Day Fourteen - Cycle One

THE FEELING OF SUCCESS!

     Woo Hoo!  I made it through the first two weeks people!  I can hardly believe it.  I have never come this far before.  It's a great feeling.  Whoa! 14 whole days of eating healthy and nothing else?  Who would have thought it would be possible.  I am sooo thankful for Dr.Mike's book, The 17 Day Diet .  It really works people.  I feel great, and I am looking smaller in some key areas.  I really am the Incredible Shrinking Woman.  Most of all is the sense of pride I feel for this accomplishment.  It is similar to graduating from law school, maybe even better.  You feel like nothing can stop you and success will be yours.!  I am starting to rekindle that feeling.  Wow!  Let me just sit here and marvel at the greatness of this feat........

     OK, I have pondered it, accepted it and now I own it. It's mine, never to be taken from me again.  How many of you can say you haven't eaten any sugar or sweetener of any kind in 14 days straight?  What about bread?  Flour?  It really makes your body feel good to detox it from all those poisons.  I have heard that so often in my life, but I have never been able to accomplish it.  Whew!  They were all right, and I didn't die and I didn't feel deprived.  I have so much more energy!  Now I just have to wait for my body to catch up with everything my mind thinks my body should be able to do.



    I need to clear up a misconception that I have been laboring under since the beginning of this diet and blog, I thought we were required to drink 5 cups of green tea, but it turns out that it's only 3.  I was rereading some of The 17 Day Diet book, and I noticed Dr. Mike said 3 cups, then I checked the suggested menus (which I have looked at many times and thought I saw 5 teas) and there was green tea listed only for each meal -  not snacks.  Oh well!  I am sticking to my 5 because it really is good for fat burning, and I have lots to go still.  I just won't feel as bad when I miss a cup here and there.  It really is hard to get all the liquids down!  However, that is what helps keep you full.

     Trying to figure out something new and different for dinner using what I have here at home.  It will be a surprise to us all....

IMPORTANCE OF WATER

     As I was rereading The 17 Day Diet book, I was surprised about how very important water really is to our bodily functions and dieting.  Dr. Mike says that besides taking up space in your belly so that you feel full, water "helps your body metabolize fat."  He says our kidneys can't work properly without enough water, and when the kidney's can't work properly, our liver has to step in to take over some of that burden.  The liver's normal job is to "metabolize stored fat into usable energy for the body."  However, the liver cannot work at its full capacity when it has to do some of the work for our kidneys.  Dr. Mike says, as a result, the liver "metabolizes less fat, and more fat remains stored in the body, and weight loss stops!"
     He also says that water is essential for weight loss because it helps the body get rid of waste and flushes the body out.  He claims that even people who suffer from water retention, benefit  from drinking lots of water because your body starts retaining water when it thinks none will be coming in (sort of like when your body stores fat because you don't eat enough times during the day).  It is saving it up for a rainy day.
    After reviewing that information, I have decided to get in all 8 waters a day if it kills me (and it may).  It's too important to this process.  It must be done. 

TODAY'S POSTING

     The little bit came home from school yesterday with a soar throat and cough.  I was hoping it would improve with the evening, but it didn't.  I checked her this morning and tried to see if she could rough it out at school, but she couldn't.  Besides, it very rude to send sick kids to school, that's how she keeps getting sick!  Therefore, went back to sleep. Woke up at 8:30.  Made lemon water and choked it down (wrong temperature again).  Made my tea and drank it with my yogurt and apple.  Watched a movie.  Put another on, but fell asleep during it.
     Woke up, should have had my second fruit, but didn't, so fruit number 2 got skipped today.   Prepared a cup of tea and drank with my lunch.  Today lunch was a salad.  Just romaine lettuce and grilled chicken, plus my kefir yogurt bleu cheese salad dressing.  It was simple and good.  Drank a bottle of water, which makes three for the day.
     Blogged, read, and spoke to my beautiful older daughter on the phone for a while.  Did dishes and cleaned up kitchen.  Thought about dinner all day and wondered what I was going to make.  That's when I came across something that would make a good dinner with a different flavor.

DINNER
     I was rummaging around in the fridge, looking for something I could use to prepare dinner that would be different and taste good.  Out of all my condiments, the only things I could use were my fat free dressings, fat free sour cream, and my salsa.  So I started thinking about chicken and salsa.  I went to BING.com  and typed it in with recipe.  I found like 8 usable very tasty looking recipes that each need a little tweaking to work, but otherwise sound delicious.  I settled on a combination of two recipes.  I also made my own roasted vegetables recipe tonight.  I had another bottle of water with dinner, plus another tea.
     
RECIPE FOR SALSA CHICKEN

     2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (adjust for family needs) - I'm eating alone tonight
     1 packet of taco seasoning
     1/2 cup of salsa
     tsp olive oil
     Salt, Pepper, Garlic and Onion Powder to taste

     Pre-heat oven to 375.  Heat Tsp Olive Oil on med-high heat in frying pan.  Wash Chicken, sprinkle taco seasoning on both sides until lightly covered.  Place in pan to brown outside, about 2-3 minutes each side.  Remove chicken from heat and frying pan, place in cooking dish already prepared with non-stick spray.   Cover with salsa of your choosing, as much as you want,  place in oven for about 20-30 more minutes or until chicken is cooked all the way through.  Remove and serve with vegetables.

   I found this recipe very tasty and satisfying.  It had a great new flavor, so I was very happy with it.  I especially liked it with my roasted carrots because they were so sweet and the chicken salsa was spicy.  The sweet and spicy combo was good.  The carrots had a cooling effect on my mouth after the spicy salsa.

RECIPE FOR ROASTED VEGETABLES

     4 cups broccoli*
     3 cups carrots*
     2 cups cauliflower*
     Tbs olive oil
     Salt, Pepper, Onion powder & Garlic powder (or two cloves fresh garlic pressed)

     Pre-heat oven to 350.   Place vegetables flat on a cookie sheet or sheet cake pan.  Brush all with olive oil.  Season to taste.   Bake for 20-50 minutes depending on how crunchy or soft you want them to be.  Remove and serve with protein of choice.

     These vegetables were a nice change from the steamed and boiled ones.  A good flavor and different.  You can use any vegetable you like and alter the cooking time to how you like your vegetables prepared.


TODAY'S STATISTICS


     Green Tea = 4; Water = 7; Fruits = 1 apple; Probiotics = 2 yogurt; Proteins = grilled chicken breast baked chicken breasts; Vegetables = romaine lettuce; exercise = none yet; fats: 1 tbs and 1 tsp olive oil