They don’t fit !!!!!!!

I bought two size 9 jeans from the juniors department 10 months ago, and although they were a little tight I thought “this will give me motivation to lose weight.”  What did I do instead? I gained an unbelievable number of pounds !

You know what happened with the first pair, remember?

I didn’t want to try the other ones on until the end of the program, and since Amy took my final measurements today I decided it was OK to try them on…..

BIG SURPRISE !

You might be thinking “well….. what do you expect? A 45 year old woman buying a size 9 pair of skinny jeans from the juniors section…. No wonder they don’t fit !”

I’m absolutely sure that’s what you’re thinking, so

let      me      tell     you      something :

The jeans don’t fit because THEY ARE TOO BIG !!!!

Ha, ha, ha !! I tricked you, didn’t I ?

I’m soooo happy !

I’ve lost 19.6 pounds and since my goal 6 weeks ago was to lose 25 lbs., I’m staying with the program until I reach that goal, with one tiny variation: I’ll eat my figs !!!!

Yep ! That photo is me and my too-big skinny jeans

Wooooooooooo hooooooooooooooo !!!!!!

P.S. Out of curiosity I just tried a size 3 pair of skinny jeans from my daughter and guess what: although a little bit tight, they button and zip up !

“Jack and Buppah have invited us to Jack’s birthday party at their restaurant! You can skip cooking and we can all go together !”

It turns out Jack and Buppah are the owners of “Bangkok Café”. I’ve mentioned before this is a wonderful place with sushi and Thai food, right? Well, there you go, I can’t be present at the birthday celebration because there are many temptations and we are sooooooooooooo close to the end !

I’m not willing to ruin the whole thing by exposing myself to my favorite food, so with great pain, I must say, I told my hubby I wasn’t going and he could go and have fun.

Needless to say he was upset because I haven’t spent time with the family this weekend – nor last due to a 3 day conference – but I just couldn’t go. My husband even said I could pick and remove everything I couldn’t eat that was on the plate but for me that would be insulting to Buppah who cooks everything and always takes pride of people’s reactions to her food.

So I decided not to put myself in harm’s way and stayed here just so I could have a very boring steak and keep my diet intact.

I really think that a big reason why I’ve stayed on track has been that I’ve kept myself away from the restaurants I love and when I know I’m having lunch away from home, I always bring my own. Sometimes it’s not that easy; like this morning when one of my “classmates” brought donuts for everyone, but just to think that we’re exactly seven days away from being done gave me enough strength to refuse the yummy treat.

Amy’s mysterious prize might have something to do too. I want to know what it is and I want one for me, whatever it is, along with bragging rights !!!

All the buttons are in place, the waist is rather loose, and although it’s still a little tight on the upper part, I can sit and breathe in it !!!

Woohoo !!!!

As Amy wisely pointed, the scale doesn’t show much progress but the clothes do. Now I need another goal since this dress was one of two for the 6 week journey; the skinny jeans being the other one, of course!

My will power has been tested several times this week:

a.       On Wednesday I had my monthly meeting with the “Girls Gourmet” from Murfreesboro and I didn’t give into the wine, the delicious butternut squash soup, the potato and parmesan cheese casserole, or the scrumptious peach and raspberry crisp with ice cream. In fact I only ate the chicken, the salad, the raw zucchini, and the boiled Brussels sprouts; the rest of the girls had them cooked with prosciutto and lots of butter. With a club named “Girls Gourmet” one can only imagine the kind of cooks that are part of the team and the amazing original dishes this club creates.

b.       Yesterday night I had to pick up more fresh figs from my trees and put them in the freezer. It was either that or let them rot in the backyard and I was not willing to do that. My freezer is getting pretty full with figs and if they don’t taste as I expect when the 6 weeks are over, I’ll make fig jam and will spread it on white toast since I don’t like wheat bread. I’ll have a fig feast !

c.       Today I went to visit one of my Rodan and Field consultants at her restaurant, and she and her friends were eating some Mexican tostada (fried corn tortilla) with all kinds of fattening and delicious things on it. Me? I only drank bottled water and then rushed home to have a cauliflower soup and coffee.

d.       One of my favorite things at the Fall Festivals around Murfreesboro is the “nachos with cheese.” Today was the “John Pittard Elementary” Fall Festival and guess what ? I didn’t eat the nachos! Instead I took bottled water and when the cravings began to increase I just left.

