One Month Milestone...

I have officially kept the weight off for one month! Seriously proud of myself! This is a small step though...there are many more months, but this is a milestone!

All of the naysayers "swear" that people who do this diet gain back all the weight (and then some) the minute they start eating regularly. Well, I am proof that it is not true! If a person follows the maintenance phase and avoids all the "bad" carbs from the prescribed period, he/she should stabilize. It really is that simple. I ate a TON of fats and protein and simply avoided sugar.

Now, I am not perfect. I have my slip ups when out with friends (ohhh chips and salsa) but I followed the protocol and now I know what foods I can eat without an issue and what foods cause massive gains.

Keys to my success (thus far):

1. Avoid candy, refined sugar. If I am going to eat it, I get a bite. Not a bar, not a bag. It just simply doesn't taste as good as it used to! I had my favorite pie this week and it was very, very difficult not to eat the entire pie.

2. If you are dying to have it, eat it. Just be willing to pay for it the next day with either clean eating or exercise (and don't do it every day).

3. Avoid soda. I experienced gains on days I had DIET coke. This doesn't hold true for everyone - but for some reason, my body does not like soda. I do better without it and I stick to water, coffee, tea and vitamin water zero.

4. Avoid alcohol. This is the biggest trigger of "next day" gain. It throws me off for at least two or three days and the only way I can correct the gain from alcohol is by having a high protein and water day.

The crazy thing (or good thing?) about this diet is that I have learned to control my diet in a manner that I can lose 3 lbs in a day if I want to - drink massive amounts of water and 125g of protein a day and I can lose at least 3 lbs overnight. I make sure to weigh myself every day to make sure that pounds aren't sneaking up on me. It is the only way I can keep track.

Turkey is out of town for two weeks. Pretty rough, but at least I will have some time to try out some new classes I have wanted to try. I want to try a kickboxing class this week. I have a massive collection of yoga and workout groupons that I have to use (ohhh the power of collective buying).

So stay tuned folks:) More milestones to come!