It's a wrap!

Well I completed Week 1 of Optifast. I didn't think I would make it and I'm not convinced I will make it through Week 2. But more on that later. My first weigh-in was yesterday. Down 5.8 pounds!! BOOYAH. All that success made me want nachos. No, really, there isn't anything wrong with me (yeah right). Any-who, the first week was tough. Lots of cravings to get through. I was pretty proud of myself though. On Saturday I took the kids to Dunkins in between activities and just got my coffee with skim milk (RIP my sweet Stevia). They sat there and drank their chocolate milk and ate their donuts with vanilla frosting and jimmies and I salivated in my corner. After all the Saturday morning activities, the girls and I headed to Greenland so C could work/nap/whatever he does when he's on call. My cousin and her bf stopped by for a visit and my grandparents came over as well. My evil evil little itty bitty grandmother brought over homemade turtles. OY VEY. But I did not have a single one. I even brought some home for C and still didn't have any. For dinner I had some steak (I had to eyeball it as mom does not have a food scale), salad (no dressing so I threw half the steak on top), and steamed broccoli and red peppers. I was satisfied. Now had my mom put out cheese and crackers or chips, it would have been a scene.
 
So the weekend had it's challenges but I got through them all. This week is a much different story. Saturday is my firstborn's 7th birthday. Yeah, I don't know how she's 7 already either. We are having it at a bowling alley and there will be pizza and cake. I cannot have any of it and I'm already angry. BUT not as angry as I am about Sunday. On Sunday we are heading back down to Greenland to celebrate my grandmother and A's birthdays with my extended family on that side. My mom is making lobster mac-n-cheese and I'm making a plain 6 cheese mac-n-cheese for those who don't like lobster. Now a few things to note. First, macaroni and cheese is a food group to me. I could live on it. Throw lobster on top and the angels have sung. Second, this will be day 2 with cake that I cannot touch. Third, I have to somehow eat my Optifast stuff without anyone noticing. I'm not publicizing this diet and I don't feel like discussing it. So you might find me sneak eating my opti products while hiding in a closet. Oh the irony.

Now you might ask why my mother is making this decadent meal and even more importantly asked me to make some as well knowing I'm doing this? Well I didn't tell her until she already set the menu. She's not evil, I swear. Oh and on Monday I'm meeting a friend for dinner. My plan is to just drink water and order a steak with steamed veggies or a garden salad with steak or chicken on top. I'll be ok with that. My issue will be the chips and salsa we ALWAYS order along with the beer. I don't know how to get around that without telling her about it.

You may wonder why I blog about it when I don't seem to want to tell anyone. Well I don't advertise my blog or link it on the FB. It's for me to document my weight loss journey and my struggles. I started it a long time ago (after A was born) and even if I don't blog for 3 (!!!) years, I always come back to it. It's my outlet. If people find it and find out, so be it. For now I only plan to do this for 3-4 weeks and then I will reevaluate when I get back from FL.

I will say I don't think I could have make it through week 1 without the support of my amazing husband. He did all the cooking and kept my needs in mind. He supported me and stayed on his food plan as well. He listened to me bitch and didn't say a word when I got hangry and started taking it out on everyone around me. He hugged me when I needed it. He is my rock.

The First 3 Days

I just completed 3 days of OptiFast. If you are reading this and feel so inclined, please send nachos. And beer. Honestly it hasn't been THAT bad. I've been hungry (to be expected) but overall, feeling ok. I've had a good mix of the powder shakes (morning smoothies!), ready-to-drink shakes (typically lunch and/or a snack), and bars. My favorite bar right now is the chocolate one. YUM. I'm consuming a lot of chocolate. LOL My Lean N Green meals have been my savior. Food has never tasted so good (well since the Shakeology 3 Day thing). Night 1 I had steak tips and broccoli. Night 2 I had a glorious baked chicken thigh and green beans. Tonight was leftovers of Night 2. This is what I've felt like by dinnertime

I am bound and determined to finish Week 1. I'm not thinking beyond that right now. This weekend will be a big test. I'm taking the girls to Greenland (aka my parents house - in my family we have this habit of referring to locations by their street names. Yes we are weird) and I haven't told my mother about OptiFast yet. This should go well :/

The beginning . . .

