Good morning! Like many others recovering from holiday cheer, I've spent the last few days putting away all kinds of red, green, and silver decorations, tossing a fir tree out to the curb, and doing lots of cleaning and laundry. The freshness of the new year has me wanting to "spring clean" my home even though it's not even close to spring yet, and I started with my daughter's room yesterday while she was at school. Oh yes, she cleans her own room, but I got in there and pulled out every piece of furniture to clean around and behind it, sorted out the clothes she's outgrown, and got all the abandoned stuff out of the depths of her closet and drawers. The floor is sparkly clean in every corner and all surfaces are fresh! She has lots of space to reorganize and decorate in her own way. And I got quite a workout between the vacuuming, washing the floor on my hands and knees, and making multiple trips up and down the stairs putting things in storage and doing laundry. Feels good and I got one room accomplished! Cleaning and organizing each room down to the bare bones is going to be my workout plan for this month, and then sometime between February and March I'm going to start walking on a more regular basis (daily... which I am not doing right now because I hate being out in the cold weather!) Biking will get thrown in there somewhere... maybe between the time I finish the house and the time it is decent enough to walk every day.
I am doing really well with my eating plan, which is the same as it was before the holidays: small portions, infrequent eating, and lower carb. I start each day with a tall glass of water, and then an hour or so later a cup of decaf coffee with half and half or sugar free creamer. I take half of a 37.5 mg phentermine tablet in the morning and generally try not to eat anything until noon or later. Sometimes I have another coffee, or just a sugar free Greek yogurt or a couple bites of meat or cheese around that time and then take the other half of my phentermine. If I feel hungry I'll make myself a breakfast/lunch meal, something like an egg and 2 pieces of bacon. I do start to get hungry around 4 or 4:30 and sometimes have a little something... a few nuts, a piece of fruit, or a string cheese. But my big meal of the day is always dinner. I make the usual foods for my family and, depending on the carb level of that meal, I either partake of the same but in smaller portions or I make myself something similar but with lower carbs. For example, last night I made lasagna, but for myself I made a smaller, low carb lasagna with no noodles. I just layered low carb marinara sauce with ricotta, Parmesan, mozzarella, seasonings, and sliced meatballs and baked it. It was delicious and I didn't miss the noodles at all! You can see more of what I am eating on my Instagram (lynescapes).
To be clear, I do eat some foods that most low carbers would never touch: potatoes, breads, even sweets once in awhile. But I use them sparingly and only if there is no lower carb substitute that is available or appealing to me at the time. When I go to a party, dinner, or potluck and they serve meatloaf with mashed potatoes and gravy, I have some. I generally make my starch portion 1/4 cup or less and only choose one at any meal (so a slice of meatloaf, 1/4 c potatoes, and then load up the other half of my plate with non-starchy veggies and salad). And when I cook at home I am quite happy to eat cauliflower "rice" or spaghetti squash instead of the real, high carb thing. This is working well for me as there is no deprivation and no anxiety or compulsion to eat certain foods, and I am not triggered to overeat or binge like I used to do.
I find myself a little nervous about my weight going lower, which is a new feeling for me this time around. I feel comfortable at 217 pounds (believe it or not, it does feel pretty good at this weight when you've been close to 300 before) and I worry that I'll start to see those unsettling changes in my body as my weight continues to go down. The loose skin and saggy body parts bothered me way more than it "should" have last time around, and I don't want to start sabotaging myself because of discomfort with my changing body. This time I am more aware, but not quite sure how to address those feelings. I guess I will figure it out as I go along, and maybe talk to a counselor about it if I can find someone who understands weight and ED-related issues.
See you this weekend! Make it your best year yet.
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