What to do? I sat down and devised a strict seven day diet. I plan to stick to it rigidly for those seven days. . I used a website that I have mentioned before to calculate my weight loss caloric intake zone. I found that 1200 calories a day is a good number for me, based on my weight, gender and height, to have to have energy but still lose weight. So I started there. I am going to stick to the 5 meal a day plan that I have been following the whole time. I am also sticking to drinking two liters of water a day. I want this diet to have protein, good fat, fruits, vegetables, fiber and low sodium. How much protein do I need? I found a cool protein calculator that will tell you how much you need in a day based on your age, size, gender and activity level. There is also a cool fiber calculator. If you enjoy those, you might also like the fat calculator. These will tell the amounts recommended for your daily intake based on a recommended weight sustaining caloric intake for your particular body type and age.

Thinking about these things I came up with a diet plan that fits, basically, what I am looking for as well as is relatively tasty albeit a bit boring. I repeated the same meal plan every day. I figure I can't get that bored in seven days' time. So here it is:

5AM - BREAKFAST

3/4 cup pinto beans

1/2 avocado

1 poached egg

Hot sauce (preferably low sodium)

Heat pinto beans in a bowl, top with sliced bits of avocado and the poached egg. Season with hot sauce to taste.

Calories: 400, Fat: 20g, Sodium: 484mg, Carbs: 42.4, Fiber: 18g, Protein: 17.3g

8AM - MORNING SNACK

1/2 cup non fat cottage cheese

Pepper or hot sauce to taste

Calories: 52, Fat: 0g, Sodium: 239mg, Carbs: 5, Fiber: 0g, Protein: 7.5g

11AM - LUNCH

4 oz baked, grilled or poached chicken breast.

1 cup fruit (see below for fruit suggestions)

(This will vary depending on the fruit, this calculation done using an average fruit from the list below)

Calories: 265, Fat: 5.1g, Sodium: 86mg, Carbs: 19, Fiber: 4g, Protein: 36g

1PM - AFTERNOON SNACK

1/2 apple

1 Tbsp almond butter

Calories: 142.5, Fat: 8g, Sodium: 1mg, Carbs: 15.5, Fiber: 4g, Protein: 4g

4PM - DINNER

4 oz chicken breast, poached, grilled or baked

1 cup baby spinach

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1/2 apple (from snack)

1 tbsp toasted chopped walnuts

1 oz feta cheese

Either eat the chicken breast alone or with hot sauce and mix the rest together as a salad or chop up the chicken into bite sized pieces and mix with other ingredients for one big salad.

Calories: 356.5, Fat: 12.5g, Sodium: 506mg, Carbs: 17.5, Fiber: 5.5g, Protein: 44.5g

TOTAL FOR THE DAY:

Calories: 1216, Fat: 45.8g, Sodium: 1316mg, Carbs: 99.4, Fiber: 31.5g, Protein: 109.3g

Shopping list:

I took this menu and made a shopping list. I needed:

4 avocados

4 cans of pinto beans

6 eggs (I still have some in my fridge)

1 bottle of hot sauce

4 cups (32 oz) non fat cottage cheese

1 package of frozen chicken breasts

7 apples

8 oz feta cheese

1 pkg of walnuts

1 bottle of balsamic vinegar

1 pkg of baby spinach

1 jar almond butter

2 grapefruits

1 large papaya

1 can unsweetened sour cherries in water (they aren't quite in stores fresh yet)

I actually already had the vinegar, cheese, walnuts, cherries, apples, chicken and almond butter. So all the rest at Trader Joe's cost me less than $20. Not bad for a week's worth of food!

I got home and defrosted 6 chicken breasts then grilled them up on my indoor grill. I put them in the fridge to be eaten for the next three days. That is really the only preparation I need to make for these meals. What takes longest is breakfast but I have a routine down now. I get up and turn on the pot of water with a splash of vinegar on the stove. I open a can of beans, pour about half out and microwave them for maybe 30 seconds while I cut the avocado in half, saved the half with the pit in the fridge for the next day and sliced up today's half. When the water is boiling I drop in my egg. While the egg is cooking (about two minutes) I put the avocado over the warm beans and top with a hot sauce. I scoop the egg from the water with a slotted spoon and top the beans with it. Done!

I did some research on fruits looking for the lowest carb, sugar and calorie ratios I could. I came up with a small list fruits that fall into this category:

Blueberries

Cherries

Grapefruit

Raspberries

Peaches

Papaya

Apples

Strawberries

I am considering doing some exercise just to tone up the softer parts. I have access to an exercise bike and I may try to use that every day until the trip. I say that now, but we shall see how I feel when I get home from work. I usually just want to snuggle up on the couch with the bf and doggy.

Saturday will be my one day off of this diet. I have another food group meeting, this time the theme is Greek food, one of my favorite kinds of food! Along with making Stuffed Courgettes (Kolokithikia Gemista) with Avgolemeno sauce, I am going to attempt some ambitious cupcakes and I am very excited about it. I have only made up the recipe in my mind so I have no idea how it will go. I plan to make baklava mini cupcakes. All the people who have attempted this type of cupcake so far have claimed it didn't come out very good. The only recipe I found that people liked was one where they took regular yellow cupcake mix and stuck a real piece of baklava in the center. I do not want to go that route though. I will share my results when I actually attempt to make the recipe that is in my head.

I will try to update as often as I can while on this seven day adventure. So far I would still like to lose 4 pounds. Let's see how it goes!