Current Standings

At the end of our first week on Phase 2, I figured I'd do a little update blog to let you know where we're at.

First, I need to tell you that I have totally been doing a half-assed Phase 2 here. The numbers are going down, but not very quickly. Mostly due to those string cheese sticks in my fridge and the walnut delights that used to be on my counter. *burp*

On to the stats!

I have lost my loading weight.  That's about it. (My own fault, I'm fine with it. Pass the Dove sugar free caramels.)

Paul is down 9.2 pounds. NINE POINT TWO. IN SIX DAYS.

Good stuff going on over here. 

Now my Irish is up and the competition is on.  He's still going to kick my ass, but at least my ass will be skinnier when we're done. 

And on to the rest of my life...

I've gotten down to the mid-140's and have decided I've gone as far as I want to on HCG. I'm sure I could stand to lose another ten pounds or so, and maybe I will, but quite possibly not on HCG.

It is a HARD diet, you guys. Yes, there are dramatic results, because it is a dramatic diet. And because it's so dramatic, it is hard.  The key, if you decide to do it yourself, is to remind yourself that it is super temporary. 3 weeks on Phase 2, if I can do it, anyone can.

It gets really hard when you're getting closer to your goal weight and the pounds aren't dripping off anymore. It gets even harder when you're close enough to your goal weight that you start thinking things like, "eh, what's another 10 pounds, anyway? This is close enough."

I'd love to tell you to just muscle through these thoughts, but since I can't do it, I'm certainly not expecting anyone else to.

So the rest of my life...what shall I do?

One of the things that I love about the HCG protocol is that I cut out all the really bad stuff in my diet, overnight. After a couple brief days of detox, I felt amazingly wonderful. Light, and happy, and energized. Without exception, every time I finished a round, and started going back slowly to bread, rice, crackers, etc, I started to feel sluggish, bloated, moody, and well...more like my "regular" self.

This past round, in fact, I cheated one evening with a donut while I was on Phase 2. Within 20 minutes or so of eating the donut, my mood plummeted, my stomach was bloated and distended, and I had stomach cramping. I was so uncomfortable. And I know that this is how I was mostly living before. I never realized it wasn't normal, for example, to feel bloated after eating.

But here's the deal,  it's not.  After eating, we should feel energized!  We just ate ENERGY!  Quick aside, did you know that in Europe, calories aren't listed as "calories" in nutritional information? They're listed as "energy."  Food is energy!

If you're not eating foods that energize you, I posit that you are eating the wrong foods. Like I've been doing for a good long time.

Being on HCG showed me what it really feels like to eat foods the work with my body for optimal wellness. It also showed me what it really feels like to eat foods that work against my body. And I don't like that.

So, somewhere over the last couple rounds, I started wondering with some of my friends, what are we going to do next?  When we get to the end of our weight loss with HCG, how will we eat?  Almost all of us said that we don't think we ever want to go back to sugar and nearly the same amount have decided to do without wheat.

While we were in the middle of these discussions, one of my friends mentioned Mark's Daily Apple, which is a site dedicated to "Primal Blueprint" living. Mark's a cool guy, he lays it out as it is. He's done his research and he knows his stuff.
 

The Primal Blueprint way of life is basically approximating our lives to being as close to those of our ancestors, the cavemen. He uses "Grok" as an example of such a person, and gives us really easy ways we, too, can "party like a Grokstar."

When we first got our dog, his trainer mentioned giving him a biologically appropriate diet, instead of buying kibble at the grocery store. We researched it, and decided that we didn't like the idea of commercial dog food, and went in the direction suggested by his trainer. Baxter has been eating foods that his canine body has been designed to digest.

In similar fashion, I think humans should be enjoying foods that our bodies were designed to digest. That includes meat, vegetables and fruit. A little dairy. But no grains.

Yep, NO GRAINS.

