Today is Sunday, September 18, 2011. I'm sitting on my couch, having a breakfast of O.J. and instant oatmeal, thinking about how far I've come in the past four months, and looking forward to how far I will go in the months & years ahead.
I'm about 25-30 pounds away from my goal weight, which is almost halfway. This morning I weighed in at 156, which means altogether I've lost 25 pounds. But I'm not posting it as an official weight update because these last four pounds didn't come off intentionally, instead I believe they came off due to rather unhealthy choices. While I still maintain mostly healthy portion-control & continue to avoid fried delights, fast food, & other sinful snacking temptations, the truth is that I haven't been very careful about getting the right amounts of vitamin-rich ingredients that I should. I skipped or had a skimpy breakfast more often than not the past couple of weeks. I've also been lazier about packing a healthy lunch for work. I rarely eat a balanced dinner (and sometimes don't even bother with dinner at all).
On top of that, I haven't done much exercising on my own time. Bad Michelle, I know.
HOWEVER, I don't want to imply that I've fallen completely off the wagon, because despite all the shortfalls listed above, I've been able to keep from going back to most of my old bad habits and stay active enough to at least burn the calories I'm putting in. The only thing I'm pretty mad at myself for is skipping meals. I don't deprive myself though. I eat when I'm hungry and until I'm full. The simple fact is, I haven't had much of an appetite lately. Work has been more hectic than usual, personal life has been a tad tumultuous, and I've been busier than usual entertaining guests.
None of these are good excuses to pause in taking care of myself, but I'm working on recognizing that as one of the bad habits I need to break. Just as bad, if not worse, than stuffing high-calorie foods in my face every chance I get. Because not taking time to take care of myself is what lead to relying on high-calorie, starchy convenience foods all those years. And I'll be damned if I'm going to let myself make those decisions again now that I know better.
On a more positive note, here's what I've done exercise-wise since my last post: When my brother & sister-in-law visited a few weekends ago, we went on a hike at one of my favorite hilly spots next to the beach. When my parents visited last weekend, I took them on a nice long walk in Muir woods. I've also found more ways to be physically active at work. I find myself craving the oxygen & blood flow of physical labor. I enjoy using my body again. I walk a little taller lately, and I'm still finding lots of new ways, ideas, tricks, & habits to keep me on the right path.
Since I'm about halfway to my goal, I thought now would be a good time to check the visual results of some of my healthier habits.
The picture on the left was taken in April, after a week-long cruise to the Mexican Riviera. We'd eaten like kings (i.e. gluttons) during most of the trip, and the first thing we did when we got home was eat some big, fatty, greasy pastrami sandwiches at a restaurant called "The Hat". Probably not the smartest move, but like I said, we were still in full-on pig-out mode! The picture on the right was taken on Labor Day. We'd just finished a pretty healthy meal cooked on the backyard grill. Red snapper tacos, homemade Spanish rice, black beans, & all the fixings. Just enough to fill us up guilt-free!
Can you tell the difference between old me & new me yet?
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