rdf803’s BodyBlog

I really wanted to get my waist down to 24", even if it’s just temporarily.  This morning I was down another pound or so, so I decided to measure just for kicks…and was so happy and so surprised to see it smack dab on the 24.  Too cool!  I also hit my target weight for the week–I wanted to see 130 on my scale, even if it was 130.9…but I hit 130.6!  So hopefully I can get it to 130 even by Sunday.  I’m shooting for 129 by my birthday, which is next Thursday, then ultimately 124-126 before I stop the fat loss and pick up on the lifting.  I am still lifting, just mainly with the intent of maintaining my current muscle mass; can’t afford to lose any! 

I really hope I can hit 125 by the end of this month.  That is when my high school reunion is, and although I don’t really care what they think, it will be a great accomplishment for me to return there knowing I am in better shape than I have ever been in my life.  I have never weighed 125  at least not since before I was 12.  I have never even been in the 120s except for once in high school when I quit eating for a while, and once a year or two ago when I did a three-day fast.  Not true fat loss, so it doesn’t really count.

I did skip my cardio session this morning, which could end up being a minor setback, but everyone has been telling me that I’ve been doing too much cardio anyway, so I didn’t figure it was that big of a deal to skip one.  It was so nice to sleep in ’til 6:00!  Felt a little guilty, but not too bad.  I’ll get a good weights and cardio session this afternoon, anyway, so it’ll be fine.

So that pretty much sums up my day, at least to this point.  Got me off to a good start, anyway! 

So my concept of food has completely changed over the past few months.  I have been eating the EXACT same things every day with absolutely NO variety whatsoever.  Although I thought that was going to be pure torture, I was determined.  I stuck with it even when others around me were eating whatever they wanted.  After a few weeks of adjusting mentally, I settled in and was completely fine with it.  I got into a routine and actually enjoyed not having to figure out what to make for lunch the next day. 

I am now at a point where I can have a weekly cheat meal, but now I don’t know if I want to!  I realized a couple weeks ago that my cravings (real, true cravings, not just something sounding good) have completely vanished.  Then it dawned on me that all of the foods I have been eating every day are low-glycemic.  Huh.  Never thought about it before; I knew they were supposed to help people control cravings, but I’d never experienced it myself.  In addition to those low-glycemic foods, another thing that has really helped to eradicate cravings has been eating every couple hours and not letting myself get hungry.  I have no willpower when I’m hungry, but when I’ve got something on my stomach, I’m usually not even tempted.

So now that I’m allowed that once-a-week cheat meal, I’m afraid that if I eat something that’s high-glycemic, I’ll be back to square one and my eating habits will spiral out of control!  Or even if they don’t, that my cravings will.  I dread that.

Another thing holding me back is that the people around me–family, friends, co-workers–are so impressed with what I’m doing that they have totally stopped offering me junk.  If they were to see me eat a cheat meal, I’m afraid they would start back up again, and I do NOT want that to happen!  I guess if I do decide to have a cheat meal, I’ll need to have it at home so that nobody knows except my husband.  

I was thinking last night about all the cheat foods I planned to have when I got to this point…pizza, burgers, cookies, etc.  Now I find myself just wanting to find a healthy way to make all of those (like the egg white french toast that I wrote about the other day).  I guess that’s a good thing; I hope this change of thinking is permanent.  I really like that I’m enjoying a healthy lifestyle and not feeling like I’m dieting.  I just feel like this is who I am now…

Anyway, just wanted to write about that; it’s such a huge change for me; going from basically being a food addict to finally being in control…but I know that I am not "cured", that I could easily fall back into that pattern if I’m not careful.  It’s scary, but I guess maybe that fear will keep me from going overboard. 

Went to California about a week and a half ago for a family reunion.  Went in search of a breakfast place that served egg white omelets.  Figured that California is a healthier place than Oklahoma, so it shouldn’t be to difficult to find a place that served something like that.  We stopped at one place, but they didn’t have ‘em.  So we went down the road a little ways and found a place called Redondo Beach Cafe. 

