It's been awhile since I've blogged, and I happy to report that today I officially hit the 10 pound mark!  I'm down to 150 and my pants are pretty loose.  Soon enough I'm going to have to swap my size 12s for size 10 (of course I kept all of those pants so at least I won't have to go shopping!).  The steady results are enough to keep me with this even more than the fact that the food is delicious.

Here are some observations after my first month:

• I think my sense of taste is more keen now.  Especially sharp flavors such as jalapeno are intense!  Either everyone is serving the most amazing samples of food when we go out or my taste buds are no longer dulled from constantly swimming in sugar.  This goes for sugar too - the few times I've treated myself to chocolate or yogurt covered raisins I can't have too much without being overwhelmed by sugar.
• I am so much more awake in the morning than I used to be.  I started drinking coffee again, but even without it I can wake up on time with no problems.  Most days I don't need an alarm clock either.
• I can go for fairly long without eating - even if I don't mean to.  If I get caught up at work and can't drop everything to have lunch I'm fine and can make up for it later.
• I do still have occasional thoughts of wanting baked goods, but I realize that it's not hunger at all but a longing of my taste buds.  It's been comfort food for over 30 years, so I understand it.  But so far I haven't really wanted anything when it comes down to it.  The most I've had is rice in a sushi roll, and for an occasional indulgence I'm okay with that (I bloated a pound or two the next day and lost it again the day after)
• Eating out isn't as difficult as I thought it would be.  We plan ahead and look at menus first to make sure there's options, but just about everyone has steak or something along those lines.  We ask them to hold the bread basket so we're not tempted.  Cheesecake Factory low-carb cheesecake was also a recent indulgence for a celebration dinner and I had no ill effects from it.  It's also easy to request a grain-side like rice to be switched out for veggies like green beans.
• Chinese takeout is also possible when you order off the "diet" menu, which is a strange way of saying they put the sauce on the side and just give you cooked meat and vegetables.  Not ideal but great for nights that the meat doesn't defrost in time or you're just strapped for time.

That's it for now.  I'll check in again soon on my progress and hopefully have more to report on getting fitness in there too.  I would like to eventually run again one day, at least up to 5k, and have dreams of fitting it in my schedule some where.  We'll see!

Okay so no more food log for now.  Suffice to say my work schedule has been a bit busy and I fell off for a few days - but I am happy to report that I am still eating grok, most of the entries would look the same anyways, and it has served it's purpose which was to get me through the first 21 days.  I can't believe I'm at day 26 already!  I feel great, have lost 7 pounds total, and have a lot more energy.  My pants fit comfortably again too.  We still go out to eat on occasion to our favorite Japanese restaurant for filet minon and vegetables, but no major splurges.  The most I've "cheated" is that a couple of nights ago we had 1 specialty sushi roll as an appetizer (so some rice), and my boyfriend bought chocolate covered dried blueberries and yogurt covered raisins that have sugar in them.  But I haven't gone crazy with it and the majority of my eating is as it's been for the past month.

I still haven't incorporated exercise - with the exception that one of my jobs, as an archivist, has actually involved a lot of heavy lifting.  We have to move heavy boxes right now in rearranging our storage and I've gotten tons of muscles working during that.  But as a regular routine I haven't incorporated slow moving, and most of my jobs involve sitting at a desk or sitting in my car on the commute.  One thing I've always loved since a kid was rollerskating - so I think I might try to get that in every now and then on a weeknight I'm not working (play = exercise).  I'll need to make a real plan for sprinting though, maybe just waking up earlier and doing it before work on days I don't have to be up super duper early.

I think I'm performing better at work because of this diet too.  I have more energy and can handle more - I feel like it takes more to overwhelm me in terms of stress.  I also don't have to run out to get food right on the dot at lunch, no crankiness from always being hungry.

