The Beginning

I'm not going to lie. The first few days were rough. I felt like I was in a haze. By the end of the day I was feeling kind of weak. I never really felt hungry though. It was amazing to me how good my Lean and Green meal tasted. I don't think I have ever in my life enjoyed eating vegetables like I did that first week. After about three days I started feeling better. By the end of the week I even started to have more energy than when I was eating whatever I wanted.

I feel like the rigidity of the diet is helpful to me. I'd say it's almost comforting. I think the fact that 5 of my 6 meals are already decided and ready to eat for me makes it easier to not think about cheating. In the past it was tempting to look to unhealthy options when it was meal time and there wasn't a quick option at home. Also in the past when I was trying to simply make healthier choices on my own it was easy to rationalize why I should be ok having that extra portion or how that unhealthy food isn't so bad if I just have it this once. With the 5 and 1 Plan, whenever there was an unhealthy option, there was no wiggle room for rationalizing. "Sure, I could eat that," I thought, "but I would be going off the plan and wasting $285." I think that made it easier to stick to it.

One of the things that bothered me about the food at the beginning was the artificial sweetener, protein powdery taste. It wasn't terrible, but I definitely noticed it. I had watched some Youtube videos of health coaches reviewing the different foods and they would act like it tasted so good. I thought to myself, "Yeah, right. You're just trying to sell this crap" I think I understand them now. I am finding that I notice these flavors less and less. It seems that my taste buds are changing and I seem to enjoy the fuelings a bit more each day.

My first trip to the grocery store while on the plan was interesting. I noticed a lot of foods that I could not have. I also found some more foods that are on the program to add variety to my Lean and Green meals.

At the end of the week I am down 14 lbs to 297. I am noticing it with the way my shirts fit and using a different belt hole.