My rant for the day....

To start off, I've been ingesting a lot more fat the past couple of days. I've been told it helps you when you're in a stall and that's exactly what I consider these past 4 weeks. Up and down and back up again. I know I'm doing okay though because I feel really good. It was just frustrating to not lose much. Of course, with less than 10 lbs of fat to lose, that's what happens to us. Anyway, my body finally released another 1.5 lbs over the past 4 days. We'll see if I manage to keep it off or if I yo-yo back up (which is what I've been doing lately) but I'm okay with it. As long as I'm showing a fat loss, even if I do gain weight, then I know it's either water, salt or muscle and it's ALL good! I blogged this rant on my regular blog but it's diet related so I'm posting it here too:


"Stop with the excuses"

I have become a huge proponent of the low carb/high fat lifestyle. Granted, while I'm on IP I can't do that much fat but a healthy 'low' amount is approved so that weight loss won't stall. Since IP is about being in ketosis (burning the fat reserve already in the body) they don't want us adding too much more. I'm not talking about doing Atkins after IP since that allows for too much fat, almost to the point of being grossed out by it. This is more about the newer 'Wheat Belly' or basic ketogenic diet. Almost all gluten/sugar is cut out from your diet in IP but will be slowly reintroduced after reaching your weight loss goal. Part of the reason I want to switch over to Wheat Belly after IP is that it continues to encourage little to no gluten and sugar, actually less than IP maintenance. I know it works because I've started eliminating it from Mark's diet and while he is still enjoying some gluten/sugar (but NOT FOR LONG!) he's lost about 10 lbs just eating a healthy lunch and dinner.

I don't talk too much about IP to friends and acquaintances because diet is a touchy subject. I figure if someone has reached their rock bottom, they will talk to me about it.  I've had several friends approach me and while one of them has started IP  (it's not cheap!), another two  have started doing it on their own (basic ketogenic diet). I'm really proud of them because it's harder to do it on your own. They're both seeing successes so far and that's terrific.

I have had others who are doing other plans and complain that they're not getting what they want. Well.....then why stay on those plans? We did Nutrisystem for 3 months and HATED it. I lost 16 lbs and gained it all back plus another 5. It does not teach you how to eat correctly in the real world. Most plans don't. That's what is so frustrating. Some programs have coaches which is marvelous but others expect you to read the little booklet and make it happen. These programs don't take into consideration, hormones, food allergies, etc., and I think it's a recipe for disaster. Some of these plans also allow 'fat-free' products which are so loaded with sugar that we're basically poisoning our bodies. How the heck can a diet plan allow for that? Fat-free is BAD stuff.

I was at Starbucks last Saturday and the gal in front of me ordered a non-fat 7 pump sugar-free caramel latte. I almost choked when I heard that order. Granted, she wasn't overweight but I could tell she wasn't in shape and had lots of flab. And not knowing her actual body fat percentage (and I think it's probably pretty high) I really can't do anything except look at appearances. But seriously, do you know how much sugar is in that crap she ordered? Non-fat (or fat-free) garbage has so much freakin' sugar in it!  The 7 pump part was pretty hysterical but at least Starbucks uses mostly Splenda based products. If there's aspartame based sugar free syrups being used, well that's basically pouring a lot of poison into our bodies. Splenda isn't great but it's a heck of a lot better. But still, 7 pumps?

I'm sure when she heard me order my grande brevè latte she probably had a heart attack and thought 'poor girl, she's going to get so fat drinking that half-n-half' but I'll tell ya what - my body is using that fat and burning it off because I'm not eating any sugar (other than what's in the dairy I had that day). Since I'm so restricted on the amount of dairy I do eat (NO cheese or additional milk on IP until I get into maintenance) I'm doing just fine, thank you. 

This is the crappy information I fight through constantly. I've had people tell me I'm not doing the healthy thing. Seriously folks....I've lost almost 51 lbs and my body fat percentage is 3 to 5 points away from being 'fit'! I think I know what I'm doing......

