It's been a long week

I've been farmsitting for the last 12 days. This isn't a bad thing, in fact I love being the one to wake up and feed pony-beast first thing in the morning. 12 days away from home, though, makes it hard to eat well or feel organized. And, while it would seem convenient that the farm is only 10 minutes from my apartment, it actually makes things harder - I tend not to pack real changes of clothes, convinced that I'll come home often. I've been living the past week in hay covered sweats and snow boots.

On the plus side, I started the Dynamite. Wednesday and Thursday were easy...well, duh, they're the days that you eat as much as you want. Thursday night, though, I got a call before dinner from a friend saying she needed to get her horse down to Fairfield (Equine Clinic) because his bladder was completely blocked by a stone. I hooked up and within an hour I was at her place and on my way to Connecticut in the rain and fog. We got to the clinic at around 11:15pm, put Daniel in a pretty heavy daze, and watched the surgery. After hanging 2 bags of fluid and waiting (forever) while he recovered in a stall, we loaded him back up and started the drive home. I hadn't eaten anything since 3pm on Thursday, so at 3am I stopped for gas and got a chai, a red bull (still had to make the drive), a banana, and a bag of chips. And no Dynamite. Oh well, sometimes things don't go how they're supposed to, and considering the emergency we were dealing with, a crappy diet was just not the end of the world.

I've been doing well since that, though. Eating (basically) what I'm supposed to, and being probably too relaxed about the whole thing. I'm still having creamer in my coffee in the morning. My chicken for my salad last night may have had some chipotle taco seasoning on it. For the most part, though, I've been trying. The Dynamite makes it so that I'm not hungry between meals, and I even find myself having to remember to eat (the water could be doing that). Oh yeah, water. It's my downfall. I have a habit of going days without taking a sip of anything (horrible, I know). Now, I'm supposed to be drinking over 80oz per day! The last 3 days I've had about 60oz each, so...it's progress. Today my goal is all 80oz.

We're on day 6 and I'm down 2.8lbs. Not as much as I'd like, but after the chaotic week, I'll take it.

Holidays are the Worst

Last week, we had an exciting mix of freezing rain, freezing temperatures, and snow. I only made it out to run a couple of times. In general, I refuse to run on snow on top of ice because, well, gee whiz, it seems dumb.

So... then account for Monday being President's Day. I proceeded to stay home with my husband and eat copious amounts of crap food. Yikes! The goods news is that I now absolutely do not want anything to do with grease, sugar, and cheap chocolate. It seems that sticking to a healthier diet in general means that when I do splurge, I end up wanting some real, healthy food. Hooray!

Last night was super veggie stir fry. I also have some beef, barley, and basil stew. Yum! Running again felt so good... I think I'm going to get used to this whole healthier lifestyle thing.

1 Week

Well, it's been one week on my Dynamite Diet. I have had a hard time sticking to 650 calories a day, esp. with Valentines Day (aka Chocolate), Parties, etc. STILL I've lost 1.5 inches from my waist and 1 inch from my hips. Not bad. My pants started to fall down today (they were already a little big) so I'm happy about that. I'm not following my diet to a T, but it's helping.

If you want to write on this blog e-mail me at rehabdenali@yahoo.com

Sorry for my delay in posting comments! I should just turn moderation off!

Introductions

Hey all, Codi here.

I came across this blog from reading Denali's blog, and at first was merely interested. I had started a blog like this myself a few years ago, but it never really took off. The invited bloggers were all people I knew personally, in real life, so maybe posting was just a bit too shameful. Whatever the reason, I found myself as the only one posting after the first week, and within a month the entire project was squashed.

I didn't say, "ohmygodIhavetojoin," until Rebecca wrote her sweet feed post. I had been playing with diets and exercise for a while but I don't think any of it sunk in until I saw that post. Last year, I had to lose 10lbs. Not only did I not lose the 10, I gained another 40. Yikes. It sat in my head as just a number, albeit a number that ran through my head hourly, until Rebecca equated it to a bag of grain. REALLY? I have to lose an amount that I HATE carrying around? No wonder the boyfriend never offers to give me a piggy back ride anymore...

Well, anyway, here I am. I'm about to start two programs concurrently that you're not supposed to do together. Dynamite 180 (I'm pretty skeptical of the 650 cal/day thing, too, so we'll be playing this one by ear. It should be a surprise to no one that if you starve yourself, you'll lose weight. I want to see how good this program is at getting needed nutrients into your body, keeping you energized, and curbing hunger) and Couch-to-5K. It's probably not a great idea to mix the two, even modified versions of both, but eventing season is coming up. How can I possibly ask my mare to run around, in shape, much less hoist her body and me over things when I don't think I could handle the just me part?

Do not worry, fellow bloggers, this will in no means be a crash diet - I like food FAR too much - in fact I have a belated Valentine's Day dinner coming up on Saturday at my favorite restaurant where I fully plan to stuff myself beyond any reasonable limit. Can't take dieting TOO seriously ;)

Oh, and my little black breeches? They aren't black. They're Tailored Sportsman Trophy Hunter Full Seats, in tan, of which I will not be buying anything larger than a size 28!

Hi, remember me?

So, I started this blog, gung-ho! Then fell off the Wagon, then went to the nearest McDonalds and decided to eat cheeseburgers until the wagon came back for me.

I have started a diet! No cheeseburgers involved. I am using Dynamite's new product, 180 and today was day 3. Day 1 and 2 are super fun! Eat everything not nailed down. Day 3, not so fun. From other people that I've talked to it gets better. They've lost a ton of weight in a few weeks, so I hope I can get 20 pounds off doing this.

I'll keep you posted as to how it works. There's no way in hell I'm going to post my starting weight here! :)

Eating

I've been reasonably consistent with my exercise, but I've been working hard on another aspect of weight loss: eating right. It's hard. I love sweets and desserts and icecream and fried chicken... and it's probably not healthy to go on because then you'll all want it, too.

However, I have tried to make changes. I do eat breakfast. I do eat lunch. I eat them on 9" dessert plates instead of on 12" dinner plates. My grandpa is fond of reminding everyone that when he was a kid, dinner plates were 9". So. Food on the 9" plate. Eat until full. Eat ONLY UNTIL FULL. When full, stop eating. Even if there's some left. Even if it's yummy. Just stop and put it in the refrigerator.

I guess it's working. On Thursday, I was at a friend's house. She made amazing tacos. I ate entirely too many tacos. I was very uncomfortable all night and then made a lot of visits to the commode in the morning. To further confirm my hypothesis, I went to a superbowl party. I actually ate remarkably well--some chips, some veggies, a few crackers, and my mighty weakness: tacos.

Ugh. Not a good Monday morning, either. I feel better about myself. As to whether I look better, who knows?

Snow!

I think I have lost about 5lbs walking, hiking, climbing and shoveling snow in sub zero temps.

Yay snow?

I've noticed I need a cattle prod to motivate me to go to the gym. I've been exactly once in 2 weeks. WHY is it so hard to make the trip? If I do stuff and home and jog I just don't feel the same as I do when I go to the gym. I need time, and all of mine is devoted to college and working so I can ride. BUH.

I've noticed my calves looking real svelte, and my saddlebags slowly dissapearing. Emphasis on slowly. My stomach is looking rather bloat-y though. Odd. Nevertheless, here I come skinny breeches (and jeans) and fitting into my show boots again!! I have exactly....2 months till my possible first show.

All this holing up at home is making eating mostly healthy...nonexistent.

I wonder if every college girl my type has a difficult time shedding pounds. This seems unnaturally difficult!

That is all.