I have had a mostly good week. Last week I had a realization that I was letting myself go on the weekends and that it was having a poor effect on all of the effort I have been putting into this process. I was eating out more, I was eating sweets, and it wasn’t just for one day. Well I noticed that my belly was coming back a bit on Monday and it made me upset because I like my body getting smaller, not bigger! This will be my first weekend being on-track. My big hurdles will be:
1. Not eating out when hanging out with Robert’s mom. we always eat out with her. And we always see her every weekend.
2. Working out hard–I sometimes don’t work out at all or don’t work out enough. I plan on going to boot camp tomorrow at 1pm to stay on track.
3. Not allowing my mind to convince me that eating extra sweets is “ok”. I always allow myself desert on the weekend. No more.
I also had an unexpected moment yesterday–I posted a picture of myself at a shopping event and the response from it surprised me–two people commented on there about how good I am looking and then another friend I was chatting with this morning, who hasn’t seen me in about a year, told me I was looking skinny. I love the positive feedback, especially since I am so close to the situation that I don’t see the changes. I am also incredibly hard on myself, so I need the positive feedback from others because I do not give it to myself. It is just so exciting to have this wonderful feedback–it makes me feel great about myself and it makes me want to work harder 🙂 And all of it from an innocent picture I posted, showing my dorky side at a shopping event. It is really nice and it makes me excited for the future!!!
Xine's Battle of Her Bulge 
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I related very well to all of those challenges. For me — and I’ll only say that this is what has worked for me, it may or may not for you — I’ve found that a mentality of denial does not work. Let me present you with some alternatives on all 3 of those issues:
1. Split a meal with Robert (or with his mom, for that matter). Most restaurants serve much too large portions. On top of that, make a health choice about the meal. It doesn’t have to be the healthi-EST choice, just a healthi-ER choice. Choose the grilled chicken with rice rather than the pasta dish. Fish tacos vs. cheese enchiladas. Skip the bread/chips.
2. I can’t say enough good things about this supplement I started taking called moomiyo. It had an instant, dramatic effect on my workouts — increased my weight training by +25% weight, +25% reps, and my cardio by 100%. Most importantly, instead of finishing every workout exhausted and sore the next morning, I finish exhilarated, ready to do more, and NO soreness in the morning. You can read more about my personal experience with it at http://nfn8.com/moomiyoreview (full disclosure: I’m now a distributor for it — HAD to become one after the experience I had with it).
3. It’s all in the desserts you choose. Fresh fruit, yogurt, and a spoonful of honey is OK just about any time. Or have you tried the Weight Watchers cobbler? Amazing, very light, very rich, and delicious: http://www.dietsinreview.com/recipes/weight-watchers-cobbler.
Just sharing some ideas about what’s worked for me. Everyone is different — once you find what works for you, keep doing it (’til it doesn’t any more).
Hey Scott! I really like your reply 🙂 Possibly the longest I have ever gotten!! In reference to your points:
1. When eating out, every weekend, I usually do not match with Robert–he usually likes steak and a baked potato loaded with butter and cheese. Since I have started to heavily look at what protein I put in my body, I prefer chicken and fish over beef. I am not anti beef at alllll but it’s a lifestyle choice I have made at this point. I eat beef about once a week, and it’s delicious! So when I do eat out I stick to salads with chicken or shrimp and have dressing on the side. But even then, I can’t control how the chicken or shrimp is cooked, is it with butter? Probably, considering where I live. I just like to cook my own food, use cooking spray and drain any fat off as I cook. Plus I can measure the amount of cheese or anything else so I can calculate it and put it in my food diary. And it might sound crazy-anal but I notice a big difference in my body when I do this.
2. I have never considered taking a supplement when I go to workout, truth be told. I was very on-the-fence when I started making protein shakes–I was worried about what was in it and when I was supposed to take it and it made me nervous. My body is incredibly sensitive and responds easily to many drugs, so to take a supplement makes me nervous. I am glad it worked for you though!! It must have felt amazing to get that kind of workout and not struggle as badly 🙂 I also don’t mind the pain associated with the workout or afterwards–I like knowing where I worked out the hardest via the growing pains I feel the next day. I also like working out when I am sore because I find I loosen up the best during the workout.
3. As for desserts, I have a very complicated relationship with anything sweet. If I love it, I might not be able to stop at just one. I do love strawberries, bananas, and apples–but I also strategically plan when I eat my fruit in the day, and it is usually in the morning, in-between breakfast and lunch. The cobbler recipe looks VERY yummy–and I did the math, and if I were to get a Duncan Hines Golden Yellow mix and add strawberries, I would be eating about 6 grams of sugar with it (also adjusted it to less than 12 servings because I know myself). I would just need to be veeeery careful and not eat it all the time!! I am so dangerous around sweets. It’s kind of ridiculous!!!!
Have you tried the cobbler? I am seriously tempted to make it this week, now that I have seen the recipe!
You look awesome!! I haven’t seen that picture yet and it’s great! You’re working so hard and the changes are coming. That’s all that matters! Keep it up. 🙂
This blog post gets a 2 thumbs up from me.