Day 10 - I Tried Edamame

Still not seeing any more weight loss… I’m somewhat disappointed, but not that much because my clothes certainly feel less tight. Especially my pants, which is a good thing! Today was a pretty good day. Hubby told me that since I talk so much about food additives that we try to stay away from as a family that I should mention them in my blog. So, this one’s for you, baby!

A few thoughts about turkey:

I love turkey, but I don’t love nitrates. I found sliced roasted turkey breast at Trader Joe’s last week, and I just pulled it out of my freezer for two different lunch meals this week (Turkey Walnut Pita and Turkey Almond Pita). At lunch today, I commented about how it was so delicious, and I was happy there were no nitrates in it. I will probably be buying this turkey again and again for some of my Cinch meals.

As a family, we also try to stay away from high fructose corn syrup as much as we can. I’ve been buying real maple syrup for my son’s waffles (which reminds me...other people on this plan have been commenting about agave nectar for syrup). We also have Hunt’s ketchup with no HFCS. And, I am also a HUGE Pepsi fan, and we’ve been buying the Pepsi with real sugar for about a year now. (Although, I haven’t had a Pepsi in forever!)

We got invited to a Super Bowl party at my in-law’s house next Sunday. My mother-in-law will advise me about what to bring later in the week, but I'll also bring something that is Cinch friendly for me too! You’ve really got to think ahead on this plan. I’ve already decided on the dish. The recipe was in my Weight Watchers email this morning, but I modified it to fit the Cinch plan. Here it is:

Fresh Corn Salsa:

Produce: 1 chopped plum tomato, ¼ cup chopped red onion, ¼ cup chopped green bell pepper, and ½ cup carrot chips for dipping
Whole Grain: 1 cup frozen corn
Lean Protein: ½ cup white beans
Plant-based fat: ¼ medium avocado
SASS: 2 TBSP each of cider vinegar, lime juice, and minced cilantro, 1 tsp cumin, and cracked pepper


Onward to the meals of today:

BREAKFAST (8:00 am)

Almond Butter Blackberry Toast:

1 cup frozen blackberries, thawed
1 slice whole grain bread
8 oz. organic skim milk
1 TBSP almond butter
Pinch ground nutmeg

This breakfast was pretty good. Although, the blackberries were falling off my piece of bread, so I ate the rest of them on the side. The glass of milk was refreshing too.

LUNCH (1:30 pm)

Turkey Almond Pita:

½ cup spinach leaves, 1 medium chopped plum tomato, ¼ cup each chopped celery and cucumber
½ whole grain pita
3 oz Trader Joe’s roasted turkey breast
(I forgot the 2 TBSP almond butter!!)
2 TBSP balsamic vinegar and dash cracked pepper

Argh! I was in such a hurry at lunch time trying to prepare my pita, AND my snack for later today, AND the turkey salad for my husband and son that I forgot the ingredient that would have been the icing on the cake: almond butter! Oh well, the pita was still pretty good, but it would have been awesome with the almond butter. Lesson learned: Start prepping meals ahead of time as much as possible. Here is the pita sans almond butter:




I had my usual dark chocolate and chai green tea at 3:30 pm.


SNACK (5:00 pm)

California Sunshine Salad:

1 medium Minneola, chopped & seeds removed
Omitted the whole grain (corn) -- per the quiz on page 155
½ cup chilled edamame
¼ medium avocado, chopped
2 TBSP rice vinegar, ¼ tsp each thyme and black pepper, and grated lemon peel

This was an interesting snack. I had never eaten edamame before. And to be honest, I was very nervous about eating it. I've never met a soy product that I liked, so when I learned that it was dried soybeans, I prepared myself accordingly. It actually wasn't bad at all. It tasted like beans, and I love beans! It might have been better with the corn, but according to the book, I fall within the "omit the whole grain from your daily snack" criteria. Ho hum...



Went to my 50 minute Step Aerobics class at 6:00 pm.

