So, as is typical, my scale is telling me something totally different from what I'm seeing and feeling. My "fat jeans" are getting loose and my "skinny jeans" are actually zipping up. I know I'm putting on muscle but wish I could get an acurate idea of how much fat I've lost. The scale is saying about 4.5 lbs of total weight lost but I know I've gained muscle. I didn't quite hit the gym as much as I had wanted to these last two weeks but should have way more time next week. I'm signing up for another 3-week session of sweat fest at my gym and am looking at some Wednesday class options. Overall, I'm feeling great and can't wait to start actually SEEING it!

So in taking summer school classes and spending every spare minute I can getting my condo ready to sell, my planned exercise routine is not quite what i'd hoped for. My sweatfest class is still Mondays and Fridays and it definitely lives up to it's name. However, I'm having a hard time fitting my Wednesday workout in. I plan on going to pilates tomorrow and following it with cardio. I'm hoping once I get my condo on the market (next week) I'll have my life back. My diet has actually been pretty good. It's been easier than I thought to return to a well-portioned, low-carb diet. I'm pretty much avoiding grains and getting most of my carbs from fruit. I could still kick up the veggies a bit though. I had one of my favs tonight, spaghetti squash with a marinara sauce. I added natural ground beef to it. For lunch I had grilled salmon over salad greens with goat cheese and watermelon for snack. I'm enjoying getting back into cooking and trying to eat organic as much as possible. I've been avoiding refined sugar and alcohol like the plague and feel all the better for it.

Keep moving forward, forward, forward!

so, I guess my scale isn't broken, I'm just putting on an amazing amount of muscle. My jeans are looser, my tummy's flatter and my energy is up. and this is only after a week and a half. I'm really ready for my scale to get with the program though. I, unfortunately, had an amazingly busy week last week and didn't get all my workouts in. I'm loving my sweatfest class at Castlehill and plan to sign up again for the next round. Keep movin', keep movin'.

I've managed to stay low carb for almost a week now and feel excellent, as expected. I did eat about a cup and a half of watermelon today after my Sweatfest class. I'm trying to tune back in to what my body needs expecially as I adjust to the increased activity level lately. One of my biggest challenges is always hypoglycemia. As most, I tend to overeat and make bad choices when my blood sugar is low as it becomes "emergency eating." I'm eating lots of snacks and very small meals too. It's just a waiting game until my body adjusts. I'm off to a Dr. Singha's and epsom salt bath now to try to ward off as much soreness as possible from my very ass-kicking yet awesome Sweatfest class today.

A much as I'd like to have a set goal of how much I expect to lose in two months, I know it's futile. But aren't you supposed be more likely to actually reach a goal if it's clear? Aim for the moon and you may touch the stars, right? Only I'm afraid of screwing up my metabolism, once again, if I aim for the moon. I'm concentrating, instead, on staying as far away from carbs as possible and eating natural whole foods. I think everyone has very nutritional needs. I don't mean just based on activity level and caloric/protein needs. A friend of mine and I had a conversation a few weeks ago about different diets for different people. The times I've eaten a low carb, high-protein diet I've not only lost the most weight, but I've felt the best. My digestion seems effortless, my head seems clearer, and my blood sugar (always a challenge for me) stabilizes. I also feel I have more energy and less weird cravings. My friend, however, went on the Atkins diet a few years ago with her husband. She felt like crap and actually gained weight.

In addition to my healthy diet change, I'm committed to getting back into my pilates and weight lifting routine. Weights 3x per week with cardio, pilates 1-2x with cardio, one day of rest and one day of fun cardio and cleansing sauna. I'm looking forward to it! Yes...really.

Ahhh, weight loss. As I take a break from studying to write this, I can’t help but marvel in this very American predicament. Of course, it’s not just American. We aren’t the only ones with literally too much food available to us at such cheap prices. If only the rest of the world were so lucky. Throw in our cultural practice of eating atrociously large portions, obscenely refined foods, and a pathetically small amount of fresh veggies. Then add our consistent (for most of us) lack of exercise and excessively stressful lifestyles. Add a dash of sleep deprivation and you’ve got a big fat recipe for disaster; not to mention type II diabetes, joint problems, etc., etc.

I’m taking physical anthropology right now and have just finished reading about natural selection. One of the theories about natural selection is that humans and animals reproduce faster than available resources. This inevitably leaves a few unlucky ones out of the game at the end of the day. Well, we certainly aren’t resource-deprived here. I keep thinking of the news story I saw a couple of weeks ago about a type of cookie women in Haiti make and sell on the streets and at market stalls. Many Haitians eat them, especially children. Apparently it’s common to see children eating these cookies. What are these little sun-dried disks? Dirt. Yes, dirt, literally. The poor of the poor in Haiti subsidize their diets with dirt to help their stomachs feel full.

Now, I have no intentions of imposing any feelings of guilt on anyone. It’s just something that came to mind as I prepare to lose some of my very unwanted results of a few too many indulgences. I’m not trying to make myself feel guilty either but just marveling at the irony. A friend of mine from Sudan once told me that back home it’s considered attractive to be overweight. I’d heard this before about some African cultures. Chub is a sign of wealth there. I was shocked, however, when he informed me that his mother and aunt used to take some sort of pill that was supposed to make them gain weight and sleep more. He had no idea what this “pill” was. I’d love to know.

Speaking of, it’s time to get to bed for a nice healthy night’s rest. I’m going to do my first weigh-in tomorrow and start my fabulously healthy next two months. Best of luck to everyone!!!