday for four days, just to have a salad. I went to Publix, bought everything I wanted for it. I needed fat-free salad dressing and on Saturday afternoon made what I thought looked like a pretty good salad. I got the dressing out of the fridge and reviewed my "rules" only to find out that the dressing was 10 calories over the allowable. I know what you're all thinking, it's only 10 calories...I stood there for a minute and contemplated what to do. I put the salad dressing back in the fridge and used the olive oil and vinegar that was allowable on the plan. YAY!

After the salad, I was hungry all day. I hadn't been hungry any of the other days, and yesterday and today was not hungry either. I didn't finish my water until late on Saturday, so maybe that was it. I don't know.

Anyway, at the official weigh in today, I was down 8.2 pounds from last week. I had to see the doctor today for him to review my bloodwork, which was all normal. The first thing he said to me when he looked at my chart was, "You didn't cheat, I can tell". He was amazed at the progress in a week, especially a holiday week. He encouraged me to add exercise into the routine this week and expect a 2-5 pound loss next week, as long as I stay on plan.

We discussed the medication and the mood I've been in since starting this. I told him I wasn't exactly sure what was in the meds, but I want more! I've just been in a fantastic mood. Nothing much seems to bother me, I'm happy, rested, energetic and just feeling great. I sure hope this part doesn't go away!

He did tell me that it will start to become harder to fight temptation, that I'll start "showing" the loss and people will say things like "you've done so good, one bite won't hurt" but I assured him that my support system is phenomenal and I didn't feel like it was an issue.

I go back next Monday-every Monday from now til the end and will keep you posted along the way.

Potential challenges for this week: New Year's Eve party and Girls Night dinner, but I have the determination to get through both!

Wishing you all a safe and happy New Year!!

By the way-there is a link at the bottom of the blog if you'd like to subscribe and receive the posts in email. It prevents you from coming here to check and see if I've posted anything.

Program Detail and How Things Change

Since I did the posts yesterday, I realized I didn't put my goal in here anywhere! As of right now, the goal is to lose 62.2 pounds. My initial goal was 52.2 and the date was July 4th, but I'm going to not change my date for now and see what happens when I talk to the doctor on Monday.


Mondays are the official weigh in days. Mondays I also get the medication refills and the injection.


A little about all that: The medications are three different things. One is a pharmacy grade multivitamin with minerals. One is called Calcium Pyruvate and it helps burn body fat, increases endurance and improved physical performace as well as helps maintain lead body tissue and aids in increasing muscle mass. The last one is Phendimetrazine, the appetite suppressant. I'm not so much a medicine person, so the difficult part of this for me is taking 11 pills throughout the day. There are 4 times during the day I am supposed to take the meds. I had to put a reminder in my phone so that I'd remember to take them.


There is also a weekly injection and that includes: MIC, Chromic Chloride and Vitamin B12. The MIC is Methionine which prevents fatigue, works as an antioxidant and has lipotropic actions, Inositil helps with redistributing body fat and promotes healthy hair and skin and the Choline helps to control weight and cholesterol levels, also helps prevent gallstones. The Chromic Chloride regulates carbohydrate metabolism and blood sugar. The B-12 part is the "energy vitamin".

This must be what has me bouncing off the walls sometimes. The one issue I am having is that I'm not sleeping well. Well, that's not entirely true. I'm sleeping well, once I get to sleep. I just haven't been tired at all. The other night I was on Wii Fit at 12:30 because I was awake and nobody was on Facebook to chat with! I've been going to bed about 2 hours later than prior to the program start. I might need to ask the doctor about that on Monday.


I certainly seem to have more energy and really, I've been in a great mood. I'm not sure why, I just feel like I'm a lot cheerier than I maybe was a few weeks ago. I'm just happy and motivated and I know I'm on a mission!


Let's talk about water--do you all know how much water I drank before this all started? Right--NONE! Michelle is not a water lover!! I'd be lucky to drink something other than tea at lunch and a cup of coffee in the morning, if I even had coffee.


