Tough Thursday

Whew! I've realized today that I MUST take vitamins! With this low calorie eating, I'm not getting the vitamins and nutrients I used to. I have felt so sluggish and just blah all day. I've finally taken a vitamin (once I realized it!) and I'm starting to feel a bit better!

It's amazing....I was looking back through my pics on here and I am amazed with the transformation just my face has taken from losing 24.5 pounds!! YEP - that's right! I'm so excited every morning to weigh myself as I know I'm going to see a loss!!

Friends and family think it's "weird" and "undoable" but let me tell you: it's not weird, it's very doable and I love it! I have finally broken my emotional tie to food and I've cleansed my body of all things chemically changed (sweeteners, diet soda, etc) and I feel better for it!

Hmmm....I don't think I have any new pics as most of my food is the same (or close to it). I am missing T-Man this week too. I'm going to pick him up (he's been at Disney with a camp) on Monday and can hardly wait!

Hope you have a great weekend! Be good to your body!

Be true to you,
Heather

19 Pounds GONE forever!

That's right! I've lost 19 pounds in 15 days and I have my sorority sister, Stacie (http://www.theskinnytrain.com/), and HCG to thank for it! Here are a few of my old stand-by meals:

3 ounces grilled chicken, 4 ounces cooked cabbage, 1 small apple and 1 wheat melba toast (with lemon water on the side, of course!!)

3 ounces curried chicken over a bed of 4 ounces curried cabbage, 1 medium apple, 1 sour dough melba toast, cup of herbal tea (black chai - my favorite!!) and cold water - of course!

Does this look boring? Yes but it is so worth it as I only eat like this during this phase, which lasts 40 days at a time. Here is a fish dish I was very inventive with!

I had a wonderful cut (3.5 ounces, pre-cooked) of mahi-mahi. I washed it and didn't dry it (as I can't have/use any oil) and put my melba toast in a food processor to grind it down to "bread crumb" size. Then mixed in my spices into the bread crumbs and "breaded" my fish. I baked it for 30 minutes on 425 degrees - along with my asparagus. It was DELISH!!! Loved this meal and will definitely have it more often!

I have truly realized with this diet/way of living that we are the only ones in control of ourselves. Yes, T-Man loves his carbs, the girls love their ice cream and french fries, my hubby eats low-carb so he indulges in cheese (one of my weaknesses) and the bestie munches on hummus and crackers (our favorite midnight/Bachelorette snack) but I choose not to eat these foods. I choose to be healthy, thinner, more confident, enjoy shopping for clothes and most of all - I enjoy seeing that number go down each and every morning! Am I tempted? Of course I am but the alternative is such a greater pull for me: being thin and healthy.

I truly love this diet, love how I feel on it and I am making this my way of living. I am learning not to munch out of boredom, from being upset or in celebration. I eat to live; I no longer live to eat.

I hope everyone is having a great summer and taking time out for YOU!

Be true to you!

Hugs,

Heather

All Happy Endings are Bittersweet

Today is my last day at Georgia Perimeter College. I am waiting for my last final today at 5:30pm and then I will have a wonderful 8 week break. While I am happy to be transferring schools (to Clayton State), it is also sad. I have met some wonderful people while at this school, who are very close to my heart. I have learned a lot about myself: about my drive, my love for learning and what is most important to me: my family. While my studies often take time away from my family, it is very important that I do what I'm doing for the long-term goals for my family. Being in the nursing field, we will always have stability.

I have always wanted to be a nurse and I regret to this day that I didn't stay with that major in the 90's. Luckily, I found my way back and here I sit....taking in the beautiful landscape of this campus, enjoying people watching and happy to never have to eat at the bite and die (aka cafeteria) ever again!

The area my campus is in has two sides to it: the diverse, lower-class area and the older we've-lived-here-forever area. I ate in a little country restaurant today for lunch on the latter side of the two. I was by far the youngest person in this restaurant. Most cars had handicap tags and most patrons had canes or walkers. One couple in particular caught my attention. This little old couple was so sweet! They were both hard of hearing so they basically yelled their conversations so it wasn't hard to overhear their conversations. They talked about their children, the weather (of course!), how cold it was in the restaurant (I was quite comfortable) and their life together. From what I could get from their conversation, they had been on a road trip visiting family. I thought to myself: "Self....this is what me and hubby will be like when we are old like this. Still loving one another yet getting on each other's nerves!" LOL
Each time one spoke to the other, there was no response and then you'd hear "Did you hear me??" and the other would yell back "No, you talk too soft!" Ha! Ha! Ha! It was so funny and so cute!

While I do enjoy being back in school, I also miss being in the work force and worry all the time about this journey. I worry about getting into a nursing program. I worry about my grades. I worry about making the right choice school-wise. It's all fair game at this point so I just try to go with the flow.

On a more upbeat note, I am down 16.8 pounds today and I can really see a difference! I'm so excited about this HCG diet! The lunch I had today had something in it that I probably shouldn't have had (I'm not sure what....) as I feel blah and when I eat my cooking at home I don't have this sluggish yucky feeling. Hopefully it won't show as a gain tomorrow!

T-Man has been in Alabama getting his stuff packed to move with us and also has a baseball camp at Disney World next week. He's been gone about a week and I'm really missing him. He is such a sweet kid! I know he's missing me too as he calls me almost every day - especially this week!

Well....I guess I'll go review some things for my final! I hope you are all having a wonderful day and a great summer! My summer officially starts tonight around 8pm!!

Always be true to you!
Hugs,
Heather

Miracles do come true!!

Where do I start?? I have been very busy getting caught up in my studies for school and preparing/studying for finals - which are only 1 week away! Then I get 6-8 weeks off and it's so needed! T-Man is going back to his hometown for summer camp and to get all his stuff to officially move here with us. In the meantime, we're making plans and doing all we can to make his transition as easy as possible. The good news? I get to redecorate his room (as it's very girly right now!!)!!


