6/3/09 I've busted thru

I'm feeling great today!  I had a great yoga class this week and a really good workout in the gym, as well.  I've broken thru my 'glass floor' and my current weight is now 178.  I cannot remember the last time I weighed under 180 - it's been a while.

Food-wise, I don't remember anything specific but I didn't feel as if I'd eaten so great over the weekend.  Fitday.com is still holding my information and I'm actually not consuming more than around 1600 calories.  This week - I've unintentionally had 3 salads in a row, although very different in nature.  One was basically just some spinach with red onions and some grilled salmon and a vinaigrette dressing (restaurant construction) - very tasty!!!  Then I had a big salad (constructed myself) with spinach, peppers, onions, pine nuts, some shredded parmesan and olive oil.  Last night my husband wanted a salmon salad for dinner, so I basically did a re-run of my other homemade salad, but had shallots instead of normal sweet onion, I added one of those packets of salmon - from the canned fish aisle (but NOT from a can, it was in a packet), avocado, and some small sticks of cheddar cheese added as well.  I feel satisfied eating that way.  Most people complain about salads being rabbit food, but I really love big salads with tons of stuff in them.  I'm eating Super Foods this way and it's very tasty and satisfying.  I admit I do broil up some good italian bread and drizzle a bit of olive oil on it for a little bit of added 'roughage'.  Plus, I love carbs and that's pretty much the only weakness I've allowed myself to have lately.

I'm trying to eat less red meat, too.  I always buy the 97% fat free ground beef in the store but I notice my body just doesn't really seem to care for red meat.  I'm a lot less run down than I used to be, and I don't get that food coma that I used to when I'd eat red meat meals.  I can't cut it out altogether though - my husband is still a red meat eater and I don't feel it's fair for me to force my eating habits upon him.  He's been REALLY great with all the other changes I've made to our meals thus far, so I don't want to take his one last shred of "man food" away from him.  For how little of it we eat these days...I can suffer thru it for him every once in a while.  I just load up on veggies for that meal and eat less red meat.

I've been realizing more an more that I'm not on a diet.  I'm changing my entire lifestyle.  It's still quite scary to me though - as I tend to shy away from alcohol now because I know it turns to sugar.  Also, one person in my life is always telling me not to deprive myself and you have to treat yourself every now and then.  Unfortunately she tends to use this excuse to eat whatever she wants and I'll not go down that road, myself.  I feel as though if I cave on one thing, I'm going to want more of it, and it's just easier to avoid the temptation - even if just a "treat" in small doses.  For example, my cousin and I are taking a road trip this weekend to her hometown - which just happens to have a non-chain burger joint with the best (and most fatteningly disgusting) burgers I've ever had in my life.  They taste soooo good, and they're actually small burgers.  Previously when we'd make this road trip, we'd buy a bag full of burgers (like 10 of them) and just munch on them on our drive home.  This time though, I'm scared to go to this city because of the burgers at this place.  She's already suggested we treat ourselves to one while we're there, but I've refused because I know how it will turn out.  Fitday.com is actually helping me with this, because of that realization that I don't want to see 4 cheeseburgers in my food list for one day.  Holding myself accountable for my food consumption has been an amazing strategy so far.  I can't say I'll keep it up forever, but once the lifestyle is more engrained in me, I think I will need to rely on the food journal less.

Workouts have been going well.  It's amazing how I've changed in the past few months.  I run a few miles on an elliptical machine 3-4 times a week and do yoga one day, as well.  I've seen drastic improvements in my elliptical work, and my yoga abilities. On the elliptical, I'm now able to push myself to go further in a shorter timeframe and on a good tension level.  I'm getting less winded too.  In yoga, I'm developing much more strength and flexibility than I previously had.  I can hold positions longer, aI can do the more difficult positions, and I'm able to move my body in ways I previously couldn't.  This weekend, since my cousin and I are going away I'd been fretting over missing my Friday and Saturday workouts.  I've since scoped out the hotel online and found that they have a fitness center, so I'll be bringing my workout gear along for the weekend.  My how times change.  A year ago, I would've never in a million years been able to fathom traveling with workout gear.  Now - it worries me to think of a weekend without a workout.  I really want to keep hammering on my progress.  I feel like I've come too far be willing to let things slide, and not far enough to be able to take a break from the routine without it having consequences on my progress. 

In the meantime, this blog is very cathartic for me.  It's almost a shame that I'm too chicken to actually publish for more people to see - as others might find it helpful in their own endeavors, as well.  I guess what I said from the start holds true though - I'm doing this for me, no one else.