When I started my quest on Ash Wednesday, February 17th, to honor GOD with my body, I believed that the hardest challenge before me was my early morning workout.
I was wrong.
Today is March 21st. My scale has moved a total of 7 measley pounds. Trying not to get my hopes up, knowing that this weight loss was due primarily to water loss, I looked eagerly towards week two.
Week two resulted in zero pounds. Such was the case in week three. Now we are into week four and my scale refuses to move from that spot. It's digital and it won't bunch even a fraction of an ounce. What's worse is... seven isn't even my luck number... that's five!!! I am sure I broke my scale. Maybe my body is broken???
I am not naive enough the think that I am exempt from the dreaded plateau... but thinking back, I'm not sure that I see where I've done anything wrong.
- I am eating three regular meals a day (most days) with two snacks.
- I am still preparing clean, wholesome meals using the best ingredients available, including lots of organically grown fresh fruits and vegetables with grass fed meats and free range poultry.
- I have stayed away from refined sugars and white flour, incorporating whole grains into my diet.
- I have even shied away from dairy, and even though my allergies love the results, my taste buds are missing the wine and cheese pairings. (But the wine is still fabulous!)
- I have even been fairly consistent with my workouts- 45 to 60 minutes of cardio each day, and incorporated some weight training.
Out of sheer depression brought on by frustration, I boycotted the gym and decided to splurge on my favorite Italian red wine and my favorite "Pacific Veggie" pizza from Domino's. After all, their commercials are boasting about how they have revamped their recipes are using the freshest ingredients available. It sounded and tasted like a good idea at the time. Temporarily, I felt much better. After waking up out of my fog, but still depressed and now guilty for the self-sabotage. I need to get down to the root of the problem. I need a solution, and I was on the verge of giving up... AGAIN!
I've mentioned many times before, after receiving the wonderful birthday gift of a subscription to "CLEAN EATING MAGAZINE" from my dearest "Twin Girlfriend," I was hooked! Its principles were certainly one that I could live with and the recipes were equally as fabulous. They were also easy to pair with all of my favorite wines, which made them even more enjoyable. Shortly thereafter, I purchased the book "THE EAT CLEAN DIET RECHARGED." As I flipped through its colorful pages, I remembered thinking how much fun this was going to be. I didn't have time to thoroughly read through it then, so I put it on the shelf. This was where it remained until I decided to pick it up again on Friday night while enjoying my wine and pizza.
I've had the book for months, but I am now just reading it for the first time. It's amazing what happens when you actually take the time to read, instead of admiring all of the beautiful photography! The first thing that popped out at me was the fact that the majority of the recipes restrict the use of sugars of any kind. While I've never been a fan of white sugar, or sugar substitutes like "Splenda" or "Equal", I found it quite easy to replace those with turbinado, agave, or honey. I loved it so much better.
Another major point noted was portion control. This is something I've always been aware of, but never like to do! I've never been a fan of measuring my food, so as long as my protein portion was about the size of my palm, who cares if I load up on the veggies... right??? WRONG! Especially when the lifestyle advocates SIX SMALLER MEALS vs the three larger meals and two smaller snacks I was enjoying previously. It's all about consistently stimulating your metabolism, while preventing hunger.
In short, I now understand that it's not just about WHAT you put in your body, but WHEN you put it in and HOW. For me this means black coffee or tea, agave free oatmeal, strawberry wine salad dressing without honey and no chicken or fish with my favorite homemade ginger-mango chutney. It will also mean introducing a few new items I've never tried before, such as kefir, and bee pollen. This means quite a few minor changes in clean eating lifestyle, at least temporarily.
Here goes GOD again, re-enforcing his message of "Unexpected Challenges." The foodie I am says that I am up for this new food adventure... and it should be interesting. I just hope this will fix my scale!
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