Healthy Twists

Tonight I had spicy turkey meatloaf (sans bacon) and a big salad with balsamic vinegar for dinner. A small piece of the meatloaf and a giant salad.

It. Was. Amazing. Probably because I haven’t had it in twelve weeks.

Now that I’m on my own for my meal plans, it’s honestly a little weird. I’m doing…ok with it so far. I know a part of me is rebelling over the diet I’ve been on for three months and I’ve definitely eating my fair share of crap over the past few days. I mentioned this on Twitter, but in a weird way, I think I need a (short! let’s hope) period of indulgence, to see that the world won’t come to an end if I eat a thousand tortilla chips one night. But the times I have splurged, honestly, I didn’t feel very good after, so that alone is reason to stick to the healthy food.

People have asked me, “now that you’re done with your program, what are you going to to do maintain it?” And in my last post, Gina asked if I had built in some “wiggle room” to gain a few pounds back once I go back to a more moderate eating/exercise program.

The answers are, “I’m not totally sure” and “well…yes and no.” I’m sure I will gain a few pounds of the 11 that I lost, and while I’d like to ideally lose 5 or so more, I’m at the point where I need to just…live. I want to be healthy and keep up with working out, but I’m tired of focusing so much on weight loss. I need brain space for other things…like work, my writing, my family. You know, those things that are actually more important than the size of my jeans.

There are some really good things that I learned about myself and habits that I picked up during the past 12 weeks. There were also some bad habits. My goal is in with the good, out with the bad.

First, the bad:

• I’ve read a lot (ok, maybe two or three) bloggers talking about their relationship with the scale. Like many girls, I used to be a daily (ok, multiple times a day, in the “bad” period) weigher, then once a week, sometimes not for months, etc. But on this program, I was weighing myself more than I should have been…probably 4 times a week. I just HAD to know how I was doing, and of course it messed with my brain. So, I’m going to try really hard to give the scale a break. I might pick up a pair of pants that are a little too snug and use that as a measurement, or just go on how I feel. It’s going to be really hard, but I think I need to break-up with my scale, for at least a month. I don’t have people in my life who mess with my emotions; so I need not have electronic equipment that does it either.
• I didn’t talk a lot about the food I was eating, but I can tell you, it was really high in protein and pretty low in carbs and healthy fat, on most days. This made me tired and, I think, was poor fuel for the activity I was doing. No one needs to eat 2 scoops of protein powder a day, plus lots of chicken, egg whites, grilled chicken, and tuna.
• Also, the calories we were told to eat were just not adequate, in my untrained opinion. On one hand, it worked, but on the other hand, I was truly miserable about 95% of the time. I can create a moderate calorie deficit for weight loss through healthy eating and working out without being super hungry and grumpy.
• Tea is not food. Mints are not food. But when I was legitimately hungry, I drank tea and ate mints to trick my mind until it was time to eat. And that wasn’t fun, or healthy.

Phew. That was a lot. I hope my trainer doesn’t read this but if he does, I’m just giving my opinion on his program. Again, it worked, but weight loss at the cost of mental sanity is never OK.

But now, the good:

• Somewhere over the past 12 weeks, I discovered something. I love exercise. I love getting sweaty, love pushing my body to lift harder or give just a little more in that cardio session. I’d be lying if I said part of the reason I work out wasn’t to burn calories, but it’s so much more than that for me, and I want to keep that feeling alive by working out consistently and at a challenging level, for me.
• Running! I hit the 5-miles mark this weekend, and that was a great feeling.
• I want to continue strength training. I did 10 “real” push-ups yesterday! I don’t think I’ve ever done more than 2 before. I feel strong and healthy, and I want to stay that way.
• I also want to make sure I have enough protein in my diet, despite what I said before. I’m a carb girl, but I want to make sure my meals have enough protein to keep me full and keep my muscles growin’. It’s something that’s easy to let lag if I don’t pay attention.
• I realized just how addicted I am to sugar and how yucky, instantly, I feel when I have too much. I’d like to use that info to keep my sweets intake in check. I’ll keep you posted.
• All I need for salad dressing is balsamic vinegar (if there is fat elsewhere in my meal). Yum!
• Water, water, water. True, I was drinking water to mask real hunger, but I was drinking a ton of water (and tea) and I felt really good. I want to keep that up. And luckily my office is right by the bathroom.
• Smaller portions. I used my kitchen scale to measure out 4 oz of chicken or 6 oz of yogurt, and I want to stick with that. It’s too easy to overdo it when really, 4 oz  of meat is all I need at a meal to feel satisfied (TWSS…huh?).
• Spicy oats! So good. Never would have tried it before. Slightly obsessed now.
• And lastly, EGGS! I hated eggs before and now I love them (see above). This makes me really happy because eggs are such a cheap source of protein when I don’t want to eat meat. They are so easy to make, although Mitch is way better of a egg chef than I am. Case in point:

This was brunch yesterday. Not pictured are the sticky buns that Mitch’s mom brought over and I ate pretty much all day long. See the my first paragraph. We get her sticky buns about twice a year; I think she puts crack in them. But anyway, this was one egg, two egg whites, pico de gallo, jalapenos, and avocado and it was AMAZING. And I felt really good eating it.

And for the blog? More cooking, more food! Recipe reviews, restaurant adventures, sharing articles/random thoughts, and all the fun times of the upcoming holiday season. I need fun.

I don’t have a question tonight, I guess I just needed to vent and put my thoughts on this experience in perspective. I’m really glad I did it…but I’m even more glad that it’s over. If you read this whole post, you deserve a prize! Oh and if you want to see my before and after pics, email me and I’ll send them. I don’t mind sharing but I don’t want to post pics online of me in a sports bra and shorts…who knows who reads this thing!

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