The second round of cycle 1 ended yesterday and it was BRUTAL. Going from cycle 3 back to cycle 1 was a shock to my body. I ended up having to back down with workouts the first couple of days. Then I decided that was stupid – so instead, I kept my workouts at 45 minutes and I started eating a starch/carb serving here and there and extra protein before workouts. While I wasn’t following cycle 1 exactly how it was meant to be, my body needed the extra boost and fuel. All in all, I added 5 whole wheat pitas, 1 serving of oatmeal, switched back to low fat cheese instead of fat free and last night I had Afghan food – which included bolani – pan fried potato pancakes w/chives and some basmati rice. I still ordered green tea and enjoyed a few pieces of the chicken kabob and hanging out with friends. Of the 17 days, I’d say I stuck to the cycle 1 food list about 10 of those days and I exercised 13 of the 17 days. It was almost like doing cycle 2 and I’m cool with that. With the increased workout times and being in the home stretch, I will not be revisiting cycle 1 again. If I don’t make my goal weight by the end of the 2nd round of cycle 3, I will just go back to cycle 2. Wow… did you get all that? I swear, I’m only getting into the details because I now know of at least 8 readers that are doing the diet.
I have officially lost my ass. The jeans in this photo were my “go to” Old Navy size 14 jeans… I pretty much wore them everywhere before starting the diet.
It’s crazy – especially since I had my new jeans on underneath this pair. I’ve dropped 5.5 inches in my waist and I’m now wearing size 8 jeans after 68 days. While shrinking sizes is really cool, losing waist inches is what puts a huge smile on my face. Posting pictures like this reminds me of the old days and brings me back to my Internet safety and digital citizenship presentations I do for work – You posted what on the Internet? Ha! Ha! – This is nothing compared to my old weight loss blog.
No worries foodie friends… screamin’ good turkey meatballs are below.
So…. The Numbers
I am down another 4.4 lbs. for the second round of cycle 1.
Progress:
Cycle 1: – 15.2 lbs.
Cycle 2: – 5.3 lbs.
Cycle 3: – 4.7 lbs.
2nd Round Cycle 1: -4.4 lbs.
Total Weight Loss: 29.6 lbs.
Woohoo! Today officially started round 2 of cycle 2 and I will probably do a bit of what I did with the second round of cycle 1 – mix some cycle 3 foods into the round.
Now to the Turkey Meatballs – I created this recipe on the fly, based on what I had on hand. This is why there are no ingredient or prep photos, I hadn’t planned on posting a recipe – but they were super tasty!
Ingredients:
1 Pound Lean Ground Turkey
Fresh Basil – 4-5 leaves, finely chopped
1/2 Tablespoon Crushed Rosemary
1 Tablespoon of Dried Italian Seasoning
2 Cloves Garlic – minced
1 Small Onion – rough chopped
1 Egg
1/4 Cup Whole Wheat Panko
Salt and Pepper
Parmesan Cheese – finely shredded for topping
1/2 Jar Marinara Sauce – used for baking and then served on top
I mixed everything together and divided the meat into 9 meatballs. They were fairly large in size. I put the meatballs in a glass baking dish and topped the raw meatballs with 1/2 jar of Giorgio Baldi Tomato and Basil Marinara Sauce. Find any sauce with 3-4 grams of carbs per serving – the lower the better. You could also used crushed tomatoes or straight tomato sauce.
I baked the meatballs in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes and then I turned them over and baked them for another 15 minutes.
I served the meatballs on a bed of sauteed spinach – I used 3/4 small bag with two cubes of Dorat frozen garlic, extra virgin olive oil, and a little salt and pepper. I will definitely be making these again!
I’m still sort of stuck in a food routine (eating my favorites from each cycle) – but I did mix things up a bit and hope to continue to do so for the next cycles.
What makes me happy right now…
Having increased energy
Getting lots of good sleep
Less back pain
Smaller clothing sizes/new clothes
Weight loss rewards – think pedicures and massages
Green tea – I know, crazy right?
Sugar free frozen yogurt
Honeycrisp apples… OMG, pure heaven – best apple ever!
Cinnamon oatmeal in the morning
So what’s new with you guys and what’s making you happy right now?
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I’m duly impressed. And, the turkey meatballs are my dinner tomorrow night.
I don’t get the diet/ cycle stuff at all – hell – I don’t even know WHAT diet you’re doing, but I’ve been following along, anyway- the recipes are still awesome! Still, I had to tell you – you look fantastic! Congrats! 🙂
Congratulations on such great success. I wish you the best of luck the rest of the way!
Great job! I must say the 17 day diet intrigues me! Maybe after baby is born I’ll have to try it, not sure if I can get the husband on board though! Right now what makes me happy is the beautiful (warm) fall weather we’re having in the Midwest including the beautiful fall colors! And starting to feel my baby kick a little, it brings a smile to my face every time!
