Thirtysomething (Down)

It feels like a fluke, a mirage, but I've just blown past losing 30 pounds! As of this morning I'm down nearly 35 lbs since starting this whole Noom thing. That is over 11 percent of my initial bodyweight in two and a half months. Okay, maybe not my initial bodyweight (7lbs, 6oz if I recall), but my initial weight since starting on the app.

To put that in perspective I have removed roughly the equivalent of eight - 2 liters of soda/pop/Coke from my person. Part of me wonders where a lot of it all came off of me from. I'm getting the impression that it's little bits from here and there: a little thinner in the face, definitely got some good leg tone going :), and just slimming gradually everywhere in between. More than just the weight, I'm now fitting comfortably into some of the clothes I had put away for "when I thin down again". Shirts don't ride up my tummy or feel quite so short at my waist. I'm even thinking of mothballing some of my larger pairs of pants as they have just gotten too baggy and fall from my waist without cinching up a belt. 

Along with the trim-ness, I'm finding more energy for running, exercise and general day-to-day living. I've started opening up the distance while quickening the pace. I'll never be a marathoner or even a half marathoner, largely out of just not having the desire and my dislike of leg and uh "other" chaffing, but I'm happy to keep improving my 2 mile, 5K and maybe even 10K capabilities.  (Note: I just took a brief pause to look up upcoming 5K races...). 

All the fitness talk aside, it's important to bear in mind that the real nucleus of the success to date has been the change in eating. Really I've just been paying more attention to what I'm putting into my body. Believe me, I'm far from perfect at only eating good stuff and I am still rather bad at planning meals away from work and when I don't have my kids. BUT my house is filled with better foods to pick from, namely a lot of cut up fruits and veggies, frozen veggies for steaming (I do indulge in some yummy sauces on these).

The ultimate goal is to turn the closely self-monitored (with the help of the app) food choices into true habits. The keystone habit I really need to develop is planning. Weekly planning of meals for the work week is the place to chip-away at first on account of the predictability of these times. In fact, foods during the work day is fairly well established; it's just a matter of enough repetition to "lock-in" the behavior. 

Dinner for those days needs a better solution/more planning. I'm still finding myself aimlessly grazing after work, although it's currently on healthier things. As with having options ready to go at work, it seems ready to go at home is also the way to do it. Perhaps cooking up a bit of food and containering or just doing the same thing I do at work: frozen Healthy Choice power bowls? The answer is more likely somewhere in between. I'm pretty good with straightforward meals when my kids are with me. I may just have to expand upon those options.

The next step is likely to work on the "normal" weekends. The ones where I'm at home for the most part. These could follow the work day pattern. The first part of the day isn't too different: coffee, small breakfast, lunch. One differentiating factor is my weekends are often busy with "out and about" activities from softball tournaments to dinner plans, etc. Here is where one of the tougher habits can be worked on, i.e. being more deliberate with meal/drink choices when out and things are more spontaneous. Ultimately, that doesn't sound very fun and it will really be striking a balance between occasional indulgence and being able to make reasonable choices. The real thing to ask myself is "how can I make progress?". 

The same is true with family gatherings as there's usually a lot of tasty food available. This is even mildly complicated with my folks having recently bought a cabin so family gatherings can constitute an entire weekend, or even a week. I am making an effort to bring healthy, low calorie (density) stuff as my food contribution. Another part may be just not being near the food. Being out on the lake is a good start at that. There are also plenty of little projects that can distract. There's a bit more thought that needs to go into these last habits and as with most things, there's plenty of time to work.

As for right now. I'm enjoying the progress I've made. While the pace of weight loss has slowed a little. I'm hoping I'll be writing on that next milestone here soon!