The Home Stretch

Days 6 and 7
The past two days have been full of pulp.  Pulp in and pulp out.  In fact, I've changed the term pooping to "pulping."  But at least I won't be carrying around that "roughage baby" for the next nine months.  Yesterday was kind of uneventful.  The highlight was discovering the deliciousness that is the pear banana blueberry smoothie.  I food-gasmed.  Twice.  I guess I hadn't realized how much I'd missed bananas.  A little later, Jake's hunger got the best of him, and he gave into a snack craving - a small serving of jalapeno ranch Chip-Ins (gluten free popcorn chips by Popcorn, Indiana).  Jerk.  I'm just kidding (kinda)... he's done far better and lasted far longer this week than I ever imagined he would, especially considering the wild game of musical cleanses I dragged him on.  He's not quitting our smoothies, but he needed to... supplement.  And he was feeling some majah guilt over his lack of willpower.  This is how the little cheater my darling husband spent his snack-time:

The bag of chips is under there with him. 

I did get in my Metamorphosis Level 1 Omnicentric muscular structure workout.  I am OUTTA SHAPE, though, lemme tell ya.  I hadn't worked out in over 2 weeks and have lost some lean muscle on the cleanse, and I could definitely feel it.  Level 1 is much less challenging by TAM standards (and my body was grateful last night!), but even so, I could feel a huuuuge difference doing it last night as compared to 6 months ago when I did it the first time.  I was more comfortable with the moves (having done them all before), my form was much better, and I could really feel the moves deep into the muscles.  It was almost like I could feel my accessory muscles waking up... but more like from a long nap rather than from the full-on comatose state they were in back in October.  It was encouraging.  I decided not to push myself too far and attempt cardio.  I was feeling pretty shaky, and I think I'm going to wait to start adding cardio until Monday.  After my workout, it all of a sudden occured to me that I've reached my weight loss goals.  (That pesky .2lbs of excitement "pulped" its way out.)  I kind of just sat there for a minute, absorbing this.  It's been such a long road that it feels odd (in a good way) to not have to be constantly trying to lose that next pound.  (Not that I was psycho about it, but it's always been in the back of my mind.)  It's all about maintenance now.  I'm planning to be careful, of course, but it's like I've been holding my breath for nearly two years and can finally let it out.  I have A LOT of work left to go in the toning and tightening department, but I know if I keep up with my workouts and eat in the "naturally thin" kind of way, I'll be able to wear my skinny jeans whenever I want.  It was a pretty amazing feeling, and one that I haven't felt in a long time.


Today I had a mid-morning hair appointment, so I was a little nervous about all the "pulping."  Thankfully, it was a non-issue.  It was amazing to get away from the kids and have nearly four whole hours of "me" time in the salon chair.  My blood sugar got a little out of whack since I kind of missed lunch, but I had a smoothie as soon as I got home and felt a lot better.  The most exciting part of the day was our trip to the grocery to buy SOLID FOODS. What, what?!  Ohhh, yeah - tomorrow we are CHEWING AGAIN.  We picked up some things for soup and salad.  We might even go CUH-RAZY and hit up Whole Foods for lunch.  I have been dreaming about the vegetarian wonderland of their salad bar.  I'm not a vegetarian, but that's the kind of food I've been craving.  (Okay, so I'd LOVE a grilled shrimp quesadilla, too, but I'm trying to ease myself back in a little here!)  The grocery trip was actually a little overwhelming.  I've had so little in the way of choices lately that the sudden unlimited amount of them has me filled with indecision.  I'm gonna have to pull out the cookbooks (that I've been avoiding like the plague!) and start getting ideas for the week.  I'm still going to be drinking smoothies (they were already a part of my everyday, or maybe every-other-day, life before the cleanse) for breakfast most days.  Caffeine will no longer be off limits, but I'm not planning to go back to my morning cup and a half of coffee everyday.  I hadn't even really been enjoying it anymore, at least not during the week.  I think I'm going to save it for weekend mornings when everything's more relaxed and I actually have time to sit and savor it.  That's not to say there won't be the occasional stop at Starbucks during the week, though.  I haven't gone completely off the deep end!  Tonight I still have to do my second day of Meta Level 1, but it's comforting knowing that it's the last time I have to do the moves... starting Level 2 tomorrow!