A new month, a new diet.

Get your Amazon on, folks! We're starting a new diet on March 1st! This one lasts six weeks, so I'll be in it to win it until the middle of April. Get your copy now and do it with me!

It's called The New American Diet: How secret "obesogens" are making us fat, and the 6-week plan that will flatten your belly for good! I picked it because of my love of ridiculously long book titles. Plus, I really like the word "obesogens".

Miraculously, I have not gained a single pound on my white bread diet. I'm still 10 pounds down. I've got to admit, though... I do feel pretty dumpy. I'm starting to incorporate more fiber slowly, so I should be ready for whatever The New American Diet has to throw at me by March 1st.

The best and worst way to lose 6 pounds in 6 days.

Pounds lost: 10/62

That's right. I've lost over five pounds since my last post, and it wasn't because of the O2 Diet, regrettably.

I've been in the hospital with an intestinal infection.

Now, before you start asking, "Where can I get myself one of those? Amazon.com?" I feel obligated to tell you that it's incredibly painful and humiliating and most of that six pounds was probably due to my muscles atrophying because I wasn't able to get out of bed. Plus, there was nothing to wash to my hair with, save baby shampoo.

Nonetheless, it does feel pretty good to say that I've lost 10 pounds thus far. :)

When I was discharged from the hospital yesterday, I was given a list of things that I could and couldn't eat while my intestines are in recovery. Ladies and gentlemen, it is the EXACT OPPOSITE of the O2 Diet.

I'm on a "low residue" (read: low fiber) diet. I can't eat anything whole wheat or whole grain. No veggies, save potatoes and very well cooked carrots. No berries or anything with skin or seeds. No nuts, no corn, no lettuce, etc. Also, absolutely no dairy and no caffeine (which means no green tea).

What I can eat is ridiculous. White bread. Cake. Sherbet. Pancakes. Creamy peanut butter. Only about 6 ounces of protein A DAY (so I would have to stop at 3 eggs for a single day). I have to follow this for one-two weeks, depending on how I'm feeling. I'm going to gain everything back. I am absolutely sure of it.

So what's my plan? Well, I suppose that I'll restart the O2 Diet whenever I can and follow it until the end of the month (I want to give it a fair run, after all). In the meantime, those of you who are dieting with me should keep on trucking. I'll catch up with you when I can.

Until next time, this is Diet of the Month Blog, telling you to make sure you wash your hands before you eat. :)

It's not cheating if it's premeditated.

Pounds lost: 4.6/62

This was me last night.

Now, before you get all judgemental, let me explain.

I lost a total of 4.4 pounds on the 4-day cleanse of the O2 Diet. Not bad, eh? You know how many pounds I've lost since then? Zero point two. That's right. I've lost a total of 4.6 pounds, which isn't too bad if you average it over 11 days. But 0.2 pounds in a week? Not so good.

I've been pretty darn faithful, too. I was following the two week Phase 2 meal plan for a little while, but then I switched to the DIY plan. Why? Because this diet is really expensive, and I didn't want the meat that I'd purchased to rot in the fridge while I continued to buy other new meat because EVERY SINGLE DAY on this diet is very very different. So I used what I already had and I repeated some of the lunches and dinners that I'd made earlier in the week.

And then there was the pepper episode. One of the lunches on the weekly menu was basically a bowl of pepper. It was a can of tuna mixed with lemon juice and olive oil and a TEASPOON of pepper over a bed of spinach. I thought I was going to throw it up. I decided then and there that I was officially on the DIY plan.

I've been doing really well. The recipes in this book are fabulous so far (more on that later). But the bottom line is this: I've only lost 0.2 pounds this week, so something had to be done.

It was suggested to me that I "shock my system" by giving myself a "free meal", and I decided to do just that last night for my friend Carmen's birthday. I ate two pieces of cheese pizza, a piece of tiramisu, and a humongous beer. In all honesty, I felt very very sick this morning, and I'm not sure if it worked at all. I'll let you guys know tomorrow.

I'm going to start rating the recipes in these weight loss books on a "Fabulous, Horrendous, or Still Out" scale. The first two are self-explanatory. The third means that the jury's still out, or that I simply haven't made up my mind as to whether or not I actually like it. Here's how everything has measured up so far.

Breakfast Recipes:

• Veggie and Cheddar Miniquiches = Fabulous
These feel like a huge indulgence on this diet. I would eat these even if I wasn't dieting.

• Paradise Smoothie = Fabulous
Full of stuff that I wouldn't ordinarily think would be good in a smoothie, like avocado. Tastes like fruity heaven.

Lunch Recipes:

• Quick Cobb Salad = Fabulous
If I had ordered this at a restaurant, I would have been very pleased. The sunflower seeds make me feel like I'm cheating (not pizza, beer, and tiramisu cheating, but cheating nonetheless).

Dinner Recipes:

• Chicken Mole = Super Fabulous
Make this. Sooner rather than later. And then make it again the night after, because you will want this every day. I promise.

• Salsa Chili = Still Out
I made this tonight for the Super Bowl for myself and my husband. It was pretty good, but really? It's like eating taco filling. It's not chili. Make it if you feel like eating burritos without the tortilla or other filling.

I'm making three new recipes tomorrow for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, so I'll be blogging about it then. See you guys tomorrow!