A LITTLE PROGRESS

An important reminder as I make my way down this long path to a better me. I was down .2 on the scale today. Compared to where I was earlier in the week, I'll take the loss. I mean an extra .2 each week is more than 10 lbs for the year. Yeah, math! Holy crap! I think that's the only time I've ever said that.

​Anyway, in the past, I'd have been totally discouraged with that number—especially since the past few weeks I'd seen much better numbers.

But, progress is progress. Those little bits will add up to much more in the long run. I'm learning to be patient as I wait to see what progress looks like down the line.

So, here's the first of three—yes THREE—full page spreads I made to track my weight loss. Every time I look at this thing, my first reaction is DAMN, look how many squares I need to fill in. Look at how far I have to go. What the f#$* was I thinking?
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But, each one of those squares reminds me that it's a step loser to my goal. 

Ok, so every Friday I'm going to do a Top 4 (or 5) List of Lessons I Stumbled Upon This Week.

Here's the inaugural countdown:

#5  I might...just might...be starting to look forward to getting some kind of exercise every day. 

​#4 Concert seating sucks for fat people. I don't expect venues to make easy chairs, but come on, would another inch or two kill them? Confession time: I've been to events where I can't fit in a seat. It's humiliating and frustration in ways I can't describe. Last night, I had the non-scale victory of actually squeezing my fat ass into the seat. But, I wasn't comfortable at all. And, the seat was on a slope, so standing for long periods of time was not a good solution. So, concerts are another reasons I've added to why I want to lose this weight. I ADORE concerts. I want to enjoy them without my body getting in the way. For the record, Matchbox Twenty blew me away last night. So while it's a tough lesson, at least I got to hear one of my all-time favorite groups live. Fair trade.

#3 I had a bit of a sweet binge this afternoon. Fridays are usually my "cheat' days. That's a crappy mentality to have, but I'm trying  to not get too hung up on being perfect. Therefore, Friday is the day I don't care quite so much about what I eat. So, I've been craving chocolate all week. I mean ALL FREAKING week. After lunch today, I overindulged a bit. The lesson? Maybe work with the cravings a little earlier in a controlled way so it doesn't pull one of these one me.

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On the up side, I've tracked it all and it wasn't a total disaster. Still, need to be careful. I won't lie, though. It was freaking delicious! 

#2 I need to evaluate how I set my goals. For September, my initial weight loss goal was 5 lbs. I hit that in my first week and then some. (Ahh, good times!) So, I readjusted the goal to 12 pounds. I'm not sure why I skipped right over ten and went to twelve. Overconfident after a big loss? Not wanting to get complacent? I don't know. Either way, I'm at 9 lbs lost for the months, which means I need 3 more to reach my Sept. goal. For now, I'm going to keep it there. Going to make an extra push to do it. If I don't reach it, it's not the end of the world, right? That's the major lesson I keep needing to remind myself I need to get into my thick skull.

And #1: Water is the first domino for me. If I let it fall the the wayside, everything else seems to go right along with it. My energy, my mood, my hunger. Not good.

​So, what's this week's goals?

• WATER WATER WATER
• More protein. I'm relying too much on carbs to fill me up. 
• Find a way to challenge myself with my workouts this week. I already started this by upping the resistance on the elliptical. 
• Keep tracking

Whew! It's been quite the week. Thanks for keeping up! Here's to making better choices this weekend!