49 weeks till IRONMAN - the big secret

So this week I got serious about my weight goal - this has been a hard one for me - - - -but I had a lucky break this week when Linda, my lifestyle nurse,  said to me ....." you like a challenge right?" Do I like a challenge - who are you talking to?  I just signed up for an IRONMAN for heaven sakes!  "Just do this for 1 week"  Oh, I can do anything for 1 week - probably 2 weeks actually!  " I promise you will lose weight"  Nice!  "This is not extreme"  OK  "This is healthy"

OK - I am in - you actually had me at "you like a challenge don't you??"

So here is my meal plan this last week

Breakfast: grain, protein, fat, fruit 

Morning snack : vegetable and fruit

Lunch: protein, grain, 2 vegetables

Afternoon snack: dairy, fruit, vegetable

Dinner: Protein, 2 vegetables

Evening Snack: (optional) 100 calories of anything you want - but if you lose control (eat more than 100 calories) it becomes a danger food - you can't have again that for the rest of the week.

Notes:

grain must be whole grain

balance 3 healthy fats into each day

no potatoes

no bananas ( WHAT? - it's only for 1 week she keeps telling me!)

no refined foods

be careful with soft nuts, it is too easy to eat too many

Remember:  Willpower is the lack of hunger

After  1 day, relieved I made it one day, after 2 days, I felt good, more in control. . . . After 3 days I noticed that I woke up in the morning with energy ( NICE!)  After 4 days, I wanted to step on the scale to see if there was any progress, but scared to death that if I stood on and didn't see any progress, I would be mad 'cause I am working SO hard . . .  so I didn't step on. . . just kept at it!
So after 1 week, I lost 3lbs and I survived my craving time of the month!!  Yeah!  Now to keep it steady and keep it off.  2 more pounds to reach my November goal of a 5lb weight loss.....I have been rollercoastering with my weight for the last 7 months (hard to believe it has been that long!)
I decided to do this menu plan for 1 more week, cause Linda said that I can....and it is not really very different from my last plan. . . .  then I will return to my regular lifestyle menu plan that I have been doing for the last 4 years!  I can't believe it has been that long...... oh how life has changed in only 4 years.....

Here are a couple of pictures to remind me of where I have come from - and where I am going.....

Great Wall of China - November 2006
3 months before starting the lifestyles program

Waterton - April 2011
2 months after liver surgery

The big secret in life is that

there is no big secret.

Whatever your goal, you can

get there if you're willing to work.

- Oprah Winfrey

Missoula StayBridge Suites - September 2008
1st time @ Garden City Triathlon 

I went for a run with Megan (my ironman training partner) on Friday . . . and it was good - I was really nervous about it.  Why you ask?  Because this is the garbage that I was letting into my head....."she is a runner, and maybe she will see that I am a fraud, and can't run, so I really can't do this, and shouldn't have signed up, and who am I kidding?"

Ya, I still have those thoughts.....  sad hey...... I have a bunch of mental work to do too.....

See you in a month Megan - we will do it again - I loved that I ran 10k - with a bit more walking than I would like to do, but it was the first time I ran that distance since before my surgery.....it has been MONTHS (feels like years, but I know that it hasn't been THAT long).  It felt great.  Really great.  

You were born for this day 

the time is here and the time is now.

You will be an Ironman