Two Inches Per Pound

I saw my nutritionist again today. The weight is falling off me right now. I've lost 11 lbs since I started seeing her last month. My BP is down from 140/92 to 110 over 91. She said that the bottom number often takes longer to go down than does the top number (although the bottom number will rise rapidly). So although the top number is good, the bottom number needs some work! I will continue to watch the sodium, drink water throughout the day, and eat fruit. These things are all helpful in balancing mineral levels and helping the heart to work less hard.

Other things I will continue to focus on to improve my BP is getting enough sleep and getting back to the gym. I'm terrible at both! I've gotten out of the gym habit, but was doing 45 minutes 5 days a week before seeing the nutritionist. Now I'll aim for 30 minutes of cardio, 5 days a week as my goal for the year. This is probably more reasonable. I also need to work on lowering my anxiety level. I tend to stress over things, like my dissertation research and studying for my comprehensive exams, as well as the normal stuff we all worry about such as relationships and work issues. But I can take those anxieties to an extreme. I'm going to try meditating.

As part of each twice-a-week visit with the nutritionist I am weighed and have my BP checked. I am also measured from time to time. She says that every pound of fat lost is approximately 2 inches in size decrease throughout the body. In measuring me we came up with over 24 inches in size difference between today and when I started with her! The greatest loss was in my upper chest. She says that if you lose much more than the 2 inches per pound, the extra is likely water loss. If you lose much less than 2 inches per pound, you are often losing muscle, and that is a warning sign (this is with no weight-lifting or exercise).

These numbers are all averages of course and cannot be taken literally. Still, they are nice to keep in mind. I usually don't measure myself, but actually seeing the difference in size -on paper, at least - made me feel good today. I'll feel even better when my clothes start falling off of me!

My mostly-raw diet is going all right. I still have problems deciding what to eat, because I want quick and easy meals and simply have to get used to the fact that eating raw takes more time and makes a bigger mess. These aren't to be viewed as negatives but simply facts that I need to work into my routine. I also tend to eat the same foods all the time, so I am constantly refreshing my memory as to additional foods to eat. When I get frustrated about food choices, I also get overwhelmed and end up under-eating. Yesterday was one of those days; I ended up drinking a Naked Fruit Protein Smoothie (500 calories) to make up for skipping dinnertime because I couldn't decide what to eat. My nutritionist suggested a lower-calorie smoothie from Trader Joe's, which I will try. I tend to hate smoothies that come in a can, (Naked Juice is in a plastic bottle in the refrigerator section) but it will be my emergency beverage for those days when I've run out of food, haven't set aside enough time to prepare a meal, or can't make up my mind.

My main goals for 2007 are to have 50 lbs off before the holidays, to get my BP back to 120/80 maximum, and to get active again. I don't think I'll actually lose 50 lbs before November, but it's something to aim for.