Diet, exercise and kicking it up a notch

This whole weight loss/get fit campaign is starting to annoy me. These days I've finally managed to accept that I'm fit and healthy - even if I'm not so accepting on my ass-size:) I really did think way back when that when I kick started my health regime (4 years ago now) that I would have dropped more dress sizes.

I am more than happy to watch what I eat - and I do. Sometimes I wish I didn't have to, but it's OK and I've got used to it. What I'm finding more frustrating is that my weight has plateaued no matter what I eat or how much exercise I do. Now, if I was doing a couple of cardio classes a week I'd just do more (or accept that this is how it is), but I spend upwards of 10 hours a week in the gym and I eat healthy food 99% of time the time. This frustration last Saturday translated to me yelling at my trainer (and my nutritionist in his spare time) that it's not fair and that I work too hard for no results. I must have got my point across because he said to write down what I ate, when and the quantities. So, that's what I did for Sun, Mon, Tues and Weds.

Yesterday I returned for my regular Saturday ass kicking (training session) and we spent a lot of time talking about my diet. Billy, as always, is honest and I love that. His view that was from a calorie standpoint that I'm eating just fine but that I was getting sloppy with the protein/carb/protein/carb alternating thing. So, I tried to explain why...and it really does make sense. So here goes. I'm usually pretty good with meals and they're protein based. I rarely eat potatoes/rice/bread at all. My carbs come mainly from fruit. The issue that I have when I'm doing a long stint at the gym is that eating protein just doesn't cut it. I need the fruit (ie bananas) to sustain the energy through 2 hours or so. That means that after a protein lunch I may have a yogurt or fruit around 2.30pm, then have bananas at 4.30pm or 5pm ready for the gym at 6. The fact is Billy's right - I'm not following it rigidly....but I am going to try. The other thing we talked about is that he doesn't think I'm getting enough protein - at this point I did tell him I thought that was BS. The reason being is that I usually eat eggs/turkey/cheese for breakfast, a meat salad for lunch and then meat/fish with veggies for dinner. That's like protein overload in my mind.....right? Anyway, I have to listen to the expert - especially as he's worked out for over a decade and has a body to die for (ladies.....trust me, totally enviable even if he is a guy).

Billy also gave me another option if alternating proteins and carbs wasn't fitting into my lifestyle. He said that what I can do is make sure that during the day I eat 100g (3.5oz) of protein a day and 200g (7.05oz) of carbs. I've been mulling this over since yesterday. While I reckon I could eat the protein I think I'm really going to struggle with the carbs. I have lots of questions before I decide whether to try this one instead:

1) Let's take protein. Does 100g mean 100g of chicken....or 100 g of the protein within the chicken. As an example I will use chicken. At this link http://www.hoptechno.com/nightcrew/sante7000/Sante7000_Detail2.cfm?ID=24110020 it says that per oz of chicken there are 12g in total, or 3.44g of protein. So, say you have a 8oz piece of chicken - is it 96g of the total allowed or 24g? I'm guessing that it's the latter....which means you have to eat crap loads of meat.
2) Carbs. So, if my assumption is true on carbs then I'm not sure I can at all hit 200g. Let's take this link http://www.hoptechno.com/nightcrew/sante7000/Sante7000_Detail2.cfm?ID=51101000. This says that a cup of white bread has 17.33g of carbs. OMG. That is a crap load of carbs.
3) For carbs, does that mean I could drink fruit juice and that would count towards carbs.

I can't decide what to do. I think I'm going to be more strict with the carb/protein/carb thing.....because the whole measuring thing is freaking me out.

Now, on the plus side my friend Sharon and I when we were in China Town last week asked the doctor for something for weightloss. We've both been taking a daily supplement of something (it's Chinese after all....) and it seems to be working. Now this, of course, could be working as a placebo but I dropped about 3.5lb this week - the first in about 6 months. We'll see as the holidays approach whether that continues.

I'm keeping up the detail of the diary as it keeps me honest....and I don't cheat as much. I really can't be bothered to fill in the other blog, so I'm going to disable it at some point today.

Watch this space for progress! With two weddings next year we've got to be looking our best so I'm determined to fix this and look freaking fabulous in the process!!

As an aside, I've also got another personal trainer at the gym who's courting me to work out. Given that I have over 20 sessions sitting in a bank waiting to be used I'm seriously thinking of adding a 3rd strength training hour to my weekly regime....my only concern is how to fit it into my life:) We'll see....I'm still thinking about.