Hanging in there. . .

I can measure my progress in a number of ways, the most important of which are psychological. First, my dedication to change hasn't waned in the past month and in fact, I'm learning things about myself everyday. For instance, work is a food trigger for me (uh-oh). Luckily, it's not the stress but rather the schedule I think. When I'm teaching, I often get caught up in prep and class and meetings, etc. and I skip breakfast and lunch. Then when I'm finished for the day, I'm starved and my habit has been to drive through somewhere on the way home for a late-afternoon lunch. I realized this pattern when my summer session class started and I fell right back into my skipping-meal habit. But because I'm still dedicated, I drove home and had some leftover vegetables and a little protein instead of a burger and onion rings.

Not that the burger and onion rings didn't sound better, because they did, but then I expect that temptation to always be there to some degree. Whomever invented processed food was an evil genius.

I'm on an on-again/off-again low carb diet. On-again means super low carbs (absolutely no starches, sugars, white flour, etc.) and off-again means moderate low carbs (pasta once a week, potato about the same, maybe desert once a week). My body seems to responding well to this. I feel energetic, I don't have as many sugar/pasta cravings and NO bread cravings, and I'm down 21 lbs from my starting weight a month ago. I'm off-again/on-again because I have to be careful not to lose too fast-- stupid insurance rules for bariatric surgery eligibility. On the one hand, it's frustrating, because now that I'm really in the right mind-frame I want to go full tilt. On the other hand, the whole moderation thing is really a better habit to develop in the long term, because the likelihood that I'd be able to go the rest of my life on no sugar/no starch/no white flour is absolutely zero. I just have to keep reminding myself of that.

So, to recap, as of today, I'm down 21 lbs and though I'm in my same clothes, they feel roomier and less roll-highlighting. Yay for me.