We parked around back and the guys who were working out back behind the restaurant greeted us as soon as we got out of our car.  When we walked around and went inside, we got the same treatment in there…super friendly people.  So we took a seat outside on the patio and took a look at the menu.  I was blown away.  Not only did they have healthy options like egg white omelets, they had them clearly marked and provided all the nutritional information.  The service was exceptional, the food was amazing (I ordered an egg white omelet with mushrooms, something else I can’t remember, and salsa, along with a bowl of oatmeal.  We decided that was our new favorite place.

So the next morning we recruited several more family members to go with us.  All in all, I think there nine of us.  This time I ordered the egg white french toast–my first bread in about two months.  I poured sugar-free syrup all over it and dug in (trying to pace myself, but so excited to eat bread that I could barely hold back).  I was a huge portion, and I completely cleaned my plate.  I thought protein pancakes were great, but these have the pancakes beat hands down!  Then I found out that that bread was also low glycemic, which was a big bonus.  

Anyway, I just wanted to share that…if you’re ever in the LA area, find your way to Redondo Beach Cafe and have a phenomenal meal with great service.  Even if you’re having a cheat meal, they have a great full-fat menu, too!  Those who had the Eggs Benedict said they were the best they’d ever had.

(Oh, and I attempted my own egg white french toast last weekend, never even having made regular french toast, and it was super easy!  Just soaked the multi-grain bread in egg whites–about one egg white per slice–and threw ‘em on the skillet!  My husband loved them, and of course, so did I!  Just served ‘em with butter spray and sugar-free syrup!)

Okay, so now I’m on to Plan C.  Plan A was to do a show on 8/25 in Little Rock, AR.  When I saw that I wasn’t going to be ready in time for that show, I decided to do one on 9/15 in Edmond, OK.  However, after getting an e-mail from my coach yesterday, it’s clear that I won’t be ready to do that one, either. My back/lats just aren’t anywhere near where they need to be.  I didn’t really enjoy reading that e-mail, but he wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t already know. 

So rather than rushing to do another show sometime this year, I’m just going to change my goal.  I am going to continue with the fat reduction until I get it where it needs to be (10% or so).  That should just take another six to eight weeks if my body continues to progress the way it has been over the past month or two.  At that point, I will increase my caloric intake and start building some serious muscle.  I have no idea how long it will take for my muscles to develop, though.  I guess I will just have to wait and see.

James 1:2-3 says “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.”  So yesterday, for a split second, I wondered why this was happening, why my body hasn’t responded like I’d hoped, but then I realized that this is just a trial to help me develop perseverance.  At church on Sunday our pastor told us that if we are following God’s will for our lives, that we will face many obstacles.  I know that I am following His will for my life—fitness is something I know he wants me to do—so I found myself wondering why I hadn’t encountered any obstacles yet.  I figured one must be coming soon—just didn’t know that it would be the next day!

Anyway, I expected that today I would be feeling discouraged, but this obstacle has actually given me a renewed sense of determination!  I am so grateful that I will have an opportunity to make my body even better.  Now, when I hit the stage next year, I will be even more prepared, and instead of getting up there just for the experience, I will actually have a chance to win! 

My husband has been so wonderful through all of this.  I was afraid he was going to be disappointed in me or upset that I wasn’t going to do the show, but he was so supportive.  He told me his only concern was that I wouldn’t want to continue with the same intensity that I’ve had up until now, but after I reassured him that I was still just as determined as ever, he totally got on board with the new plan to do the show next year.  I was still up at 4:30 this morning to go to the gym, and I will still be there this afternoon after work, too. 

I did have a bag of multigrain cakes this morning (similar to rice cakes, but they don’t cause an insulin spike and make me crave more) as a miniature pity party, but that was the end of it!  I can’t wait to get the rest of this fat off me and start BUILDING some serious muscle!