DINNER (7:30 pm)

Tuna Pecan Pasta:

1 cup chopped green beans, 1/3 cup chopped onion, 2/3 cup chopped carrots (omitted mushrooms + increased carrots), and ¼ cup low sodium vegetable broth
½ cup cooked whole grain penne pasta
3 oz. canned tuna, in water
2 TBSP chopped pecans
Garlic, oregano, and basil

This meal was excellent! My husband liked this fish meal better than the one we had last week with salmon. I can see myself making this one regularly as well:




For tomorrow's meals, I'm going to have the Berry Almond French Toast for breakfast, Turkey Walnut Pita for lunch, Tangerine Almond Twist for a snack (except I will sub a Minneola for the Tangerine), and (Non)-Spicy Avocado Tostadas for dinner. YUM!

Day 9 - All 4 Meals!

Today was a great day on the Cinch plan. I ate all four meals as required. Spent most of the day cleaning and relaxing at home.

BREAKFAST (9:30 am)

Blueberry Smoothie with Almond Toast

1 cup frozen blueberries
1 slice whole grain bread
8 oz organic skim milk
1 TBSP almond butter
Pinch ground nutmeg

This breakfast was pretty good. Although, my smoothie was too "smooth". It was more like blueberry milk consistency; definitely needed some ice.

LUNCH (1:00 pm)

Fresh Mozzarella Basil "Pizzalad":

1 cup chopped tomatoes and cucumbers
1/2 whole grain pita
1 oz. fresh mozzarella, sliced
1 TBSP EVOO
Minced garlic, dried basil and oregano

Love, love, loved this meal! Hubby had one too except he had a full pita. I will be eating this meal often. Here it is:




Had my daily dark chocolate right after lunch as I was craving chocolate!

SNACK (4:00 pm)

Cranberry Pesto Egg Spread

1/4 cup dried cranberries
8 whole grain crackers
1 hard boiled egg
1 TBSP sun-dried tomato pesto
1/2 tsp dried rosemary

The recipe calls for basil pesto, but all I had on hand was sun-dried tomato pesto. This snack was very good. I like that it reminded me of a dip with crackers.

DINNER (7:00 pm):

California Cilantro Chicken Burrito Bowl:

1 cup chopped romaine lettuce, 1/2 cup all natural salsa, 1/4 cup each green bell pepper, onion, & vegetable broth
1/2 cup cooked brown rice
3 oz cooked chicken, cubed
1/4 medium avocado, cubed
1/4 tsp chopped garlic and 1 TBSP chopped cilantro

I loved this dish! Might be my favorite, but that's really hard to say because I am loving all the meals on this plan. Here it is:




Tomorrow, I'm going to have the Almond Butter Blackberry Toast for breakfast, Califonia Sunshine Salad for a snack, Turkey Almond Pita for lunch, and Tuna Pecan Pasta for dinner. I REALLY like picking out my meals for the next day as each day ends! :-)

Days 7 & 8 - No More Weight Loss

Day 7 (which was yesterday - I fell asleep early last night!) and I weighed exactly the same as yesterday. I have lost only 5 lbs total so far. I was slightly disappointed, but then I thought to myself: "The scale will budge for sure tomorrow morning". Nope, wrong again. It was so encouraging to see it move down every day during the Fast Forward phase, but I know that I'm settling into the main part of the plan, which might mean only 1-2 lbs per WEEK instead of per DAY. That's just what my body does when I am dieting. It's so predictable.

I did not have enough time to make breakfast (on Day 7), so I quickly put together the same breakfast as yesterday (Banana Ricotta Hazelnut Toast). I could seriously eat this every day. I didn't get to enjoy my breakfast until around 9 am because there was an immediate conversation with my boss as soon as I arrived. I've got to make sure to have enough time to eat breakfast at home before going into work. I think 2 things will help with that: Get my butt outta bed as soon as the alarm goes off (no more 10 minute snooze!) and placing a clock in my bathroom where I get ready for work.

I had my dark chocolate and chai green tea at 3:30 today and skipped the mandatory snack meal again. This might come back to haunt me, but I've been adding the calories for each meal, and they are around 1,500-1,600 calories. Considering my body was only getting about 1,000 in the Fast Forward phase, no wonder the scale isn't budging anymore!!

