What shall I eat on my first day as a free woman? It’s done! The ‘after’ pictures will be snapped tomorrow and then I’m cut loose.

I had my final weigh-in today. Four weeks, 60 pills, 12 training sessions and I’ve lost 9 pounds. The weight mostly came off my thighs, arms and, as my mother points out, my face. My competitive self is a bit disappointed. I had a goal and a deadline to meet. I was aiming for a nice round 10. But, I remind myself, just because the ‘experiment’ is finished doesn’t necessarily mean I’m done losing. However, there’s Chinese food, cheesecake, French fries and breakfast potatoes with my name on them.

I have lived in depravity long enough that I will feel intense guilt the minute I forget what got me to this place.

I feel good. It’s been decades since I’ve been this little and I want to stay at 115. Maybe go for 112? Yet, as I introduce pasta, bread and potatoes back into my life will everything go to hell? I did cheat a little on my Fairmont Hotels trip to Banff, Canada, last weekend but to my astonishment I still lost weight. Maybe the -32 degree temperatures helped me burn off the baguette and chocolate fondue I caved for. I even had my first glass(es) of wine in three weeks on that trip.

A stay at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise begs for fine dinners and wine. In fact, Executive Chef JW Foster in The Wine Store held a private wine pairing dinner in honor of our final night.

Dessert, well, I would have to be a zombie to resist. Deconstructed s’mores with homemade graham crackers. But I didn’t finish it!

Turns out you can still lose weight through portion control and cardio. I did 30 minutes on the elliptical machines in the gyms at both the Banff Springs Hotel and the Chateau. I also hiked two hours through Johnston Ice Canyon with a sore foot.

Jeff Sproul, my nutritionist and trainer from Xcel Fitness in Midvale, weighed me in at 115 and pinched 3 percent less bodyfat. He said the supplement definitely made a difference; that on average his female clients lose one pound a week. So, me losing two could be attributed to the carb blocker. (My competitive inner child cheered). Personally, I think it was the fact that I went to bed starving every night but what do I know? I also lost the most weight out of the other women in the study. (Another cheer rises). Can I still be good in the face of Christmas parties and cookies? My biggest fear is that I take those ‘after’ photos, go out to dinner, have my first full meal in weeks and explode like Violet.

I still haven’t decided what morsel of deliciousness will tickle my tongue first tomorrow. Stay tuned. Hopefully, Basic Research shares the “before and after” pics so I can share them with you. I’m curious to see if you’ll be able to tell a difference.