As you're all too painfully aware, graduations and related activities have been eating up a good deal of my time since mid-May. I am more than happy to say that the last of such activities took place last night. My mini-me (aka as youngest daughter) graduated from 8th grade. Spectacularly, I might add, but that is the subject for another post (caution - proud mommy blog coming soon!!)

So at first I was feeling a bit overwhelmed. All these prom responsibilities and graduation events were eating up huge chunks of my time, keeping me from being a fully dedicated Sparker.



My weight was up and down by a pound or two with no consistent weight loss happening.

But I've realized over the last week or so, that despite all the chaos and disruption of my schedule, I have managed some non-scale victories that would have completely been my undoing prior to joining the 100 Days of Summer Challenge.

First, with the weekly challenges to track our food and stay within our nutritional guidelines, or eat mindfully, I was mostly making good food choices, even on those days when I was unable to prepare a healthy meal at home.

Next, there have been those lovely bonus points for relaxing! Here is where I have really benefited. Taking 20 minutes a day to read a book has been restorative and has kept me from negating all those good food choices with crazy stress binges. I've even managed to limit myself to one small serving of graduation cake and then walking away.

Keeping to the 20 minutes of relaxation a day, with or without the bonus points, is now a goal of mine - long term.

Lastly, I have really increased my water intake the last couple of weeks. Getting enough water has always been a struggle, since I get bored with it. I'm now getting 8+ glasses just about every day, and I notice a difference in my energy and appetite (and the number of trips I take to the bathroom!!)

So the scale numbers may not be moving much, but I am still reaping the benefits of those weekly challenges.