Alas, onward to the meals for Days 7 & 8:

LUNCH

Tomato, Basil, and Walnut salad with White Beans:

1 medium plum tomato, chopped
1/2 cup cooked wild rice
1/2 cup white beans
2 TBSP. chopped walnuts
1 TBSP balsamic vinegar and 1 tsp basil

This lunch was sooooooo good! I can eat this one over and over too. Here it is:




DINNER

Salmon Ginger Rice Bowl:

1/2 cup each chopped red pepper, carrots, purple cabbage
1/4 cup each chopped onion and celery
3 oz cooked wild salmon (I used canned salmon from Trader Joe's)
2 TBSP sesame seeds
1 TBSP each O.J., rice vinegar, ginger
2 TBSP chopped green onions

This meal wasn't too bad, but it needed another TBSP of orange juice. I definitely think that I've enjoyed all of the other meals so far more than this one, but it still wasn't bad.


Day 8:

Step Aerobics Class for 50 minutes

BREAKFAST

Very Berry Omelet with Avocado Toast:

1 cup raspberries
1 slice whole grain bread
1 egg
1/4 medium avocado, mashed
Dash each of cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg


I didn't think that cooking berries into eggs would be very good, but this breakfast turned out to be quite yummy with the cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. I really enjoyed the avocado toast! Delicious:





Had a non-fat tall Cappucino from Starbucks after my workout

LUNCH

Black Bean Tacos with Cilantro Guacamole:

1 cup fresh spinach, 1/2 cup chopped onions, 1/2 cup chopped rainbow bell peppers
2 soft taco-size corn tortillas
1/2 cup black beans
1/4 medium avocado, chopped
Dash pepper, 1 tsp chopped cilantro, 1/2 tsp lime juice

These were delicious, but as my husband mentioned a few days ago, the corn tortillas collapsed in my hand while eating them. :/ So, it was more like a taco mess, but still yummy:




Had my daily dark chocolate and chai green tea around 3:30. And then, around 5:00, I cheated! I was feeling tired and hungry (and here is where I SHOULD HAVE eaten the mandatory snack), and I had a Laughing Cow French onion cheese wedge with 3 sesame seed crackers, and then about 8 whole corn tortilla chips with salsa. UGH! It probably amounted to another 300 calories. I'll definitely be eating the snack meal tomorrow.


DINNER

Smoked Gouda and Grilled Onion Salad:

1 1/2 cups torn romaine lettuce and 1/2 cup sliced onion
1 serving whole grain crackers
1 oz. smoked gouda cheese, cubed
1 TBSP EVOO
1 TBSP balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp lemon juice, sprinkled with pepper

This dinner was pretty good, but it would have been better if I used the smoked gouda. I only had regular gouda. Hubby got grilled chicken on his salad. Of the 3 days of me being on this plan and cooking dinner for both of us, he liked this one the most.

Day 6 - Core Plan Begins!

Well, after my 5-day Fast Forward phase, I lost a total of 4.5 pounds. Yes, the scale didn't budge anymore this morning. Many other women seem to have lost more than 7 pounds, but I’m not going to compare my success with theirs. I haven’t been at this weight since September 2009 when I was dieting after I had my son. That’s right -- Over an entire year went by, and I ended up gaining an additional 5 pounds instead. Finally, the momentum truck has pulled back in the driveway!! Let me just say that last night, I slept like a “child before their first day of school”. I kept thinking about my breakfast. :-) Onward to my day of flavorful meals (finally!):

BREAKFAST

Banana Ricotta Hazelnut Toast:

1 slice whole grain bread, topped with:
¼ cup low fat ricotta cheese
½ regular banana
2 TBSP chopped hazelnuts
Sprinkled with cloves

LUNCH

Zesty Bean and Summer Slaw Pita:

1 cup shredded cabbage, ½ cup shredded carrot, and 2 TBSP chopped red onion mixed with 1 TBSP orange juice, 2 TBSP rice vinegar, ½ tsp celery seed, sprinkle of pepper
¼ of an avocado, chopped
½ cup great northern beans
½ of a whole grain pita

Stuffed the pita as full as I could (since it was only a ½), and put the rest in a side dish. This meal was SOOOOO good! Here it is:




SNACK

Decided to omit the required snack today, but won’t be doing that too many times. The book talks about how after you go off the Fast Forward phase, that weight loss might stall. There is a mini quiz, which tells you whether you should omit the whole grain serving from your daily snack, and I fell into this category. Boo hoo! Well, I just decided to omit the whole snack today, not wanting my body to see the increased calories so soon. So, instead I had my daily dark chocolate indulgence, which was a 100 calorie bar from Trader Joe’s with 70% cocoa. Along with that, I had a 2 cups of chai green tea.

