The Shred Diet Again

Adios, Nutrisystem. It is amazing how good a piece of toast, egg whites, and orange juice tasted as my first breakfast back to fresh foods. (Okay, I may have had a cinnamon roll for breakfast the day before...let's revise to fresh and healthy foods!)

My first day back to cooking, I'd love to say it was a success. Following the diet was a success. My cooking skills, a little hazy. (Again, my honest voice must jump in and say, weren't they always hazy?)

Dinner was my big cooking test and...I was cooking spaghetti squash for the first time. All the recipes I found required cutting it in half before cooking, which sounded difficult. I kept searching and found the perfect recipe for me.

All I had to do was very carefully stab the heck out of the spaghetti squash (aka Stress Relief!) and nuke that sucker for 12 minutes. In the meantime I was heating up my black beans with some diced tomatoes and onions. This is where the I-Suck-at-cooking-story comes in. 

I decided to multi-task. I set my lunch bag on the side of the counter near the stove and decided to let my dog outside. I'd come back in, finish up the squash and pack my lunch while things cooled down.

However the bag fell away from the wall and onto the burner. Thank goodness I was right back and noticed this, I didn't have those pesky smoke alarms telling my neighbors I suck at cooking too!

So after a second of debating if I should just tie it in a knot or duck tape it back together, I chose tying it. My squash was finished and I mixed my meal together. Yum!

So...if I was going to choose nutrisystem over the Shred Diet, it would seem like nutrisystem would be my choice. (Hello, microwave!) But, I'm loving the fresh foods on the Shred even if it is more work and I suck at cooking!

The Plateau

I read an article this morning about plateaus and how they usually happen about 4-6 months into a diet. I'm going on month 5 with Nutrisystem and seem to have hit one.

What should I do? So far I've stayed the course and waited. Every morning after sweating my butt off with T25, I read a couple articles on muscle vs fat, plateaus. I'm trying hard to be patient, but I'm not.

Today I tried a technique of eating more calories. I also made up my mind I'm going to do the shred diet again. I know from pictures, from clothes, and from the mirror, that my work is paying off. I just need some recognition of this fact from my scales!!

The Flat Belly Diet Week 1 Review

At the beginning of this week I wasn't feeling too excited about this diet. The reason? Well...it starts with a 4 day Anti-Bloat. That just sounds like a whole lot of fun now, doesn't it? Yeah, it doesn't sound that great. I was looking past the 4 day Anti-Bloat at the list of recipes that include Chocolate, Peanut Butter, Avocado thinking, I'm sure I can get through the next four days!

The Basics:

Start with the 4 Day Anti-Bloat (about 1200 calories a day and drink 2 liters of Sassy Water). I didn't start exercise during the 4 Day Anti-Bloat except for 20 minute walks with my co-workers during the work day.

After the 4 Days you get three meals that are 400 calories a piece, that include a monounsaturated fat (that is where the chocolate, peanut butter, and avocados come in!) You also get one 400 calorie snack that includes a monounsaturated fat. They want you to eat about every four hours.

The Anti-Bloat gives you a meal plan to follow with specific foods (I did substitute the cereal choices since I had a big box of plain cheerios and didn't really have the space to add two more cereal brands in it.) After that you choose from their suggestions (which sound delicious.)

The Budget:

I made the substitution on this when it came to the cereals, but overall I spent about $135.00 for the week. This was for 3 adults to follow the program for the week, so it would have been a little less if it was just myself. (The first week I did the Shred it was for two people and the budget was significantly higher--but I didn't track the costs at that point, so I'll follow it again and add that information.)

4 Day Anti-Bloat:

Sassy Water -

 

2 Liters of Water, 1 sliced cucumber, 1 sliced lemon, 6 mint leaves & 1 TBSP grated Ginger Root

This is refreshing. I always loved the first glass, but was happy for the last glass! 

I think I will incorporate this into my daily plan, but just one glass a day.

It took a little time for preparation, but not the 4 hours on Sunday that it was taking me for the shred. 

My lunch is all packed up and ready for day one below:

Breakfast on the first day. My substitution of cheerios, unsweetened applesauce, sunflower seeds and the Sassy Water!

I like grape tomatoes...but...1 Pint was a lot of them! 4 Ounces of Deli Turkey was also a lot. 

Milk & Blueberry Smoothie and Pumpkin Seeds for the snack.

Dinner for the first day was Tilapia, Green Beans, and Red Potatoes...and of course Sassy Water!

Anti-Bloat Results:

I was down 5.6 pounds when the Anti-Bloat was done. That was definitely worth the kind of boring 4 days of food and the Sassy Water.

