Fat Loss 4 Idiots - Day 8 - Vegetable Day

Today's Fat Loss 4 Idiots Tip:

• Treat everyday as if it were the first day of the diet - be enthusiastic! Remind yourself that this diet works faster than most, and it's worth the effort to reach your weight loss goals.

Today's Weight: 141.0 lbs

The Vegetable Day...

Yesterday was bad, but today might have been worse. Enter Day #8 on the Fat Loss for Idiots diet, commonly referred to by me as Vegetable Day. Today, I have only been allowed to eat vegetables. Lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, onions, peppers, carrots, zucchini and green beans - just to name a few. At each of my four meals, though, I am also allowed to eat either three tablespoons of low-calorie salad dressing or one ounce of cheese, whichever I prefer.

If I thought yesterday was bad on the hunger-front, today has been much worse. Combined with the hunger that's been building up the past few days, a full day of vegetables only has left me very lacking. Plus I've added a new symptom to my list: dizziness and minor black outs every time I switch from sitting to standing up. Thankfully, my husband hasn't been around all day. For the first time since our daughter was born, he's taken a much-needed guy's night. I think all this diet food encouraged him to get out of the house for the evening. I'm sure, though, that if he knew I'd been blacking out, he'd be spending a bunch of useless timing worrying over me.

Instead, my mother and my grandmother came over for a couple of hours to help me with some chores. Previously, they'd been very intrigued by this diet. Practically living off of deli meat, cheese and hard boiled eggs already, my mom thought this one would be right up her ally. In fact, when she walked in to my house today, one of the first things she told me was of her plan to start this diet in just a couple of weeks. After spending the afternoon with me, though, I think she may have changed her mind. Both her and my grandma seemed worried when they finally left for the day. And they left with only one word of advice, "eat."

So far, I've lost exactly five and a half pounds. And in only a week's worth of dieting, I'd say that's pretty great. But its started to take its toll. Despite my efforts to drink as much water as I can and to eat as much as I can (within the diet parameters), I can't help but feel under-nourished. Looking at the other possible factors, I don't see much else to blame. I've been so exhausted that I've been sleeping pretty well - about six hours per night, plus two to three hours in naps during the day. I also switched to decaf when I got pregnant, and never went back. I'm drinking tons of water (which is probably also why I feel full even when I'm not) and my latest developments have even had me reaching for my multi-vitamin. It's not that time of the month anymore and I've turned on the air-conditioning to make sure I'm not suffering from the heat. And with no other symptoms, I'm fairly positive I'm not coming down with a bug. At this point, I'm not sure which other factors to explore.

The way I see it, though, I've committed to this diet and I'm going to stick it out to the end. Looking ahead at my menu, I have a pretty normal day tomorrow and another normal day after that. Friday, I was somehow given sweet treats (grapes, oatmeal and frozen yogurt) at three of my four meals, and Saturday begins my weekend of free eating. I figure I'll start by seeing how tomorrow goes with normal foods again. I can make sure I'm eating well at each meal (definitely eating to "full" and not just water-weight full) instead of erring on the side of caution. And I've also got the weekend to recuperate - maybe that's one of the reasons they give those diet-free days.

Luckily, I know my body pretty well. My years as a competitive gymnast taught me at least that. I'm on the lookout for any other signs, but I'm hopeful it won't come to that. I have to take things just one day at a time, and see how my week goes from there. Tomorrow, I've decided, will be my new Day #1. I'm going to give this diet a shot - maybe its just my imagination. Either way, I'm going to try and stick it out. Yesterday may have been awful, but tomorrow, is a brand new day.

What I Ate Today:

Breakfast: Salad with mixed greens, spinach, onion, bell pepper and a tablespoon of low-calorie Italian dressing

Lunch: Bell pepper (plain)

Dinner: Sauteed bell peppers and onions (cooked in zero calorie cooking spray) with cooked broccoli covered by 1/4 cup (1 oz.) grated cheddar cheese

Late night meal: Leftover sauteed peppers and onions from my dinner meal

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