Back on the weight-loss wagon

Not that I fell off, mind you. After Round 1 on the Omni Drops, I finished my full 3 weeks of maintenance- and maintained perfectly, I might add- then started loading May 12 for Round 2. It was a great weekend. For Mother's Day, my sister and I took our mom to the movies, where I ate popcorn drowned in butter, whoppers, peanut butter m&m's, nachos, twizzler bites, and a giant cherry vanilla coke. Then we went out to dinner. Loaded chips (covered in bacon, green onions, and like 3 kinds of cheese), fries, a turkey blt, and something called a Perfect 10 that had Peach Schnapps and I don't remember what else. I had planned on having dessert, but I couldn't even finish all of my sandwich because I was too full. After dinner, we spent the night at a hotel (ahhhh, a night without yelling "Turn out that light and GO. TO. BED!!!" twenty times). I was surprised that I didn't enjoy the breakfast buffet as much as I thought I would the next morning. By that point, my body was sick of loading and ready for healthy food again. I still managed to eat cereal, oatmeal, toast, a waffle, a blueberry muffin, and a lot of bacon. Plus coffee. After we checked out and did some shopping, it was time to rejoin my family and head home, including a stop at Dairy Queen along the way. Finished off the day with chili dogs and chili cheese fries. My body was sooooo not happy with me! Monday morning, it was so nice to have my strawberries and Wasa cracker for breakfast! My tummy and taste buds were highly pleased. It feels so good to be eating fresh, healthy food again. One surprise, though, is that even though I just finished 3 weeks of maintenance followed by 2 days of loading, I'm having a hard time eating enough. I'm just not feeling hungry. I was making dinner last night when I realized that I hadn't had any fruit yet, so I had an apple with dinner and then strawberries later for a snack. Doing better about staying on top of it today, but I think I'll make a chart and check off what I eat to make sure I don't forget something.

The stats so far for Round 2:
Loading Day 1: Weighed in at 171.4
Loading Day 2: Forgot my scale :)
Phase 2, Day 0*: Weighed in at 178.4 for a gain of 7 pounds from loading
Phase 2, Day 1: Weighed in at 176.6 for a loss of 1.8 (still up 5.2 from loading)
Phase 2, Day 2: Weighed in at 175.0 for a loss of 1.6 (still up 3.6 from loading)

Loading weight should be gone by Friday and I expect to say goodbye to the 170s this weekend. (Sorry, 170s, it's not you, it's me. I just don't like you.)

For more information on Omnitrition International and what their products can do for you:
www.omnitrition.com/omniblogger
www.facebook.com/groups/omnirocks
knudsen.jessica.l@gmail.com 

Gearing up for Round 2

Last day on Round 1 of the Omni Drops. I've really enjoyed these 3 weeks of maintenance- getting to eat eggs, cheese, sour cream :) And it makes me feel so good to know that I've learned to eat without over-indulging and I can keep my weight under control. I weighed in today at 1.2 pounds below my last weight on the drops. I have mixed feeling about starting Round 2- on one hand, I look forward tothe 2 days of loading (ICE CREAM!!!!), but I know that with the new habits I've gained, it's going to be hard to eat so much, especially the fatty, sugary foods I've gotten used to not having. But at least it's only 2 days, and then I get to go back to my healthy fruits, veggies and proteins- AND start seeing the numbers on the scale go down again! That's my favorite part. I know I'll do better on Round 2 than I did on Round 1 because I have learned from all the mistakes I made in the last few weeks- not that a 22.2 pound loss is anything to sneeze at! I fully expect to lose 35+ pounds over the next 6 weeks. I love the feeling I get when I think about how I'll be posting that I've hit my goal weight! 


I'm at 172.2 today. A 35- pound loss will put me at 137.2. I haven't been in the 130s since I was 18. Can you imagine? Being back at your high school weight? I'm so excited!

Phase 3- Maintenance

Well, despite cheating and costing myself several pounds, I lost a total of 21 pounds. So far I'm 2 weeks into maintenance and doing great. I'm just 0.2 pounds up from my ending drop weight and still shrinking. I'm down 2 more sizes to a size 10 skirt and 4/6 shirt. Still a little lumpy around the hips, but I'll take a little lumpy over the awful saddlebags I had before. Check me out:

That's a loss of 4+ sizes in exactly 8 weeks! I can't wait until next weekend when I start round two. Next round I'm going to behave myself and lose the full 30+ pounds I could have lose this time if I hadn't messed up. I can't wait to be in a size 4 pants. It's amazing to think that for the FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE, I am actually going to be the weight I'm supposed to be for my height.

