Wave Two, Weight Loss

After what seems like an eternity, I have finally lost another pound. Seven pounds since beginning the diet on January 9th. Obviously, this is excellent progress. I am almost halfway to my weight loss goal, and am now 3 lbs from BMI normal, which is such an oddly named category I have to look it up every time to make sure that it really is "normal." Why would the inventors of the Body Mass Index label a category "normal," when so many fall outside of that range?

Anyway, today I am still "overweight," which is a much more reasonably named, if insulting, category.

I keep reminding myself that losing seven pounds in just under four weeks is pretty great, especially since I inevitably cheat a little (or a lot...) on the weekends. It still feels so slow-going.  In any case, I am optimistic. It would be great if I could lose another two pounds this week, since next Saturday I have my first wedding dress fitting!

Wave Two Dinner!

Ahh, wave two feels like such an abundance of food at meals. Alas, I still end up hungry at 9:30...

In any case, here's what I ate for dinner yesterday-- pork tenderloin, quinoa pilaf, and roasted squash. Mm mmm!

Beginning Wave Two

So, Wave One brought the shedding of 6 lbs. Then, a weekend of booze and brunch. Now, I'm a bit heavier on the scale. Still, I'm hoping/assuming I'm just retaining water and/or approaching delicate feminine times.

In any case, today I revisited Wave One, and tomorrow, I will begin on Wave Two. You can find my first few days mapped out below.

Day One: Tuesday
B: Cereal and milk
L: Chicken black bean wrap
    Spinach salad with vinaigrette and sundried tomatoes, 1 tbsp. walnuts, 1 tsbp. cheese
    1 cup berries
D: Latin Spiced Pork Tenderloin
    Toasted Quinoa Pilaf
    Roasted Zucchini
    ½ cup tier two fruit
S: 22 almonds
    1 red bell pepper

Day Two: Wednesday
B: Steel-cut oatmeal and milk
L: Birthday lunch at work-- but I’ll be good!
D: Chicken with Serranos (adapted from this Shrimp with Serranos recipe)
    Southwestern Grain Medley
    1 cup salad greens w/ vinaigrette and 1 tbsp. goat cheese
S: 1 cup baby carrots
    1 The Laughing Cow Light Babybel

Day Three: Thursday
B: 2 eggs, 1 slice whole wheat toast
L: Sonoma Salad with Tomatoes and Feta
    Fresh tier two fruit of choice
    1 serving whole grain crackers
D: Chicken with Serranos (adapted from this Shrimp with Serranos recipe)
    Southwestern Grain Medley
    1 cup salad greens w/ vinaigrette and 1 tbsp. goat cheese
S: 2 tbsp. yogurt & cucumber sauce spread w/ wheat crackers and wave one veggies
  ¼ cup peanuts

Day Four: Friday
B: Steel-cut oatmeal and milk
L: Chicken and black bean wrap
   1 cup salad greens w/ vinaigrette and 1 tbsp. goat cheese
    Fresh fruit
D: with friends

Wave One, Day Seven

As of this morning, I've lost five pounds.

Over the last couple of days, I've spent far less time being very hungry.

This is why I love the Sonoma Diet, and this brutal wave one. It teaches you that you have enormous reserves of willpower (see Day Two, the macaron incident); it reminds you that being hungry is not something that requires emergency intervention (though it may cause a few fights); and finally, it works. I've lost five pounds. In less than a week. Now, I know I won't lose much more weight in next few days, and I might even hit a plateau, but having these solid initial results will, I hope, carry me through to the finish line: 10 more pounds, 7 more weeks.

Wave One, Day Five, and I'm an idiot

So, it turns out, my old meal plan featured Saturday... twice! Which means that Wave One ends on Wednesday, not Thursday.


And because I have a dinner with friends on Sunday where I will surely not remain at all close to the parameters of Wave One, and because I have an old friend visiting next weekend, I will go ahead and do one more day of Wave One. Sigh.


But I can do it!


The revised meal plan, beginning with tomorrow, is below.


Day Six: Saturday

B: Whole grain cereal w/ fat-free milk
L: Steak and Blue Cheese Wrap
D: Tandoori Chicken
        Roasted Eggplant Salad
S: 28 peanuts
½ cup tomatoes

Day Seven: Sunday
B: Whole grain cereal w/ fat-free milk
L: Grilled Asparagus Salad
7 Kashi crackers
D: Non-diet dinner with friends. So shoot me.
S: 1 cucumber, sliced
1 cup raw bell pepper strips

Day Eight: Monday
B: Spanish Eggs
L:      Mediterranean Tabbouleh Salad w/ Chicken
D: Beef and Mushroom Kabobs
Spinach Salad
S: 11 almonds
cucumber slices w/ Laughing Cow Babybel

Day Nine: Tuesday
B: 2 scrambled eggs w/ 1 slice toast
L: Birthday lunch at work-- but I promise to order a salad.
D: Mediterranean Tabbouleh Salad w/ Chicken
S: ½ cup tomatoes
1 cucumber

Day Ten: Wednesday
B:        Cereal
L:        Spinach and lentil salad with toasted walnuts
D:       Szechuan Chicken (modified from this Sonoma Diet Szechaun shrimp recipe)
S:       1 cucumber, sliced
1 Laughing Cow Babybel
14 peanuts

Day Eleven: Thursday (OK, so, technically there is no day eleven on Wave One, but since I will have one non-diet dinner on Sunday, and a friend is visiting starting Thursday night, I figure I better get in an extra day of wholesome goodness)
B:     Spanish Eggs
L:      Spinach and lentil salad with toasted walnuts
D:     Sicilian Tuna Steak
        Spinach Salad
S:      14 peanuts
        1 red bell pepper

Wave One, Day Four

I am not starving!

Granted, I have eaten a handful of tomatoes and half a Babybel Light beyond the meal plan. I also didn't go to the gym today, since I had a couple of appointments. Still, I am not starving.


And, I weigh less now. Four pounds less. Ten more pounds doesn't feel so out of reach. This is why I like the Sonoma Diet, and can soldier through the misery of wave one.

Wave One, Day Three

Sorry, folks, my phone was dead come time for dinner picture.

Alas, tandoori chicken, roasted eggplant salad. Pretty ugly, really, since the yogurt marinade on the chicken blackens instantly and eggplant, while beautiful on the outside, is not so lovely after roasting.

I am still so hungry. I don't remember being this hungry the last time I did wave one. But I have been ravenous since 5 pm, even though I've had dinner, a cucumber, a couple of handfuls of grape tomatoes (not on the meal plan, but they are on the all-you-can-eat list), and 28 peanuts (I doubled my daily allotment! I had to).

To be sure, wave one is a very restricted diet-- about 1100-1300 calories a day for women. That isn't much, but nor is it so very little. When I did wave one before, I weighed 20 lbs more than I do right now. So, what's different now?

I have two ideas: One, I exercise a lot more, at least lately. I've been to the gym or to a yoga class almost every day this year. Two, I take thyroid medication that controls my metabolism. I'm not sure exactly what that means for dieting, but it wouldn't surprise me if it had some affect.

So, strategies for survival-- and not making Bill hate me. First, eat more of the all-you-can-eat vegetables. If that doesn't work, up my nut consumption?

Also, I used my willpower again today, when my colleague came into my office to offer me a piece of dark chocolate.