Ground turkey is even less calories than beef. Measure the cheese, count out a serving of chips, and you have a low calories lunch . . .
Some days are easy. Some are harder. But forward progress is the goal, not perfection:
Day 43 Wednesday, December 5
Another rough Wednesday due to cheap, high-in-calorie food. But, thanks to walking and learning a little more self-control, I finished the day on track with my calorie intake!
And—here’s the good part—I lost that last three pounds to get down to a consistent 190. Truly 20 lbs down now! Yay! Not bad for six weeks of doing this. Thank you, BENew!
Day 44 Thursday, December
Had a wonderful salad with taco meat on top for lunch and walked! And . . . that left calories for a small piece of left-over birthday cake. Thanks to exercise finished the day with 208 calories still available to me!
Real Time Update:
Thought the above snippets showed the reality of a weight loss journey. It’s marathon, not a sprint, isn’t it? One day at a time, one choice at a time, we work our way to a healthier body–and the right to wear cute clothes again! Ha!
I’m learning that this isn’t a diet. It’s a lifestyle change. Once I reach the maintenance stage of my journey, I still have to live with intentionality. My life was desperate for balance, and thanks to BENew, I’m finding it. It is my goal to never again ignore the needs of my body.
This morning the scale was around 177 (I have the old-fashioned one, not a digital) Since I’m building muscle and almost 5 foot 9, this is looking better than it sounds. It’s a far cry from the 210 of October 24th when I started or the 190 of December 5. The weight is coming off more slowly now that I’m a more normal size with just a muffin top I’m working on, but it’s still coming. Even though the pounds are slower to disappear, the body continues to change–exemplified by earlier this week when I had to put a new hole in the belt and take a link from my watch.
Now that I’ve developed more healthy eating habits and have a concept of how calorie rich foods
are, I’m trying something new this week. I’m taking a break from My Fitness Pal app and NOT counting every bite that goes into my mouth. I’ll watch the scale. If it goes the wrong way I’ll return to counting, but I want to see if my new handle on healthy eating is wise enough that I can move forward without such precise record-keeping.
I’ll let you know how it goes!
Oh! And Happy Valentine’s Day!
What about you?
My Fitness Pal app on my phone has been invaluable in this journey. Do you track calories? Have a way to do it that you love? Or have you simply eliminated certain foods instead of tracking all of them? If you’ve done this for a while, have you been able to step away from your tracker and still find success?
Paula's Blog 