Best. Workout. Playlist. Ever.

Current fave workout playlist (if you're not a fan of mainstream hip hop or heavier rock music this might not be for you). Timed out for 40 min on treadmill and 20 on the eliptical.

1. "Woke Up This Morning (Chosen One)" - A3
The pulsing beat and build of the song get you in a good frame of mind to work out. You can just picture Tony driving the Suburban! :)
2. "Umbrella" - Rihanna (feat. Jay Z)
Good starter song as you warm up
3. "The Real Slim Shady" - Eminem (explicit)
Love me some Slim when I'm sweating it out.
4. "Romeo" - Basement Jaxx
5. "Gone Daddy Gone" - Gnarls Barkley
I love the Femmes, but this has a better beat to pound out on the treadmill
6. "Champion" - Kanye West
7. "Stronger" - Kanye West
The best cardio song in the world!
8. "Don't Stop The Music" - Rihanna
9. "Disturbia" - Rihanna
10. "Ready For A Good Time" - AC/DC
We're going to start rocking out now.
11. "Paralyzer" - Finger Eleven
12. "Bleed It Out" - Linkin Park
13. "Movies" - Alien Ant Farm
14. "Like I Do" - Melissa Etheridge
15. "Vertigo" - U2
16. "Ain't Nothing Wrong With That" - Robert Randolph and Family Band
If you want something to make you move, any of his stuff will work, good towards the end when you don't think you'll make it
17. "Jailbreak" - Thin Lizzy
You may laugh, but it's great for the eliptical
18. "Run Runaway" - Slade
19. "Burning Down The House "- Tom Jones
20. "Short Skirt, Long Jacket" - Cake
My personal anthem and a great song to make you feel good about yourself after a workout

Two months down

I had my two-month weigh in Monday. Outcome was about what I expected: 30 total pounds in two months. Almost halfway to my goal.

Unfortunately, I lost more muscle weight than they'd like to see, so I have to drink these flavored protein packets in water to make sure I'm getting enough. I was afraid that might happen. I noticed that I wasn't hitting that 100 gram mark when I wrote things down each day. Hopefully this will help. Still exercising, though, and not hating it!

A side note: pulled out pairs of pants that hadn't fit in years and years that I had stuffed in the back of the closet. Between work pants and jeans I now have 10 new pairs of pants I didn't have before! So the jeans and pants that are too big now went on the top shelf of the closet, hopefully never to be worn again.

To all the food I've loved before

Things I haven't eaten in 46 days:

Potatoes: Fried, scalloped, mashed, baked or in chip form.
Cheesecake: Any flavor
Chocolate fudge brownies (you know, the kind that's more like batter than cake, the kind that you want to sit down with before baking, cradling the mixing bowl in your lap and scooping up the gooey, fudgy batter with that spatula that's already covered in batter that you'll just wash off anyway, so...)
Pizza Hut cheese breadsticks
Amigo's nachos (or nachos from any other Mexican fast food joint)
Cold Stone Creamery: Any flavor

Things I wish I could have eaten over the last 46 days:
All of the above.

Keep on losin'

A much happier weigh-in yesterday.....FIVE MORE POUNDS. I'm almost halfway to my goal. I can't believe it's been almost two months since I started. I'm close to 30 total pounds lost...in two months!!! It gives me the will to stick with the diet, even though I've had no potatoes in that time. :)

More than "just a sweater"

VICTORY!! Today I officially purchased a sweater at a "normal" store.....and it wasn't the biggest size they carry!!! I also tried on a pair of pants that weren't as successful. 5-10 more pounds and I'm there. What was wierd though? I had no clue what size I was now....and I petrified to try anything on for fear that it wouldn't fit and I would be totally discouraged. But I survived, and got a cute sweater out of it!

Bummer of a Monday

I may have hit a plateau. I weighed myself Monday (I'm doing that weekly) and I stayed the same. Bummer. I think it may be retaining water (happens every month), which with me can be as much as 5 pounds. My eating over the last week was no different. Or maybe my body is getting used to the reduced calories and not reacting like it did before. I'm going to try more exercise to try and kick-start things. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that next Monday will go better. On a more positive note: I pulled two skirts from the back of my closet that I haven't worn in 3-4 years. They fit! A little snug, but two pounds will take care of that!!

The sewing machine doesn't lie

What's a good way to see your diet progress? Have SEVEN pairs of pants taken in as much as TWO INCHES!!! That really was rewarding seeing my mom pin where the pants needed to be taken in. Because I see myself everyday, I guess I don't really see the pounds dropping.

Last week I lost a little over four pounds. Not as good as the weeks before, but I had a birthday party for my daughter and a bridal shower where the food was not very HCG friendly. Considering, four pounds is pretty good.

I'm now into the second day of the 1300 calorie phase with the 30mg phentermine. It's kind of a hassle writing down everything I eat, and I'm seeing where my calorie weaknesses are, but all is good so far. And I'm upping the frequency of exercise.

Onward and downward (in pounds, that is)!