Cinch Diet Success!!...Celebrated with a Carb Fest

It was 5 1/2 days of starvation, low blood sugar, and the related extreme exhaustion...but when I stepped on the scale Saturday morning I was delighted to weigh-in at 118.8 lbs!! This is a HUGE milestone...I have been attempting to hit 118 lbs since last summer when I surpassed this weight...one that had been my high for the whole year and a total devastation to my self-esteem and body image. I have tried desperately all year to stop the binging, get control of my food intake and increase my exercise enough to lose the weight that I was able to deplete due to the Cinch diet...and a whole lot of diuretics...

Now there is no way that I would ever call this diet healthy...although, one may argue that all food groups and major macronutrients were covered...The major issue I had with the Cinch diet is how low calorie the plan is. With less than 1200 calories in its base-plan, there is little room for expending extra energy through exercise, which is a huge part of my life and identity. This was especially true on the days I worked at the hospital...running around the Units for 8 hours blasted tons of calories, left me majorly light headed and a tad hangry. On the days I worked in my clinics, where I sit at a desk, it was much easier to get through the day, but even then I needed to add extra food to keep myself from feeling like I was going to pass out. 

At the beginning it was an extra 1/2 cup at least of almond butter...yikes that's a lot of extra calories and fat!! So, I left the jar at work on Thursday, portioned out a little extra for the remaining days, and instead focused on eating extra berries, spinach, slivered almonds and unsweetened almond milk. I had a goal in mind and needed to get there, so going to bed hungry meant taking an imovane sleeping pill to help me forget my swimming head and empty belly - again not the healthiest addition to an already unhealthy anorexic-inspired diet.

BUT...due to my starvation and bullheaded ways I exceeded my goal weight goal of 120 lbs (I was only looking to lose 2-2.5 lbs), allowed me to fit into my beautiful salmon-colored, frilly, strapless dress & feel totally confident at my friend's wedding. I knew I wasn't as thin as I'd been in the past, or even as skinny as I'd initially hoped to be when I saw my friend next, but the flatness of my stomach related to the lack of carbs and diuretics allowed me to walk in with my head held high and proud of my accomplishment.

I stayed pretty good with my food for the whole weekend, despite being away from home and attending multiple family gatherings. It was last night when I got home...hot, tired and craving a good meal of carbohydrates to replenish my depleted reserves...that I really let go. I stopped at Safeway for a roasted chicken (something WAY too high in sodium and fat for my regular eating regime), a HUGE baked potato (I actually looked for one smaller, but they were all big), corn on the cob (we somehow missed out on this at a TABER wedding whose food consisted of BBQ pork, potato salad & coleslaw??!!), and also made some oatmeal for my bedtime snack. I did go slightly overboard by eating not 1, but 2 containers of Greek yogurt that were totally unneeded - BUT I was able to prevent myself from walking to the corner store for a chocolate bar because I'd already had my "treats" in accordance with my "Hard Rules" (a Starbucks sugar-free, light Frapp and a Marshmallow square). For this I am extremely happy with myself. I did have more then I should have this weekend between the wedding and yesterday's "cheat day," but today I was able to get back on track, back to the gym, and onto my new meal plan.

My Next Goal...I was to see 116 lbs again!! I have a pair of distressed Silver Jeans that I really want to be able to wear again...and Ultimately a gorgeous pink and black Betsy Johnson dress that I've never worn that I dream to be able to fit into (I estimate my final goal needing to be 113 lbs to reach this milestone).