Week 5: Unless You Have a Leg To Stand On, Sit Down.

Joh: I did not cheat this week and I'm still smoke free! I threw away .7 lbs, and wish it would have been more. I think I'm going to attack drinking in large quantity again now that I have been without cigarettes for 16 days and I'm hoping I've gotten back some willpower. I'm also eating vegetables (non-starchy, leafy greens) at every meal. I found that this week I skimped on the veggies and the water, so I'm adjusting. Also, I gave Rebekah unofficial permission to cheat this week since I did last week, and she took me up on it with fries at Palmere's again. I was trying to explain that I order the healthiest thing at McDonald's when I do go, and that I counted it as my fat, two proteins and two starches... I try to cheat and allow for it. I need to stop this. Thursday night and doing our first limiting alcohol experiment. There will be dancing involved...

Rebekah: I'm at 133.4 today, which is 1 lb down from last week and 6.4 lbs overall. Joh was upset this morning that she's only lost .7 lbs this week, as she says she should be losing more than I am. So we troubleshot and, as she said, discussed the fact that she might want to incorporate more leafy greens in her diet. I toss baby spinach on everything and carry carrots everywhere with me, so maybe that has contributed to the fact that, in spite of my taking my get out of jail free cheat card this week, I lost a 1 lb. 

Oh, yes. I did take my bonus cheat, and I enjoyed my football sized basket of french fries thoroughly. Joh was trying to make herself sound like a meal-plan martyr...

Joh: "When I cheated, I got the filet of fish sandwich and the smallest fry possible."
Me: "Yeah, but what about the macaroni and cheese you had at the barbecue place?"
Joh: "Okay. Yeah. I got a huge thing of it and went to town."
Me: "That's what I thought. So unless you have a leg to stand on, sit down."

...but I've got her number. We're both all or nothing type people. I know when I cheat, I cheat. Not only did I have a basket of fries, but I had a side of honey mustard and wing sauce (so mayonnaise and butter) with them. And they were wonderful. And I know when Joh cheats, she's not cheating with a bite of mac and cheese, she's cheating with a bucket. Mac and cheese is a sacred food. Bucket-size is the only way to go. But we're not supposed to be eating buckets or footballs, so, for now, we have to be all when it comes to healthy eating and nothing when it comes to cheats. I'm scared, yet excited for Drinking Experiment 1. Hopefully, next week's post will not include the following:

-alcohol poisoning
-emergency room
-stomach pump
-"Who are you and where am I?"

Week 4: Deception and Dairy

Joh: I'm 207.7 lbs, down 1.1 lbs from last week, and 9 full days cold turkey without smoking. I no longer feel like I am going to smoke at any time. I am officially strong enough to leave the house. At some point on Saturday, I threw my back out doing dishes (dangerous activity, I know), and spent 3 days on the couch vegging out. I told Rebekah that I didn't eat too junky, but that I just ate a larger quantity of nutritious food. This was a lie that she will discover as she proofreads this entry. I ate McDonald's once, Steve (the boyfriend) and I had food from a BBQ smokehouse one night, and the rest WAS a larger quantity of healthy food. I lied because I know she has that sheet cake in the freezer and I didn't want her to chow down. I am justifying my actions by the fact that I didn't smoke, didn't bite my nails, was man-down with a hurt back for 3 days, and STILL lost a pound. I am sorry, Rebekah. I hope you understand, and I promise that I will never lie about it again. I really was putting in my best effort. You can have a slightly "off week" this week (if you need to), while I go to town on track! But please don't eat the entire sheet cake.

Rebekah: MCDONALD'S?!?!?!!!! What the.... Anyways, I'm at 134.4 lbs, which is 2 lbs down from last week and 5.4 lbs total. And here's why: I've discovered that I love yogurt. I am now managing my two allotted dairies each day to exclude cheese so that I can have two yogurts. Additionally, I didn't go on a week-long holiday bender like I did last week. And finally, I DIDN'T EAT FRICKIN' MCDONALD'S. This week was similar to Week 1. I had major backslide in Week 3, so my body was pretty much readjusting. Lots of weird stomach noises and such this week. Oh, and the realization that when I stick to the plan, I am a featherweight in the bars. We're talking a really cheap date. I've gotten a little bored with the processed protein products (Tofurkey, Smart Dogs, Boca, and such...), and I really try to avoid processed food if and when possible, so I've been spinning my wheels on how to spice things up. I've been making hummus wraps on whole wheat tortillas and loading them up with fresh vegetables, and that's been quite nice. The hummus counts as a protein and a fat, but since I'm a yogurt fiend now (I seriously never thought I'd see this day), I can easily accommodate the fat in the hummus. I also have a book (The Best Veggie Burgers on the Planet) that some friends gave to me, so I'm planning on learning how to make my own bean burgers. I'm pretty excited about that. Although I did a pretty good job watching my DCs and sticking to the plan, I did slip at a birthday party. There were cookies everywhere. I went a little wild. But I totally 'fessed up to Joh, rather than sneaking around with French fries and sides of macaroni and cheese from Big Bad Wolf ferreted away in my pockets. But I have to give Joh kudos for 9 days cigarette free. However, Joh, you need to realize that I mean "kudos" as in praise, not the granola bars coated in chocolate.

