My Fitness Diary (2)

Yesterday I had another one of those A-HA! moments so I thought I'd share. For the past few weeks I've been a bit stagnating on the weightloss front, even though I've kept it up with fitness and eating right. Granted, I have been adding in a bit more alcohol again, and a few more cheat meals here and there. But overall still staying on track with my veggies and lean proteins.

In the last couple weeks I have been working out a lot. P90X gave me a really big boost and renewed interest in keeping fit. I think I was just getting super bored of the same old work-outs all the time. So I was surprised that nothing was happening on the scale - 1kg lost, that's it.

I didn't let it bother me too much; yesterday I tried on a pair of short-shorts from my "skinny suitcase" that I couldn't get into several weeks ago without sucking in like crazy and without major muffin top action (haha), and low and behold they slid on with ease and felt comfortable. Wow! I was happily surprised and it gave me a huge reminder that I don't need to focus on the scale and the numbers. I guess my body is actually starting to build some muscle and melting away some fat in return - woohoo! Although I can't actually see much definition yet but it seems to be working. Slow and steady wins the race...

Last night I indulged in an utterly decadent and delicious authentic Italian home cooked meal. I invited friends over and made an appetizer platter of mixed crostinis (one was with roasted Mediterranean vegetables, proscuttio ham and arugula drizzled with balsamic glaze, another variety was a caprese of sliced tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella and basil drizzled with extra virgin olive oil), main course was Spaghetti Puttanesca with fresh grated Parmesan and a side of salad, and dessert was Tiramisu. Wow, I just loved cooking that and enjoyed it so much. I think I relished it even more since it was a special treat meal and shared with friends, and I used high quality and fresh ingredients. I think it's important to stay focused and on track, but not deprive oneself. As a total foodie, it's so important to me to still have those occasions when I can make people happy with my cooking.

Later I was watching TV in bed and I saw a British TV show called "Fast Food Baby" - it tracked the lives of several families who feed their young children nothing but junk food and take out meals - not a fruit or vegetable in sight. I was shocked! Babies drinking coca cola from their bottles, toddlers stuffing themselves with pizza and kebabs and fries. And not just once in a blue moon - every day! It disgusted me - what lazy slobs of parents, really. That sounds harsh, but I felt horrible and sad for the kids, who will probably grow up to have a whole assortment of health problems throughout their lives. It shocks me that this is actually a reality for some poor kids who never learn proper nutrition habits. I've read in many articles that eating habits are formed at a very early age, and become so much harder to break and change in the adult years. I can only count myself extremely lucky that my mother always cooked healthy, balanced meals at home, and junk food was an extremely rare occasion for us.

That's not to say you can't make a change - you can do it! Some people asked me, how can I lose weight if I don't like vegetables? My response to that is - become a better cook! Some people just don't know how to prepare healthy food in an appetizing way. A huge no-no for me is boiling vegetables in water - yuck! Even I hate boiled vegetables - perfect way to deplete the food from all vitamins and flavor. I would suggest to buy some good cookbooks and learn some different ways to prepare vegetables. One of the quickest and tastiest method is roasting in the oven with some fresh herbs and garlic and olive oil. It's really all about experimenting. Cookbooks are the easiest way to learn how to cook, and once you get the basics, you'll find you don't need cookbooks at all anymore.

As I write this I am feeling totally groggy and suffering from cramps, and all I want to do is curl up in bed with a movie - but you know what? I'm going to pop in my workout DVD now, power my way through a 1 hour leg work out session, then take a shower and only then curl up in bed. I want to reach my goal, I want to be fit. And there ain't no other way around it.