As it turns out (and if you want to read all the research, I highly recommend Mark's book, although you can also find a ton of information on his website), humans weren't exactly designed to digest grains.  This has played out in my own life, as I've explained, with the vast differences in how I feel on HCG and off HCG.

Here's the really amazing thing about this. When I shared a lot of the body of evidence that Mark sets forth in Primal Blueprint, against grains, my husband agreed. He said it made a lot of sense. Guess who else is grain free, now? We're working on the kids.

I don't want to give you the idea that if you stop eating grains you'll be living a primal lifestyle. I mean, that's a nice start, but there are other things involved.  Take a good look at Mark's website for a ton of information.

I also don't want to give you the idea that Mark is the grand high guru of primal living (although he did "write the book"so to speak). There are other books out there, there are other websites. There are TONS of people who are doing this, who are writing about, who are advocating it. It just so happens that I find Mark's information to be the most accessible. He thoroughly researches, then reports back everything in a humorous and easy to read way that makes me look forward to reading about all these boring reports he's slogged through.

So this is where we are for now. We're finding it not as hard to be grain free as we'd thought. We're working out some kinks (if we're friends on facebook, I'm sure you read my status update about thickening gravy without flour!) and we're finding some new stuff that we love. (Coconut bread, for example, is like a yummy morning muffin, without all the ick and bloating that goes along with regular morning muffins.)

This is working for our family right now. We feel great, we're losing weight (I'm still losing weight, even off protocol and without really trying at all!--The kids, I should mention, are not losing weight. LOL They definitely don't need to!), and we're excited about this way of life. It's not a diet, or even just a dietary change. It really is a way of life, and we're looking forward to this journey together.

Shattering the Stall

I didn't just break that stall, you guys, I shattered it. It didn't work right away. Yesterday, the scale didn't move. Today, though, 2.6 down!  That's about seven and a half pounds in a week, which averages out to a little more than a pound a day.

I think I'm losing a little better on this round than I have on previous ones.  I should tell you that I'm using different drops this time around. I snagged these on sale at CVS.  They are not homeopathic and contain "HCG amino acid." I dig that they're not homeopathic, because it means I can keep up my mint tea habit and I can dye my hair without worrying about these things negating the homeopathics.  It tastes absolutely awful, but I only have to deal with it twice a day, and I'm actually getting used to it. I don't make my "cough medicine face" after I down it now.

So when I took the time to sit down and think about it, I'm pretty sure I figured out that my stall was caused by too much red meat. I'm going to try to keep my beef meals to one or two a week and rely on chicken and eggs for the rest of my  protein. This would be much easier if I ate fish at all. I wish, for the three billionth time in my life, that I could stomach seafood.

Two women at the bank today asked me if I've lost weight. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, that is the best feeling in the world.

Anyway, looking forward to the coming two weeks, I see Thanksgiving rapidly approaching. My husband asked me today if I'm going to be on protocol through Thanksgiving and I said yes. We're cooking here, so I am planning on making veggies that are completely protocol friendly, cheating slightly with turkey instead of chicken and cheating a little more with a sugar free, gluten free (ie Phase 3 friendly) dessert.  I've been looking at a few pumpkin custard recipes and am trying to find my favorite one. I'll totally be topping it with some sugar free whipped cream, as well.

Quick note to anyone who hasn't read through this blog much, when I say "sugar-free" I am totally NOT talking about nutrasweet, asparatame, or any other artificial sweetener. My sweetener of choice is liquid stevia.  It's totally yummy, completely natural, and doesn't cause an insulin spike like sugar does.

Unless something more exciting happens, next entry, I'm going to talk about how I'm successfully "cheating" on this round. Yeah, I'm cheating. It involves chocolate. Stay tuned.

WOOHOO!

Guess what I did today?  (Besides, obviously, writing a new blog on this poor, neglected site.  ;-) )

I had a Groupon to use at Old Navy and so I hit it up today between getting my hair cut and a meeting.  I wanted a pair of their 5" shorts, but could NOT find a size 10 anywhere.  Well, I could, but in mustard yellow. No thank you.

