Green light, red light

Sometimes weight loss feels like one long game of "Red Light, Green Light." Last week, it was red light practically all week and then green light right before my Monday morning weigh-in. This week's the opposite. My weight loss was cruising right along and then came to a screeching halt over the weekend. Oh well. It was still a pretty good week with about 1 1/2 pounds lost, though it had been up to as much as 2 pounds. If I'm being honest, I didn't completely apply myself when it came to working out. I fell into the hole of "not feeling like it" and "oh I'm so tired." That said, I did pull something in my hip joint dancing around and being goofy with the dogs and still pushed through a fairly intense biking session while watching Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition. (The hip's fine, but that. did. not. feel good.) It helped to remember that I'm hiking with Chris Powell (cool huh?) in a couple of weeks and I'd like to be able to say I've lost over 70 pounds at that point. Plus, as I mentioned last week, I'm in the homestretch. This is. not. the time to slack off. I kind of feel like I did because I could have done so much more than I did and I'm disappointed that I didn't, but I can't change that. I can do better this week and ensure that I meet my original goal by the end of this month. I'd like to hit it before then, but my body's being a little unpredictable.

I saw something this week that said weight loss is 80% food, 20% working out. You can lose weight without working out, but most are happier with the result if they do. I've been focused on keeping my nutrition in line--making sure I don't eat too much of any one thing--I'll eat basically any vegetable you put in front of me, but I just don't like fruit. Over the weekend, I made french toast and gave myself a serving size of strawberries. I had to force them down and most of the time I masked them behind a piece of french toast. I still didn't like them. (Yeah, I know. Who doesn't like strawberries?) I don't know what it is, but I don't like the sweetness or the texture. But I know I need to eat fruit. Soooo, I think I need to find a recipe for a strawberry daiquiri-type beverage, because that I don't mind. I suppose I could get another big container of natural, unsweetened applesauce and have a serving or two per day.

I'm sure having a couple of regular detox baths each week will help me along the way, too. Basically:

Epsom Salts + Baking Soda + Very Warm Water= My choice of detox soak. You start to feel like you're sitting in a steam room, it's exhausting (best idea to do right before bed), but it has so many benefits, including helping to break up fat, getting rid of toxins (duh), gets rid of excess water, etc. Plus I get 20 minutes of uninterrupted reading. It's how I've managed to read Heat Wave and get into The Mysteries of Pittsburgh.

Now that I think about it, I've lost 68 pounds. I'm doing something right. Maybe I need to look at each week's results, not with a magnifying glass of what I didn't do well, but appreciate what I did do well.

Oh and I'm going to start buying my new clothes :) It's time.

6 pounds to go. I suppose I could go sit outside in the steamy 105 degrees and sweat it off though, right?

P.S. Green light!