DINNER

Turkey Mock Tacos

4 large romaine leaves, ½ cup all natural salsa
¼ cup chopped red bell pepper and chopped onion; sauted in vegetable broth.
½ cup frozen corn
3 oz. ground turkey
¼ of an avocado, chopped
Chopped cilantro and lime wedges

My husband enjoyed these as well. He had a corn tortilla with a few lettuce wraps as well.


I hopped on the elliptical for 30 minutes this evening too. 30 minutes is all I could do because of this nagging knee injury I've had for over 2 months now.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow's meals! I'm planning to have the Very Berry Omelet with Avocado Toast for breakfast, the Tomato, Basil, and Walnut Salad with Cannellini Beans for lunch, Cinnamon Walnut Apple Crisp for a snack, and the Salmon Ginger Rice Bowl for dinner.

Day 5 - Fast Forward Almost Over!

Today, I was down 4.5 pounds from Saturday. Can’t wait to see my final weigh-in tomorrow!

At times, this Fast Forward phase has been both very hard and quite easy. Almost as much as the weight loss, I appreciated the energy burst and confidence that I felt each day. Because the FF phase has been preparing my body for regular meal intervals, I didn’t feel “all-day” hunger as I expected to. Sure, there were times when my stomach was rumbling, but I finally discovered the power of my brain against eating at times when I knew that I shouldn’t. One of my biggest shortcomings before beginning this plan was the constant need that I felt to snack or munch all day long. It became easier to tell myself: “It’s not time to eat yet.”

Also surprisingly, throughout these 5 days, I began to crave some of the foods I would be eating before I ate them -- even though I only ate the same 5 foods (especially almond butter and cloves – but not together of course!)

Meals were exactly the same again today at the same times. But all day long, I was so excited about the upcoming meals that I would be having after this day was over. I also thought about my family a lot today. I continued to cook “their meals” for a few days during this phase, but today my feelings were about wanting them to experience the same type of energy I had through the meals with balanced food groups & portion sizes that I knew I would be eating after this phase. Even though this book is viewed somewhat as a “diet that aids in weight loss”, the author also advocates it as a “lifestyle change” about how we are supposed to eat.

Through some Internet surfing today, I stumbled upon 2 other women’s blogs about their experience with Cinch! They are MUCH more detailed than mine including pictures of their food, what they ate, and exact quantities of their meals during the 25-day phase. I also found this super cool spreadsheet that someone else put together including all the meals in the book, which meals they had already tried and their thoughts about them, and store grocery lists! How super cool is that? Maybe I will start posting pictures too! I wish I could just “follow” them from this blog, so the bookmark would be super easy, but their blogs are in WordPress, and I’m using BlogSpot. Not sure how or whether I can do that???

So excited about that Banana Ricotta Hazelnut Toast in the morning! :-)

Day 4 - Down 3.5 lbs.

Day 4 was pretty successful. In the morning, I was down 3.5 pounds after only 3 days on this plan. Can’t wait to see what it says tomorrow! Seeing the number on the scale go down provides so much motivation for me. Before this plan, I had been putting in only half effort in my attempts to lose weight, but still somehow expected that whatever I was doing would provide me with results. I have now learned that this 5-Day phase provides the structure and discipline that I needed to “get the needle moving again” while providing me with confidence that I can lose this weight again. More than anything, I cannot even put into words how good I feel. My stomach feels slightly smaller, my mood is great all day long, and I have tons of energy – after only 4 days!! Not to mention, I’ve been super productive at work. I am scratching things off my “To-Do” list left and right.

Meals today were exactly the same as yesterday at the same times, but the cheater in me was of course tempted by other kinds of food all day long. I fought back most of the day until I got home from work and my husband mentioned that he just gave my son some Nilla wafers. As I started to make dinner for them, I managed to eat two of my own. Then, after I made their salmon, wild rice, and mixed veggies, I thought that the salmon looked so good that I managed to sneak a bite while cutting up the meal for my son. The drool practically ran out of my mouth. :-) But, oh well. It was probably less than 75 calories altogether. Not sure that will make much of a difference. I certainly can’t wait for that daily dark chocolate indulgence that is allowed on the plan. This is how I will “cheat” going forward!

