The Final Fifteen Pounds

Are you mental?  I am. I had a good day at the "eating office" yesterday. I really did--a patting myself on the back kind of good day. Maybe that's where I messed up. I was okay until the sun went down.  It's like I had to stuff stuff in my mouth (it's supposed to say stuff stuff; go read it again). Sunset = my Mr. Hyde comes out. Mr. Mean (my inner friend who reminds me to eat for health and weight loss) needs encouragement. He needs affirmation. Negative thinking puts him off and he hides. I especially need him at night.  Mr. Mean, Mr. Mean where are you. Hey, I'm not even going to tell you what the scale read this morning. It's just information, right.  Okay, I'll tell. 190. It's just information.

I wanna quit. No more diet this and exercise that. Now that I got that off my chest.  Done crying. Here's the thing, when I go off my plan like I did for a week due to travel and vacation, I build up a quiver full of bad habits that take up lodging . ( I know it's a mixed metaphor. Don't care.)  The weight loss mind is not the normal mind. It is tougher. Maybe doesn't always seem reasonable. That why I call hat state of mind in me, Mr. Mean.  Mr. Mean is that guy who tells it like it is. And that's who I need to hear from as I try to break my slide.  Mr. Mean is welcome back.  100%.

My son and I traveled from Texas to Virginia and back again this week. We got to visit family and enjoy the sights and sounds of the road.  I thought it would be easier than it was to stay on my program.  It would have taken better planning to make my goal a reality. It is easy to lose focus whenever something changes in life.  I expect to travel again this summer, so I'll be better prepared. What I did right:  1. Stocked the car with apples and mandarin oranges. 2. Got out at rest stops and exercised. What needed improvement: 1. Put the trail mix where it is inconvenient for the driver. 2. Go all Mr. Mean when ordering food in restaurants. 3. Keep a food log while on the road. What we monitor, we manage. Result: I didn't keep the weight loss from the previous week. Back up to 187. That trail mix and hours of sitting made it a rich environment for putting on extra weight.  After the trip it is very important, since the Mr. Mean attitude...

Two weeks in and one pound down. Turning into Mr. Mean today. Here's what I mean by that. I like to be laid back, easy going about everything. In my mind, that's who I want to be. But that isn't going to work to lose another 14 pounds. I've got to go "all business" about this in my head. Mr. Mean. Wanna candy bar? Mr. Mean - No. Not happening. Like Shaquille swatting a promising rock away from the bucket. Feel tired and wanna Coke? Mr. Mean is there again, snatching it away. Again and again. Mr. Mean, my hero. My inner hero. And by the way, the pound lost doesn't count, in my book, until I've seen it for three days in a row. Wanna celebrate that one pound, Mr. Mean says no. That's like celebrating the first basket made in a game. I'm gonna celebrate when I see 170 something on the scale. Mr. Mean will allow that for a minute. Then, it will be time set sights on the home stretch.

188 is my wall. I know that I can lose more. I have been as low as 181 in the last many months. But My body likes 188. I'm having to convince it that it wants to go lower but it doesn't wanna listen.  So here I am at 188. Admittedly, Sundays are a food snag. The food at church is amazing. I plain ole eat too much of it.  Next battle: Eat a normal amount of food on Sunday. Even though I skipped dinner on Sunday after that lunch feast, and exercised for an hour. The scale didn't budge. Not a bit. It will. I just gotta get more mean about it than I am.  Mr. Mean comin' right up.