Week 5 – Cruise Phase

In this report we expand the menu and achieve the smallest hole in my belt.  I also report another transgression, but one probably worth it considering the context.

Monday, August 15, Day 29

Breakfast – Dukan pancake, protein shake, coffee

Lunch – Roast beef roll-ups

Dinner – stuffed peppers – stuffed with seasoned hamburger, chopped zucchini, and a tiny amount of cheese covered in tomato sauce.  These were great and didn’t at all feel like ‘diet’ food.  That’s one of the lessens I’m learning on this program.  Making changes to our consumption patterns can have a visible impact.  But taking the big step back from our preexisting patterns through the Attack and Cruise phases really help to highlight the food decisions we make daily and often take for granted.  It points a spot light on opportunities to improve.

I slept in this morning after falling asleep late with a pain pill… or so that’s my excuse.  Otherwise I would have weighed in this morning.  I’m optimistic that I would have been over the 12lb mark since I only lacked ½ a pound.  But I’m really confident that I’ll be over it and the next milestone within a few short days.  That’s just how confident I am that this thing is working.

My clothes continue to fit better.  Today I easily achieved the smallest hole on my belt, and the pants were a pair I’ve not worn in a while.  I’m actually looking forward to pulling our more semi-retired pants and shirts to expand my wardrobe whereas a couple months ago I felt like I was running out of clothes that fit.

And while standing shirtless in front of the mirror, I generally still look like a ‘before’ photo, I can tell that I’m making headway, which is encouraging for the long run.

Tuesday, August 16, Day 30

Breakfast – Dukan pancake… hey, I like these things.  I can see eating these as regular pancake in the future… add in some blueberries…. Ok, that’ll be a while but I’m really trying to say that I had low expectations for these things and they’re actually pretty good.  I also had a small protein shake and coffee

Lunch – Grilled chicken, yogurt

Dinner – Grill pork tenderloin, yogurt

I know I’m sounding like a broken record here, but I’m very pleased with results in this one area and really want to underscore the value of the incremental progress I’m experiencing.  I hope this might serve as motivation for you as well. 

So here goes… smallest hole on the belt achieved this morning and as I pulled the belt it didn’t ‘just barely’ make the hole, I passed it looking for another hole.  Walking around the house and office this morning I’m pulling on my pants.  Not that there’s a real risk of them falling, but because they are drooping a little.  When I consider I’m using a belt hole that would have cut off circulation 5 weeks ago, that’s pretty cool.

Along the same lines, I’ll share a pet peeve of mine.  Shirts sizes are not all the same.  Even when I buy shirts from the same company and from their very same product line invariably they will fit different.  And so was the case two months ago when I bought 4 dress shirts on sale.  Two fit very well and two were too snug for a comfortable fit.  However, this morning, one of the snug shirts fit nicely.   Hey, this is tangible and material progress and I’m pleased and motivated as a result.

Wednesday, August 17, Day 31

Breakfast – Dukan Pancake and coffee

Lunch – Chopped Salad – our work team went to lunch today at California Pizza kitchen… typically that would be a prime opportunity to wolf down a full pizza, but taking pause for a better food options is paying off and had zero impact on the enjoyment of the meal and company.

Dinner – Omelet

Thursday, August 18, Day 32

Breakfast – Dukan Pancake and coffee

Lunch – Leftover pork tenderloin medallions

Dinner – Hamburger patty, protein shake and yogurt

So a little disappointed this morning.  I stepped on the scales for the first time in several days.  I’ve been feeling lighter and my clothes have been fitting better so I was looking forward to some tangible confirmation on the same, and so this morning I had dropped… 1 pound.  I was hoping for 3 and expecting 2 but only 1.  That puts me at 12.5 overall which is not bad but I was hoping for more.  I need to start exercising more to help push forward.

Friday, August 19, Day 33

Breakfast – Protein Shake

Lunch – Chicken Salad

Dinner – 2 Hamburger patties

Saturday, August 20, Day 34

Normally I start with the menu and then layer in the commentary.  Well, let’s just call today an exemption from the diet.  We drove from Atlanta to Mobile last night to throw a birthday party for our 1 year old daughter today… and while she was not of an age to appreciate the festivities, let’s just say that dad more than covered for her.

Breakfast – Protein bar

Lunch – The picnic table was covered with carbs – pasta salad, chips, cakes, fried chicken, soft drinks, etc.  There really was nothing that would have satisfied the diet.  That’s not an attempt to make an excuse.  I could have held my ground but I didn’t.  I enjoyed 4-5 chicken fingers with water… and one healthy piece of cake.  I was probably technically ok before the cake but I jumped into the violation with both feet and loved.  I think I promptly fell into a sugar coma and napped for about 3 hours.

Dinner – Here I was pretty good.  We went to a seafood restaurant on the causeway and I enjoyed a dinner of blackened mahi mahi.  The sides were limited… it came with fried and hush puppies.  I had only 2 fries and no hush puppies so that wasn’t so bad.  The killer was the second piece of cake when we returned to our friend’s house. 

But I’m not overly disappointed.  I’ve proven I can stand up to temptations even though I allowed myself a pass on this special day.  Now I just need to get back on track.  Here’s to it.

Sunday, August 21, Day 35

Breakfast – Protein bar and coffee

Lunch – Grilled chicken salad, protein bar and yogurt for an afternoon snack

Dinner – scrambled eggs with red peppers

Riding in the car all day is an easy way to eat very well or very poorly.  While riding the highways there’s no chance to introduce new food (or easy way to manage the grazing).  The key is limiting options at hand or those introduced at stops.  Fortunately I was good here because I need a couple good days to make up for the cake!

When we finally made it home – car rides are longer with infants, it’s the law – my task was to unload the car.  Not an unusual task given all the suitcases and packages, but today was a little different.  Normally after lugging bags up 2 flights of stairs and often multiple trips I’m winded and sometimes embarrassingly so.  But today, not at all.  I of course attribute this to the weight loss as I’ve not been working out at all.  I expected to be winded because of the lack of exercise but it just was not the case.  Another positive sign.