Phase I - Complete

For those of you who do not know (which is most), Chris and I started yet ANOTHER diet last Sunday, September 17th. (But we're very committed to this being our FINAL diet). My dad's recent death has really put things into perspective for us both and we have made the decision that we want to be around for our kid's kids. And in order to accomplish that dream, we have to change our habits NOW. It's not just about losing weight to look good, which has always been my goal in the past, this is about getting healthy, lowering cholesterol, and avoiding an untimely death.

We chose to try The Fat Smash Diet by Dr. Ian Smith, as featured on VH1's Celebrity Fit Club. We chose this diet for several reasons...1) Phase I of this diet is a 'detox' phase, where you basically eat only fresh fruits and veggies, to get your body into new habits and help 'flush' the toxins of old, bad habits out; 2) It does promise big results in 9 days; 3) It is a 4 phase diet that is supposed to transform your habits so it is easier to stick with for a lifetime; 4) There is no calorie counting, point tracking, etc. and 5) We watch Celebrity Fit Club and have seen the successes, and 'dissed' the failures, so we figured we should put our money where our mouths were!

Phase I is a 9 day phase and as explained above involves eating mainly fruits and veggies, along with some whole grains (brown rice, oatmeal) and protein (egg whites, beans)...but absolutely no white carbs (potatoes, white rice, pasta, bread, etc.) or meat. It also involved 30 minutes of exercise 5 days a week. It also involves NO ALCOHOL. So we went ALL IN and also quit smoking (for those of you who didn't know, I kinda started back up 'full time' when my dad died, and Chris wasn't too far behind me). So for 9 days I have followed this program with absolutely NO cheating (including the smoking), and it paid off. I have lost 5 lbs! (Chris has lost 8.5...Men!)

We begin Phase II today, which basically adds lean meats, very small amount of cheese, some cereal, and some drinks (before now it was water only, with about a cup of 100% juice and a cup of skim milk allowed daily). It also increases our exercise by 10-15%, so I'll be going from 30 minutes a day to 35 minutes. This phase lasts 3 weeks. We will now begin weighing every week, so our next weigh-in will be next Tuesday. I'm hoping for the normal 2-3 lbs. per week now. My goal is to lose a minimum of 50 lbs. and then we'll go from there. So, now it's only 45 lbs. to go!

For more information on this diet you can visit www.fatsmashdiet.com. And I'll keep you posted!