All my sacrifices are paying big time. I’m having serious trouble losing the last stubborn pounds, but the clothes are rewarding me when I see myself in front of the mirror. The wedding dress fits almost perfectly and now I need a new challenge. Any ideas?

Even when I didn’t lose the weight I expected last week and I can’t eat my yummy figs and candies, there have been some other benefits with this program; health benefits !

4 years ago I fell down the stairs and ended up with a torn ligament that took 9 months to heal completely. While under treatment the orthopedist found some problems in my knees.   Sobbing I called my oldest daughter and said “the doctor told me my jogging days are over, buahhhhhh !!!” Her answer? “And when have you, MOM?”

She was right, but IT IS NOT THE SAME ‘not wanting to do it’,  than ‘not being able to do it.’ I want to have the right to choose whether I perform an activity or not !

Tonight we met with Amy Cotta to exercise and I jogged !!!   It didn’t hurt and I was able to finish most of the session as she indicated.

Last week we were supposed to jog and I just couldn’t; it really hurt ! Every step I took felt like two bricks hitting each other inside my knees, instead of the meniscus working like cushions as they are supposed to.

Another benefit?

Last year I was prevented from exercising altogether when my neurologist found out I have something called “orthostatic hypotension”, a rare condition of extremely – and often times dangerous – low blood pressure where 95% of those who suffer it are at least 85 years old.

Although I’m far from that age, the extremely low blood pressure that affects me has taken a toll in my daily life and one of the activities I can’t – or couldn’t – perform is exercise, however with the Skinny Jeans program I’ve been able to workout without problems: my blood pressure hasn’t dropped suddenly while exercising; I’m able to finish all the routines, and I’m loving every second of it !

What I love the most about this program is that unlike others where you are spitting your guts out from the intensity (and where I’ll most probably faint due to the sudden drop in my blood pressure), with this one you can almost see the muscles working, you don’t get tired because the exercises are not exhausting but work intelligently where they are supposed to, and you feel the effects immediately in your body because parts start burning and hurting in a very good way!

I love that kind of pain ! and no, I’m not a masochist. I can almost envision my muscles regrouping and growing while pushing away the fat inside me.

I don’t know what’s going to happen after the 6 week program is over, but I have every intention to continue with it and celebrate my birthday in November skinny, toned and healthy.

I love life !!!

Am

Sooooooooo

MAAAAAAAAAAAAAADDDDDDDDDDD !!!!!!!

Today I weight myself and what do I get after sticking 100% to the skinny jean diet?

The stupid scale shows I’ve gained weight : ¼ of a pound !

why ? Why? Why?

I’ve done everything the program says !

I haven’t even gone out so I don’t eat what I can’t; I’ve rejected dinner invitations and yummy foods from the hubby and friends; when I have to work in court I’ve even brought my own “lunch” – if you can call it that – so I don’t end up in a restaurant ordering something I can’t have.

I’ve been like a monk secluded in a monastery as far as my social life goes so I don’t give into temptation and what is my reward?

Weight gain ? Are you kidding me stupid scale ???? !

This is not going to be an easy week  :( !

My wedding dress is completely out of the ordinary. Being my third marriage I wanted something unique for the December ceremony in Mexico and that’s exactly what I got.  For my wedding in the US I wore something more traditional and that dress fits, so my challenge is the Mexican wedding dress.

The dress is all white – DO NOT judge – with black accessories: shoes, gloves, coin purse, and neck piece. It only has 4 buttons on the front, so if it’s tight I could be in major trouble if I try to sit or take a deep breath.