I have been so excited to start eating meals from the Core Plan that I wanted to read more of my book before bed. Out of all the meals that I bought ingredients for last weekend, I was smart and put some of them in the freezer (corn tortillas, whole wheat pita bread, etc.) and refrigerator (4 avocados - yikes!) until I could actually eat them on Thursday and onward. I picked out which 4 meals that I wanted to eat first on Thursday. I decided on the Banana Ricotta Hazelnut Toast, Zesty Slaw Pita, California Sunshine Salad, and the Turkey Mock Tacos! I wanted to eat foods that might go bad first. I’ll decide what I want on the day itself after Thursday...

Day 3 -- It's Getting Easier

Well, today was a smashing success (with my 2 modifications to the FF phase of course)! Started the day 2 lbs. lighter than from where I was on Saturday, which was enough motivation for me to have a great day. I followed all meals as planned today and met Holly at the gym for a 3-mile walk on the track. Here was the day:

Breakfast (7:30):
1 cup spinach and 1 egg scrambled
1 cup raspberries with pinch of sugar topped with 2 T. slivered almonds

Lunch (12:15):
Parfait with vanilla yogurt, slivered almonds, & fresh raspberries covered in cinnamon and cloves.

Afternoon chai green tea (3:00)

Snack (4:30):
Vanilla yogurt mixed with frozen raspberries, ice, cinnamon & cloves
2 T almond butter (on the side)

Dinner (7:15):
Cooked spinach with tarragon, thyme, and curry. Covered with slivered almonds. 1 hard boiled egg on the side.

Today I was significantly less hungry than Days 1 & 2. I think my body is starting to understand what is going on. I'm on to Day 4 tomorrow. Getting closer and closer to the core plan -- I'm excited!

Day 2 - And Happy

What an amazing difference today has been! I'm well rested and have eaten exactly the way I'm supposed to with my slight variation to the plan (making it work for me).

At breakfast (9:30), I was practically starving because I had been up for an hour & a half already with my son. I know the book says you need to eat within an hour of waking, but I wanted to let my husband sleep in today. I made my spinach scramble and fruit cup. The berries with the pinch of sugar were much better! Plus, I made some coffee with the 1/4 c. skim organic milk that I am allowed to have according to the book. The coffee made me seriously happy; perhaps I should have had it yesterday? It was so good that I could make my coffee this way forever.

Lunch was around 1:00 pm, and this was my kind of parfait! I covered the berries in cinnamon and cloves again, and layered them with the almonds and vanilla yogurt.

I'm doing quite well today, and I'm proud of myself. I'm going to make some tea now, and start watching the football playoffs!! I'll update the rest of the day before bed.

UPDATE:

Well, no less than 1 hour after I ate the parfait, I was starving! It crept up outta nowhere. I ignored it for another hour, enjoyed my tea, but then I just couldn't stand it. I had a scoop of peanut butter again. ugh! This is hard. I stayed busy for the next 2 hours, and felt pretty good. At 6:00, I was freezing my butt off because it has been about 10 degrees in Ohio for the past week. Instead of eating my salad meal as planned, I decided to cook my spinach in the skillet with some garlic. Placed it on my plate, added my balsamic vinegar, some more juice from the minneola from yesterday, and the slivered almonds. I omitted the raspberries, and added my hard boiled egg on the side. It was delicious.

Then, at 9:30, I ventured into the kitchen for my smoothie meal. I had never used our super cool blender yet that we got for our wedding, and it was awesome! It has a smoothie setting and everything. Added my yogurt, raspberries, some ice, cinnamon and cloves, and then I opened the jar of almond butter and fell in love. With almond butter. There is absolutely nothing else in the jar but raw unsalted almonds. It tasted like peanut butter. Had I known how good it was, I would have eaten that when I broke down today and had the peanut butter scoop!

Day 2 was a success. Hoping tomorrow isn't too hard -- going to work & being on this plan will be a change. I used to eat breakfast at work when I arrived. Now, I will be getting up a 1/2 hour earlier to allow time to cook my spinach scramble. Lucky for me, I live close enough to work that I can come home on my lunch break and make the parfait at 12:00 and take the smoothie back to work for my 4:00 snack.

