You are the biggest loser...of the week.

First off, a huge CONGRATS to everyone! Like Tia Silvia said below - together we lost over 50lbs! That is amazing! We are all going to look mighty fine come summer.

Now, I know you all are wondering, "How the heck did Gaby lose 6 pounds???" And the real answer is - I have no idea. You see I am in shock too. I've done weight watchers and even then I didn't lose this much at once. But I guess this is my body's way of telling me it's ready for this challenge.

After a lot of reflection, I think the biggest reason I lost weight was because week 1 has been sort of a "detox" week. I completely changed my eating/drinking habits. I had fallen into the group of not drinking water (maybe 2 cups a day), having a daily soda (sometimes more) and eating whatever without thinking twice. Now I wasn't exactly gaining serious weight, but that's because I wasn't going crazy. My portion size has not grown much. Nonetheless, this wasn't helping. I had gained 6lbs over the holidays and I knew I had to make changes.

Change #1 - WATER! I force myself to have at least 8 cups of water per day. Ideally, we should be drinking 1 liter for every 50lbs of weight we carry (easiest formula to remember). So I should be drinking at least 3 liters per day. Technically, I should be drinking 12 cups...at least. But I'm working towards that "water goal." I know that drinking more water helped me drop pounds and I am certain a lot of it was "water weight." Which is fine with me. Like I said, I'm detoxing to be at a weight that is healthy for me.

Change #2 - SNACKS! I snack all the time now. It's the only way to make it thru the day without my tripas twisting inside of me. With snacking I notice I am more eating 5 small meals rather than 3 larger meals and 2 snacks. This works for me. I'm never hungry. And let's face it, who wants to be hungry? It makes you miserable. And the days I'm too busy to get my snack I am a mess! I'm starving and cranky. I need snacks! Some (still trying to find more) of my favorite snacks are (I group some of these to make it more of a small meal sometimes):

• Raw almonds (20), dry cranberries, dry cherries
• Whole wheat pretzel sticks from Trader Joe's (10)
  
• Light String Cheese (mozzarella & cheddar)
• yogurt (with your favorite topping - I just fell in love with TJs Organic Vanilla Bean lowfat yogurt topped with plain Special K - SO GOOD!)
• Fruit - bananas are great! Oranges, apples....you name it. I usually pair a fruit with one of the above.
• Protein - doesn't matter what - a shake (I don't do - I don't have protein powder), a bar (but only half! Bars are packed full of other crap you don't need unless you're about to work out), a slice of turkey rolled around your string cheese, peanut butter with apples or celery. Protein makes & keeps you feeling full!

Comment with your favorite snacks!


Change #3 - PORTION SIZE! I literally use my fist as reference now. Whatever goes on my plate must be the size of my fist (unless it's veggies). Now it hasn't always been. Like that portion of whole wheat penne the other day was about 2 fists. But hey I was hungry and it had been a extremely low calorie day. No bueno. BUT also not an excuse! I should have ate more during the day so that I wouldn't be starving come dinner. Snacking guys - it's that important. That day I had a late lunch and therefore missed my snack. This also caused me to eat dinner earlier and be starving before bed. Again - no bueno. I ended up having a banana that night, which is ok sometimes. Last - if you have trouble convincing yourself that that fist of yours is big enough, then serve yourself on a small plate (not the large dinner plate, but the so-called salad plate).

Change #4 - DO NOT EAT 3 HOURS BEFORE BEDTIME! Just don't. If you have eaten enough calories throughout the day, then you won't be hungry. You'll want something, but you won't be hungry. And the cafesito we all love at night, drink it straight after dinner so you don't tempt yourself later with craving for bread and cookies. My mom & I brew coffee straight after dinner and this has been great. It's our dessert. If I haven't reached my calories for the day I'll have a galleta maria with my coffee. Only 10 calories! But I said "a" galleta...just 1 (ok maybe 2)!

Change #5 - EAT CLEAN! No junk. Nothing processed. (I know...I know...the cookie) Lunch and dinner always consist of a veggies (steamed, boiled, or salad form), protien and starch. Starch in the form of brown rice or quinoa or oven roasted potatoes (the small ones not the giant ones you can "load"). Learn about quinoa and make it your friend (cooks just like rice). It's the new rice (not really, but Andy likes it). When protein is low I have a healthy serving a frijoles de la hoya. Not refried people. No one around to start your beans at 3pm? Then Sunvista is your friend. Canned whole beans. They taste just like moms (almost). Oh - and frijoleros, don't go crazy with the beans. Beans are packed with protein and nutrients and you don't want to go overboard. It is very possible to over eat and have your beans to thank for that. Make sure you're eating fish at least once a week (preferably wild salmon). Also - try my new favorite salad dressing. Trust - you'll LOVE it and you don't have to measure anything out. Drizzle your salad with EVOO (about 1tbsp), squeeze lemon juice on top, season with Sea salt (important....not table salt - toss that crap) and cracked pepper. So good! You'll never miss those fatty dressings again.

And not to knock down all the other super helpful posts by our non-challenge family members, but remember - I'm right there with you. This is all obviously working! And detoxing has been painful for me too. I had headaches and felt dizzy over the weekend, but it was my body reacting. I feel great this week (aside from coughing). I'm even sleeping better!

Good luck this weekend everyone! Let's make Monday's weigh in another great one!


*****NOTE: Notice no mention of exercise. I haven't been. I started and then got sick. Still hacking a lung today. Hoping to start the "fitness" aspect of this challenge in week 3.

Disclaimer
REMEMBER - We are all different. The same things don't work for everyone. But you can't go wrong with my tips. Change things up. Our bodies get use to repetition. And this is just me sharing about what I'm doing. Not preaching here and asking you to do what I do.