Why white – you might be wondering – when it was my third wedding? BECAUSE I WANTED TO, PERIOD !!!        I really don’t care much about tradition, or I might consider it and twist it to my liking.

One button down, three more to go

I’ve clearly seen the most results with this program on my waist and the dress confirmed it.

This morning I tried it on and the button at the waist reaches its target effortlessly, but the other three are a little bit far from their counterparts: the button at the ribs is almost there; maybe ¼ of an inch away. Surprisingly the hip button is only about 1 inch away, but the boobie button is about 2 ½“ away.

I don’t know if to be happy because the girls are bigger, or sad because maybe what’s bigger is the width of my back and not from exercise ……

Anyway, I’ll keep going until it fits, even if that means not eating fresh figs

I’ve been VERY GOOD, have stuck to the program 100% and been looking forward to week 4 to start having fruit because I have tons of fresh figs from my trees, but what do we get today? The 4^th to 6^th week skinny jean diet plan where figs are forbidden !

Why in the world? Is this a continuation of my bad luck from the past two days?

My two favorite fruits are mangoes and figs. Mangoes are already out of season, but we are right in the middle of fig season and I can’t have them ??!!

My world just crumbled under my feet !

I’m not interested at all in the rest of the fruits we can eat, not even interested in  grains or starchy carbs as I haven’t craved bread, pasta, or cereal and I can survive the rest of the program without them, but figs ???!!!

I could object although I know my objection will be overruled and I’ll have to follow judge Amy’s decision…. More like a sentence to me

If I didn’t have issues sticking to the diet like some others, I just hope I don’t start having them for the next 3 weeks.  After all, I love my Mexican candies as much as I love figs and I was willing to stop eating them for the sake of the skinny jeans.

Too bad…..

Besides being miserably hot and humid, I was almost late for court (No,  I didn’t do anything wrong; among other things I’m a Tennessee court interpreter) and when I got there, there’s no one !

Waited for 5 minutes before calling my client and guess what? They forgot to cancel ! One of the lawyers woke up sick and they had to reschedule.

Oh well, they’ll get a bill anyway, so no big deal right? Except when you are cranky because you can’t eat what you’re craving and mishaps look a hundred times worse.

I was already hot, sweaty and in a bad mood walking back to my car about three blocks away when I twisted my ankle and fell in front of don’t know how many people. Did anyone approach to help? NO ! Where has chivalry gone?   So I stood up, my pride hurt more than my body and limping walked to my car.

Since nothing had worked I decided to take refuge in my home and stay there for the rest of the day, but my very best friend came back today from a long trip and I had to see her; I’ve missed her so much.

When I got to her house she welcomed me with white wine and a luscious plate full of delicacies to nibble on while we talked. I just thought “how much more can I handle today?” and then…. she gave me a bag of goodies she bought during her trip. I opened it afraid of finding yummy food,  but instead what I got was a Hershey’s pair of socks, mint scented body lotion, chocolate scented body scrub and a Hershey’s “Classic Recipes” book amont other things.   Needless to say one of her stops was Hershey, PA.

Have I mentioned before my issues with chocolate?  Uhm…. Let’s see….. I think I have……

Anyway, I had to decline food and wine, and instead got busy helping her unpack because I really needed to get my mind away from temptations.

Visiting with my friend wasn’t completely bad. The first thing she said was “You look fabulous ! Have you started the diet?” Then she asked about the program, food, etc. so I said “since you didn’t want to join me, now you’ll have to wait until the book is published to see what I’ve been doing.”

Amy: you have one avid reader who can’t wait for your book !

I went back home still feeling crappy so I thought of something that could help me keep motivated and it worked !

I started trying clothes on. My plan was to start with the ones that were a little tight and then maybe try tighter and tighter clothes.

Well…… The lightly tight clothes aren’t anymore. Actually many of them are rather loose; several of the tighter garments fit; others look better and even some skirts that didn’t even go up now zip up !!!!