Week 3: We need to get serious--Again.

Joh: I am completing day 3 with no cigarettes feeling like I am on the brink of smoking at all times. However, I have basically locked myself in my house where I feel safe, at least for the first few days. I am 209.0 lbs., up .2 lbs from last week, but this may be due to the increased drinking around the new year, and yesterday I ate everything I saw to try and fill the void smoking has left in my life. To be fair (lol), now I am taking a nice break from drinking, which should help with smoking. I am focusing on getting noticeably thinner between now and St. Patty's Day for my annual beach trip. However, Rebekah has been drinking a bit, and blaming no weight loss on bloating. I sadly have no tricks up my sleeve for her. I am at a loss on how to motivate her. If she screws up because I do, I feel bad. I really don't want to screw up because she is. Not to mention, that this would just not affect her the way it does me. I can only hope that she gets herself under control because I am back to serious, again.

Rebekah: I'm at 136.4. So I've lost .2 lbs. I blame the lack of weight loss on bloating. And it could be from bloating. Or, as Joh so poignantly stated in a text message this morning, "it could be from the fact that [I] drank way more than twice this week." Fair enough. And that would also explain the number of calls I've gotten from unfamiliar phone numbers. So seriously. It's time to get serious again. Thanks to Joh's verbal spanking, my tail is tucked, my head is hung and I'm ready to get back on track. I behaved very well today. I do have plans to go out to dinner with a friend tomorrow, but I'm committed to this. So I'm going to study the menu tonight, and plan tomorrow's meals the best I can. I've seen that Joh's plan does work and I agreed to do this to help support Joh. This week, I've been as supportive as a piece of non whole wheat pasta and I've let Joh down. So I'm dedicating the following New Year's Resolutions to her. New Year's Resolution Number 1: Stick to the plan. New Year's Resolution Number 2: Find my power animal's power animal and become that animal's power animal. Fun fact: I have discovered that I really like Trader Joe's nonfat fruit yogurts. I was previously a yogurt hater, but now I've found a good way to work in nonfat dairy, so that I can have my guacamole or pecans. No more cheats. I'm all gold stars this week. Pinky swear.

Joh and Rebekah: A Belated Introduction Disguised as an Interlude

So here's the deal about us. Joh is a student of Nutritional Sciences and a jack-of-all-trades (Seriously. From baking cakes shaped like man-eating cows, to waiting tables, to painting entire apartments). If she had a super power, it would be to have blood that would cure any disease. I (Rebekah) am a waitress, sometimes college professor. If I had a super power, it would be to siphon the super powers of others. I feel like the super power thing sums up our personalities in a fairly accurate manner.

We met about a year ago, while we were working in the same restaurant. On my second day of work, Joh told me she was going to bake me a designer cake for my birthday. She did. We then created an oral contract in which we stated that we would be best friends for the summer of 2011, but once the summer ended, we were donezo, and back to being acquaintances. Although we held firm to the first stipulation of the contract, at the end of the summer, we decided to renew our friendship contract. And that's how we ended up here.

Joh's been talking about wanting to lose weight since I first met her. She was originally on some weird 17-day diet. And she did lose weight, but it didn't change her overall eating habits, so some of the weight came back. She's also been on every crap diet known to man--Atkins, South Beach, and so forth. These diets actually led to her interest in nutrition. I, over the past 2-3 years, have dropped close to 40 lbs by changing my overall diet and by adding exercise to my life. However, for the past year, I've been stuck in that plateau zone of "I just want to get these last 10 - 12 lbs off."

Joh's created a meal plan for her dad, and his progress has been amazing (www.respectthefood.blogspot.com). So she knows that she can coach someone to lose weight and provide someone with the support one needs to lose weight, but she wanted some support of her own. That's where I came in. I asked Joh to make me a plan so that I could drop the final few and learn some healthier eating habits. Joh agreed to do so, if I would be her support system for her own plan. And so here we are. Joh has created a meal plan for each of us. I have to eat certain amounts of dairy, grain, proteins, fruits, and vegetables throughout the day. Joh's plan is similar, but she is also allowed certain amounts of fats in her plan. I am allowed good fats on the days that I eat low/no fat dairy in lieu of cheese. We are each allotted a certain amount of Discretionary Calories (DC's) per day and these can be used for small extras or, as will more often be the case, booze.

