One month ago I began a whole new wellness strategy. I had tried all the diets: Weight Watchers, South Beach, keeping a food diary, and had even paid a whole lot for a shnazzy nutritionist. Each time I tried something new, I lost a few pounds, only to gain it back a few months later. Even though I had dieted pretty thoroughly, I had never given regular exercise a shot. I would intermittently jump on my elliptical machine, or take a leisurely walk around Cattle Call, more to take a break from household duties than for any kind of attempt at improved fitness.
But this time is different. This time, I hired a personal trainer, joined a class-heavy, strength training focused gym, and the results have been amazing. I now work out three to four times per week for an hour. Twice a week I meet with my trainer, who is something of a guru in the Crossfit world. He takes working out extremely seriously, and places a huge emphasis on proper form and workout intensity. I believe his motto may just be, "If you are not close to throwing up by the end of the workout, you haven't really worked out." It may not be, but that's pretty much the result for me. I'm exaggerating a little, but I do feel totally wiped out after my twice weekly workouts. I usually have to run out to my car afterwards to re-fuel with a protein shake to quell my shaky stomach.
After a week or so of intense workouts, I began keeping track of every morsel of food in a food journal. The food journal is required by my trainer. He looks at my food and makes dark circles in pencil around the "bad" stuff. For example, the second time I went to a training session, he encircled my confession of "two balls of chocolate chip cookie dough" with a large dark mark. He encouraged me to look into getting on the Zone diet, and I did. I bought the book on Amazon for about $2, and after skipping the scientific stuff, got down to the meat of the plan, and understood the basics in a few days. Basically out go the sugars, and in go the vegetables! I weigh and measure my food, and write it all down. In order to be in the Zone, one has to have a certain balance of protein, carbohydrates, and fats. It is all very precise and individualized for each person.
A typical breakfast for me now is 3/4 cup of egg substitute scrambled with a whole mess of vegetables like onion, bell peppers, spinach, and salsa on top. For the fat, I usually add a tablespoon or so of light cheese on top. I have a salad or half a sandwich for lunch on most days, always with 3 ounces of protein and a small amount of fat accompanying. A now favorite afternoon snack is two vine ripened tomatoes, sliced, with 1/2 cup of low fat cottage cheese and one tablespoon of guacamole. Delicious! Dinner is another three ounces of protein, a large green salad, and a pile of veggies. I usually have a cup of raspberries or strawberries for dessert. This plan is super filling and very doable. However, I have never had to shop so often!! We are taking trips to the grocery store, mainly Costco, every few days to fill up on fresh produce and meats.
Believe it or not, even the kids are slowly taking to this new way of eating. Tonight for dinner they had hamburger, onion, and black bean burritos with sauteed squash and steamed carrots. The only one who complained, Gigi, went to her room for complaining, then came out a new person, and ate her entire dinner, now cold, without a hiccup!
I can go off the Zone one day per week, and believe it or not, it is not as much fun anymore. I have such a hard time getting back on the next day, that it hardly seems worth it....at this point. I know it's very early in the game! I do still have a sweet tooth. Usually at night, which has always been my weakest point, I want to reach for something sweet. While in Julian lately, I bought some really delicious hot tea flavors, like coconut vanilla dessert tea, and hazelnut. Most of the time that cup of hot tea will do the trick to stave off that craving.
I have lost 10 pounds so far, and I am thrilled beyond words! It took a whole lot of work to get here, but it was worth it! All the sacrifice and sweat to achieve this weight loss motivates me to not go back and regress. I have about 15 more pounds to go, but according to my trainer I am not supposed to think in terms of numbers on the scale. I can't help it! He wants me to think in terms of inches and body fat percentage. I guess I am just over the moon at this point at how much better my clothes are fitting, how I don't get out of breath as easily, and how my trainer now calls me, "tough." Life is good! And now, I'd better put my kettle to boil, it's time for some tea!
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