Lessons learned

The week before last, I participated in a stress-filled vacation. Although I did my best to stay with my daily routine, my weight barely broke even by the end of the week. I was interested in finding out what would happen once I returned to my old pattern.

But first . . . . .

Things I learned while on vacation:

-Biking is the best exercise for me (I'm thinking about buying an exercise bike for the winter months)
-It's better for me to stick with a regular eating schedule, same time every day
-MGD 64 is a good choice when you want a beer on a hot day
-I found the Hungry Girl website

Now that I have returned to the regimented life:

-I'm starting to live the Organized Life (thanks go to my new team!!)
-While I may not have lost any weight while I was on vacation, my clothes sure fit better (I'm almost ready to retire my favorite pants - they don't stay at my waist anymore and the legs and butt are incredibly loose!). Surely I've lost weight!

I slipped a little on Friday afternoon. A coworker is leaving the office (lucky girl!) and she brought in a Dairy Queen Ice Cream cake as a good-bye treat. Oh, it was so good!! I immediately added it to the day's log and started adjusting my evening meal. Friday night was a simple salad with not much on top to try and balance out my cave-in to temptation. I really want to see the scale go down this weekend; if it doesn't, I'll have the memory of the Ice Cream Cake to haunt me!

I have continued to take pictures of myself weekly. Some are of me wearing the same clothes from week to week. As I looked at the current set of pictures, I saw it!! It's not a lot but I'm seeing changes! I can feel that I've lost weight!!

Somehow it's no longer important what the scale will say. I want a loss of course but if I didn't have a scale, I know now that I possess all the tools to allow me to do the right things without having to worry about numbers.

But my scale is right here waiting for me: OK, here goes: 2 pounds down. Good.

So . . . .

The biggest lesson learned: Just use all the tools to keep doing the right things. The fact that I feel differently means a lot! The scale isn't the final judge, just one more tool.