Breaking Ground with My First Pound!

      Stepping on the scale to see a pound gone was a great start to my day. Here's to hoping it's not just water weight and that more will be gone tomorrow! After yesterday I was very apprehensive about the diet. I hated the recipes I made, had uncomfortable hunger pains, and annoying cravings. Today has been one hundred times better! Of course there was some hunger here and there and occasional cravings, but not like yesterday. Although, when I do get cravings, they take over my mind. I noticed I've been wanting sweets like cookies, brownies, and peanut butter. Before the diet, I was much more of a salty person, constantly craving potato chips and popcorn. My conclusion is that the sugar withdrawals is causing me to crave sweet foods. One of the hardest parts about being on a diet is watching other people eat foods that you can't have. My boyfriend was eating a pb&j sandwich making me want,  more than anything, to have one. Seriously, a pb&j sandwich, nothing spectacular! Yet it had me drooling at the mouth wanting to pounce like a starving dog. Luckily, I am not a starving dog so I was able to whip out my apple and chomp on it wishing it was a pb&j sandwich.
        Other than my cravings, my day was very successful. I made delicious meals that I was actually able to enjoy and eat! I think being able to eat the full servings helped my hunger subside. For lunch I made mashed cauliflower with salt/pepper, and garlic salt. I also sauteed an onion with my 1lb of lean meat with a bit of tomato paste and spices. I made enough meat and cauliflower to last me about 4 meals. I figured I might as well cook all my portions of a meal at once so I won't have to cook all the time. Of course, I will add ingredients here and there to change up the recipe. I'm hoping to use the meat to eat lettuce tacos with sugar free salsa, and hcg friendly chili, which I've heard is rather yummy. For dinner I grilled scallops and asparagus with spices all wrapped up in tin foil. It was so good! Since the grill was already fired up, I decided to go ahead and cook my remaining pieces of chicken. I love bbq chicken, but I couldn't use any bottled bbq sauce because of all the added sugars and preservatives. Determined to have bbq chicken, I decided to make my own bbq sauce. I put two cups of chopped tomatoes from a can, two tablespoons of yellow mustard, a few dashes of liquid smoke, and salt, letting it all simmer for about ten minutes. I then pureed it with my handy dandy hand-held puree machine and voila, bbq sauce! It definitely didn't taste like your average bbq sauce from the bottle but it was SOOO good on the chicken. Yes, I did try a little bite to see how it turned out. This is a recipe I will definitely be keeping on or off the diet! I bet it would taste wonderful on grilled shrimp too!
       One other problem I've run into is being able to drink enough fluids. I don't like water and don't drink beverages unless I'm thirsty, which is about twice a day. Even then I only take small sips. I've tried drinking more tea, but without sugar and milk it's hard to drink more than two cups a day. I've read that it's very important to drink eight glasses of water a day, which seems impossible to me! Does anyone have any suggestions?

Lean Beef and mashed Cauliflower for lunch

Making bbq sauce!

Scallops and Asparagus for dinner

BBQ'd Chicken!