Day 1 - Mind Over (Food) Matter

Well, unfortunately I'm writing this on Day 2. My plan was to update after my son went to sleep last night, but I fell asleep too!

Yesterday was seriously hard. Most likely because I started the day not sleeping well the night before. My son woke up off & on all night long as we're all still getting over a head cold. I've always required at least 7 hours of sleep each night (ideally 8). Anything less than that is a recipe for me being grumpy, tired, and impatient all day long. So, needless to say I was weak for Day 1 of the plan...not a good way to start.

The day started with my spinach & egg scramble and fruit dish of raspberries & almonds (8:15 am). I added some garlic & fresh pepper to the egg, and it was delicious, but the raspberries were really hard to choke down. I usually love raspberries, but they were SO tart. I realized that in the past, I've usually eaten them with sugar or within vanilla yogurt. They were so tart, I felt a little sick to my stomach. Washed everything down with my 2 cups of water, and I left for my Step Aerobics class. I know the book says you're not supposed to exercise during the Fast Forward phase, but I love my Step Aerobics class almost as much as I love chocolate!

I was so thirsty that I drank another 4 cups of water during class. How is that for water intake? Only 11 am, and I've already downed 6 cups. After class, I thought for sure I would be starving, but nope. I had errands to run after class including a trip to Target and the grocery store. And then in Target, it hit me. I was starving! So, I grabbed a box of those 100 calories natural whole almond servings, and was out the door. I felt bad for breaking down already, but the book said that dizziness was not normal during this phase, and that you should add another protein serving if you feel anything like this. I started feeling quite dizzy walking down the aisles. Being that they didn't have hard boiled eggs at Target, I grabbed the almonds. At least I didn't leave the list of approved foods (yet....gulp).

Which brings me to this: I am a cheater. I've known this for a very long time. No matter what diet I've been on in the past, I've always found a way to "sneak" something in my mouth that I know I shouldn't. This is one of the reasons that I thought this plan would work for me because of the daily chocolate allotment. Although, you don't get that in the Fast Forward phase. :-( Yes, my friends -- the idea is to rid your body of sugar, artifical sweeteners, salt, etc. etc. etc. And as the day went on, it got harder and harder.

Raspberries were 4.99 a pint at the grocery store (crap). I had a feeling they would be the most expensive. I only left with 4 pints. After thinking about all of the frozen raspberries I bought yesterday, I decided I just wasn't going to spend any more money on them (especially after it was hard to choke them down at breakfast). I'd just reduce my serving size at each meal to 1/2 - 3/4 of a cup. (Here goes the cheater in me, again.) I had already picked out my meals for the next 8 days after the 5-Day Fast Forward and made my grocery list. That combined with a few staples that I already had on hand, I ended up spending $60 more than I usually do at the store. At first, I was horrified, but then I realize that during the week, I end up at the grocery store replenishing things we need at least another 1-2 times, and I probably end up spending $60 more in those visits. So, all in all, it probably evened itself out from my usual budget/spending.

After the grocery store, I went home to have my parfait meal (1:00 pm). Oh my God, I hate plain yogurt! I added the fresh mint and covered the berries in cinnamon and cloves (as the book suggests), but I still ended up hating the parfait. I was sad at this point because this was the meal I was looking forward to the most because I used to eat a parfait at least once a week before this plan. Then, I decided to have a hot cup of chai green tea, and my world turned around. It was so good that I ended up having 2 more mugs.

Tried to take a nap, and I kept waking up to pee. And then, I got seriously hungry and then I got mad. Talk about mood swings! Again, it's the lack of sleep and lack of sugar that caused all of this. (I know!) So, I cheated. And this time, it was 2TBSP. of peanut butter straight outta the jar. Man, I felt better.

During the day, I guzzled more water. I figured out that if I filled up my SIGG bottle twice each day, that equals 8 cups. Dinner time was at (6:00), and I made the spinach salad. I loved the hard boiled egg with some pepper, and I drizzled some balsamic vinegar and fresh juice from a Minneola that I bought at Trader Joe's, which is a cross between a grapefruit (yuck) and tangerine (yum). Put the raspberries & almonds on top, but the salad was just OK. I hated the raspberries as they made me sick to my stomach again. I don't understand why they make me feel so icky. I got mad again about my meal, so I made some more tea.