So, out of desperation, I snagged a size 8, and figured I'd try them on, see how bad it was, and then decide if I was going to get them or not.

I hit the dressing room with those shorts, and a couple other finds, and the very nice (very gay... I wouldn't mention it if it weren't important. Stay with me.) gentleman showed me and my seven items to an open stall.

I figured I should get the most depressing part of this over and done with first, and grabbed those size eights. I eyed them against myself, first, and raised my eyebrows.  They actually didn't look as small as I remember size 8's to be. They looked like they might actually fit.

I pulled them on, zipped them up, did the button, took a deep breath, and let out a "WHOOP!"

Remember that very nice gentleman working in the dressing room?  From outside, I heard, "Oh, Lawd, Jesus! Are you okay in there, honey?!"

I nearly laughed my butt off, except, like, you know, there's not too much there anymore to laugh off, and assured him that I was fine. I shoved the other shorts and the skirts I had over the door and asked if he could find them in size EIGHT for me.  I heard him pause while he, I'm sure, looked at the label to see what size they were. And then, a whistle and a "You go, girlfriend. I'll be right back."

While he was gone, I snapped a photo and was going to text it to half a dozen people, but ended up just posting it on FaceBook. Just easier.

He brought back the rest of my stuff in the appropriate size, and holy crap, you guys, the ALL FIT!  I had a seriously hard time choosing what to buy, because I was so excited, I suddenly wanted to buy one of everything in size 8 that they had in stock.

Oh, Lawd, Jesus, indeed.  I own size 8 shorts, and they freaking fit. I haven't seen size 8 since a year before I got pregnant with my princess. That's like, EIGHT YEARS ago, people!

In other news, I got to see one of my besties who has also been doing HCG this past weekend at the Princess' birthday party. She's down over 60 pounds and looks A-FREAKING-MAZING.  I wish I could easily see all my other friends who are doing this, but we are scattered all over the country.  Luckily, we have the internet. ;-)

I feel like a cheerleader. YAY, HCG!  I'm almost the same size a cheerleader!

The Black Jeans

I'm going to share some information that might make my husband blush.  He'll have to deal with that.

So, back when we were dating, I had these jeans. They were black Bongo jeans.  They had the typical early 90's high waist and tapered leg.   Apparently, they did great things for my ass.  I know this, because, almost 20 years later, if I say to my husband, "Hey, remember those jeans?" he perks up and says "Oh, The Black Jeans?"

Yeah, The Black Jeans.

When I nearly lost my mind because I was wearing size 12 jeans at Christmas, he said "When will you fit back in The Black Jeans?"

When my favorite ever size 10 jeans fit up over my hips, he said "You are really doing great. But, um, when will you fit back in The Black Jeans?"

When I could button those size 10's, guess what he said?

Yeah.

Don't get me wrong, Paul is the most wonderful, loving and supportive husband ever. When I first decided to start this diet, he challenged me to a contest to see which of us would lose the most weight. He dropped out when I plowed past him, but you know, he got my competitive juices flowing.  He is totally on board, completely behind me.

Part of it is because he loves me. Part of it is The Black Jeans.

So, I got my butt into my favorite size 10 jeans. I don't mean that out of all my size 10 jeans these are my favorites. I mean that out of all the jeans I have ever owned in my entire life, these size 10s are my favorite.  I can wear them every day if I want to, now.  I do, actually, wear them ALL THE TIME.

Right around the time that I realized I could pull them up, zip and button them, and still be able to breathe, I started to have problems staying on protocol.  I didn't see it at the time, but taking a step back and staring it down, now I can see that my self-sabotage had kicked in.  And it had brought reserves.

