Happy Valentine’s Day!

Yes, it’s a little late but wanted to say it just the same.

I must admit, my saboteur, Mark (husband) just had to celebrate the day with chocolate! He said “it’s tradition, one piece won’t hurt, and you can exercise extra today)! I could have passed up anything except Godiva white chocolate! Thanks babe?! So yes, I treated myself to 2 pieces, one in the morning and one that night and he ate all the rest. My indulgence cost me 105 calories, 1 gm protein and 11 carbs. I won’t beat myself up about it, just recognized it and moved on. Hope all of you had a loving and happy day.

I can’t believe it’s been 4 weeks already. Had a phone consult with Claire and now we will move to every 2 weeks. I must say, I will have a lot saved up in 2 weeks to discuss, but she is always available by e-mail and phone, so I am comforted.
I have gotten in to a routine now with food choices and exercise. This is a good thing, as I have lost 8 lbs. in the past month. Yea me! But, (there’s always a but isn’t there?) routine for me leads to boredom and with boredom comes diverting back to old habits. Remember that wiggle room I mentioned before? I’ll wiggle those 8 lbs. right back on!

So I tapped into Claire’s wealth of knowledge. This week we discussed emergency food choices that are safer than my grazing habits. For one, I have not been eating fruit and I miss it. Claire reminded me of the fatsecret.com site to look up fruit choices and to have a protein with fruit in order to prevent those carbs from being stored as fat. (Claire, did I get that right?). For example, have peanut butter with apple slices. She also told me to focus on high protein snacks to increase satiety, like almonds, peanuts, pecans, etc. So I followed her suggestions and made baggies ahead of time with snacks that are measured so I don’t go hog wild! I made the trail mix recipe and it is very yummy and satisfying.

My other questions regarded exercise. I was wondering if I was doing the right kind of exercise, the right frequency and duration. I want the biggest bang for my buck! Claire to the rescue with another pneumonic: The FIT principle. Frequency, number of days; Intensity, how long; and Time, duration of workout. Her sage advice was to change one principle at a time.

Unfortunately this advice came too late! I increased the frequency and intensity of my workouts at once and hurt my knee. Now I gimp through a workout and it makes me mad and frustrated. So I will see an orthopedist and modify my exercises. I don’t want to slide back. I WILL REACH MY GOAL!

PS, I love your support and comments Ken, I hope to meet you someday! Mary Ann