To date, I've lost 8 lbs even - in 3 days on my HCG drops and eating low-calorie! Exciting or what?? I think so!


I had roasted radishes the other night which were really good - to my surprise! I keep reading about it on the forums for the HCG diet and finally decided what the hell? I'll give it a try!

I had some grilled flounder - which completely fell apart - and strawberries as well! It was all delicious!

The miracle of the week??? My Daddy called me the other morning and offered to help us pay to get the pool fixed! YAY!!! We ordered the filters needed today (which aren't cheap, mind you) and we're bringing a water sample to the pool guy tomorrow so he can tell us what to do from this point. I can't believe that in about 7-10 days we'll have a crystal clear, blue watered pool again!!! We still have so much time left in the season so I'm super excited about this! I've been really bummed about it. Thanks, Daddy!

Have you had any miracles in your life lately - big or small?

Be true to you!

Hugs,

Heather

Oh happy days!

I'm on a roll!!! I'm getting caught up with my school work (there's only 3 weeks left!!!), my house has been tidied and I lost 3.8 pounds this morning on my weigh-in!!! Whoo-hoo!

What am I doing, you ask? I'm on the HCG diet. You can get shots administered by a doctor or sublingual drops (you put under your tongue). I did a lot of research on this before jumping into it and I also asked my doctor about it, to make sure it's safe. Not only is it safe but it is FDA approved. Wonder how all the rich and famous lose weight so quick - and keep it off? HCG!

Yesterday I woke up early and had my orientation at Clayton State, which I am starting in the Fall. I was so nervous that I didn't sleep well the night before. Once I got there, I was really excited though!!

What a beautiful campus and oh-so BIG!! I got lost a few times when I was by myself (like, looking for my car! LOL). Because the HCG diet is so strict, I went to school prepared: herbal tea to drink on the way, melba toast for a mid-morning snack and my fruit (an apple) on the way home. Once home, I made my protein (3 ounces of cooked chicken with no oil) and my veggie - cooked cabbage, with no oil. I felt so much better once I ate this! I did good with my drops and taking in my 100+ ounces of water during the day. Dinner was good - lean ground beef wrapped in lettuce and an orange! I went to bed with a slight headache but they say that is normal the first couple of days.

Today I had 3 ounces cooked chicken, cooked cabbage, melba toast and an apple for lunch. It looks really boring on the plate but was delish!

The only real down side to this diet is no Diet Coke and no wine while on the drops. I'm in Phase 2 right now (Phase 1 is a cleanse which I opted out of) and will be for about 35 more days. I will then go into Phase 3 to get my body set at that weight for about 3 weeks and then back on the drops for the next round of weight loss. While on Phase 3, you can eat and drink what you want as long as it's low carb. After losing 3.8 pounds this morning, I feel it is so worth it!!

If you want to look up the details on the program, go to www.theskinnytrain.com for the "skinny" on it! LOL Stacie, a sorority sister of mine, is the Skinny Train Girl! She went from a size 12 to a 4 and has maintained that weight loss! Her mom has maintained her weight loss for 2+ years!

Well, I have to do some prep work for dinner tonight. The bestie and I are hanging out by the pool with a cold glass of ice water, cooking out (fish - yum!) and enjoying the cool weather of the evening while the kiddos play with their new wiffle ball set! Have a great evening!

Stay true to you!

Hugs,

Heather

Today, I hate food

I have started a new weight loss program that is proven to be effective, safe, FDA approved, all natural and healthy - and it's killing me! Why, you ask? The first two days you have to "load" on any and all foods - anything you want - and you should gain 5-6 pounds of weight in those days. Today is day 2 and I never thought I would be as sick of food as I am! Tomorrow starts the low-calorie days and I am so excited I can hardly stand it! YAY - I don't have to eat much tomorrow!!! As I take this venture, I will keep you all posted with updates of the weight loss (I have to weigh myself every morning), pics, etc.

I'm home in bed much earlier than usual as I have a BIG day tomorrow! I have my new student orientation in the morning at Clayton State and I'm so nervous and excited all at the same time! I am transferring to Clayton State in the Fall (September) to finish my pre-requisites and will hopefully make it into their Nursing program! While the campus is an hour away, it is a great school and will be worth it!

Hope you've had a wonderful week and your weekend is even better!

Be true to you!
Hugs,
Heather

Happy Post Fourth of July, Y'all!

Whew! What a busy week and weekend this past week was! It was a fun week and holiday weekend but really took it all out of me! I did a lot of cooking and a lot of hanging out with good friends. I had a nice glass of wine Friday night next to my not-so-pretty pool while the girls played in their "kiddie" pool:

Hopefully we'll be able to get the pool/pump fixed before the end of the season! I hate not having that beautiful crystal blue water! Regardless, I enjoyed my wine and the kids enjoyed the water!
Saturday, me and T-Man decided to have a Mexican fiesta for dinner! We didn't have any chips for the homemade salsa I made so I improvised with baked ones:

They were delish, as was the salsa!! We used tomatoes, jalapeno peppers and bell pepper from our garden for the salsa!

Sunday, we felt so worn out from the week, me and the Bestie treated ourselves to pedicures:

How cute, huh?? We decided just to go all out! We even dressed the part for dinner, drinks and fireworks:

While this weekend was wonderful, we were all exhausted from it on Monday! I also started a new "diet" today and will keep everyone posted. Especially after seeing these pictures, I just cannot take the extra weight anymore! I will fill you all in more on it once I'm more than a day into it!

Do something special for you this week - you deserve it! And as always, be true to you!

Hugs,

Heather