Well, first of all, let me say that, I think we all have a bit of the self-sabotage bug in us. How many times in your life have you been so close to something you wanted... so close you could almost touch it... only to have it fall out of your reach.  And when you think about it, was there something you could have done to change that? Yeah, that's self-sabotage. Maybe a less violent form than what most people would think of as self-sabotage.  But that's it.  Maybe you were shooting for a promotion and then forgot an important report. (Maybe you didn't even forget it, so much as you just never got around to it?)  Maybe you were losing weight, and could see your goal on the horizon, only to end up at McDonald's for lunch. And, hey, once you ate that Big Mac....

So, I know I have a tendency towards self-sabotage. I was waiting for it to show up, and here it is.

But, you know, this was more than self-sabotage.  I mentioned reserves, and guess what they were? Complacency.  Comfort. I was content.  I was fitting in my favorite jeans again. Why on earth was I still trying to lose weight?

I realized this little bit of slime was worming its way through my subconscious one day while I was chatting with a couple friends. And when I realized it, I was determined, right at that second to kill it.

And I thought of The Black Jeans.

The original pair of Black Jeans were a size five. Well,  now, I've had two kids and my hips have spread a bit. I think a size five might be a little unrealistic and I don't want to set myself up for failure, which will just kick my self-sabotage back into gear.  So, I went for a size seven.

Apparently, Bongo doesn't make the exact same jeans anymore. No more high waists. Which, like, okay. It is 2011 and not 1992. And, I am destroying my muffin top, little by little. So, I ordered a pair of low waist, SKINNY black Bongo jeans.  In size seven.

I gave myself something to work for; something to look forward to. The numbers on the scale weren't enough for me anymore. I needed something tactile to move towards.

The Black Jeans.

Then I moved to Phase III, so I wouldn't do any damage till I got my head on straight.

So, The New Black Jeans arrived, and just to see how far I had to go, I threw myself into the bathroom and pulled them up.

Did you catch that? I PULLED THEM UP!

No, of course I can't button them or zip them just yet. BUT I PULLED THEM UP!

I'm feeling ready to jump back in again. Thank goodness. I'm 145 pounds, a little over 20 pounds gone. That is nothing to sneeze at, but it's not where I want to be. I know I can lose more than this, and I want to. In fact, I've been rethinking my goal.  I've been saying 135 all along, but really? I think I can go down a little further, and give maybe even give myself a little leeway to gain some back.

Now, when I say "gain some back", I'm talking muscle mass and not fat.  I have plans to start jogging this spring, and I'm saving part of my tax returns for P90X, I think.

Wow, I am looking forward to physical activity. I can't even tell you when the last time was that I was looking forward to physical activity. Probably last time I was in the Original Black Jeans.  Hmm, wonder if there is a correlation there? ;-)

I'm going to spend some time putting together a menu for next week today or tomorrow. Lianne is thinking of putting meal plans up on My HCG Cooking Blog, so don't forget to check her out and subscribe for new posts. Oh, she's got a Facebook page, too! So go "like" her. Yay for delicious, EASY, HCG friendly food!

One other thing I wanted to mention is that it seems Amazon has pulled most of the HCG they carried, including the D140 that I've gotten for this round.  You don't have to buy it from Amazon, if it turns out to be awesome.  Once I finish guinea pigging it for you, I'll find a good, reputable, and reliable resaler for everyone who is interested. Unless it sucks. And then we're all going back to EVOKE.

Smoochies!

Slow and Steady Wins the Race, right?

Holding steady at 20 pounds gone. Still.

I'm getting frustrated, but hanging in there.

PSA: If you're new and wondering about my diet, please read the post linked in the sidebar. If you're wanting to try it yourself, check out the links, also in the sidebar. It's IMPORTANT.

Today, I'm going to begin challenging myself to go back to the beginning of this diet. Back to the basics. I was careful, in the beginning of the last round, to count every calorie, and make sure I was getting enough water. (Half my body weight in ounces. Which was 10 more ounces last round than it is now!) I'm going to go back to that, and take it one day at a time.

I CAN stop after this week, if I find that I'm burning out. But, with only ten more pounds to goal, it seems counterproductive to move to P3 and give myself three more weeks at 145-ish.  I'll have to gauge where I am one day at a time.

