Success in the face of Travel!

Even though I left for NYC on Friday morning.... I stuck to my RESET--amazingly! Friday evening I had a salad only and so ... though I was worried about what choice I would really make when I was with Joe...I managed to stick to my plan.

I did eat normally for the weekend away--we were in Baltimore... but "mostly" I made good choices. Now though... I am back at home and will continue my 'transformation phase!'

In doing some research on weight gain for women my age I found...

One of the biggest issues for women over 40... in regards to weight gain, is that our basal metabolic rate drops by approximately 5% per decade of life. So by the time we are 40, we have a 15% lower metabolic rate than when we started life! AHHHH! It's as if the plan is stacked against us! Not only that...but a sedentary woman over 40 loses more than 7 pounds of muscle every 10 years. And remember... muscle is what burns calories. This means we lose the ability to burn approximately 400 calories per day!!!

On top of this--we spend our middle years dieting to try and counter-act this effect--essentially contributing to the loss of muscle mass though. How? By putting the body into 'starvation' mode our body uses muscle mass to provide energy since calories are not coming from any other source.

When we get through menopause, our energy requirement is about 15% less than when we were in our 20's... so if I eat the same way at 55 that I did at 25...I am in deep trouble!!!

The relevance of all of this info is this: it's important NOT to skip meals, not to let myself get so hungry I will eat anything I can get my hands on, and furthermore, I need to exercise regularly!!! During my week of RESET, I was never hungry. I was never "full" either, but I always felt satisfied. During this next phase, I will also never be hungry . I will keep my blood sugar level at an even keel and will eat regularly. And, I will be at the gym 5 days a week.