Today is technically Day 7. It’s time to prepare for what the new week is going to look like. And while I felt ambitious walking into the new program, I am unbelievably blown away by its simplicity, and big results.

I meet with my Coach in the program every couple of days. And that means I’m acutely aware of how much I weigh basically on the daily. I know we encourage to “lose the scale”, but this isn’t about trying to “get skinny”. This is about trying to get my health under control. And I am a very unhealthy woman, weight-wise.

Jan is my biggest support. Period. My biggest support. Lookit this dude up on skates and on the trail with me. And together, we made some big plans.

We talked about my goals, and what the plan was to sustain what I’m seeking. The ultimate, 100% goal is to cure my sleep apnea. Being hooked up to this machine is frustrating, uncomfortable, and, well, annoying.

We’re calling 2020 “damage control”. My objective is to get down to 200lbs before I meet up with Tracy again at the Y in September when it reopens. By the end of the year, I’d like to be settled into the weight I was when I moved to Kingston two years ago – 185.

(I love how supportive Jan and Kid C are. This is them spending their Saturday portioning and labeling meat for me, to help cut the meal prep in half.)

My “NY Resolution”, hope for 2021, etc., is to treat next year as working to cure my sleep apnea. I was 185 when I stepped into my ENT’s office and he told me that my obesity was contributing to my condition. 185! I’ve got a long road ahead of me.

But it’s worth it. This week was worth it. This meal plan was far easier than I expected. And the food options aren’t recipes, but a canvas to create. Jan and I brainstormed, picked, plotted, planned. We learned that adding one sweetener with vinegar and mustard to the “permitted” Greek yogurt makes for a solid Miracle whip knock-off. We “deconstructed” a lasagna by just “focusing on the goopy part” by adding quinoa to a casserole style mess of pasta sauce, cottage cheese, mushrooms, onions and Italian sodium-free seasonings. The real break-through was when we discovered “half and half”‘ing the protein requirements. Example: If I need 4 oz of protein, I can do 1/2 the allowed chicken, and 1/2 the allowed Greek yogurt and use the latter for the dressing, or sauce. Using Romaine lettuce leaves for wraps dupes you into feeling like you’re eating a wrap, despite not having a flour tortilla (2 per week, max.) Melba toast seasoned can act as croutons. The food options seem much more vast when you start putting in the work to creating recipes you might actually eat despite a food guideline.

I’ve now learned that coffee doesn’t taste nearly as awful if I use sweetener (lol), and saving my add-on for ice cream last night was heavenly. And felt so rewarding.

And like I said, getting out and being with Jan has been a really testament of faith to he and I, our commitment and faith in one another. Finding the trail this weekend was a huge deal. I had no idea we were sittin pretty, a mere five minute drive from the Cataraqui Trail. It’s now a mainstay for our walks together.

So I’ve jabbered on enough about how the week went. Did I see results? See for yourself.

I’m down 4.8lbs. 2″ off my bust, 4″ off my midsection, and 2″ off my waist.

We laugh, because I’m peeing all the time now! But, I’m also not feeling “heavy”. I’m not hungry between meals, but I know when it’s time to eat again. I don’t feel nearly as bloated. And my IBS has calmed to a dull roar. Still there, but much calmer.

I don’t miss sugar, I don’t. Nor carbs, or eating out. I just miss the time I wasted thinking I didn’t have it in me to do something this extreme. But here we are.

Let’s go, Week 2. I’m looking at you.

— c