Also, thanks to the other wonderful Omnitrition products, I am now sleeping like I did before I had kids, I have energy to spare, I no longer suffer from migraines or allergies, and I'm in a good mood all the time! Want to know how Omni can help you? Would you like to gain energy, lose weight, or sleep better? Get your blood sugar under control? Omni's all-natural products help thousands, and they can help you, too.
Omni Drops: Drop half a pound to a pound per day! Don't just lose the weight, get rid of it and never find it again!
Charge: Energy and attitude in a bottle, with no sugar crash later.
Omni IV: Liquid gold- vitamins in a papaya base that tastes great, plus your body can absorb 96-98% of the vitamins, compared to ~20% of caplet vitamins.
Nite Lite: Sleep like you did before you had kids, PLUS get the added benefits of burning fat while you sleep and tightening/toning your skin.

These are just a sample of the many wonderful, all-natural products Omni has to offer. Call me for more information at 334-275-1345 and check out the fantastic Omni Rocks! support and information group on Facebook. 

Round 1 is almost over

Coming up on the end of Phase 2. I'm on Day 36, down 18.7 pounds from my loading weight. 7 more days on the low-cal diet and hoping to keep up with my average of 0.7 per day to give me a total loss of 23.6 pounds for this round. (Trying very hard not to think about how it could have been 27.8 if I hadn't cheated.) I'm looking forward to the maintenance phase and I'm planning to do another round on the Omni drops starting Mother's Day weekend.  Here's today's picture:

What do you think?

You are what you eat & what Omni has done for me

Since I haven't had time to update in a little while, today's post is a twofer.

Last week, my family went on vacation to Washington, D.C. Because we spent most of our time out and about, and most of the museums and other places we visited don't allow you to bring in food or drinks, I wasn't able to drink my full amount of water each day and had to make do with eating at restaurants. For my fruit servings, I kept apples at the hotel and had one in the morning and one in the evening. For my protein and vegetables, I was able to get grilled chicken and a salad with lettuce, tomato, and cucumber at most restaurants. The problem was, by Saturday night (the trip began on Thursday), I was absolutely sick of grilled chicken and lettuce. The result? I fell off the wagon. BAD. Saturday night I had chicken fingers and fries with honey mustard and ketchup. Sunday morning I was so disappointed in myself when I stepped on the scale and my weight had gone up 2.2 pounds. We were in a rush to get on the road, so I didn't take my Charge and that on top of eating junk had me feeling sluggish all day and just generally not on top of my game. So when we stopped for lunch and fast food seemed to be our only option, I gave in again. More chicken fingers and fries, plus hush puppies AND a Dr. Pepper. As if that wasn't bad enough, late Sunday evening we stopped for gas somewhere in South Carolina and the truck stop had a Dairy Queen and a Wendy's. I knew I shouldn't, but I was tired and crabby so I gave in and got a chicken sandwich from Wendy's and a mint Oreo blizzard from DQ. Monday morning I was up another 2 pounds, and felt tired and nauseous all day. I learned that the saying "You are what you eat" is totally true. I ate garbage and I FELT like garbage. Plus the realization set in that the gain of 4.2 pounds basically destroyed 6 days of progress because I've been averaging 0.7 pounds per day. A whole week wasted. Today I'm back to 180.6, where I was last Friday. It makes me so mad at myself that I could be down to 176.4. UGH. I'll never cheat again. I have 15 days left until I reach Phase 3 (Maintenance), and if I keep up my average loss, I should be down at least another 10.5 pounds by then. On a positive note- I've lost 6 inches off my waist and 5 inches around my ribcage. Can't complain about that!


I was running around getting an amazing amount of things accomplished today, and started thinking about what Omni has done for me. I'm taking the drops, Omni IV multivitamin, Charge capsules, Nite Lite, and Remind capsules.
     1. I am learning healthy eating habits that I will keep for the rest of my life.
     2. I am finally losing the extra weight I've carried around for years, and I know I'll keep it off.
     3. I can SLEEP at night!
     4. I don't start counting the seconds until bedtime as soon as I get up in the morning.
     5. I am always in a good mood! No more crabby, irritable me!
     6. My improved mood is making me a better wife and mother- I don't lose my patience with my husband and kids over every little thing.
     7. I have more energy than I've had since... well, maybe more than ever!
     8. I get more accomplished in a day than I used to do in a week.
     9. My stress level is almost non-existent.
   10. I feel more focused- I don't forget what I'm trying to say in the middle of a sentence or walk into a room and forget why I was there.
   11. My house is cleaner than it has been in months.
   12. I'm off my migraine meds and haven't had even a hint of a headache. (Saving me almost $80 a month in prescriptions.)
   13. I haven't had any allergy issues this season when normally by now I'd be popping decongestants and antihistamines and looking for my inhaler. More money saved!

