History Repeats Itself, Plan Originale 2010

This is the Diet Royale™ The Originale plan ... :)
I weighed 166.0 lb on Wednesday, November 17, 2010. That was my best weight when I plateaued originally. My original diet was posted on FatSecret here in 2010: http://www.fatsecret.com/diets/member-diet/Default.aspx?dietid=234656

I reset my account to start over with the 2nd edition of Diet Royale™.

Day 03: Meal Planning

Well I took my own advice and created a meal plan for the day -- you can now get your own planner to start using by downloading it from Chapter 10 HERE. I ate what I had at home, because we are on a budget and can't really go shopping for new foods. I also just did all the dishes and I didn't want to do anymore. So that sort of dictated my day. My walk was about 2.5 miles this morning. I feel good and energized.

I spent my day formatting that PDF for your use. If you look at Day 3's meal plan ... you see dinner can be tricky. I know what you're thinking ... Canned Peas ... for dinner. Okay?

Well I have some leftovers in the fridge I'd like to get rid of. I don't want to do any extra cooking right now, so I eat what I have. I've been more creative than this in the past for dinner. Sometimes the easiest way to do a 250-300 calorie dinner, is eating one of the frozen "diet" dinners I mention or sip on a Muscle Milk. Salad works too. The hardest part in the beginning, is getting used to small or light dinners. Most people end their day with a really big meal. However, that's not an option in this plan.

If you are going to end your day big, do it sparingly, no more than once a week. Don't eat light the following morning to compensate, just eat better, and increase your activity and water. 

Good luck and happy new year!

Chapter 6: Avoiding The Tower

Now that you have the tools for your success and how to keep yourself motivated, it is now time to learn a very important lesson: DON'T PUNISH YOURSELF or as I like to call it, “Avoiding The Tower.”

In London there is an ancient prison known as The Tower. If you were sent there it was because you were being punished, held for interrogation or about to lose your head for treason; pick your favorite. If you wanted to avoid The Tower it was best to avoid doing wrong against his or her majesty, depending on your ruler. For this diet we will of course not go to such extremes, but in a nutshell it is the penalty box, or the things you do to punish yourself for not doing what was right.

Your body is your kingdom and you are its sovereign ruler and the law. You have set up certain guidelines and rules to keep your crown and kingdom in order. This blog (and someday a book) has given you tools for success and is now possibly governing your ways of eating, exercising, thinking and living.

Regardless of your progress or regression you are doing this diet or any diet for yourself, and you are under the strictest orders not to punish yourself for not exercising enough, consuming the right amount of calories, consuming too much bad and too little good, whatever, etc.

People often times stray. It is in our human nature to do so. We can't help it. When regulating one's own weaknesses we often compensate with self-punishment. In the realm of dieting, dieters will punish themselves with the following:

• Harsh words or thoughts about themselves
• Starvation, bellemia,  or over-eating
• Over use of diet pills and meal replacement supplements
• Excessive workouts that harm the body
• Etc.

You can easily see that these are harmful to your well-being and your health, no matter what. Whatever diet path you choose, do not punish yourself in anyway.  When you punish yourself and lock yourself in The Tower, you are only hurting yourself. The best course of action is to take a step back, realize what you did that wasn't beneficial to you diet success and stop doing it. Get back on the throne of your kingdom and start again.

Your diet is only as challenging as you make it to be. I am reminded of The Four Agreements by Ruis Megaul. “Be true with your words. Never Assume. Don't take anything personally. Always do your best.”

There are four agreements we should make with ourselves in every phase of life, and dieting is always a phase. My favorite agreement is “always do your best,” because even when you fail and fall off the path to your success, you can always get back on and do your best the next day -- if you did your best then there is no need to punish yourself. Avoid The Tower, period.

Chapter 5: Nobody Expects a Spanish Inquisition

       Knowing what to eat, how to think and when to exercise are great ways for keeping you on the path to your success. However, knowing what you’re up against and that there is going to be opposition is a very critical tool to have indeed.

I find that the moment you start to diet or care for your health, everyone has an opinion or a piece of advice to offer you to help you. Though their help is good and often sound, nobody wants to be bombarded by unsolicited advice.

I am here to tell you, it is going to happen, whether you want it to or not. People who have been successful with their diets, people who follow the hype on TV, or the latest diet trend/ fact are going to tell you about it. They are going to offer you their tips for success.

Personally I would say, “IGNORE IT ALL! It's all a bunch of hogwash!” However, that's not a great tone to take with someone trying to give you advice. After all, you never know when it might be good advice and good for you.

Nevertheless, keep this in mind: it is your diet, not theirs. Take their advice and keep it in your mental notes. Thank them for their help and support and that you will look into it. If you don't want their advice you can simply tell them, “Thank you, I appreciate your advice and I will take it in consideration, but for now I am going to stick with my plan.” If they continue, you can simply nod and smile. After all they are only trying to help.

In addition to this, you will be up against yourself. There will be days that you don't want to diet, you don't want to workout, you don't want to do anything but lay on the couch and pet a cat. You may get depressed that perhaps your weight loss isn't as progressive as you like. When this happens it is a good idea to measure yourself, because even if the weight isn't coming off, maybe your body is just reshaping itself. Like your weight, keep track of how many inches you've lost. It might just be the rewarding news you need to push you forward.

