Eating Out!!

I've now finished my 3-week "stabilization" phase, with only that one big cheat last weekend. And now, today, I get to eat out in a real restaurant and order whatever I want! We're going to Blanca, a new place in Newport that's getting amazing reviews from all my lucky clients who have already had the pleasure of dining there.

I'm down to a fairly steady 127lbs (hooray!!) and a 27 1/2 inch waist... my waist shrinks a little every few days but my weight hovers around 127/128. (It's normal to fluctuate a pound or two day to day). Hopefully this all means that I'm still losing fat but starting to slowly build some muscle. I'm running a lot - miles and stairs on different days - and training with kettlebells. I'm quite sore, but I feel great!

So now my "diet" is about maintenance. It really won't be too different to how I used to eat - lots of protein and salads, and healthy carbs. The real change will be eating a lot less dairy - I love cheese and yogurt, and those will be limited, but I can live with that. And I will be more conscious of the calories in different quantities of foods - for example, I will keep measuring snacks like nuts, aware that just 1/8th of a cup is 100 calories! Same for the sunflower seeds I like to put on my salads, and the olive oil I use for dressing. Learning to measure those will really help me regulate my overall caloric intake.

I will still eat out about once a week - I live for great restaurants. If I wasn't a trainer I would want to be a food critic!

Cheese, cake and chocolate

I'm posting this picture because most of my clients and friends have never seen me in shoes, or any clothes that aren't black. So here's proof that sometimes I'm REALLY girlie.

It was my dear friend Julie's wedding on Saturday, and I took a day off my diet (against the advice of Dr Purcell!). I tried to cheat within reason... No drinks other than mineral water. Not too much cheese and only three crackers. The salmon entree, with only a few small bites of the potato. And then dessert... that's where the cake and chocolate came in. Incredibly, I had some of each and left it at that. And then I got up early the next morning and ran almost 5 miles. Add that to the 6 miles I ran the day before the wedding and I think I earned my cake... and it was wonderful!

Maintaining

It's been almost 2 weeks and I'm maintaining my new weight of 128lbs. I'm running quite a bit (either 3-plus miles or a dozen sets of stairs, 4 days a week). Next week I'll start lifting weights again. The diet is going ok (lots of protein and green veges, no starch, dairy or fruits). Sometimes I get insane carb crvings - especially after I run - but mostly I'm ok. I do cheat every day. I cannot live without any fruit, so I eat small amounts of low-glycemic, low calorie berries like strawberries, blueberries and rasberries. They stop me from wanting to shoot myself and others.

This weekend is my dear friend's wedding, and I've bought a fabulous, girlie dress. And I'm taking the night off my diet. I'm not going to go hog-wild, but I am going to eat what's offered, not substituting asparagus for sweet potato if that's what's on my plate. I'm looking forward to it! The next morning I plan to go for a long run on the beach. Calories in, calories out.

Still at 128 :)

Here's the latest picture - taken on Monday 6/30, 128lbs. If I look a little dazed, it's because it was 6:15am!

I've been on this new phase (more food!) for 5 days now, and I feel SO much better! I'm running (stairs and/or miles) most days, eating well, and maintaining my weight. Hopefully my muscle tone will come back quickly - I feel a bit soft. My blood pressure is still really low, so I don't look so great most of the time, and I want to lie down a lot. But if I run in the morning and have 3 cups of green tea, I feel buzzed enough to get through most of the day.