Nothing. Not a thing has changed. My weight and measurements are the same as they were 4 weeks ago when I started Stage 2 of the New Rules of Lifting for Women. It is not a plateau, however. A plateau would imply that I did the same amount of work as I have been doing, and saw no results. It would be nice to tell you all that I'm so frustrated because I did everything right and the scale just isn't budging. But that is not the case, and in the interest of progress and positive change, I happily inform you that if you eat more calories than you use, or even the same amount, you will not lose weight.
April was a crazy month. I'm not making excuses here, just trying to uncover the reasons for my laps in judgement. I had rehearsals almost every night for Othello. It was finals month and I had plenty of work to do. It was my birthday on the 23rd and I had the great idea to celebrate every weekend with a new restaurant and plenty of wine. I was stressed and unfocused. I only tracked my calories about 33% of the month. I ate late at night, often right before I went to bed. I ate fast food about once a week because I convinced myself I was too busy to shop and pack a lunch. The biggest thing, though, is that I ate my stress. Honestly, I haven't had a month like April in a long time and now I see that when I'm faced with really strong feelings of pressure and exhaustion I have no safeguard, or coping strategy in place to help me make better choices. I think I've gotten to a place in my journey where my body is going to be less forgiving of slip-ups, which means that I'm going to have to slip up less, which means that I'm going to have to confront some demons, and figure out why I want to slip up and what I can do instead that will give me the sense of calm and control that eating does. Wow, that's scary now that I say it out loud. But I can do it. I love my new body and now that I have seen what I'm capable of, there is no way in hell I'm going to back to 300 lbs.
Now, just for balance, and because I don't like to read negative blogs myself, here is a list of the things I did well in April:
I burned 9000 calories, even though I skipped 2 workouts.
I started and completed Stage 2 of NROLFW
I got stronger.
I celebrated my birthday with people I love, and always wearing an outfit that I loved.
I made a dream trip to Arches where I hiked my heart out and kept up with my eternally youthful husband.
I bought a size 14 shorts.
I made it to Onederland!!!!!

So. I have the summer off, which means another 11 weeks to do some serious a$$ kicking. I'm going to continue with NROLFW, because I can feel myself turning in to a superhero. I feel so strong AND I can do 2 boy push-ups in a row! I'm going to push harder with my running. I want to run a 30 min. 5k in Sept. And I want to clear the brick wall that has been built at my mile 5. I've also added a morning power walk with my 25 lb. baby boy in the backpack, because I have several hiking and backpacking trips planned this summer. (Did I just say that? Who am I?) I would really like to start school in the Fall as a size 12. But more importantly, I want to have a summer I can be proud of, whatever size I'm at. I'm also going to start researching some things I can do when the urge to binge hits. I know I may never have a life without those urges, but there has to be someway to have them and NOT give into them, Right? Someone tell me I'm right.