“But what if I haven't lost any weight, and my measurements are the same?” Well, that's life. However, don't let it get you down. When this happens it is a good idea to re-evaluate your plan, and what you are eating. Ask yourself these questions:

• Have I been doing everything I can to consume the right amount of calories every day?
• Did I consume enough fiber, every day?
• Did I consume enough protein, every day?
• Did I consume enough potassium, every day to balance out my sodium?
• Did I keep my sodium low, every day?
• Did I keep my fats low, every day?
• Did I keep my carbohydrates low, every day?
• Did I keep my sugars low, every day?
• Did I drink enough water?
• Did I do enough exercise?
• Did I vary my exercise levels?
• Have I pooped regularly every day? (see Chapter 3)

If you answered “No” to any of these questions, then those are the areas you need to focus on and look into. If you answered “Yes” to every single question above I want you to ask yourself this:

What is my level of Will Power?

If your Will Power is in the lower levels, it is time to find out why. In the end it might be more in your head then it is in your body. When you are not losing the weight or inches you want to, and you are doing everything to make it happen, you can hit a brick wall of depression. It is at this time that you need to do some research about what you are eating and what you are doing to get you back on the path to success. It is a good time to look at your goal and remind yourself that it is what you are working towards. Whenever I got down in the dumps to my lack of success, I reminded myself of the dress size I wanted to be. I then looked at where I was on my path to that dress size and attempted to analyze what it would take to reach my goal. In the end it meant that I had to do some harder work and some deeper motivation to not give up and stay the course. My best motivation tool of all was and is music.

Nothing can inspire or motivate you more like music. If you have access to music and can make your own play-list or mixed CD, do it. Find songs that will help boost your spirits into taking charge of your health. I found songs like Journey's “Don't Stop Believing,” and the musical Wicked's “Defy Gravity,” are great motivating songs. Now they may not be your musical tastes, but I know that there are hundreds, possibly even millions of songs out there about positive motivation. I recommend opening a Spotify account or Pandora to find new music that will help you get into the beat

When you create your own playlist remember that these are songs should inspire you to move forward and to stay the course. When you’re done, pick one song to be your anthem. This will be your own personal reverie!

Excellent! Now it is time to motivate you a little more with a little reward. There is nothing better then a dangling carrot or the light at the end of the tunnel to help push you to your next level of success. Think of it as a Mini Goal or even a personal oath you are going to take with yourself. Every time you feel as though  you are up against all odds with your success and are not going anywhere in your diet plan, I want you to give yourself a reward to work towards with two weeks to earn it. This reward can be anything (try to avoid fast foods though, because they can put you right back into the negative the following day). Treats can be as easy as material items like new cloths or even a single yummy desert. A simple desert can be just what the doctor ordered.

Enlarge, print out, fill in and place it where you will look at it everyday.

Now that you have made this oath, renew it and update it every time you feel as though you can't go on. Another thing you can do to help motivate your spirits, is taking a full length photo of yourself, and comparing it to a photo of you at the beginning of your diet. A picture can say a thousand words and help you to physically see the progress you have made. This should help you make it to your goal with leaps and bounds, and before you know it, you're a size smaller and emotionally richer for it.

This photo was my progress from 235 lbs to 190, back in 2009-2010. This is 4 months of progress.

Day 01: Nobody's Perfect

Practicingwhat you preach can be hard and hey, nobody's perfect. Day 1 may seem like a bit of a challenge. If you’renot ready to start counting and planning a day in the life of your stomach,then start out small. I haven’t had time to buy new foods, so I looked in ourfridge, freezer and cupboards to determine what I was going to eat today. It isnot a perfect menu, but it did get me started on things to look for. I over didbreakfast by about 300 calories and 700 mg of sodium. No worries, just keep in mind that throughout therest of the day my meals would have to be smaller. You will notice I am not focusing on fat and sugar atthe moment. I will next week. This is just to get me started,

Here’swhat I did for Day 1:

QUEEN MARY'S DAY – The Royale Menu Planner -- Limit 1500 calories
Time	Event	Calories/Sodium/Fiber/Protein/Potassium
4:30 a.m.	Waking:	I am not hungry for 2 hours -- listen to your body!
6:30 a.m.	KING BREAKFAST	6 Nancy’s Petite Quiches 715 cal., 1080 g sod., 3 g fib., 26 g pro., 150 mg pota.
8:30 a.m.	QUEEN SNACK	Almonds 169 cal., 0 g sod., 4 g fib., 7 g pro., 211 mg pota.
10:30 a.m.	PRINCE LUNCH	Tomato Soup & Grilled Cheese 340  cal.,  1364 g sod., 4 g fib., 15 g pro., 488 mg pota.
1:30 a.m.	PRINCESS SNACK	Talente Sorbet 120 cal., 0 g sod., 3 g fib., 0 g pro., 0 mg pota.
4:30 a.m.	PAUPER DINNER	2 cups Steamed Broccoli 60 cal., 60 g sod., 6 g fib., 4 g pro., 556 mg pota.
6:30 a.m.	PEASENT SNACK	Yogurt Drink 70 cal., 40 g sod., 0 g fib., 3 g pro., 135 mg pota.
	Total intake	1474 cal., 2544 g sod., 20 g fib., 55 g pro., 1540 mg pota.
8:30 a.m.	8 hours of Royal Beauty Sleep	A minimum of 8 hours for healthy weight loss.

Mybreakfast, though really good, put my numbers over the top too early and I hadto seriously think before I ate anything after I realized how many calories andsodium I had consumed. All in all total calories were in line, but my sodiumturned out to be really high, and I needed to take 5088 mg of potassium just tobalance 2544 g of sodium. So I was a little short. As you can see, the firstmeal of the day should be the biggest … but try not to make it above 400calories as it will limit what you eat for lunch and dinner. I had to choosebroccoli for dinner, because breakfast and lunch were so big. However this isday 1, which though was a fail, got me to think about planning day 2 better.