On my last blog post, I was so excited to report a 3-pound loss. The next week I weighed and gained 3 pounds and I couldn't figure out WHY! It affected me more than it should have, in spite of all the things I read and watched about weight fluctuating, and in spite of the pep talks I kept trying to give myself. I just felt frustrated and I think I relaxed my efforts instead of increasing them.
Not too long after that, I went on a "Pioneer Trek" with the youth from church. We basically dressed up in pioneer clothes and spent a couple days pushing and pulling handcarts and basically reenacting the Mormon journey out West (similar to the Oregon Trail). My husband and I were the Ma and Pa to some awesome youth and we loved that experience in some ways. On the other hand, it was honestly the most physically exhausting thing I've ever done. The heat index was over 100 and I don't handle the heat well. I was in this opressive, humid heat straight for 2 1/2 days, no relief while cooking over a hot dutch oven, or at night while sleeping on a tarp on the hard ground. I brought my own special food and an extra dutch oven to cook it in (what a pain), but I broke my "no treat" efforts on that trail with the dutch oven desserts after dinner. I came home with every intention to get back into healthy eating, but I was so wiped out, I couldn't muster up will power to do anything for about a week. I know that sounds crazy! My hubby said we had "cart lag." Ha, ha.
At the beginning of August, I weighed 196. I decided to go a whole month without weighing so I could just focus on eating healthy and not let the number on the scale drive me crazy. I committed to not eating treats, not eating after 9, and not eating white flour (with a few exceptions) until I got down to 175. I decided I wouldn't weigh until September first. I was already not eating meat (it's the only thing I've stuck too), so I didn't need to stipulate that. How have I been doing with my commitment? I was doing well until today. I was up talking to my daughter at 1:00 in the morning and I just decided to eat crackers (I guess I was lacking will power/commitment at that time). Today that has spiraled into more crackers because, what the hay? I've already "broken" my commitment. When I got back from the store an hour ago (where I bought healthy ingredients for dinner), I ate left-over cheese pizza that was in the fridge. We had a "Trek Family Reunion" at our house Saturday night and we ordered WAY TOO MUCH pizza which is now sitting in my fridge. No, I still haven't managed to clean up my environment enough to not have it affect me.
On the positive side, I'm still cooking vegan meals most nights. I'm still getting on the treadmill (although it hasn't been as long each day, I've kept the habit). I haven't been eating desserts (so crucial!); I made it through the amusement park last week without eating treats and two parties on Saturday where there were treats galore for the taking. Tomorrow is the first day of a Kid's Craft Camp I'm running for a few days. I'm hosting another craft class on Saturday, and we go on family vacation on Sunday. Things won't be routine and "stable" for at least another two weeks, but I'm still trying to hang on to some health habits! I hope to get back into making my weekly video reports once school starts and the kids are back in school. Then again, I will be homeschooling my two teenagers, but they are usually happy to leave me alone. :) I hope I can muster up the will-power and desire to do another 7-day Engine 2 Rescue or something similar to get the weight going down again, but I'm really holding off on making a massive commitment until the vacation is over. I'm really just hoping I can make it through this month without gaining!
That's all for now!
