My very first exposure to any type of diet plan or outside diet encouragement, other than me and my own willpower, was back in the early 90’s with a book I picked up called Stop The Insanity! by Susan Powter. This chick rocked my socks. She was energy, attitude, rebellion and determination all rolled up into one fiesty female.

For some reason, the other day I thought about that book. I was planning my after-holiday diet and talking to my friend about obesity, and how many built-in excuses society gives us for obesity anymore. That reminded me of Susan’s book. She refused to be an obesity statistic. As do I. I have a million excuses that anyone would accept:

• Obesity runs in my family. I’m genetically predisposed.
• I’m a single mother of two kids. Too busy
• I run my own business. Too busy. Too hectic
• I’m almost 40. I’m too old.
• I can’t afford equipment or special diet foods

Ok, so that’s not a million excuses - but any one of them works, and I’m not letting myself fall for it. I’m done making excuses and it’s time for me to get back on the wagon again.

50lbs in 6 months. I think it’s plenty doable! I started this blog for myself, to keep track of my diet efforts and a place to record interesting tid bits and information that I run across on the web, as I go. This is just for me. If you happen to stumble upon my little diet blog here, then welcome! Leave a comment - tell your story or whatever trips your trigger.

Me? I have 6 months - and this blog will, hopefully, be a reflection of that effort.

Now that I have the blog all set up - I will work a bit on it over the next few weeks to fine tune some of the back end programing before I start it, in earnest. My target date to start this challenge of mine is 12/26 - see you back here then! It’s a date!

I had a fabulous holiday - it was a real pleasure spending this time with my family. This year was pretty stress-free as far as holidays go, I certainly can’t complain.

The one thing I’m kicking myself for is all the holiday treats I gorged on this season. Fudge, chocolate, cookies, pie and on and on and on. I can just feel it growing on my hips! I’ve exercised absolutely no restraint whatsoever since we returned from our cruise vacation in September, and my scale is telling me ALL about it.

But! Tomorrow is a new day - and so begins my Body-for-LIFE 12-week challenge! My target date to start was set a month ago - - part procrastination, part knowing myself well enough during the holidays. That date is 12/26 - tomorrow! I’m psyched for this and have big plans for me and my size 14 ass.

And so it begins . . . here I go!

This is a recipe of my very own making. I made it up just yesterday, as a matter of fact. It was a hit with the man AND with the kids!

First! Make the Ranch Dressing with 1 package Fat Free Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix and 2 cups of fat free plain yogurt. (My favorite fat free yogurt comes from StonyField Farms)

Salmon Ranch Wrap

Whole Wheat Tortilla
Canned Pink Salmon

Mix a few tablespoons of the Ranch dressing in with the salmon. Then, I chopped up some cherry tomatoes, chopped up some chives, gathered some shredded carrots (I bought them pre-shredded) and mixed all that in with the salmon and dressing.

For extra flavor - I added a spoonful of capers, a dash or two of dill and some ground sea salt and fresh ground black pepper into the salmon mixture.

I let the salmon mixture sit in the fridge for about 30 minutes to let all the flavors comingle.

Then - I spread a thin layer of the ranch dressing onto one of the whole wheat tortillas, laid a green lettuce leaf on it and put two slices of fat free swiss cheese on it, then I put about 1/2 cup of the salmon mixture ontop of that and rolled it all up and chomped it all down.

It was heavenly!

I just have to say - making the ranch dressing with fat free plain yogurt instead of fat free mayo makes a WORLD of difference. Try it sometime - you won’t even notice the difference!

Disclaimers up front - I am in NO WAY affiliated with these No Pudge people. I don’t get compensated for this. That being said . . . have you ever said the phrase “Fat Free Heaven” ?? After trying these brownies - you will. Ohhhh you will!

They are completely 100% fat free. No lie. Only downfall is the carb count at 28g per brownie. For all you Weight Watchers folks out there - it’s a 2 Point brownie. I decided to try it out when I saw the boxes of it at my local health food store.

You mix the brownie mix with 2/3 cup fat free vanilla yogurt (my favorite comes from StoneyField Farms) - then you bake it at 350 for 30 minutes and that is it.

Rich. Chewy. Chocolatey. Fudgey. Goodness. Even my 14 year old daughter loves them!

