Whew!

The last several days have had me in a bit of a panic! I was eating no sugar, no starch as usual, I did yoga four times last week, and I biked several times in the last week as well...5 miles twice and 10 miles once. I slept well, had no stress and drank lots of water. Still, every day, I gained until I was well past the 2 lb. limit and 3 or 4 lb. past where I've become comfortable.

I didn't know what to switch up because I wasn't doing anything 'wrong'! So, instead of doing a steak day (since I'm not stabilizing or in a 'maintenance' phase...just living small!) I just trusted that if I was behaving, there must be a reason this was happening and it would even out. There were three possibilities as far as I could see: 1. I was not eliminating as much as I was taking in as fast as I was taking it in, even if it was reasonable and appropriate amounts 2. I'm on the TOM countdown, perhaps it was water weight, not to mention it was hot and humid and I retain water in those conditions too and 3. perhaps the exercise was helping me build muscle (even though I wasn't sore or anything) and I was retaining water during that process.

Anyway, this a.m. I'm back in the 'normal' range, down 1.5 lb. and happy again. I need to start charting this to determine when I'm most likely to weigh accurate and then cut back to once or twice a week weigh-ins. Believe it or not--and 2 years ago I never would have believed it myself--I almost look forward to that weigh in every morning. It's become a habit and I miss it when I don't do it! Logically, I know that the scale is not what is keeping me steady, but it feels like if I don't do it I will gain. Even if I'm doing everything 'right' I feel like if I miss a few days I'll get on and all will be lost.

Anyway, for those also on the journey, or who are at the same point, I thought it might be instructive to know that even when it seems like "your going the wrong way", that may not be the case.

Have a fantastic day!

It's been a while...

It has been a long time since I posted, but life has been insane!

Keeping steady at the same place. It hasn't been too hard.

Last week, I attended a potluck and realized that the only thing there I was willing to eat was what I brought, which was a tomato, feta cuke salad. EVERYTHING else on the table had sugar or grains. 3 kinds of cookies, Dilly Bars, corn chips (with dip), potato chips (with dip), sloppy joes on buns...I think that was it. Nothing I was willing to work off.

Today, however, we ate at a nice restaurant. I did eat bread dipped in olive oil & basalmic vinegar. 2 thin slices. I ordered a chicken breast that was not oily or sweet that came with carrots, potatoes with roasted garlic and rosemary and spinach. I ate the spinach, a few slices of carrot, and a few 1 inch cubes of potato. Dave ate some too, and there were still some on the plate, so that tells you how few we ate. They were normal 'side' portions.

I did not have wine with dinner (lots of water though) but we did order a tiramisu and we split it. It was divine. Earlier we had ridden almost 5 miles through the woods...which is like 20 freakin' miles on pavement once you account for the fact that you have to keep a faster pace than the 'skeeters (and can't stop to rest for the same reason), and you must contend with sand and hills. Lots of both. We figured the 1.5 by 3 inch bit of desert, which was not very sweet anyway, was probably burned off earlier. We also rode about 10 miles on a paved bike trail the day before.

So, I hope it didn't set me back too much. We'll see.