Counting calories eaten.
Counting pounds lost.
Counting steps taken and minutes working out.
And it is, slowly but surely, paying off.
I’m eating between 1000 and 1100 calories a day and having trouble keeping them up that high. The food here is tasty but so low-cal that I have trouble eating enough food. My stomach doesn’t want to hold those quantities. So I have been given permission to eat as many almonds and walnuts as I need to get up to that 1000 calorie minimum. Isn’t that an interesting phenomenon?
I’ve lost ten pounds. Which doesn’t sound like much to me. So I keep reminding myself that it would add up to about 150 pounds if I kept it up for a year. Fortunately, I don’t need to lose quite that much. 🙂
I am using a FitBit to track my steps but I’m not even half way to the recommend 10,000 steps a day. So I remind myself that when I got here just walking from my van into the building left me huffing and puffing and looking for the nearest chair. I can walk a lot further than that now with no huffing and I even received a compliment from another participant on the increase in my stride.
And I am keeping a list of my non-scale successes. Such as now being comfortable in a size smaller jeans than I was wearing when I arrived. And walking down the stairs instead of taking the elevator. And now being able to do two exercises classes on the same day when I couldn’t even do one when I arrived. And being able to walk my Travel Scoot to my van in the back forty at Target when its battery died just as I was leaving the store.
And I am astounded at how social I have been here. I eat every meal with people to whom I talk instead of burying my nose in a book. And I chat with people between classes. And, of course, I give tours of my van to people who have trouble believing I can live comfortably in the parking lot.
Well, maybe not so comfortable this weekend. It is cold and rainy. But that seems a small price to pay for all the benefits I am receiving from being here. I made the right choice when I decided to come here. And I’m staying on until I feel ready to leave. So many more insights to discover and pounds to lose and strengths to gain, you know.
TTYL,
Linda
What a lovely update! Good for you! So glad this is working out for you.
Congratulations! Sounds like you’re doing wonderful there and enjoying it too. It’s great to hear you’re improving and getting better. It’ll also be nice to see you reach your goals.
Isn’t this a wonderful post. Sounds like you are having fun and doing it in a very healthy way! Keep up the great work.
I was so glad to see your post today. I have been wondering how you are doing. Glad to hear the great news.
I was glad to read “And I’m staying on until I feel ready to leave”. That’s great advice not only for those who have goals to achieve but for pretty much all of us. Arbitrary is a horrible task master. Sounds like you’re making great progress on all sorts of fronts.
I have to laugh about your comment regarding talking with people with whom you eat meals. My dad was a quiet guy, he worked most of his life in a little cubicle with one other fellow buried in the bowels of an electrical generating plant. When he retired he changed completely. He went from the guy who avoided talking to people to the guy who would talk to ANYONE — and I mean ANY ONE!
We’ll be watching for more updates.
P
i’m so happy and proud for you… i can’t even express it!!!! congratulations! XO♥
I am so excited and happy for you. What a great transformation you are making for yourself.