17 Day Diet: C1D4 - AM

I know, I know, I missed an update. I had such a crappy gym session yesterday - seriously! Why is that when you're married and feeling like you look like a whale - the men at the gym flock to you like you're the golden goddess? I don't get it but that's what I experienced yesterday.

I guess, Hillary FTW! It was a bit of an annoyance but gave me a bit more confidence. Secretly, I needed that confidence boost.

When I got home from the gym last night it felt like I ate all the contents of my fridge but in reality, I had one egg with roasted veggies in an omelet. And I had a small piece of tilapia. And I had roasted broccoli. And I ate some carrots. And some cucumbers.

Yeah, I was REALLY hungry.

It also felt like I didn't stop eating though the day but my blood sugar was right on line. I guess all that eating paid off at the gym because I wasn't hungry until about 10 minutes before I got to my house.

Things I'm getting a little sick of:

• Eggs
• Salad
• Tuna
• Tilapia

Things I'm loving more and more:

• Greek yogurt
• Black coffee
• Green tea (no sugar)
• Boundless energy

At the advice of YehudaAwesome, I'm going to stop weighing myself everyday. It'll drive me nuts. I WILL invest in being more creative with my cooking. I think this 17 day diet recipe site will help me along the way.

Now to meal plan because the hubby is tightening our wallet...again.

17 Day Diet: C1D2 - AM/PM

Have you ever had a day to sleep in and your plan is to sleep in because you need the extra rest? Your hope is to sleep in and wake up relaxed and refreshed, right? Well, today is that day for me but I woke up FAR from refreshed and far from relaxed. I woke up with a sinus headache and I woke up in a bad mood.

Sounds like fun, right? I woke up late, in pain, and in a bad mood. Lovely way to start my vacation day! The upside? I woke up 2kilo (around 5lbs) lighter. How's THAT for motivation!

After making eggs and fruit for the two of us for breakfast, I was full for a long time. On the diet, I can only have two servings of fruit and it needs to be before 2pm. So, I rushed to get my second serving in and made a yogurt smoothie. It was less delicious than I thought it would be but maybe it was because I wasn't hungry.

Anyway, Craig was starving by dinner time so I made him tuna patties and I made the most amazing Tilapia for me. All I did was shmere on some ground mustard, ground ginger, and garlic - then pan cooked it in 1 tsp. olive oil. AMAZING, I tell you, AMAZING! So light but so filling.

After dinner, spontaneously, we met up with two of Craig's friends from South Africa and their beautiful daughter. They hadn't indulged in dinner yet so we went to a local Italian chain called Spaghettim.

I was SO proud of myself. Instead of indulging in my favorite dish (gnocchi), I split a salad with Craig.

I think I overdid it on salad today, though.

When I woke up this morning, I weighed 5lbs less than I did when I went to bed yesterday. By bedtime, I weighed only 2.5lbs less. Not too shabby though, right? I'll weigh in again tomorrow AM and PM.

Tomorrow's menu: scrambled egg whites with Greek yogurt and watermelon for breakfast; another yogurt with grapes for a snack; tuna with salad and carrot sticks for lunch; kohlrabi and cucumbers for another snack; and tilapia with broccoli and Brussels sprouts for dinner. I'll also hit the gym tomorrow and I've been warned to eat protein before I go. This all sounds like a delicious plan to me!

Am I missing potatoes? A little. Am I missing bread? Not at all.

17 Day Diet: C1D1 - PM

Wow, I made an oopsie already. Today is a half-work day in Israel because we're closing out Passover. In Israel, the first and last day of Passover are considered holy days and work is not permitted. In the US and the rest of the diaspora, the first two and last two days are considered holy days and work is not permitted for Jews. Many Jews (especially where I come from) don't follow this. I do and always will. You're meant to go to Shul (synagogue) and spend time with family. This year, we're relaxing and I kicked off my relaxation with a nap. Craig knows that I should NOT nap during the day. I wake up in a daze and I tend to munch on whatever is available.

I woke up from my nap today and was in a haze and opted for dark chocolate (which I guess is the better alternative). I stopped munching when I woke up a bit more and realized what I was doing. I promptly threw the chocolate out (after not doing too much damage) and went back to sleep for another three hours.

Oopsie indeed!

