This morning I am feeling quite happy! I lost four pounds in December, which makes a total of 15 pounds in the last 2 months. I am pleased with that. Four pounds may not seem like much, but when you realize that before last month, I had not lost more than TWO pounds in a month for the past YEAR, 4 seems like an okay number.
First, some stats:
Days in November that I counted all my calories: 25 out of 30
Average calories per day in November (on days I counted): 1596
# of days under 1200 cal: 3
# of days over 1700 cal: 9 (assuming all days I did not count calories went over somewhat)
binges/semi-binges: 3
Exercise for November:
Fitness walks outside: 5 (30 to 60 minutes each)
Recumbent bike rides inside: 14 (30 minutes each w/one 40 min)
Walks to the park with my kids: 3
Heavy raking/yardwork: 3 days
I exercised on 20 days out of 30.
Other interesting facts for November:
Fast food eaten: 0
Sodas: 1 Diet Cherry Pepsi
Meals eaten out, at restaurants: 3
Holidays celebrated: Thanksgiving
As I looked over the month, a few things stand out to me. I started the month quite strong and was happy and upbeat most days. I was enjoying the beautiful fall leaves, the crisp weather, and lots of time outside. Since I love to walk and look at the leaves, and enjoy raking, this was a great start for me! In fact, for the first 3 weeks of the month I was doing fantastic in mood and in action! I even got down to 228 pounds on the 21st.
After that, stuff got more difficult. A visit from my husband (emotional stress), a holiday (a lot of extra food lying around and throwing me off my usual routine) and terribly sore knees (several rest days w/no exercise) all combined to slow my loss and increase my intake. Then the weather changed. All the leaves fell off the trees and the temps dropped from 50's to low 40's and 30's during the day. The sun went into hiding and it has been overcast. I learned to love fall, and now I am trying to find joy in the season of winter.
I think I might actually enjoy being out walking in the snow, but there isn't any snow yet. There may not be much snow at all. And I detest being cold! Going out to walk in 25-35 degrees feels like torture to me, yet I know I need to get out and get *some* sun, even if it is coming through a thick cloud cover. It's just harder to push myself out the door to take a walk where I start out freezing and end up sweating under a heavy coat because if I take it off once I am warmed up, my sweat will freeze to my body and I will be miserable. And I have not found a whole lot of beauty yet in the stark leafless trees set against a background of dulled brownish green grass and a flat grey sky. I am working on it though.
Biking has taken over where walking has slacked, and I am easily biking the 30 minutes I need to get my exercise. I plan to add weights in January but just want to get through the holidays in one piece for now!
My eating went kind of haywire for a few days at the end of the month. Not binge eating, just enjoying food too much. The Thanksgiving feast triggered some kind of food happiness switch in my brain, where I start looking to food for pleasure much too frequently. Homemade calzones filled with sausage and pepperonis are not conducive to weight loss! But I got it out of my system and am back to my usual way of eating, which is pleasing but doesn't make me think about wanting more food all day.
Goals for December: continue staying off fast food and avoiding sodas. Stay under 1700 cal/day 90% of the time. Exercise 25 days out of 31.
If I see another 4 or 5 pound loss this month it will make me happy. December is a difficult month for me... an emotional roller coaster with anniversaries of all sorts of unpleasant things, culminating in the death date of my father at the end of the month. I have gone through the roller coaster every year: the highs of Christmas and time with my children, the lows of remembering those who have passed, punctuated with a bit of Seasonal Affective Disorder creeping in due to lack of sunlight (which I try to counter by sitting in front of my Light Box at breakfast).
This year I will work on seeing the good, the blessings, and the enjoyment of December. I may even try to turn some sadness into fond memories and thankfulness.
Enjoy your day!
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