73 pounds down
That was the hardest 7 pounds I ever lost. I'll tell you, weight loss does not get easier as you lose, it gets harder. You have to outsmart your body, keep changing and most of all... stay motivated!
The Medifast program, some days I feel, is starting to wear off in terms of its effect on my body, and/or my ability to stay perfectly stuck to the diet plan. It still works, I am just failing to work it how I did for the first 20-30 pounds down. Therefore its time to switch, supplement, and overcome this slow pace of progress.
I've tried to maintain my Medifast plan as close as possible, while not denying myself of the types of foods I want to eat, and upped my exercise in supplement. I also have returned to www.myfitnesspal.com to get a true calculation of my calories in, calories out. Additionally, I've started wearing my heart rate monitor daily again, and most times all day, so I can measure my actual calorie burn throughout while exercising and resting.
In terms of exercise, I've started Insanity again. Yes, I know I always tell people beware of injury since its such a banging on the joints, but I am being very careful, listening to my body, and modifying the moves wherever necessary.
Today, since I still have some work flexibility, I added a Bikram Yoga class midday. It helped me recover from the Insanity banging I did early in the morning. And it totalled more than 1300 calorie burn combined with the two workouts. I created such a calorie deficit, that I can eat almost anything and still stay under my allotted daily number. But the goal is, NOT to do that. I am trying to eat how I normally eat everyday, around 1200 calories so it will be like, I ate nothing at all for the entire day since I already burned more than 1200. It's just a numbers game really. If I am able to do this even two or three days this week, I will definitely drop 2-3 pounds this week alone. Maybe more if I'm extra diligent about my diet.
Some days I have cravings for things that once were a regular part of my life, greasy foods, high sugar substances. Some days I give in to those cravings, however I have found a way to modify my "cheating." For my chocolate addiction, I no longer feed it with milk chocolate, or ice cream. I stick to trader joe's dark chocolate, my favorite is the one with Toffee in it, and I keep it to half a serving or one serving in a day, a couple times per week. That doesn't stop my weight loss, and it isn't as bad as having chocolate cake. But it fills my urge. When I walked by the pizza shop on the way back from yoga, I smelled it, and had a brief urge to go get something greasy, but I had just sweated so much, that the thought quickly slipped away, because I wasn't going to ruin a perfectly good burn day to indulge in a short lived greasy sensation. Sometimes when I have a craving during the day, I look at the clock and make myself wait 30 minutes, then busy myself with something else. If the craving is still there, I'll find some way to indulge with modifications, if it isn't I give myself a pat on the back and say I never needed it in the first place.
It's all about trade-offs, sacrifice, and balance. Sometimes we can give in, sometimes we don't really need to. All the time we should continue to strive for the goal, forward is the motion!
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