Halfway through Week 4

I ended last week with a whopping 1 pound additional weight loss - ugh!  But total so far is 7 lbs., so not too bad for three weeks.  I'm still 100% on track with the diet AND the workouts so I know if I just keep it up the weight loss will happen.  I am looking and feeling much better and I've lost inches so I'm still motivated!

I made the Whole Wheat Pancakes over the weekend.  The flavor is really excellent although they were a bit thick.  Next time I will probably add a little coconut milk to thin them up.  The berry maple syrup was awesome and such a great idea!  2 cups of berries heated in 1/4 cup of maple syrup. 

I reworked the Oatmeal Chocolate Chip muffin recipe since the one in the book was a total disaster!  I tried it using the Blueberry Banana Muffin recipe instead and substituted applesauce for the bananas and chocolate chips for the blueberries - much, much better.

Start of Week 3

Okay so I only lost 1 pound last week.  I felt like I was on The Biggest Loser at weigh in when the contestant only loses a pound and has that dejected look saying "But Jillian - I DID the work!"  Haha!  I figured it would be less then the first week and I'm not discouraged.  Just to reinforce that I AM changing I took a few measurements.  I've already lost 2" off my waist and 1" off my hips.  Oh and yeah, 1" off my boobs - you'll have that :)

I did a lot of cooking over the weekend to prepare for the week.  That's a big part of the secret of staying on track is to stay organized and prepared.

I made the Qunioa Crunch and it was good - especially mixed in with Greek yogurt and berries. 

I'm still 100% on track with the diet and the workouts and motivated to keep it going!!

Muffins

Just a quick note on the muffin recipes in the cookbook.  I've made the Pumpkin Cranberry and the Blueberry Banana now and they are both delicious.  However, the cooking times are off.  Be sure you check them 5-10 minutes earlier than the cooking time says.  My oven is usually pretty accurate to what a recipe calls for, but if I'd left these in the full time it says in the book they would have been burnt!

Almost done with Week Two!

I made it through two days of travel for work and managed to stay 100% on plan!  It wasn't easy, I had to carefully plan ahead and I took a cooler with me.  The only meal I didn't take with me was lunch on Wednesday when I was driving home.  I stopped at Subway and got a 6" turkey on whole wheat, no cheese, lots of veggies and mustard.

Today is the last workout of week 2 and then tomorrow is a rest day.  So far so good!

As for the recipes - I tried the Almond Crusted Chicken - it was good but maybe a little bland.  I would recommend adding more spice of your choice.  The Broiled Tiliapia with herbs and mushrooms was AWESOME!  Super easy and turned out great - even the kids liked it.  I made the Frittata for lunch today and it was yummy!  Again, might be a little bland for some folks as it was for me but that's an easy fix by just adding more of whatever spices you prefer.

One of the snacks you can have is for 3 oz. of low-fat cheddar and an apple.  I substituted low-fat cheddar for 3 of the light Baby Bels.  This is a great snack that ends up feeling more like a meal - very satisfiying with the richness of the cheese and sweetness of the apple.

Week Two:  Okay folks listen up - I weighed in on Saturday morning which was the end of week one and the first day of week two.  I lost 5 pounds!!!  So excited!  That was exactly what I needed to have happen to keep me motivated.

Over the weekend I continued to stay exactly on track even though it was my daughter's 10th birthday.  We went out to eat on Saturday night and I skipped the bread and the apps and ordered an 8 oz filet mignon and only ate half.  I did eat the full side of green beans :)

I baked the Pumpkin Cranberry muffins over the weekend and I thought they were great!  They do taste "healthy" but they are good.  If you like things super sweet though you might not be impressed.

I tried the Creamy Cucumber Yogurt Salad.  One problem - if you look at the photo the cucumbers are sliced but the receipe says to grate them.  I chose to slice them and the salad did not turn out very well.  There was way too much dressing for the amount of cucumber.  I think if I had actually grated the cucumber it might have worked out better.  Flavor was okay though.

Two thumbs up for the Calamari with Salsa Verde though - awesome!

Okay - a few comments about the recipes I tried Week One.  These were all from the 7 Day Kickstart Cookbook. 

• The Vegetable Soup was delicious!  Lots of flavor and very satisfying.  Preparation was easy if you don't mind the time involved for cutting up all the veggies.  I added a bit of crushed red pepper to give it a little kick.
• Poached Chicken:  So I cook a lot and think I'm pretty good at it but I've never poached a chicken breast!  I gave it a try and was underwhelmed by the result.  I think I will stick to baking it because I don't think there are any nutritional differences.
• Greek Yogurt:  This was a choice for either a breakfast or a snack.  You had to get the 0% fat, plain greek yogurt which I was sure would be disgusting!  However, after adding only a teaspoon of raw honey and mixing in the raw almonds I actually loved it!  (The recipe did not say to add the honey - I figured adding a tsp of honey a day to the diet was not going to derail me haha!).  I couldn't believe that it was fat free - so rich and creamy!
• About the raw honey - she has a note in her cookbook that it's much better for you than the filtered, processed version.  I loved it but I have to say I can't believe how expensive it was - $8.99 for a 6 oz. jar!  Yikes!

Week One

After a very stressful couple of years where I've managed to pack on an addition 15 lbs, I finally got my mind straight and ready to turn things around!  So I chose the Jillian Michaels Body Revolution program to get the job done.  I just completed my first week and decided to start this blog to chart my progress.  I'll be talking about how I feel during the process, as well as critiquing the recipes from her cookbook.  Hopefully this will help me stay motivated and also provide you guys with some info on this program!  So here we go!

Height:  5'8"
Starting Weight:  157 lbs
Measurements:  Bust 36", Waist 31", Hips 39"

Week 1:  I chose to do the kickstart plan for the first week which includes 2 workouts a day instead of one as well as cutting out grains, fruits and only one serving of low-fat dairy per day.  This plan is supposed to kick-start your metoblism which sounded good to me!  I felt really tired for the first 4 days, I suppose because of the low carb part.  I also cut out Diet Pepsi and alcohol.  You are allowed to have up to 400 mg of caffeiene but I'm not a coffee drinker so I've had one 5-hour energy first thing in the morning.  Anyway, I've stuck to the workouts and diet exactly and the worst symptom has been the fatigue which got a lot better by day 5.  I've also been pretty sore from the workouts but I LOVE the fact that they are only 30 minutes long.  My first weigh in is tomorrow - hopefully I'll see some results!

More to come on the recipes I tried for week 1...