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.