I am a choo-choo train

And I am still going strong.

I'm about to contact Soylent.me to cancel my subscription for their product (which is not estimated to arrive until the end of the year -- if I'm lucky). This decision was difficult for me because it means that I will need to continue purchasing and tracking my ingredients and then monitoring my consumption and bodily effects.

Reasons are twofold:

-Shipping for Soylent 1.0 is iffy thus far and many subscribers and Kickstarter backers have been waiting for over a year for it. I splurged on the monthly subscription (~$350) on July 21st and, shortly after that, the estimated shipping time on the website went from 10-12 weeks to 4-5 months. Stoppages in production have happened already and I, personally, find that instability to be very vexing.

-Soylent 1.0 is built around a 2000 calorie diet and is not intended for weight loss purposes as it has not been testing for that. As I am utilizing the adaptability of the Soylent medium to produce a low calorie and ketogenic food substitute, switching to a higher calorie blend would likely make me very unhappy. I'm thoroughly enjoying the changes in my body and I am not ready to switch back to a "normal" calorie lifestyle.

Since I've put so much work into making a blend that not only works for me body but also tastes good to me, I will be continuing my DIYS mix. It's consistent and I control it completely.

I'll likely put in an order for a few bags of Soylent 1.0 after I cancel my monthly subscription just so I can taste the differences.

Adjusting for the Long Term

Tomorrow marks my 6-week point for DIYS. I've had some minor ups and downs but, for the most part, DIYS seems to be the earmark for my life changing for the better. We're looking at a 20 pound loss in 42 days.

None of my clothes fit right anymore. I love it. My measurements confirm that I've lost weight in areas other than just in my chest (thank goodness).

Tons of energy. Seriously. I feel so much younger. Caffeine not only makes me more efficient but also boost my metabolism; I seem to lose a bit more weight on days that I drink coffee or have an energy drink.

I'm not embarrassed to wear my swim suit when I go to do laps. I'm still overweight but that doesn't matter so much to me anymore. Yeah, I have big flappy arms and lumpy thighs and a fupa- but you know what? It's less than I had before! And that's awesome!

It feels like I own my quirks instead of them owning me. I have absolute control over this part of my life and it's liberating. Who cares that I spent two hours yesterday putting together quart baggies with my DIYS mix? I don't have to worry about food AT ALL FOR THE NEXT TWO WEEKS. Strictly controlled? More like strictly free to do whatever the hell I want on my lunch breaks.

As far as my DIYS mix:

• I just had to reorder some of my main ingredients. I purchased roughly one month's worth of ingredients for my first round (with some extras purchased of the cheaper stuff in order to save on future shipping) and I've only had to order the Whey Isolate, Splenda blend, and some more cocoa powder. 
• Whey isolate is more expensive than whey protein powder but I found it for CRAZY cheap this morning. $77.41 per 5lb container. And it's PRIME! So I totally bought two. 
• I've been consistently restocking peanut butter powder and vegetable oil because both my husband and I have been using that in our DIYS; Shelby adds peanut butter to his mix to improve flavor and boost protein and the oil has been shared. I'm considering using Amazon Prime Pantry and keeping these on constant reorder. I'll let you know how that works out.
• While I have really (shockingly) fallen in love with my food scale, I wish I had one that measured in .5 grams. Two of my ingredients are measured at 2.5 and 3.5 grams and I have to eyeball those and just pray. When I find a more fine-tuned scale at a reasonable price, you better believe I will post it on here.
• By pre-mixing my DIYS every two weeks and putting the individual portions into baggies, I'm not only making my DIYS faster at night (takes me about 5 minutes to add water, blend, add water, and then add oil) but I'm also super sure that I'm not screwing up my mix. 
• My husband wanted to know why I didn't just add all the ingredients for 14 days of DIYS into one big pot and then scoop out the right amount of grams per serving into a bag. I insisted that that would be a very good way to get unbalanced portions of nutrients. What if all my sulfur clumps up in the bottom? Psh. 14 baggies all lined up and opened and I can just dish out that many servings of one ingredient and then put it away. Repeat with the next. Feels very factory line-ish but it's very rewarding. And! When I ran out of isolate for two of my baggies, I marked them and then kept putting the rest of the ingredients into all the bags. Now, when my isolate arrives, I just add that to the two baggies that need it and I'm two days better off with barely any extra time spent.

Recommended pattern for mixing up a pitcher of DIYS:

1. Add about two or three inches of water to the bottom of the pitcher. Does not have to be a particular temperature.
2. Open baggie of pre-mixed DIYS and pour into pitcher. Recommend getting entire baggie into the opening of the pitcher before tipping to prevent powder escaping.
3. Agitate the open pitcher to get the powder to start mixing with the water in the bottom. Do not do this aggressively. 
4. Add more water. I add water to about the halfway point of the pitcher because my immersion blender is not overly long and too much water means that it cannot reach the bottom. 
5. Use immersion blender. Make sure to get the clumps of DIYS that will stick to the sides of the pitcher. 
6. Add water to your heart's content. I like to pour in water while the blender is going. I have noticed that grittiness is reduced when DIYS is thick like a milkshake so I have been adding less water. My final level is rarely over three-quarters of a pitcher. 
7. Personal addition: When I pre-mix my DIYS, I still have to add a little extra Xanthan Gum manually to my pitcher (about 1/4 tsp). It's like it loses its potency by being in the bag with the other ingredients. This is the part where I'd include it.
8. Add oil last. Blend. 
9. You can still add water after this; I usually pour a bit down my immersion blender when I'm pulling it out of the pitcher to make sure I have all my ingredients in the pitcher and not drying on my blender. 

I'll include a video of this next time for clarity. You'll get to see how messy it gets in a kitchen where your food is in powder form!

Special Occassions

Shelby and I celebrated our third anniversary over the weekend and splurged on real food as a treat for ourselves. I've lost 16 pounds and he's not that far behind me so we felt it was okay to enjoy chewing on a meal again.

Turns out that the meal kept us full for pretty much the entire day. I had a ham and cheese omelet and he had steak tips and eggs (with pancakes); both meals were as gentle on carbs as we were willing to compromise for and, honestly, I knew that I wouldn't be able to take down a stack of pancakes like I used to. I get full on real food but it doesn't last very long- that's the glory of DIYS. My protein count is high enough that I can sip on it and feel nice and not hungry even though my mind still isn't sure that it's satisfied with just drinking a beverage.

Also, we drink a lot of tea in my house. With the added liquid intake, the tea helps assuage any extra hunger pangs because, like most Americans, we'd gotten out of the habit of drinking the proper amount of daily water and we often confused thirst pangs for hunger pangs. That shouldn't be a problem now!

Just another note about the formula- DIYS doesn't stay fresh for longer than 2-3 days. I'd say that 3 days is generally pushing it and there's a sour/bitter smell that accompanies the taste when it's past its prime. Just a heads up if you want to try it for just one meal at a time- you'll have to mix it in smaller, more frequent batches!