When's the last time you were happy when you left a dressing room?

For me, it was today. In 17 days I've gone from a snug 18 (pushing a 20) pants and XLshirt size to a comfortable size 14 pants and medium shirt and dress. Not kidding! When I zipped those jeans up, I was shocked! I did a little dance right there in the dressing room. Here's what I look like today:

That's Phase 2, Day 2 and Phase 2, Day 17. Two weeks and what a difference! I can't tell you how good I feel.

Last night, I went to see The Ivory Method (my brother-in-law's band). There were a lot of people there that I haven't seen since before I started the Omni drops. I lost count of the number of times I heard, "WOW! You look great! What are you doing?" What a wonderful feeling! It was so nice to feel confident in how I looked for the first time in... geez, I don't even know how many years.

Would you like to get results like mine? Contact me here. 

Sometimes life gets in the way

of blogging, that is. I'm still staying on track with the Omni drops and eating plan. I'm on Day 12 of Phase 2 and was down 1.8 today and 1.4 yesterday but I wasn't able to weigh in on Sunday because I was out of town. I've gone from a start weight of 192.2 and a high weight (after loading) of 194.5 to 183.8 for a loss of 10.7 pounds from my load weight. Not bad at all for 12 days.

Unfortunately, I have some issues going on that I need to deal with over the next day or two, so I won't be able to update, but here's a picture from yesterday morning:

I'm wearing the same shorts in both pictures. Check out how much room I have in the legs now!

Bad habits are hard to break

R1P2D8 I'm up 0.2 pounds today. I'm so disappointed in myself. I went to lunch yesterday and ordered grilled tilapia, but didn't think to ask what the restaurant uses in the seasoning and I think there was sugar in it. Plus, it was more than a serving, but I ate it all anyway- not because I was hungry, but because it tasted good. So stupid. That's how I got fat in the first place- eating just because something was in front of me. I'd get seconds at dinner even though I was full, eat chips and junk just because they were there, etc. I have to put an end to those habits once and for all. I definitely learned a lesson.

Sorry for no post/picture yesterday, life is a little hectic this week. I'll try to get one up tonight.

I missed a day, so here's my 2-day update

R1P2D6 Down another 0.6 pounds today, for a total loss (since gaining during the load phase) of 7.1 and net loss (since my start weight) of 4.8 pounds. Not bad for 8 days on the diet, especially considering I ate everything in sight for the first 2 days of it.

I'm learning a lot about my eating habits and realizing just how horrible they were. Three times today, I've caught myself reaching for a snack- not because I was hungry, but because it was there. Fortunately I've stopped myself each time. Breaking the eating-junk habit is hard, but totally worth it. I did have a weak moment last night when the kids were eating pizza and it smelled sooooooooooo good. I entertained the thought of eating 'just a bite' for a good 5 seconds before I realized that I wouldn't eat just a bite, it'd be a whole piece. And I thought about how I would feel if I stepped on the scale in the morning and didn't lose any weight- or worse, what if I gained? And I knew that I would regret that pizza too much for it to be worth it. Willpower won out and I had my sauteed chicken with spinach and diced tomatoes over a bed of artisan lettuce with a Zevia cola. It didn't have that cheesy, greasy goodness that the pizza would have, but it also didn't have an ounce of regret.

Even though it's only been 5 days of losing, I'm SEEING a difference. Not just pounds are coming off, but inches. I almost have a waist again! I showed my husband how much room I have in my jeans today and he said, "Yeah, I've noticed the difference." And THAT felt better than any slice of pizza could ever taste.

I've been running like crazy trying to get a million things done, so if I don't get a picture up today, I'll do it first thing tomorrow morning.

R1P2D4 (Round 1, Phase 2, Day 4, for those just tuning in)
I'm at 188.8 this morning, down 2 pounds from yesterday for a net loss of 3.4 so far. I drank 152 ounces of water yesterday and I think that helped a lot. The day before I drank about 90 ounces and only had a 0.6 pound loss yesterday morning.

