shrinkage

it's a word that strikes terror into the limbs and minds of men, because they think hairline or something more, ahem, private that is terrified of icy water. lately, recessionomics has shrunk their portfolios too.

let's begin this by saying i am happy with the way i have been eating since the end of summer. i still feel great, it's getting much easier and i haven't gone off the rails and eaten a pile of mashed potatoes or an entire pizza. or even a slice for that matter. i had a dinner party last week and but for a few spoonsful of flour (divided by 4 of us) everything was allowable. that included the staggering amount of butter and olive oil, lol.

the down- and frustrating bit of this is i have been at the same weight now for over a month. i've been advised to up my calories which i have. it's so counter intuitive i spend a good portion of the day freaking out. ahem. still no loss, but i have not gained any weight in the 2 weeks of uppage, so am being told to EAT STILL MORE. gah. can't do it yet.

but here's the weird thing. i'm shrinking. rings are too big and have moved from the second to the index finger. a blazer that hasn't fastened in forevah now fits closed over a wool twin set with room to spare. all the sleeves on my sweaters and jackets are much looser. freshly dried nighties that needed a pull to relax the lycra and be less tight now fall freely as soon as i put them on. the new delta bras from only a few weeks back went from being hitched on the 1st hook to the 3rd. blouses that strained buttons at the boobs no longer threaten to explode. (sorry, hubert.)

consensus seems to be when you lose 10% of your body weight, everything stalls. your body puts on the brakes to see what's what. once it figures this is for real, it will let go. for some people it took months. i've resolved to up my resistance training, which is the only real change i can make. am back to work finally, so my daily activity will be much greater than it's been too.

as crazy as the numbers are making me, i cannot remember the last time i felt this good and THAT is what keeps me on track. last night at the market i spent a few too many minutes tempting myself with low-carb wraps. "only 7 carbs, noodle... don't you miss bread, noodle?" (calling it bread is kind of a stretch here: flaxseed, oat bran and a tiny bit of whole wheat, but a regular wrap has 25-35 carbs -- more than i eat all day.) then i pictured myself eating the entire package before i went to bed and how puffy and bloated my face would look and my stomach would feel in the morning. i stepped away from the grains, lol.