Day One.

Day one of any diet is ridiculously difficult. By three o' clock I wanted to eat anything I could get my hands on. My stomach felt like it was eating itself. 

It didn't really help that my boss brought in doughnuts on the first day of this fast. I avoided the box at all cost and only thought about opening it once. I felt like that was a pretty good. 

I knew the entire day that at the end of it I would have to come on here and tell the truth so I stayed away from everything I shouldn't be eating. 

I drank a juice I made myself in the morning (recipe below). The juice was thick so I drank it slower, which I think helped. And two V8's, one for lunch and one for dinner. 

I know most people are against juice fasting with V8 or other juices that are pre-made but I don't have the time to come up with multiple juices to keep me and my husband fed all day long. So we buy V8, Naked, Odwalla, etc. Any drink that is mostly (if not all) fresh fruit. The Naked's are all full, whole fruits and are very good for you. V8 has a little more preservatives than I'd like but for the most part it's all vegetables.

(pro tip: don't exhaust yourself with the details. Details are important. You should look at the label and know everything you are putting in your body. But you can't cut out every little thing. Be mindful, not exhaustive. If you wear yourself down you'll be more likely to quit.)

When I was making juice for tomorrow I did snack on some little pieces of fruit  and eventually ate a mango. 

I know that's probably not allowed in a juice fast. But it was a mango. I assumed you'd get over it. :) 

My husband cheated, ate some leftover Chinese food for dinner because he couldn't stand being that hungry. I get where he's coming from, but I attempted to encourage him. Say all the things to him that I want him to say to me when I want to quit. He eventually gave in to temptation. 

Like I told you, two of our friends are doing it with us. One cheated, eating chicken for lunch (I'm so jealous) and the other stuck to it. So we're at 50% rate for success on the first day. Not great, but it could be worse. 

I am not so proud to say that of the four of us I have the most to lose. Well, at least I think I do. I normally surround myself (unintentionally, I think) with skinny and beautiful people and one of these days I want to consider myself part of this elite clan I have in my head. 

I have the idea of what jeans I want to wear on this day as well. The day that I finally get where I want to go. But I need to remind myself that this place/time/weight I have in my head is not a short distance away. I will not wake up tomorrow 20 pounds lighter. 

I'm happy and excited for the next chapter. Also, really very hungry. I'm going to drink a bottle of water, watch an episode of Weeds and go to bed. I'm sure I'll have sugar plums dancing in my head. Or doughnuts. Either way. And tomorrow I weigh in for a weight loss program I've been doing with some family members. The pot is $150 so I really need to start cracking. I think 10 days of juicing will help so much!
 

A couple juicing recipes: 

Today's Breakfast:

4 Kiwi's

6 Clementines (Cuties)

2 Apples

1 Pear 

Tonight's Dessert: 

6 triangle slices of pineapple

1 cup of strawberries

Tomorrow's Lunch:

1 Mango

2 peaches

2 Apples

Juicin'

Changing your diet and exercise is the absolute best way to lose weight. It is guaranteed to get you where you need to go. Unfortunately, there isn't a fast, quick way to do it. If you want to lose 60-80 pounds (like I do.) There isn't anything you can do, short of liposuction, that will get your to your goal quickly. 

I think the most important thing is consistency and the knowledge that you're in this for the long haul. You might "cheat" or fall off the horse but you've got to get right back up. This has been my issue. I have lost weight before, I've gotten down 16, 18, 22 pounds down. But something happens and I fail at jumping back on the wagon. 

I have blamed it on everything from the lack of people to work out with, to scheduling conflicts, to stress. But the cold, hard, ridiculous truth is that I have 100% control over it. I have chosen, for two (or more) years, to fall down and stay down . Give in to frustration. To use my period as an excuse to eat greasy food and chocolate. 

I blame my weight on no one. I blame my tendencies on no situation. I had the control, I just didn't want to keep trying. I got down on myself and instead of talking to someone, or going on a run instead I stopped at the gas station for a coke. These were my choices. And I think that it is important to recognize this when you lose weight. Or try to. Know that you've gotten yourself here, but you can get yourself out. But you have to be hard on yourself. You don't need compassion, not when it comes to this. You need motivation. 

I've been losing and gaining weight for two years now. Probably more. I've had subscriptions to Shape magazine for four years. And I read weight loss blogs in my spare time. I would consider myself a pro when it comes to losing the weight. I think this issue is sticking with it. But that is why you are here. Hopefully if I have something like this blog to keep me going, I will. Don't want to screw up in front of the entire world. 

By entire world, I obviously mean the one person who randomly runs across this blog when they are looking for a Mean Girls themed blog. (Notice the name of this blog is a Mean Girls quote.)

I am kicking this off right with a juice fast. The reason behind this isn't to lose weight quickly, it is to get all of the toxins, junk food, everything, out of my system so I can start fresh. My husband and two of our friends are going to do this together. Doing things like this (detox, fasting, etc) in groups is really good. You have someone to be miserable with. You have someone to push you. You have someone to be accountable to. 

On day 10, my husband and I will start introducing other foods in, while still continuing to drink juice for one meal (probably breakfast). 

With my back problems, I have to take a lot of pills. That is what has stopped me for juice fasting in the past. But, no more excuses. Right?! Every time I have to take my pills (twice a day) I will also eat a fourth of a cup of oatmeal so I don't get sick. 

If you need to edit a diet, idea, plan. Do it! Don't rule something out because of one little draw back. 

(pro tip: when detoxing or fasting, you should always drink lots of water. The best rule of thumb is to drink half of your weight in ounces. i.e. if you weight 200 pounds you would drink 100 ounces of water. This sounds like a lot, but if you have a 20 ounce bottle of water, it's only 5 bottles.)

I'll keep you updated on how it goes and talk about exercising and calorie counting on the next update. 

Who wants to juice with us?!

Wish us luck.

So it begins

It's semi-ridiculous how many diet plans there are out there. Looking through them trying to decide what is "best" is enough to make a girl want to cry herself to sleep. Or at least get a large fry and be done with it. 

To be quiet honest I have tried everything. And I've been successful with it too. The problem with it has been pretty clear. I never get to my real, true goal. And I always gain back the weight. 

I have been overweight for about 2-3 years. I have thought I was overweight since I was 10. The problem has always been, at least for me, is that there isn't just fat and skinny. There is big butts, and different body shapes and size 8 jeans vs size 2 jeans. There is a million different ways to look good or not so good. 


I can officially say that I am a size 14 in jeans. Not my proudest moment. In high school I was a size 8 and I thought I was huge. I look back now and realize my vision was skewed. Ironically, I would never have appreciated how I looked then unless I had gained the weight that I have on now. 

Gaining weight is easy. You get comfortable. You get busy. Fast food is fast, but it's not healthy. If you want to do things with your friends, you go out to eat. Or you get drinks. All of which are very unhealthy. I have tried everything I can think of to attempt to get my body back into fighting shape. I want to wear jeans and a t-shirt and feel sexy again. I want to stand next to my friend and take a photo and not have to crop it. 

My doctor told me that losing weight now is something I need to do to help me with a couple of health issues in my life. I've been having back problems for months and they found a herniated disc. Weight loss in combination with physical therapy and epidural steroid injections is supposed to do the trick... So I've decided to go for it. I'll give you updates on how I'm doing it, what I'm doing and how it's helping. 

I will post pictures of progress and give recipes and plans along with how I got through cravings. 

My hope with this blog is to get readers that are counting on me, watching me, rooting for me. I have let myself down over and over again. But maybe if you're here helping me get there, we can do it together. 

So now I begin... 

Wish me luck?

Ready. Go.