I'm feeling really good so far. My energy level is high and I don't feel hungry between meals. I even seem to be in a better mood the last few days. I love the new habits I'm learning- I put a lot more thought into each meal, and I'm learning to slow down and take each meal one bite at a time. I know these habits will help me keep the weight off in the long run. Surprisingly, I don't miss chocolate/sweets. I thought I would, but now when I see a great dessert recipe somewhere, instead of thinking "I need to make that RIGHT NOW!" I think "Hmm, maybe I'll make that for my loading phase if I do another round of drops." I don't crave junk. In the last day or two, there were a few moments when I thought I was hungry- I would walk through the kitchen and have to resist the urge to grab a dinner roll. Then I realized I wasn't HUNGRY, I was just in the habit of eating for no reason. Until I started this program, I wasn't eating regular meals, I would just grab and go when I had the chance. This resulted in the habit of grabbing something every time I was in the kitchen. Because I wasn't thinking about it, I didn't realize how often I was eating when I didn't need to.

Here's today's picture:

Phase 2, Day 3

I didn't drink enough water yesterday, I was just so busy it was hard to keep up with it. I'll do better today. I'm already at 50 ounces so I should be alright. I weighed in this morning at 190.8, 0.6 down from yesterday for a net loss of 1.4. I'm hoping that keeping up with the water today will give me a bigger loss tomorrow.

I forgot to post a picture last night, so here's this morning next to Phase 1 Day 2:

I realized last night that I haven't measured, so I'll do that today and then once a week from here on out. 

Phase 2, Day 2

Weighed in this morning at 191.4, down 3.1 pounds from yesterday and a net loss of 0.8 pounds since I started the Omni drops. I'm feeling really good, my energy level is up and I'm not counting the seconds until bedtime for the first time in forever. I was up at 7:30 this morning, wide awake and feeling rested. On SATURDAY. That's just unheard of. I actually made myself go back to bed just on principal but gave up on sleeping at 9- I just wasn't tired.

I had a cup of coffee with a tablespoon of 2% milk, followed by a cup of peach mango green tea for breakfast. I was planning to have an apple for breakfast, but after my coffee and tea I didn't really want anything, so I had it for a mid-morning snack. For lunch, I attempted to make Mediterranean meatballs, but I didn't have tomato puree, so I pureed diced tomatoes as a substitute. Unfortunately, I didn't drain them first and my meatball mixture was too wet to form into balls, so I had to dump it into a loaf pan to cook. After cooking, it still wouldn't hold together, so I ended up eating it in a bowl. Still tasted good, though.

I'm currently sipping a can of Zevia cola and trying to decide what to have for dinner and whether I want strawberries or baked apples for desert tonight.

I'll post a new picture this evening.

First day on the restricted diet. So far, so good.

I was a little worried about the restricted diet, even though most people using Omni drops report not feeling hungry. I didn't need to worry. I thought I was feeling hungry this afternoon, but realized it wasn't really hunger as much as I just wanted the m&m's in the freezer. I need to get out of the habit of munching whenever I get bored and this will be much easier.

For breakfast, I had half a large fuji apple. Mid-morning I ate a piece of melba toast, more because I wanted something crunchy than really being hungry. For lunch, I had half a boneless, skinless chicken breast, baked with a little paprika, on a bed of romaine lettuce and spinach leaves, tossed with a little lemon juice and a sprinkle of salt. About an hour after lunch, I had a small bowl (about 5) strawberries. Then I had another piece of melba toast late afternoon. Dinner was the other half of the chicken breast with romaine and spinach again, but I used a little less lettuce and added a little diced tomato. I sipped a glass of Zevia cola (I was skeptical, but it's not half bad) before and during dinner, and now I'm enjoying some mixed berry herbal tea. I'm up to 100 ounces of water for the day, trying to get in at least another 28 before bed.

I weighed in this morning at 194.5, up 2.6 from yesterday morning, but down 4 pounds from last night. I can't weight to step on the scale tomorrow. I'm going to skip the picture for tonight, but I'll post one tomorrow evening. 

I think I'm going to pop

R1P1D2
I did much better about eating today than I did yesterday. I realized that I have developed a habit of eating infrequently, due to my hectic schedule. I'm used to grabbing snacks here or there when I can and not really eating much until dinner time. Today I started off with a big stack of french toast drowned in butter and brown sugar, and I ended the day with a pint of coffee ice cream topped with m&m's. In between I ate sandwiches, rolls, cookies, more m&m's, and bottle after bottle of water. I don't even want to LOOK at food right now.

