Lessons Learned: StS Challenge Day 5

If anything, this challenge has helped get my head back in the game.  I've been treading water the last month or so, and I've learned a few lessons from that.

First, since the day I started on July 14th of last year, I have never had a melt-down or anything like that.  But for the last few weeks I've been more relaxed. I haven't been counting calories to the degree of precision that has been the case throughout this journey.  I've had a craving for trail mix and peanut butter of all things, and have indulged in those a bit. So nothing horrible...both of those are pretty healthy.

What I love about this is that I've stayed in check.  I've been weighing myself everyday and I actually settled into a pretty sweet groove.  When the scale showed a .5 lb. gain, I was more careful the next day and it was gone by the next weigh in.

So essentially I was maintaining for the last few weeks and I am feeling much more confident about the future.  Confident that once I'm finished, I'll be able to maintain this for life.  I'm usually not a big fan of using the scale everyday, but I think I'm beginning to like the idea. It will help keep things in check.

And now that I'm in this challenge and back on the losing track, I'm looking forward to kicking these last few pounds.  I love the idea that the day when I will wake up and not have to think about losing weight is right around the corner. I'll be thinking about exercise and healthy eating, but not about losing weight. I thank God for His patience with me and for giving me the strength to do this.

So by way of reporting, I've been doing very well with calories and water.  Still not stellar with exercise. Walked quite a bit this week and rode the bike on Monday but didn't get it done on Wednesday.  I'll ride today, but I still haven't done anything about getting a toning plan in place.  Exercise is much more of a struggle but it'll happen. I'm confident about that.

Since it seems pretty clear to me that I won't be posting every day, I'll just log my weight loss on here, along with any observations I'm having.  I've read some blogs and made some comments here and there, but I have to admit the sheer number of folks in this challenge is pretty overwhelming. For me, the fact that someone might be reading is enough accountability to spur me on.

Weight Loss Update June 10th:

Challenge Loss:	3 lbs.
Total Loss:	107 lbs.

At the end of the day, all we can do is the best we can do.  I've been reading some blogs and there's a little bit of sour grapes out there about this challenge or that challenge, about this plan or that plan, about losing fast or taking your time, etc.

I've lost 107 lbs. since July of last year so I guess you could say I've had a certain amount of success.  But I'd be the first to admit that I don't have this whole thing figured out...not for me or anyone else.

So fast or slow?  I don't really know, except to say that slow is better than not at all.  Slow is better than going gung-ho, die-hard serious and then crashing because you can't keep it up.

Slow is better if that's what it takes to learn how to keep the weight off once you're there. None of this means anything if you gain it all back, and statistics say you will if you've just been doing what it takes to lose but haven't learned how to deal with food along the way. 

So take it a day at a time and do the best you can. Do it for your health because I absolutely guarantee that you'll feel better. And do it for those you love. They'll thank you for it.

God bless you, folks!