I've been sitting back these past few days reading everyone's blogs and taking it all in.  It's been a very busy past couple of weeks with work and my boys both playing in the last parts of play off hockey so I have not had as much time to write as I would like.  (BTW - got to Mommy brag a bit - My younger boy's team won their play offs to win the Pee Wee Championship in our city and our  older boy's team came in third for the Midget after a hard won battle that included FIVE overtime periods!  I'm a very proud and  happy hockey Mom with no voice left after this weekend.  And, hate to admit it, but kinda happy hockey is over for the year.  Stinky hockey gear gets steam cleaned and stored away and we have our weekends back! Yes I know, probably won't win any mother of the year awards for saying that, but at least I'm honest.)  

For my weekly update, I only lost 1 pound last week, for a total of 42 now but you know what, I'm delighted with that!  Another half inch off my waist for a total of 6.5 inches - that is astonishing to me and I am happy.

One major theme I have seen on the blogs lately is that people are really starting to realize that this program is so much more than a "lose weight fast" scheme.  Let's face it, we've all done those in the past and look where it got us.  Here, right back at it, trying to lose that same 20, 40, 60 or 100 or more pounds all over again.  Lord knows I wish I had a dollar for every time I have lost this same 40 pounds.   Well ..... then again .... I'm undervaluing myself (as usual) .... let's make that a $100 for each pound - heck, I'm worth $1000 each!  That's more like it.  More incentive to reach my goal of 75 - 80.  LOL.

The one thing I know for sure is that this plan is teaching my body how to use food appropriately and it has reinforced what I really already knew but ignored about what foods are good for my body and when I should eat them.  I have no excuse for not knowing this, I work with a stellar team of fantastic dieticians and nutritionists and one who is also a personal trainer.  I knew this stuff but did not heed that knowledge.  Now I am shopping the perimeter of the store, my cart is full of fresh veggies, lean poultry and fish, sometimes lean pork and beef and only whole wheat pasta, fresh potatoes, and brown rice.  Thank the good Lord for my rice cooker!  Takes all the worry about timing out of brown rice.  ($20 at Wal Mart by the way, best investment ever.)  My family is healthier, I am healthier and slimmer and that is improving every week.  What a wonderful gift this has been for all of us.

A good friend at work is just starting the diet today and I am so happy for her.  We chatted about it this afternoon and she already gets it that the whole thing is about resetting your metabolism to work at it's optimal advantage.  I think many of us here kind of got "addicted" to a fast weight loss in cycle one and forgot about the whole resetting your metabolism thing.  For those who did not lose fast in cycle one, they kept on with it hoping it would happen eventually and did not proceed to the next cycles.  Those among us with a lot of weight to lose, like me, we saw significant initial loss which provided much needed incentive to keep going  - which you need when you have 75 or 175 pounds to lose, let's face it - it does seem to slow down to a steady rate, a liveable rate, as you proceed.  That's a good thing.  It's all good - for everyone, because it is a LIVABLE program for long term in cycles two and three.  I don't feel deprived, I know I can keep going and even if I have had the occasional treat, I don't feel guilty because I know I'll carry on.  

Maybe what we should all start to celebrate is not just the loss on the scale, but the feeling of good health, the knowledge we have gained about good nutrition which has given us brighter eyes, shining skin and hair, lower blood pressure and cholesterol and yes, looser clothes (because as I have said over and over ..... use your measuring tape!  It tells more of the story than the scale!).  We are all healthier, look better and have probably added years to our lives.  That is amazing.

So let's carry on all my blog friends!  It is a new day, a new life and a wonderful new us!  Things are improving every day in our bodies and we need to celebrate that and not stress over the scale.

Love, Lisa