Week 4 Weigh-in

Lordy.

It's been 4 weeks now that I've been training with How Does She Do It Mom, and boy am I seeing changes.

So what if I still suck it in for our biweekly pictures?
I appreciate posture.  Plus, I can suck it in further than I could 4 weeks ago!

I'm losing weight - thankfully.  Although the program considers weightloss as less of a goal and more of a side effect of proper diet and training - it is still nice when the needle moves in the right direction.

But beyond a number on the scale, I'm losing the momma belly roll (good riddance), the love handles (sayonara), back bra rolls (adios) and overall jiggle generally (buh-bye).

Not only that, I'm losing my craving for sweets.

Me.

THE sweet tooth.  The person who bought and consumed a candy sprinkle bottle without a cookie or other such vehicle.  The person who can eat a pack of orange tic-tacs in 5 minutes flat.  The person who puts colored sugar on ice cream.

In moments of duress, I miss that go-to, but I find another outlet.

The only thing I miss about the carbs are my options when it comes to food.  A list of lean meats and veggies has a limited number of potential combinations.  I'll be excited to (healthily) reacquaint myself with a few cheeses, and some whole grains. 

Until then, I've learned a fair amount of self-control, self-awareness, self-acknowledgment, self-credit, self-forgiveness, self-support.

Have I slipped?  You BETCHA!  Have I stumbled? Wanna see the scrapes? Will I be good from now until the end of the program? Nope (Christmas is coming, and I will eat my Grandma's melting moment cookies...2, not 2 dozen)

That's the difference.  I'm not punishing myself for slipping.  Yeah it sucks.  Yes I want to do well.  But I've learned that my choosing to add the guilt associated with not succeeding turns it into failure.  So I stopped.  I can look anybody in the eye and say "Last week, I had alcohol one night, and I had 4 cookies this weekend."  You know why I'm proud of that?  Because those are the ONLY sugar/carbs I consumed and I was at a conference for four of those days!! Yay for me!  I hold no guilt with that - it's a TOTAL victory!!

It's all in the attitude.  And you all know better than anyone...I've got me plenty of that!  It's just a matter of learning to not direct it into some fun house mirror image of myself.

This has been a wonderful launching point for a life long journey.  I'm especially excited to see where the next four weeks will take me!

Now here it is....  The 4 week half-way point progress picture!!!  Down 6.5 pounds (and mostly from my face...)

DRUMROLL

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