Thoughts of a Diva

So I've been hearing a lot about Intermittent fasting lately and I'm officially ready to give it a try.  Intermittent fasting is not a  diet , but rather a dieting pattern. ... By fasting and then feasting on purpose, intermittent fasting generally means that you consume your calories during a specific window of the day, and choose not to eat food for a larger window of time. I am diabetic so I am going to do 9 hours of eating and 15 hours of fasting. I will post often on my progress. I've created 2 documents to help me plan. While most people say you can eat "whatever you want" I am going to try to be mindful of what I eat and stick to one dessert per day. I can't quit cold turkey on the processed sugars because I'm an addict!!!! Wish me luck! Have any of you tried IF? Comment below. If you're interested in the files I'm using, email me and I'll send them to you. No need to recreate the wheel.  XOXO 

Starting Weight: 290 according to the new scale. Target Weight: My initial target weight for the end of week one was 282 lbs. but that was when I thought I weighed 285. Current Weight: 287 Next Target Weight: 285 - kinda feels like I'll be 2 weeks behind. How Many To Lose: 2lbs. Hopefully I'll lose more. Overall Goal Weight: 175 Overall Need to Lose: 112 Good LORD! This week I started with meal replacement shakes. My will power was not strong! I was able to do the shakes 3 full days, meaning I had one for breakfast and one for lunch with a sensible dinner. I purchased both Slimfast and Atkins and have been having the Slimfast shakes for breakfast and the Atkins shakes for lunch. I would say that those are to credit for the 2 lb weight loss because I didn't exercise...at all - just tried to move around more. This upcoming week I am going to do the meal replacements Monday -Thursday and see how many pounds I lose. Even though the scale didn't move much I do h...

So, I recently started using to new nutrient based things to help me in my weight loss journey. I haven't really been taking them long enough to give you guys any final results but I would like to go ahead and let you know what they are and how I fell about them so far. I've been taking them for a week now. The first is Gymnema Sylvestre and it is a natural herb that helps regulate blood sugar and curbs your cravings for sugar. Now, I am a sugar addict! I mean if I had my way I'd have a pastry (or 2) for breakfast, something sweet for lunch and something sweet with dinner not to mention juices and sugar based snacks throughout the day. I mean I've got it bad. Now I'm starting to think the Gymnema Sylvestre is working because I purchased a bundtlet from Nothing Bundt Cakes Tuesday and it is DELICIOUS...but I've only managed to eat a third of it. I've had it for 2 days already. NO WAY IN HELL is this normal for me! So I think this one is working. ...

Today I started the Iaso tea. No offense to anyone selling the tea but I'm really trying to get away from fad type diets and learn to live healthy. I tried Omnitrition and was really disappointed because the person who signed me up has loss a TON of weight and I couldn't lose more than 10 or 12 eating on 500 calories a day! I think it's a mental thing. Anyway I'm going to do the Iaso tea which is NOT a weight loss tea as much as it's a detox tea. Detoxing hasn't worked well for me in the past either. Like my body doesn't respond well to the different products I've used. I'm hoping the Iaso tea will at least 'loosen' things up for me and then I'm going to follow up with Nature's Secret 7-Day Ultimate Cleanse. I've procrastinated (as usual) and now I need to lose at least 10 lbs in 19 days! I want to look at least a bit sleeker for my book release party. I also set some small goals and I hope that'll help me by not seeming...

Unfortunately, I am failing miserably. Dieting is so much of a mental war for me that I've convinced myself that there's no point. I'm not saying I quit but I have cheated. After doing P2 faithfully for 2 weeks I was down 12-14 lbs (for some reason there was fluctuation) I stalled there the entire third week. There was no change at all. I was hungry, irritable and depressed. So I cheated. Because what's the point in doing all of that suffering for nothing? I felt so bad. I ate bread and I didn't even like it. I felt sick. Being trapped inside of my apartment due to ice and snow didn't help so I ended up eating a few Girl Scout cookies. Bread has never been a vice for me but sweets, cookies, cakes, pies, THOSE are my vices. I didn't go over board but I definitely cheated. Now I don't know what to do. I've disappointed myself and other people. Why can't I be a BIG responder? Why can't I lose 10 lbs in a week's time? Why can't I LOV...

So I took my Nite Lite last night and lost 1 lb. right now I'm at 288.8. I'm excited. This is the confirmation I needed to keep me motivated. We're still iced in so I'm using food I already have. My food plan for today is as follows. Time Omni Product Meal Water 9:00 a.m. Omnidrops     9:15 a.m.   ½ grapefruit 20 oz. 11:00 a.m.     10 oz. 12:00 p.m.     10 oz. 1:00 p.m. Omnidrops     1:20 p.m. Hair & Nails Pill 4 oz. ground turkey patty, 2 oz. lettuce, 2 oz. cherry tomatoes, 1 tbsp spicy mustard 20 oz. 3:00 p.m.     10 oz. 4:00 p.m.   ½ grapefruit 20 oz. 5:00 p.m.     10 oz.   6:00 p.m. Omnidrops     6:30 p.m. Hair & Nails ...

