Summary of Week Four

WEEK FOUR:

Diet

I pretty much have my diet on lockdown by now. I avoided cheating entirely by the beginning of my fourth week which was SO motivating to me. I didn't have many cravings and when I did, I would opt for a bite of a Balance Bar or my favorite Peanut Butter thinkThin bar to satisfy the craving while knowing I was at least getting protein and vitamins while getting a taste of sweet. I began to experiment with different foods like spaghetti squash and artichokes. I kept things interesting so I never got bored. I also got rid of all pre-prepared meals - lean cuisines, low fat frozen things, etc - pulled out the crock pot, and started making my own lunches by letting the slow cooker cook for 9 hours over night. I'll post the recipes to my blog later :)

Exercise

I've been continuing to crank out incredible workouts.  I do 60-90 minutes of cardio (elevating my haeartrate to the 160s for at least 50-60 minutes of that time frame, and the mid 140s-150s for the rest).  I did my first HIIT training on Tuesday this week for 30 minutes, followed by 30 minutes of gentle cardio on the bike. I fell in love with yoga and see a change already in less pain in parts of my body that I wasn't really aware that I had until they started going away. Less tightness in my back and hamstrings have made for better posture and significantly less pain and stiffness in my legs. I was moving faster on the beach and was much more limber. So I've begun doing yoga also at my gym on Wednesday nights (easy flexibility yoga since it's my only rest day).

Oh and can I just say... I'm celebrating one month of eating clean??? Hurray!  I've stuck to it all - the diet, the exercise, the water, the yoga... and I've realized that this is going to be more of a slow burn that will require an extended commitment, so I've decided to see if I can do this whole thing for 3 months :)  The scale says I've lost 6 pounds and it's holding steady at that number, although I don't see much of a change on my body.  My friend says it's because your body burns fat stored around your organs (that you can't see, obvi) before it starts burning the fat you CAN see, which is why it appears to have had no affect on me.  But he said after 2 months, the visible fat starts to just melt away.  So... we'll see.  Onward ho!