The Evolution of a Thinner Me

Well who would have thought that quitting smoking, limiting your alcohol in-take to almost null, writing down every morsel of food & drink that enters your body into a journal, not eating fast food on a daily or weekly basis, avoiding pop or any other type of carbonated drinks, eating 3 square meals a day and healthy snacks, a good, consistent workout schedule, support from friends and family, motivation, discipline and desire could actually help you lose weight? Easey Peasey!! I mean, who was the brain behind that magic & why aren’t we all hot supermodels?

Seriously, the only ways that I ever experienced losing weight before was:

1)  I got off birth control and lost 10 lbs… then gained it back within a few weeks

2)  I chose to let another man stomp on my heart for a moment, decided that food was getting in the way of my crying spells and lost 10 lbs… and then gained it back when I realized what a loser he was!! Jeesh! Ha ha…

But now… a new dawn is here… After 4 weeks of starting the Best Life Diet (and 2 weeks of being smoke-free, thankyouverymuch), I finally grabbed the scale from under my bed Friday morning, dusted it off and stood on it (naked) and could barely believe my eyes… In fact, I was on the phone with my best friend Michaelene and I said “I can’t really see (I had my glasses on) but I swear to you, it looks like I lost 6 lbs!” Holy Crap, I lost 6 lbs! The little red needle was right behind the mark of 160. I am now (well, as of Friday morning), 159 lbs and I feel fantabulous about it!! Part of me was really feeling discouraged because I didn’t feel like I’ve lost ANY weight.

Though the girls in the group said I looked thinner, I sure as heck didn’t feel thinner… Mainly because the beer gut is still there… I know it’s the hardest thing to rid of, but it’s the first thing you want to go! I also feel like the belly doesn’t get smaller because I’m sucking it in all the time and nobody can tell what the belly actually looks like except for my alter ego in the mirror every morning when I decide let it loose… it’s kind of like when you’ve got a dog on a leash and then finally you take the leash off and let it run around the park… that’s my belly in the mornings…

So that was Friday and today is Sunday and I’m in Seattle on business, and haven’t stepped foot on the scale since… I travelled all day Friday, worked, had lunch-dinner (I like to call it “linner”) and then went to the Bulls vs. Supersonics basketball game! It was awesome! So great to be among the 15 Chicago Bulls fan in the entire arena! I LOVED IT! And I deserved those 3 lite beers that I drank! I sure did! LOL. Saturday morning comes and we have breakfast and lunch and I ate like a vulcher (because there is food around all the time) and felt like a cow afterwards. But I DID watch my portions (so I like to believe) and kept myself hydrated with loads of water… yay Me!

I then recruited one of my lovely co-workers, Dena, to schedule a workout date this morning at 545am at the hotel’s fitness center. Now mind you, I can BARELY make it to work on time at 9am when I’m at home… for me to go to bed at a decent hour and WAKE up at the crazy crack of dawn to EXERCISE… this is DEFINITELY A FIRST in my 32 years of life to ever do this… I was SO PROUD of myself Dena and I worked out for 46 minutes, concentrating on cardio! It was awesome. I felt great!! I swear to you, it is SO WONDERFUL to have a workout buddy! I had not doubt that she was going to sleep-in, so I knew I had to be there!! Today was the longest work day, and I made sure I ate And eat I did! I had breakfast, a banana for a snack, drank water all day, had a nice lunch, a granola bar for a snack and then chowed down for dinner. And then I went back to the hotel and worked out AGAIN! I am getting addicted, it’s crazy!

I just don’t want to slip this week while I’m not at home and away from the group and my family and friends (my support systems), so I am relying on myself to be mindful of what I eat, and to be sure to incorporate fitness into my day, at least 20 minutes of cardio - don’t think I’m doing crazy weight reps, or running miles on the treadmill… Just 20 minutes of a good speed and incline, and I’m good to go !!

So, now I am more than ready for Phase II of the Best Life Diet! Ok, so not really more than ready, I have to make time to re-read the chapter on Phase II, but from what I remember, it’s about boosting up my activity level (check), paying more attention to calories (working on check, because numbers are intimidating and I hate reading labels), and understanding the nature of the beast called my hunger (check)… I am getting ready, baby!!

Life is good this week… I’ve lost 6 lbs and there is no way I am gaining those suckers back! No refunds, no exchanges, no re-gifting! My dear friends, if I can LOSE this bit of weight in just a few weeks time, YOU CAN TOO!! But it really does take a lot of work… but anything worth having is definitely worth fighting for… I know you all are WORTH your BEST LIFE… you just have to go out there and FIGHT for it!! (Rocky theme song is blaring in the background… LOL)

Ok, I’ve written enough… but I’m so excited

‘Til Tuesday my friends…

~ cecilia