Beyond Anti-Bloat:

I don't feel like I'm on a diet with this food. I started out my freedom of choosing meals with one of their breakfast suggestions, 1 Waffle, 1 Cup of Dark Cherries, and 1/4 Cup of Chocolate Chips. (Yum!)

The first day of my meals I was in a seminar during the day. I brought a Luna Bar, with an orange and 2 Tablespoons of Almonds to eat during the day. I got home and made my new favorite meal.

This has Whole Wheat Pasta, Italian Sausage, Shredded Carrots, Halved Grape Tomatoes, and Chopped Celery, topped with Pesto Sauce. I felt like I had to be cheating the whole time!

Later I made my guiltless cookies. They worked great as my last "meal" of the day with a glass of chocolate almond milk. They had the chocolate chips so I had my monounsaturated fat.

Lessons Learned:

Become a Worst Nightmare of Waiters/Waitresses:

Substitute until it becomes a healthy option for you. I went to Red Robins and was looking for something I could eat that wouldn't kill the diet and had a monounsaturated fat. I saw the California Chicken Sandwich, that had a Zesty Guacamole, but it also had Bacon, Mayonnaise, and the bread on the bun.

I asked for the sandwich wrapped in lettuce minus the mayonnaise and bacon.

Here is how it ended up calorie wise:

Yep, 286 calories vs 744 calories. Good option if you ask me and props to Red Robins for having a nutrition customizer.

Diets Don't Mean Deprivation:

I have had such delicious meals. I feel like I'm cheating the whole time and I'm not. I always feel like diets are so restrictive but they don't need to be!

Next week I'll give an update on how this diet is going, plus I have a funny "Flat Belly story" to share, but I've ran out of room to add it today! 

The Shred Revolutionary Diet Review

On January 7th I started the 6 Week "Shred" diet. It promises 2 Dress sizes, 4 inches, and up to 20 pounds in 6 weeks.

The Basic Plan

This plan works based on diet confusion. Each day the calories (which you never count) and food types will change. He also has an exercise program to follow which consists of just cardio for the first cycle. 

What I Like About the Plan

It includes a maintenance plan. After you get to your goal weight, you eat your own way for four weeks and then do any week of his six week cycle. You do this every 4 weeks for six months and then you go to every eight weeks.

What I Don't Like About the Plan

After the first six week cycle it begins feeling repetitive and restrictive. The first six weeks were fine, but if you have more to lose and try it for a second cycle I found it very repetitive feeling (just like my use of the word repetitive!).  I will try this diet again, but only for the six weeks, or once I get to my goal weight follow his maintenance plan.

A Typical Day

With this plan you eat 4 meals and 3 snacks. The meals should be about every 3- 3 1/2 Hours. The snacks are 100 calories or 150 calories and he has a great list of suggested snacks. 

The meals tend to revolve around Protein Shakes, Fruit Smoothies, and Soup. Breakfasts may include oatmeal, but on some days you enjoy pancakes with turkey bacon or a grilled cheese sandwich.

Some days you get a treat with lasagna, spaghetti and meatballs, hamburgers, and pizza. But mainly it will be a lean meat and veggies or Protein Shake, Soup, and quite often Beans. (Yeah, I know...the beans aren't super exciting.)

Lessons Quickly Learned

1. Preparation, Preparation, and PREPARATION!

• Menu Planning- I sat down and made a menu plan for each week, narrowing down his choices to what I would eat. If it's not on the menu, I don't eat it.
• Week Preparation- After Grocery Shopping I would leave everything out and prepare all of the food for the week. (i.e. make soup, cut veggies, snack packs) 
• Nightly Preparation- Grab the items I need the following day and put them in my lunch bag. All I have to do is go out the door WITHOUT forgetting my lunch bag!

    2. Snack Selection

• Not all 100 Calorie or 150 Calorie Snacks are the same. Pick the ones that are going to stick with you the longest (i.e. Hard Boiled Egg vs 100 Calorie Snack Pack of cookies)

Costs 

This started out a little more expensive and ended up lower as weeks went by. With the next diet and the next time I do the Shred I will actually save my receipts and have a budget number here!

Results

The black ribbon was my before waist measurement and the white ribbon was after six weeks. I lost about 6 inches from my waist! I was down about 10 1/2 pounds, but definitely think most of my loss was in inches. I have a few more pictures showing the difference of the two weeks below:

Overall I was thrilled with my results on this diet. I just couldn't follow it consecutively (I made it to week 3 and decided it was time to chase a new diet.) I will go back to this at some point, I'm sure. But for now I'm off to chase down the Flat Belly Diet starting Monday.