Today was my weigh in/check in at the gym after one week on my 90-day challenge, Mediterranean Diet.

The week wasn't too bad. I focused on having half my plate being fruits and/or veggies above anything else. I laid off late night snacking as much as I could and tried to stick with three meals and maybe a little snack. I felt great and I really do like TMD on the whole.

Biggest challenge was booze. Not that I'm getting hammered every night or anything. But, I never have one glass of wine. Honest tracking helped me see the patterns and see how many of those glasses just weren't necessary.

We talk about how bad soda is for you, but if I had coke with a meal, I never had two cokes. or three cokes. That would be silly.

So, what gives with the booze?

I may need to not drink for a week, just as an experiment to see if I lose weight.

I went to the gym on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, just as I promised myself. It feels great.

Now, I need to do it again this week!

After my workout, I picked up my daughter from a sleepover and was offered breakfast. I ate one slice of french toast with no syrup, one slice bacon, a cup of strawberries and coffee.

And it was FINE!

For lunch I had more of my roasted chickpea salad over greens and I added a can of tuna for an extra protein punch.

Working lunch: roasted chickpeas, tuna, greens

I was so tempted to just go get a burger.

But I didn't!

Here were my results from week one:

Down 1 pound! **** correction**** down 1.6!

BP: 118/89

Yippe!

Day 5 on my 90 day challenge

This is just a quick check-in as I careen toward my first weigh in on Friday.

So, how's that Med. Diet going? Pretty well. My main goal is to have 1/2 my plate at each meal be something fresh (fruit/veggies). It's good that I'm doing this in the peak of yummy fruit and veggie season. I'm avoiding red meat and opting for lean proteins: boneless skinless chicken, shrimp, fish, eggs. It's not too bad. 

The biggest challenge is alcohol! Not that I'm getting throwin' down drunk, but I can't seem to have one glass of anything, no matter what. So, Friday I killed nearly a bottle of wine on my own, on Saturday, I had four drinks (3 were wine, 1 was a French 75), on Sunday, probably another four glasses, and even last night I had 2. That's a lot of wasted calories. 

But, I made a light shrimp scampi one night. On the party night there were finger foods, and while I ate more than one of each, they seemed healthy enough. I didn't totally load up. Sunday I made this and it was yummy and there's enough for leftovers for lunch this week. 

Yesterday's lunch: leftover baked chickpeas "Nile Nachos" a la The Smitten Kitchen

Last night we had some pre-cooked chicken in a bag and I cooked that with a little olive oil and onions and tomatoes and served over pasta and also had strawberries and sugar snap peas on the side. (And two glasses of wine...d'oh). 

I also went to the gym on Monday and looks like I'll be good for a MWF gym success!

My son gets promoted to high school on Wednesday. 

I've been juggling a lot of balls these past two months and I seem to have dropped them all this week and that's stressing me out!

Dinner: Day 1 of 90

On my first official day of my 90-day challenge, I worked hard to stay within my 1200 calories. We all really enjoyed dinner which was shrimp scampi over fresh-made fettucini from Phoenix Pastificio in Berkeley. I topped it with cheese that I purchased from the Grand Lake Farmer's Market in Oakland last weekend. I need to recognize how truly lucky I am to live in such a food mecca!

I measured out my portion and made sure half the plate was veggies: a leafy green salad with cucumbers and a fig balsamic vinegarette. I did indulge past the one glass of wine limit. It was Friday. But no dessert. No extra snacks. I'm calling it a "win."

The Truly Personalized Plan For Me...with input from my doctor, my trainer, a nutritionist, and a lot of serious reading on the subject.

After doing a LOT of research and working with my paid health staff (ha), this is what I'm going to do:

Eating Plan

• Follow the Mediterranean Diet and track portions.

This means:

• Three meals a day
• 50% of the meal must be fresh fruits and/or vegetables
• Limit red meat to every two weeks.
• Fish at least twice per week.
• Swap butter for healthy fat, but use in limited amounts.
• Severely reduce sugar (no drinking sugar).
• No more than 1 glass of wine per day.
• Very limited processed food.
• Take fish oil.
• Try the apple cider vinegar thing (jury is out on if this works for anything).

Tracking through My Fitness Pal, no more than 1200 calories per day.

Exercise Plan

• Go to the gym a minimum of three days a week. 

Mind

• Fire up the meditation aps.
• Blogging
• Explore why I eat
• Explore other ways I can nurture myself (this part is the hoaky part).

Day 1: 90 Day Challenge

I'm going to be perfectly honest here. I started my 90-Day challenge today and I'm scared. I'm emotional. This is not easy. I have a lot of negative feelings about it. I need to sort all of these things out. My trainer has been with me since 2015 when I started exercising. She knows me pretty well by now. It's a little humbling to try and "start" something and know that you can't bullshit your way with the person. She's extremely compassionate and is not being negative with me at all, but taking those measurements and stepping on that scale was a big downer for me, I ain't gonna lie.

Nothing I'm doing on this challenge is new. Or hard. Or weird. Or anything. I KNOW what to do, but it's the action and the accountability. I know that if I track and do the things I say I want to do I will see results. It's a mindset thing. Not a knowledge thing. It's an AWARENESS thing. When I start writing down what I put in my mouth, it's quite revealing.

But, I have to start somewhere and I hope to blog for the 90 days and be honest with myself about all of this and we'll see where I end up.

Here were the stats today:

Weight: 192.2 lbs
BMI: 33

Chest: 45 in
Waist: 43 in
Hip: 46 in
Thigh: 21 in

And here are the "befores" in all their hideous glory:

I'm purposely sticking out the belly and making a pouty face and not wearing anything cool. All in hopes of a reveal in 90 days that will sell books! Ha.

