The Diet

Please, please don't be mad at me for this post, or hate me, or tell me that I don't need to lose any weight! You guys have not seem me in a bathing suit recently! This year, one of my resolutions was to try to be better at preparing food in our home, as I am horrible at meal planning and as a result, we eat a ton of food that just needs to be either boiled or reheated. Also, as a result, I had packed on a few unwanted pounds this holiday season, between all the snacks and the general lack of willpower I exhibited when it came to baked goods (the one this I LOVE to prepare from scratch, ironically). This was also the first January since 2006 that I was not pregnant or nursing, and under those circumstances, I don't really need to watch what I eat because I either need to be gaining weight or I need a little extra to sustain someone else. With my "A" running race rapidly approaching, less than 9 weeks from today, I really had to do something as I realized I was up about 6- 7 lbs from my last major race, the Brooksie Way Half Marathon, in October. It was at this point that I made the call to one of my Triathletes In Action teammates, Rick Smith, who is an advisor for Advocare, nutritionist, Ironman, former pro hockey player, and Crossfit instructor. I decided to order the 10 Day Herbal Cleanse, as well as Catalyst, and Meal Replacement Shakes (this was funded by gift cards of mine). I was also provided with dietary guidelines including foods to specifically eat and not eat. Most of the guidelines were things that I should be following anyway, like eat lots of fruits and veggies, lean proteins, and whole grains. The big change was no/limited dairy, and no pop. Not even diet pop.

You can imagine how funny I thought this clip was from the office, when it happened to air the evening after my first day of the diet. I was watching this being hungry next to my husband who was eating snacky foods, I think he was either eating a massive bowl of buttered popcorn or chips. He also does not care for broccoli, but I personally really enjoy it.

I was very good at following the diet plans. I didn't make the kids or Ryan eat anything unusual and kept their food pretty much the same, except we had a larger variety of fruit on hand for choices for them. I made regular pasta for them (and Ryan). The days I ate really interesting things, I tried to do it during the day for lunch, when it was just for me. Probably the most interesting thing I ate came from a former gymnastics teammate of mine who is a bodybuilder/fitness competitor. She gave me the following recipe:
2/3 cup canned pumpkin
5 eggs whites (I used 4)
1 TBSP Cinnamon
1 tsp Allspice
Whip egg whites until peaks form, fold in pumpkin and spices. This was really good, either that or I was just so hungry that it seemed really good. It was also very filling, as that many eggs whites get very large with that much air incorporated into them. I used my huge 4.5 q Kitchenaide stand mixer to make this, and it was a huge volume. It is pretty thick, and I was instructed to eat it like a pudding. I couldn't quite eat the whole thing, as it was just too much for one sitting for me. She had it on her facebook status a while back, so I went ahead and tried it. It really didn't have anything to do with the diet Rick prescribed, other than it fit within the guidelines.
I did have a few deviations, but tried to keep the calories in check on those instances. I ran out of time one night for a big whole grain pasta dinner before my 17 miler in the super cold temps, and just ended up having a black bean and chili dinner that was leftover. I didn't get enough carbs that night and felt it the next day. I also did eat at Baha Fresh and had chicken tacos in corn tortillas, no rice, and only a couple chips (I couldn't resist). We had our 8th wedding anniversary, so we went out for seafood to the Bonefish Grill, where I had seared ahi tuna with jasmine rice and green beans. I did have a couple peices of bread, and I didn't order my beans without butter on them. We also ate at Bagger Dave's on the final night of the 10 days, and I did have a couple sweet potato chips, and the turkey in the burgers is ground, not whole, as Rick recommended, but I did skip the cheese, sauces, and didn't order chips or fries for myself (I stole a couple of Keira's), and our kids don't drink pop, so I did drink the diet coke that came with the kids meals. So overall, I think I did really well and was not completely antisocial. Here are the numbers:

Starting weight: 118.6 (yuck!)
Ending weight: 113.2
Difference: 5.4 lbs Yeah!
I also lost 1 inch from each of my waist, hips, and thighs, as well as 1.5 inches from my chest, and a half inch from my calf. All this in just 10 days! This may be my answer to every holiday season!

This puts me just a couple pounds over were I ended my last season, and I am just now starting my really high mileage Saturday runs. As long as I stick to the diet and my training schedule, I feel like these last couple pounds will just go away on their own. I don't have plans to get back down to 107, where I was when I did my first marathon, as I lost all sorts of upper body strength. I think for my tri training, just another couple pounds is all I should worry about, if that. I feel really healthy after finishing up the 10 day cleanse, and it was a great way to jump start my weight loss. I had a super strong 12 mile run on Saturday, with the path being cleared of snow, and finished with an 8:33 pace. Not too shabby for what was intended to be a long slow run. Now I just need to focus on fitting in all my workouts, as I spent a ton of time at the grocery store and in the kitchen last week! I skipped 2 swims, one so that I could bike more, and one because Soren was sick. I didn't make it up once Ryan got home because I really feel like I run a ton better on Saturdays when I don't swim on Fridays, so I am trying to figure out how to reschedule my week to fit it all in. I think this means tonight will be a bike trainer kind of night. Ugh.