Friday, September 12, 2008

Not Much to Say, But I Am Here Anyway

Weight: 302
Total Weight loss: 48 pounds

Hello! Herro!

Since I haven't had much weight-loss or fitness excitement in my life lately, I feel like I don't have much to tell you about. But, because I feel that blogging has been an instrumental part of my success so far, here I am. I don't want to let too much time go by between entries, thereby insinuating that I am gradually giving up the ghost.

No worries, I am not.

I've decided that it's kind of cool that I have been able to maintain my weight in the past month or two. It's been pretty easy, much to my surprise. It's nice to know that some of my healthier eating habits have stuck without really trying, AND that I can eat without tracking or really thinking too much, and still eat reasonably and not gain weight. So, I haven't been eating totally clean, as I have said. But, I haven't returned to my old ways completely, either. In fact, I find that a lot of that kind of food I used to live on doesn't have half the appeal it used to. Interesting! Nifty!

Doing the minimal is better than doing nothing, and seeing this plateau as an adjustment period is a really big step for me mentally... sort of like how Andrew from Andrew is Getting Fit (see sidebar for a link to his awesome blog) was talking about not freaking out because his weight has been stabilized and even going slightly up, but seeing it as part of a much larger, ongoing process... this is so true, and such a constructive way to look at it. Like Andrew, there have been many times in the past when a series of weeks like this would have me so discouraged and depressed, and I would have thrown in the towel. Not now, though! Now I am proud to have been able to maintain my weight and prepare myself for the next phase. Hm, maybe I should take it 50 pounds at a time in general, giving myself a reprieve at each milestone?

What I have been doing:

• Drinking water
• (Mostly) avoiding nighttime snacking
• Balancing out each day's eating (i.e. if I have one "big" or "bad" meal, I am trying to eat well the rest of the day, and/or reset mentally for the next day)
• Taking one day at a time
• Being kind to myself
• Weighing daily to keep myself on track and accountable (this is HUGE one -- it is easy to let things go when you are ignorant of the facts)
• Trying to be more active in my regular daily life (housework & yardwork, etc.)
• Walking and/or running 2 or 3 times a week -- not the best, but something. OK, so this week I didn't, but there's always tomorrow to get a nice walk in...
• Blogging and reading other blogs!

It's nice to know that I do not resemble my old self a whole lot anymore. That list totally confirmed it.

Thank you, btw, for the wonderful, supportive comments the other day. They obviously helped a great deal. xoxoxo, You guys are the best!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

XOXOXO -- right back at ya! :)

Your list of changed behaviors is so fabulously full of common sense -- you are truly "in this to win this". And these are behaviors that will stick, the maintenance behaviors.

I'm glad you decided to blog even though you didn't feel you had much to say. :) Have a great weekend!

Anonymous said...

They say that, "it's not a sprint, it's a marathon". And honestly, thats the best, most effective, and healthiest way to go about losing weight. So congrats to you, for being able to look at this plateau as something hugely positive - it truly shows you dedication!

Michelle said...

Yes, right back at ya! Keep hanging in there. You might not think that fire will ever come back but it does. I think it took about 4 months for me the time I really lost it. But I maintained throughout that period and when it came back I was ready to go!