I made it through the first week on the Game On! Diet. Sadly, I am only down .5 pounds which means I did not get any bonus points.
However, I learned a lot.
I started the diet two days early to make sure I could do it and to help plan my meals and drink enough water. If those days would have counted, I would have made weight and gotten my bonus points. I’m actually pretty bummed about not making weight. According to the game, I’m down .5, but counting the two days prior to the game, I’m down 4.5 pounds.
But, like I said, I learned a lot about myself just in this one week.
My good habit that I did every day is flossing, using a mouthwash my dentist recommends, brushing my teeth, washing my face, and using moisturizer every morning. Sounds easy, no? It actually is, but I’m a lazy pants who usually forgets the mouthwash and hates to wash my face. So this week I feel like a success story.
My bad habit that I’m quitting? Cell phone in the car. I’m one of those morons who looks at my phone while I’m at stop lights. And looks to see who that text just came from. Or, I should say, I was that moron. Now my phone stays in my purse or on the passenger seat out of my reach. On one trip, I even let Maggie navigate using the map on my phone. My full attention was on the road, and she got real-life practice with an interactive map. Win. Win.
Water consumption – 3 liters a day. I did it for 5 days before my endocrinologist put the kabosh on it. Now I’m hovering between 2 and 2.5 liters a day. I actually really, really like water. I know. I’m weird. Did you know 75% of our bodies are made up of water? And when your body isn’t getting enough water, it holds onto water to avoid dehydration? Anyway, just about the time I was feeling sorry for myself that I wasn’t able to fully play by the rules, an article popped into my inbox that explained the adrenals better than I have heard in the 17 years that I’ve been paying attention. So I drink less than my teammates and my opponents, but I don’t die of a sodium imbalance. I can live with that.
Food – I actually was never hungry all week. Once I snacked on celery (the allowed snacks are celery and cucumber). The rest of the time, I was trying to fit in all five meals. I got to go out for fried pickles and a cheeseburger one day and the next day taste some homemade churros. I actually made a special trip to the store when I ran out of spinach. Oh, and Nick had been eating a ton of spinach too. He saw me eating a spinach salad, asked for one and ate the whole thing. Now he asks for them every day.
Exercise – Wouldn’t you know? This was the chapter I skipped over in the book. I mean, I’ve been exercising forever. I know what to do. Twenty minutes a day? No problem. … and it wasn’t a problem. I did 20 minutes every day. Here’s the kicker. I need to do more than 20 minutes a day. So that’s the plan for this week. I’m doubling down on my exercise and changing it up a little bit so I get strength training as well as cardio.
If I hadn’t known every single meal was what it was supposed to be, I would never have put together the exercise part of the puzzle.
Random public service announcement of the day: get your Vitamin D levels tested. Especially during the winter months when we aren’t out in the sun getting it naturally. I take anywhere from 5,000-10,000 IU a day and my levels just came back at 37. (I know everyone is different, that’s why you all have to go get tested.) While 37 is in the normal range, the optimal range is more like 55-80. So I’m bumping up my D. if you don’t take any vit D or have never had yours tested, I highly recommend you do.
Oh and the best part? Each day, after dinner, before I put the kids to bed, I go into my office, close the door and mindfully eat one amazing, scrumptious, little piece of chocolate. Ahhhhh.