Now, I have two problems! I got this awesome coffee maker for Christmas, it's like a "crack-machine"! It's one of those Keurig single cup brewers. Everytime I go in the kitchen I make a cup of coffee or tea. Luckily most of the tea is caffeine free, but I used to drink one cup a day, if that, and now I want coffee all the time.


So, now I want coffee, but I have to drink a gallon of water a day---yes, a GALLON! So I've pretty much resigned myself to a schedule. One cup of coffee when I wake up and run down to the crack machine, then at least 1 liter of water before I can have any more coffee. There are 3.78 liters of water in a gallon. I've been drinking a full 4 liters. The goal is one liter before lunch, one liter at lunch, one in the afternoon and one with dinner/evening. Then I can finish the night off with hot tea. So far it's working well, but drinking that much water has definitely been a change for me. I think I need to buy stock in Zephyrhills Water Company!


Thanks for reading and thank you all for your support!



Never give up. Every step you take is one step closer to success... or a step closer to destruction. You choose...

It's Day 5

It's day 5 of the journey and since I just started this blog, I'll just say that today starts phase 2 where I am able to add in fruits and vegetables.

The first 4 days of the program are strictly lean and very lean proteins. I made it through the first day (and hadn't told my friends yet) with much success and finally an explanation to my friends as to why I didn't eat dinner during our "family Christmas".

Days 2 & 3 were Christmas Eve and Christmas. I arrived at my parents, shopped for food I could eat (chicken, cottage cheese, hard boiled eggs, etc) and while 7 other people ate Spinach Lasagna, sausage, meatballs, caesar salad and desserts galore, I ate my dinner and drank water. As those that know me know, I am not a dessert person, but my absolute favorite dessert is Carrot Cake. Christmas Eve dessert tradition is Carrot Cake (mom, when did that start?!-LOL) and one of my mom's clients makes an "amazing" carrot cake. Not even a temptation to have a bite. I was way proud of that moment! :) Christmas dinner at my uncle's house was the same way-I just did my thing and it was EASY, well, not EASY but none of it phases me.

So far the program has really been manageable for me. I'm drinking the water, I'm eating only when I'm hungry, I'm taking the meds and I don't feel like I'm losing out on anything. Last night for Friday Night Party Night we went to the movies, the popcorn smelled great, but no desire for any. After the movies we went out to have a drink and a snack. I had "servings" left in my day, so I had cold, steamed shrimp and more water. I had a great time, not having food or drink didn't seem to diminsh the fun I had. Don't get me wrong....I'd love to have a drink, but I am on a mission.

Yesterday I bought a pair of "transition" jeans in a size 10....I can't wait to wear them!!

This morning, I was down 8#, but I'm sure most of that is water at this point. But every day and every pound motivates me even more.

How The Journey Came About

This past Tuesday, December 23, I started a "Weight Management Program". It's a medically supervised program with medication, weekly injections, and a food plan. I went to the consult on Monday and even the girl who did the consult was trying to discourage me from starting Christmas week.

My thought in this as I made the consult appointment was that I was ready. For those who know me, when I decide I'm doing something....I'm doing it. There's not much changing my mind.

How this all came about: I moved back to Florida almost two years ago. Since that time I've lost quite a bit of weight, and have maintained the weight loss, but wasn't really doing anything to continue losing. I'd thought about doing different things, but I have a friend who was on this program and it worked well for her. We had been discussing that sometimes going out to dinner you end up eating like it's the Last Supper.

I finally have gotten tired of food controlling everything in my life. When I decided that I could afford the program (it's quite expensive) and decided I was going to do it, I did. My point to the girl at the office that tried to discourage me by a couple of weeks, was...well, I still have to eat then too. I could wait until after Christmas, but on January 3 I'll have some friends over for a dinner party and my mom will be in town. So, I could wait til after that. Well, on February 7, my friends are throwing me a birthday party, so maybe I should wait til after that. But, on February 17 it's my birthday....so maybe.....WHATEVER.....there's always a reason.

I thought if I could make it through Christmas week, family dinners, etc...then I could make it through anything....so it begins.

This is the journey through the experience.