Week 25 report

I'm accepting that I'm not going to get a video made this week, so I thought I would at least come report.

At my Sunday weigh-in, I weighed the exact same weight as last week, to the 10th of a pound.  It's the exact same weight I weighed 4 weeks ago.  I didn't have to give any foot rubs as I stuck to not eating treats and not eating at night. 😄👍 I felt good about my food choices, although I know they were nowhere near as stellar as they could be.  I did feel like I was eating too much, so I wasn't surprised I didn't lose weight.  The funny thing is, I didn't really mind.

I'm in this weird, yet really nice, acceptance phase of my body right now.  As long as I eat right (according to my standards, not others), I feel really great, regardless of what the scale says.  I've had this epiphany of sorts that people struggle with body image and body acceptance no matter how small they get.  There is always something to pick at, and reaching a healthy weight is not the end of the destination.  It's just one step in the life-long journey to stay healthy.  I guess this has made me feel in less of a hurry to "arrive" at that destination and more interested in enjoying the journey. It's going to be a long one! 😊.

I obviously need to eat less calories to continue to lose weight.  I could do this the old-fashioned way of counting calories, weighing my food, tracking, etc.   Or I could focus on eating more low-calorie, nutrient-dense food (greens, beans, potatoes) and really work on eliminating the calorie dense foods (flour products, oils, vegan meat substitutes). Or I could keep eating the way I am and just try to eat a little less at each meal.  There are a lot of things I could do....but right now....I'm kind of content to just keep doing what I'm doing.  I'm working hard to get the family to eat more plant-based, but part of that is cooking more calorie-dense meals that will appeal to them.  If I eliminated flour, oil, salt, and snacking, I would definitely drop weight, but I may end up resenting the journey and bailing out of the path.  Part of me still thinks I can make my way towards that healthy weight without completely eliminating those things...so that's where I'm at right now.  I'm going to keep exercising, keep eating healthy foods, and keep trying to eat more nutrient-dense, low-calorie foods.  Every time I make up my mind to do more than that, I end up bingeing to some extent.  I feel like I have a million other things to focus on and attend to right now (exaggerating, I know).  I'm making my physical health a priority, more so than ever before, but I can't let it become the all-consuming purpose of my life.  I've made some pretty drastic changes (no meat, no treats, no night snacking, very little dairy, big increase in fresh produce, daily exercise), and today, I'm content to just maintain those changes.  Maybe next week I'll be ready to step it up a little so I can see the scale go down again. 😊. If not, I'm learning to love myself where I am.  Yes...even at 195.4 pounds!