Well, I suppose I should share my interesting week with you all. First, I would like to say that I kicked butt and took names on the scale this week. 5.4 pounds down this week (oh...forgot to tell you last week was 2.6 pounds)...so 8 pounds in the last 2 weeks. I am VERY happy with those numbers!
Now, for the explanation on how I managed to lose 5.4 this week...
As some of you know, I did the General Motors 7 Day Cleanse Diet this week. I don't REALLY believe in cleanses in general because I feel like they never completely do what they promise (and this one is no exception), but I felt like challenging myself this week, with the hope of losing a little extra weight and exploring other possible benefits to the program. So, I put regular Weight Watchers on hold for 7 days while I set out on the General Motors Adventure.
This particular cleanse promises to help you drop 10-17 pounds in one week (cough...BS!). But, after looking over the diet, I noticed one very interesting thing about it. It is basically your ideal, well-rounded diet...but instead of eating all those foods in one day, it's spread out over 7 days. I figured, at the very least, it would help my appetite to shrink down a bit (with my recent points decrease at Weight Watchers...due to my weight loss...I am feeling a little hungrier than I would like to feel), and it would force me to eat the foods that are good for me. No sweets! LOW sodium! 10 glasses of water a day! Natural foods that God intended for us to eat.
I began Day 1 with high hopes. I was basically supposed to eat all fruit all day...as much as I wanted...mostly melons...and you are able to supplement your diet with a vegetable soup (general recipe/guidelines listed on the diet directions). I love fruit! I like soup! No problem, right!? BZZZZZZ!!! WRONG! Melons, being a high fiber food and containing tons of water, basically just put you in the bathroom all day. As soon as you're done in the bathroom, you are STARVING again. I tried to eat melons primarily, as suggested in the directions, but crap I was hungry. So, I added in an orange, about a cup of grapes, and 12 strawberries. FINALLY, satisfied! You may be wondering "Why didn't the soup fill Marisa up? That should have helped!" Well, my response to that is...the soup was gross. Didn't want more than the half cup I attempted to take down. Maybe it's cuz I used a bad combination of veggies...maybe it's cuz it's just plain yucky. Whatever the case may be, I had forsaken the soup by the middle of Day 1.
With little hope of making it through Day 2, I was pleasantly surprised by how full I was all day...especially because I got to start it off with a baked potato topped with a pat of butter. Now THAT'S my kind of breakfast. The rest of the day, I enjoyed a variety of steamed veggies, and didn't have any problems.
Day 3 was just fine too, because I could continue with veggies and add in the fruit (sans bananas)...Didn't have to have so many melons that day. My only gripe was I wasn't allowed to have a potato that day. That didn't mean I couldn't have corn though! Mmmmm.
Day 4 was one of the oddest days, because it consisted of only bananas and milk. I did not expect to be satisfied, but darned if you don't get full on Day 4! They allow you up to 8 bananas and 3 tall glasses of skim milk. I was bursting at the seams by banana #6, and decided to forego the option of eating more. This banana/milk day is meant to replace any lost potassium from the prior 3 days, and to help take away cravings for sweets.
Day 5 was also strange. You can have up to 20 ounces of lean beef, and you must have 6 whole tomatoes, as well as increasing your water intake from 10 glasses to 14 glasses. So, being an antitomatoite (that is my word for "one who detests tomatoes and all they stand for"), I opted to cook those bad boys in with lean ground beef, making it a bit like a ragu. Not bad! Especially with some seasonings! I also cooked a steak in the crock pot with more tomatoes, and that came out pretty darn good too, if I do say so myself.
Day 6 was easy. More lean beef...as much as you want...and vegetables...as much as you want. Meat. Good. Veggies. Good.
Day 7 consisted of brown rice, all the veggies you want, and fruit juices. The juice was a stretch for me. Usually, unless it's beer or wine, I do NOT like drinking my calories. I am also not particularly a fan of how sugary sweet juice tends to be. But whatever, I can suck it up for one day. So I had pomegranate blueberry juice. Not bad if you put ice in it to water it down. Best part of my day was having the brown rice with broccoli, and dashing just a small amount of soy sauce into it...probably considered cheating, but I don't care.
Ultimately, I DO feel cleaner inside. The cleanse gave me the boost I needed to fit into some jeans that I have been itching to wear for a long time. It did decrease my appetite, and I am drinking more water now. Overall, a good experience. They say if you choose to do it again, you can, but I think I will wait awhile till I hit a plateau. The good thing about the second time you do it is that you can add in up to 2 glasses of white wine or champagne each night...apparently it helps with digestion. I will go with that. :-)
Now, I am back to points, and OH HECK was I happy to go to Applebees and eat the steak and shrimp on the "Under 550 calorie" menu tonight. I am celebrating another 5.4 pounds gone from my body. I am celebrating the fact that I made it through the week without cheating and sneaking some sort of Weight Watchers ice cream out of my freezer (I love sweets...although I really am not craving them after that cleanse...) And I am just celebrating life in general!
No comments:
Post a Comment