Day 1: A Battle with a Tortilla Chip

Over the weekend, I decided to go on the 17 Day Diet. I read a lot of reviews about the diet- saw tweets about it and my best friend just started the diet. The diet is based on a timeline in which your body can achieve weight loss in a HEALTHY way and stabilize itself. The thing that sucks me into the "diet" is that it's basically common sense. Don't eat bad food and exercise 20 minutes a day. The diet really supports a life style change. I also decided I would blog about my entire experience and log my food - maybe I'll inspire you to join me! :)

Here are the basics:

• Lean protein. 
• Any vegetable you want & certain fruits. 
• Add in 2 servings of dairy (such as greek yogurt) and you're good. 
• For 17 days- you must eat those things and NOT eat carbs (aka the only thing I live off) and no sugars (which will be hard considering how one day last week I ate 5 cake balls). 

So - I refer to this as the common sense diet - that will get me on track and help me FINALLY achieve my weight loss goals.

Starting weight: 226

Goal weight (for 17 days): 216

For crying out loud, I just want to get out of the 220's  this month. Hitting 216 will be a total weight loss of 16 pounds for the year. I'd really love to lose 30 lbs this year. I think my ultimate goal would be to weigh 185- but again, I am NOT stressing over these numbers. I want to be healthy and not revert to my old, unhealthy habits.

Today was good. It was hard- but good. Instead of having a bagel (one of my favorite breakfast meals of all time) loaded with peanut butter or cream cheese, I opted for an Americano from Starbucks (no cream or sugar - just black and strong) and a bowl of berries (strawberries, yellow berries, blackberries and raspberries).

By 10:30 a.m. I was ready to break out of my office and run across the street for a bagel. A piece of bread. A pretzel.Anything that wasn't grown from Mother Nature.

But instead I waited an hour and went across the street for a chicken salad from Moe's Mexican Grill. My order was a  taco salad, no shell, no cheese, no sour cream, no dressing, add chicken, mushrooms, cumcumbers, salsa, corn salsa and olives. When I got home I added a tiny splash of soy ranch dressing for flavor.

The thing about Moe's is --- they give you free tortilla chips and salsa. Talk about temptation. I was SO hungry and I told myself that "one little chip won't hurt and no one has to know you ate one chip."

I reached into the bag and grabbed a chip.

Just one.

I looked at it...like it was an alien from another planet.

Like it was going to bite me if I moved any closer.

And then I reminded myself - number one - who can eat JUST ONE chip? Number two - I didn't want to have to blog about my first day and lie to everyone ...saying I did great, but knowing I cheated.

So- I put the chip back in the bag. I thought about licking a the tortilla chip - just for flavor.  Then I thought about how ridciuolous I sounded.  I told myself that there are people out there trying to give up more in the world than a stinking chip...someone out there is recovering from a drug addiction, alcholism, or even an eating disorder- so I better just get over this self-pity of not eating a chip and call it a day.

I came home and slammed the bag of chips into the trash. I even pushed it down further with my foot- My theory was if I were to dig through the trash and eat the chips, not only would I have to dig really far into the garbage- but the chips would be completely crushed up. Oh and I guess digging in the trash for food is kind of gross too....


Day 1 Eating:
- 1 bowl of berries
- 1 large Americano from Starbucks- straight up (to grow hair on your chest)
-One chicken salad with veggies + splash of soy ranch with 15 small tofu cubes added
-16 mixed nuts
-4 spoon fulls of cottage cheese
-1 piece of cedar plank salmon
-2 servings of vegetables (broccoli and carrots)
-No pop, no juice - just water and coffee for this girl.

Exercise:
 -1 mile run and from to the gym (at my best paces ever)
-5.5 miles on the bike (23 minutes)
-the entire time during The Bachelorette I will be doing 25 abs / 10 arms / 10 pushups during each commerical break.

Honestly - the exercise portion of my day has been the most exciting. Without a heavy bagel or sugary coffee weighing me down (literally), I was able to run at the best pace of my life. Literally, I am sitting here writing this blog - 10 minutes later and sweat is still dripping down my face and spin.

I was able to run at a 9:30 mile pace for 1/4 of a mile. And the half mile run to the gym I was at a 11:40 pace. If you remember, my best pace at the half marathon was a 12:22 / mile pace.

I attribute my faster pace to my new running style. Before, I did what I formerly call "the grandma shuffle" -- where I barely lifted my feet off the ground and my heels barely hit the ground. It looked like I was running on the balls of my feet. After getting hurt during my race, I took a few weeks off and focused on improving my running style. And here I am: new and improved.

Overall, I am proud. I had a battle with a tortilla chip and I won. I haven't ate this healthy in a really long time. I'm really excited to see what the next 16 days have in store for me. Don't worry - I'll post before and after pictures too....maybe I'll even end up on the infomerical! Holler!!! ;)

Bring it on Day 2.

Much love,
Ashley