Day 18

Starting Weight: 233 lbs

Today's Weight: 215 lbs

Total Weight loss: 18 lbs

Ok..so, the past week has been a little 'trying'...as you can see, I'm only down 1 lb in the past 4 days! So...it appears that I hit the dreaded.."PLATEAU"...I was afraid of this because everything I read said that it was BOUND to happen! And sure enough...it hit me this week =( Although, I will say that I did have a few additional factors to add in this week...Ovulation, which made me extremely hormonal...and the fact that I prior to this morning, I hadn't had a "BM" in 3 days!! Which again, from what I understand is bound to happen on this program at one time or another.

I cured that issue with the 'ol Sea Salt Water Flush! Yes...the mother of all 'cleanses' is the sea salt water flush. If you've never done this before..proceed with caution! You take 32 oz of water and mix in 2 tsp of SEA Salt..and chug! Tip: make sure that you are within 5-10 steps of a restroom for the next 1-2 hours. This thing works! And it works FAST...actually faster than i could run lol. But..afterwards, I felt great..and I haven't weighed in for the day yet..but I'm pretty sure I've lost a few lbs lol. (I know..TMI!)

So..I'm really hoping that tomorrow I am back on my way and leaving the plateau behind. I've stuck to the program 100% with the exception of having 1 tsp of milk and 2 packets of splenda last week...which i'm not 'supposed' to have..but on the grand scale..I'm hoping that it doesn't do any major damage lol

I'm still not sure about the exercise level. I can't find a consistent result of what the exercise does to me..some days I lose extra weight when I work out..and others I don't...so who knows?! It's amazing now that people are really starting to notice..this is definitely a motivating factor!! Not too mention the new 'old' clothes that I have now..my wardrope literally just doubled in less than a week..now if that isn't exciting I don't what is!?

Husband still isn't being super supportive..one part of me wonders if he is afraid of me getting my shape back and losing the weight? Because..with the way he's been acting lately I just may be singing .." To the left, to the left...everything you own in a box to the left..." HAHA But i'm not going to let that deter me. On Sunday night we were going to have dinner together and I got out my chicken and vegetables..and what did he say? "I'm going to Five Guys Burgers and Fries..be right back.."I was like.."WHAT?!" can't you do that on one of the 5 days that we do NOT eat lunch together or something? But...it all worked out in the end, he drove all the way there to find out that they were closed HAHA (I love Karma!)

So this week also was the first time that I've noticed any sort of hunger..it mainly came in the morning after I had some fruit..which, I noticed that in Dr. Simeon's protocol..we aren't supposed to eat ANYTHING before noon except for some green tea. This is the hardest thing to do..since i'm so used to eating breakfast..and it seems like a long time to wait between 7am and 12noon! But..if that's the way the program works best..then I just have to suck it up and do it..it's only 4 more weeks..how bad can that be?!

So, I don't remember if I've mentioned what my 'mini' goal is or not..but some friends and I are planning on going to the Jimmy Buffett concert on the 11th of August. IRONICALLY, my 7 weeks is up on Aug 8...which means that once i stay on the diet for 3 more days...i will officially be OFF on Aug. 11! Great timing huh?! Well..my plan is..if..excuse me, I mean..WHEN I lose a total of 40lbs by Aug. 10...I'm going to go to the Buffett concert in a grass skirt and a little coconut bra! I've always wanted to do this and judging by how I remember looking at that weight, as long as everything goes back as Dr. Simeons says it will...then I should be able to pull it off! The last time I wore a bikini by the way..was to our 2nd anniversary trip to Puerto Vallarta..which was in June 2006...I was approx. 195 lbs...wearing a size 12 very comfortably..and if I lose another 20lbs to make for a total of 40 lbs lost...I should be right at 195!

One little observation that I will share is that last night I decided to go to the store and instead of buying chicken, I bought a "Laura's Lean" top sirloin..I grilled it..ate it...and was up all night long with horrendous heartburn!! I have no idea if this was the actual steak...or if it was the seasoning that I used..which did have garlic in it. But..I haven't had any kind of heartburn at all since starting the program, so I am very leary of eating any kind of red meat now other than Filet Mignon..maybe the cut that I got had some fat in it..and I didn't realize it?! Anyway..lesson learned!

I wanted to make a 'shout out' to Kristina and my new friend Jenny..who have both started the program on Monday and so far are doing GREAT!! If we all support each other we will be skinny chickies when we're done!!

I will check back in tomorrow and hopefully report that I've broken through the plateau!!

-AV