Anyway, I added two things to our menu for tonight (if you don't count the potato wedges for Craig):

• Kale chips
• Roasted Carrot Strips

I'm not exactly sure if Kale exists in Israel but I tried with something that resembled Kale and Hillary FTW! I simply combined the Kale-like substance with 1 tbsp. olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. I tossed the ingredients in a bowl and laid it out on a lined cookie sheet. Then I placed it in the oven (300 degrees) for around 10-15 minutes and voila! Done!

The carrots were done in a similar manner but with less olive oil. I also added garlic and sliced the carrots into thin slices. While they didn't turn out the way I thought they would, they were still tasty!

Anyway, by the end of my day I can honestly say I'm not hungry. I had a hard time eating my Greek yogurt because I wasn't really hungry. Remember my last post where I mentioned I was going to post pictures of how I look in order to document my weight loss? Well, here you go.

I have to admit, I do not like the way these pictures look. Soon, these photos will be buried in some archive and they will be a thing of the past.

Currently...

I weigh 77.7 kilo (171lbs)

I drank 8 glasses of water today (which made me pee... a lot)

I ate 1198 calories

17 Day Diet: C1D1 - AM

There are two foods in life that I love to no end and cannot live without:

• Potatoes
• Cheddar Cheese

Downside? I started the 17 Day Diet today and the first cycle omits potatoes and I can only have fat free cheddar cheese... which wouldn't be a bad thing if I could find some in Israel that didn't taste like plastic! Most cheddar here tastes like plastic but the good kind has a lot of fat in it.

Another downside? I just bought a container of Bulgarian cheese (think Feta but better) and it only contains 5% fat BUT since it's not fat free, I can't have it. Fat free doesn't really exist in this country but I think I can handle going relatively dairy free for 17 days, right?

You're probably balking at me right now and thinking "diets don't work" but this one has to. I'm not depriving myself of any food - please understand that. The first 17 days has you omitting pasta, bread, potatoes...etc. You know, grainy things that I don't really eat anyway. I haven't had "bread" since before Passover started so I'm not craving it. I don't like Matzah and since Passover is *almost* over, that's a non-issue but potatoes? OMG do I love potatoes!

But I can give it up for 17 days.

So, why am I doing this? I'm having a hard time losing weight. My family doctor thinks it's a build up of hormones due to 3 miscarriages in one year (don't worry, I'm OK mentally and physically). She gave me the green light to "try it" but warned me that if I feel ill to stop the diet immediately.

Here's what I like about the diet: I can eat as many "cleansing" veggies as I want. I LOVE vegetables and while they do contain carbs, fiber, sugar and other stuff - the point is not to over do it. While I can eat as many as I want, I won't go overboard because I know when I'm full. There's no point in eating if I'm full, right?

You can also eat liberal amounts of poultry and certain fish but, let's face it, I'm not a huge meat eater. I will have to bulk up on the protein though.

Here's what I'm afraid of: it won't work and I'll lose nothing. Part of me is doing this for my health because I've been sick waaaay too often and I'm not in a good place right now.

So far, this is my "meal plan" for the first day:

Breakfast (6am) Completed
2 eggs, scrambled
1 cup melon

Snack:
1 yogurt

Lunch (12 noon)
chicken slices
Romain lettuce
1 cucumber
1 carrot
sliced red pepper

Snack (1pm)
1 handful of grapes


Snack
½ kohlrabi
1 carrot

Dinner (6pm)
Chicken
Brussels Sprouts
Small Salad
Lettuce
Cucumber
Red Pepper
1tbsp olive oil
Roasted Carrots

Snack
Yogurt
½ kohlrabi

Doesn't sound too shabby, right? I'll putz with the recipes later and make sure there is starch for Craig because he doesn't need to be on this diet. As he pointed out yesterday, he weighs 52 kilo (114lbs)... time to fatten him up while I slim me down.

Every day, I'll be documenting this diet and I'll even include pictures. Wish me luck!

Craving Chocolate? A Review... of sorts

A little while ago, Shufersal grocery store gave us a voucher for free chocolate.

Yeah, you read right - FREE chocolate. Who's gonna turn that down? Not me... well, not then. We got vouchers for Belgian chocolate (both milk and dark) with and without filling. The filling was an almond flavor filling. At the time, I was SO geeked to try free chocolate.

What changed? A visit to the gym. In Israel, when you sign up for a gym you get a comprehensive "physical" of sorts. My weight didn't bother the woman I was working with, Karin. I said "I know, I know, I'm fat." And she said "you're not but your body fat is waaaay to high for someone your age." While it was nice to hear I'm not the fat-ass I believe I am, it was harder to hear that I'm at risk for having heart issues if I don't clean up my act.