Which is what we should all be doing, right? Living one day at a time?

Crap, did I just start my own 12 step support group or something?

My Magic Roller Coaster Ride

Down a little, up a little, down a little, up a little.

Sigh.

I have decided that I was entirely too rough on my poor womanly functions last time around. My weight loss has followed the exact same pattern this round, without a visit from AF.  So, maybe it wasn't my period's fault that my weight loss slowed down.

I'm forever preaching about reading Dr. S' book and following it to the letter. You'd think I'd have believed him when he said that the weight loss will slow down as you get closer to a healthy weight!

In any case, I'm still 20 pounds from where I started, and have decided that it's highly unlikely that I'll lose my last 10 pounds in the next 10 days, which is when my period is supposed to start back up. So I'm going to keep on keeping on, I think, and push right through that week.  We'll see how it goes.

I'll tell you what, it is HARD to stick to this diet when you're not losing a good amount a day. It's even HARDER when the scale creeps back up some. But, I still fully believe that it is totally worth it.  I mean, hello! I haven't been 145 pounds since after my little monster was born. I think. I don't even know for sure that I hit it then.

I am finding it harder to stick to protocol this round, but I think it's all mental. I KNOW it's all mental. I'm going to spend some time today in prayer and meditation and try to get my head on straight.  Other than that, it's all about swimming. You know, "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming....just keep swimming, swimming, swimming." :-)

Oh! Look what I found! The HCG Diet Gourmet Cookbook: Over 200 "Low Calorie" Recipes for the "HCG Phase"  I'll be ordering that, and requesting super quick shipping, I think!  Also pulling some great recipes from The Liquid HCG Diet page. Just click on the HCG recipes tab at the top of the page.

Off to drink my second glass of water and get my poor dog fed. He's like, "Really, woman, I'M not on a diet!"

Smoochies and Huggles!

Crafting Concrete Shoes for my Scale

I've read that it takes about 3 days to recover from a cheat. So, today is day 3.

MOVE, SCALE. MOVE TOMORROW OR YOU'LL SLEEP WITH THE FISHES.

I'll tell you what, that slice of pizza I ate at Chuck E. Cheese, or the small slice of cake, or the glass of wine I had when I got home with friends.... none of that was worth this. I hate not seeing the scale move. It is really hard to stick to a 500 calorie diet (even if you're not hungry, which, dude, I am not), when the scale is showing no results.

(I almost typed resluts, which is one of my favorite typos. Just thought I'd share that.)

The other side of this, and I think I mentioned this in yesterday's blog, is that I'm kind of close to my goal. I'm only 13 pounds away from 135, which is where I wanna be.  When you're doing ANY weight loss plan, the closer you get to the end, the slower the weight comes off. I'm thinking about contestants on the Biggest Loser, after about midway into the season, you stop seeing lots of double digits on the scale, you know?

I'm going to try pushing through this time, even if I'm not to my goal by the time my TOM rolls around again. (Even though I said I'm never going to stay on this diet through that again.) I'm just so close, it seems really ridiculous to move to Phase 3 for three weeks to lose whatever is going to be left in two weeks.

So, my game plan for the near future, is to stick to protocol, get better about counting calories, because I haven't been counting very closely, and just keep keepin' on.

I'm not officially discouraged yet, because Dr. Simeon did say it can take 3 days for an indulgence to correct itself. So, good. Day 3 of correction. And boom. Tomorrow, I will lose eight pounds. Right?

Shoot me some encouragement here, hcg folks!

Closer and closer, inch by inch

So, last week, as you all know, if you've been reading, I had to deal with my monthly womanly crap. Can I sidetrack for a second and just say; I think that when you're done having kids, God should say "Good job! No more menstruation!" Just saying, you know, it'd make it easier to take care of the little hellions, anyway. Imagine how much easier you could deal with your kids if you didn't have PMS.

