Friday, October 23, 2009

Day 21, 22 & 23: Hello, Clavicles!

Wow I have been wanting to post for the past two days, but as I've been dealing with a poor sick Baby Girl (she has a nasty cold) coupled with all the running and late night yoga classes, I have just not been able to find the time. Finally sitting down at my computer and catching up!

So two nights ago I was at yoga, and my mat was square in front of the mirror. I'm such a narcissist! As I was sitting cross-legged with my palms on my knees, I looked at my reflection. I could have sworn I saw a faint hint of muscle tone in my arms. My waist might have seemed a wee bit smaller than it did a couple of weeks ago. And what's this? I saw some old friends I haven't seen in a long, long time... My clavicles! After hiding under a layer of fat for a couple of years now, my clavicles are emerging triumphant once again and my chest now has some definition. Granted, those lovely clavicles are only just starting to peek out, but yup, there they are! The Plan is working. My body is indeed (slowly) changing shape. I'm loving it!

The weight loss has continued to go very well this week - I've lost a little over 2 pounds since Sunday - but I'm sure that I must just be experiencing a lovely windfall that will be short lived and not indicative of the general trend. I kinda think that's how weight loss goes. In fits and starts.

Tomorrow is Cheat Day! Oh how I adore you, Cheat Day! Here's what I'm planning to indulge in:
-a hot crusty roll with butter (maybe for breakfast with a cup of tea?)
-take-out Indian food for dinner (I am craving my favourite chickpea dish)
-that gosh darn Pumpkin Pie Blizzard from DQ. You know the one. The one I should have had last cheat day. It's my obsession of late.
Other than that, we'll just see how the day flows! So excited.

I swear, Cheat Day is the best thing I could have ever imagined. It works so well for my purposes. How? Why?
Because:
1. Obviously, it's lovely to satiate my cravings and enjoy some delicious food (especially those that are challenging to fit into a low calorie regime).
2. It's a chance, once a week, for me to practice eating like a real person who is not on a diet.
3. It keeps me motivated and strong through the rest of the week because I never feel deprived and I know if I want something I only need to wait until the next Cheat Day to have it. I think I very well may have given up on The Plan long ago because I would have felt deprived, would have probably started resenting The Plan, indulged, lost focus, felt bad about myself, continued indulging, vicious cycle...
4. Everyone deserves a break.
5. I can eat whatever strikes my fancy and I don't have to weigh, measure, or record anything. The only thing that's not allowed on cheat day is guilt. And you know what? The worst I've had so far was some of those 100 calorie snack packs and a monster bowl of cereal. And it was Special K at that. I almost feel like because I can have anything, I feel like I don't need to eat a bunch of crap. Does that make any sense? Of course, even if I did eat a bunch of crap, that's OK! It's Cheat Day! It's all good.
6. And no matter how much I eat on Cheat Day (and honestly, usually I'm pretty well behaved because I'm running on a week's worth of momentum), I really don't gain more than a pound - if even that - and most of it is probably just due to too much sodium the day before anyway. Think about it: I would have to eat an additional 3500 calories, over an above what my body requires in a day, to gain even a pound. That's not very easy to do in one day. It's not like I'm going to go out and eat 5 Burger King Whoppers (which would be about 3000 calories). I guess my point is that one day - heck, one WEEK - of anything really doesn't make that much of a difference either way. In my opinion, the key to weight loss success is consistency, not perfection.

Ironic that Cheat Day actually helps to keep me focused on my diet, eh?

On to some food. Here are my lunches from the last two days.

Wednesday's lunch was:Some fat free peach Activia yogurt, black plums and cinnamon with a side of whole wheat toast with almond butter. I needed to eat something that would sustain me through a run and a yoga class, so I put together this meal. It was just OK. I wish I would have had plain yogurt instead of the Activia because the fake-peach taste just did not work very well with the plums. But the addition of the almond buttered toast sure was tasty. And the meal as a whole did work as planned - I was full but not overly so and my energy was high through both my workouts with nary a hunger pang in site.

Thursdays lunch was:A chicken salad sandwich and cherry tomatoes. The chicken was leftover spicy BBQ marinated, and instead of celery, I employed some leftover aspargus in the chicken salad mix. It was really good. This whole lunch was delicious and truthfully I'm surprised it turned out so well because Baby Girl was just starting to feel sick and and being very surly while I was making it and I was absolutely starving by the time I sat down. I can't even believe I had the wherewithal to take a picture! I will be having a repeat of this lunch today, I think.

It's rainy and grey today, Baby Girl is still sick and I'm starting to feel a tickle in the back of my throat. I have decided to take the day off from exercise and just take it easy tonight. I've got the fire going and I'm already in my pajamas and it's only 2:30pm. Nothing like a lazy day at home to warm the soul. Now, if someone would just come over with some low-calorie chicken soup and crackers I'd be all set.

1 comment:

Mimi said...

Yay, keep it up!

Actually, if you are in a deficit, you NEED refeeds to keep your hormones regulated.

And enjoy every little bite of that Blizzard!