I'm excited about starting Phase 2 tomorrow. After all the junk I've eaten the last two days, the healthy foods I'll be eating for the next six weeks sound really good. I deliberately didn't eat anything on the Phase 2 approved foods list so that I would still want to eat those things. Tomorrow I'm planning to have an apple and coffee for breakfast, broiled chicken, salad, and strawberries for lunch, and grilled chicken with asparagus for dinner. And LOTS and LOTS of water throughout the day.

I'm sorry I didn't get around to posting a picture yesterday, life got hectic and I never had a chance. Here's what I look like today:

That's ice cream on my shirt, oops. It's a horrible picture, but I don't feel like taking another one. I weighed in this morning at 192.8 and about half an hour ago I was at 198.4. 

Let the losing begin!

R1P1D1 (That's Round 1, Phase 1, Day 1)
I weighed in this morning at 192.2 pounds. I thought loading was going to be easy. Eat everything I want? I can do that! Turns out, though, that it's not that easy to eat enough to constantly feel full, but I'm working through it. I'm at 45 ounces of water so far, so I'm a little behind (I have a goal of 8 ounces per hour) but I'll catch up this afternoon. I'll be posting a picture this evening, and every evening from here on out, so you can see the change as it happens.

My Omni webpage is active! You can find it at www.omnitrition.com/omniblogger. On this site, you can find information on the Omni drops and other wonderful products Omni has to offer. You can also order directly from this page if you're interested. (UPDATE: It was brought to my attention than I was missing a letter in the link. It has been fixed.)

A little more information about the Omni drops:
While Phase 2 involves following a 500 calorie/day meal plan, I won't actually be living on just 500 calories. The drops and plan cause the body to release and use 1400-4000 calories of stored fat a day. Most people using the drops report that not only do they not feel hungry, but they have more energy than they've had in years!

If you'd like to know more about how it works, please let me know.

It's here! It's here! It's here!

My Omni drops and distributor kit came today. I felt like a little kid on Christmas morning. It was mid-afternoon when they arrived, so I'll start the program tomorrow. Phase 1 is Loading- eat everything in sight. I can handle that. I'm planning to make a big batch of cinnamon rolls just for the occasion. I've loaded up on fruits and veggies from the approved list for Phase 2, which involves following a strict meal plan, but I like everything on the list, so I don't think it will be too difficult. I'll also be drinking tons of water, but I do that anyway so no big deal. It's going to be hard giving up creamer in my coffee, but I know it will be worth it.

I'm so excited about this program. After seeing the results other people have with it (consistently! There's no fine print under their pictures that says "Results not typical."), I know that Omni works and I can't wait to see the weight disappear- and stay gone!

Stay tuned- the daily pics start tomorrow!

Why I'm doing this

     When I was little, I really was LITTLE. I was always one of the shortest kids in class, and skinny to go with it. Around second grade, I chunked out. (And got glasses. Goodbye, self-esteem!) By fourth grade, I had gone from chubby to fat, and I stayed that way for years. By the end of my freshman year of high school, I weighed 180 pounds and wore a size 18. That summer, I lost 65 pounds, partly by walking a lot, but mostly by not eating. A severe case of tonsillitis helped also. I gained some of it back over my tenth grade year, ending up hovering around 130/size 6/8 for the next few years. Then I got pregnant. I topped out at 174 with my first child and was only able to lose 24 pounds after she was born. Since then, I haven't been below 150. My high point is 220 (this past winter). Right now I'm holding at 193. I feel like garbage and I'm always tired.

     A few weeks ago, I felt like I might as well resign myself to be fat forever, because nothing I've failed at everything I've tried. Then a Facebook status caught my eye:
               Jim Ferrenburg February 10 I'm on day 33 of the Omnitrition 
               HCG diet and I've lost 24 pounds! I have 12 days left on this 
               round to hit my goal of -30. If  you want to learn more about 
               the diet please ask!
So I asked. Then I spent about 2 1/2 weeks researching Omnitrition, and ordered my first bottle of Omni drops on February 28. I also ordered a distributor kit, because I know as soon as my results start to show, a lot of people will be demanding to know my secret. My drops should arrive Monday, and I'll start the program Tuesday. I'll be posting a picture every day, along with a blog entry detailing my journey back to healthy.