Anyway, so, this hcg stuff SUCKS during that time of the month, man. I'm glad that I had a HUGE loss before my TOM hit, because I'd have hung up the towel. When it started, I had lost 10 pounds in about a week. During the entire next week, I lost 2 more pounds. It was HARD to stick to an eating plan when the scale wasn't reflecting my hard work. But, even though the SCALE was stuck, I saw some other amazing changes in my body that helped me keep moving.

First of all, I got myself into size 12 jeans in time for the Gingerbread Party last weekend. So that was awesome, and a huge reminder and motivator to stay on course during the party.

And, then of course, the next day, I tried on my size 10 "skinny" jeans and they made it up over my butt.

Then, the other night, while I was in the pit of despair over the numbers on the scale, just for shits and giggles, I decided to try on my engagement ring.

I haven't really worn my engagement ring since I was pregnant with my first daughter, about six years ago. And that really bugged me, because, man, I LOVE my engagement ring. It's exactly what I wanted, and I'm still not sure how my husband knew exactly what I wanted. It's a perfect pear shaped diamond, with five small diamonds set in a channel on either side. Love it, love it, love it. And every time I look at it, I remember that night at the Union Station Restaurant in Flemington, NJ, where I looked at my boyfriend across the table and impetuously grabbed his hand and said, "I'm happy. I'm really, really happy." A better moment for a wedding proposal never presented itself.

Of course, he didn't have the ring in his pocket at that second. It was waiting out in the truck. Come on, you can't make this stuff up. But, we did decide to exchange our Valentine's day gifts that night, the night before VDay, instead of waiting till the morning. He couldn't wait.

When I opened the box and he got on his knee, I started crying and laughing and jumping up and down, and, oh crap, I'm getting misty.

Anyway, point is, I LOVE this ring. In addition to it being exactly what I wanted, the memory associated with it just warms me right up from the inside out. Even when it's only 26 degrees outside, like today.

So, I've really been missing it for the past six years. Which is why, when I slipped it on my finger the other night, I shrieked and jumped up and down and cried and laughed. It was kind of like the first time it was slipped on my finger all over again.

Incidentally, I haven't taken it off since.

Yesterday, getting ready for church, I decided to take a chance and try on my size 11 jeans. If worse came to worst, I'd put them back in the skinny jeans pile and put those size 12s back on and be happy. But, guess what? THEY FIT!

Joey made a comment about my muffin top. I decided to let her live, because, muffin top or no, I was WEARING SIZE 11 JEANS.

When it was time to lie down with my little monkeys to get them to sleep, I took off my size 11 jeans and threw on a pair of lounge pants I'd gotten from Old Navy about six years ago. I was pregnant with Joey, and wasn't quite into maternity clothes yet, but I couldn't fit in my regular clothes, either. So I went to Old Navy, and found these awesome pants, that have a fold down waist, so I could fold it UP and it could cover my little baby bump very effectively, and still stay on my butt.

I have never been able to wear them with the waist folded down. I gave up trying a long time ago. My belly was such that, if I wore them folded down, they'd fall. Also? They made my belly look that much bigger folded down. I didn't need help in that department.

Last night, I folded those suckers down, looked at myself sideways in the mirror, and said "Crap, I wish I'd taken photos from the side instead of just the front." Because, y'all, I see a HUGE difference from the side. HUGE.

I walked out of my bathroom and into the kitchen and said to my husband, "Look at this! I never could wear these folded down before!" and he looked up from the very important envelope stuffing he was doing at our dining room table and said. "You are doing, really, really well." Uh. Thanks? "No, I mean it, like, you wouldn't think 14 pounds would make that much of a difference, but really, it's a HUGE difference." Huh. That's just what I was thinking.

Okay, all this WOOHOOing has to have a point, yes? Point is, the scale stopped moving, but the fat didn't. HCG doesn't just help you lose weight and lose fat. It also MOVES the fat you've got. It redistributes it, so that your clothes fit again. And your rings. MY RING. I'm watching the light bounce off my gorgeous engagement ring as I type, right now. I am amazed that I have it on my finger.

