I have lost ... wait for it ... 18 pounds and 9.5% body fat! I now weight 130 lbs and am at 16.6% body fat. Those two sentences keep running through my mind and I still can't wrap my brain around it. I had no idea this was possible, nor probable on this diet. If you read my earlier posts you will note that losing weight was a side benefit of this whole adventure and not something I was depending on. Hoping for it, yes but definitely not convinced it would happen. When I worked with a trainer in my early 20's I got down to 135 lbs and about 19% body fat. Since then those numbers have been like the holy grail of fitness for me: Always reached for yet ever unattainable.
I am now in the best shape of my life without a doubt and weigh less than at any other point in my adult life. The last time I saw 130 pounds was probably when I was 16 and riding my bike 30 miles a day to get to work. Here's a picture to show what I looked like 2 weeks ago (I've since lost a few more pounds and those jeans are now a bit big on me):
Here's a 'before' picture to compare:
Common staples of my diet are:
Breakfast:
- Erewhon Brown Rice Crisp cereal mixed with millet puffs, unsweetened almond milk (Blue Diamond), and about 10 drops of stevia.
- 'Superfood' Shake: Sunwarrior vegan brown rice protein, Alfalfa Juice Powder (which is a super green powder that's crazy healthy, similar to spirulina), Galactan (a high-fiber probiotic and intestinal support powder), Shelled Hemp Seeds (delicious and high in Omega 3's and protein), Northern wild blueberries (very low in fructose, extremely high in antioxidants), unsweetened almond milk and stevia.
- I will substitute these occasionally with a big egg scramble with red peppers, onions, scallions, natural chicken sausage, and goat cheese.
Snack:
- Still eating my green apples with raw almond butter, as well as almond slivers, or blue corn chips. The other day I made sun-dried tomato hummus and ate that with red pepper slices, cucumbers, and blue corn chips. Every once in awhile I'll have popcorn with melted ghee in the evenings to curb my craving for evening snacking.
Lunch:
- Rotisserie chicken chopped up in a big salad. Lettuce, cucumber, red pepper, red onion, goat cheese, scallions, and steamed green beans all get thrown in. And of course the salad dressing I've described in earlier posts is still my go-to.
- I love chopping sweet potatoes into 'fries' and cooking them up with ghee and salt. It's so good it really does feel like I'm cheating. I'll do this when I'm shorter on time and throw an all natural chicken sausage into the pan when they're almost done. Got to have my protein.
- Today I skipped my super shake for breakfast and ended up having it for lunch after my workout.
Dinner:
- Chicken stir-fry with mixed veggies cooked in olive oil, brown rice, acorn squash, or sweet potato to go with. Sometimes it's just the stir-fry if I'm too lazy to make anything else. Oftentimes Jason will cook up a big stir-fry for him and the kids and just pull out a portion of it before adding in his usual sugary sauces. It's pretty plain that way but it hits the spot.
- Occasionally we'll have fish such as cod instead of chicken and I'll eat that with a big pile of veggies.
I really need to change up some things very soon before I start to hate everything on my list. I can eat the same thing every day for a long time, but then I can't touch it again for about a year. I'd like to switch things up before that happens so I can continue to eat these healthy foods for a long time. Doing so requires time and effort however, and motivation. Time of course is always the issue, as you can tell by how long it's been since I've last blogged. As I sit typing this I'm having to calm my inner nag. She's telling me my kitchen is a disaster, the baby's toys are everywhere, the carpets need to be vacuumed, and I have to be awake in 7 hours. Oh, and I need to get my food ready for tomorrow because that 6am session comes very early and I won't want to do it in the morning.
The last couple of days I've been struggling with feeling bloated, as well as thinking I might be gaining some weight back. It's probably just my fear talking because I'm terrified of going the wrong direction now that I feel so great. My husband thinks I'm nuts, so maybe I am. I'm going to try on some clothes and see how they fit and do a couple of measurements to compare to the last ones that were done. That will tell me conclusively if my imagination is getting out of hand. I also started taking candida pills that are a very powerful medicine to kill yeast. This could be causing some kind of stomach issue that's making me bloated. I'll ask my diet guru of a mother if she dealt with the same thing.
Well, it's now officially way past my bedtime so I'm signing off. As always let me know if you have any questions and comments are appreciated.
Ciao!
Tiffany
