Yes, yes, I think it is.

Eating healthy and light seems to be doing the trick this go around. I think my active metabolism is also getting efficient at burning off the calories. I’m about to finish off the second week of the restricted diet and so far I’ve burned about 2 pounds a week. If I keep up this trend, I’ll be two pounds lighter than my lowest point two months ago (about 144lbs in May).

I’ve been scrutinizing food labels, measuring my meals with my trusty food scale, and making healthier decisions when dining out. I’ve been staying away from the buffets and the AYCE style restaurants (oh Brazilian BBQ how I miss it), the fried foods and burgers, skipping rice and eating smaller Asian/Chinese food portions. I’ve steered clear of cheese and dairy (not so hard since I generally get by without it), watched my sugar intake (though I still drink juices and eat fruit), skipped carbs unless they’re whole grain, and made more low- or non-fat choices. Lately, I’ve developed a taste for non-fat sweet (not tart) chocolate yogurt at a shop down the street.

I see green a whole lot more. Generally I eat a lot of vegetables with my meals: broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, gai lan, spinach, edamame, and brussel sprouts. But I’ve been eating salads for lunch nearly every work day and not sneaking out  for a fast food lunch. This healthy midday meal seems to have the most impact on my rapid weight loss.

Tomorrow I have a doctor’s appointment to get some bloodwork done. Next week is evaluation week at Peak Body Transformation. I’m looking forward to seeing the results.

Did I mention my fiance is doing this 4 week diet with me? It was his idea after all. However, he’s not seeing much movement on the scale and getting slightly discouraged. He’s got a lot more weight to lose (about 40-60lbs) and hasn’t gotten into a regular fitness regimen. I hope he makes some progress soon; mens big and tall clothing sure is expensive!

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I started this journey end of last year with some rather unrealistic goals in mind. I think whenever people begin something new, there’s always that sense of embarking on high adventure and achieving dramatic results.

For example, I figured by the time I was two months in I’d be rock climbing, running a 5k, down 2 dress sizes, participating in a couple of mud runs, sporting some killer abs and shoulders, and ready to compete in body-bikini competitions.

Reality check: yeah…that didn’t happen.

My blog subtitle has seen a couple of rewrites since the beginning. As time went by, reality began to take hold.

The sobering fact is: you can’t change a body overnight. Not without consequences. At 40+ I was not ready to go on a starvation diet just to force my physical self to conform to an unhealthy body image.

Also, I didn’t foresee several months ago that my job would take a stressful turn as I received more projects; nor did I anticipate that I’d have a harder time working out as the weather started getting unbearably hot. Or that my body suddenly decided to go on a binge after a hormone surge 2-3 weeks ago.

Luckily, I have enough presence of mind to realize the direction I was headed back in and started to curb my appetites. I’m slowly inserting some changes back into my diet to get back on track.

It really is harder to create rather than destroy. It takes a few seconds to undo all the hard work I’ve done in several weeks time. Even with daily exercise, the body just cannot expend enough calories if I decided to scarf down a half dozen blueberry cake donuts in the morning.

Lately, I’ve been trying to reprogram my thoughts on food and eating. I really do like food, but I’m trying to alter my perceptions of what goes into my mouth at mealtimes. Is it really worth the extra calories eating something that tastes mediocre? I really shouldn’t stuff my face with filler especially if it makes less room for the foods I really want to eat. And the foods I SHOULD be eating are not only tasty but healthy. Versus the tasty, but crappy foods. 

So that’s where I am, seven months into PBT, trying to make mindful decisions on what goes into my body. I don’t know if people get to this point sooner or later in their quest for a healthier self, so I wonder if I’m slower than the majority of folks who come to this conclusion. Better late than never?

I’m a few pounds heavier than I was in early May prior to my trip to the beach. I hope that it won’t take me quite as long to get back to that weight, now that I know how to get there. 

Yes, we all get derailed on occasion, but what counts is that we get back on track.

Boom, get moving!

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