Diet Drama: Rock Bottom Moments

I've slid. I've slid FAR.

So much so that I'm having rock-bottom moments slap me in the face repeatedly. They've been creeping up for some time, but somehow I've ignored them. I've been gleefully stuffing my face, despite horrible warning signs that I'm out of control. Here's a few from the last couple months.

1. No Leftovers.
After many a holiday/birthday/family gathering, no one is offering me food or sweets to take home with me. Hint taken (but mildly ignored)

2. New Fat Pants
What's worse than having to break out the fat pants? Having to buy new ones. It hurt my pride, it hurt my wallet, it hurt my wardrobe to have yet another pair of leggings folded among perfectly fine "normal pants"

3. Spotted: Someone Who Looks Like Me in Pictures
Just saw some pictures of a recent event I went to. There's a girl in a fat suit who looks an awful lot like me. Wait, is she wearing my new fat pants?

4. Not Enjoying Food
I caught myself chowing down on old Valentine candy last night. It was only still around because I didn't like it enough to eat it 2 weeks ago. Yet, there I was, taking the last bites of a tasteless marshmallow heart.

5. I Knock Things Down
I keep walking by things, and they fall. Why? Because I'm not used to having extra inches in the back, or in the front. I'm not totally sure how to wield this new shape.

I think all signs point to the pound party being over. I'll be back here much more often in an attempt to take responsibility for my eating. I'll still be posting reviews about food, workouts, and other nonsense, but starting now, I'm using this as my platform of personal accountability. Hopefully you'll take the ride with me. Lots of drama ahead.

How Embarrassing

July 1st...my last post. Terrifyingly embarrassing if I do say so myself.

The sad part is that I spend the entire summer dedicated to getting my butt in shape for a bucket-list trip to Maui. I did OK, completed 90 Days of ChaLean Extreme (review to come), battled stalled scale numbers, gave in to Atkins to make power moves for 2 weeks before I left.

The most embarrassing part? Yep... those Atkins pounds are back...with a vengeance. I'm not kidding, they are literally punishing me. That's what you get for letting the pendulum swing all the way back - it hits you where it hurts. For me, it's right in the pants. And I'm not just saying that to be clever...my pants are actually taking the brunt of the punishment.

Regardless, I have lots of fun reviews coming up that have been patiently waiting for me to free their respective images from my digital camera. Food, workouts, clothes...it's all on the way.

Getting EXTREME with Chalean Extreme

As I mentioned before, I'm on a diet deadline. Kind of.

I decided I have to just shape up and do whatever I can before my big trip in September. At first I had a number in mind - might have been do-able, but most likely not. So I'm taking a sane approach since my time is limited. I'm thinking long term, with a milestone to shoot for.

To refresh you on the saga so far, I started Nutrisystem again about 5 weeks ago. I'm just getting to the point where I can not take the taste of their food anymore. Which is good, because I need to reevaluate how I'm eating - thanks to Chalene Johnson & her ChaLEAN Extreme program.

ChaLEAN Extreme is a pretty intense exercise video series from the TurboJam creator (another old fave). It's a 90 day program, where you basically do a different workout every day of the week. It's broken up into 3 phases to further mix things up. Burn, Push, Lean. So you have 4 weeks of each workout circuit, then you move on to a new set of exercises.

For those of you familiar with the world of infomercial exercise programs, this is kind of like P90X light. Workouts happen 5 times a week, and are about 35 min long (so far). Don't worry though, your heart rate goes up, and you WILL sweat. There is cardio though. It shakes out as 3 days resistance and 2 days cardio each week.

I'm in Burn phase now, about to finish up my 2nd week. I feel great, I look better, but the scale has eeked up a bit. Not exactly the results I'm looking for.

This is what's spurred me to reevaluate my eating. I thought Nutrisystem would help control things, but I may not be getting enough food to make this extreme thing go according to plan. Some days I barely get 1,000 calories of NS food + grocery items. Not sure that's the best way to fuel my body for intense workouts. My body is loving the workouts, and it shows, so I think NS is getting the shaft.

More on ChaLEAN Extreme to come...stay tuned!

Salad Sabotage - 7 Ways to Avoid Lunchtime Diet Drama

Salad was always the safe choice in a restaurant. A little lettuce, some dressing...maybe a little chicken - and you're golden. No longer true. Restaurants have whipped up some delish sounding salads - and while they sound amazing (and diet-friendly) they are the devil in disguise!

Thanks to books like Eat This, Not That - and regularly regurgitated Diet Shockers stories on every talk show & morning show - we can now arm ourselves with the right info in order to avoid salad sabotage. In fact, check out their website for 15 Atrocious Salads. You'll be flabbergasted.

So what can you do to save yourself from a monster salad?

1. Count the Words: The more words that appear before the word "Salad" - the worse off you are.
Asian Sensation Crispy Mandarin Chicken Salad - not good.
Garden Salad - better.

2. Eat Half: Or at least shoot for eating half. Many of these dangerous salads clock in at over 1,000 calories. If you can stop yourself at half, you'll be saving yourself from diet drama later on. If you want to get really crazy, dump a ton of pepper, salt, or a clashing condiment (ketchup?) on when you've reached the half way point.
Drastic? Yes.
Conversation piece? You bet.
Good to do at a business lunch? Not so much.

