RESULTS: Gained 1 pound for a total loss of 23 pounds

Okay, I've got good news and bad news. The good news is that I've lost 23 pounds and I refuse to give up on my goal of losing 50 before the end of the year. 🙂  More good news is that I am exercising more than I have in years – maybe ever! No matter how much I weigh, you can't beat the health benefits of exercise. 🙂

That being said, my desire for yummy food has been stronger than my desire to lose weight…apparently. Since losing over 20 pounds, the My Fitness Pal app has decreased the number of calories I'm allowed in order to continue losing 1 pound a week. But…I haven't been able to stick to it. 🙁

And now it's the holiday weekend with yummy food everywhere!

So…I'm going to keep running, keep doing the circuit training, enjoy the holiday food, and change two things. One, I'm going to change what's in my mind – I'm going to remind myself that the food will be just as yummy next year, a few bites will taste just as good as a plateful, and the end result will be more worthwhile than a dozen or a hundred delicious moments. This worked in January, but eventually it started to fade. I need to fan those flames again.

And two, I'm going to take a short period – a week or two should do it – and focus on a low-calorie, high energy diet. If – or really when – I do that, I should be caught up by the end of the month. (I say the end of the month because I forgot that I'll be at a conference eating conference food later this month, so I'll have to take that into account.)

If you're trying to lose weight, too, I hope this is giving you some ideas on what you can do to keep going. So very much of what we accomplish and fail at in life is in our heads. The wacky part is that we sometimes feel we can't control ourselves, and we sometimes know that our attitude made all the difference. Weird how our minds can convince us of both!

I believe I can change. I believe I can look at the bigger picture and make short-term changes for long-term good. We both can. We just need to keep going, find new ways to move ahead, and we need to be determined to not give up.

Happy Independence Day to you, my friend! Today is the beginning of the rest of our lives!