The Diet Dilemma

Arrrggghhhh on the food part of this!!! I know it's the ONE thing that is keeping me from getting to where I want to be!!! But it's just so hard to stick to any menu plan, since I am not near my kitchen at every mealtime (or snacktime) and it's not always convenient to stick to the meal plan dishes, either. I know- excuses, excuses... but there's gotta be SOME way I can get it to work better than it is!!!!

Anyway, I looked over my menu plan stuff today (after kind of ignoring it since Jan) and even though I haven't actually tracked anything specifically, I can tell that in general, I am still eating too many carbs and not enough protein to shed off the remaining layers of GOO that I have left.

I know I have gained some good muscle with the X- and I am THRILLED with that!! But unfortunately, there is STILL that same layer of fat covering everything that I've developed underneath. I don't think I need to work the muscle-building too much more- but I surely do need to shred more fat. And the main culprit- too many junky carbs. And some days, too much fat intake. But most of the time- it's the carbs.

I hate it that I love thos junky carbs SOO much!!!!!!! Arrrggghh! No WONDER I have this layer of flab to start with! It's because my usual diet SUPPORTS that layer of fat, and maintains it! I know it! Bleah on those yummy carbs... they're EVIL, I tell ya... EVIL!
So anyway, I'm still doing the X, but today I really do have to decide FOR SURE that I have to increase the protein (to make sure I'm eating enough) while dropping the junky carbs and increasing the GOOD carbs (as fruits and veggies- still not too many from breads, even if they are healthy breads)... and as usual- keep the fat levels low.

I've tried the Pro/Carb/Fat ratio of 50/30/20 (for fat shredding with the X) but it leaves me SOO tired, and crabby because it doesn't provide enough carbs for a happy mom mentality (I could probably do it if I didn't have kids to keep up with, really). So I will try for a 40/40/20 range- which I think I come close to when I feel like I'm "eating well" and not cheating on the junky stuff.

Unfortunately, most of my days end up more like 30/50/20 or 20/50/30 (yikes) and all that does is either maintain my flab, or ADD to it. :-(

So there's no wonder that I can't seem to shred the fat, even though I've done well to build the muscle I want. The workouts are intense enough to build the muscle- but the diet isn't clean enough to shred the fat. Plain and simple- and it shows.

But that's my next goal to work on as I finish the last month of the X workouts. To try to clean up my diet the best I can, and shred that last bit of fat, so MAYBE the muscles I've gained will show through the right way! I WON'T be eating the diet for Phase III according to the X diet book- because it's too many carbs and that is my whole problem to begin with. I will try for some meals that are in Phase I but I know I can't do that for too many days at a time- so it'll be a mix of Phase I meals and Phase II meals.

Man- the workouts are a no-brainer compared to the eating!! (My workouts are coming this evening- I haven't done them yet)