Monday, May 14, 2018

The tortoise

Monday morning has arrived! I could have used one or two more days of the weekend. But alas, I have to work to make a living ....

I was able to maintain a somewhat steady diet this weekend. And by diet I mean food intake. I did not go crazy but I was not militant in my eating over the past weekend. I did not feel deprived, I was not hungry, and in fact I felt good because I was in control. It was more of exactly what I am doing during the work week. And that is eating lighter during the day; mostly fruits and vegetables, and then having a full meal at dinner. And those full meals are not crazy but they are not rabbit food. For example Friday night I had pizza and wings; Saturday night I had a sub, chips  and pasta salad; alast night I had a burger, pasta salad and baked Parmesan zucchini. All three nights I had some sort of dessert also. Is it perfect for me to eat the bulk of my calories in one meal? Probably not. Is it healthy for me to eat a sweet treat every evening? Probably not. Is it working for me right now? Yes. Yes, it is working.

Over the past week I have weighed  myself just about every day. And I have been delighted to see my weight drop every day. It is it not dropping by mad numbers, meaning I am not dropping a pound a day… I’m dropping maybe 2/10 of a pound each day give or take. That may only be 1 pound a week, but I am OK with slow and steady. Especially knowing that I am eating in a way that is sustainable. In essence I am having my cake and eating it too. I’m just eating superhealthy during the day to account for my cake (or whatever sweet treat I have).  I’m budgeting my food wisely.

I am sure there are people that will read this blog post and cringe at the fact that I’m claiming to be healthy (healthier) and eating cake. But that is where I go back to the many posts I have written that talk about how this is an individual journey and what works for me may not be what works for someone. It also goes  back to other posts that talk about how what works for you one week may not work for you at a different stage in your journey. And one more blast from the past that I’ve written about that is important is how this journey encompasses everything, eating exercise, and how it is  very emotional and mental. For me… right now… Where I sit in my life, this is working.

Changing my fit bit goal from 10 K steps down to 8K steps was inspired. On Friday I did my walking at work  and it was so rewarding to have that go off in celebration of my goal. It is rainy and overcast today so I’m not sure how much walking outside I’ll be able to do at work… But I am aiming for that 8000 steps. We had a lazy quiet weekend of relaxing and just chilling out at home… So sadly I did not make my steps for the weekend, but I think we both needed a weekend of doing the bare minimum.

Exercise is still spotty…Walking 8K steps a day was pretty much my exercise last week. I’m hoping to beef that up… I have goals I have plans I have the equipment.

So how did I do on my goals for last week? I reached my step goal… I did not track my food yesterday… Unless I go back and do it today. But in the grand scheme of things, I did at least keep myself under control on those two weekend days I did not track.

Goals for this week…

1. Track every day including the weekend.

2.  Hit 8000 steps a day for my work week. 40,000 steps in the next five days.

3. Be active over the weekend… Riding bikes going for a run, Lots of steps… It doesn’t matter something active.

4. Keep losing weight. Anything less than 249.6!!!  Although my official Friday weight was 251.4 so technically anything under 251.4 on Friday is a win.

Small steps. Nothing drastic. Easy attainable goals. Sustainable for my lifestyle. Slow  but long-term rewards.