I am flabbergasted at how quickly the time on IP is flying by. I was so overwhelmed when I started this program. I would read on several forums and FB support pages and check out all the seasoned veterans who'd been at it for more than 8 weeks and wonder if I could even get that far.
Well, here I am.... starting my 13th week on IP and it seems to be fairly easy to do now. Yes, I struggle with wants and wish I could eat whatever I wanted. Technically, I can.... but I choose to stay as close to protocol as I can. I am okay with it too and that's the surprise. I never thought I could have such control over my eating habits but it's really pretty easy now that I don't crave sugar or other carbs. I do have some fears about being on maintenance and craving them since carbs are reintroduced in phase 3 but I think I'll be able to manage it once I am 'in it'. Right now, it's kind of a scary 'out there' sort of unknown. For me, the unknown is always the scary part. I like to be in control so this is just another one of those life lessons that I will learn.
Anyway, this past week was a bit uneventful in terms of loss. My hormones continue to cause false readings on my body fat which is incredibly frustrating since the fancy scale can weigh me correctly and actually read the amount of BF in my body BUT it's obviously not correct since my coach cannot correctly gauge it during my cycles. I had a 2 week respite between periods and this particular early bird lasted almost 2 weeks. I pray that I get at least 4 weeks now of normalcy. We'll see......
My loss was 1 lb down officially and 1/4" off my arms = 1/2" total. I have had a 'gain' week before so 1 lb down is still a good thing. According to the scale, the 1 lb was .8 of pure fat so that's a GREAT thing. I can really see the fat on my stomach going away. That makes all this worthwhile since I've struggled to lose this part of my fat since my early teens. I can't get over the fact that when I put jeans on, I don't see much tummy sticking out so my profile looks even thinner than it actually is.
I'm fluctuating between size 10 and size 12 as my waist seems to be fighting to stay at a 12 while the rest of me wants to be a 10! I know it's just a matter of time and that waistline will shrink again. When the body goes through this 'stall' (technically, I'm not stalled but I haven't seen a huge loss in inches lately) it typically means it's prepping to lose quite a bit over a short time. I pray that I'll have one of those huge moments soon.
I realized that a size 8 or even a size 6 may actually be attainable since I'm losing so much body fat on this program. I'm actually shocked at the idea of being so small. Mark keeps looking at me in shock sometimes because he can't believe how quickly I've shrunk. I don't see the huge difference of course, but I can feel how much better things fit and how light on my feet I feel. I started wearing medium shirts a week ago and it's shocking. My upper torso has lost the most in terms of inches and I have almost outgrown (meaning gotten too small) for my fancy bras that I bought 2 months ago. I am trying to hold on as long as possible before buying more. Support is really, really important but the expense is insane. I always buy sales but I hate bargain hunting for bras because I really need quality support. I may have to bite the bullet and buy 1 bra for the duration.
Mark worries that I might obsess and want to be 'too' small. I don't even know what that means, LOL. I get that he doesn't want me to be bony or gaunt. No way.... this chica likes to have some meat on her bones. I'm also big boned so I would look anorexic before the fine boned gals. I think if I can truly hit a 25% BF that would be magnificent. I don't know how I'm going to feel once I hit 30% and 27% BF so I'm going to gauge this on how I'm feeling physically. I really thought I would say "I want to weight X lbs" but that's not really important. I need to be able to maintain whatever weight I land at so I have to be realistic. I have to be able to eat right, exercise the right amount and be able to indulge and maintain the weight. If I go too low, then that won't be possible. Ultimately, I need to get to that magic spot and know it. I think as long as I have a healthy attitude towards food and exercise, that will be maintainable.
So.... at the clinic I weighed in at 170.6 (with clothing) but at home today (sans clothing) I weighed in at 167.5. My body fat is still going all over the place so I really can't say much about it yet. Hopefully, I'll see a steady reading during this week and at my week 13 weigh in this Saturday so I can actually say what I am in terms of BF percentage!
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