Seeing the changes

Friday sucked. Let me just say, my Friday's seem to suck. Work gets in the way. Now I had been allowing Friday to be my day off from working out....though I am admittedly not so great at taking days off. I know it is better for my body, but mentally I have this fear that any day I don't work out will be a back slide on the scale. But Thursday night I got a special delivery in the mail....the bridesmaid's dress I am wearing in March. It looked TERRIBLE on me. And I find nothing more motivating to wanting a good workout than trying on clothes and not liking what I see. So I was very disappointed as my lunch-hour came and went with no ability for me to get to the gym. However, my caloric intake for the day was very good.

Yesterday, the scale was a good number actually. I did cheat a little...I have been weighing myself first thing in the morning but after not working out on Friday, I did not think I wanted to get on the scale when I first got up. I walked for an hour and then did 2 Biggest Loser videos (40 minutes total) and I was feeling good, so I stepped on and was happy. Another small change I am making it not weighing myself every day. I know weight has natural fluctuations, but I do not do very well reminding myself of that on some of the higher-number days. Maybe 3-4 times per week....I think that will help me mentally.

But on a positive note, I think it had an impact on the food choices I made yesterday. Yesterday was my free calories day, so I am not sure what the totals were. But I know that I ate broccoli slaw before lunch and a low-fat smoothie for breakfast. I did have lunch at a bar watching a game...but I ordered the chicken sandwich, though I did have fries.

Today I walked the dog for 30 minutes and then power-walked for an hour. I have decided to take a short break from running. The Iron-man training program is going to be 36 weeks of increasing distance and I think it would be healthy for my knees to give them a break. Again, this is difficult for me because I know that running has one of the best calorie burns per hour. But I am trying to focus on weightlifting and other cardio. My walk today was up and down hills and I really did focus on making it cardio and not just a leisurely walk.

But I can see a little more definition in my arms and I can definitly see a difference in my food choices. For example, today at Costco they were giving out samples of chocolate candy, including my favorite. I took one peice and split it with Richard. (And I logged the calories...no cheating!) When I got home, I wanted a snack before dinner, I was going to have cheese and crackers. Instead, I literally put the crackers back in the pantry and cut an apple into thin slices for the measured one ounce of goat cheese.

Unfortunately, we are going out to dinner tonight, which makes exact measurements of food difficult, but I have lots of room in my calorie ceiling after logging everything else I have eaten today, and I think my new attitude toward portion size and trade-offs (ie, I can have 10 tortilla chips or I can have a glass of wine....not a hard choice) I am confident that I can enjoy dinner and not screw up my eating plan.

The ultimate goal is weightloss, it is true, but improving my food consumption is the only road to getting there and staying there, and I am very very happy to see changes in that arena.