Week 9 End - A tougher week

It's been another good, but tough week. While I was able to maintain my diet and did make it to the gym every day, it was much tougher for some reason this week. I found myself having to force myself to get to the gym. When I was there, I had some of the my best workouts yet. I put in more miles and intensity than in weeks past and I felt good doing it. I'm not sure was made it so hard to get there.

3/5/16 down 2.4 lbs (total 35 lbs)

It was a slow week for weight loss as well. After a banner week last week (5.6 lbs) I only registered a loss of 2.4 lbs this week. That's still hugely ahead of my scheduled pace of 2-2.5 lbs. a week (currently a total of 35 lbs. in 9 weeks). But, it's still a let down after a big week last week. Especially since I was about 1000 extra calories under my allowance each day. Even though I know I'm in this for the long haul and I know I'm doing great, I still find it hard to wait.

I'm finding that I am getting to the gym regularly without too much problem (aside from my having to push myself to do it some days), but I am not getting a lot else accomplished on work days. That of course is one of the hazards of being a night shifter. It seems like during your work week you only work and sleep. I am now struggling with how to better manage my time to accomplish some other things during the week. I'm not sure what the answer is yet, but, I'm sure I'll come up with something.

The big up side this week, is that people have finally been noticing the weight loss. I've said before, when you're as overweight as I am, 25 lbs is like taking a bucket of sand off the beach, but, I have been noticing the fit of my clothes and lately so have some others. I am discovering new things I can wear that I have had in the closet for a long time (many still with tags). We have even been looking in the stores and planning to buy some "regular sized" clothes for later this summer. I can see that excess skin is going to be an issue in the future, but it's a small price to pay for the relief I am feeling already. I am able to walk around stores etc. with minimal pain in my knees (it's never fully gone since they are basically shot), and with daily workouts (cardio at this point) it seems my blood pressure and blood sugar are doing very well as well. I am looking forward to my next regular doctor's appointment in early May to see if the bloodwork will bear out what I am seeing. One of my goals is to be able to get rid of the diabetic meds and possibly the cholesterol and blood pressure meds as well. My doctor indicated to me at the start of this in Jan. that if I indeed lose the weight that I have said I intend to lose, I will likely be able to do that. Especially the diabetic meds..

I don't know that I have any particular wisdom to impart this week. Maybe the overall message is, when you get so far into a long term program (read that lifestyle change), at some point the newness wears off and it is sometimes more of a daily grind. I think I hit that point. The good news is, the new habits I have been working on engraining have been taking over and I have pushed through the feelings that might stray me from my goals. I absolutely have to fight with myself when perusing the junk-food drawer (yes we have one too), and I have had to "make" myself get ready and go to the gym. But, the good news is in each occasion, I did it.

Again, thank you to all those who have been expressing support and good wishes. It really does mean a lot. Someone has made the statement that I put this journey out there to get an "attaboy" or attention. While the support is definitely a plus, the real reason I wanted to put it out is the accountability it forces on me by making my goals public. Think what you want. I know that I will work harder to prove to myself and my friends that I am going to see this through.

Until next time my friends.