Feeling Good Friday-Slow and Steady

Woo hoo! I am officially declaring my weight loss back to the 14 original pounds I had lost by the end of July. Putting back on four pounds was not my intent, and getting them to come back off was incredibly slow, but I'm there. This week there was a NPR segment about how there is no right way to lose weight and it is highly individual. I understand that. The dietitian also shared the cold, hard truth. The behaviors and habits one exhibits when they successfully lose weight must really be maintained after the fact. This explains why those weight loss contestants just can't keep the same weight loss after the cameras are turned off. No one has time for 2- 3 hours of personal training (unless that is your actual job), and access to a controlled kitchen where no one around you is ever eating french fries and drinking beer. 

Take my daughter for instance. She has lost  a lot of weight in the last 14 months. She was always a healthy girl and physically active, but the subtle and consistent changes she made to her life, eliminating certain foods like sugar and simple carbs, increasing her already vegetarian diet to even more plant based meals, and adding more strength training to her exercise routine resulted in weight loss. She was never on a "diet" and this is her regular lifestyle. This is what I am aiming for. We can learn from our young 'uns. 

Self imposed lesson over, here's my run down of five health and well being successes for the week, cradled with a few gaffs. 

• I already shared the 1.8 pound loss, getting me back to my 14 pound total, or as the Brits say, a full stone. (slow and steady)
• I ended up reffing volleyball Wednesday night, which kept me tie wise from having more than a single beers with the girls who were done an hour and 1/2 before me. I did though nibble on handmade onion rings-a vegetable right? Sort of?I hadn't been out with my sisters in ages so this was good for my mental health. (lifestyle-share portions)
• A get together last night after work for my former boss, who moved on to be a bigger mover and shaker, was really nice. We shared four appetizers among six of us, so not to calorie laden, and I learned bacon friend brussell sprouts are heaven. I kept my alcohol to just two pinot grigio's, so lighter on the calorie count. I admit though, I was pretty hungry when I got home, and DH had made penne pasta with Alfredo and chicken, and I heated up a small portion. (lifestyle choice next time-skip pasta, eat a piece of fruit)
• At a breakfast meeting this week, I opted for steel cut oatmeal as opposed to the high fat, high sugar, simple carb pastry options that were screaming to me from the bakery case. For 100 calories less, I still had a spot of sweet with the maple brown sugar, and was fueled for the whole morning instead of the likely 11:00 sugar crash. (lifestyle changes-avoid the bakery case for breakfast meetings)
• Twice on walks this week with pup, I went the extra blocks, even with needing to be somewhere, adding a couple hundred steps each walk. I did two 11 minute sessions of yoga this week, from an on line teacher. (lifestyle choice-always walk the longer route, fit in even short amounts of exercise)

None of the good things are going to give me significant weight loss. But, even the calorie filled choices won't derail slow and steady progress if most of the time, the right things are being done. I'll keep reporting my progress, but I'm done with time sensitive weight loss goals. While I would love to be 50 pounds lighter a year from now, I'll be pleased with any progress.