Another one bites the dust...

...another pound, that is!  I'm on day 21 of the maintenance phase of the HCG diet and I am successfully down 20.5 pounds!!!  So, for those that are keeping track, my current weight is 159.5 pounds!  Super excited about that!!  (Hence all of the exclamation points.)  I have 7 more days of maintenance (even though I could technically be done today, I'm choosing to do another week of "restrictions".)  I am getting to add back more things every day...more sugars, though I have to be careful about how much to consume...more starches, but again, I have to be careful.  I even got to enjoy Thanksgiving (and Cameron's birthday party the following day!)  *I got to have turkey, about 2 tablespoons of mashed potatoes (AMAZING!!), and some delicious spinach casserole my MIL made...quite tasty!  I got to have some apple pie my wonderful hubby made (well, I had the inside of the apple pie...not the crust).  And then for Cameron's birthday party, I got to enjoy a small cake pop.  Delicious!!  In the next seven days, I'll be happy if I even lose one more pound! Updates to follow! :)

The (terrible) Twos

While I'm a couple of days late, I did want to post about Cameron's second birthday.  He turned two on Wednesday...in the midst of family photos, making Sesame Street cake pops, Thanksgiving, two birthday parties, and attempting to get the newly crowned "big boy" into his big boy bed, we're all exhausted!

I don't know why I'm so shocked at how fast the past 2 years have gone..........but I am.  I feel like only yesterday we were not sleeping in the hospital (no really, it does feel like yesterday...seeing as we're not sleeping yet tonight....).  Our little turkey came home the day before Thanksgiving two years ago...and he's still a turkey!

He's such a big boy already!!  Counting (to 10), saying his ABCs, knowing body parts, acting out different emotions, **attempting** sleep in his big boy bed.....it's going too fast!  I want time to slow down a little bit so I can enjoy every moment.  Okay, not every moment...he is rather infuriating from time to time (that high-pitched scream is not cool!!!), and he pushes our buttons multiple times a day.  But we wouldn't trade him for anything.

Happy (belated) 2nd birthday, Cameron!  I love you a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck, little (Mizzou) Tiger!!!

***Here's one of our family photos!!***

The next phase...

Well, I'm done with the days of 500 calories.  My results?  17 pounds lost in 21 days.  Not the 20 pounds I was hoping for, but I'll certainly take it.  PLUS, I lost almost 3 inches on my waist, so that's a MAJOR plus! :)

I'm now on to what they call Phase 3 (Maintenance).  I'm 4 days in with 24 to go.  I'm up to 1500 calories a day and am able to enjoy food a lot more.  I never thought I would be so excited about eating cottage cheese!!!  While I'm enjoying the food more, I still have to be super careful about WHAT I eat.  *Because of unexpected weight coming back, I've now figured out what to not eat and am having a steak day tomorrow to get my weight loss back under control.*

I'm excited to see what the next 3 1/2 weeks bring. :)

The Journey continues...

I'm on day 18 of my diet.  Total weight lost: 14.5lbs!  Down 2 inches in my waist!  While I only have 5 more days left of the 500 calories, I would still like to lose another 5lbs.  *Which is possible. :)*  Then I move up to 1500 calories per day.

I started reading a book (I actually just stumbled upon it while looking for something else at Barnes and Noble) called French Women Don't Get Fat.  Well, I was intrigued by the book all because of the word "French".  So I went to the library to see if the book was there and, what do you know, it was!  Along with a COOKBOOK!!!!  The book (and cookbook) are both written by a woman born and raised in France who married an American man and now splits her time between the Mother Land (France, for those who aren't of my  mind) and America.  She noticed while she was an exchange student in America that the American way of eating is entirely unhealthy.  The way she was raised, you ate for pleasure, and you ate small portions, not the stuff-your-face-and-keep-refilling-your-plate-because-you-think-you-need-to way of eating Americans usually do.  Also, in Europe (especially France), they don't believe in "dieting".  *Especially the "going cold turkey", counting calories, depriving yourself of things you enjoy kind of dieting..........basically what I'm doing.*  French men and women are taught from the beginning to have portion control.  They buy fresh and organic food daily....AND they WALK to get those fresh and organic things.  While the stereotype is that they eat bread and cheese ALL the time, the truth is that, yes, they do get bread every day.  That baguette that is bought in the morning lasts ALL DAY for the entire family.  And the cheese is real cheese, not the processed junk common in America.  They don't have to calorie count because they're not, like I've stated, stuffing they're faces and eating processed food that does nothing but add inches and pounds.  Fresh food, smaller portions, exercise.

Sounds simple enough and is something people have said before.  I'm glad I'm doing the HCG...a nice jump start to weight loss.  But once this is done, I will be embracing the French woman in me even more and apply the French Women Don't Get Fat philosophy to my life.

Vive la France!