Oh, and. The scale is moving again. Not as hugely as it was moving originally, but that's too be expected. As of this morning, I'm down 14.8 pounds. Halfway there, folks. Halfway, in a little over two weeks.

Oh, and, one more and. This morning? I'm wearing size 10 mommy waist jeans. Still can't button the size 10 hipsters. But they're next.

And then?

Crap, I'm going to have to go buy new clothes! ;-)

Discouragement and Skinny Jeans

Yesterday, my family and I participated in one of our favorite holiday events. Every year, for the past twelve years, my cousin and his wife and their two sons have hosted a gingerbread party. My cousin is a superb baker, and he's made everything from houses to cathedrals, to treasure boxes to mailboxes out of gingerbread. My family's been going since 2005, after Joey was born. I'm looking forward to the day my brother and his wife reproduce so he can come, too.

Anyway, the table, as always, was decked out in festive Christmas colors, and resplendent with candy of every type imaginable. I stuck to the living room and kept away from the candy. When it was time to decorate the gingerbread, my husband took the girls in and helped them out. I stuck to the couch, with lots of bottles of water, and my aunts and cousins coming and going.

After the decorating, the pizza got there. Ack! There were half a dozen steaming hot, yummy smelling pizzas. I was expecting this, of course, as this is part of the tradition. But, man, the smell about knocked me off my feet. But, I had, as you know, just lost 10 pounds. And here's the thing, on HCG if you cheat a little, it shows up immediately, and in a big way.

For example, the day before the gingerbread party, I'd done a little experiment, involving prepacked roast beef, instead of measuring and cooking my own. I was up .6 on the scale the next morning.

I told my cousin, "You couldn't pay me to eat a slice of pizza right now." And it was true. But they sure did smell good. I'm looking forward to eating pizza again in Phase IV.

So, I made it through the gingerbread party unscathed. I didn't cheat at ALL. I couldn't be prouder of myself.

When I got up this morning, I was excited to get on the scale. The excitement faded, though, as I saw that all I lost today is the .6 that I gained yesterday. Sigh.

For what it's worth, I'm glad that my scale also measures fat percentage and water percentage, because I am so retaining water. Thanks, again, Eve.

To say I've been in a bad mood today is an understatement. Between it being my "Time Of Month", and retaining water so the scale shows no progress, along with the memory of the pizza I didn't eat yesterday and the fact that both my daughters have gingerbread mailboxes stuffed with all kinds of candy in my dining room, not to mention that it just feels like everyone is out to get me today, I am ready to chop heads. Or pull out the shotgun.

We're pulling the Christmas stuff out of the basement and my skinny jeans came up with them. This was by my request, because I figure I'll need them soon(er or later). Because I figured nothing could make me feel any worse today, I decided to go try them on. Let's see how much further we have to go before I can fit in my clothes again, shall we?

I brought my computer into the bathroom with me for moral support. Instant messaging is so awesome, by the way. So, I took off my pants. Which are maternity pants, in case you were wondering. Good, stretchy ones. And I pulled on my favorite skinny jeans.

The last time I tried these stupid jeans on, I couldn't get them up past my thighs. Today, they sailed past my thighs, right up over my butt!

I can't button them yet, but this is leaps and bounds ahead of where I was just a week ago!

I was so excited, I called the friend I was chatting with on Skype, so she could see my ass in my skinny jeans. I'm pretty sure I said, "LOOK AT MY ASS!" which is a sentence I may have never uttered before in my entire life.

She was sufficiently impressed and congratulatory. When I showed my husband, he said "Cool." That's why I involved a third party, in the first place. I counted on that.

So, yay!! I'm well on my way to buttoning my skinny jeans! I've lost ten pounds in a week! I only have 20 more to go! I'm almost half way there! IN A WEEK!

I'm not feeling quite so crabby any more. ;-)