Oh Fudge!

Monday was good and bad in the diet department. I managed to get 5 glasses of water down yesterday. It wasn’t so bad. However, I nibbled on some fudge and few rye crackers and that totally threw my carb count out the window. I am not going to punish myself by checking the scale. No doubt it will have fluctuated up, I screwed up and I know it. I don’t need a visual reminder to tell me that.

Today’s menu has gone better so far. Eggs and a small slice of ham for breakfast; a lean ground beef patty and green beans for lunch; the salad is made for dinner and soon I will be preparing a kung pao chicken recipe I got off the internet this morning. I also have some fresh broccoli florets cut up and ready in case the need to snack prevails tonight.

I haven’t been exercising as much as I need to these last 10 days. I managed to get on my treadmill for what may well be the first time in a year. I’m not sure. I can’t recall the last time I took a walk on it. I eked out 20 minutes at 3 mph. Sounds lame, right? But if you could see the sweat pouring off me and feel how fast my heart was pounding, you’d know I got a good workout. I will build up. It takes a little time. Anyway, according to the treadmill calculator that factors in my age and weight, I burned 152 calories. I am happy with that for my first time back on board. I will probably stay at that level for a week or two until I feel I can safely add some more minutes or nudge the mph up a bit.

I’m already drinking water today, too. Its earlier in the day than when I remembered to start yesterday so maybe I’ll match or beat yesterday’s number. Here’s hoping it all comes together.

As for the novel writing, I did open the file and skim over it yesterday to get re-familiarized with my characters. As soon as I post this, I will start in on it. Tomorrow I will post the word count for today. I don’t have a specific word goal in mind just yet. I normally write until I’ve bright the current scene or the next one to a conclusion. We’ll see how it goes. I’m a little rusty in this department too.

Water, Exercise and Working on My Novel as This Week's Goals

The official Monday weigh-in has me at 255.5, a loss of 6.2 lbs. for the first 9 days. I am more than pleased with that. There were some bumps along the way during the first week-plus but I’ve learned a few things and I’m still here.

I recently read a column by a fellow writer who is also on a weight loss journey, Brett Day. He started his journey in October of 2010. If I am reading his weight ticker thingy correctly, he started at 333 pounds and has lost just over 47 lbs. since he began. In this post, he gives his tips for how to lose and keep the weight the weight off without gimmicks, fads or crazy diets. It is definitely worth reading.

I didn’t get in as much as exercise last week as I had hoped to. My goal is 4 30-minute sessions of cardio this week. I am also committing to at least 2 glasses of water per day. I know that’s only ¼ of what I am supposed to drink but it’s a start and its more than I have been drinking.

In other news, I have decided to finish writing the novel I began for NaNoWriMo in 2009. I got over 33000 words done then and now I am determined to bring it to a conclusion. With the other responsibilities in my life, it will be slow going but that fits right into my “baby steps” approach to life. I think I will include weekly updates on how the novel is proceeding as a way of keeping myself accountable. What do you think?