Weight By A Date

In Portland right now it's beautiful and sunny unlike the rest of the country that's covered in snow.  I love Spring preview, as it's called in Portland.  We know it won't last, the rain will return, but enjoy it while it lasts.  That attitude is not always helpful for goal achieving.  On the one hand you can go out and walk around, but on the other hand going to happy hour and general frivolity become even more tempting. 
I'm trying to combine success and fun and I over did on the fun yesterday.  It wasn't that big a hit on the scale, but it didn't feel good this morning.  That's the thing about working towards a goal, it can't always be a step forward sometimes you have to accept the step back.  I have a strict deadline for the goal I am trying to achieve this time.  I think that has really helped me stay on track because I know I want to feel great on vacation.  I've decided that I know I've worked hard and I'm going to enjoy myself no matter what, but it really would be awesome to hit my goal weight.  Even as I type this I'm scolding myself for attaching so much importance to a simple number that can fluctuate with each grain of salt. I can choose to either live and die by the scale or enjoy feeling great, the choice is mine to make. 
I think I'll do this; keep working out as much as possible, log all my calories, drink lots of water and enjoy my friends and family.  No one ever left this world wishing they'd missed seeing friends so they could sit home and obsess about their weight!  So what if I weigh 142 instead of 140 when I leave for vacation!  Is that really the most important thing?  I won't have a scale on vacation, so for all I know that's water weight and I could be at 139 at some point on the trip.  Should I sit in my room and pout or should I go snorkeling and try new foods and activities?!  I will only use the scale for good and not for evil.  So there!

Not Bad So Far

So far things are going pretty good.  I have been able to stick to my eating and exercising goals and things are positive on the scale.  I even felt OK about trying on swimsuits.  The thing I keep reminding myself is that I'm a little thinner, but not necessarily thin.  I'm trying to keep a positive yet realistic attitude so I don't get discouraged. 
One thing that is a little hard for me right now is the desire to isolate myself in an attempt to eliminate temptation.  I think this is a common problem when finally making weight loss progress.  In addition to that, being sick for over two weeks already had me hibernating and monitoring my every move.  I have found that I'm not quite back to 100% so maybe that has something to do with it.  I do know that I am really enjoying being a few pounds lighter.  I can already tell the difference in my face and in my cloths.  It feels so good I just want to keep it up, but I am also going to have to continue with life. 

The Swimsuits Are Out For Delivery

They weren't supposed to be here until Thursday, but the tracking says they are on a truck cruising Portland right now!  I had a great weigh in this morning after my hour on the bike, but I'm still feeling intimidated.  I must remember that I haven't seen the sun in several months and be kind to myself.  I also have over 2 weeks to work out and get a spray tan so lets keep it in perspective. 
I am feeling so much better now that I don't have chronic excruciating pain.  There's a crew outside my window right this minute sawing concrete and I couldn't care less.  It's mildly annoying, but who cares.  I hope I'm able to keep my positive outlook and appreciate the little things. 
I'm a little nervous about being social and derailing my diet efforts.  Tomorrow is a tough day food wise because I have a team lunch and my friend is coming over.  I have selected a smaller burger from the lunch menu and I can just get less hot bar for dinner.  Maybe I'll get half a sandwich and a salad instead.  Life happens and I need to be able to be a part of it.  Every day can't be exercise and prescription food. 
Now where the hell is that delivery truck?!

Progress At Last

I have finally seen some movement on the scale!  I am so relieved that all that suffering wasn't for nothing.  The three pound loss was just what I needed to motivate me to work harder.  It doesn't hurt that I ordered some swimsuits that should arrive soon provided the East coast weather doesn't screw things up.  I had forgotten how good it feels to get that first drop on the scale.  I really don't think it was just the illness, I have been working harder and paying more attention.  At least I'd like to think some of that played a part.  Now the trick is not to get cocky and back slide.  I think we've all been there a time or two too many. 
It feels so good to look forward to things and to have positive thoughts.  When I was in pain I couldn't see the bright side of anything.  I couldn't even look forward to vacation.  I realized the other day that it's been over two years since we took a real vacation.  I am so excited!!! 

So Frustrated

I must be feeling better because I was distraught at having gained back a pound this morning.  My husband made several good points about all the canned soups I've been eating being full of salt, but still!!  You would think that after two weeks of eating only soft foods I could have lost some serious weight!  I realize that after two weeks of being totally sedentary I should just be glad I didn't gain weight, but I still can't help being disappointed about not having miraculous weight loss through illness.  I need to just drink lots of water and move on. 

2015 Resolutions

I know I touched on my goals, but I feel like I never really stated my intentions for the year and I want to take this opportunity before we get too far into 2015. 

• LOSE WEIGHT!  For real this time, I want to weigh 130 pounds on New Years Eve.
• Lower my cholesterol.
• Learn to cook more dishes, branch out from pasta.
• Make progress learning Spanish.
• Write at least one chapter of a fiction story.

Here is to a happy, healthy & productive year!

Ups & Downs

I hesitate to complain because I am doing so much better, but last night was rough.  I think the antibiotics are making me have night sweats and the last time I woke up I was feeling genuine discomfort.  I've stopped using the word pain to describe anything that isn't excruciating now that I know what true pain is.  I may have over done it yesterday, so I'm not going to ride the bike today.  I would like to fit some lunges into my routine, but that's about it.  I had been off prescription pain pills for over 24 hours when I had to resort to taking some in the middle of the night.  
One thing I haven't mentioned is how great my husband has been through all this. I honestly don't know what I would have done without him!  A lucky side effect when I'm sick is I'm super quiet and very agreeable.  Since I'm normally a little high strung and opinionated it's a nice break for me and for the person taking care of me I would imagine.  For a brief period of time I experience what it's like to just go with the flow and let things be. 
That makes it easy to tell when I'm starting to get better, suddenly I notice the way the dishwasher is loaded or that the garbage needs to go out and I feel agitated.  As much as I enjoy not sweating the small stuff it is nice to only have small stuff to worry about.  It's even nicer to have someone that will hold your hand in the middle of the night and make things big and small seem better.  What's really important is to appreciate the good things in life and at least try to go with the flow every now and again.  I'm so thankful to be married to my best friend and I can't wait to go to Hawaii no matter what the scale tells me to feel!

One Week Later

If I knew then what I know now I would have been so much less optimistic.  The toothache from hell has taken over my life!  I am now, one week later, finally on the mend.  I didn't end up having to go to the hospital, but it got close at the end of last week. 
Today is the first day I was able to exercise and I made it 30 minutes on my stationary bike then I was exhausted.  I have finally lost a few pounds from not being able to eat or go out and that feels great!  At least it gives me something to motivate me to get back in the swing.  The one thing I never wavered on was my food logging.  I am truly surprised that I did it, but the Myfitnesspal app kept reminding me to log in and telling me how many days straight I had logged in.  I have been recording my food for over 30 days and that is really satisfying.  I was feeling so low last week, and it feels great to have some positive things at the end of it all. 
Now I have to really buckle down and work hard to lose weight before vacation.  I really think I could lose 5 more pounds before Hawaii.  One thing that's really helping my weight right now is I haven't had any wine in over two weeks.  Being sick interrupted my work out's, but it was off set by the lack of food and wine so I really need to just concentrate on moving forward and doing my best.