How many chins is too many?

Marathon Training Week 11 - Day 1

Randee texted me at 4:00am to tell me her knee was swollen and she was icing.  We decided to skip yoga this morning.  I slept in until 8:00am, which was lovely.  I'm gonna attempt to do my yoga later this afternoon.

This is me in 2006.  I weighed 130 pounds, the thinnest I have ever been.  I was also in great shape.  I was going to a women's boot camp five days a week and following a very strict nutrition plan.

Nutrition has been on my mind a lot lately.  I have gained weight.  My stomach has been hurting way too often.  My run yesterday sucked butt.  I used to be SO very disciplined with my diet.  Over the past few months I have became very lazy and consuming way too many "special treats!"

Today I'm hanging out between 144 and 147.  Still in pretty good shape, but could use some tightening in the arms, thighs and abs!  I would like to be at 135.

I have used eDiets before, and had great success.  Even though I don't really want to go on a diet, I do need some structure to my marathon training nutrition.  I like to know exactly what to eat and when.  There are several different plans on eDiets, and I opted for the Glycemic Impact Diet.  It seems the most closely related to what I have been reading about.

The one thing none of these books did was tell me exactly what to eat and when to eat it.  I'm lazy.  I don't want to do all the work.  So, yesterday afternoon I joined eDiets.  I gave them all my stats and selected the Glycemic Impact Diet.  Below is an overview of the diet.

Glycemic Impact Diet

What is a GI Diet?

Foods with a low Glycemic Index value (the 0-100 index ranks foods based on the effect they have on blood sugar levels) slowly release sugar into the blood, providing you with a steady supply of energy, and leaving you feeling satisfied longer so that you're less likely to snack.
Foods with a high GI value cause a rapid, short-lived rise in blood sugar. This can often leave you feeling fatigued and hungry within a short time. Eating high-GI foods could lead to overeating.
Diets based on GI index encourage you to eat foods with a low GI value and avoid those with a high GI value. Most GI diets also recommend cutting down on fat, especially saturated fats. This means many of the foods which have a low GI value but are high in fat are still limited.

What's Different About the Glycemic Impact Diet?

This diet delves even further into the glycemic index, by taking into account Glycemic Load.
This is a combination of the glycemic index of a food and the amount of carbohydrate the food has. A food such as a carrot is a common example: Carrots have a high GI - but a very low amount of carb per volume. The glycemic load of the carrot, in the end, is quite low - and is a great food to eat!

Glycemic Impact Meal Plans

All meal plans on the Glycemic Impact Diet are made up from the following principles:

• Approximately 40% of calories are from unrefined, complex carbohydrates, including whole grains and whole grain breads and cereals, and whole pieces of fruit instead of juice.
• About 30% of calories are from lean protein (fish, chicken and the occasional beef and pork) with vegetarian options that include soy protein, tofu and textured vegetable protein.
• About 30% of calories are from healthy fats, including nuts, fatty fish, avocado and olive oil.

Conclusion

The Glycemic Impact Diet is an excellent diet.
It takes the best from other diets (such as South Beach Diet, and the Zone) - and combines them with no-nonsense easy-to-follow advice.

This is my meal plan for today.

It also gives me recipes and a shopping list.  I have it set up where lunch is an easy meal and dinner requires a little cooking.  So far so good today.

Now, to let you know why I'm so concerned about taking a few pounds off and eating properly!

When I met Doug...in Cancun...in 1996 I looked like this.  I was never a tiny thing, but at this point I only had one chin.

Then I apparently started having too many pina coladas.

I was sporting two chins and an extra wide butt in Costa Rica.

In Jamaica my face was as puffy as Doug's goatee.

I'm pretty sure this was the largest I got before having kids.  Pretty ridiculous.

I gained a butt ton of weight with Trent.  He was born in August so I had a lot of swelling from the heat.  I really don't even recognize my face.

I can't look at this picture without laughing.  So not us.  But please notice that I do have actual boobs here, and some very "fixed" hair.

I didn't gain as much weight with Audrie, but still had some major chinage going on.  I believe this was the night before she was born.

Good gracious I look like a dork. I was sporting some major mom jean shorts.  I have no idea what was up with the bandana covered shoes.  Definitely not my best look.

In an effort to actually survive training and running a marathon...and in the name of NEVER having more than one chin again.....I will lose 10 - 15 pounds!

I'll leave you with this picture that is sure to make my daddy proud.  I found it as I was looking for my fat pics!

Senor Frogs in Cancun.  Not sure why I have my butt stuck out during a conga line.  Or why the bartender is apparently spanking me.  Or why the dude at the table has that look on his face.  This picture just cracks me up.

Happy Monday!