Around 9:30, which was supposed to be my last meal and smoothie time, I cringed at the thought of having to eat more plain yogurt and raspberries, so I took a Yoplait vanilla yogurt out of the fridge and sprinkled my almonds on top. Cheated again. It was at this point that I decided I'm either going to A) Quit the Fast Forward phase altogether (telling myself "It's optional, remember?") and skip right to good meals listed in the book, or B) I'm gonna start putting a sprinkling of sugar on my raspberries for the next 4 days and eat vanilla yogurt instead of plain yogurt. I went with option B.

I feel like a big cheater doing it this way because I know the author wouldn't agree with me. Plus, I really didn't want to skip to the good meals after I had SO much spinach, eggs, and raspberries sitting in my fridge. But, after I thought more about it, I AM A CHEATER! I can't change. I've tried, and "the more you tell a child they can't have their crayons, the more they want them". The end result of a potential huge weight loss in 5 days certainly won't be the same for me, but I'm willing to bet it will be close! Plus, I'll be happier and willing to stick with the full plan for 25 more days. One size fits all isn't the case here --- Got to remember to make this work for ME!

Pre- Fast Forward Phase Thoughts

A 30-day journey into a food plan that is so mouth watering, I'm not even going to say I'm on a diet. (Although, the underlying plan is to lose some pounds that have been clinging to me since I had my son almost 2 years ago). At my happiest weight, I was 20 lbs lighter than I am now. If I can lose half of that (10 lbs.) in 30 days, I will be on my way to my goal!

In the past, I've always felt that I'm a healthy eater; choosing mostly lower fat foods, watching calories, etc. After reading most of this book, I had a reality check and I get a C+. My past weight loss attempts have been good & bad. Counting calories helped me lose most of my baby weight, but more recently, it wasn't working because I got lazy with writing things down. The only success I've ever really had was the year before my wedding with my 3 support group girls. We had weekly weigh-ins, had to pay $10 if you gain weight and $5 if you weigh the same each week, and we met a few days a week to workout together. I lost 23 lbs in 8 months. Then, I got married, had a baby/gained 33 lbs., lost some of the weight, but then haven't lost any for over a year now.

The Cinch! Plan promises that I can lose up to 8 lbs. in 5 days. Realistically, and knowing my body, I will probably lose 5. I've never been a big supporter of quick weight loss; feeling that the pounds will always creep back on. I've always supported the "slow and steady wins the race" mantra. And I normally cringe at the thought of restricting my calories below 1,500 per day, but after reading most of this book over the past 24 hours, what the heck?

The 30 day plan has an optional Fast Forward (FF) phase where you eat the same 5 foods for 5 days: almonds, eggs, spinach, raspberries, and yogurt. Then, during the next 25 days, you have a serving each of produce, lean protein, whole grain, plant-based fat, and spices/seasonings (4 times per day at regular intervals), and a daily dark chocolate indulgence. You drink 8 cups of water, and you can have coffee with no more than 1/4 c skim milk and no more than 5 c. unsweetened tea. I'm not sure how I will do over the next 5 days as I debated for quite awhile on whether to even do the FF phase, probably because it was "optional". I love all of the 5 foods, but I think I will struggle the most with the yogurt. It is plain yogurt only. Need I say more? I'm used to all those yummy Yoplait or Dannon flavors. Some people on the plan describe it tasting similar to sour cream. (I like sour cream...maybe it won't be so bad).

So, I made my grocery list for the next 13 days including the yummy meals post- the FF phase since I do the bulk of my shopping every 2 weeks. I have to say, I'm a bit nervous about the total cost for everything. Because of course, I had to add foods to my list for my husband and toddler son who won't be doing the plan. I usually spend about $200 on groceries every 2 weeks for all 3 of us. I started at Trader Joe's tonight, and I'll finish the rest tomorrow at Acme. Looking at my cart tonight, I'm sure the cashier at TJ's was wondering what I was up to with 5 bags of spinach, 5 bags of frozen berries, 5 huge dark chocolate bars, etc. "Just wait, I'll be back buddy! Because in only 5 days, I will have eaten 15 c. spinach, 20 c. raspberries, 4 c. almonds, 10 eggs, and 60 oz. yogurt."

Tomorrow is Day 1 of the FF phase. I'll update after the day ends... wishing me luck.