Karen R.
What's New
Apr 17, 2014
Hi, all.
Well my surgiversary came and went this past Monday without my marking it in any way. Why? First of all, I wanted to have updated photos to share. I brought my camera to work that day to ask a friend to take pics, only she wound up being out in the afternoon and the photo session never happened.
I continued to carry the camera in my gym bag all week, thinking 'Today will be the day I ask her to do it.' But it's been mental around the office and there was never a good time.
At the same time, part of me wanted to be able to say I was at goal. On the one hand, this isn't a big deal to me. I dropped to 126 lbs. on April 2nd and have, since then, bumped my calories up to 1,400/day. Why? I'm working out six times a week now and was finding my energy was lagging. I figured, 'I'm a pound from goal. It's gonna happen. It doesn't really matter if it happens in a week, a month, or several months. One way or another, I'm going to hit 125 lb.' I'm still not really worried. But seeing as I didn't post on my actual surgiversary, it kind of felt fitting I should have an "occasion" for posting updated pics. Unfortunately, I'm still maintaining at 126. So I'm holding off posting for now.
Overall, I'm doing great. My energy is good (the added calories have helped). I like the way my upper body looks. My shoulders are really defined and lean--and I have guns! My bicep and triceps are coming along nicely. Mark typically has me do multiple sets of deadlifts at an "easy" weight (usually around 95 lbs.). I've lifted as much as 110 lbs., but usually am only able to do that for two short sets (maybe six reps at a time). I love that I'm strong. I can't even tell you!
In the meantime, yoga has become increasingly important to me. We have a wonderful Belgian woman who teaches a free class at the university every Monday. I found out she also teaches classes at various compounds. So I've been taking additional classes with her on Wednesday and Saturday. I love it! The class at the university is more a basic introduction to yoga. But the other classes (particularly the one on Saturday) are ashtanga style, so it's all about flow. You get a nice workout! I also feel very peaceful and focused afterwards and my flexibility has increased tenfold. I can't believe how much I look forward to it.
My diet has fallen into a pattern: for breakfast, I almost always have some small carb (half an English muffin with PBJ, an autumn scone [these are so bloody good!]) and my skim latte. For lunch, I bring a protein that's prepared ahead of time or can be warmed in the microwave (frozen black bean burger and cheese, leftover salmon or chicken over a salad, a turkey and cheese sandwich on a sandwich thin). For dinner--if I've been working out--I will often just have a protein bar (Quest Cookie Dough are just so damned ridiculously tasty!--I'm going to the U.S. next week and coming back with seven boxes of them). On the weekends, I cook, but I tend to keep it simple. Tonight, I'm going to have ribeye and baby asparagus. I always allow myself some kind of dessert. Usually, it's some kind of diet cookie, but I'll also have the occasional scoop of diet ice cream. I have a second latte in the afternoon as a pick-me-up. My morning snack is almost always jerky. I typically eat 80-110g of protein a day. My carb goal is 140g. I keep fats under 47g and added sugar under 45g.
I know my carb count is higher than what many people recommend. But I've lost just fine having it a bit higher (Admittedly, 140g is higher than what it was for a long time. I'd had my goal set at 120g for months), and I believe this is a rate I can maintain. It doesn't really feel like a diet now. I like being this thin. I plan to keep my calories right around where they are (at 1,400/day) and see where this takes me. I want to see what 120 lbs. looks like on me, even though friends are beginning to become more vocal about my "thinness."
A very good friend of mine, who is really, really tiny herself, has begun telling me, "Enough is enough." She points out that when I have my plastic surgery, I'll drop more weight still. That's true. And lord knows I have a ton of excess skin (or so it seems). But according to what I've read, you don't lose as much as you think you might like/want to. I plan on having a lower body lift, brachioplasty, breast augmentation (I don't want them bigger, I just want them higher!) and possibly an inner thigh lift. That's a lot of places from which skin can be removed. But even with all that, I'm guessing perhaps only 3-5 lbs. will be taken away. In the end, I should be somewhere between 115 and 120 lbs. That doesn't seem painfully thin for a person who is 5'4". I realize because of my low fat percentage/high muscle percentage, I'm more compact than someone else might be at that weight. Still, I don't think I'm being unreasonable.
Even though I admit, I don't see myself properly when I look in the mirror.