It's interesting to see this body. I can say that I have nice legs! But, where I gain my weight is the danger. I don't have the curvy figure of a plus-model. I am definitely not pear-shaped. I don't even know if that's an apple! I think it's more like a mushroom!!! Anyway, at this point in my life, I'm not really caring about vanity. But I do know from a health perspective, I'm a heart-attack-waiting-to-happen.

But, to end this on a high note, I'd like to say this, I have amazing friends and family. Life is good. I'm not caught up in material things. I like to have a good time. And no matter what I weigh or how old I am, I believe you can still enjoy dressing up, looking good and feeling good. I went from never exercising to at least hitting a gym 2 x a week and I'm upping that to one more day. I enjoy life. And, yesterday, I dressed up in a fun outfit and went out in the world and it was all ok (see yesterday's post).

I know that if I could conquer some of these bad habits, I would just feel better than I do now!

Today is the last day of the rest of my life...or something

I come to you a humble sinner. May Weight Watchers have mercy on my soul!

Two years from last post and I may weigh more (frankly, I'm afraid to check).

I'm older.

Wiser.

Whatever.

But, here I am again with another hope and prayer to make a lifestyle change. I cannot guarantee results, but I hope I get points for trying.

Tomorrow, I start a 90-day challenge. June 1 to September 1. I will go to the gym and get weighed and measured and set goals and all that.

How is this different from all the other times? 

Who the heck knows? To be honest, I've never actually done anything like this. A 90-day commitment, with outlined goals made to another person, so we'll see if it works.

Here's my BEFORE "Before" picture. I wore bright colors today. I have to start with acknowledging this person who is more than just a lumpy, middle-aged pile of fat. I'm busy. I work nearly full time (sometimes this means working late, early, from my car), volunteer at school and community, and parent (somewhat badly) -- AND I have friends and a LIFE that includes wine and cocktails and ALL THE THINGS.

All things considered, I' not doing too badly at 53. And, despite trying to sabotage things in many spectacular ways since before adulthood, I ACTUALLY STILL HAVE MY HEALTH!

Tomorrow, the "before" will be me in my clingy, unflattering workout clothes. And I'll not have makeup on and I'll make a frown and be frumpy so the big reveal will play better. I'll come here and document the findings and the planning moving forward for the next 90 days. And I'm grateful, for now, that no one will be paying attention to this blog!

On Track Post Spring Break

We all spent a week in South Louisiana for Spring Break and it was really awesome. I have not been back home in springtime and aside from the torrential rain storms that crop up, it's an amazing time to be there. Not too hot, the wild irises are in bloom, the new leaves are on the trees. And crawfish are in season!

I'm guilty of promoting the idea that Louisiana is all about overeating and drinking a lot. That is part of the culture to a point, but there's so much more. I get homesick for my mom's cooking, but it's the landscape, the humid feeling, thunderstorms, the whole rhythm of the place. This goes for my bayou country as well as New Orleans.

My parents backyard along Bayou Lafourche in Raceland, Louisiana

We started our trip with our family's annual Good Friday Crawfish Boil. Not as solemn as the local religious establishment would like, but a long time tradition that is too good to mess with. In fact, I always thought it was called "Good Friday" because of the crawfish and family time!

These guys are MASTERS at the art of Crawfish boiling!

One of the cousins brought some old photos from 1961, so this thing is at LEAST that old.

That's my daddy front and center. 

Easter Sunday started out very rainy and we had to drive into New Orleans for my goddaughter's First Communion. It was a great day. Entered in pouring rain and left with glorious sunshine.

The next day, we drove west to Avery Island and toured the Tabasco plant and Jungle Gardens. The Tabasco tour has been revamped and seems to still be in development. I got a great whiff of the putrid smell of fermenting hot sauce but not enough pay off scent from the finished product. Way different from the old days when you got to be inside the plant and they'd open up a barrel for you to smell. Still love the beautiful "Jungle Gardens," tho.

The next day, my mom and dad took the kids to our family fishing camp and my husband and I got a couple of days in New Orleans. We walked a little bit on Magazine, then in the Quarter where browsed our favorite bookstore, FAULKNER HOUSE BOOKS, and had a cocktail at Beachbum Berry's. Then, we spent the night at my friend's newly purchased mid-century wonder in the neighborhood of Gentilly. The next day, David and I went to the New Orleans Museum of Art and the sculpture garden and lunch at Cafe Degas.

The storms started to roll in and after dinner at Jacque-Imos, we sat on the balcony of my friend's spare apartment and watched the wind blow the clouds. Magic!

Oysters and a cocktail at St. Roch's Market in the Marigny.

Gorgeous live oaks and puddles in City Park in front of the museum (NOMA).

Fun with shiny art in the sculpture garden.

Balcony view in the Carrollton neighborhood AirBnB thanks to our generous friends!

We got back to Raceland in time for another big storm and braved Highway 90 to take the kids to see the WWII Museum. Should not have been surprised to discover that most people in driving distance had the exact same idea! Super packed!

Our last day turned out to be gorgeous and we watched the kayakers, canoers and other paddlers come down the bayou from Thibodaux for the annual PADDLE BAYOU LAFOURCHE. Now, we have another non-food/non-boozey reason to go back in spring!

All in all, a great trip.

AND, guess what?

I lost a pound!

I got back on track with exercise and returned to the gym on Monday and again on Tuesday. Hopefully we have some momentum here with some weight loss, too!

Next post, we'll get back to business. I think it's important to reflect on good times that are NOT about obsessing about exercise and weight loss, tho!

Life is good! Ca c'est bon!