So no more food log going forward, but I promise to report if I fall of the wagon.  At this point it feels normal now, so I doubt I would, but I do miss sushi.  I think an occasional bit of rice won't kill me, but I do still want to lose more weight to at least get back to a healthy 140 or so.  That gives me 10-15 more to lose, which if I stick with the way I'm going should take approximately 3-4 months.  I would certainly be ready for beach season if it works!  I hope so, but I'm also keeping short term goals in focus.  Any day the scale is going down or staying the same is a victory.  I just don't want to be where I was in terms of bloat and insipid weight gain.  I'm on a healthy path now and I'm stickin to it!

Meals 1/21/2013

Breakfast - Eggs and bacon, with plain yogurt and a half avocado, green tea
Lunch - Banana-almond butter pancakes with heavy cream
Half-caff with whole milk
Date/almond roll (not bad, but tasted alcoholic...)
Dinner - Chicken breast with ham and swiss

Meals 1/20/2013

Breakfast - Eggs and bacon, green tea
Lunch - Thin sliced steak with goat cheese
Piece of dark chocolate
Granny smith apple, cashews
A few slices of turkey
Dinner - 4 hot dogs (no buns of course!) with mustard, peppermint tea
Blackberries in heavy cream
Half-caff with whole milk

Lost another pound, woohoo!  So I'm currently down to 154 from my starting weight of 160.  It's going a little slower now that I've been on the program for 20 days, but I'm okay with that.  I'd rather it be slow and steady loss than up and down.  I do notice when I bloat now, whether from monthly bloat or from what I ate the night before (having chocolate, especially with a glass of sangria, tends to bloat me the next day).  But it's never permanent and typically goes away after a day.  I also am loving the fact that when I'm hungry it's no longer that overwhelming I'm-going-to-die-if-I-don't-eat-right-now feeling.  I can be a little hungry, my stomach might rumble a little, and I take note of it and eat something when I can.

I still haven't made exercise a routine, and I think that will be my challenge.  My work schedule varies day by day during the week and involves some nights, so I'll need to sit down and figure out when I can fit some workouts in.  I think I might have to start small (maybe smaller time blocks 15-20 min) and fit in more on the weekends.

My boyfriend is still on Grok too, but he's been more lenient on nights when he goes out with his friends to the bar.  He's gone out a few times, and most recently had a lot of beer.  I think he had a very bad experience with it and won't be trying it again anytime soon - not digestively, but in terms of crashing.  He had a few beers at the bar and on his way home almost fell asleep at the wheel.  We think it was from a) not realizing he couldn't drink as much as he used to after eating differently, b) essentially having a major sugar crash while already being drowsy from drinking.  It scared him and I think he's going to be more careful from now on.  We're remembering 80/20, but also knowing that we need to go by the effects of what we consume and listening to our bodies.  If anything he likes gin and tonic so that might be a better bar choice so he can still hang out with his friends and have fun.  That's important too - we don't want to live like monks or give up social activities in this new lifestyle.

I am realizing that I need to expand my cooking repetoire.  Plain chicken breast with spices can only be made so often without boredom.  I'm going to add recipes from Quick and Easy meals every now and then to change it up.  And hopefully become a better cook in the process too!

I should also add that I wake up a LOT easier in the morning.  I used to be the kind of person that would sleep in at any opportunity (weekends) and try for that extra 10 min of sleep in the morning.  Now I'm up at ready to go at 8 on the weekends and I don't find it as difficult to wake up during the week (although my 4:30 mornings are still hard sometimes, that's just twice a week and depends how late I stayed up the night before).

Meals 1/19/2013

Breakfast - 1 1/2 eggs with bacon, green tea
Bowl of blueberries with heavy cream
Almonds
Lunch - 3 turkey and muenster cheese rollups
Peppermint tea
Piece of dark chocolate, granny smith apple
Dinner - Huge plate of broccoli cooked in butter, cup of half-caff with whole milk

Meals 1/18/2013

Breakfast - 1 1/2 eggs with bacon and plain yogurt, green tea
Almonds
Lunch - Cobb salad, peppermint tea
More almonds
Banana
Dinner - Small steaks with spices and plain yogurt
Cup of half-caff with heavy cream