Breakfast: a few spoonfuls of cottage cheese and a bowl of strawberries
Morning Blood Pressure: 122/81, that's higher than I've been running lately, but I did have Chinese last night, so I'll take it again tonight and see if it improves....
Lunch: one small bran muffin, bowl of cinnamon chex with skim milk,and a few fresh cherries and a small glass of chocolate milk
Dinner: One hamburger, plain, no bun, no cheese, nothing. Some pasta salad (no mayo) and some green salad with oil and vinegar dressing.
Snack: One donut that my brother and his girlfriend brought us from a donut place they like in Buffalo
Exercise: 26 minute walk with Mikey
Creativity: Finished sewing my new garb skirt, and it turned out quite lovely :)
Evening Blood Pressure: 119/73
Sadly, I am not having a good self-esteem day, I am very frustrated. I am very upset that even though I feel better there hasn't really been any *measurable* progress. I'm still in the same three-pound window I was when I started. I've only lost about 1% of my total body fat, and I haven't lost any inches. Other people have said that I look more toned, and I feel like I have tightened up, especially in my thighs and legs, but according to the scale and the tape measure...no change (although, to be fair, I didn't measure my thighs at the beginning of the challenge, just my waist and hips, maybe all the inches are being lost from there?). I'm sorry, but this irritates the hell out of me. I've been very diligent for a straight month, better food choices, daily exercise, etc. So do I feel better? Absolutely, and my blood pressure has improved also, and both of those things are very valuable and I'm not discounting them. However, I want tangible results that can be pointed to.....I felt better for about 20 minutes this afternoon when I tried on my new skirt that I just finished sewing. I put on a chemise and a corset and put my hair up, and I felt beautiful, striking, and sexy, all the things I normally feel when I'm in garb. And then I took my garb off and put my regular clothes back on and I felt lousy again. I know that everyone has their down days, and that's just life, but today all I can see are the imperfections.....I want today to be over so I can try again tomorrow.....
On a brighter note, tomorrow I will be leaving for my family's annual trip to Lake George in the Adirondacks. We'll be there all week and I can't wait :) My internet access up at the Lake is sporadic at best, so I won't be posting every day, but I'll try to check in every few days or so. I give you my word I will catalog everything that I eat and my daily exercise, just like I do here, and I won't slack off in the home stretch just because I won't be posting every day. Send me all the vibes you can spare, and I'll be sending them to all of you!!! To all my Sterling folk, I'll see you in just a few days!!!
Love,
Lynn
I probably sound like a broken record, but I can't say enough about livestrong.com/myplate. Being accountable makes me SO much less apt to cheat. And when I do cheat it feels kind of awful when I see the numbers at the end of the day. Last week i went on a stretch where I cheated by 300-400 calories per day. Checked my weight earlier this week and I'd gained half a pound. Hello, Motivation!
ReplyDeleteAlso, *HUGS*. Bad days are The. Worst.