Making a list, and checking it twice

I was supposed to start the 17 day diet on the 23rd of November. Which I did. I was good all day, until it got time to cook dinner. As I was cooking the ground turkey for the sloppy joe's I was making, I noticed all this black stuff in the meat. Yup. Like, all the Teflon came off our 6 year old, $20 set of pans we bought right after we got married. Why we used those pans for so long is beyond me. Why we still use the useless knife set we bought with the pans, 6 years ago, is also beyond me. So, we headed to Costco, and bought ourselves a grown up set of stainless steel pans. By the time we got out of the store, I was starving, and I had a headache. So, we stopped and got something to eat. The next day was Thanksgiving, and it just didn't seem rational to start a diet ON Thanksgiving. So, I pushed it off another day. But then we had left overs... and yada yada yada... here we are.

But tomorrow, is in fact, the day. I pinky swore myself. That sounded more pathetic then I thought it would...

Today, I've been getting ready for tomorrow.

The 17 day diet is 3 cycles, of 17 days (it's really four, but the fourth cycle is basically teaching you how to make it a lifestyle change. AKA- being :Decliciously Healthy. So I will just resume my DH way of eating and losing weight after the 3rd cycle) The first cycle is the strictest. Because you're limited in the food you're allowed to eat, you really need to be creative in the meals you prepare. You definitely need to have a game plan with this diet. If you try to wing it, you'll fail. I've learned this the hard way. With that in mind, I made a list of everything I can eat, and put it in my wallet, so I have it with me at all times:

Veggies:

• Artichokes
• Asparagus
• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Celery
• Cucumbers
• Green beans
• Greens
• Kale
• Mushrooms
• Okra
• Spinach
• Tomatoes
• Watercress

Fruit:

• Apples
• Berries
• Grapefruit
• Oranges
• Peaches
• Prunes
• Red grapes

Dairy

• Low fat cottage cheese
• Parmesan cheese
  
• Yogurt
• Feta cheese

Meat/protein

• Chicken breasts
• Turkey breasts or ground turkey
• Canned tuna in water
• Flounder
• Catfish
• Tilapia
• Salmon
• Sole
• Eggs

Then I pulled out the old refrigerator calendar, and planed out all of my meals for the week! Seeing it all written down made everything feel more do-able.

I am all set, and ready to go!

Tomorrow is day 1, of the first 17 day cycle.

And weigh in day!

Wish us luck! By "us" I mean wish me luck on my diet, and wish my scale luck that it may survive tomorrow's weigh in ;)