10 Pounds in 10 Days: Can I do it? Day 10

(Editor’s note: Writer Mary MacVean tried out trainer Jackie Warner’s diet plan from her new book “10 Pounds in 10 Days.” Here’s her experience. Read about her previous days.)

Day 10

And the total is ... eight pounds in 10 days. I’ll take it. Happily -- though a little worried about regaining it. That’s the bane of dieters everywhere. Losing weight is not easy -- I’ve lost several people’s worth in my time. But keeping it off is a Sisyphean task.

I know plenty of people who’d wonder what might have pushed them to 10 pounds. Truth is, I’m thrilled. I know I had a day of eating as I pleased, but I can’t imagine that was the whole cause. I don’t know what the research would say for sure, but I think years of gaining and losing weight leave me needing fewer calories. But I’m happy for now.

Warner’s client list includes the sort of people who might want to drop 10 pounds fast to zip into a size 0 gown. (What is that, anyway? Size nothing? Should women actually aspire to be nothing? But that’s another story.) I rarely go to red carpet events. But my high school reunion is later this summer, and 10 days beforehand, I might just be back to Warner’s shopping list.

In fact, I plan to hang on to some of the regimen. I’m really connecting with the weight-lifting. And Warner’s book goes on for two more 10-day periods, changing the foods and upping the calories and exercising, or as Warner writes, “a full 30 days of fat burning and body toning.” And then there’s a maintenance section as well.

I didn’t celebrate the end of my first 10 days with pastries or pizza, so who knows what I might be able to do?