My heart is the ONLY part of my body that works well. So, upon learning about a diet that will "trick" my body into losing weight, I signed on. The diet is called the 17 Day Diet by Dr. Michael Moreno. My diet starts tomorrow so I'll write more then. I'm giving this my all so I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Now, about the Chocolate. I have to be honest when I say that the Belgian Dark Chocolate with 66% Cacao was my favorite. I don't like sugary chocolate so the other Shufersal chocolates were waaaaay too high in sugar for both of us. Does this mean we didn't eat it? No. I took some of it to work (especially the milk chocolate variety) and give it to my coworkers to try.

Much like any other food, chocolate tastes vary. My main boss is like me, he preferred the dark chocolate. The milk chocolate was polished off in seconds flat by my other two bosses. In the end, my preference was the really dark chocolate. The sugar content was low and it tasted like chocolate is supposed to taste - rich and luxurious. Well done, Shufersal, well done.

The Biggest Loser: Bad for America?

Hey friends! It's still Passover and as I ponder my life's path and what I need to do to break free from my personal slavery - I have a very special guest post for you! Brian wrote a fantastic post that I agree with 100%. You know that I wouldn't post something on here unless I agree with it so please give a warm welcome to Brian!

------------------------------

The Biggest Loser: Bad for America?

I must admit I am a huge Biggest Loser fan. My wife and I watch this show regularly and dvr it just to make sure we don’t miss anything. I love the drama this show provides and the in depth look into everyday peoples lives. The contestants on this show are receiving a once in a lifetime opportunity that most take tremendous advantage of. The ability to have losing weight as your job is a dream for a lot of Americans. These contestants get taught how to eat right and have excellent exercise instruction from Jillian Michaels and Bob Harper.

In the early years this show did a fantastic job of showing different forms of exercise and explaining nutrition. I have noticed in the last few seasons the show has moved more to the drama side, and has become way more commercialized, even having the contestants do cheesy commercials for progressive soup during the middle of the show.

With that said I still belive the show offers some good pieces of information especially about nutrition. However, The Biggest Loser does send some bad messages to their viewers. Below are some unrealistic expectations the show sets.

Time for exercise
The Biggest Loser shows its contestants doing different types of exercises for hours on end. This will make some believe you must have a tremendous amount of time available for exercise. This is not true. While exercising a hour a day will produce great results, the American Heart Association say 20 minutes of vigorous exercise a day will not only help you lose weight but decrease high blood pressure, lower risk of stroke, decrease anxiety and depression and have lasting health effects for years to come. Any exercise is good no matter how much time you have available.

Equipment
The show shows the contestants using different types of very expensive gym equipment. Some people don’t like working out in-front of everyone at the gym. They tend to reason, I can’t afford all the different types of home exercise equipment needed to get in shape. This is not the case at all. There are many types of exercise that cost nothing at all and show tremendous results. Body weight exercises, running, walking, swimming and others are great free ways to get in shape. There are also many very inexpensive types of home gym equipment that you can find very cheap on the internet. It doesn’t need to be expensive to work.

Unrealistic Weight Loss
The Biggest Loser shows contestants loosing up to twenty pounds a week. This is totally unrealistic for 99.99 percent of America. I have talked to people who get discouraged by losing “only” 3 pounds a week after watching the show. In reality, losing three pounds in one week is fantastic. Just think about it. If you lost three pounds a week for one year you would have lost one hundred and fifty six pounds. That is amazing. Set your weight loss goals to something realistic like one to two pounds a week.

Weekly Weight Checks
This show shows contestants being weighed weekly. While I understand this is a must for the show to work, others must know its not really a good thing to weigh yourself weekly. The scale lies. It can vary by pounds depending on the time of day and water intake for that day. I tell people to weigh themselves once every three weeks at the same time of day. Right when you wake up. This helps them to see results and keep motivated.

All in all The Biggest Loser is a fantastic show. That is exactly what it is.... A show. Keep watching it like I do but take it for what it is. Know that it sets unrealistic expectations and use it as motivation. The truth is you can lose as much weight as the shows contestants but probably just not as fast. Keep at it any you will get there eventually.