3. Go Veggie: The meat is half the battle. Some salads contain the equivalent of a whole platter of chicken strips. If you wouldn't order that meal, you shouldn't get duped by the salad. Stick to the vegetarian options, or just request no meat (or 1/2 meat) when ordering.

4. Fry & Die: Fried anything is not your friend when it comes to salad. That includes tortilla strips, crispy noodles, or tostada (sometimes code name for giant tortilla bowl). Fried chicken, shrimp, or chicken fried shrimp also should be avoided.

5. Order off the Menu: Modify whenever possible! Most restaurants will honor your special requests (believe me, they'll find a way to charge you for whatever you want to buy). I'm a fan of requesting grilled (or blackened) shrimp with no oil to replace chicken in salad.

6. Easy on the Cheese: This is advice I should take more often. Much of the time that delish cheese that makes your chicken salad a Taco Chicken Salad is weighing you down. Ask for no cheese, or get cheese on the side so you can control how much goes in.

7. Dressing on the Side: Tried and true! Only you can prevent dressing overload. Avoid pouring on too much by dipping your fork in before spearing at your veggies. It's a classic technique for a reason.

On a Diet Deadline

Yep, we're supposed to be generally healthy. But guess what - we all have those deadlines we need to meet: weddings, vacations, holidays.

I'm now up against one of those deadlines. The ultimate bikini destination: Hawaii

You might be saying "Yeah....good luck with that. You've been MIA for months. Chances are you've been way off the wagon". If you are saying that - you'd be right. I've been chasing the wagon - huffing and puffing, dropping my hands to my knees as I gasp for breath. Life has been throwing some crazy stuff at me this year.

Two big things going on with me:
1. New Job! So excited about taking on a new challenge, new scenery, new everything. Not an easy decision...it required quite a bit of pizza and beer.

2. Tree VS My House. In the Northeast we got BLASTED with wind in March. It was beyond scary. I was one of the many people who sustained damage to my home. A big, fat, double-trunk tree walloped my roof - rendering my master bedroom a disaster zone. We're still working on repairs months later. The end is finally near though - we should be getting walls back this week! This "big thing" resulted in my seeking refuge in Thai takeout and fried potatoes in multiple forms.

I've earned my Hawaiian getaway, now I just have to earn my body back. Last week, I went back to my old friend Nutrisystem (desperate times...) and now I'm ready to get my body moving. I'm also ready to get back to accountability - which means blogging more often. I do have lots to talk about - I've been in disaster mode, but it doesn't mean I've removed diet drama from my life.

My second stop (after Nutrisystem.com) is Women's Health. I got an email today tailored to my situation: The Deadline Diet. It seems full of ambitious, yet sane advice. I'll see if I can make something work from the article.

Stay tuned...I'm back and ready to kick my own ass!

Shop Love: Comfy, Cozy, Stretchy Skirt from Athleta

I want to proclaim this the only skirt you ever really need. It's that comfy, it's that versatile.

I've become a huge fan of Athleta over the past year. I purchased a bathing suit (this one) from them before my last vacation, and it was amazing: cute, but made for a woman (not a model). And I could actually move in it without fear of unintentional nudism. I was hooked!

As the weather cooled, I needed to update my wardrobe. I needed versatile pieces though. Something I could wear when I lost weight, as well as when I put a few on after the holidays (and boy did I). Enter Athleta's Roll Over Sweater Skirt.

This skirt has pretty much been my uniform this winter. It's crazy comfortable, and looks good with tights and tall boots. Plus it fits no matter what. It's made of stretchy sweater material that doesn't really cling (unless you're a static machine...which I sometimes am).

I started with the universal Black - and picked up another in Mallard Blue. They're currently on sale, but still an investment. But for a 3-season skirt, it's worth it. Highly recommended for ladies with weight in transition (up or down), expecting moms, and anyone looking for a cozy winter-friendly skirt.

Holy Holiday Damage!

Ok, so I've been a little ashamed to post this, but OH MY GOD I did some big damage over the holidays. Yes, I include my birthday (first week of Jan) in the holidays. But before I got too comfy hiding in my giant winter sweaters, I figured I should do a sanity check on the scale.

Sanity check? Try INSANITY.

It was bad. Seven pounds bad. That's seven over the acceptable 2 - 4 pound cookie-related holiday weight (like my fuzzy math?). I'm surprised the floors don't buckle under my feet! I thought Doggie Drama was just into playing the "Chase Me" game lately...but she was probably running because she thought I was going to EAT her!

I did the scale freak out last week, and instead of weighing my options and buying 3 diet books like usual, I dove right into South Beach. For me, it's the only way to do some fast damage control. It kind of re-kajiggers my system back into relying on actual food - not just chocolate and mashed potatoes. I acted fast, and a week later I'm already down 4 watery pounds. Thank God for quick thinking!

So now I'm cooking up a low carb storm! Stay tuned for some comforting recipes that will warm up this cold and pudgy winter.