Day 2: Letter to my paleo counselor and initial measurements

Hi Meghan, 

After today's meeting I wanted to give you a little bit of information about myself -

What I do

- I'm a graduate student at Penn in bioethics. My program is super relaxed - giving me plenty of time to focus on paleo, cooking etc. I'm graduating this May and finishing a thesis in June/July

Paleo

- I first tried paleo on my own in November and followed the blogs of all the CFCCers (I started my own blog http://18daysofpaleo.blogspot.com/ ).  I did the Challenge at CFCC in January with Erin - I started at 130 lb and got down to 125 lb. I cut out all gluten, dairy and legumes... I ate no bananas and was allowed only 1 fruit or 1 sweet potato a day. I was allowed bacon and chocolate on weekends (but that got out of hand... ha). I maintained this weight until recently...

My habits

- I love eating paleo because it's forced me to learn to cook. I was surprised at how much I can eat and still lose or maintain my weight. As I mentioned my downfalls are sugar and chocolate. I CANNOT limit myself with these foods and see the best results and feel the best when they are not part of my diet. 

-I am a HUGE coffee drinker. Erin got me used to drinking black coffee when I make it at home or getting Starbucks Americanos black. I love both these options

-I am also a HUGE wine drinker. I don't really see myself giving this up especially during graduation weekend. 

My Goals

I would really really really like to get back down to 125 lb. I feel sluggish at my current weight and don't like how it makes me feel at crossfit. This is probably compounded by some of the bad food i've reintroduced into my diet. I want to feel "clean" again. I'd also like to learn a lot more about paleo and how different foods make me feel. I'm very prone to mood swings and so I'd like to play around with the idea of working on that through sleep, diet and nutrition. 

I love that you mentioned that you're an information junkie - I want to learn more so I'm really looking forward to working with you! I'm pretty competitive, have high expectations and love a challenge. But I work best with someone who believes that I can go above and beyond - so feel free to be very honest and make open suggestions!

Thanks Meghan and will see you on Wednesday! Sorry for the long email but thanks for listening!

-Larissa

Initial Measurements (day 2, April 29)

Weight: 132 lb (Meghan) 129 lb (mine)

Waist: 127.5 in (Meghan) 127 in (mine)

Arm:11.5 in