Bird Flight

Ahhhhh! Stress relief gets me back on track

This week I found myself back to a normal routine. Pressures and unique events are past for now. I even had one of my usual “comforts” return. Luckily, my energy levels are still fairly high. That is allowing me to think a bit about the future, and yet these thoughts are not so stressful as they could be. A week plus long toothache has eased, and my temptation to overeat bad carbs is fading. Below find my weight change since this past Monday (I was late posting last week):

Week 18 weight change:  – 2 lbs ( – 0.9 kg)

Total weight loss to date (over 18 weeks):  – 6.4 lbs ( – 2.9 kg)

Week’s exercise (above & beyond):  I’ll confess that I did less physical activity this week than last, but I still had reasonable energy levels. I’d like to incorporate more walking into this upcoming week. It’s hot and humid outside, but they sounds of summer (summer insects and birds) is alluring.

My mood has been fairly good for a while, despite stressors. Does that make sense? Can a person’s mood be good while being under stress? Sure it can. Excitement and increased activity themselves are types of stress. Stress doesn’t always have to be completely negative. But now I’ll say that my stress levels are fairly low. There is a certain release I’ve experienced. It’s kind of the release one gets when able to meditate quietly. It’s a different kind of pleasure than excitement, but sometimes equally as satisfying. It allows me to think and even concentrate on things a bit more clearly.

Interim goals:  I’m proud to say that I have tracked most of my food since Tuesday. I would like to continue food tracking, and do so more completely. I am always going to be a “sweets” person, but I want to keep the sugary stuff to a minimum, or if I make some sweets, I want them to be small batch or made with sugar substitutes.

Recipe share:

I made some better food choices this week. One day I went to a café and ate a bowl of gazpacho. I love gazpacho, especially in the summer, since it’s a cold soup. I remember my mom making it frequently in the summer. Here is a gazpacho recipe from Allrecipes.com that I have made in the past. It includes lots of fresh summer veggies. It doesn’t include anything spicy. If you like a bit of a kick, a little bit of jalapeño pepper might provide that.

To read about the weight loss plan and tools I chose for this effort, click My Fitness and Weight Loss Plan Described. You can also read my very first post introducing this effort at Long haul healthy weight and fitness efforts – creation of a Friday post series.