I've had people tell me I've lost too much weight. Folks.... lay off. I am being monitored by professionals. I think they know what they're doing.....

I've had people tell me they'll stick with 'their' plans because it works. Well...have you had yourself tested lately? Are you overweight? Are you diabetic? Do you have high cholesterol or hypertension? Arthritis? Stomach or intestinal ailments? Circulation problems? Do your knees, hips and feet want to die at the end of the day? If you're on a 'plan' and any one of these things still exist, then your plan isn't working. Foods have so many hidden chemicals, sugars, etc., and with all the GMO wheat products in our lives we are basically poisoning ourselves while we think we're eating 'healthy'.  Stripping away all the fats out of our diets have also created havoc in our bodies. Notice that we're getting more and more obese as a nation? Young people are starting their lives out fat even before they hit 10 years of age? Everything we eat (fast food, snack foods, non-fat products, gluten) are all laced with chemicals and sugar.

I've read and had medical professionals tell me that cancer feeds on sugar. CANCER FEEDS ON SUGAR. What are we constantly ingesting? SUGAR. We are making our bodies a wonderful laboratory for growing cancer. That one scared me. I realized I may have just saved myself from a fate that IS death. I eat very little sugar, enough to stay healthy and have good brain and organ function. And I feel great.

So......stop with your excuses that 'you can't cut out carbs out of your diet.' Guess what? You can. If I can do it, anyone can. I was a serious carb addict. I LOVED pasta, rice, bread, potatoes, wheat, sugar and anything made from them. In my mind, I still love them too. But my digestive system hates them. My joints hate them. My body in general hates them. After the first 5 days being almost carb free and having one bad headache and stomach attack, my cravings for them stopped. I still eat some 'sweets' that are approved on the IP plan but they're made with splenda, stevia, xylitol, etc. They really satisfy my sweet tooth. I actually love veggies now and look forward to eating them every day. I haven't had a piece of fruit in 6 months (sugar) and don't miss them. I look forward to having them again but I don't crave them. And I love meat. I seriously can't wait to have a steak, a hamburger (minus the bread), fish, chicken, turkey, pork, etc., for dinner. I enjoy eating meat so much I will never be a vegetarian! I don't really fry foods much, and I don't miss it. Baking, roasting, poaching, broiling has become a way of life. Food really tastes good this way. 

I grew up eating meat, potatoes, and a veggie on a plate followed by dessert. I also ate lots of rice (I'm Japanese, come on!). Pizza - well, it was cheap and easy so that was a part of life too! Because of IP, I now have a lot of meat and veggies followed by an approved snack. No potatoes or rice or pasta. I don't miss it. I promise after a few weeks of eating this way you won't miss it either. And you'll lose weight if you use real milk, grass fed butter, nuts, and coconut/grapeseed oils. As long as you're not allergic to any of those foods, your body will thank you. Get the sugar out of your lives.... you won't regret it.

Week 25 begins

I weighed myself this morning at 155 and as it's higher than I was a couple of weeks ago I still cringe but then I remember I've gained muscle from my workouts!

Breathe Trina.....breathe. It's okay.

I'm 8-10 lbs away from goal. Breathe Trina.

I made it through a huge event last week too. I wrote about it on the Facebook IP Lifestyles page and got great support as well as insight and perspective too. I needed that because I tend to get too focused on the 'poor me' thing.

The 'pizza incident': my MIL insisted on pizza for her final night with us before heading back to Cali for the rest of winter and spring. She'll be back for summer as it's too hot for her and there is no A/C in her house. (I know..... every house in Socal should have A/C. Not a big deal since we can take her though.) So she wanted pizza. Mark suggests we get it from my favorite pizza joint. MY FAVORITE PIZZA. I have managed to avoid pizza in my house for 6 months. My last slice of pizza was on August 2nd. I remember this because it was my last hurrah weekend before starting IP. Pizza was on my list as well as alcohol (many vodka drinks and champagne at my cousin's wedding!) and other wonderful taboo items. I agonized over this pizza thing and told her I couldn't eat it. BUT THAT DIDN'T STOP HER FROM WANTING IT. So I had to go get the frickin' pizza! Do you know how mad I was????? I was spitting nails mad. So I order the pizza, pick up Mark at the ferry and then we still had to wait more than 45 minutes for this God damned pizza. Then, the agonizing drive home having to breathe through my mouth so I didn't have to smell MY FAVORITE PIZZA.

