Day 44

Milk day.  Experimented with yogurt flavors today.  I picked up some single-serve instant decaf coffee packs yesterday.  One of them makes a perfect cappucino-flavor 1/2 cup of yogurt.  A heaping teaspoon of cocoa powder makes a good chocolate yogurt that is almost, but not quite, pudding-like.  2 teaspoons of honey is about the right amount of sweetening for 1/2 cup of yogurt and is required for all sweet applications of yogurt.  If you want a savory yogurt (cardamom, cinnamon, dill), 1 teaspoon will do.  1 teaspoon of vanilla added to the yogurt adds a nice flavor.  Adding 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt enhances everything.  I'm still trying to find the right combination to make it taste like cheesecake.  I know it's possible, because completely plain, unsweetened yogurt tastes like cream cheese.  By extension, finding the right combination of honey and vanilla should make it cheesecake-like.  I just ran out of yogurt allotment for the day to make it happen. 

Back up.  Dill?  Yes!  If you strain the yogurt and make it more like a greek yogurt, dill is awesome.  Dill is also awesome when folded into extremely strained yogurt (so much so that it becomes a softened cream cheese consistency).

I keep joking that I'm soon going to have a whole line of yogurt products to sell.  If I was ambitious enough to figure out packaging and stuff, perhaps that would happen.  But I'm not, so it's not.  I am more than happy to share these recipes though!

I tried to make a new onion soup today using the whey from my cream cheese, but it was just all wrong.  I ended up just dumping it.  Which makes me sad, because it was a decent amount of whey.  I'm hoping that I'll end up with enough at some point to attempt making ricotta.  It's one thing to have to start over when you consume it, it's quite another when you end up just wasting it.

Day 42-43

Fruit/Veggie Days.  I'm off to a good start this cycle.  Nothing cooked so far - all raw, which is infinitely better for you.  I ate the cabbage salad yesterday (by the way, it's much better fresh), with some extra carrots on the side.  I also had some POM Wonderful pomegranate juice.  MMMmmmm...  Today was a parsley salad  - shredded bell pepper and carrots and onion mixed in with parsley and tossed with the sesame dressing.  Needed a little more lemon, but was tasty.  Finished off the POM, too, and had some carrot juice at the end of the day.

I went clothing shopping today.  It's kind of sad to realize that the only reason the jeans "fit" before the weight loss was because they stretched out.  The new stuff is the same size as the old stuff, it just fits me now.  Hmph.  But I am down a dress size, which is awesome.  I decided I didn't need new tops - the ones I have simply fit better now.  Pants were becoming an issue.  So I got new jeans, new trousers, new capris, new swimsuit...  and since I got it all from Kohls, with their current promotions running, I will be able to return on Monday and get new sneakers for free.  It was definitely nice to be able to go shopping and actually FIT the stuff they had. 

I am currently in the process of making a fresh batch of yogurt.  It will be going with me on my trip to Canada on Saturday so my friends can try it (plus I'll need it for the day for consumption).  Expect no post on Saturday evening - I don't intend to have a data connection.

Yay new clothes!

Day 41

Tea Fast day.  I went in, and I'm another 7lbs down, bringing my total to 25lbs down in 40 days!  I let Andre know that the next time I come in, I'm going on maintenance, and that I knew it meant I wouldn't hit all the way down to the target, and he understood, with the vacation plans and all.  He said I could come back in whenever if I wanted to, even if it's just for the one 10-day, just to finish it off.  I may - that would be pretty easy to do.  Then again, I still think I can finish it off on my own and I'll be good.

Tomorrow will officially start the next 10-day cycle, apparently.  He placed the spheres on the third position - gall bladder/spleen (so, skipping the intestines this time).  Because today is a split/transition day, he recommends just taking the day as a tea fasting day, and then starting fresh with veggies tomorrow.  So I will - I stopped at Starbucks on the way back to treat myself to one of the good Tazo teas.  I was going to hit the gym this evening, but will not, since there will be no food consumption for the day.

He's pretty confident that if I stay very strict this time, that I should see another good drop by the time I go back in next Friday.  You know, unlike LAST time, where I totally blew it for the week.  If I can do another 7 lbs this week, that would only leave 11 lbs for me to deal with on my own.  Doable.  Completely. 

And yes, all you worriers out there - if I start feeling weird today from having no food, I will drink a glass of milk, since it would be a milk day in a normal rotation.  Thank you all for caring and for your support!!

Day 40

Fruit/Veggie day.  The end of another cycle.  I go back in tomorrow for a new position and the weigh in.  I ate more of my cabbage deliciousness today, and had an apple in the afternoon.  Still don't care for green apples, but oh well.  It was really tart.  There's more salad leftover for tomorrow, but then I'll have to come up with something else for Wednesday.

I'm pretty certain at this point I won't hit the target I had set because of that awful week last time, and I am bound and determined to be able to eat for my trip in May, which means tomorrow MUST start the final 10-day cycle, regardless of how much I end up losing over the next 10 days. I'm hoping (fingers crossed) for an 7lb loss from this week, which I don't think is unreasonable given: 1) The last time I went through this particular cycle was a 10lb loss with 3 inches from my waist, and 2) I lost another 2 inches on my waist this week!

If I have lost more than 5lbs this week, that will put me at the slimmest and lightest I have been in 10 years, which is accomplishment enough for me.  I feel pretty confident that I'll be able to knock off the last bits of what I want to lose on my own.

Day 39

Fruit/Veggie day.  Oh my.  I may have invented my new favorite salad, like ever.  This is amazing.  Yes, I'm posting really early because it's JUST THAT GOOD and you must all know about this like NOW and go make it NOW and have it today while it's a gorgeous warm sunny day.  Oh this is good.  First you will want to find a mediterranean or Indian grocer from which you can buy a jar of tahini.  Do it now.  Then head out and get the rest of this all, and make it.  Because it is delicious and this is my most successful experiment of the whole program so far and I wish I had discovered this way back at the beginning because I think I could live off of this for a while.

Cabbage Salad with Italian Tahini Dressing
For the salad:
1/4 head red cabbage, finely shredded
1/4 head green cabbage, finely shredded
2 large carrots, finely shredded
handful fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped
3 green onions, chopped into 1/4" rounds

For the dressing:
1/2 cup tahini
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup water
1 packet Italian dressing mix

Combine all salad ingredients in a large bowl and toss.  Combine all dressing ingredients in a shaker and mix well.  Pour about half of the dressing over the salad and stir to mix.  Save the rest of the dressing in the fridge, because you will want it for other applications.  Like to marinate chicken.  Or to toss with stir fry.  Or for everything.

Have with a large glass of iced tea with a squeeze of lemon in it.  This is summer.

If you like, you may shred an apple and mix that in, too, but it's awesome without.  Have an apple for dessert or something.  Om nom nom.