I'm Doing It AGAIN!

It's now July 2009, and I'm ready to do HCG for a second time. I'm excited! After the last time, I maintained at about 129 lbs for quite a while... then I went home for Christmas and gained a pound or two, and then I maintained that, but i didn't bother to take it back off. But since I committed to doing this again, I've gained abother 5 pounds! I suspect that some of this is bloat, but still, that's a LOT. My cute little "skinny jeans" are tight! And my body feels uncomfortable.

I had an epiphany last week. I was handing a 15 lb weight to a client, and i thought "This is heavy; I've been carrying this around on my body and I don't want to be!" and then I thought about how many people carry a LOT of extra pounds around, and how tiring that is and how it really weighs people down, physically and emotionally. So to really drive my success home, every time i lose a few pounds I'll pick up the weight in the gym and carry it around for a few minutes, then I'll put it down and enjoy how much better it feels :)

Impossible Goal

I'm back into running - in a big way. When I finished the diet and got back to my real life, I knew I needed a goal to keep me on track. So I started running again, and my goal was the Dana Point Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. But the more I ran, the more miles I was putting in... and suddenly 6 miles was no big deal. The day I ran 8 miles, and felt great afterwards, was the day I realized I needed an impossible goal. So I've decided to run the Long Beach Half-Marathon on October 12. Thirteen point one miles. Utterly ridiculous. Who in their right mind runs that far??

I love going after goals I would have never thought I could achieve. It does wonders for my self-esteem and self-belief. The Kettlebell Instructor course seemed way out of my league, and I trained like a crazy person and when I went there I kicked a**. It changed my view of myself. So now I'm going to do it again in October. I can't wait!

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.

Best Omelet Ever

I'm onto the next phase!

I finished my shots on Thursday, but I had to stay on the 500 calorie diet for two more days. My weight moved between 128 and 129 from Tuesday onwards, due I'm sure to my hormonal cycle. Friday brought particularly bad cramps and a desperate need for some extra protein, which I did not deny myself, so I probably had 600 calories instead of only 500 for those two days, but at least I was able to get to work (barely!).

Today, Sunday, I start the next phase of the diet... and it now includes eggs and I'm able to combine foods in one meal. I've been waiting for this day. I had the best omelet ever this morning! I caramelized some sweet onions, browned mushrooms, and folded them into two beaten eggs with a little fresh basil, some hot peppers (flakes) and sea salt. Barely any calories other than the eggs, and yet so incredibly delicious!

I'm told it's unhealthy to love food so much, and I really am trying to care. I'm not there yet. I'm going to behave myself and stick to the items on the list from Dr Purcell, and not overdo the calories (which you really can't if you stick to the list - lean meats and green veggies, 2 eggs a day, 1/4 cup of nuts, and 1/3 cup brown rice)... but I'm coming up with some great ideas for recipes to make it all as fabulously yummy as possible! Dried spices have been my savior. They can turn even a bowl of steamed cabbage into an appealing lunch.

I was 129lbs this morning, and my waist was just under 28 inches. I'll have to monitor this closely in the days to come to make sure neither one increases. I'll be exercising a lot more than I was able to in the last 4 weeks, which seems to help bring my blood pressure up for the day. That makes me feel a lot better! When my blood pressure is too low, I'm exhausted and dizzy, and I need to lie down. Not ideal for working in a gym!