Ingredients: Pure Sugar Cane, Dutch Cocoas, Cornstarch, Salt, Unbleached Wheat Flour, Egg Whites, Wheat Gluten, Baking Soda. Then the added no fat yogurt.

Too unbelievabley good to be true!

So, I was tallying up my food intake for the day and realized that I need to eat more.

Wait. More?

Yea, I know - that’s what I said! Currently, I’m doing the Body-for-LIFE 12-Week Challenge (it’s how I lose 65lbs in 2004) - and they recommend ‘frequent feeding’ - eating often throughout the day works with your body, not against it. By eating at regular intervals throughout the day (approximately every two to three hours) you keep your metablism elevated and energy levels stable.

BFL’s sample daily intake:

8am - Breakfast: Breakfst burrito, 2 cups water.
10am - Snack: Chocolate BFL protein shake (these rock!) and 2 cups of water
12pm - Lunch: Chicken sandwich, 2 cups of water.
3pm - Snack: Strawberry BFL protein shake, 2 cups of water.
6pm - Dinner: Grilled Salmon, potato, salad, 2 cups of water
9pm - Snack: Protein enhanced pudding, a fruit, 1 cup of water.

My intake today?
5:30 am - 1 chocolate BFL protein shake, 2 cups water
8:00 am - 6 dried apricot halves, 2 cups water
2:00 pm - 1 Chocolate BFL shake, 1 8 ounce protein juice, 2 cups water, 1 cup herbal tea
7:00 pm - 10 baby carrots w/ fat free ranch dip, 2 cups water
9:00 pm - 6 ounces roast lemon pepper chicken, steamed asparagus, brown rice, 1 cup herbal tea, 2 cups water, 1 NoPudge Fudge Brownie

Total coffee today: 3 cups

So, I’m doing… OK. I totally skipped the lunch meal today and breakfast mean, opting, instead to use the protein shake as a meal replacement rather than a snack, replacing breakfast and lunch with a shake.

I’m going to try adding those two meals into my daily intake - and use the shakes as in between fillers.

Oh - and 35 minutes on the treadmill today! Go me!

I did a bit better today with the eats. Considering my post from yesterday, I tried really hard to work in that extra meal, or two for breakfast and lunch:

9 am - 1 Egg Beaters™ Cheese & Chive Omlete, 1 8oz. Protein Juice, 16 oz H2O
1 pm - 1 BFL Protein Shake, 1 8oz Protein Juice, 2 16oz H2O, 2 NoPudge Brownies
6 pm - 7oz Lemon Pepper Turkey Tenderloin, Brown Rice, Salad w/ no-fat dsg. 1 NoPudge Brownie, 1 Herbal Tea, 1 16oz H2O
9 pm - 1 BFL Protein Shake, 1 16oz H2O, 1 Orange

I just have to say - - I was FULL. I couldn’t have eaten more if I wanted to.

I did 25 minutes on the treadmill at 2.5mph in the morning. Then later in the afternoon, I did my Ab workout on the Bowflex. It’s amazing to me how energetic I feel, when normally a workout day like that would kick my ass to pieces. Not saying that I made it through with flying colors - but at least I didn’t feel like crawling into bed for a nap!

I’m charting my progress here. So far? I’m down 3.5 - only 46.5 to go.

Oy!

I’ve always been told that the best time to do any kind of aerobic exercise is first thing in the morning, before you eat or consume anything. Ok - so, I don’t know about you, but the LAST thing I want to do right when I wake up in the morning is get on the treadmill. Before my morning coffee? Oh. Hell. No.

But…it might be worth trying. I read this in a book I’m currently reading:

Doing intense aerobic exercise on an empty stomach for just 20 minutes first thing in the morning is more effective in burning fat than a full hour of aerobic exercise performed later in the day oafter you’ve eaten a few meals. You see, after an overnight fast, blood-sugar levels are low, as are carbohydrate reserves. Exercising before you eat causes the body to dip right into stored fat to come up with the energy required to make it through whatever rude awakening you’ve subjected it to. ~ Body-for-LIFE by Bill Phillips

I think I’ll try it. Can’t say for sure that I’m realistically going to be able to hop right out of bed onto the treadmill - - THAT is QUITE a lifestyle change for me.

I’ll let ya know!