We need to have a talk, guys.

Today's lunch: Spinach salad with kidney beans, corn,
artichoke hearts and avocado.
Drizzle of vinaigrette, dash of parmesan.

Okay, so here's the skinny on my recent skinnymama discoveries.

1. My work out chart was the exact thing I needed to maintain exercise motivation. It has held me accountable for daily workouts visually and the act of coloring in each completed day gives me the tiniest bit of accomplishment. To read more about my chart, click HERE.

2. Counting calories is fine and all, but it's the carbs that will get you! I've been very aware and careful about my caloric intake, but I haven't seen as much come of it as I had anticipated. However, while looking at my food diary, I noticed that a large part of my calories are acquired from carbohydrates. So, even though I'm being good about the numbers, the actual food I'm consuming is likely causing me to remain puffy.

3. A cleanse day instead of a cheat day?! Who do I think I am?? About a month ago, I had this "holier than thou moment" where I declared that cheat days are sabotaging our could-be progress and that we should instead replace it with a cleanse day to jump start the next week. (read about it HERE) HA!! The first two weeks of this theory were great! I was feeling super good, cleanse day would come and I would excitedly participate. Then, I hit the third week and I was dying for 3 slices of gooey pizza or 2 big chocolate cupcakes or a sugary latte. Pretty much ANYTHING that was bad for me I was dying for. So, I nixed the cleanse day idea and converted to the cheat day theory. If I'm on my best behavior all week, then I get to choose whatever fatty nonsense I want on the weekend. And yes, my skin hates me for the next two days after a cheat day. And yes, it's a little bit harder to get on that treadmill the next morning. But at least I'm not freaking out about junk food and then over doing my consumption. The cheat day gives you something to look forward to, so it's easier to say "if I can just get through the next few days..." and then you do and then you get that pizza. I still think my original idea was a good one, however, I'm just not disciplined enough for it yet.

4. In light of #2 and #3, I am declaring this week NO CARB WEEK (with the exception of saturday-cheat day) I'm doing this, not to punish myself, but to see if my theory is correct. Because, I have been so dedicated to my workout routine, but I still look puffy in the face and tummy. We'll see if it's the carbs and then I'll decide how to proceed from there.

5. Mostly vegetarian diet is fun and yummy! I'm not struggling with this one at all, probably because I do still have meat here and there in small doses. I didn't take on the vegetarian thing again for any political reasons, it was simply for my health. I've found that creating vegetarian dishes without relying on meat to give it substance is really fun! Some of my favorite dishes have been vegetarian burritos, eggplant pizza and tofu lasagna (my husband LOVED the tofu lasagna and he is a meat eating machine).

I am consistently losing weight, so that's good. But, I've hit another plateau, so this week I'm going to spend time trying to see what it is my body needs that I'm not giving it. I'll check in next week with some thoughts on that.