Guest Posting and Saving Money

I'm lucky enough to be today's guest poster on Marvelous Mommy! Here's a little sampling of what I have in store for you:

As one-half of the NEW Glasers and as a marketing guru for GlassesUSA.com – I can tell you that shopping online usually boasts better deals than shopping at retail stores… but I’m getting ahead of myself. I’m a newlywed. When my husband and I got hitched, we combined not only our lives but our budgets as well. The entire time we dated, my husband, Craig, and I had two different budgets: mine and his – which doesn’t really work when you get married.

For the rest, head over to Marvelous Mommy!

Matza, Matza, Man... blech.

So, I know it's been a little while since one of us posted but we've been busy. I swear! Passover is coming which means two things:

1. A day or two off of work.
2. Atkins diet... more or less.

Here's the thing, I don't like matza. If you don't know what matza is, imagine it's a giant cracker that I have to eat because the Jews who were exiled from Egypt and freed from slavery didn't have time to let their dough rise - they wound up with this cracker-like substance.

I don't like crackers. At.All.

Matza, much like crackers, is very dry and quite tasteless. It makes me want to drink a gallon of water and then throw it all up. The only things I like that come from matza are:

• Fried Matza (also known as Matza brei)
• Matza meal (like bread crumbs but better)

Given my distaste for Matza, I usually go towards the Atkins-style diet for a week. Granted, I eat a ton of veggies and fruit but I do my best not to consume carbs. You might think this is a little nuts but, in all honesty, for ONE WEEK I get a free pass from eating bread. Glorious.Delicious.Bread.

G-d inflicted this on me.

In the end, while I value the principles of Passover, I prefer not to eat the cardboard... I mean matza. My Bubba and Zeidy may eat it long after the holiday is over (seriously, they buy 12 boxes of the stuff and pass it out to all of us), but I'll keep my one free box from Chabad and maybe save it for next year. It'll still be good, right?

Back to No Spending

We did our best in March to stay within our budget. April? Wellllll, let's just say we went off the deep end. My birthday was expensive but you only turn 30 once. There are now 17 days left in April. The husband and I will spend the rest of this month living on just about nothing. We have no more weddings. No more engagement parties. Nothing.

We're going on a financial diet.

Thankfully, Passover is just around the corner. Ya know what that means? No bread. Nothing that rises. Just meat and veggies for us! And matza of course. Meat. Veggies. Matza. Yum. Ok, not so yum but you get the idea.

After looking at our bank accounts today and realizing we went off the deep end, I'm tightening our belt buckle. For the rest of the month, we're not eating out. No more lunches out. No more dinners to go. From now on, we're only eating what's in our fridge.

Thursday night is our grocery night. What's on the list?

- Matza

- Potatoes

- On sale fruit and veggies

That's. It. Nothing. More.

We have chicken and tuna in our freezer and cupboard. We have frozen veggies, too.

Since there's only 17 days left in April, I'm re-instituting "NO SPEND MONTH" for May. Aside from two really big purchases (flights home to Detroit and Craig's birthday gift), May is going to really cinch our wallets and live "frugally".

This week's goal: Walk out of the grocery store spending less than 150 shekels. I think we can do it.

Thankful Thursday - Car Edition

Today's Thankful Thursday is in honor of our car - the Black Panther.

From the moment we got it in 2009, we knew this car was special. It drove us to Afula and back numerous times. It drove us to Gedera and back a few times, as well. It was a safe ride while the 'rents were visiting and got us through some tough times when "busing it" just wasn't an option.

The Black Panther is now at rest... Craig is too depressed to write about it. She was our first car in Israel - and the only car Cecil never peed on.

We're thankful to the Black Panther for all the good times.

Rest in Peace, Black Panther. Go to a better place.

Spiraling towards Sabotage!

I blogged a while back about an eCourse that I did with Joanna Lindenbaum, the Soulful Coach. The eCourse was free and really made me think. I struggle with the "I'm not good enough for..." and the eCourse got me thinking that I AM good enough. I'm more than good enough for things.

When I was younger, the idea of "I'm not good enough for..." wasn't even in my HEAD! It wasn't! I thought I was capable of doing anything. Somewhere in the last few years, the idea of being able to conquer anything left my head and self-doubt started to fill.

For instance, at work, rather than being creative I just sit and do what's expected of me. It's just now who I am. I thought about moving my life into a new direction but I didn't because I didn't think I was good enough for any new job openings. I didn't think I was good enough to reach higher.

