2nd Weigh-In tonight

Today is week #2 weigh-in. Let me back track first to write about my first two weeks on the program.

On November 25, the day after Thanksgiving I started the Optifast product. The first day I decided to have the shakes by themselves with nothing adding to get the full taste. Thanksfully, it was ONLY one day. The shakes are no where near as good as the HMR product. They were terrible, in my honest opinion.

I struggled a lot during the first few days with headaches and hunger pangs. Four days on the fast yielded a 9.5 lb weight loss bringing my weight down to an even 246. I was proud of that loss considering my entire class started on Wednesday the day before Thanksgiving.

Almost every morning I mixed two shakes with coffee and added either chocolate Torani sugar free syrup or hazelnut, raspberry, or white chocolate to it. When at work I took my shaker cup with the round whisk-like stainless steel ball inside and made my shakes. It's quick and easy and back to work. I've mixed orange and chocolate and also chocolate and vanilla. At about the third day they started tasting like milk to me. It reminded me of a very mild chocolate flavored milk I made as a kid when I added too little chocolate to the milk.

Tonight I weigh-in and this past week was the hardest. Yesterday I went to Disneyland and forgot how much I ate my way through the park. First smell is the bakery on Main Street, then the popcorn, turkey legs, french fries, clam chowder, corn dogs, etc. OH MY GOD. I was dying. I had five shakes by 3:00 just to keep me full. I also dealt with an all day work conference where I made three shakes in advance and carried a cooler with me. I haven't told anyone at work so I had to sneak my bottle outside the conference hall to drink it. It worked and I survived without having to answer any questions about my diet.

Hot and Slim. That's the way I want to describe myself when I'm done. Hot and Slim Chicken Soup is available for purchase. It's broth-like and a nice alternative to sweet shakes all of the time. I add Mrs. Dash seasoning to the water before I microwave it. I use the garlic, table blend, original blend, hot and spicy and sometimes add curry powder to it. Can I just tell you that I look forward to that soup every single day. It cannot be used to replace one of the five required shakes a day. It's an additional option and I highly recommend it.

I did ask the nurse practitioner if I could purchase the 800 Optifast product of chicken soup or tomato soup. The 800 product does count as 1 of the 5 required shakes. It has more calories than my 70 product. She approved me to purchase an extra box of shakes so I'm looking forward to having tomato soup tonight. The only thing missing will be a grilled cheese sandwich on the side. :(

It's tough because my husband still has to eat. The other night he made macaroni-and-cheese and I almost tackled him to the ground to get some. Are there calories in a wet sloppy kiss that might include a pasta noodle and cheese? Just kidding....I actually thought of that though.

Now that I'm at the two-week mark I need to incorporate exercise. They encourage moderate exercise and strength training using light weights with high repetition. That's next on the agenda.

My naked weight this morning is 5.0 lbs. less than last Tuesday's naked weight. I'm going by that number mostly because each week at the clinic my clothes and shoes are different.

More soon...