Mark even tells her we had to wait over an hour for the pizza because it's Friday night and this pizza place is the most popular place in the county. And then he tells her "you know, this is tough on Trina because this is her favorite pizza in the whole world. And she's had pizza in New York and Chicago and THIS IS HER FAVORITE. She has avoided this restaurant for 6 months because this is really hard on her".  I get a little sympathy but VERY LITTLE.

GOD DAMN IT. I hated this woman so much. I wanted to scream "FUCK YOU!" at her and slam the door and leave the house for the night. Seriously.  But I didn't. I completely ignored the pizza. I fought through it. I did not cheat.  I ate left overs. The damn left overs that she should have been eating because I made this meal for her. GOD DAMN IT.

I DID NOT CHEAT. I WON.

Breathe Trina.

We sent my MIL home on Saturday. I am so relieved. And no, I don't hate her. She drives me crazy but I don't hate her. Mark has been eating the damned pizza. I sent the rest off with him this morning for his lunch. The cursed food is out of my house for good. I wanted it.... but I did not eat it.  Well...truth be told, I ate 2 little pieces of olives off of it. No cheese, no sauce. Just olives. It was good. REALLY GOOD. 

I've started 'coaching' or mentoring several people who are doing IP or an alternative low carb version. Not trying to make money as I'm not a professional. I just want to help others know they are not alone and that even when the going does get tough, you will get through it. Hell, I still go through hills and valleys because it's a DIET. Our bodies do not do what we expect because they're hormonally driven machines. Can't predict them from day to day unfortunately.

Anyway, I have been staying at a higher weight (about 2 lbs higher than my lowest recorded weight) but my coach figured it's added muscle from my workouts. Grateful that I have more muscle now because that means I will burn more calories and that means more fat is burned since I'm in ketosis. Yay.  My skin seems to be bouncing back better now as well. Our skin doesn't tighten up as well as we age so it seems my moisturizing (with coconut oil and olive oil) plus taking collagen seems to be helping me. Double yay!

On to week #25. The end of the tunnel is finally visible. Only 8-10 lbs of fat and 3-5% body fat to go.

Week 24 Weigh In

Well.... it was an interesting week. Actually, these past 3 weeks have been interesting.

I weighed in on Saturday and I was up a pound.  I was not happy initially. Then we measured and my thigh and hips came in 1/4" bigger. What the what?????

Then came the numbers from my read out. I lost 2.4 lbs of fat!  I gained at least 1 lb of muscle (but probably more as this machine can't truly separate muscle from bone and organs). So that's why I haven't been losing weight because I started working out 3 weeks ago!  I'm building up muscle in my core and lower body as my 30 day fitness challenge is focusing on squats and planks!

Hallelujah!  I probably would have shown more of a loss had I not been working out BUT because I have more muscle this explains my additional hunger! I've been so worried lately as I want to have more packets! I guess this anaerobic workout I'm doing is making me burn more calories as my muscles need it so I'm actually okay! So believe me when I tell you: weight training is important and it burns calories. Aerobic exercise is important too BUT weight training is as important. I'm only using my own body weight right now. So believe me when I tell you, weight training works.

For the first time my body fat reading came in at 30%. I know that may seem high to some but I'm 51 so I'm actually right in the middle of acceptable body fat for the first time in my life!  Well, I know I was fit some years ago but I wasn't able to truly keep tabs on body fat so I really don't know what my BF% was back then.  If I make it to 25%, the scale said I should weigh in at 147. My goal has always been 145-147 and the damn readout finally agreed with me!  I want to be at 23-25% BF because that is considered 'fit'.  If I'm fit, then I will be in near to peak condition. I will never be a professional athlete in 'athletic' range for body fat (18-21%) BF) but I want my body to burn calories efficiently and be as healthy as it can be. If I'm in the 23-25% range that would be perfect! 