You look amazing! Congrats on your success! 🙂
I am so happy for you!!! You look great, and most importantly is that it seems that you FEEL great. Yay!
Kath, you look great! Congratulations… I love the pictures that show the difference in your waist…amazing, my friend 🙂
Thanks for the update- it helps to hear how it is going from someone farther along than I am. I’m only in cycle 2 of my first round. I went off it a bit this weekend because we were out of town but I glad to be back home and focused. I find cycle 2 and how it alternates between 1 and 2 every other day harder than just doing cycle 1. I had to put alerts in my calendar so I could keep up!
You’re an inspiration. So glad you’re having such great success and are feeling good.
Awesome job! Those meatballs look yummy too! 🙂
OMG!!!…. those jeans…you can fit another person into them!!!! That brings the BIGGEST smile to my face to see you each day at work so healthy, happy, & glowing!!!!!!
Those meatballs look fabulous. I’ve never thought of serving them over sauteed spinach. What a great way to kep the caolries down and the nutrients up.
I was browsing on Amazon one day and saw this book was almost the top of the chart so I downloaded the sample on my Kindle right away. Guess what? I ended up buying the book, HOWEVER, as my track record of reading non-fiction, I didn’t pass reading the first two cycles of the diet. The doctor use simple words to offer some possibilities to lose weight. I don’t agree with him entirely but there are points that I think I could incorporated into my lifestyle.
I’ve been carrying extra 10-20lbs my whole life even though no one around me in America think so. I’m Chinese and my parents are quite obsessed with me being fat and of course never ending putting me down because of my weight. With that stuck in my head I just feel fat even though I wear Petite in the States. Anyway, approaching 30 and being sick of my clothes getting snugger and snugger, I was thinking, what the hell, why not try it since I saw the food list was quite similar to what I normally eat anyway AND like the doc said “I only need to try it for 17 days”, if it doesn’t work, I have nothing to lose. The only thing I’m worrying about is I’m a big Carbohydrates maniac. I could consume noodles, rice, chips and more carbs in one single meal or keep on eating after I’m done with lunch/dinner, especially when I get stressed out or before my period comes, Cheeto is my best friend. I hate exercising ever since I was a kid so there’s no way to burn any extra fat that I accumulated over the years.
Anyway, I started out the diet with one of the coworkers at work and today is the 10th day of the diet, I have lost 6 pounds (my coworker lost 9). It’s not a lot according to the book since I should being losing about a pound a day. I knew exactly why because I cheated a couple times the past week (ramen, chinese food and fried chicken in moderation :P) but I definitely notice a big change with my body. First of all, I no longer feeling stuffed at all time. Since there’s no limited on food except the probiotics and fruits, I eat every hour or so in the morning and continue to snack on veggie sticks in the afternoon (not all the time since I wasn’t hungry at all and forgot about eating)until I get home and make dinner . I stop eating whenever I feel full and that’s a big deal for me since I’ve never learn to stop eating. EVER. And I thought I would miss my rice balls and spam a lot since they are my favorite food. No, I didn’t. I thought about them from time to time but I have no desire to stuff them down my throat like I normally would. I no longer crave. This is one of the strangest things I’ve ever experienced in my life. Me? No craving? HA. Here is another funny thing. My head had been so crystal clear since I started the diet. It’s mental! I have this stuffed head problem ever since I was out of college (good 7 years ago) and I never thought it was a big deal. Until my head is not stuffy anymore. I think much more clearly and my memory totally improved from 10 days ago. Only now I realized how all the rice and processed food had done such a damage to my body PLUS my mind.
I have not finish the whole 17 days for the first cycle but it definitely change the way I consume food. I think I used to have depression eating problem which I don’t think the book addressed it but the decision of just trying it out definitely change my way of thinking. You do have to analyze the things you read and process it for your own lifestyle. My coworker follow it to the letter and I just modified it to fit in my daily routine. If you are not ready to purchase the book, there are resources online that give you the food list of the first cycle. Try out a few days and see how you feel. Now I should continue to read the book and see how I can make more improvement of stay fit :).
Way to go!! I am sooo impressed. I am on day 16 of the first cycle and I have lost 10 pounds. I should be down a couple more after Aunty Flow goes away!
So far it been great and when I saw your meatball recipe, I thought this girl is of the same mind. I make mine almost the same way minus the parm. I make eggplant Parmesan crisps to go with them instead. Yum! Anyways thanks for the blog! I’m looking forward to the end of my cycle. I was really hoping for 25 pounds the first round but might not get that according to your numbers. Here’s to hoping!
Wow! I saw your post…. amazing, great job…. are the meatballs ok to have on cycle 1?
Author
Thanks. You would need to omit the panko, you could sub mushrooms or another binder. You would also need a low sugar marinara and fat free Parmesan to make them cycle 1.