Bird Flight

Main Topic: Totally falling off the weight loss effort wagon

One of my main purposes in creating these Friday Fitness and Weight Loss updates was to stay mindful of my eating and exercise, or lack thereof. I promised to post these updates every week with only exceptions for vacations, sickness, or emergencies. I, obviously, did not keep that promise. With this update, you’ll see that seven weeks have past since I reported on these efforts. Yes, I “fell off the wagon”. I’m here now, though. I won’t claim to be currently vigilant about the effort, but I’m being mindful about it again. Below you’ll see a bit what happened since August 31, 2018.

Weeks 22 to 30 weight change:  – 2.2 lbs ( – 1 kg)

Total weight loss to date (over 30 weeks):  – 5.0 lbs ( – 2.3 kg)

Period’s exercise (above & beyond):  I have yet to begin any regular deliberate exercise. This is my greatest weak point in regards to weight loss and fitness over the more recent years. I have, however, exercised more these past few weeks than in one prior to them. The autumn weather has been pleasant, and I much prefer the milder temperatures. I give huge kudos to my dear husband for encouraging me to walk with him on various trails. We’ve been on some lovely ones! I have also had more energy, in general, this past month. Getting up and going is important for me. So often these years I’ve been excessively sedentary.

I can’t describe all of these weeks in detail. I’m sorry. I’ll just say that I’ve had a number of stressors I’ve been dealing with. That makes certain types of self-care difficult.

When I started these updates, one of my primary goals was to improve my blood work. I wanted to lower my cholesterol in a very big way. Luckily, my triglycerides, glucose level, and blood pressure had been normal, some of which had also been high in the past. I think my triglycerides may have improved last time because of a medication being discontinued. If that is true, then the discontinuance didn’t lower my cholesterol. Back in early April, when I started this weight loss/fitness effort, I had thought I would have reached my goal by now, and lowered that pesky high cholesterol. Goals are sometimes not met. C’est la vie! Luckily, I’m still five pounds less than when I started the effort. I’ll look at that as a form of success.

Interim goals:  Though I haven’t been exercising a lot or tracking my eating, I’ll give myself some points for cooking more healthful meals. I definitely want to keep that up. Of course, I want to start tracking again. Can I promise to start tracking 100% right now? I won’t lie and say “Yes”. I will set a goal to tracking one meal per day, and being mindful of portion sizes, meal choices, and numbers of sweet spots. A lucky thing that has happened is that I’ve had a craving lately for vegetables. Hopefully that craving will continue.

Recipe Share:

As mentioned, I’ve had some veggie cravings lately. How have I satisfied them? Mmm!

• Roasted Root Veggies – Perfect for autumn! See a great recipe from chef Giada de Laurentis here.
• Entrée Salads – Absolutely! One my husband and I really enjoy is Citrus Shrimp and Spinach Salad, which has a delicious fat free dressing. Do add the toasted pecans. They make this salad! I keep frozen already peeled and deveined shrimp handy. It’s cheaper than fresh and good quality. I just quickly thaw it in a bowl of hot tap water for about 5 minutes and then dry it and cut off the tails.
• White Fish – For a change from salmon, I made some white fish dishes. My husband and I enjoyed Pan-Seared Tilapia with Citrus Vinaigrette.

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.