The light is at the end of the tunnel now. I CAN see it. I'm less than 10 lbs away (this is fat) from reaching my goal. I will be eating more real food within 2-4 weeks. YAY!!!!!

Week #24 is underway

I wanted to put 'underweigh' but since I tend to be obsessive I almost always weigh myself daily. I've managed to cut myself back to once a day though so that's an improvement!

I have had a couple of wacky days of eating.... not like I'm cheating but my timing is off or I'm cramming all my veggies into one meal or as a snack. I need to get on the ball and make myself eat meals at the appropriate times.  I haven't really lost anything in the last 2 days so I'm doing my best to avoid weighing myself. That's not working great but again, I'm only weighing myself in the a.m. and it's one time so that's an improvement. I've got to remember, these are benchmarks but they're not the final product. Weight is so up and down depending on your diet, exercise, sleep patterns, stress levels, etc. I've had a couple of bad nights of sleep and my water intake was a little lower than I wanted it to be so I'm sure my loss has slowed down. Today is a much better day though and I slept in until 8:30! What a luxury for someone who is typically up at 5:30 or 6!

I am finishing up my 6th month on IP this week. I'm hovering at or around 50 lbs down.  I was a little higher yesterday than I wanted to be but I wasn't higher than Saturday so that's a good thing. Today was a little lower than yesterday but it's minute amounts. I'm lucky to be losing a lb or 2 (with the exception of last weigh in!) for the week and I'm not frustrated but a little impatient. The plan was for me to be off by now and my body is still holding on to about 8-10 extra lbs of fat. I really won't know the exact amount until my body fat percentage is read this Saturday. I pray that it is a lot lower this week. I've been holding on to this stuff for so long though, I have to try to give myself a break here.

I have discovered that I do need to eat more fatty proteins now and then to kick my loss into gear. That's a great thing for an IP-er, since fats are not encouraged like they are on Atkins. I get to eat a piece of bacon here and there (which I love) and it really satisfies my appetite. I see a much bigger drop over the next 48 hours after I eat it. What doesn't seem to really help me are protein bars. I'm totally loving Quest chocolate chip cookie dough bars but I think they're a little too high in everything for me. I am trying my best to use them in emergencies and travel situations until I'm on maintenance. Then I'll use them here and there.

Nothing much else to report other than I'm loving wearing size 6 pants! It's still inconsistent. Sometimes it's an 8 but I'm not complaining about that! I never thought I'd be this small ever in my life again! Some clothing is a pain to deal with even if I'm measuring a 6 or an 8. My back is a true swimmer's back and I have a pretty large rib cage too. No big deal though...it's not about the number, it's about what looks and feels good. It's so weird to be wearing things that are very fitted and occasionally snug but intentionally so! Clothes look and feel great now!

Week #23 Weigh In

FINALLY. After a few crappy weeks of yo-yoing so damn much I finally am seeing the downward trend on the scale again!

I showed a huge bloaty gain last Saturday..... obviously my TOM was coming because I gained an inch around my belly and my weight stayed the same from 2 weeks prior.  I had gone down according to my scale at home over the holidays but we're talking less than 2 lbs. It was so frustrating to not see good results last Saturday so today more than made up for it!

Even though it's still TOM I am managing to lose weight this week. I showed a 4.4 lb loss for the week!  Of that, 2.8 lbs of it was all fat! Woo-hoo, baby!  Like I said.......FINALLY.  Just had to eat clean.

As for inches lost, that was great too! Here's the stats:

Under arm (but above bust): 1/2 inch
Bust: 1 inch
Thorax: 1/2 inch
Waist: 1/2 inch
Hips: 1 inch
Thighs: 1 inch (1/2 inch each leg)
Arms: same

Total of 5 inches!!!! Yay!

My body fat reading is still messed up from TOM so I won't really know where I'm at until next week. At least it came down though.....that's a good sign!  So close to the finish line..... starting to get excited!