Although the idea of the blog is centered around eating, having a social life is important to both of us. We like to get our drank on every now and then. So we're having to temper the amount of alcohol we drink (2 servings of wine/vodka/whiskey 2x a week or 4 servings of the same 1 time a week). And we've got some fun experiments planned. For example, what would happen if we went to a bar and did 4 shots off whiskey straight off the bat, and then drank water the rest of the evening? Como se dice "bad decisions"? Anyhow, that's who we are and what we're about.

Week 2: Christmas is a Bitch

Joh: So I cheated a bit. I'm down to 208.8, though, which is 4.8 lbs down, and 2.4 lbs this week. I drank a lot, especially Christmas where I stuck to vodka and club soda with a splash of lime. Sadly, since I am far more of a lightweight, the evening ended with me laying on the floor of a dirty, dirty bar playing with a friendly bull mastiff and waking up with bruises on my chin, hands and legs. It really sounded like a good idea at the time. I ate cookies. I had creamy potato, macaroni, cheese stuff made with real sour cream and lots of other bad DC's. I think my savior was that I only did those things one day, at a party. Every other day I stuck to the plan. I can't wait until New Year's day when the parties end and I can crawl into the hole of my apartment where nothing unhealthy enters and control myself. On a side note, Rebekah's plan had to be reworked last week because she felt like she was denying herself things like avocado and nuts. They are good fats, and she should be able to eat them, so we made a deal that if she sticks to low-fat/no-fat dairy for the day (as opposed to cheese), than she could incorporate in a fat. We also combined all of her protein and grains, to make protein-grains, since she eats a lot of beans and rice, quinoa, and such. That is how she gets most of her protein anyway, so it makes the cooking easier.

Rebekah: I'd like to yell at Joh for cheating, but it would be a pot-kettle-black situation. I started off well enough, eating tons of veggies, pounding water like a thirsty camel, laying off the cheese, but as the holidays approached, delicious started popping up everywhere. For example, someone brought a bag of candy bar miniatures into work. I dove in face first. Someone else brought in doughnut holes. I ate enough to make a doughnut. I don't even like doughnuts. But I ate them. Like a doughnut hole eating champ. Nonetheless, I'm learning from Joh's meal plan. I'm learning that I didn't eat as well as I thought I did. I was trying to rely on cheese as my protein (since I don't eat meat), but now I rely on healthier sources. I'm working in healthier grains, and, although I ate a good deal of vegetables before, I'm eating far more now. I feel better. My body is working differently, and it feels good. I'm also learning that this dietary change is making me a lightweight. I could once drink a stout sailor under the table. Now, give me two glasses of wine, and I'm done. So another thing I'm learning is how to moderate my beverages so that I don't wake up to text messages from my friends that say, "What in the hell were you doing last night?!?!" or "How do you get a goat on the roof?!" I'm at 136.6, so I'm down 3.2 lbs overall. Not too, shabby, Joh. And we'll beat these holidays yet.
 

Week 1: We Have to Get Serious

Joh: I am starting at 213.6 lbs. My goal is under 190 lbs. I have allotted 12 weeks to do this. It is the holiday season, and I thrive off of social interaction, so Rebekah and I are taking on the drinking scene with each other to rely on. We are eating whole foods as opposed to processed crap, maintaining water intake, watching discretionary calories (DC's), and trying to have a good time doing it. A lot of times, shoving pizza into our faces is the most pleasurable part of the drinking experience, so this will be a challenge. We are weighing in on Wednesdays, but updating the blog on Mondays. I've already cheated with Taco Bell on Friday night, but I am ready to get serious now, since Rebekah had retaliation french fries. It's one thing to think about how if you cheat you are only cheating yourself; it's another to think about Rebekah's success based off of my cheating. Let the good times roll!

Rebekah: My starting weight is 139.8 lbs. My goal is around 125 or 126. I'm not holding firm to a number, because my goal is really just to be jiggle-free (in the bad jiggly places, obviously). I've also allotted 12 weeks. So Joh set me up on this meal plan. I won't lie. It's been tough. I'm having to work certain foods into my diet at certain times of the day. Whereas before, I would wolf down a breakfast bar on the car in the way to work, I'm now having to plan out my meals based on which job I'm working on each particular day. Some days, mostly due to time constraints, it's a pain in the butt. I've cheated as well, but like Joh said, they were retaliation fries. I spent the week being so good and without wavering, and then Joh calls me on Saturday morning and tells me she ate Taco Bell. I mean, come on, Joh. Frickin' Taco Bell? If you're gonna cheat, cheat with something with some class. Spread Nutella all over a sour dough roll and then dip it into nacho cheese sauce. That's what I'm talking 'bout. Anyhow, I know that while Joh has a hard time doing anything for herself, she'll happily do anything for another person, so the fries were a diet plan blitzkrieg. I knew that if I cheated and told Joh that the reason I did it was because I was mad at her for slipping while I had been working hard all week, she'd get back on track. Worked like a charm. Watch out, Joh. I'm tricky. And I've got a whole sheet cake in the freezer, so you'd better not slip up again.