So several days into my “lifestyle upgrade”, I crashed...my computer that is! I'm not naming any names, but a certain one of my friends came over and visited a certain website. Minutes later, my files started erasing, I couldn't log onto the internet, and my whole world - at least the portion that involves my revered laptop - ended abruptly. But a week and a computer expert later, I'm back up and running! ...and as for my working toward my goals…
I'm still going strong!
I got on a scale today and discovered to my happiness that I'm down 11 pounds!!! Now I've encountered a few skeptics who say that what I'm doing isn't going to be permanent because I'm losing weight too quickly, so I feel that now is a great time to provide a disclaimer:
I'm young and metabolistic (in case you're wondering...I made that word up), I'm focused on my goals, and I have pretty good genes. My mother was a 96-pound fitness instructor (until she had children), and my father was a career soldier, who ran regularly and is to this day fit and lean. Yes, I'm losing weight quickly, but that is because I have been exercising regularly, eating clean most of the time, and thanking God daily for the great genes that were given to me by my health-conscious parents. Every body is different. Mine just happens to give a little less push back when I put my mind to being healthier.
Now that is not to say that the journey thus far has been without struggle. I lost my mind four days ago when a vendor came to my job with a box of Dunkin Donuts. Just seeing that colorful array of glazed goodness in front of me made my mouth water, and my goals vanish. But I didn't eat one.
I ate two.
Actually, that's sort of an exaggeration. I ate half of one, and then had the will power to toss it in the trash. …Then I ate half of another, and gave the other half to my coworker. Either way though, I could not seem to resist the power of those damn donuts.
Quite often I seek the advice of my fit friends – I would strongly recommend that anyone who’s trying to permanently lose weight do the same. I've noticed that I seem to want something sweet in the afternoon, and I wanted answers. I was advised (in the best way that I can possibly explain), that this is because I'm on a low carb diet, but carbs break down into sugars, and since I’m cutting out both sugar and carbs, my body is screaming for some form of sugar. This may or may not be correct, but hey - it sounds good to me. So I've begun buying plain M&Ms (my fav), and mixing half a bag with assorted nuts. The nuts fill me up quicker, while the M&Ms satisfy my need for sugar, without overdoing it. Other days, I'll have a 90 calorie fiber one bar, and others, some form of fruit. I'm trying to be realistic, and realistically I know that I will not go the rest of my life eating only the best foods for my body. But if I eat mostly the best foods for my body, there is definitely a bit of wiggle room.
As for exercise...
I must say- Ms. Shalene Johnson is a BEAST!! I would recommend TurboFire to everybody and their mother. I've worked out every day since I started except one, and my stamina, flexibility, energy and confidence have increased dramatically. Remember, it has only been two weeks! I rejoined my gym yesterday and decided to hang up TurboFire for today, instead opting to work out at the gym. This morning, I worked out for 15 minutes on a stair climber - the kind with the small pedals that you have to lightly jog on to keep from sinking to the floor. Before now, 15 minutes would have been unheard of! I sweat profusely but didn't feel like I was going to die. Then I worked on various weight machines for 40 minutes.
Then...
I went back to the gym in the evening, did a 1 hour hip hop aerobics class and aside from the trainers, I was the only one who didn't tap out at some point. Immediately following, I took an abs and core class - tapped out a couple of times there, but at least I've discovered an area of opportunity. Then I ran for 10 minutes straight on the treadmill. All of this would have been completely unheard of prior to starting TurboFire. If you're wondering about it, all I can say is
DO IT DO IT DO IT! It is the BEST money I have ever spent!!
And as for food, I'm sure you don't want a breakdown of everything I've eaten over the past week or more. But I will say that I had a moment of weakness last week, when I started to think that my diet was unrealistic, and that I wasn't eating foods that I enjoy. Then I went to a market near my house called Milk and Honey that sells lots of organic, specialty and local items. I found an asian chile marinade that was fat free and low in carbs. I'm no Rachel Ray, but just using what I had in the house, I made the best meal I have had in my entire fucking life.
I rubbed about 2 teaspoons of marinade on a tilapia filet, then sprinkled a little crushed black pepper on it. I pan seared the tilapia, and when it had roughly 3 minutes left to cook, I topped it with baby spinach, a little more black pepper and a touch - just a touch- of season salt. I then put a lid on it. 3 minutes later, I put the lightly wilted spinach on my plate, topped it with the tilapia filet, and also ate a little cucumber salad that I prepared the night before using just a cucumber, a red onion, and lite vinaigrette. It was spectacular, and completely renewed my hope in the fact that eating clean can be more appetizing than a whopper with bacon and cheese.
Tonight I'm making soup. I purchased organic black bean soup in one of those boxes, and I'm adding B/S chicken, fresh diced tomato, diced jalepenos (not fresh- I wanted to use what I have in the house), and fresh chopped cilantro. My friend is coming over for dinner, so I’ll top hers with a little cheese, but I'm guessing it'll be fabulous even without.
So, that's it! I'm 2 weeks in, 11 pounds down and feeling fucking fabulous!
I've decided that I may not blog daily. I'm getting into the busy season at work which means staying later, I'm still managing theOUTguide.com, and I'm working out and preparing all of my meals daily, so things are a tad busy currently. But I'll be back throughout the week to tell you how it's going!
Good night : *
