Days 26, 27, 28 - Talking Dirty

This weekend was perfect. I had my 4 balanced meals, I went to two parties on Saturday, I went all of Sunday without Coffee, and I even snuck in a 7.5 mile run on Sunday morning.

Eating out is getting easier each time I go. On Friday night, I split a salad and ordered the grilled chicken breast with a side of sauteed spinach at an Italian restaurant, Vie Veneto. It came with potatoes, and although I did pop one in my mouth the rest were donated.

Saturday was similar. Since we were invited to two birthday parties, I ate a quick meal before the first one so I would not be tempted by desserts or pizza. When we got there, I sipped on my virgin, sugar free mojito and had a great time. Three hours later we drove to an Afghan restaurant, where I had the most amazing chicken kabob and a ton of spinach, before heading out to the second birthday party. What I realized is my body responds really well to chicken and spinach, so I am going to incorporate more into my diet. It is definitely the best dinner for shedding excess water weight.

On Sunday, I went for a 7.5 mile run, in the rain. It was great except that I was starving the rest of the day. For the purpose of my competition, I need to avoid long runs, but I love them so I keep them to one time a week. If you want to understand the difference between a long run and sprints, compare the body of a marathoner to that of a sprinter. The two girls on the left are marathoners; the long runs deplete their bodies of fat and muscle. The two girls on the left have a more athletic build; the sprints deplete their glycogen stores but keep their muscles well defined.

I realized that I have developed this fetish of watching others eat foods I can't have. The first time it happened was at dinner with a group of friends. I watched as they dug into the different chocolate delights and I listened to how they described the foods. My favorite part was watching the spoon sink into the various creams and cakes. There was one dessert no one had touched, so I begged them to dig in and tell me about it.

It has happened a few times since, but I realized it was a problem on Sunday. Ali gave into this giant chocolate chunk cookie at Plutos. After all the work and time I have put into this competition, I knew I didn't even want a taste, but I waited impatiently for him to eat it. Turns out he wanted to save it until I wasn't around, but I forced him to eat it any way. I watched how he slowly tore off a piece of the cookie, so I knew it was slightly chewy. I wanted to know if it was salty, it looked like one of those cookies that weren't too sweet and had that slight salt taste. He didn't know how to answer so I made him come close so I could smell his breath. I knew right away it was a good cookie. Then I started to laugh because I realized I was officially insane. I want people to eat foods while I watch, describe the texture and flavor, then finally let me smell their breath. It's like I get to enjoy the food without the calories. It's weird.

Today I worked on legs with Larissa, and then again with Glen. I am 39 days away from the show and it is time to "fine tune' my muscles. With Glen, I did two exercises for an hour, single leg hamstring curl and rear delt flys. I was exhausted in a whole new way. For the next two weeks, to get over my plateau, I will do double days of strength training. I am going to be cranky.