Week 3 (end)

Well, I've made it to week 4.. It feels like it's been an eternity. It was so easy starting out, and I really thought this would be something that gets even easier as it goes along.....but it's not. It's getting harder to fight cravings and harder to not just throw in the towel. I haven't slipped up yet, but I noticed that my last week's weight loss was significantly less than week 1 and week 3, and I believe it's because that week I was just so tired of it that I hardly weighed my foods or counted my protein. I think I just ended up eating a lot more protein and fat than the first week. Eating more calories or fat doesn't take me out of ketosis, so I still get the weight loss. But if I eat a large amount of fat, or larger than normal (for me), my body will use that fat as energy instead of my stored fat, so in the end the weight loss isn't as high. This last week I did a lot better. Made sure to only eat very lean proteins and to get my vegetables in. I'll be honest, I've been drinking way more protein shakes. I believe I said that in my last blog but it's just so damn convenient! And the bottle counts everything for me. I don't have to weigh anything or add odd servings of proteins (for example, 4 ounces for breakfast, 3.5 for lunch, and so on.) I don't have to remember what exactly I ate at each meal because all of the protein shakes are 3 ounces. It's so easy. I have also noticed though, when I supplement a lot of my meals with shakes, I'm hungrier. I'm getting the same nutrients and amounts of everything I need, but my brains knows I didn't physically eat anything. I am, however, getting back in the mood to cook. I've been craving spaghetti and meatballs for weeks, so last week I bought all the stuff to make a big meal. I made sure to get a low carb sauce for myself and the good stuff for Glenn and Bethany. I made myself turkey meatballs and of course regular hamburger meatballs for everyone else. Because I can't have pasta I planned on making ZOODLES! (For anyone that doesn't know, that's Zucchini Noodles, made with a spiralizer.) HOWEVER, I've never bought a zucchini before. I had no idea what they looked like. I saw this green thing that sort of resembled a cucumber but not exactly a cucumber and it was like $2, so I figured, "this is definitely a zucchini." Even Glenn told me it was. So I have the sauces done, the meatballs are done and in the sauces, and the garlic bread is in the oven; perfect time to make my Zoodles real quick and serve dinner. I cut my zucchini in half and am hit in the face with the smell of cucumber, which any cuke fans know is quite strong. It was NOT a zucchini. I spent $2 flipping dollars on a funny looking cucumber. See if I listen to Glenn again..... I did make "noodles" with it, however it wasn't the easiest thing to do. I Googled what a zucchini looks like and I will not make that mistake again! Thankfully, I added enough flavor to my sauce and my meatballs that it greatly masked the typically over powering flavor of cucumber. It was absolutely delicious and it hit the spot!

Whatever I've done differently this last week has paid off. This morning was my weigh in for the end of week 3 and I could not have been more pleased. I'll do a recap: Week 1 I lost 11.8 pounds. Week 2 I lost 2.7 pounds.

And this week

(drum roll)

I lost 4.5 POUNDS!

This brings my total weight loss since 2/28/2017 to 19 pounds even. I can't even begin to describe how ecstatic I am. I knew the loss would be rapid.. that's the whole point of this extreme diet, but I NEVER expected to lose 19 pounds in 3 weeks. Especially in a healthy way that gives me more energy than I've had in the last 2 years. I feel amazing. I'm finally starting to see it when I look in the mirror. My clothes are obviously big now. A week and a half ago they were fitting comfortably, not being too tight from my weight gain. Now when you look at me you can see that my clothes are too big. I'm mostly upset about my work shirt haha. We got new uniforms where I work and everyone was given one or two based on your status (fulltime, parttime, or PRN.) Since I'm PRN I only got one. Well, my one shirt broke. It was replaced at no cost to me, but I got the same size as I had before. DUMMY! It's so big, and the style of the shirts makes it hang on me awkwardly. I don't know it anyone else sees it, but I do and I hate it. But I'm not spending $26 on a new one, so I'll just have to live with it. My jeans HAVE to be worn with a belt or they sag so bad. By the time I walked from my car to my class this morning they were way below my hips. I had my hands full, so thankfully my coat was long enough to cover my exposed butt crack until I got into the classroom and could pull them up. Speaking of jeans, I've been wearing jeans daily. It's been over a week since I've worn leggings, other than at night when I get into comfy clothes. Speaking of comfy clothes! This reminds me of another change I've noticed in my body. I'M ALWAYS FREEZING! I was a little bit of a freeze baby (as we call them in my family) but typically I could warm myself up with a pair of fuzzy socks and a sweater. For the last week or so it has been IMPOSSIBLE for me to get warm. Currently I have on jeans, socks, an undershirt, shirt, and knit cardigan, as well as 2 blankets and I'm still freezing. My house is 69 degrees. That may seem cold to some of you, but last winter I never turned my heat above 68. Set at 68 degrees, I would be ROASTING in this house. It's newly remodeled and extremely well-insulated. This year, the highest I've gotten to so far is 73 degrees. Glenn complains so much because he gets so hot, but I just can't help it. I'm freezing! When I had all my blood work done previously to starting the diet, they checked me for anemia (not because I'm cold but because I had a menstrual cycle that lasted about 2 months), and my levels came back fine. So I know I'm not anemic.. I'm just losing my own personal insulation! 😂

How funny is it that I can't think of anything to say on a day to day basis and then write a book after a week! I'm all done for this week, though, I promise.