It seems that things have been a bit off track of late. I’ve been busy enough that blogging has been a low priority. I haven’t even kept up on once-a-week blogging here. And my weight loss also seemed to have slid into neutral for a bit.

A couple of weeks ago, I recorded my first official weight gain (i.e. the first time my weekly benchmark weigh-in was higher than the previous benchmark) since I started this journey on January 1st. As you can probably imagine, it was a bit discouraging. I realize that I can be a little unrealistic about my expectations, but my goal is to continue a weekly downward trend to keep me focused and motivated enough to press on when it gets tough.

Then, it seemed like I was stalled a bit, losing a little, but not making a lot of progress. I was trying to get past the 60-pounds-lost milestone, but I just kept bouncing around and not quite making it. I had gained 2.4 pounds the week prior, so my 4.2 pounds lost the subsequent week barely made up the pounds gained, leaving only a modest net loss of 1.8 pounds. Now, again, I know that sounds like a reasonable loss, considering the weekly weight loss goal is an average of 2.2 pounds. But in my mind, anything less than 2.5 is falling short. Yes, I’m still being unrealistic no matter how many people tell me and how much I tell myself that it’s more than reasonable to have ebbs and flows in this process. But I had fallen short of my targeted milestone for the second week in a row.

Well, this week I was pretty focused on making substantial progress. I stepped up my workouts from 40 minutes of cardio to 50 minutes of cardio. I focused on what I was eating and even tried to mix up my daily calorie budgets, mixing low-calorie days with higher-calories days (but never over my budget). Whether it was my change in routine or just my body finally cooperating, I managed to make satisfactory progress, losing 4.1 pounds this week and finally blowing by the 60-pounds-lost milestone.

Another important milestone today: I’m going to buy new clothes. My old clothes just don’t fit anymore. I’ve used up the last notch in my belts and they no longer hold up my pants adequately. My clothes look baggy and oversized. People are noticing, which is nice in one way and embarrassing in another way that I don’t look quite as well-kept as I want because the clothes don’t fit right. So, I’m shopping for new professional clothes and new summer clothes, but going to not purchase a lot since I hope to be doing this again in 6-7 months. It can be expensive, but it’s a worthwhile expense, I think you’ll agree!

Onward and downward!

I’ve been delinquent in keeping up with this blog for the last week. But it’s been a really busy week. Getting a garden built and going has taken some of my time. Helping my last remaining freelance client with a couple of projects also took some extra time this week. And, a major work-related event we did in Tulsa this week added to my time crunch.

Consequently, I’m going to change how I update this blog. I know that I have a handful — literally a handful — of people who check this site regularly and have been following along; however, it doesn’t seem to be enough of a following to devote the amount of time daily updates typically require. So, beginning this week, I’ll make a weekly report about my progress either Saturday or Sunday, depending on when I have available time.

Having said all that, here is the monthly report for April: I lost 13.6 pounds for the month of April, bringing the total lost since January 1st of this year to 56.3 pounds. I also crossed another major milestone last weekend, dropping below 300 pounds for the first time in many years.

Four months into the year — about a third of the way — I’ve passed the halfway point for this year’s weight loss goal of 106 pounds. I only have 49.7 pounds to go. Although this particular week hasn’t been a very successful week since I was out-of-town and couldn’t control my menu as tightly and I missed a couple of workouts, I’ve been pretty faithful to my daily calorie budget (which is actually less than what my daily calorie budget should be) and I’ve been pretty good about sticking with my workout routines. All in all, it’s been a successful program so far.

My next challenge and obstacle to my steady weight loss will be a vacation to Las Vegas at the end of May, during which I plan to indulge a bit, as is a must when you’re in Vegas. I fully expect to gain some weight back during that trip and am already planning on working extra hard afterward to overcome any weight gain and to get back on track.

Today’s activity log … continue

Today’s activity log … continue

Today’s activity log … continue

I took a break this weekend from blogging and from calorie counting. Saturday was a very full day with a 5K Heart Walk for the American Heart Association in the morning and working on building a second garden bed during the afternoon. Sunday was a rest and recuperation day. I had hoped to make it to the gym, but my body was flat worn out.

The good news from this weekend is that I managed to lose additional weight by my official weigh-in, despite it looking so bleak throughout the week. I’m not tantalizing close to my next major benchmark — dropping below 300 pounds. As of Saturday’s weigh-in, I was only 1.4 pounds away. But I can tell you that a weekend of higher-than-normal calorie days has caused another (unofficial) bounceback that makes the challenge a little more daunting, but still achievable if I work hard this week.

Today’s activity log … continue

Unofficially, it’s been slow-going on the progress this week. But I have a little hope. I’m within striking distance of at least getting to the zero net loss level (since I seemed to gain weight early in the week and haven’t recovered very quickly yet), and I have a 5K Heart Walk tomorrow plus I’ll be working in the yard tomorrow afternoon. I think that’ll help me burn enough calories to help me make at least nominal progress.

I was able to leave work early today so that I could squeeze in a workout before taking care of family errands this evening.

Today’s activity log … continue