My goal: to lose 8lbs in 6 days!
Method: Juice fasting/low-calorie diet + exercise
My goal for this diet is to get down to my ‘normal’ 130lbs by March 9th, which gives me only 6 days! But I think it can be done – I have routinely lost 5-7lbs in 4-5 days in the past, and I know I can do it again (although it’s been quite awhile since I’ve done this!). Juice and smoothie fasting offers guaranteed weight loss, but as I haven’t done a juice fast for some time now, I am not relishing it (a bit apprehensive), so I’m going to allow myself to eat some food as well, to curb any hunger pangs as needed and to sustain my energy so I can continue to work and exercise all week without getting run down and sick. (plus, I find that I can lose more weight anyways when I take in more calories than just a juice fast, but with significant exercise each day) I was just sick recently from overworking myself and don’t want to go there again!
Since my summer vacation last year, where I overly indulged in rich, delicious and abundant food for two hedonist weeks, and thus gained about 8lbs, I haven’t really gone back down to what I consider to be my normal weight: 130lbs. Normally I allow myself to waver in between 130 and 135lbs (what I call my “safe†zone), and as soon as I hit 135, I start to diet to ensure that I don’t surpass my safe zone. However, since last summer, I haven’t cared too much about this, so I’ve been finding myself hovering in the 135-137 area for most of the time, and thus (unofficially) allowing my new “maximum weight†to be 137. But, as of this week, I gained 4lbs to reach a very undesirable 138lbs, and I think I let myself gain that weight since I was planning to go on this fast as of today (March 3), so I was allowing myself to indulge in food more than I normally would, knowing that I would be deprived pretty soon. Wasn’t expecting to reach 138, however, so now I have an extra pound to go on top of what I was expecting to be at the start of this 6 day crash diet.
My goal for March 9th lies in the specific intention of wanting to feel comfortable in a dress that I plan to wear for a special event that night. The last (and only) time that I wore this dress, I was 129lbs, and it was actually loose on me. When I tried it on a few weeks ago, at 135lbs, it was a bit tight on me, so I chose 130 as a nice round number to reach that I know will, for sure, allow me to wear the dress and feel (and hopefully look) good in it. Plus, this is just the motivation I need to get back down to my “normal†130 – at least for now.
So, here we go….
Day 1: Sunday, March 3rd, 2013
Starting weight: 138.6lbs
I started this day in the evening, after sleeping during the day after working a graveyard shift. Last night at work, I was planning to go for my usual 4am run, but this did NOT materialize at all, as I hit the wall of major sleep deprivation soon after I started my shift. My body felt completely dead, and I just gave into it and allowed myself to skip my workout (which I virtually never do!). But I did this with the compromise that I would go to my gym when I woke up in the evening to get my work out in then, and I did do that.
My friend, the AMT machine.
On an empty stomach, soon after getting up, I went to the gym and did the Adaptive Motion Trainer (a wonderful machine that burns significant calories even when you’re tired) for 57 minutes and expended 506 calories. Then, because I had a bit more time, I did 3 sets of 12 of the Standing Calf Raise machine. I hadn’t been to my gym for a really long time (as I’ve been consistently working out mostly at my workplaces instead lately), so it was good to get some calf raises done – one of my favourite weight machines there! Then I went home and did my upper body weight lifting routine for shoulders with my dumbbells, while I watched tv for a half hour.
Wasn’t feeling hungry at all during this time, but right before I left for work at midnight, I made a green smoothie to take to work with me, consisting of: a banana, 6 strawberries, a lot of kale and spinach, wheatgrass, protein powder, stevia, and water. This is a 322 calorie smoothie, but as of 6am, I’ve only consumed about half of it. It seems that when I woke up this evening, my brain had already shifted to “fast†mode, which has effectively turned off my stomach from wanting food. (I love it when that happens!) This is typically what happens when I do a fast: invoking “mind over matterâ€, my brain tells my body not to want food, and so I don’t want food (and don’t miss it).
I did my usual 4am workout at work. No treadmill at this workplace, unfortunately (running is my preferred exercise), so I do the elliptical trainer there, which doesn’t expend as many calories as I’m used to, but it’s still an okay workout. I did 61 minutes at 423 calories, and barely broke a sweat! Oh well.
But because I usually do want food (when I’m not fasting, 99% of the time), I am never looking forward to spending a significant period of time without eating! Food is so good. I love making it, eating it, sharing it, reading about it and planning what I’m going to be making next. When I fast, though, another added benefit is that it saves me a lot of time and money. Barely any time needed to prepare my daily sustenance, and hardly any money spent for the week’s groceries. Plus, you know that you won’t be eating out, so money (and time) is saved there as well.
Today’s calorie intake: Smoothie (241) + Vega Pre-Workout Energizer drink (53) = 294 calories + B12 vitamin
Today’s calorie expenditure via exercise: 927+* calories
(*the ‘+’ accounts for the calories burnt via weightlifting, which I do not know)
