Time does funny things to us

So it's been two weeks since I've written about my progress. Guess why that is? Yes, you guessed it. I haven't been as successful these last couple of weeks as I had been. There are many, many reasons why, but let me start with the stats.

Back on June 2, I weighed in at 129.4 pounds. The next week, I was up to 129.8, then the following week, went down to 129.6. Today, I weighed in at a solid 129.0 pounds. So my overall goal is in jeopardy. I'm about 1/2 pound behind schedule. But today, I don't care. Let me tell you why.

My life has been a whirlwind these last couple of weeks. I started a new business, baking from my kitchen and selling my treats at the local farmer's market (www.happyjackbakery.com). It's been a lot of fun, but is very time consuming. And this is affecting my diet and exercise plans. On Thursdays, I now run errands in the morning with Lila, mostly for the bakery, buying supplies and ingredients. Thursday afternoons consist of baking, so I have limited time to make dinner. But for the most part, I have been able to keep up. But then on Saturdays and Sundays, I have little time to cook, nor do I have the energy, because I'm up baking at 6 am, done around 2 or 3 pm, but have no desire at that point to cook anything. So lunches and dinners on the weekends haven't been very controllable, and when I know that I can't control what I'm eating (i.e., we're eating out or I'm just throwing something together without a recipe), I'm less inclined to try to count the calories. Not to mention, counting calories takes a lot of time, and as you can guess, I have no time. So the counting of calories has gone to the wayside, and when I'm not counting calories, I'm not losing weight. I've learned that for me, the two go hand-in-hand.

I'm also realizing, too, that on a day that I'm baking, I'm burning a lot of calories just because I'm standing for hours on end. So I've decided that I'm not going to work out any more (at least not until the farmer's market is over in September) on Thursdays, Saturdays, Sundays, or Mondays. These are days that I'm either baking, or at the market (and therefore going to my regular job extra early since I have to leave early for the market), and are therefore days that I don't NEED to exercise because my calorie burn is naturally getting up to 2300 or even 2600 sometimes, depending on the day. Not to mention, I am now working seven days a week, with no day off (four days at my "real" job, and three days on the bakery), so I figured I better lighten up on the workouts to give my body some kind of rest, or I might just keel over from exhaustion.

Anyway, the bottom line is, while I am watching, I'm not counting, so therefore I'm not trying very hard. So any loss is a big deal to me, and I'm grateful that my body is cooperating. I'll be happy if I can maintain this 129 pound weight for the rest of the summer, and then maybe try to tackle those last 4 pounds in the fall before the holidays. And I SWEAR that I'm not going to gain it all back this holiday season. The bakery business is helping me learn self-control over eating everything I bake, so hopefully that same drive will help me control myself come December.

I was a little worried

I have no statistics to share with you this week. I couldn't count calories over the long weekend, so my bodybugg stats are out of whack for this week. I can tell you, though, that on average, I burned 2391 calories per day. For the most part, on days when I'm counting calories, my intake is around 1400. But I'm certain that over that long weekend, I was probably consuming about as much as I was burning. This is why I was worried. Well, not too worried, but worried a bit. I was prepared to get on the scale this morning, and have it read the same as last week (130.6 pounds). I figured it was impossible for me to have lost weight this past week. But much to my surprise, and total happiness, I was down 1.2 pounds to 129.4. So my total weight loss since May 5 is now 6.2 pounds.

It's been a nice couple of days, too. I've had several people comment on how thin I look, including my mom, which is unusual (although I'm sure her tone of voice was more, "you're too thin, you need to eat something"). I totally appreciate these comments, and they mean a lot. But it is amazing how what we wear can make a huge difference in how we look. Personally, if you saw me naked, I don't think you'd be saying that I looked thin. I mean, not that I look fat. I think I look normal, but certainly not thin. But maybe my view of what "thin" looks like is just distorted.

At any rate, I'm sailing along happily with my new eating plan. I've been successful, and that makes all the difference in the world. It keeps me motivated to stick with it. At this rate, I will reach my goal by the end of June. And I think at that time, I can switch back to my New Year's Resolutions to maintain my weight... small portions, no nibbling, and no sweets. Now, I may not be as strict on the nibbling and sweets, but I really need to be careful and not overdo it, because it is so easy for me to stop paying attention and just eat whatever I want. But all of those cookies and desserts I make.... cookies have at least 100 calories each, and the desserts are typically about 400 calories per piece (slice of pie, etc.). Now that I know that, I think I can control myself a little bit better.

Stay tuned. I hope to have continued success that I can share with you.