I'm always afraid that I'm not good enough and this mindset is killing my soul. Joanna has been amazing at steering me in a new direction. Her job as a life coach seemed odd to me at first but she's so much more than just a life coach. She's a coach for busy women - like me. It's kind of like having a cheerleader on your side at all times, but she's really helped me see that I'm worth so much more.

Right now, I'm actually really excited for her free teleclass. I don't normally like calling in and listening to teleclasses - seriously, they bother me but I'm excited for Joanna's teleclass because I might actually learn something from this. I'm constantly sabotaging my own destiny. One of my girlfriend's put it best, she said I fight my battles alone. I know I shouldn't but I do. My intuition scares me - as does the unknown path. My favorite line in Joanna's description was this:

You CAN overcome the fears and anxieties in your way of creating success and abundance for yourself.

I really want to overcome my fear of the unknown. I'm not sure that I always want to be involved in the marketing world - I'd really like to go back and get my MA and PhD in Holocaust studies. I worry that I won't find a job afterwards or that I don't have enough experience to start such an intensive program but I'm confident that the teleclass might be able to break some of my bad habits.

Just in case you're interested, you can register for Joanna's free teleclass on her website, or just click here. I'm excited to take this journey - why don't you take the journey with me?

Ugly Truth: turning 30

I have 5 days until I turn 30. Which reminds me, have you entered my giveaway yet? If not, you only have 4 days to do so... get crackin'!

Anyway, I had a REALLY REALLY REALLY long conversation with my friend T last night. She's a great distraction and also great at helping me piece out what's wrong in my brain. Last night's conversation was about how I don't feel the way I used to.

When I was 24, I could walk into a room and command attention... seriously just by walking in. My friends wanted my fashion advice (and other advice) and they wanted the latest workout tip.

Fast forward nearly six years later and no one is asking for my fashion advice, other advice, or for my workout tips. It's actually quite sad... for me. When T and I were talking about this, I mentioned how there aren't any self-help books for women like me... feeling slightly overweight, unattractive, and somewhat dead inside.

It's the truth. I feel a little dead inside. Is this normal for 30?

When we were discussing my issues, I mentioned how I want to write books for women like me. We're not depressed, we're not "fat", we're just disenchanted with what life has given us so far. So, she asked me the golden question - "what would you tell someone like yourself?" and I didn't have an answer. Seriously. Nothing. Nada. Zilch.

I work out, take the dogs out for 30 minute walks (which, if you've ever walked Sparky is more like a run with a pulling challenge), do some yoga, eat healthy (for the most part)... ya know, all the things your supposed to do but I can't seem to drop the weight.

Think of it this way, when it comes to food- I'd still rather eat a cucumber and red pepper than chocolate cake. My lunch for today:

• Salad with Qinoa, lettuce, red pepper, cucumber, bulgarian cheese, hard boiled egg, and kohlrabi.
• Barley soup with potato, carrots and onion

My breakfast is even MORE fun:

• Greek Yogurt with 3% fat and a tsp. of honey

Yeah. Eating is actually NOT the problem. Maybe my weight issue is really that I feel kinda dead inside.

Regardless, I'm only 5 days away from turning 30 and I feel worse inside than I did when I was 23 and dating assholes (Pardon my French). I have a lot to be thankful for - a husband who thinks I'm beautiful (inside and out)... who would and does bend over backwards for me; 2 amazing dogs who do back flips for my attention... ya know, until they see a bug and then all bets are off; a great family; great friends; a job... but I physically don't feel like myself.

So, there you have it, the ugly truth about me turning 30.

What advice do you have for me?

Cartoons Rule - The Husband

In case it has not been made clear, I am a geek. Actually I am a huge geek.

Recently I came across a song on Youtube that gave me goosebumps and made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It reminds me of my childhood when cartoons were inspiring and a time when legends were born.

As a child I was a huge TMNT fan and had all of the apparel from the show including my most prized asset the blimp:

Needless to say that I am now a passionate fan of this Youtube trio and that my cellphone also has a new ringtone now.

As a result of my raving about cartoons of the 80's and 90's Hillary and I actually spent a good hour watching reruns on Youtube of intros and attempting to identify theme songs.

In fact I think I will be calling next week classic cartoon week and will wear a different cartoon themed t-shirt every day of the week.

Its pretty simple in my opinion, the classics never die!!!

- The Husband