Wearing more size 6's and 8's are starting to become a little more loose! This chica may make into a size 4 just yet!!!!!

Week #22 begins and Week 21 weigh in

Yikes.... I'm WAY behind here.

So I actually had a weigh in after all. I was told no weigh in until after the first week of January but I guess that meant the 4th was a weigh in.

So I didn't lose much.... .4 of a lb and I gained in my waist because I was bloated. Lovely. This was after I kept going up and down on the scale for the last 2 weeks too. My body fat went up too. Yeesh..... NOT a great way to start the New Year.

My body fat going up could mean only one thing. TOM was getting ready to start. LOVELY. Another strike against me. And then nothing happened for 3 days! I started my period this morning so that's where all the crazy BF percentage issues were stemming from.

My weight has been fluctuating the last week. Yesterday morning I weighed in at 158 and then I weighed 155 in the afternoon! At least I went down....typically I go up from all the water and food!

I indulged in a LATE dinner last night because I've started rehearsals again and I was up 1.2 lbs this morning and then TOM showed up a little bit later so that explains the upward trend. Now weighing myself is pointless and I just have to be okay with that. If I can stay on task and not cheat I should at least show a loss in inches. The BF% will be all over the place for at least 2 weeks now so I just have to let go and let God.

No bad attitude....just a little impatient. I am able to say I've shown a 48 lbs loss (even though right now I'm up so it's more like 45 to 46) and I'm hoping after 3-4 days my body will let go of the water show an additional 2-3 lbs off. If that happens I will be less than 8 lbs away from my goal weight! I would really LOVE that!!!

Week 21.....half way through and Happy New Year

I am usually not this lazy with my blog but I think the fact that I haven't had a weigh in to go to made me a little bleh about the whole thing.  I don't have a weigh in this week either so I'm doing my best to stay up and focused.

I started week 21 up from Sunday but I finally lost all the excess water today plus a little more. I did some measurements but they're different from what Rochall has at the clinic so I don't get too caught up in them here. I do know that I had a couple of milestones in terms of clothing though so at least I know I'm burning fat and inches even if I don't seem to be losing a lot of weight on the scale!

So today I weighed in at 155.3 and that was .3 down from Sunday. I did a huge 2 pound gain on Monday and I know it was all water/salt related so I had to avoid salt as much as I could. That's hard because I love salty foods now more than ever! Since sugar is kind of not my thing anymore I rely on salt and pepper and herbs/spices a lot more. I know that I'm not over salting foods though, and I just have to remember to avoid pickles, salty cured meats, etc. It took me 2 full days to get rid of the excess water so I really need to watch my intake.

Until I have my next weigh in on the Tanita scale I won't know my actual body fat and that's what will tell me how much further I have to go. My BMI is already at a healthy number but I don't put much credence into that formula. It's all body fat % for me so I still have another week and 2 days before I'll know. Oh well....just have to keep plugging away! 

I did have a couple of great non-scale victories and managed to fit into size 6 jeans and pants at Old Navy yesterday! I got into a pair of Size 6 Sweetheart jeans that I almost bought but they were bright green and I didn't think I needed them. I was super excited to be able to buy a pair of gray skin tight Rockstar cords that looked amazing on me on sale for $8.63!  That was a coup of epic proportions that my mom would have loved! She was the queen of shopping bargains and I think I really nailed it yesterday! I also got a button down print shirt for $6.24. I got a large, knowing that it WILL shrink. The medium fit perfectly but I know it'll gape right at the bust line if it remotely shrinks which it will since it's 100% cotton and thin cotton at that!

So despite not knowing what my BF is or the actual inches lost from the IP clinic stats I can certainly tell I've lost something since size 6 actually fits me! The 8's that I own feel great though so I'm not moving into 6's on a full time basis. Until I get down to 143-145 I don't think that'll be such a big deal. That's 10 to 12 pounds and that's a typical size so we'll see. Who knows, maybe I'll even fit into a 4 at that point? What an exciting thought!!!!!