Getting ready...

T-minus 18 hours...

Did I mention that I hate cooking?  And I'm not overly adventurous when it comes to trying new things?  This should be interesting...

Looking through the list of permitted foods for Cycle 1 was fine -- lots of things on there that I like.  There's more salad meals than I'm used to, but whatever -- it's for a good cause!  Then I got to the part about the probiotics.  Good grief!  What the heck is all this stuff -- Kefir, Yakult, Tempeh, Miso??  Acidophilus milk??  Kimchi and sauerkraut??  Not going to happen.  Yogurt??  That's not going to happen either -- pregnancy #2 took care of all things dairy for me.  Where does that leave me?

Thank goodness for the little box on the next page that says sure, go ahead, buy a supplement & use that instead.  Being a literal thinker, I was confused because the breakfast menu says to have protein OR a probiotic for breakfast and I was thinking that I was going to be pretty hungry if all I was having for breakfast was a piece of fruit, a pill and some green tea.  So I ran it past my sister, who is so much more clever about this healthy-eating thing than I am.  Her advice -- take the pill WITH the protein, not instead of it -- dummy.  Oooohhhh...   Problem solved.

Next hurdle -- menus and how to manage my irregular work shifts.  Sample shift menus are provided but the solution is quite simple:  plan ahead and eat your dinner at lunchtime -- dummy.  OK -- another problem solved.

So, now I'm off to prepare my veggies and make a batch of the turkey chili (minus the beans -- not sure how it qualifies as chili with no beans, but whatever...) that should last for a few meals...

I Can't Believe I'm Doing This...

People who know me probably can't believe their eyes.  I was one of those lucky girls who never had to worry about what she ate or doing any type of exercise.  I could buy the small sizes right off the rack and never have to alter anything but the length.

Then along came the kids.  I could never seem to shake the last 15 pounds of the pregnancy weight.  And now I'm 45 years old and 25 pounds heavier than I should be without the foggiest clue of where to start.  The answer came from Dr. Phil (just for the record, I LOVE that man!) and Dr. Mike Moreno.  They asked a simple question.  Can you commit to something for 17 days?

My biggest problem?  I'm lazy.  Yup -- I'm lazy -- there, I've admitted it.  I hate exercise, which comes as no surprise if you know me well -- I'd rather sit and read a book than go for a walk.  And I'm apparently addicted to carbohydrates.  I look in the fridge and if there's no bread, in my view, there's no food -- there could be a pile of fruit and veggies, but I see nothing worth eating.

So, I figured fine, Dr. Phil -- I'll give you 17 days -- let's see what happens.  I'd love to buy some new clothes and feel good in a pair of shorts again.  I picked the book up at Wal-Mart, looked at the lists of food I can have and went shopping.

The diet starts Monday...