Perfect Design Day 3: Behind the Door, Inside the Drawer...

After an epic fail with The Plan, the anti-inflammation diet that a bunch of the girls are doing on Facebook, I've been trying to lose my "gluten-baby weight" that was born from a night of Italian bread binging, and a morning of mistaken ingestion of gluten-filled granola....My wheat belly totaled a 6 pound weight gain for the Mistress of Moderation Mayhem.

Here we are, 4 days later, and only 2 pounds have disappeared-- which means I'm still carrying around what has been lovingly dubbed, my gluten baby--- she is 4 pounds and a bundle of joy Hellish Bloat.

So, you may be thinking....OK, so if you stopped eating the bread and the granola, then why are you still carrying around a bloated gluten baby?

Well, since you asked, I'm obliged to tell you the truth. Honestly.

For those of you who don't know, the Mistress is now gainfully employed as a political reporter with a popular radio station. I go to the State Capitol in Atlanta, Georgia to report on the political drama going on in the "Peach State." Every morning, I walk through this door:

What's Behind Door #1?

Every day, I walk through the Capitol Press Corp door with my neatly packed lunch-- -usually some grilled chicken with a veggie or two, a snack of a Think Thin bar or a Zone bar, and maybe an apple with some peanut butter...The perfectly balanced lunch/snack combo to carry me through my exciting day, reporting on Georgia's legislation and the issues that are important to our listeners.

Neatly Packed Lunch

Well, ya see....there's a little drawer inside the little Capitol office press room where my little desk is. And it's a big problem.

That little drawer is the bane of my existence. It is the SNACK DRAWER. Oh yes. A Snack Drawer.

Why a Snack Drawer? Because, all that shlepping around from the Capitol to the Legislative building and to and from press conferences make reporters hungry. So, our thoughtful news bosses provide a snack budget. Yes, a snack budget. There is literally a lady who goes shopping for the reporters-- (not sure if she'll take requests for Think Thin bars and fresh fruit....I'm thinking-- prolly not.)

Anyhoo, here's a peek inside the snack drawer:

Snacky Snack Sins of the Mistress

Notice the Cheez-It packs? They are 100 calorie Cheez-It snack packs. Kinda perfect to have snack pack sizes in the Snack Drawer, right? Not so much.

I LOVE CHEEZ-ITS. I love all things crunchy, salty and cheesy. Little problem is, despite the crunchy, salty, cheesy perfection of Cheez-Its, they are NOT gluten-free. Since recognizing my gluten-intolerance, even a little snack pack of 100 meager calories can set me back 2 pounds by the next morning. 2 or 3 snack packs? Fuhgettaboutit.

So, despite all of the effort and discipline it takes to get my ass out of bed at 5am to do an hour and 35 minute workout-- (50 minutes of Perfect Design + 45 minutes of Dance Cardio) plus packing a healthy lunch with the best intentions....by the time 4pm rolls around, I'm crunching on deadline and suddenly find myself-- yup... you guessed it....CRUNCHING ON CHEEZ-ITS.

I do it to myself. I sabotage all of my hard work. For what? Crunchy, salty, cheesy CRAP.

So, I resolve to go to Whole Foods this weekend and find some sort of alternative. Crunchy, salty, cheesy, gluten-free goodness of some kind. Rice cakes, maybe? Please leave me suggestions, if you feel so obliged.

Workout wise, I've been doing great. I'm on Day 3 of Tracy Anderson's Perfect Design Series, the first of her 3 Perfect Design DVD's.

These are a lesser known TAM series that came out without much fanfare, just before her Metamorphosis Series. Here's a link to an Asian video site that has the entire Perfect Design 3 DVD online: http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMjc1MzU5NzI0.html

I love the workout-- and I'm sore today, but a good sore-- that all-over-body-kind of sore that Tracy talks about after a good workout! I'm planning on doing 10 days of each level and then moving on to Metamorphosis Omni.

After spending the last month primarily doing rebounder cardio because of an aching foot from 2 previous metatarsal fractures, I'm back on the floor doing Dance Cardio '08, my all-time favorite of TAM cardio videos. If you haven't done it, ORDER THIS DVD: The Tracy Anderson Method Dance Cardio Workout DVD. It's amazing. It took me forevah and evah to learn the dance sequences, but now that I have them memorized, I feel like a headlining dance star rocking out next to Gaga.

OK, well, maybe I don't feel quite that fabulous, but for a white girl who can't dance, this cardio DVD has helped me not feel like such a doofus on the dance floor!

Despite the weight setback, I still feel like my body is changing for the better-- I'm getting tighter all over and my butt continues to improve! Remember, by the end of bootcamp, it lifted up a whole 2 inches! I'll be curious to see the additional changes after a month of Perfect Design.

I put on some pants yesterday that I haven't worn in probably 8 months and they fit! JP saw me vogueing in the mirror and was like, "Damn baby, your ass looks great!"

Here are some gratuitous butt shots I snapped in a moment of "they finally fit again" pants bliss!

Is that my butt looking cute? OOH! IT is! Lemme get a closer look...

Rock it, Sister!

I highly recommend gratuitous butt shots in the bathroom mirror. Totally therapeutic!

Time to hit the dance floor, lovelies! Get your workouts in this weekend-- and I resolve to not hit the snack drawer on Monday!

xxoo