This is a bigger struggle than I thought. Still stuck at 289 (yep, there's the big reveal. Hoping to self shame myself into doing right)! I struggle between 290 and 299 for years. I would get discouraged when I couldn't break that 10 lb. barrier . I need to recommit myself BIG TIME. I haven't been taking the drops regularly. I'm so inconsistent with routines. That's the Aquarian in me I guess. I'm stalled so I'm discouraged. I wanted to be a major responder to the program and drop about 10 lbs. a week. I'm trying to stay encouraged and hang in there. Tomorrow is the first day of the last week on the VLCD. I'm going to consistently take my drops, my hair & nails pills and my Nite Lite. Pray to the summertime fine Gods that I can drop 10. Anyway - I got sick of chicken during week 1 of P2 so I mixed it up this week. Today I had ground turkey patties and sliced tomatoes for both lunch and dinner today plus an orange, green tea and melba toast. We...

EEEEEEEEEEEEEK! The weekend was BAD. I may have cheated......just a little though. I haven't gained any weight back but I didn't lose any either. There's a silver lining to me getting off track... I DID NOT GAIN THE WEIGHT BACK. Not one single ounce. So that tells me that when I get to my goal weight maintaining should be easy. I debated starting over again but loading makes me feel so gross I didn't want to re-do it so soon. I made up for it tonight by making taco salad for my kids and only eating my Phase 2 version. No cheese, No sour cream Who knew my willpower was so strong? I will post a pic of it later but I basically had 4 oz. of 93% lean ground beef 1 oz. of onions 1 oz. of lettuce 2 oz. of tomatoes some jalapeños and 2 multigrain wasa crackers It wasn't terrible and I got full after eating half. Still down 7 XOXO Latina Renee

I'm down another 2 lbs. If I lose 1 more lb I'll be at a milestone that I'll share with you when it happens. I'm hoping to look up some recipes and spice up the VLCD (Very Low Calorie Diet) this weekend. If I come across something delicious I'll be sure to share it here. I can control myself at work for the most part even though there's temptation all over the place here. The real victory will be if I manage this weekend. Oh  and my Nite Lite (Omnitrition Nighttime formula) which supposedly helps you rest better and causes you to lose lbs while you sleep came in along with my Omnitrition Hair & Nails. I'm excited to add these to my routine this weekend. I do not believe that I will have to use ALL of the Omni products to lose weight. I will probably try them all because I'm a distributor and I would like to know the products I sell but I'm not in it for the extra cash. If it comes it comes. More importantly I need a jump start. I need to ...

Well it's Day 2 and I've lost 5 lbs! Bye Bye loading troubles. Imagine if I'm as successful the rest of week! Did I mention a cheated. I know, I know that's horrible BUT the job got me cake and ice cream. So I had a bit. But I stuck to my guns the rest of the day and boy was temptation EVERYWHERE. I had George Foreman grilled chicken and raw spinach for both lunch and dinner. Lunch was so bleh. I couldn't eat all of the spinach because I'm not allowed dressing and well that's just inhumane. I've got to look into recipes but when it came down to it I just want to do it already and I did not want to procrastinate under the disguise of looking for recipes. Anyway, thank God for Frank's Red Hot (it is allowed on the diet).  I used it on the chicken AND spinach for dinner and it was quite enjoyable. I've packed it in my Hello Kitty lunchbox since today's menu is the same. I'm allergic to raw apples so last night I warmed an apple with c...

Even though I ate....a lot....a little part of me feels like I didn't load properly because I would still get hungry in between pig outs. But because I feel sick and I've already gained 5 pounds I'm going ahead and starting Phase 2 or P2 (a very low calorie diet) today. In P2, what you can eat is very limited and the meal plan is 500 calories a day. I personally feel like that is waaaaay too few calories and I've been researching ways around that. What I've found is that you can actually do 800 calories a day and still lose weight. It won't be as dramatic as the 500 calorie a day diet but still. So I have the 800 calorie plan in my back pocket just in case. I'm hoping to drop that gained 5 pounds in the first week. P2 lasts for 21 days/ 3 weeks. The meals on this plan are very simple. Last night I prepared 4 very unexciting meals of 4 oz of chicken breast and 4 oz of spinach for both lunch and dinner today and tomorrow. Today I also brought and orange ...