Isn't it pretty??? Total, I've lost 29lbs on the nose so far. And this week is when I do my measurements again, so I'm excited to see what they show. I'm just 6lbs away from my 10% goal, and will then have lost 10% of my starting body weight. That's just so amazing to me... 10% of me... GONE! 10% is a very subjective reference, though it may not seem so on its face. 10% of $1.00 is a dime. Not too impressive. But if you're buying a million dollar home and the seller offers you a 10% discount? That's a whole 'nother house you could buy as a summer place.
Take a minute and look at yourself in the mirror. Imagine that 10% of your body were gone. In emergency medicine, we learn about the Rule of Nines, relating to burn percentage in adults. If your entire left arm is burned, we say "9% of the body is burned." The palm is another 1%. So is the groin, actually. So... imagine your arm gone, and your groin. Yeah, ok, not the greatest imagery - but putting it into perspective, that's 10% of your body. I'm 6lbs away from having lost that much of my body weight. To me, this is just mind boggling.
I'm trying to lose 51.432% of my starting body weight. total. Using the Rule of Nines again - both legs (18% each), an arm (9%), half of the other arm and the groin. Now obviously, I'm pretty attached to my various limbs and my girly-bits, and fortunately, weight-loss doesn't cost you any part of your body but the fat that's actually padding all the pertinent bits... but I think the imagery is still useful in being able to visualize something relating to your actual body to understand just how much is going away.
I know the popular suggestion is to go to the store and find a few cuts of meat to add up to the total... but I can't "relate" to meat in my grocery store. For one, I'm a hypocritical carnivore. I know where that lovely roast in my fridge came from, I just don't want to think about it mooing. Plus, have you ever actually SEEN the fat inside a human body? Please believe me when I tell you, it doesn't look like the fat you trimmed off your pork chops the other day. You don't want the mental image in your head when you're looking at something you're going to want to eat later... well, unless you're trying some sort of negative reinforcement therapy I guess, Me, I already have a screwed up enough relationship with food, I don't need to be thinking of it - and my body fat - at the same time.
Another reason I can't relate is because I can visualize that stack of meat as being part of me. But I have no problem relating my arm as being mine, or my leg, or my oh-so-important girly-bits. To motivate myself, to understand just what an incredible thing I'm doing, I need for it to relate to ME. There's few things more personal than girly-bits. LOL
Speaking of the girly-bits, here's one of those things that might actually be useful for someone to know but it seems like no one ever discusses. You lose weight there, too. Yup, it's true. I've always had a semi-poofy groin area. If you ever look at a porno or a porn magazine, the women always seem to have very small, thin vaginal lips and such. I've never been like that, my lips have always been poofy on their own... and as I gained weight, they got more poofy. My pubic area has also always been a bit more full than most women's, and that increased as I gained weight as well. Losing the weight I have has caused a NOTICEABLE difference. I'm never going to lose the poof completely, that's just how I'm built, but funnily enough it was the first place I noticed a real physical difference when I began losing weight.
When I weigh myself on Thursday, I'm not expecting a loss this week. It's not that I've been overdoing it in terms of eating this last week, but I know I didn't make the best choices I could - especially in getting in my fruits and veggies. My body responds really well to fruits and veggies, and I could feel the difference when they were just sort of an incidental part of my diet instead of a main staple. Halloween wasn't an issue for us... I had some 100 calorie packs on hand if we got ToT'ers (we didn't), so there wasn't any candy laying around tempting me. But because we had such a busy week, we did a lot of eating on the fly - and the stuff you get when you eat out is just never as good as what can be cooked at home.
Last night, however, I made garlic lime pork chops I found on Gina's website. As with everything else I've made from her site, they were amazing. We tossed them on the grill and OMG I have never had such a juicy pork chop in my life. Served it with a side of garlic & herb rice, and a nice spinach salad. I'm so glad there are leftovers... that's going to be my lunch in a few hours. We will DEFINITELY be making these again soon. Hubby and I live in Michigan, but we grill all winter long. One of the most expensive things we own is our gas grill. We didn't skimp when we bought it, and we use it A LOT, even through the winter. So these pork chops will be a regular part of our diet now.
It's funny, I've always shied away from grilled or broiled pork chops. I had it in my head that I didn't like them prepared that way. Actually, I was pretty much a Shake & Bake only kind of girl when it came to pork chops. This recipe changed my mind, and now I'm eager to try some other grilled/broiled pork chop recipes. I was willing to give these a try specifically BECAUSE they were on Gina's site, and I've yet to make anything from there I don't love... I'm so glad I did, it's opened up an entire new option for me in food.
Tonight is the herb crusted eye of round roast again. This gets made a lot because the leftovers are so good. She uses a rib eye roast, but I like the cost/fat savings of using the eye of round. We'll have hot crash potatoes as a side, some green beans & mushrooms, and maybe a salad. I got the most fantastic organic baby spinach this week and I'm trying to make sure none of it goes to waste. Raw spinach is definitely on my "top 10 favorite foods of all times" list. All the other leafy greens completely pale (hahahaha) in comparison to me.
I'm going to be trying some of the various chili and stew recipes I've found in the coming weeks. I make an awesome turkey chili, but I need to sit down some day and actually figure out the points for it. If it's WW friendly, I'll post my recipe - but since I usually add maple syrup and/or honey, I have to really add it up. I've made that chili for over 20 years, and I don't ever measure anything... so I'm going to have to make a batch and take some exact measurements while I do. At least now I know enough about WW to be able to figure out how to make it more point-friendly if need be... but the truth is, even if I can't, I'd still keep making it and just budget my points carefully when I'm going to eat it.
So I guess that's my update. I don't know how many entries I'll be making in the next few weeks... but I do want to try and make time to blog and to post on the 100lbs to lose community again. If I can break away from killing charr and hunting down gargoyles and casting spells, I will. *grins*
