If you live in Santa Fe and want to get started on the Ideal Protein diet you can call Adela Cordova at 505.795.2475.  Adela is coaching clients at Equilibrium Pilates in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

I got on the scale this week and was pleasantly surprised to see 153.4 pounds!  I just went over the goal by a pound thanks to healthy food choices.  We are starting our 2012 Challenge this week at BODYLANGUAGE Studio.  That’s a 12 week program incorporating diet & exercise to bring people to their goals.  I’ll be posting about once each week with news & insights.  If you want to visit the Challenge 2012 website you can do so by clicking here!

Sea Bass @ Aqua Grill NYC!

I thought I’d fill you in on how my weight went over the holidays.  I was in New York 5 days before New Years Eve eating at restaurants with almost none of the Ideal Protein products.  By making Careful choices: Veggie Omelettes, Lean Meats, Fresh Fish, and LOTS of veggies……I gained only 8/10ths of a pound!  Less than 1 pound in five days on restaurant food is not too bad…and I had a couple glasses of wine and a piece of New York Cheese Cake (my secret was to eat the cheese cake in small segments over a 4 day period to keep impact on blood sugar to a minimum.)  My cravings for anything that would seriously impact blood sugar and insulin levels simply were not there…..I did not even have a slice of the wonderful Pizza that NY is famous for.

I can’t believe its been 11 days since my last post!  I have been doing well with holiday temptations keeping my daily sugar intake at a low level.  I’ve been eating cleaner than ever.  I’ve found the only way for me to do this is to stay organized and focused.  Making batches of food that yields 4-6 good meals and having variety really helps.  My basic soup is a great base that can be morphed into many different exciting meals in just a few minutes during heating.  Adding Chicken Breast or Deli Turkey Slices or a packet of Ideal Protein Soup Mix as I re heat the meal gives me a lot of variety.  I plan on checking the scale tomorrow (Saturday) so I’ll report back on how things are going.

It’s Monday and time to weigh & measure again.  Today I weighed in at 157.2 and my waist was 31 3/4.  So my results were total weight lost 7.2 pounds and 2 1/4 inches in the waist.  I did not quite make my goal of 10 pounds but I feel great and everyone is noticing that I have lost weight!  I’m really happy with the way my clothes fit now. My craving for sugar is non existent now.  Today we are now 6 days away from Christmas.  This week promises to be a real challenge as we have at least 3 holiday parties to attend.  I will be making post to the blog to let you know how successful I am navigating all the potentially disastrous food choices.  I have started back to working out again.  Yesterday I got in a 30 minute run and 105 push ups. I plan on eating like I have the past few days and anticipate reaching that 10 pound goal by New Year’s eve.  Stay tuned to see how it goes!

Zucchini & Spinach Omelette once more for breakfast.  I’ve been trying to get in 3/4 to 1 cups of veggies at breakfast.  Lunch was with Mom & Dad at Chilli’s.  I got compliant by ordering the Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad with out Croutons or Cheese and no dressing.  Mid afternoon snack a few almonds.  Dinner this evening Veggie Soup and an Ideal Protein Pudding for dessert.  Tomorrow is the big day Weigh In #2.  My clothes are fitting good and I’m feeling good about it….so we wait to see what the scale says.

Saturday and today is the first of the Holiday Parties and the challenge of how to handle social events.  Breakfast: Omelette with Zucchini & Spinach.  Snack 1/2 Ideal Protein Bar. Lunch Vegetable casserole and Veggie soup. Now on to the Party.  I did fairly well avoiding all the forbidden foods on the buffet.  6 oz Red wine was officially a cheat but on the whole I avoided any land mines.  Dinner was a club sandwich at Jason’s Deli.  I removed most of the bread.

It’s Friday and I will continue on Phase 3 until Monday when I plan to get back on the scale.  This morning I’m having a 3 egg veggie omelet for breakfast. 1/2 Protein Bar for a snack mid morning.   Lunch is Turkey & Veggie Soup.  Dinner is Seared Ahi Tuna, Broccoli, & Zucchini.

Today I’m officially off Phase one of the program.  Since my weight loss goal is so small I will be going directly into Phase 3.  On Phase 3 I will be using only one Ideal Protein Snack and the rest of my food will be from traditional sources.  Today breakfast was a 3 egg omelette with sauteed veggies.  Lunch was the salad bar at Whole Foods with Roasted Turkey for a protein.  I was working in the evening so dinner was a mess: a protein bar and some of the Veggie Casserole I made earlier at 8:00pm (much later than I like to eat.)

Day 10 started with a Plain Crepe Mix for breakfast with Walden Farms Maple Syrup. This is just a great cold weather breakfast.  I was busy today.  Not being prepared with your food makes it real tough to stay on the program.  No time for lunch so I had an Ideal Protein Double Chocolate Bar mid morning and a bad of IP Southwestern Cheese Curls at lunchtime. Both of these are restricted.  I did manage to have some steamed veggies with turkey breast for dinner.  Since I had two items (bar & cheese curls) that ate considered restricted items….I wan not compliant today.  Energy was good…..infact I have had really good (seemingly higher than I normally have) energy levels the whole 10 days.  I’m still not really having any sugar cravings.  I have a desert I made a couple of days ago in the fridge that is really good.  Its kind of a rice pudding thing without the rice.  I steamed a head of cauliflower and crumbled it into little pieces then added an Ideal Protein Vanilla Pudding with a bit of nutmeg.  It is really good!  I’m looking forward to the last bit of that before turning in for the night.