Halle-freaking-lujah.

Now before we get too excited here, I have to add the condition that .9 lbs of this loss came from a change in scale. (My previous scale weighed only in 0.5 lbs, and absolutely desperate to see any sort of change, I thought getting one that showed weight in 0.2 lb increments might help.)

Still, I get to claim a 2.3 lb loss for the week. Finally!

So apparently, for me, the low-glycemic diet and the less-intense workouts were key. (Assuming this success continues, I think we can safely deem this a winner.) On the question regarding why the lower-intensity workouts — when I had the anaerobic threshold test done that I mentioned here, they determined that my most efficient fat burning zone was the lowest zone (zone 1). For me, this translates into a target heart rate of 116-125 bpm. Apparently, this is the case for many “sugar burners”… as soon as the body starts working anywhere near close to hard, it decides that it’s time to burn sugar instead of fat, and the weight loss resulting from exercise is pretty much nil. I was also told a classic hallmark of a sugar burner is someone who is flabby, even when reasonably fit — and this has always been the case with me.

For the diet, it’s starting to get a bit easier. I’ve noticed that days where I start to get a little hungry are days followed by downward changes in the scale. Noticing this has made it easier to deal with the hunger in telling myself I’m literally burning fat off my body at that moment. My new favorite discovery is the steel cut oats for breakfast — I make them in the crockpot overnight, and wake up to a nice hot breakfast. I’ve also discovered my local farmers market, which I’m super excited about — I’m looking forward to finding new and sexier ways to get in what feels to be my 86 servings of vegetables per day. My new easy vegetable fave is the steamfresh (I think it’s called; one of those steam-in-the-bag brands) garlic cauliflower dipped in Emeril’s horseradish mustard — super yum!

My challenge for the next 10 days is that I’m at my in-laws ranch, so I’m away from the safety of home and the gym. The good news is that my in-laws are very physically fit people, and are completely supportive of my efforts. My trainer put together a travel workout that I’m doing every weekday during the week (as I would be at home), and my husband graciously offered to briskly walk to the mailbox and back with me so as to help me avoid getting eaten by a bear. (To-and-from the mailbox may not sound like much, but given that the mailbox is over a mile from the house, it’s about a 50-minute round trip at my lame-o zone 1 pace.)

So that’s my report for the week. I still have a ton of fat-related thoughts I’ve been contemplating I want to discuss, but if I actually lose again next week, I won’t have much to bitch about — so I’ll save it for something to write about then. Thanks for checking in with me!