I had my weekly visit at NHHW today. I am officially taking the plunge into OptiFast. I picked up my first week of "product" and asked all the relevant (and a few irrelevant) questions I could think of. I am on Week 1 of the Transition Plan. As I'm heading to FL in 4 weeks and didn't want to be on the full fast for my trip, this is our compromise. So my plan is 4 OptiFast products a day and 1 Lean N Green meal. Lean N Green? What the hell is that? It sounds like what Kermit the frog would have as his login for Beachbody. Here are the details. I bought 7 chocolate shake packets (mix with water/ice/coffee/whatever that is basically air), 11 Ready to Drink chocolate shakes (Hi, my name is Mrs McQ. Can my juicebox and I have lunch with you?), and 10 bars (mix of chocolate and peanut butter). I will use our awesome Ninja to make a shake each morning and I will probably add a little coffee to it to shake things up. I'm wild like that. Lunch will be a ready to drink chocolate shake and snacks will either be bars or another ready to drink shake. For dinner I will eat real food with the family. I can have 4 ounces of lean protein with no added fat and 1/2 c of cooked vegetables or 1c of salad. I'm limited on my vegetables. I cannot have tomatoes (technically a fruit), carrots, winter squash, corn, peas, etc. All starchy vegetables are on the "So sorry" list. Thank Scooby I can still have my cup (or two) of coffee in the morning and can even add a little bit of skim milk. So that's my plan from tomorrow (1/14) until I leave for FL on Feb 7. It is guaranteed to be one of the hardest things I've ever done. That will not stop me.

The End as We Know It . . . and I don't feel fine.

Well it's been over 3 years since I last wrote in this blog. A lot has happened. We sold our first home and bought what we hope is our "forever" home. I lost my job at the end of 2010 and 2 jobs later, I think I'm settled again. C has a new job now, A is in public school (1st grade!) and K is in a new pre-school closer to the new house. We moved about 40min south of where we were to be closer to family. It's good and bad. LOL So that wraps up what has happened in our day to day lives. Next up is my health. Why do we need to talk about this you ask? Well it is the segway into where I am in my weight loss journey today. Ever since I had A, I've had some pain in my right leg off and on. I finally got to my breaking point in 2012 and sought help. Long story short, my leg pain is actually a totally fried right hip. I have a torn labrum and degenerative arthritis. I tried physical therapy and a cortisone shot and all helped for a short period of time but nothing lasted. In September of 2012 I had arthroscopic surgery on my hip and 6 months of physical therapy. Fast forward to now, the hip is still fried. The only option I have left is a Total Hip Replacement. Yes you read that right. A THR (the abbreviation you will see from here on out because I'm far to lazy to keep typing it out) at 40. But wait, it doesn't end there. I'm too fat for a THR. In order for my surgeon or my second opinion surgeon to do it, I have to lose weight - a lot of weight. The risks and complications are too high at my current weight and BMI. My surgeon recommended weight loss surgery before the THR. I left the office in tears that day and cried for a very long time. I started my journey to the THR in September of 2013. In late October, I sought the help of New Horizons Health and Wellness and their medical weight loss team. I'm down about 15 pounds since September. NHHW has me on a low calorie diet and I see them once a week. It's not enough. I do not have the willpower to do this day in and day out right now. Plus their plan has me exercising every day. That is great in theory but the reality is my hip says otherwise and I exercise when I can. I try to do Aqua Aerobics a few times a week but the schedule does not always allow for me to get there. So here we are in January of 2014 and I want and need to have the THR before summer. That is my goal. In order to do that, I need to kick things up a notch. So when I go to NHHW tomorrow for my weekly appointment, I'm picking up my first week of OptiFast. I will be on a partial fast from tomorrow until the 2nd week in February (I have a trip to FL planned the second weekend of Feb). What is a partial fast? It's OptiFast shakes, bars, and soups for 4 meals/snacks a day. 1 meal can be lean protein and veggies. I HAVE to stay on course or I could land myself in the ICU with pancreatitis. That thought alone is enough to keep me on the straight and narrow (or wide in my case.) After I get back from FL, I will go back on OptiFast until C and I go away in March. I'm hoping that this will give me enough of a jump-start to keep things moving and get to the point where I can have the THR. So that is where I am. I have a few other health issues going on but you will only hear about them if they don't resolve themselves shortly :) If you hear about them, I'm going to be a little bit bat-mad. Wish me luck - I'm going to need it!!!