The Howell Blessings

Week three of my detox diet ended on a high note.  I lost a total of just over 6 pounds and lost an average of 1 1/2 inches from my waist (3 points) and hips.  My honey was anxious to take the "after" pictures and compare them to the "before" pictures.  I wasn't so keen on the idea as I wasn't expecting to see an improvement. But, as you can see below, after just 3 weeks, there is noticeable improvement. Not as lumpy and bumpy as before. And is it my imagination or does the woman on the left look older than the woman on the right? I still have a way to go to look the way I want to look, but for just 3 weeks, I can't complain at all with the results.  I ended the 3rd week the day before my honey and my anniversary, and, unfortunately, took advantage of eating what I wanted (to a point) at a nice restaurant the next evening. Needless to say, I messed up on slowly introducing back in the food(s) without any other "toxic" foods.  So...

I finished week one!   Sorry didn't mean to leave any of you in the dark. I thought reporting daily was going to be just a bit... bland, so I decided not to update every day. I finished week one at an even 131 pounds. That is down 4 lbs 4 oz of my starting weight. Not too shabby. It's better than the typical 2 lb weight loss per week, but not as strong as the hopeful 7 lbs this plan suggested could be possible to lose in the first week. I have been faithful to the menu plan every day except yesterday, Saturday the 1st of March.  I had my morning shake and then  held a cooking class in the morning.  After class ended, I got busy cleaning up and chatting and skipped lunch.  I know, I know, I shouldn't have skipped. I warned you that lunch would be my biggest obstacle and it has proved to be true. I did snack on carrots and roasted red pepper hummus, (a recipe in the book)  later that afternoon and finished strong with a Kale and White Bean soup last nig...

Mon Feb 24 Water: 64 oz Weight: 132.6 - loss of 1.3 lbs  Total so far 2.8  Breakfast: Protein Smoothie Lunch: Protein Smoothie Dinner: Left-over Bean and Nut patty with lime vinaigrette dressing and cucumbers, Mixed greens salad No snack Exercise: 4x4 Bursting -15 minutes Notes: No cramping last night!  I'm hoping it is just all in the water control. I slept well last night too. Today I awoke ready to start exercising. I used an exercise DVD I own from JJ Virgin where you intermingle 1 minute of aerobic exercise between pushing, pulling and core muscle work outs. I followed that up with about 10 minutes of yoga. I believe I waited to long to eat supper tonight and was very hungry. After I ate, I found myself wanting to snack, but realized that I wasn't hungry for food in my tummy, but food in my mouth. Tomorrow I will have this lentil loaf to just heat up as soon as it's time to eat supper, so hopefully that helps with the craving to e...