Dieting Secret for Women, Who Knew?

Last fall I started The Spike Diet and over the course of a little over 2 months I lost just about 20 pounds.  I gave myself some slack the week of Christmas because, lets face it, there are way too many goodies at Christmastime to be on a diet!  During that week of over-indulging I managed to not gain any weight, which I credit to the boost in metabolism that the diet gave me.  The problem came the next week though when I didn't start the diet back up.  Turns out taking a week off can make it hard to get back on... who'd a thunk it? 

I kept trying to get back into it, but lacked motivation, until recently.  I can't complain too much though since I lost almost 20 lb in 2 months and after about 4.5 months of not dieting at all I only gained back 10 lb. 

A week ago was my sister-in-law's bachelorette party, which we spent downtown club-hopping.  There was an insane number of bachelorette parties out there that night, at the first place we went I lost track after the 7th bride-to-be and their entourages!

Now let me tell you a valuable dieting secret: Nothing will get you back on your diet faster than dozens of skinny 22-ish year olds in slutty dresses strip-dancing on the dance floor.  That was it, summer nearly here, I have a wedding coming up that I want to look fabulous for, and I was getting back on the diet!

Here's what I did last week.  Increased my protein and fiber, drank more water, my dad brought over my parent's orbitrek that they didn't want anymore, and I ran on it every night but one.  My results when I weighed myself first thing the morning of my spike day: down 5 pounds!

So here's hoping I can lose the other 5 lb before the wedding, and then keep that number plummeting through the summer, my goal is still to reach the weight I was at before and shortly after I had Sweet Pea, which is just 13 lb away!

The Spike Diet website: http://spikediet.com/

The Spike Diet - Weighing In

In October I told you about a diet Spencer and I had started, back then I had lost 5 lb in the first 2 weeks.  The diet is called The Spike Diet, and you can read about it on their website.

I'm thrilled to update that I've lost, as of my last weigh-in last Saturday, 18 pounds!  There's no way I'll tell you my actual weight, but the second digit in my weight dropped to a number I haven't seen in years!  I've lost more than 2 inches off my waistline! I bought a smaller belt and am now buckling it at the 3rd hole, and I'm wearing jeans I nearly threw out before because I haven't fit them in a long time and couldn't foresee squeezing into them again... now they fit comfortably!

I'm not the only one who's been losing weight, Spencer lost 25 pounds and is in the best shape he's been in in years!

I'm not going to lie and say it's been a total breeze, but for someone who's never really committed to a diet before... any serious attempt at a diet would not be a total breeze.  But it hasn't been hard at all either!  Once a week I get to stuff my face with whatever the heck I want, and it's a key part of the diet! I've heard from a couple people that they would be worried about getting back in diet-mode after a day of indulgence, but for me it actually makes it so much easier because I know that on Saturday I can eat as many Christmas cookies as I want. 

A few things that have helped me along the way...

I keep track of ALL the food I eat and calories on a spread sheet and enter them as soon as possible.

I snack on protein because it burns more calories in the digestions process. 

Keeping a bottle of water handy helps stretch me to the next meal, and keeps the water weight off... somehow.

We buy Special K Protein Meal Bars for when I don't want to make something... the chocolate chip ones are the best and the convenience of them keeps me from reaching into my kids' halloween candy, or popping a hotdog into the microwave.

I'm trying with all my might to not bake any cookies until Saturday, because I know that before they are even cooled off I will eat like 7 of them... which is ok on Saturdays because that's my spike day!

When I make dinner I add up all the calories in the ingredients and divide it up to get my total calories eaten.

The calculation of how many calories you are supposed to eat can be a bit confusing, so be careful when you figure it out.

   The whole metabolism boosting thing must be working because I feel like I'm losing weight more easily as I go along, although I'm not expecting much weight loss in the next couple weeks with Christmas coming up.  I'm not really worried about it though because a couple times during my diet I've fallen off the bandwagon and gained a couple pounds back, but the next week those pounds were gone.  One of those times was when I had the flu (or whatever it was) and I was eating whatever I could grab or was given to me, like really yummy and bad for you creamy chicken and wild rice soup.  Once I was well enough to prepare stuff I was back on track.

Oh and, a small Christmas miracle occurred on Sunday.  I took the girls to go see the childrens' play How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and there were cookies for sale, and I didn't get one!  Most people wouldn't consider that a small miracle, but if you know me then you know I'm obsessed.  Coffee and cookies get me every time, but not THAT time!

I'll check back at some point again, hopefully it will be because I reached my goal of 25 lbs lost!

Oh, and because tips are always good, what diet tips do you have?

The Spike Diet - It's Already Working!

Before I got pregnant with Sweet Pea I weighed a certain amount.  Pretty quickly after she was born I lost the weight and was back down to that certain amount.  I stayed there until we started having trouble having another baby, and gradually put on 30 pounds.  I've lost weight before but my body keeps settling in at the 25 lb weight gain point. 

While doing The Sound of Music last summer I got to know Russ Branjord.  He has developed a diet called The Spike Diet, which allowed him to lose 50 lb in about 6 months, and go on to lose over 100 lb!  Check out his blog here.  A while back he had a giveaway on his blog and I won a copy of The Spike Diet book.

Winning that book was the push I needed to get motivated to lose these pesky 25 pounds.  The very basic idea of it is 6 days of specific to your weight/height/age calorie restriction, followed by 1 day of calorie surplus - or your spike day.  You watch what you eat for 6 days, and then so that your metabolism doesn't tank, you eat whatever you want on the 7th day.  The details of the diet are best found on his websites, along with testimonials, but it's about burning fat and boosting your metabolism.

I've been doing it for 2 weeks now, and I think this could really work for me.  It helps that Spencer is doing it too, though he actually goes and works out, I'm just dieting at this point - hopefully the workouts will start soon.  In two weeks I've already lost 5 pounds, and am wearing jeans that I haven't been able to button up for years!  And my belt is too big!

It's easiest for me to count calories at this point by eating prepackaged protein/fiber snacks and shakes, and eating dinner based on how many calories I have left at that point (always leaving room for a snack in the evening!).  Once I get used to counting calories I'll start branching out with my snacks and meals.

The best part? SPIKE DAY!!  Throughout the week I'm surrounded by a lot of bad food choices - foods that would ordinarily cause me to throw my hands up in the air and say, "It's not worth it to give up all these foods I love!  It's too hard!"  But now I see them and just tell myself I can have as much as I want of it on Saturday.  Saturday's are my spike day (at least until Thanksgiving and Christmas) and this past Saturday I ate the following:

candy
pb and j sandwich
piece of cheese pizza
little bag of Fritos
handful of fruit
little cheese and meat
handful of Combos
can of pop
more candy
2 enchiladas
small white pumpkin mocha
and more:o)

Doesn't look like dieting food does it?  If my weight loss keeps going like it is, I'll be down to my goal weight in just 10 weeks!  By Christmas!

The Spike Diet blog was helpful in getting to know the concepts of the diet, but the book has been great for getting a more in depth understanding of the diet, and lots of yummy, and easy snack and meal ideas.

My favorite part, other than the losing weight part? Spike day!

Spencer's favorite part?  Center cut bacon is encouraged throughout the week!

Now that you've read my blog post, check Russ's out with the link above!  I'll keep you updated on my progress!