I’m not there yet, but trying my clothes will be my therapy every time I feel I can’t handle it anymore if it ever happens again.

Right now I’m so happy the bad day has already become history !

What in the world is going on with me today? I’ve been perfectly fine all these days and even when my sweet tooth is first class, I haven’t had problems to refrain myself from eating all the things I love, specially tasty Mexican candies that most Americans will classify as rare, strange or simply gross.

But today is different………. Today I WANT TO DEVOURE THEM !!!!!

I have stashes of candies hidden everywhere around my house. I guess I’m a “candyholic”. No, not a “sweetaholic” or however you want to call it, I’m a “candyholic”. Candies are my thing – and chocolates – but not all sweet tasting goodies.

Just upstairs at home I have 15 boxes of 20 pieces each of a Mexican tamarind candy called “Pulparindo” in the profundities of one of my home office drawers (so my kids don’t eat them). If you can multiply you’ll know that’s 300 pieces. YES, THREE HUNDRED !

Last year I ordered the same amount and they only lasted a month, which means I was eating about 10 per day. But wait. some days I’d eat one whole box… yep!

In almost every drawer of my dresser, in my closet, in the playroom dresser, in my home office, and everywhere in the kitchen I have some sort of candy: Skeetles, Milky Way bites, M&M’s, etc., and any number of unpronounceable Mexican candies.

• Am I eating them now? NO
• Am I asking someone to hide them from me? NO (because then they’ll eat them)
• Am I throwing them away? NO !
• Am I giving in ? HECK, NO !

As I told someone last week, I’m not quitting. I’ve lost almost 13 pounds so far and I’m dead serious about losing at least 25 altogether, whatever it takes. I’m already seeing many of the benefits of this program! Why would I quit ?????

No way, Jose !!!

Now that I’m on this six weeks journey to fit into my skinny jeans he prepares his own dinner so I don’t have to deal with the wonderful aromas of the food I can’t have. He also grills some things for me and haven’t asked me out because there are too many temptations in the restaurants we frequent.

On the other hand, and like every man, his short term memory is terrible and his selective hearing is one of the best. You know what I mean …

Yesterday night he brought me sushi from “Bangkok”, a fabulous restaurant in Murfreesboro, so I didn’t have to worry about my dinner, even when I told him I can’t have rice for three weeks. Of course he forgot, or didn’t hear me, etc., etc., etc.

Although I greatly appreciate the gesture I was very upset with him.

How do I explain how much I love Japanese food and specially sushi so you get the idea? It is not enough to say that sushi is my number one, most favorite food in the entire universe. That just doesn’t even describe how much I like it.

After reading Stephanie Williams’ blog “Bad Stephanie” I thought “well, I might get away with sushi…” but my good sense kicked in and I decided not to eat it because along with sushi I MUST have sake – a rice based alcoholic drink extremely high in calories – or it just doesn’t taste as good. Things could only snowball from there so I told my husband to hide the sushi, wait until my daughter got home and give it to her.

Yeah ! I won ! I didn’t break the diet ! but this morning……………..

I wake up to the smell of bacon, bread in the oven, sausage, and don’t know what else. On Sundays my wonderful guy cooks breakfast and brings it to me on a tray with everything I need: salt being the first necessity, coffee, napkins, etc.  I have breakfast in bed on Sundays and have had it for a good while.  Last Sunday was not the case because I was with my oldest daughter in Knoxville, but today of course he forgot all about the diet and started cooking. I rushed to the kitchen, asked him to stop whatever he was doing for me and went back to the bedroom, closed the door and then locked myself in the bathroom so I wouldn’t smell.

Took my shower hoping that by the time I got out the aromas would’ve dissipated but it didn’t happen. The smells were still there and I was so tempted…

So I got a cup of cottage cheese – low fat – and hid in my bedroom where I still am writing this post, hoping I don’t give in………….