Ok, so I've made it to day 5 and how do I feel?  Amazing!  I've lost 5.6 lbs which I am completely ecstatic about.  I've noticed a weight change every single day so far but in a decreasing manner, understandably.  Day 1 (156.2lbs), Day 2 (153.6lbs), Day 3 (152.0lbs), Day 4 (151.0lbs), and Day 5 (150.6lbs).  So I went from losing 2.6 from the first to the second day to losing 0.4 from day 4 to day 5.  As long as the scale is going down, I'm good.  Actually, even if it doesn't go down, the way I feel (and even look) far outweighs any number that presents itself on the scale.

I would now like to give myself a small pat on the back for decisions I made last night.  Let me first tell you that I am a big wino!  I love mostly all kinds of wine and I very much enjoy having a glass at night or on the weekends.  There's also a liquor store close by to my house that holds free wine tastings every other week.  Bottom Line:  I love wine and the fact that we can't have any on Cycle 1 absolutely tears me apart!!

So onto last night.  My boyfriend and I had another couple at our house.  We decided to cook on the grill and have a fire seeing as it was a perfect night to do so.  To make a boring story less boring, everyone was drinking beer, wine, etc. while I sat at the table AND around the fire with a water in one hand and a green tea in another!!  I had a burning desire to have "just one" glass of wine, but I didn't give in.  I told myself that in the big scheme of things it wasn't really worth it.  

Now, with that said, I will say this:  I have a retirement dinner to attend tonight and I WILL be having a glass of wine!!  Haha.  One of the "tricks" I've found with cheat drinking is to continue to consume plenty of water.  I might have a glass of wine, take a break with some water, and then have another glass after dinner, followed by more water.  Also, the hot water with lemon is not something that you can only do in the morning.  On nights where I feel I may have had one or two too many, I'll have the hot water and lemon at night as a way of cleansing out my system.

As far as the food portion of the dinner, I don't think it will be tough for me to make good choices.  I've already taken a look at the menu to prepare myself for what they offer.  Seeing as it is an upscale Italian restaurant, this could go very good or very bad!  However, I'm already dead set on what I want to eat and I don't think that will change once I get there.  I've decided on a caprese salad and a grilled salmon dinner.  (I'll let you know if that's how it turns out!)  :o)

I would like to add on to a previous post that I made regarding my lack of energy in the first 3 days.  I believe this may have been due to my body's withdrawal of carbs and sugars - because on day 4, yesterday, the energy that I had was almost ridiculous.  I couldn't stop moving, and I didn't want to!!  I know I've heard some stories of people feeling ill during the first few days - although I didn't feel ill, I definitely didn't feel up to par.  To ease some of you, if you don't have the energy now, it will come and it will take you by force!

One last thing, my mom gave me a tip involving adding flax seed to yogurt.  I tried it this morning for the first time and it was really good.  I thought it almost added a sweetness to the yogurt, but that could just be me.  On top of that, I feel FULL.  It's usually the 1 hard-boiled egg that I have in the morning that keeps me satisfied until lunch, but today, I didn't even have an egg.  It's about an hour from my usual lunch time and I still feel completed satisfied.  Try it!!

Happy Friday and good luck to all during this long, holiday weekend!!