Fight to the Finish

It's business time, motherfuckers. I had my second-to-last visit with Kirk the Nutrition Guy this morning and I'm pretty much exactly where I was at my last visit. Take home there is that you can have a less-than-stellar 2 weeks (out to dinner, drinking, and...uh...competitive cereal eating) and not trash all your progress to date. This gives me hope that I can enjoy the fuck out of my tropical vacation in May and not come back 10 pounds heavier. Pretty sure there won't be any Honey Bunches of Oats in St. Martin.

Measurements exactly the same, weight negligibly higher. After my massive water consumption on Saturday and Sunday my hydration status was aces (I actually managed to get my total body water up for a change, and it wasn't bloat! Yay, me!). I did tell Kirk about the Cereal Bowl. He laughed and asked how I felt on Sunday. I answered honestly...pretty fucking terrible. We also reassessed some of my initial paperwork and I re-took the inventory of symptoms. Some things resolved like heartburn and digestive upset. Mostly because I've curtailed my coffee consumption pretty substantially and I eat a lot more fiber now.  Some things are the same because no matter how perfectly I eat I'll still be allergic to goldenrod.

I missed a Hero WOD today for my appointment, but I did get a nice hour of challenging yoga in. I fed a sushi craving this afternoon (side note: if you buy a bottle of wine and a sushi roll at 1pm, the cashier will assume you're a boozer) and had a few Thin Mints after dinner tonight. I might have a few more later.

This was dinner. Food-groupy.

Hmm...might be time to pour a glass of wine.  A farewell glass because I have my final appointment in 3 weeks and I want to crush it. Right now my body fat sits at a 22.7% and my body muscle sits at 19.9%. I want to see that fat number at 21% or below and the muscle number at 20% or above. I don't think that's unreasonable. I'll have my final set of labs drawn on 4/8 and my final weight/measurements/BIA on 4/22. So beginning tomorrow with breakfast, it's a fight to the finish. Even though it's not really the finish.

My new kitchen cupboard friend.

Instead of making endless copies of my checkbox sheet, I made this handy board to track my daily food consumption. Right now I have it set up for a 2000 calorie approximation, but the 2400 cal is just one more protein, legume, dairy, and grain and since I know that I'll track that on heavy training days or when I just feel hungrier. It happens. I didn't include a line for fats and oils because I really don't track those. I get them every day with the way I cook (olive oil, grapeseed oil, butter) and I'm not worried about their caloric impact. This is my plan going forward. It serves as a big in-my-face reminder to eat properly...and to eat enough. My appetite has leveled off, and I'm not so desperately hungry anymore, so sometimes I have to remind myself to eat to recover. It's important. I wasn't doing it before and look what that got me. Weak and pissy. I like being strong and happy. Eating enough is a big part of that. 

My running is about to amp up as I approach my two spring races, my squat cycle resumes tomorrow and I have a plan for adding in some planks and shoulder work as well. I've been pretty consistent with my CrossFit attendance, and I've been getting in for yoga 3 or 4 times a week. 3 weeks of perfect adherence to my checkboxes and I should be golden. 

Maybe I could squeak my waist down below 29 inches...it's 29.25 right now...#pipedream 

Yesterday I got my hair fancied up as my roots were starting to look a little trashy. See the purple? I heart the purple. There's some teal in there, too.

Sunshiiiiine in my blonde hair, makes me happppeeeeeeee!

I haven't been this blond in a couple of years. It's a bit of a shock. I dried and straightened my hair this afternoon and did a little double take at my reflection. Would you believe my hair was cornsilk blonde as a child? I didn't go brunette until I was 13. Stupid puberty. 

It's finally light enough for us to take the children for a walk after dinner in the evenings. The boys got scooters for their birthday and the girl child already had one, so they opted to ride those little two-wheeled death traps around the park. Before leaving C asked me "Do I have to wear a coat?" I said yes, of course. To which he replied "But it's warm today, Mom!". 5 minutes later as we walked/scootered into the wind: "Mom! It's so cold! Why didn't you make us wear mittens!" Worst. Mom. Ever. I was a little gratified watching the boys devour steak and vegetables for dinner. P enjoyed his "sparaguses" and C declared "I love broccoli soooo much." L has always been good with non-orange veggies, but it's been a challenge getting the boys to this point. It's a good thing we don't have excessively picky eaters or food allergies/intolerance of any kind. I'm pretty sure I would be shit at dealing with that. Actually I'm positive I would be shit at dealing with that. 

This wine is delicious. It was $5.99 so you know it's quality.

It almost tastes like something. Almost.

Ah, soon it will be time for some mindless knitting and TV. I binge watched Downton Abbey a couple of weeks ago. All 6 seasons in like 12 days. That was a crap idea, because you have all the feels without time to process them. I love quasi-historical dramas about the aristocracy. It's fun to imagine yourself as lady of the manor, but with my bloodlines I'm pretty sure I'd have been either scrubbing out the fireplaces or hauling buckets of milk around. My people were farm stock and servant class. Big and sturdy, but not terribly refined. I'm sure that comes as a shock. 

Now I need something new to binge watch. Taking suggestions. Nothing too murdery. Maybe it's finally time to watch Grey's Anatomy. 

Lol. I kid. I'm not going to watch that.

Alright. Off to bathe the spawn, then perhaps another glass of wine and a handful of cookies. Tomorrow starts in beast mode. Look the fuck out.