eat up, buttercup

ya'll

i never thought i would say this

but i have to eat MORE

it's been 2.5 weeks - and i haven't seen much change

even though i refuse to weigh myself - i prefer to go the method of the loose pants test

and i don't own a scale - gasp! - i know...

so, maybe, possibly i have lost and i need to chill because it's not even been a month

but i've really taken this diet and exercise by the horns

and have been putting in the work

and tracking EVERYTHING i eat

even erring on the side of possibly not burning quite as many calories as my fitness pal reports and a few foods might be understated/overstated in the caloric department

i would have thought my pants might be just a tadddd bit roomier by now...

unfortunately - looking at my net calorie intake over the past 2.5 weeks - most days i don't even net 1,000 calories

even if i didn't burn as many calories as the app suggests - i would still be eating less than 1,200 calories a day

eating too few calories only slows your metabolism in the long run and throws your body into starvation 

and for working out like i've been doing, i should really be trying to shoot for 1,500 calories a day - NET - i'm buring anywhere between 300-600 calories a day with exercise, so that means i should be eating a minimum of 1,800 calories a day

it's so hard to get the motivation to eat right and track - and when you finally climb up on that healthy bandwagon and are motivated - it's extremely difficult to tell yourself to eat more and track more calories

i know it sounds ridiculous to think, duh rachel - just eat a bowl of cereal, pack a few trail mix baggies, eat up buttercup!  this is your pass to do so!  you're putting in the cardio and are lifting like a BAWSS!

but it FEELS so counter-intuitive

eat less = weigh less right?

no.

well not always.

my goal for the rest of this week :

i eat roughly 400-450 calories for breakfast, lunch, and dinner

i will bring a ~200 calorie snack to eat mid afternoon (i usually come home and do a brief cardio workout and rotate different strength training exercises)  it'll be a good way to hold me over until i fix dinner

after dinner/before bed i'm going to enjoy a smoothie (200-300 calories)

i've made myself swear off ice cream.  but it's HOT out...and a smoothie is basically the next best thing, right?

right.

also, i may break down and buy a scale

i really don't want to since i feel like i'm having a hard time wrapping my head around eating more

i don't want to become obsessed with weighing in

i'm going to try and wait another 2-3 weeks and then buy one in hopes that i've seen some improvements in the way my clothes fit

the most important thing i keep telling myself is that gain or lose - i'm feeling awesome!

this morning i was thinking about the first couple of days we got the elliptical - i got on to do a 30 minute workout (and seriously, the one we have feels 10X harder than any i remember at the gym - the resistance on ours is tough!) and had to take breaks every 5-10 minutes

if anything i've come pretty far from those moments in a short amount of time - being able to power through tough 30 minute programs!

i'm looking forward to the day i'm back outside running again!